There are lots of ways that people start to interact with you as soon as you ship product, or start to share your take on things. Some are good, some are negative. But no matter what side of the coin their on, you can look beyond the interaction itself and even find out that it's a sign that you're doing just fine.

In this post, I’ll be walking through five indications for makers that you’re doing fine with your product. 

As a maker, Shipharder.com encourages you to ship your product early to gain traction, build online visibility and get early feedback from users.

Your Product Exposed

When you’ve just shipped that first version of your product, there is a lot of excitement.

You’ve put it out there and hope that it catches on with the intended users and/or your target market.

But, As I explained in this post on putting in consistent effort to create value over time, It often takes some time for your product to be found, gaining traction and getting actual users on board or recurring visitors that consume your content.

When you begin to get some traction, there are good and bad indicators that will show you that you are being found online and that people are dropping by on your landing page, blog or your product page.

 

Being real and work on optimizing the value that your product provides is what it is all about.

Don’t Worry, React

You don’t have to get anxious when the market starts to react to what you brought to the digital table.

Watch how things unfold. 

Stay true to your vision. But also: adapt it when you notice that the feedback that IS constructive, tells you that you need to move in a slightly different direction. Respond to people that take time to reach out to you and thank those that share your stuff.

Being real and work on optimizing the value that your product provides is what it is all about.

In short: react to the feedback and support you’re getting and use the feedback to react by adjusting focus, your message or finetune your product.

Time to get back on-topic and show you the five indications that show you that you’re doing fine.

Five indications That You’re Doing Fine With your Product

Ok, let’s get to the five indicators that you’ll probably run into when you’re first starting out with your digital product. I know I have. They aren’t all as positive and pretty but if you read on, you’ll learn how to get the most value from them anyway.

1. The Bounce Percentage Is Going Down

When you run a website, or a landing page, one of the best ways to get a following and traction is to share insights via blog posts. You can provide value and share progress.
When people notice you and are coming back to read more from you, the bounce percentage goes down.

It means you aren’t found “by luck” or that a single post attracts attention.

The bounce percentage is the number of visitors that come back to your product page (and thus are more likely to be actually interested in your product and become fans in the near future).

This is a valid indication that your message and/or your product resonates with people.

2. Gaining Traction & Getting Response

The first indicator is the most obvious one.

Your product is getting downloads. Your page visits are going up. You receive comments on your blog. Your social media messages get likes and you’re gaining followers.

These figures indicate that your online precense is forming and/or that your message resonates with people. And you can take this as a positive indication for your product.

Don’t take to much value in these figures when you’re starting out though. For instance, when you gain followers on your social media account it doesn’t perse mean that they will stick with you as time passes.

Although it IS nice that people visit your website, as indicated in point one: the bounce percentage matters more.

2. Trolls Start Giving You Shit

Nobody likes trolls, spam or other negativity. The fact that your online presence is manifesting is often validated by the fact that spambots find your website and contact information.

Spam is often automated and only really confirms that your online home can be found by bots.

But when trolls start reaching out and trying to get you down by telling you that you suck, this should not pull your hopes down.
Look at it this way: if someone – anyone – thinks you’re worth their time and energy, that is a good thing. Even if their effort is for the bad, they ARE putting in time and energy.

If you would seem insignificant to them, they wouldn’t even bother.

When you look at it that way, it is similar to what the marketing industry has always been saying:

attention is a worth gold, no matter if it is positive or negative

UnkowA

4. Professionals & Businesses Are Reaching Out

When you’re starting out the first few weeks might go silent. But as your message gets spread wider, towards more communities, and via Social Media, companies and professionals might start to pick up the scent of your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Often, companies that provide services that might be of value to you start to reach out to see if you’re open to buying into the services that they offer.

If you do so is entirely up to you and your financial state. And depending on the kind of business that you’re trying to go for it might actually make sense.

Don’t just go for the very first one that presents itself. Check if their service is of value to you and your goals and if so, try to find and compare with other companies and/or professionals before choosing.

Besides companies that reach out, there might be others that are in the same boat, or that want to help you out without a financial gain.
People like other makers and entrepreneurs, online platforms or communities that like to feature you or your product, and simply others that want to help you to the next level because they dig what you’re up to.

No matter what kind of person is reaching out to you to share their service offering with you or to coörporate with you and your plans, this clearly is a good sign that you and your products are being taken seriously and that you are going strong.

5. People Reach Out To You On A Personal Note

When your product and content really resonates with others, you’ll find that they will come to you and connect with you on a real level.

There is no sign more of an indicator that you and your message mean something to someone else than finding a mail in your inbox after working with your head down on your product for the day saying that they appreciate what you’re doing. Or that they have similar experiences and then provide their take on things.

In the end, we’re all people trying to provide value and gain income to keep working at what we love to do. When people reach out to you and want to hook up with you, then you have a great – perhaps the best of these five – indication that you are surfing the right wave.

Conclusion

If I want you to take one thing away from this blog, it’s this:

Please don’t be obsessed with those obvious – and often purely positive – indications to decide if you’re doing well for yourself.

Look at the amount of attention you get and the amount of energy that people are putting into reaching out to you or sharing their opinion on you and/or your product.
It’s that value that’s the best indication for any maker that you’re resonating with others.

Don’t make a fuzz of it, BE THE FUZZ

Shipharder.com

Also published at Medium:Shipharder.

Edwin Klesman

from 1981 | husband | father of 3 | former (cross-platform) mobile developer | former Tech Lead @ startup | Team Lead (www.edu-deta.com) | Owner EEKAY ONLINE (www.eekayonline.com) #valuefirst #productdevelopment #consultancy | hooked on entrepreneurship, startups, product development, apps, SaaS

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Bringing you mindshaping content that helps you to build viable products & documenting my journey as I use the approach on this website for myself to build viable products.

About me

Edwin Klesman

from 1981 | husband | father of 3 | former (cross-platform) mobile developer | former Tech Lead @ startup | Team Lead (www.edu-deta.com) | Owner EEKAY ONLINE (www.eekayonline.com) #valuefirst #productdevelopment #consultancy | hooked on entrepreneurship, startups, product development, apps, SaaS

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