🗞 What's New: Create a memorable launch with no budget

How can you build a captivating launch with no budget?

• Consider putting together a trailer that showcases your product. Take tips from Hollywood and plan it out via storyboard, add effects, and upload!
• Many founders have anxiety around finances. Below, 7 experts offer advice on managing and overcoming your financial worries.
• $6.8M in total revenue. 1M followers. 5 years. Justin Welsh burned out in his high-paying executive job, and started over as a solo founder.

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by Orlie

Looking to launch, but short on money? I was inspired by Marc Louvion's trailers, so I made my own trailer for my Product Hunt launch. Here's how creating a video helped me get the word out, while saving money!

Research

It's really important to find the perfect clip of a movie or ad that you're going to edit, since that's what will deliver the initial "Wow!" effect.

If you're able to mesh your product perfectly with a famous scene from a movie, that can get eyes on you! Be mindful of copyright laws in your country, however, and when in doubt, consult an attorney.

Plan out your video thoroughly. It can be as simple as writing everything down in a Word Doc, or as complex as creating a full storyboard.

Select a video editor tool

Choose a tool you're already familiar with. There are tons of free or cheap tools that are really simple to use.

I used these to add effects, music, text, and transitions. Don't overcomplicate things, though! It's more about the storytelling than the visual effect.

Record bits from your product, or act them out

Be sure to showcase your product's unique value proposition, and the problem that it addresses. Be creative when thinking of ways to include this in the video.

Put everything together

If you have a storyboard, you can now bring all of your ideas together in a concise video.

I suggest keeping it one minute or less in total run time.

Add sound and effects

It's really important to add audio and sound effects to keep people interested and engaged.

Find royalty-free music and sounds, and you'll be okay on any platform!

Get early feedback

As soon as you're done with your early first draft, share it with people in your circle.

It's essential to get real, actionable feedback. If you're unsure about certain parts of your trailer, ask for specific feedback about those things (i.e., does it convey a clear message?). Implement tips from relevant feedback into your video editing, and finalize your video.

Upload it

Choose your platform and upload your video! I recommend YouTube. Be mindful of upload times; some videos take longer than others.

Discuss this story.

from the Growth Trends newsletter

🛠 YouTube announces enhanced audience retention analytics tools.

✅ Get results by using special ad categories.

💲 Link to your product here. Our most affordable ad.

🖼 An essential guide to legally using images online.

🤖 "AI washing" and lies.

📧 How to keep your emails out of the spam folder.

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

by Marc Andre

Managing your personal finances in the unpredictable world of indie hacking can be stressful. Here are practical, applicable tips from industry experts!

1. Embrace an abundance mindset

From Emily Guerra of The Productivity Flow:

Abundance isn't just about wealth. It's about recognizing and appreciating the richness that already exists in your life and business.

So, how do you make the shift? Instead of focusing solely on what you lack, or the financial challenges you face, start acknowledging and appreciating the resources and opportunities available to you. Begin a daily gratitude practice, or add a symbol to your workspace to help you stay grounded.

2. Calibrate your energy

From Becky Colwell at Heart to Heart Sales:

When you worry or feel anxious about money, it negatively impacts your conversations with potential clients.

Setting your energy before the call helps you stay in the moment and focus on the client. Here are three ways to do so:

• Read through your testimonials and remind yourself how great you are!
• Make space for a five minute meditation to clear your mind.
• Sing along to your favorite track just before the call.

3. Recognize that you'll make mistakes

From Adam Koren, financial coach:

We get no financial training, most of us rarely talk about money, and for many, it was a loaded topic growing up. So, how would we magically know what we're doing with finances just because we're an adult?

I think that's where the anxiety about our finances comes from. Recognize that you may make mistakes, and be okay with that.

4. Create a supportive community

From Becca Reed, LCSW, PMH-C, and trauma therapist:

Our nervous system is wired for connection and social engagement to regulate our physiological state. Founders should seek out mentors, peers, or a mindset coach who understands the journey, and can offer guidance, support, and a listening ear.

5. Know your numbers

From Audrey Schoen, LMFT:

It’s important to know your good, better, and best financial markers.

"Good" is the amount you need to earn to be financially okay. "Better" is the amount you can expect to earn in an average month. "Best" is what you can expect to earn if everything goes as planned, all your clients show up, and all your deals go through.

When you know your numbers, you feel more secure in the financial ebbs and flows of indie hacking life. You can also use that to guide marketing and growth efforts. If you're only hitting your good numbers for a couple of months, you need to increase your marketing. If you’re consistently at your better number, you can stretch a bit and try new things.

