IndieHackers - 🗞 What's New: Getting to $10K MRR fast

Looking to hit $10K MRR?

• Speed up the process by leveraging partnerships, increasing pricing, and relentlessly focusing on customers.
• Use Reddit comments to create compelling blog posts by identifying a problem, the obstacle, and outlining the solution.
• From side project to acquisition. Quipr was acquired for $1K just one week after it was listed on a startup marketplace.

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by James Fleischmann

Indie Hackers caught up with successful founders to gather their insights on hitting $10K MRR.

Hitting $10K MRR faster

Jay Tan:

Partnerships. Leverage the massive reach and audience of others, get your product in front of as many eyeballs as possible, and give them a kickback for their help.

Marc Louvion:

Remove free plans and free trials, and learn marketing.

Yannick Veys:

We could’ve gotten there sooner if we had offered higher-priced plans.

It’s easier to sell higher-priced plans to fewer people than to sell $9 plans to many. A few months after reaching $10K MRR, we killed our lowest tier. We had high churn that month, but despite that, we still saw a 40% increase in MRR.

Also, think about how you can have your current customers refer new ones.

Conrad Lelubre:

I put myself in a position where failure wasn't an option b full-time with Intellifox. That's when everything began to shift.

Igor Boshoer:

Selecting an appropriate distribution channel is essential. Also, if we were to start over, we would prioritize preliminary research before product development.

Relentlessly focus on customers. In the early stages especially, it’s very hard to compete with products backed by substantial funding. So, prioritize exceptional customer support. It has the potential to generate valuable word-of-mouth referrals.

Shane White:

If your goal is to make $10K MRR, make sure you pursue a business that is sustainable in that revenue range. It's a lot easier to do this with a higher-priced SaaS. I'd stay far away from any SaaS that is less than $50 a month.

Alexander Isora:

I never thought about how I could get there faster. I’m not in a rush, and I don’t recommend anyone else to be, either.

Thinking in terms of time puts us in a stressful state that slows progress.

General tips beyond $10K

Alexander:

The $10K milestone is sacred. I even named my personal email newsletter The 10K newsletter! But do not make this an end in itself.

Your goal is not to reach $10K MRR. Your goal is to build a profitable, sustainable business. Reaching this milestone is just one of the steps on your big journey.

Jay:

Don't be discouraged if you hit a plateau, which you likely will at some point. Revenue growth is rarely ever a straight line. If your revenue stalls, just keep putting in the work. Keep talking to your customers and adding value to your product.

Keep your chin up and soldier on!

Jon Yongfook:

Broadly speaking, I think it’s possible for any B2B SaaS product to reach $10K MRR, and beyond.

If you have good product-market fit, price sensibly, spend 50% of your time on marketing, and don’t give up too early, I think it’s basically an inevitability.

Discuss this story.

from the Growth Trends newsletter

💻 Google Ads API 2024 release and sunset schedule.

🗣 ConveyThis: A no-code tool to make any Saas multilingual. #ad

🎢 Crypto saw chaos, charges, and price changes in November.

🧵 Threads will reportedly launch in the EU next month.

🤬 Elon Musk's message to advertisers: "Go f*ck yourself."

✨ Adding value to your customer experience.

Check out Growth Trends for more curated news items focused on user acquisition and new product ideas.

by Cameron Scully

Creating compelling blog posts that resonate deeply with your ideal buyers can be challenging. Follow this three step strategy to create your most powerful blog post yet!

Step one: Find treasure in the right places

‍ Identify relevant subreddits (or other community forums) where your target audience is actively engaged.

Imagine, for instance, that you're planning to write a blog post for an email marketing agency aiming to assist B2B companies in acquiring email leads. First, head over to Gummy Search.

