Sabbatical Day 4
Today was not a good day. Let me give you a list of the things I got done.
- I registered a domain name
- I chose and downloaded a website template
Other than that, I faffed around a lot and wasted time on the internet.
OK, that's not entirely fair. I evaluated a bunch of options for hosted landing pages. LaunchRock or KickoffLabs are good options if you want a coming soon page, Unbounce looks like the best option for landing pages once you are ready to get customers. However, ultimately I decided to host myself. I spent a long time looking for suitable landing page templates, and ended up buying a theme containing some from themeforest. $15 for a reasonably nice site design complete with instructions and video guide. A bargin, much better than attempting to design anything myself. Even if I had a dedicated designer I'd probably still buy because I get something I can work with instantly. I also reached out to some people about an idea I have brewing.
I also had drinks with Justin, a developer at Red Gate who runs his own startup on the side. Things I learnt:
- Slow growth - It taks a long time for a product to start getting traction and making significant sales. Doesn't bode well for building something profitable in 3 months.
- Offline marketing - For the sector he targets, magazine reviews and trade shows are the most effective ways to find new customers. A good reminder that it doesn't all have to be about online and digital.
So what can I take away from today? Firstly, going to bed at 3am has really significant consequences for my productivity the following morning. Secondly, 5pm-11pm seem to be my most productive hours by a long way, so where possible I should avoid scheduling meetings or events into them.
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