1638: Why You Should Build Your Product In Public AND How I Use My Email List by Ryan Hoover

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Why You Should Build Your Product In Public by Ryan Hoover of RyanHoover.me. Last week I created mockups of an improved comment system for Product Hunt. The design certainly wasn't perfect, it wasn't even complete, but I shared them anyway and I'm glad I did. Within 24 hours I received over 50 annotated pieces of feedback from the community. Via Twitter, you can see this post for screenshots,

[00:00:27] I quickly discovered what they liked, what they found unclear, found concerning, what was broken, and best of all new ideas to make Product Hunt even better. I began to wonder why more startups aren't doing this. Benefits of Building in Public There are legitimate reasons not to be this transparent, but in my honest opinion the majority of startups, especially those building a community, have more to gain than lose.

[00:00:51] By providing a sneak peek and involving users in the design process, founders can, one, increase buy-in. People want to be heard and when their feedback is acknowledged, their investment in the product increases. Even better, if their ideas are incorporated into the final product, like Jeffrey's sorting suggestion, they feel a sense of ownership, and rightfully so, leading to increased engagement and loyalty. 2. Get Feedback Early

[00:01:18] It's often difficult for designers to see usability issues when they're so close to the product. Fresh perspective is helpful, as shown in the feedback shared in this post. Early feedback, ideally before design is committed to code, results in a better product and less waste. Of course, people don't always know what they want, especially for products driven by emotional needs. The best product designers know what to listen to, what to ignore, and how to identify useful feedback.

[00:01:47] 3. Excite the People We love sneak peeks. Fanboys pay a premium for a backstage pass to their favorite band. Kickstarter backers pledge top-tier prices for behind-the-scenes early access. It's fun to get a preview of what's to come, to see the inner workings of a startup. This excitement captures the attention of consumers and creates evangelists for the product. 4. A Trend Toward Transparency I'm not the only one building in public. In fact, there appears to be a growing trend in this direction.

[00:02:17] 5. Monkey Inferno Last year, Monkey Inferno reacquired the once successful social network Bebo and set out to revive the brand through a series of apps. Instead of taking a traditional approach, building a product and revealing it to users for the first time months later, they created Bebo Insiders, a mobile app to give their anxious audience a preview of what they're building.

[00:02:39] As the team iterates on their next mobile app, Bebo Insider users receive a push notification soliciting feedback. Within the app, fans can chat in real time with the CEO himself, Sha'an Puri, offering their input. 5. Buffer Buffer may be the most transparent startup around. They're public with employees' salaries, employee equity options, monthly financials, and culture principles. 6. Quib

[00:03:04] Sandy McPherson, Editor-in-Chief of Quib, is known for her authenticity and personal touch. This January, she announced a friends and family round, giving the community an opportunity to invest in the company. Is there a better way to get users invested in the product than having them invest their own money? Assembly Assembly

[00:03:22] When Matt Dieters, Assembly's CEO and I met up to chat about his new startup idea, I enthusiastically expressed excitement and skepticism of the crowd-building platform. Assembly-made products are literally built in public, crazy ambitious and potentially very disruptive. Its users submit product ideas and submissions that receive enough support are designed and built by the community itself.

[00:03:44] Each project's feature ideas, roadmap, contributions, designs, code, etc., and financials are exposed to the world. But what's most unique is that the people building the product receive equity, compensation for their contributions. Empowering Public Builders Furthermore, we now have more tools to empower creators to build in public. Funding Kickstarter, CrowdTilt, Patreon, and AlphaWorks enable businesses to raise money directly from their audience.

[00:04:15] Communication Intercom, Customer.io, and Olark provide direct access to users opening a channel to communicate. But what's arguably most impactful is Twitter, which has removed barriers to engage with people and broadcast information personally. Storytelling Medium's simple writing platform makes it easier for founders to share their story. And Marketing Thunderclap assembles fans to spread news through Facebook and Twitter in a coordinated, crowd-marking event.

[00:04:45] While not every startup can or should build in public, I appreciate those that do and look forward to seeing more companies funded, designed, and supported directly by their users in non-traditional ways. I've found tremendous value in feedback from the Product Hunt community and the positive influence sharing its story in public has had in building community. Will you build in public?

[00:05:11] How I Use My Email List by Ryan Hoover of RyanHoover.me One of the hardest challenges in building an audience blogging is retaining and engaging with readers. Blogging often feels ephemeral. After publishing a piece, I often share it on Twitter, Quib, and occasionally Hacker News if the topic's appropriate. Sometimes it catches on, sometimes it doesn't, but in either case the majority of those readers never engage return to my blog. That's right, I have a leaky bucket problem.

[00:05:41] So I started pushing my email list, teasing upcoming blog posts, and a free copy of a book I'm working on. It's only been a few weeks, but here's how I've approached it. Personally Welcome Each time a new subscriber signs up, MailChimp sends me a lovely email notification. Within 24 hours, I send a personal email to each and every person, thanking them for subscribing and attempting to engage them in conversation. Quote

[00:06:05] Hey Dale, thanks for subscribing. By the way, any blog posts you're most interested in reading about? End quote It's short and succinct. About 70% reply, some of which prefix their response with, quote This is probably just an automated message, but... End quote Which always amuses me. This isn't the most scalable or efficient, but these interactions have formed new relationships and extended existing ones. I enjoy it, and it's a great way to get feedback. F-Automation

[00:06:35] Most bloggers have a script that simply rebroadcasts their blog posts to their email list. This is lazy and uninteresting. In my humble opinion, email lists shouldn't just be a rehash of your blog. We already receive enough newsletters. How many of them do you actually read? Instead, I... talk to subscribers. Here's what I sent out last week. Quote Hey there! A few weeks ago, my buddy Nathan and I stumbled on an idea inspired by a few tweets. Ah, the power of serendipity.

[00:07:03] The concept is to bring together a few bloggers we respect to answer one question each week. The first question, how do you invest in yourself? Take a look at questionclub.co and let me know what you think. Just reply to this email. P.S. I wrote a few essays this weekend in case you missed them. End quote. And then there are links to the essays in the email. The results.

[00:07:25] I only just started, so my sample size is small, but thus far my emails have been opened at about a 60% rate and I've got about a 30% click-through rate. Not bad. If nothing else, I enjoy chatting with my followers and will be experimenting and testing different approaches in the coming weeks. You just listened to the posts titled, Why You Should Build Your Product In Public and How I Use My Email List, both by Ryan Hoover of RyanHoover.me.

[00:07:56] All right, that's going to do it for today. Hope you enjoyed our doubleheader from Ryan Hoover and I'll be back here with you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits. Let's see.