#03 — Focusing on pre-launch & promotion
Ivan Klimchuk
Principal Software Engineer @ Galactica Games | 15+ years in the EdTech, FinTech, and eComm industries.
Hello there ??,
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It is the weekly newsletter where I share insights and productivity tips to help you succeed as an indie maker. In addition, I plan to write weekly reflections on my experiences as an indie maker.
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??Productivity Tip
Change the place to refresh your mind ??
This time I want to share some tips that I read in the book “Atomic Habits” written by James Clear. It is not about productivity itself, but it is still very useful.
Our habits often rely on the places where we used to do something. When we visit these locations, we activate certain habits. We don't even think about it. It just happens, like a pattern. It means that if we used to start working days with a cup of coffee and reading the news, changing this behavior just because we have a desire is almost impossible. We need to break the usual behavioral loop.
My example. I’ve tried to read a paper book before work many times. I used to use the same pattern. Every day I usually make a cup of coffee, sit down in my chair, and… start checking emails, Twitter, updating my code environment, and other stuff. When did I remember about the book that was right in front of me? Correct, after around 1 hour. I wasted that hour, to be honest. I did not work or read.
To solve it, I changed the place. I started reading near the sofa, sitting on the floor. It works well for me during the weekends as well, when I'm looking after my 8-month-old daughter. When she plays, I can read. At other times, I also go to the living room and read there. In the cabinet, I can only work with my laptop. Changing places clears our patterns, and it may help you concentrate on the task you would like to accomplish.
If you would like to do something that you could not start for a long time, try to change the place. It should be different from your usual working area. Try to change the room or just site in the room. It is necessary to break your usual patterns.
???Personal Insight
Collaboration always gives energy ??
I discovered it sometime before. However, when I started learning how indie makers live and do their projects, I remembered it again. I have a simple example that comes from my cycling experience in the past.
I like cycling and riding for long distances. In other words, something like marathons, but only on the bike. People who do it are called randonneurs. The rides in which we participate are called brevets. It is not a race for first place, but rather a competition with yourself. You have to ride the distance on the track during the given time. 200 km in 13 hours and 30 minutes, for example. It is the starting distance. It is pretty hard if you are not well-trained.
At one such race, I almost completed the distance. It was around 150?km on my bike computer, and I was exhausted. I even thought to finish the ride and return home. But at some point, I met another rider, and we started to ride together.
We still had about 60 kilometers to go before we were done. First, I rode first, and he followed me. Next time, we changed the order, and I followed him. Such swaps allowed us to ride at a faster pace and still arrive in time for the finish. It was still difficult, but it's worth noting that the last mile wasn't completed at the fastest possible speed on the entire track. Remember, it was a 200+ km distance!
According to analogies with indie making, I found out that it is pretty essential to be in the community, see how other people rush, and try to do the same. At some point, I had a feeling of jealousy and disappointment. I see what they are doing, but I am not, because of work, kids, etc. I fought these thoughts and tried to find positive moments.
It works like cycling. People in the community can give you energy. They can offer advice and assist with difficult questions. They're simply competing in the same race as you. Actually, they help you stay on the right track. If you're tired or disappointed, share it, get help, and continue — don't give up. It is pretty important!
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?? Next Week Focus
The emphasis on the coming week remains as planned. I want to start validating the idea and running a pre-sale campaign for my product, Growth Review, using the newly created landing page. I am still determining whether to charge money. But at least, I need to create a waitlist form and collect emails from potential customers to see the real interest.
The second goal is to improve my profile's presentation. I need to adjust it on Twitter and on the website. The issue is that I have recovered my website, but the page about projects is still empty. People go there and see that there is nothing. It is pretty bad, and I have to fix it.
???Ivan's Week Progress
There are updates for Week 02 of 2023.
Last week was pretty busy with tasks at work. Even more, I was on support duty, which means I have to be pretty reactive on every ticket from the customer. In such a case, it is very difficult to plan your own time, set any kind of time box, or use any other productivity technique.
During several evenings, I’ve been solving the technical issues and bootstrapping the landing page on the new domain, growthreview.guru. It still looks naked, but at least it is something with which I can continue.
Also, I’ve posted my insight from the previous issue as an article on Medium and my blog.
— The cumulative effect of social media activity (on Medium)
— The cumulative effect of social media activity (on klimchuk.dev)
The newsletter is starting to work better, thanks to some promotions done in the past week as well.
#buildinpublic in numbers
I do what I do, not for numbers. But at the same time, the numbers show how effectively I am moving forward. So I keep track of them.
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