Share content related to independent development and product monetization, released every Friday.
Table of contents
1、xiaogpt – 用小爱同学用上ChatGPT2、fly-cut: Web端视频编辑工具3、【增长营销】4个步骤让销售额从0美元增长到3.5万美元4、在线写作课程年收入30万美元
1.xiaogpt – Use ChatGPT with XiaoAi
This is an open source project that requires at least:
- OpenAI API
- Xiaoai Audio
- A normal internet connection or proxy
- Python 3.8+
The implementation principle is roughly as follows:
- First, we need to continuously obtain the conversation history
- Test revChatGPT is feasible
- Using MiService call tts is feasible
- All that’s left is to write code
Then, you need a computer that keeps running, or a NAS that supports Docker deployment. The author also provides a step-by-step video tutorial for reference, and interested students can try it out.
xiaogpt open source project address
2. fly-cut: Web-based video editing tool
This is an open source project, a web-based editing tool based on Webcodecs + Vue3, similar to the web version of Jianying. There is an online experience website that can be used. The video synthesis is all based on the browser front-end, and it is a complete front-end implementation.
fly-cut open source project address
3.[Growth Marketing]4 Steps to Increase Sales from $0 to $35,000
Our product, JustBeepIt, had no marketing budget and no sales.
JustBeepIt makes it easy to share feedback, explanations and instructions online, including screenshots. Just tap on the web page, write down your thoughts and share them with anyone!
So we’ve listed all the ways you can boost your visibility and sales for free:
- Launch on Product Hunt
- Post on Reddit, Medium, Indiehackers
- Publish on AppSumo Select
- Stay active on LinkedIn and Twitter
1. We started with the Product Hunt launch.
Our goal was obviously to get #1. We took this goal very seriously and started preparing 4 weeks in advance. Our strategy was to grow our email list to 3-4k people and reach out to them via email or PM on the day of the launch. This strategy worked and we got #1. I wrote a separate post on Medium describing our strategy.
2. Write posts on IndieHackers, Reddit, and Medium. I developed a strategy for writing posts called “Infinite Marketing Glitch”. The idea was simple, every time we had a success, big or small, I would write a post. For example: “Our first 100 users”, “Our first sale”, “Got #1 on ProductHunt”, etc. Many of these posts would go viral. I described this strategy in a Medium post, and it even got me on the front page of IndieHackers.
3. Stay active on LinkedIn and Twitter. This is a simple strategy that many founders overlook. Just post content about the company. I post at least 5 posts a week about our product and its failures and successes. This currently drives nearly 40% of our overall traffic. LinkedIn is particularly good for B2B products. Twitter is great for finding first-time users. By posting content about our company, I not only drove thousands of people to our landing page, but also grew my account from 100 followers to over 2,000.
4. AppSumo Select This is the last step of our strategy. You may know AppSumo, but do you know AppSumo Select? If you enter this program, they will pay for your ads, which is very beneficial for people like us who don’t have a marketing budget. But to enter this program, your product needs to have something unique. The reason they accepted us was most likely because of our performance on ProductHunt and a lot of good reviews.
Overall, our product JustBeepIt made $12,000 last month, and $35,000 in total sales, all using the method I described here. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
4. Online writing courses earn $300,000 a year
Hi! My name is Jorden Makelle. I started out as a freelance writer online, and now I run Writing Revolt, a blog and YouTube channel that helps freelance writers learn how to make money online.
I encourage writers to stay away from exploitative content mills and bidding sites and instead start a truly sustainable writing business.
In my best-selling course, Killer Cold Emailing, students can learn how to become a freelance writer from scratch – just like I did when I lost my job in 2015! I also have a blog writing course, F Yeah Freelance Blogging, where students can learn how to write effective blog posts for clients.
My online business now brings in a six-figure income, and more importantly, I’ve been able to build an incredible online community and help thousands of writers succeed and live their dream lives!
How did you get into freelance writing?
In 2015, my husband and I lost our full-time jobs on the same day. It was a very anxiety-inducing day, and we walked out of the office with no idea what we were going to do next.
Getting fired ultimately pushed me to start my own freelance writing business, and the sense of urgency of not having a backup plan really pushed me to succeed!
About four months into my unemployment, I reached my first $5,000 a month in freelance writing income. This was despite my lack of a college degree and very little experience. My freelance writing business continued to grow, with monthly revenue exceeding $8,000. I was finally living my dream life, working from home full-time and writing for a living, something I had wanted to do for years!
Being able to fulfill this dream made me realize that I wanted to help other people start writing at home, too. That was the genesis of the blog Writing Revolt!
Through trial and error, I created a very unique marketing and cold emailing process. So I put all of this information into the “Killer Cold Emailing” course, which was the first online course I created and published. Today, it is my most popular and best-selling course, and has helped many beginner writers start full-time freelance writing businesses from home!
Walk us through the process of making your first product
When I started freelancing in 2015, I searched everywhere for a real step-by-step process for getting started with freelance writing. Specifically, I wanted to know how to pitch/cold email and create a marketing plan that would ensure my long-term success.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find much! Most courses and tutorials seemed to cover a lot of different marketing strategies – but no comprehensive, step-by-step plan that worked together. I had to create my own step-by-step strategy through trial and error.
