Launching a digital product when you're not a programmer... BuSo Exclusive

vinnypolston

vinnypolston

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What if I told you that you didn't have to be a programmer to have your own digital product? I’m talking premium WordPress plugins and mobile apps. If you had the groundwork laid out for you to follow; a path to take to making bank… Would you not follow said path?

Of course you would. That’s why you’re here right.

So what makes me qualified to make this outline for you? Well... I’m no programmer but I managed to create an awesome product that I ended up making $2,500 over 4 months’ time.

1mJ5t7x.jpg


This is your last chance.

After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill –the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill –you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember. All I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.

All I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more. There will be obstacles. Learn from what I went through and don’t make the same mistakes. There will be times when you think you’ve failed. You haven’t. There will be times when you feel that the project will never be done. It will. There will be times when you are so frustrated that you just want to go back; but you can’t. You took the red pill.

With that frame of mind we can now move forward. Let me tell you a story about the first iteration of the plugin I just sold. One that few were able to see. One that, not so long ago, I thought was the best it would get.

I hired an overseas developer that said he could get the entire project done for $450... Sounds like the a great deal –it wasn’t.

It only took the developer about two weeks for the initial version of WP Pumper. One that simply took a CSV spreadsheet and spun it with WordAI. It worked --or so I thought. I needed more features and the developer disappeared on me.

So I reached out to one of my friends who is a programmer. Why I didn’t go with him first, I don’t know. I should have though. He took a look over the code. What came next wasn’t good. It wasn’t pretty. He was able to find where the previous guy literally just copied and pasted from other free plugins and hacked mine together.

I was furious and dumbfounded all at the same time. You see, since I’m not a developer I had to take the previous developers word. I thought I had done well. Filtering out prospective developers by only allowing those with 100+ hours and 4+ star ratings. Then choosing the least expensive bid from that criteria. Man was I wrong.

When I contacted my buddy to add some features… we completely scrapped everything I had just paid for and started from scratch. About $500 later I had the second version of wp pumper which now was able to do its main function: pull and spin RSS feeds. I had literally wasted $450.

So what did I learn from this? Cheap does not equal quality. It pays to pay more. What? Yeah. Don’t be cheap when it comes to development. Ask questions. Don’t just take the cheapest developer you can find.
 
What to look for in a developer:

So what happens if you don’t’ know a programmer? You have several different options to find a reputable one. My suggestion is to have them do a small project first. Maybe ask for a simple version of what you’re wanting your plugin/project to be. Some places you might not have thought of for finding developers:

· Craigslist: This would be the first place I would look for a developer. You might not get “overseas” prices… but this route you can actually meet the developer in person. You can get a good feel for someone’s character just by meeting them.

· Elance / odesk: These are the obvious choices, but be careful. I would suggest hiring someone in the same country as you are in. You can hire people who will do cheap work from elsewhere –and get cheap quality in return. Your focus should be on creating a good product. Trust me on this. The better your product is the less support issues you will have to handle.

· Envato Studio: Heard of Themeforest, CodeCanyon, etc? Did you know that the same parent company has a large marketplace of freelancers just waiting to help you? They do. It’s called Envato Studio. It’s not as large as elance/odesk but you can still get some good work done. Same as before I would hire someone for a cheap job and if you’re satisfied contact them for something more in depth. Develop a professional relationship with them.

· Local Colleges / Universities: Call up your local college and get the contact information of any programming professors. Ask them if they have any outstanding students that they believe would be good for an internship. This does two things. You’re having someone who actually knows their stuff vouching for a student. On top of that, the student would take it seriously knowing that their professor is watching their every move.

· Behance: You don’t just need a good programmer. It has to look good too. Check out behance.net (a community owned by Adobe). It’s kind of like an online portfolio for artists. Check out their work. Send them a message asking if they would like to be a part of a project or available for hire. Some of the quality that these guys put out is insane.
 
What would I do differently?

I’ve only launched one product –and already know tons of things I would have done differently. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

1. One of the smartest things I did when I launched was doing a ‘soft launch’. I only sold like 30 copies of the plugin. Although I had been using it for months and hadn’t had issues –I knew others would. By limiting the initial sales I accomplished two things. Most importantly I was able to give good support with a reasonable response time. On top of that I was able to build a knowledge base of common questions that I kept handy for future support issues.

2. The product is only as good as the support provided. You can have the most amazing product –but if the support is substandard, your customers will not be happy. An unhappy customer is very eager to tell others about how horrible your product is (even though it might not be). Treat every customer like a person, not a number. I was sure to send customers a thank you for purchasing the product. Establish a relationship with the customer from the beginning and let them know you care… because you really do care. Don’t come off fake.

3. Be careful what other products your product relies on. For wppumper it was completely reliant on another great service, wordai. Without realizing it I had completely limited my potential customer base to only wordai customers. I would either have to continue selling to only wordai customers or add other spinning options. Before selling it I was looking at option #2. So lesson learned. Weight out what services your product relies heavily on before committing to anything. If I could go back I would add the ability to not spin and at least 1 more spinning option.