Create a new audience:

Add active subreddits where founders and executives hang out:

Find a recent long-form post with 10+ comments:

Step two: Uncover the golden nuggets

Dig through the comments and posts for the following key details:

The problem:

They mention that they get few conversions, and when they do receive them, they’re either junk, spam, not qualified, or under the $25K project budget. ‍ They wasted 12 months testing landing pages, and coming up with poor results.

The obstacle:

They spent hours searching previous Reddit posts to answer some of their issues, but were unsuccessful.

The dream:

They're looking for someone who understands their current pains of PPC campaigns, who can provide a lead generation solution that generates high-quality conversations and clients.

Don't stop there. Look at three more Reddit posts and their comments. Find anything new? Add that to your notes.

Step three: Create your blog post

Now, take the insights and keywords you've gathered to structure your blog. For example, your title can be: Why Email Marketing Beats PPC for Getting B2B Leads.

Design the content of your post so that it resonates with whatever you added to the notes above.

Utilize the exact language used in the comments to demonstrate a deep understanding of their needs, showing that you not only hear them, but also possess the solution. ‍ This approach builds trust, and nurtures them towards taking action on the dream solution your service offers.

Check out The Growth Archive for more B2B marketing examples!

Discuss this story.

🖐 Let me be your first client. Posted by Heleana Tiburca.

🥉 My launch on Product Hunt was hidden for 10 hours, then hit number three! Posted by Parul Aditya.

👀 I got 48K+ views on a subreddit without getting banned. Posted by Amani.

🛠 100+ no-code tools to enhance your efficiency. Posted by Bob Chen.

🎉 Celebrating "unsuccessful" launch stories is cool, too. Posted by Albert Jr.

💵 I sold my AI tool for $35K. Posted by Marc Louvion.

Want a shout-out in next week's Best of Indie Hackers? Submit an article or link post on Indie Hackers whenever you come across something you think other indie hackers will enjoy.

by Cjortuzar

Quipr was a tool designed to simplify the lives of content creators by transforming audio into concise tweets and threads. Despite facing hurdles in user acquisition and marketing, Quipr was recently acquired in a $1K sale.

The genesis of Quipr

Quipr was born out of a desire to make life easier for YouTubers, enabling them to effortlessly summarize their video content for X and other platforms, using AI. I've always felt the concept was solid, but the road ahead proved to be tougher than I anticipated. I struggled with capturing new users, and it started to become tough to keep working on it.

I was also starting a new job, and lacked the energy for marketing. Quipr struggled to gain traction. The user base was modest and I had no paying customers, so the dream of turning it into a sustainable venture seemed to be slipping away.

The turning point

Faced with the reality of my limited bandwidth, I had a choice to make. Instead of abandoning Quipr altogether, as I had done with other projects, I decided to explore alternative paths.

I listed it on Acquire for a humble $1K. I figured that selling Quipr would provide a chance for it to thrive in the hands of someone with the time and enthusiasm that it deserved.

The sale process

To my surprise, within a week of listing Quipr, I received interest from a potential buyer. A few meetings later, it became apparent that they saw the potential in Quipr that I, unfortunately, couldn't fully realize.

Negotiations ensued, and before I knew it, Quipr had a new owner. The $1K might not have been a windfall, but it was a fair exchange.

From what I can tell, the new owner used the technology behind Quipr on a new project, so the site has been shut down. I hope it still lives on a different platform somewhere!

Takeaways

1. Know when to let go: Recognizing when a side project has outgrown your capacity is crucial. Selling can be a strategic move to ensure its survival and growth.

2. Explore alternative avenues: Platforms like Acquire provide opportunities to connect with individuals genuinely interested in your creation. Don't underestimate the potential of these marketplaces; the funds could help you kickstart your new project.

3. Value your work: Even if the sale price seems modest, it reflects the value your creation holds for someone else. It's a testament to your efforts and ingenuity!

Discuss this story.

by Tweetmaster Flex

I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:

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Also, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter.

Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to James Fleischmann, Darko, Cameron Scully, and Cjortuzar for contributing posts. —Channing