7 ms·

There's a lot of literature on the web as to "how to validate" your idea, but not all of it is good so I'll reiterate the tactic that has worked for me, time an

There's a lot of literature on the web as to "how to validate" your idea, but not all of it is good so I'll reiterate the tactic that has worked for me, time and time again: Build a landing page, and send traffic to it. 1. Decide what your core value proposition is, then write enough copy to fill up a landing page. If you're not an experienced copywriter, hire this out. Otherwise, all you'll validate is your own ability to write shitty copy. 2. Make some fake screenshots. You don't have to be a photoshop wizard, chances are someone has implemented something that looks like whatever features you want to highlight, so just steal their screenshots and Photoshop your branding onto them if necessary. 3. Download a decent-looking Wordpress template. Host it on DigitalOcean, they have a preconfigured Wordpress droplet and you can get 2 months of hosting for free (more than enough time to validate your idea). 4. Set up an email subscription. This will give you a nice heuristic as to whether or not people find it valuable, and if a lot of people sign up, you have the added benefit of having a list of people to market to once you launch. You can do this with MailChimp, also for free. 5. (Only if you plan on charging) Build a "button to nowhere" with a pricetag attached. This is the true test of whether or not you've come up with something people will pay for. Make sure it actually does something, and be sure to tell people that they won't actually be charged, that you're just validating the idea and you're really happy they're interested. If they haven't already signed up for the newsletter, give them a chance to do so here. 6. Throw traffic at it. You can find coupon codes for AdWords and Bing Ads credits all over the place. Post it here, and promote the hell out of on various websites, mailing lists, etc. BetaList is a good one. 7. Personally talk to anyone that signed up for the email (preferably over the phone/Skype). Get a really good idea of the problem they want solved, and see what features they'd like. Ignore the made-up Henry Ford quote about faster horses; just be sure to take outside input with a grain of salt and you'll be fine. I can guarantee that if your landing page is decently appealing to the eye, and your copy adequately expresses your value proposition in an appealing way, then you will validate your idea. All of the above can be done for 0 money down, only a bit of time (which hopefully you have available to invest in spades, since you're considering doing building a product). Good luck, and if you need any help, shoot me an email: hello at duncanmsmith.com.

ilgarm 12y ago
Hi Duncan! I have done some of these already, and working on others right now. I have prepared landing page, set up mailing list, and going to put some ads. I still need to make sure landing page copy is good enough. Will also contact people who sign up, thanks for mentioning this! Will think about screenshots because what I currently have is only some text describing features.
ColinWright 12y ago
As a counter-point, every time I get sent to a "Look - I have an amazing new service!" that just sends me to a sign-up page I do two things: * Note never, ever, to sign up for it * Leave. I'm starting to hate this tactic with a passion. Probably you don't want my business anyway, but if you claim to have a facility and then send me to a non-functioning sign-up page I will actively take steps never to use your service.
- notduncansmith 12y ago
  To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception in most cases. Unless you're testing out something people will be buying (paid SaaS, book, etc) I do not recommend the button to nowhere. When asking people to "sign up", my advice would be to make it perfectly clear that the product isn't ready yet, and what they're signing up for is a notification when it is. "Get your exclusive beta invite" or some such copy will work fine here. As for losing your business because you thought this was something that already existed... well, you're certainly entitled to your opinions. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad?
  - ColinWright 12y ago
    > To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception > in most cases. "Most cases" ?? Usually the deception has already been perpetrated to get people to go to the page in the first place. Some shiny new thing is announced, it looks good, it looks interesting, I go to the site ... "Not ready yet - sign here to get an invitation to join the beta test when it's ready." I'm already there under false pretenses. It's incredibly frustrating, and happening more and more. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad? a) Usually these things lie on the margins - I don't remember the last time anyone addressed any real pain points - everything is slightly more convenient. b) When I feel like I've been deceived, when something appears to have been promised and then it turns out not to exist, I ask myself: Why should I trust these people at all, ever? c) I know it's a ploy, and I'm getting tired of it. If something's genuinely good, really worth my time, so excellent that I immediately see that I will save time, money, effort, and frustration, then of course I'll use it. What's the last service you saw that genuinely delivers on such a promise?

ilgarm 12y ago

Hi Duncan! I have done some of these already, and working on others right now. I have prepared landing page, set up mailing list, and going to put some ads. I still need to make sure landing page copy is good enough. Will also contact people who sign up, thanks for mentioning this! Will think about screenshots because what I currently have is only some text describing features.

ColinWright 12y ago

As a counter-point, every time I get sent to a "Look - I have an amazing new service!" that just sends me to a sign-up page I do two things: * Note never, ever, to sign up for it * Leave. I'm starting to hate this tactic with a passion. Probably you don't want my business anyway, but if you claim to have a facility and then send me to a non-functioning sign-up page I will actively take steps never to use your service.

notduncansmith 12y ago
To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception in most cases. Unless you're testing out something people will be buying (paid SaaS, book, etc) I do not recommend the button to nowhere. When asking people to "sign up", my advice would be to make it perfectly clear that the product isn't ready yet, and what they're signing up for is a notification when it is. "Get your exclusive beta invite" or some such copy will work fine here. As for losing your business because you thought this was something that already existed... well, you're certainly entitled to your opinions. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad?
- ColinWright 12y ago
  > To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception > in most cases. "Most cases" ?? Usually the deception has already been perpetrated to get people to go to the page in the first place. Some shiny new thing is announced, it looks good, it looks interesting, I go to the site ... "Not ready yet - sign here to get an invitation to join the beta test when it's ready." I'm already there under false pretenses. It's incredibly frustrating, and happening more and more. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad? a) Usually these things lie on the margins - I don't remember the last time anyone addressed any real pain points - everything is slightly more convenient. b) When I feel like I've been deceived, when something appears to have been promised and then it turns out not to exist, I ask myself: Why should I trust these people at all, ever? c) I know it's a ploy, and I'm getting tired of it. If something's genuinely good, really worth my time, so excellent that I immediately see that I will save time, money, effort, and frustration, then of course I'll use it. What's the last service you saw that genuinely delivers on such a promise?