

Companies looking for their first customers - abrimo
http://bemyfirstcustomer.com/

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abrimo
I've just started a company with one of my friends and now we are working on
getting our first customers. I read a lot of articles about the topic and it
seems everyone faces the same challenges. So I was thinking of creating a
place where startups could post their upcoming or newly released products and
early adopters could happily be their first customers.

I had some time yesterday so I created a site for it:
<http://bemyfirstcustomer.com/>

You essentially just add your product and some sort of discount or offer and
people will register their interest. Then you can just contact those people.
It's pretty informal, not like those coupon sites that cost money but
hopefully it will help people generate leads (if enough people use it).

What does everyone think? Does this already exist somewhere else?

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yoshyosh
This could be pretty cool if you keep the noise down by pre-approving products
in some way. I'm not sure if people would just go to the site to try to
bargain hunt, hard to say really. Seems that a mix of offering quality
products that are paid for by the site and offered intermittently, getting a
few sponsored accounts or just having really decent products could promote
return visitors. Some sort of newsletter could go a long way as well.

~~~
abrimo
Yea it's hard to know how it will end up. I kind of want to keep it open so
any startup can advertise their product/service. Instead of a groupon clone
where you have to have some awesome pre-approved deal to get listed.

Thanks for the suggestion, I've just added a field for you to put your email
address to hear about new offers.

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rkalla
This is like Groupon for startups... a really natural fit.

Company: "I need customers, I'm willing to give away product/services cheaply
to entice early signups."

Client: "I'm willing to try some unfamiliar product/service if I can get it
for a smokin' deal".

And then you step in and introduce them to each other. Nice.

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yangez
Seems like a nice idea to me, but it might work better if it was targeted more
for a certain niche of products. Otherwise customers get a ton of offers for
products they're not interested in at all.

For instance, the moment I saw those two offers at the bottom, I instantly got
turned off from the site. Not only do they look a bit like regular marketing
promotions, the services themselves don't interest me at all. On the other
hand, if there was a site like this for a niche I'm interested in, I would
definitely be more engaged.

~~~
yarone
Judging from the few products that are now listed, it does seem like there
needs to be some categorizing and/or curating. The offers need to be really
great, the products need to be really cool. I recognize that this isn't the
most insightful comment ever - the point is, it can't just be a free-for-all,
I think.

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aik
Interesting idea. It took me a moment to realize the incentive here (note: I
didn't care enough up front to read the text as there's "a lot" of it) --
perhaps the idea of offering something special should be made more visible.
Maybe you could break it down as simply as possible. Something like:

Provide a special incentive/offer and receive your first customer!

Why should YOU be my first customer? Because of this special offer...!

~~~
yhlasx
Partially agree, less text is [almost] always better. Pay more attention to
customer side. Use sharp expressions avoiding classic ones.

By classic, i imply expressions like "Special offer". They seem unappealing
and remind of spam. Never tell people to do something (like "you should"). It
is irritating for customers (Personally, I hate it).

[Update] Forgot to write, i think you really should work on the design.

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bane
I signed up on a lark. We'll see if it drives anything. _They_ may need help
getting _their_ first customer.

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yarone
Neat idea. Just posted my project (BugCam). Let's see how it goes. Note that I
am already using LaunchRock (see getbugcam.com) - if you service works than
you might want to integrate LaunchRock-style referral tools.

~~~
mikeleeorg
BugCam sounds neat. I've seen people use Jing & Camtasia for this, and I've
always been surprised that no one created something similar and included
integration with bug trackers.

~~~
yarone
Glad to hear it. Yes, we're aiming to reduce the number of clicks from, like,
15 (not an exaggeration) to just a couple. Also, we're imposing a limit on the
length of the bug video, and forcing other constraints, which we hope will
turn into a certain _type_ of video (think of twitter vs. WordPress). More at
blog.getbugcam.com, if you're interested.

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duiker101
this seems quite interesting, i'll keep an eye on this.

Basically the only thing you ask for is an email where i can be contacted to
submit some feedback correct?

Does the company get my email or use an form that you provide?

I'm asking this because i always try to know where my email is going.

~~~
abrimo
Yea just your email address if you are interested in being one of the firs
customers. Your email address is then given to the person who posted the
service and they can follow up. You can also visit the company's website
directly and signup for their service.

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pestaa
Sadly, I didn't find it usable for getting customers with problems to ask me
how I could help.

~~~
michael_dorfman
If I am understanding you correctly, you're not looking for "customers" in
that case-- you're looking for prospects.

This site is aimed at people who have developed a solution, and want to get
early adopters.

If you're still looking for a problem to solve, your needs (and process) will
be different. (Hint: find a domain where you a) already have lots of contacts,
and b) already have some understanding of the sales process. If you don't know
enough folks in a domain well enough to find out about their unsolved
problems, you probably will have significant difficult selling to them.)

~~~
pestaa
Well, yes, the new entry title wouldn't mislead me.

Unfortunately, being a student doesn't allow me to know enough folks in a
domain other than 'software'.

~~~
michael_dorfman
Oh, you'd be surprised. For example: what do your parents do for a living? Did
you ever have a summer job, or an after-school job? Do you have any (slightly
older) friends who have already graduated and taken jobs? Siblings? Aunts or
Uncles? Friendly neighbors?

I'm guessing that you know lots of people-- the trick is to a) talk to them
about what they do for a living, and b) _listen_. (That last step is
critical.)

~~~
pestaa
My parents basically live on a farm in an isolated village in an economically
undeveloped county.

Forgive me if I sound harsh, but the tech world wouldn't believe how needless
software still is in the vast majority of Europe.

Not to mention cultural differences -- I admitted I was a web developer in a
real estate agent's office, and they wanted me to fix their internet
connection.

I honestly appreciate your input and will keep trying. :)

~~~
michael_dorfman
My first startup, which I successfully cashed out of a few years back,
developed software for farmers in Europe and South America.

Seriously. There are still many millions to be made there.

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uniclaude
I really like the idea, but the front page does a very bad job at teasing me.
The concept is simple, so I think they could explain it in a simpler way.
Anyways, good luck to them !

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abeymm
Just added WorldsPlay.com. It helps to plan events with others with similar
hobbies. Currently we are working on the beta release.

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klbarry
I signed up, I love being an early adopter, because I'm on the lookout for
things that well give our company an edge. No emails as of yet, though. Keep
in mind I am looking to quickly dart through companies, not tirelessly
research a database for something that _might_ be useful.

