Categories: MONEY

How an app developer learned the secret to creating successful products online

“I’ve got a business idea, but what do I do next?”

Matteo’s background in computer science and his work as a software developer left him highly skilled at creating products, but marketing them was a different story.

Sometimes, he’d spend months and months brainstorming new ideas for apps, writing code, and testing each detail to make sure it performed just right. Only to quickly realize that the apps weren’t selling anywhere close to what he’d expected.

At first, he thought it was a fluke. “I thought people just didn’t get it, and that’s why they weren’t buying.”

But after a few of these failed attempts, he realized he was going to have to learn how marketing and business really worked — or continue facing these failures.

He started searching for an answer online and thought he found the perfect solution. “I saw that a lot of people were making money selling ebooks. I decided to follow some of the advice out there, and I built this really detailed ebook for iOS software developers.”

“The people who bought it really loved it. But the problem was twofold. One, there weren’t a lot of buyers, and two, I didn’t know what to do next.”

Without a solid business plan or any idea of what was ahead, Matteo’s ebook business idea quickly fizzled out.

“I needed help or my dream to start an online business would stay just that — a dream — and nothing more.”

Building a real business with real potential

Matteo didn’t want to just launch an ebook and make a few sales. He was determined to build a real online business.

He dove back into researching how to do it. When he did, he stumbled upon Zero to Launch.

“When I saw the system laid out in the course and the quality of the content, I couldn’t wait to join.”

“What happened was that, within the first few modules of the course, Ramit started showing me how business really worked. That businesses solved problems for their customers.”

This insight completely turned the way he’d gone about building apps upside down.

“For most of my career, when I thought about building products l would say ‘what can I build that’s really cool?’ But the course showed me how to dive deep into customer research and ask ‘What need can I solve in the market?’”

This wasn’t a subtle difference. It was a huge mindset shift that led to dramatically different results.

As soon as he switched the way he thought about products and marketing, the content he wrote began to resonate with his audience.

“I started solving problems for my market, writing these really technical articles and my email list just grew and grew. I went from a little more than 200 to more than 700 in just a few months.”

“I never realized how important these things — like doing customer research, having surveys, and talking to people in the market — were. Developers are never taught this in school.”

From building apps (that nobody wanted) to earning real money online

As his list grew and more people asked him for help with their iOS development, he realized it was time to launch a product.

“At first, I had some reservations about creating a product. I didn’t want to make something that nobody would buy or something that wasn’t that great of quality, but the course and Ramit pushed me to get my product out there. And this time, I’m really glad I did.”

He launched his first product, teaching developers how to write software for iOS applications.

Twenty-one people immediately bought his course when he launched. And he made $1,029 in just a few days.

“I loved the feeling. It felt like a tremendous success. But the thing I really loved was that I worked only a few hours a week on my online business, and I could still generate an income like this. It’s not a lot now, but it has so much potential to scale moving forward.”

What’s next?

Now that he has a very successful product launch under his belt, he’s realized how lucrative an online business can beifyou take the time to really understand the target market and their needs.

For anyone getting started with an online business, Matteo has one piece of advice: “LISTEN to your market. Go through the research phases covered in the course. Actually try to find out their needs and burning pains. If I’d been doing this all along, I would have saved myself months of time and the embarrassment of creating products that didn’t sell.”