6. S.T.O.P.

From Lienna Wilson, licensed psychologist:

Uncertainty can also lead to catastrophizing, thinking about the worst possible outcome. Try this coping skill:

• S: Stop or pause. Don’t make any hasty decisions.
• T: Take a step back to untangle yourself from an emotional situation.
• O: Objectively assess your options by writing them down, or talking them over with a colleague or a mentor.
• P: Proceed mindfully.

7. Note what you can and can't control

From Emma Kimball, owner of Emma Kimball Counseling:

Picture a target. On the innermost circle, place the things that are within your control (i.e. I can spend X amount of money on marketing). In the next circle of the target, focus on what you could potentially influence (i.e. connecting with an industry leader online).

The largest circle on the outside is where you'll place all of the things you have no control over (i.e. market issues, inflation, etc.). Once you identify all of the things in your target, let go of the things you have no influence over, and really focus on, and build a plan around, the items you can.

We're conducting a one-minute mental health survey for founders. Take the survey here if you're interested!

Discuss this story.

🧑‍🏫 Top resources for beginner indie hackers. Posted by Just.

📖 Lessons from ranking number one on Product Hunt. Posted by Saïd Ait Mbarek.

💪 After failing at everything, I finally made it. Posted by José León.

🔎 Why do you hate marketing? Posted by Adib Zouiten.

💰 $300 in a day from one Hacker News post. Posted by Matt Anderson.

💻 Use your own product. Posted by Idoshamun.

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 James Fleischmann

Justin Welsh left the startup world five years ago to become a solo founder, living life on his own terms. Since then, he has amassed 1M+ followers, and made nearly $7M.

Burning out and starting over

I worked in startups, helping to build two companies past a $1B valuation, and raise over $300M in venture capital. Then, in 2019, I burned out hard. So, I decided to walk away from my high-paying executive job.

But I had a hypothesis: I believed that attention was the new currency, and would play a major part in my success as a founder. I believed that building an audience online would be an incredible asset.

So, before leaving, I started building my brand on LinkedIn. And the results were pretty phenomenal. In just six months, I grew from zero followers to 20K+, and used that to build a pipeline of qualified consulting clients.

Then, I walked away from my job and started my own consulting business.

The business

Over the last five years, I've moved from a consultant and advisor to a creator and founder, helping other people follow in my footsteps.

I've made $6.8M+ in business revenue at a 90% profit margin, and helped 30K+ people build better brands and businesses online. My products have been rated 4.98 out of five stars, with over 1K testimonials. I'm really proud of all of that.

I'm a one man business, and I love it!

Managing it all

Systems and processes are your best friends as a solo founder, and time management is key.

The great thing is that my business runs on content. Content works for you while you're not working yourself. Wake up, publish your content, interact with your audience, interact with your friends, write a newsletter, etc.

Now, I don't really burn out because I've designed a business that doesn't burn me out. To me, burnout isn't about working too hard. It's about loss of control. Obviously, I don't control things like how the algorithms work, or whether people read my stuff. There are certainly uncontrollables in any business. But everything that I need to do and accomplish is relatively controllable.

Also, plenty of breaks, vacations, sleep, time with family and friends, and hobbies.

On building a business

I think business is a lot more simple than most people make it out to be. That doesn't mean it's easy, but the building blocks are relatively simple to put together. You need to understand your market and the challenges that people are facing, and you need to know how to solve those challenges faster, better, or more affordably than the other options in the market.

If you have those things in place, you need to make your ideal prospects aware of you and your business. One day, I posted on LinkedIn, sharing a link to an article I had written. The article talked about a problem my audience had, and linked to a product I had built to solve it. 24 hours later, I had $4K in sales.

So, I kept writing articles that talked about problems, and positioned my products as solutions. That's it.

I write social media content for top-of-funnel discovery, and SEO-optimized articles and newsletters for middle-of-funnel marketing. That is all the marketing that I do.

I pay people to create article briefs: They go out and do a bunch of keyword research, then come back and tell me what the low-hanging fruit is. Then, they create an article brief that I can write against.

I'm not interested in people writing on my behalf. So, they do this complicated SEO technical work, then I deliver the writing in a format that I believe will rank well. When I'm done, they'll go through it and tell me to change a word here and there for SEO.

I repurpose a lot. I've learned to say one thing a thousand different ways vs. saying a thousand things one way.

Advice for indie hackers

Start by designing your perfect life. What would you do every day, every week, every hour? How often would you work? See friends? Engage in hobbies? Travel? What do you need to earn, and how do you need to spend?

Look at the things that actually bring you joy. Design your life, then make business decisions based on that life.

My newsletter is The Saturday Solopreneur, and I write articles here!

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by Tweetmaster Flex

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

Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.

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 Orlie, Darko, Marc Andre, and James Fleischmann for contributing posts. —Channing