I'll be honest ... I'm feeling kind of beat up right now.
I launched a niche dating site back in January. Back then, I was feeling high as a kite. I had spent 13 months in development ... assembled a platform that was second to none in the niche ... and thought I had rolled out something truly unique.
A metaphorical Lamborghini in a sea of competing minivans.
The response ...?
Apathy.
The challenge isn't getting people to stay. The people who join ... really love the site.
The challenge is getting people to walk in the door and create a profile in the first place.
Creating a better product ... just isn't enough.
One of the main problems is that so many "me too" sites have been pushed on my target audience ... simple out-of-the-box crap sites ... they are mentally exhausted with "newcomers" as a whole.
They expect my site ... to be just like those "cookie cutter" sites that have come before me.
They expect to see a minivan.
They expect Goliath ... and the other established sites ... to kick David's a$$.
Just like he did to everyone else.
So they stay put where they are.
Google Plus has this problem. Bing has this problem. And now I have this problem.
Convincing people ... that this site ... is going to be something different. Something better.
The analogy that comes to mind is a supermarket ... where they are handing out free samples of new products ... but in THIS supermarket ... everything they hand you tastes like shit.
And then they get to you ... your sample tastes incredible ... but because of their lousy experience with the free samples before you ... they pass you by ... and walk out with a "safe" product instead ... the one they already know.
It is so unbelievably frustrating.
Every single thing ... my target audience ever asked for ... I've given it to them. Every single thing ... I've ever heard them bitch moan and complain about on the other sites ... I've cured. I have solved legitimate problems ... and bring new value to the table.
Apathy.
The focus of the first seven months have (admittedly) been perfecting the site itself. I have only promoted the site in a very small test market. I wanted everything to be perfect before I did a large scale launch. Iron out the bugs. Get some feedback. Adjust. That was critical.
But as I look ahead ... and start shifting my focus to marketing ... and launching the site on a large scale ... I am genuinely concerned. History tends to repeat itself.
And I have not (yet) figured out how to overcome the apathy problem.
Do I think I'll figure it out ...? Yes ... I do.
I'll keep throwing shit at the wall until I figure out what sticks. I imagine it is going to take time.
Anyway ...
I am not entirely sure why I am sharing this ... maybe I just need somewhere to vent ...
I survived 13 months in the Desert of Desertion.
But the Deserts of "Perceived" Need and User Apathy ... never saw it coming.
I launched a niche dating site back in January. Back then, I was feeling high as a kite. I had spent 13 months in development ... assembled a platform that was second to none in the niche ... and thought I had rolled out something truly unique.
A metaphorical Lamborghini in a sea of competing minivans.
The response ...?
Apathy.
The challenge isn't getting people to stay. The people who join ... really love the site.
The challenge is getting people to walk in the door and create a profile in the first place.
Creating a better product ... just isn't enough.
One of the main problems is that so many "me too" sites have been pushed on my target audience ... simple out-of-the-box crap sites ... they are mentally exhausted with "newcomers" as a whole.
They expect my site ... to be just like those "cookie cutter" sites that have come before me.
They expect to see a minivan.
They expect Goliath ... and the other established sites ... to kick David's a$$.
Just like he did to everyone else.
So they stay put where they are.
Google Plus has this problem. Bing has this problem. And now I have this problem.
Convincing people ... that this site ... is going to be something different. Something better.
The analogy that comes to mind is a supermarket ... where they are handing out free samples of new products ... but in THIS supermarket ... everything they hand you tastes like shit.
And then they get to you ... your sample tastes incredible ... but because of their lousy experience with the free samples before you ... they pass you by ... and walk out with a "safe" product instead ... the one they already know.
It is so unbelievably frustrating.
Every single thing ... my target audience ever asked for ... I've given it to them. Every single thing ... I've ever heard them bitch moan and complain about on the other sites ... I've cured. I have solved legitimate problems ... and bring new value to the table.
Apathy.
The focus of the first seven months have (admittedly) been perfecting the site itself. I have only promoted the site in a very small test market. I wanted everything to be perfect before I did a large scale launch. Iron out the bugs. Get some feedback. Adjust. That was critical.
But as I look ahead ... and start shifting my focus to marketing ... and launching the site on a large scale ... I am genuinely concerned. History tends to repeat itself.
And I have not (yet) figured out how to overcome the apathy problem.
Do I think I'll figure it out ...? Yes ... I do.
I'll keep throwing shit at the wall until I figure out what sticks. I imagine it is going to take time.
Anyway ...
I am not entirely sure why I am sharing this ... maybe I just need somewhere to vent ...
I survived 13 months in the Desert of Desertion.
But the Deserts of "Perceived" Need and User Apathy ... never saw it coming.
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