Well there you have it. My short guide to launching a digital product even though you’re not a programmer. I really hope you guys find it helpful. If you have any questions, please do leave a comment!
 
But most importantly. Shout out to @CCarter for the advice during development. This guy knows his stuff. Not everyone out there is willing to help without making you feel dumb
 
Lol! You mean outsource your stuff :smile: I reduce your thread in just one phrase, but I guess your notes and tips are valuable :smile: I didn't know you're the owner of WP-Pumper !

And I wish you more success with your project.
 
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Great post. Seriously Vinny I've been looking for a topic like this, and honestly I've heard great things about WP Pumper! As soon as I cycle away from doing Parasites after January, I'll be all over the plugin if I can get a copy.

I'm actually working on a site right now though, with the aim of eventually launching an info product at the end of February / Beginning of March. Long term, this project should be looking to have a number of plugins built and marketed to it's audience. So this kind of discussion is really useful to me, and I'm sure a number of other guys here on BuSo.

One thing I would like to ask if you don't mind indulging me, as I know it's a bit off-topic, is whether or not you were happy with the marketing you did, looking back on the launch now (soft launch excluded as it's a great idea) would you have done anything different?

Thanks for putting this together.

- RF
 
I like the lesson of "soft-launching" which basically lets you crowd-source your beta testing, if you can call it that. Primes it for the masses. I agree on depending on other services too. It's like everyone says about depending on google for traffic too. You lose control.

Great post Now I just need an idea for a product and some money to pay someone to code it
 
I always link this in similar threads:
http://blindapeseo.com/business/how-to-manage-outsourced-development-projects

My background here:
I have been doing project management for over 8 years (CTO for 3 years now).
IN this time, I worked with on site developers, onshored teams, offshore teams, outsourced products, and any mixture of the above.
Projects were ranging from simple websites to banking software to websites.
Teams in size from 1-20 developers in up to 4 countries.
Let's pretend I have some ideas about this.

So any questions (after reading that series) - hit me up.

::emp::
 
@RomesFall,

Really appreciate it! I hope it helps others get the initiative to know that it IS possible. Although I’m no longer in development of WPPumper, I would still suggest it to anyone. Peyton who has taken over the project is a programmer by trade and should be able to crank out fixes and features faster than I was able to.

I hope your project works out!! Definitely put your all into it and double check all of your work. Definitely don’t mind you asking. To answer if I was happy with the marketing I did and If I would have done anything differently… yes.

I say yes because, honestly, I’m not the greatest marketer. Thinking back I would have loved to offer a very limited version for free and offer people to upgrade to add features. I really think that’s the direction things are going. How often do you see a “free” plugin on the Wordpress repository only to see that the good features are available as upgrade for a reasonable rate? ALL THE TIME! It’s opening you up to so many more people initially by using it as a… traffic leak. GASP!

So I suppose if I went back, I would have offered a free (non-spinning version) on the WP repository. Than offered different spinning add-ons for a reasonable fee.

@Samwise89,

Appreciate the kind words! Although a soft launch was to make sure that support on my end was top-notch, you’re right. It does kind of work out to be a crowd-sourced beta test in a way. I didn’t go out with those intentions but it definitely plays out that way.

@emp,

Appreciate the article. Sent you a PM!
 
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I know... Changing hosts and for once they move dns fast.
Thought I had a few hours. Need to feed the kids and bring them to bed... Then quick WP install and importing the backup.

Sorry for the inconvenience

::emp::
 
Alright.. site back up.

Let me know when / if there is a problem somewhere.

Updraft Plus - I can recommend that plugin.

::emp::
 
Thanks for the info. You say that your first go around with this strategy earned you $2,500 over 4 months. Was that because of lack of experience, or did you hit a ceiling with the amount that could be earned within the market? If I'm going to be spending 4 to 6 months on a project, I would be expecting a lot more money for my time. I feel like $2,500 barely covers 1 month of expenses for most people here.
 
+1 thanks for being so open about your experience, it's always great to read about massive successes but people aren't always as forthcoming when it's their first crack at something.
 
stackcash said:
Thanks for the info. You say that your first go around with this strategy earned you $2,500 over 4 months. Was that because of lack of experience, or did you hit a ceiling with the amount that could be earned within the market? If I'm going to be spending 4 to 6 months on a project, I would be expecting a lot more money for my time. I feel like $2,500 barely covers 1 month of expenses for most people here.
Click to expand...

True but I doubt he spent 40 hours a week for 4 months to pump this out, considering he outsourced the coding and what not. I'd happily take 2.5k profit over 4 months for something that I could run along side other businesses with minimal involvement.
 
Thanks @stackcash & @MetaData -- Great question. I believe it had a lot to do with lack of experience. Running it through the first time there are numerous things I would have done differently, as posted above. I believe the market is not too saturated to have made doulbe that --had I marketed it more.

But @Devil Anse was right on. This wasn't a full time job by any means. I work a full time job and was able to do this on the side. If I had treated it like a full time job I think it could have been exponentially more profitable.
 
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