Could really use some feedback: considering a pivot to focus on "groups" for List Turtle.
I've often heard that startups 'don't really know what they built' at first. I feel like our application ListTurtle.com is in that place. We like what we have, use it regularly but its tough to market since lists have so many applications. So here is my pitch for a slight pivot... we position ListTurtle.com as a more professional Reddit and introduce the notion of groups. Basically Groups = Subreddits and would exist in places like these:
/g/retiring
/g/javascript
/g/homeowners
This would allow us to focus our pitch to people to be more about sharing resources/lists within their groups. There would still be a public feed and people can still use it privately for their own lists and organization but the marketing focus would be more about joining groups.
In other words, we blend the browsing of Pinterest, with the communal elements of Reddit, with a focus on professional groups like LinkedIn. We would end up with a public space for people to huddle into groups and enhance their own interests by sharing structured resources (aka lists). I can't really think of something out there like this. The closest thing I can think of is Quora, but thats more of a Q&A. Facebook groups can be used like this, but they lack the structure of copying and editing that we allow.
Thoughts?
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My gut feeling is you're focusing a lot on solutions. Instead it helps to focus more on problems.
Solutions include things like what you're building, how it works, what features it has, etc. But people typically don't engage with solutions that don't solve a problem they have. So it helps to think more about problems, because problems determine almost everything:
So I would think about the problem first, and that will greatly constrain the types of solutions you consider building.
Thanks for the input! Very insightful. I agree as well. Organization and structured information is a solution for lots of problems. So offering a general solution for an unspecific problem is exactly our issue. We have to narrow down our message which is what I am hoping this pitch gets us to. The problem we are solving is NOT the lack of information, there are plenty of blogs, articles, podcasts etc. but all of that content creates so much noise that people get lost.
Instead a list cuts through the noise and gets straight to the point. But that is still too general of a problem, so I am considering focusing on the demographics of new parents and young professionals. These folks tend to have many questions and a list sharing medium can provide guidance from others. So we would shape our messaging to something more like:
“Need help finding a day care? There’s a list for that”
“Trying to work towards a promotion? We’ve got a list for that”
“Here’s 10 tactics to calm an angry toddler”
And so on...
My thought is that “Groups“ as a feature would help us narrow down to those problems, boost the content in those areas and then be able to have more focused marketing.
Have you seen list.ly? That is similar.
I like this idea, but I think the lists would have more value if they were more comprehensive. I've seen many "ultimate list" of start up resources, blogging resources, podcast resources get a lot of traction online. I would go to a site that only had curated and comprehensive lists.
For example,
Ultimate list of start up resources
Ultimate list of nocode resources
Ultimate list of remote work resources.
I suspect if you had many of those ultra comprehensive lists organized on your site, you'd get a lot more backlinks and traction.
Right now most of your posts are like listicle blog posts covering every topic. I don't go to any specific website to read general articles on every topic. I go there because they have good content on a specific topic.
Squidoo was general and similar to what you are doing. It was used primarily for backlinks for SEO purposes until Google devalued all the links. I think that is the risk of what you are creating here.
I like the idea of lists, but they need to be really good.
I hope that helps.
John
That’s helpful feedback John. Specifically your comment: “I go there because they have good content on a specific topic.”
I am trying to gauge whether the “groups” concept is where we should spend our development time. We could create a few seeder groups such as “/g/startups” and then just focus on building lists for that group to try and kickstart that community. The application could still handle all kinds of communities (allowing us to go big), but each “group” is focused and high quality content that is specific.
Would you find it more engaging to be able to join “/g/startups” rather than a list sharing site?
A startup group would definitely be more interesting than lots of general lists around topics I likely don't care about. However, I'm not sure it'd be something I'd return to often. I'd value quality, comprehensive, updated curated lists versus short lists on generic topics.
A site with the best and most comprehensive resources is valuable but I think you are going to experience the same problem as Squidoo if you continue to allow lists like this:
https://www.listturtle.com/juststart/20-things-for-your-backyard-you-should-have-bought-years-ago
https://www.listturtle.com/deals/10-things-to-help-make-a-small-space-feel-roomier
I like the idea of a list site, the problem is finding a compelling idea that will spread. I think you might need to go more niche and focused to get initial traction.