Thanks for the write up. I totally understand where you're coming from with the "it just takes hard work and experience".
But that doesn't mean you should skimp on the details. The reason HN is so awesome is because the contributors say things like "I was able to put some money into reddit ads, I got a 5% conversion rate, and then called my friend that works at company X and it turns out they were having a sale and I'd worked with them before, so I ordered 500 tshirts priced at $6. With $5 shipping, I charged $15 and obtained a $4 margin on each shirt sold. So I made $2k." These are the kinds of blog posts that are truly awesome and valuable, and continue to be valuable over time.
Instead, you're turning this 4 hour startup into a series of articles and trying to pump out as many pageviews as you can to your blog. This first post had nothing your original HN post didn't.
Your idea was very good and you acted quickly. Congrats. I'm not trying to bust balls, it's just a pet peeve of mine. Details would be cool.
EDIT: an example is in order. your "short answer" of "I've done it before" is unhelpful for anyone aspiring to do anything remotely similar.
I think you misunderstood the blog post. I don't give a shit about pageviews on my blog. I know you guys care about the details (I get the same way when hearing about other projects) and that's exactly what I'm going to deliver. In all honesty, I would have written one long post packed full of details, but my brain is running on empty right now and I just don't have it in me. Admittedly, the first blog post was a bit weak. Like the post said, I haven't slept in days. How well are your critical thinking skills after being awake for almost 3 days straight? So instead of trying to write and analyse everything in one big burst I'm splitting it up. But I'll get it all out as soon as I can, before I forget anything.
And yes - stats and hard numbers are interesting, but I think there's more to a good analysis than that. I want to help fellow hackers get better. If I told you I had a 5% conversion rate, turned a $4 margin on each shirt and and sold 500 of them, would that help you in any way at all? I think not. That won't bring you any closer to being successful. But if I told you that I optimized the conversion rate by making a dead-simple bullshit-free site, a single shirt design, and no distracting ads, then maybe you could learn a thing or two that could help with future projects. These are the things that really matter.
Comments
Thanks for the write up. I totally understand where you're coming from with the "it just takes hard work and experience".
But that doesn't mean you should skimp on the details. The reason HN is so awesome is because the contributors say things like "I was able to put some money into reddit ads, I got a 5% conversion rate, and then called my friend that works at company X and it turns out they were having a sale and I'd worked with them before, so I ordered 500 tshirts priced at $6. With $5 shipping, I charged $15 and obtained a $4 margin on each shirt sold. So I made $2k." These are the kinds of blog posts that are truly awesome and valuable, and continue to be valuable over time.
Instead, you're turning this 4 hour startup into a series of articles and trying to pump out as many pageviews as you can to your blog. This first post had nothing your original HN post didn't.
Your idea was very good and you acted quickly. Congrats. I'm not trying to bust balls, it's just a pet peeve of mine. Details would be cool.
EDIT: an example is in order. your "short answer" of "I've done it before" is unhelpful for anyone aspiring to do anything remotely similar.
I think you misunderstood the blog post. I don't give a shit about pageviews on my blog. I know you guys care about the details (I get the same way when hearing about other projects) and that's exactly what I'm going to deliver. In all honesty, I would have written one long post packed full of details, but my brain is running on empty right now and I just don't have it in me. Admittedly, the first blog post was a bit weak. Like the post said, I haven't slept in days. How well are your critical thinking skills after being awake for almost 3 days straight? So instead of trying to write and analyse everything in one big burst I'm splitting it up. But I'll get it all out as soon as I can, before I forget anything.
And yes - stats and hard numbers are interesting, but I think there's more to a good analysis than that. I want to help fellow hackers get better. If I told you I had a 5% conversion rate, turned a $4 margin on each shirt and and sold 500 of them, would that help you in any way at all? I think not. That won't bring you any closer to being successful. But if I told you that I optimized the conversion rate by making a dead-simple bullshit-free site, a single shirt design, and no distracting ads, then maybe you could learn a thing or two that could help with future projects. These are the things that really matter.
Looking forward to it.