I was very intentional about launching the course without focusing too much on the tiny details like branding, logos, etc. I quickly made a course logo myself on Canva using a purchased font and chose a few simple colors for the branding. Then, I focused entirely on the most important part — creating the course content that I knew would change people’s lives and teach them how to start freelance writing.
As an online course, the production costs were very low. My biggest “cost” was the time and effort I put into creating the course and setting up the blog ahead of time, which took about a few months.
Describe the process of launching your first course
My first launch of the Killer Cold Emailing course took place from late November to early December 2016. That launch looked completely different compared to what I'm launching now, but considering my experience and email list size, it was still very successful! I made about $6,000 from the launch and helped many writers get started with their businesses, which gives me great satisfaction and a lot of meaning to continue teaching my process.
I had several thousand email subscribers at the time, but I only sent the launch email series to 300 people who specifically opted in.
Below is part of one of the early launch emails. I wanted to make sure I was selling, but doing it in an ethical and authentic way. I also shared specific content from the course so there would be no confusion.
To create a sense of urgency during the launch, I offered 20% off special VIP pricing to anyone who signed up before the deadline.
I remember the course was only about $189 at the time. I wanted to give my readers an incredible deal and keep the price low as a way of thanking them for being one of the first students and trusting the Killer Cold Emailing course and process.
After that, I put the course up for sale on my website to get regular sales, which come sporadically, but my postings are really the main source of my online course income.
Since launch, what methods have been effective in attracting and retaining customers?
Over the past year or so, I’ve made a big shift in my business. I used to try to do it all — running a large Facebook community of writers, constantly posting on Instagram, consistently writing and publishing blog posts, etc.
Now, instead of spreading myself thin trying to do everything, I focus almost 100% on two things:
My YouTube channel and my email newsletter.
YouTube
As for YouTube, I now have over 43,000 subscribers. It's a very positive community and a refreshing corner of the internet!
When I started posting content on YouTube, I wasn't a video content expert. I simply used best practices for SEO and general content structure. Luckily, that was enough to get me started, and one of the first videos I posted now has over 200,000 views!
Really, success on YouTube is just about using the same general strategies for growing a blog – fostering a genuine community, having a strong brand, creating high-quality evergreen content to get lots of search traffic, etc. Once I did all of that on YouTube and added more video skills like better editing, my channel grew much faster.
Email Newsletter
I currently have 28,000 email subscribers and I really enjoy hearing from my audience. I try to read every newsletter response and reply to most of them! I typically send out a newsletter once a week and then send out course launch emails to my list almost a few times a year.
Overall, I’ve found that I really enjoy my newsletters and YouTube because they allow me to have a more genuine and meaningful interaction with my audience than the typical social media approach.
I feel like I can be successful at marketing because, ironically, successful marketing isn’t the only thing I care about! I’m really passionate about the writing community and I genuinely care about it. I hope that comes through in my content and everything I post online!
What are the future prospects?
I’ve gotten to a good point in my business where I’m able to take care of myself while also taking care of my audience – which has always been my biggest goal. I’ve also been able to travel full time, which has always been a huge dream of mine!
My business is extremely profitable, and I am so grateful to have the freedom I always expected when I was working full-time. Plus, I get to help others achieve that, too, which is extremely fulfilling! Especially at this time in history, the freedom to work from home is more important than ever.
As for traffic building, I don’t use paid advertising at all. I teach in-depth online courses via webinars, and then at the end of each webinar, I market my online courses.
Typically, about 3% of people who enter the sales funnel end up signing up, which is a great conversion rate, and I believe this is largely due to the large number of referrals I have for my course.
What did you learn that was particularly useful or beneficial?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve always held true is to not let perfectionism get in the way of getting started.
My first blog design was very simple. I made some embarrassing mistakes on my first post that I never made. And my first YouTube video was shot on my bedroom floor and it was blurry!
But all of those mistakes were necessary steps to get me to where I am today. That’s why I always tell my audience: You have to feel the fear, but still take action. What you create the first time may not be great, but it’s a necessary step to success.
What tools do you use for your business?
When it comes to business tools, I’m a simplification fan – sticking with proven, effective processes and not getting confused by the latest thing or change for the sake of change!
I often use Google Calendar and Canva for task management and content creation because they are almost synonymous with “proven and effective processes.”
Other tools I use and like are ConvertKit for email newsletters, Teachable for online course creation, and SamCart for checkout.
I've been using most of the same tools since I started, but SamCart is a recent addition to my business. It's awesome because you have a ton of control and choice in the checkout process that really impacts revenue and also creates a great experience for your customers.
At the end of the day, any tool I choose has to provide a great experience for my audience and provide me with an easy user experience behind the scenes. When those two things intersect, I know I’ve found a tool I can use long term.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs who are thinking of starting out or are just starting out?
Be willing to make a fool of yourself. Don’t be afraid to fail publicly, accept it as an inevitable step on the road to success.
Most people are so afraid of being judged or criticized by others that they never pursue their dreams.
If this is you, ask yourself: Do you dare to try?
“You have to feel the fear, but still take action!”
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