My first $10,000 internet dollars
5 months ago, I launched Jim Designs, my one-person subscription-based design studio for SaaS startups, and by doing so, made my first internet $.
Today, I passed $10,000 in cumulative revenue. This is not a significant amount whatsoever, but it means a lot to me and feels pretty surreal tbh.
This is neither an overnight success as I previously tried for years to make money online by building online tools, without any success.
Therefore, by no means do I pretend to have the secret sauce on how to make money online. I just thought I’d share a few thoughts on how I believe that happened for me:
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Focus on what you’re really good at, and what you know best instead of trying to solve problems that you don’t have for an audience that you don’t know. In my case, as a product designer with +10y of experience designing SaaS products for startups, I didn’t have to look further.
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Don’t fall into the build trap. In my case, a design studio only requires building a landing page, which means that the rest of the time can be focused on getting traction (+ client work).
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Deliver outstanding value (product or service). That’s the only thing that matters to your customers. There is no shortcut here, your product or service got to provide significant value. In my case, getting high-quality designs for your SaaS at a fraction of the cost of hiring a world-class designer is a no-brainer.
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Make your pricing a no-brainer when you’re getting started as the initial goal is to learn and get traction, not to get rich.
The $10,000 is total revenue, not MRR but I'm still pumped to have generated my first 5 figures of internet dollar!
This post is not about bragging about my little win, but rather to inspire some folks out there to get started. In fact, my only wish is that I'd started earlier.
You can follow my journey on Twitter as I continue to share my journey.
Google Whisk - Generate images using images as prompts, not text prompts
After 19,314 lines of code, i'm shutting down my project
Need feedback for my product.
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I have worked with Jim and it really was a pleasure!
Oh wow, thanks a lot Jan for the kind words 🤩 It's been a real pleasure too!
The second point is so important.
For us with technical background, it's very hard to understand; it took me 5 months to do it, after quitting my job and starting building products full-time.
The way I am doing it now is to do the marketing first, the landing page, and then slowly start coding up to an MVP, at which stage I validate.
Thanks for the valuable insights!
Absolutely. I made the same mistake in the past. Focus on building instead of listening and build what is really needed. I build a tool for this.
hey, Jim, congrats on your journey and success. I think your 10k is a success already, as it's a substantial amount of money, that motivates to go further. As far as I understand you are from NY, and your service is priced moderately low in terms of US numbers. Why, how did you decide to go on the lower end? Are you planning to raise your pricing?
Jim Designs is still a side project for now so I can afford my current rates. But yes, planning to increase the pricing as demand grows ;)
I'm wondering the same thing, how did you determine your GTM pricing @JimDesigns?
What I've put in my post really describes the idea I think :)
This business model sounds like a sweet spot. You can get big business to pay huge monthly fees, and they would probably not flood you with requests for designs. Both your service or design joy have a huge potential.
I am wondering if I could do the same as a software engineer, especially as a backend specialist. I can't think of a niche I could target for a productized service...
Anyway, congratulation on your success! It can only get better from here!
Thank you! Yeah, that's the idea ;) I've seen a couple of guys on twitter doing the same with development, so I guess it can work too.
That's awesome Jim. I was recently inspired by a podcast with the founder of DesignJoy. Since then I've started a similar proposition but around Agile Coaching.
I don't have any clients yet so would love to hear how you went about gaining traction?
Congratulations on the achievement, I hope to be where you are soon!!
Hey, yeah, Brett really showed the way to go. I'd say mainly building in public. Best of luck!
Thanks, Jim. Did you build in public here, on LinkedIn, or anywhere else?
Yes, IH, Twitter, and Reddit mainly.
Thank you!
I also got inspired by him. I‘m going to start a subscription based service as well. My plan is to start a newsletter an Twitter channel.
Want to connect?
Yeah, where can I follow you?
On Twitter https://twitter.com/mircokaempfer/ see ya
This is amazing. Congratulations. Out of interest what have you been using initially to get your first few customers?
Thank you! Got my first customers after my product hunt launch back in March.
Congratulations on hitting that impressive milestone of $10,000 in internet earnings! Your hard work and dedication are paying off, and it's just the beginning. Keep up the fantastic work and keep aiming higher. Here's to many more achievements to come! 🎉🌟 #OnlineSuccess #MilestoneReached
Congratulations on earning your first $10,000 internet dollars! As you celebrate, remember to allocate some for essentials like the PESCO/WAPDA electricity bill. Proper budgeting ensures your newfound funds are put to good use. Enjoy the fruits of your online endeavors while managing responsibilities wisely.
Congrats! Excited to see more traction in the productized skills/service as a subscription world - hoping to make an entry there very soon!
Thx! And best of luck in your venture!
Congrats on your journey, Jim!
I'm a big fan of this business model and seeing another successful use of it is amazing.
Well done!
🙏🙏🙏
Congratulations it's awesome! 💪 Thank you for breaking it down here for others
Welcome! :)
Thank you! :)
get started，get success
💯
Congrats on the success. 10K is super good!
For number two, this is major. Esp. devs tend to fall in that trap. Build build build. But then forget that they need customers. It is still good to build, but prioritize your efforts. You can use a tool like mine for this.
Yep, it's actually hard to not fall into that trap, especially when you're a first-time founder with a tech background.
Congrats!
Trust me, that 10k feels much much better than your forst 100k.
It's all "meh, I guess it's cool" moving forward XD
Yeah, it's usually not about the money.
Reaching my first $10,000 in internet dollars was an exhilarating milestone in my online journey. Starting from scratch, I ventured into various avenues like freelancing, blogging, and e-commerce. The initial struggles and doubts gradually transformed into a sense of accomplishment as my efforts bore fruit. I honed my skills, embraced failures, and adapted to the dynamic digital landscape. From affiliate marketing to content creation, each endeavor taught valuable lessons and shaped my entrepreneurial spirit. This significant achievement not only brought financial rewards but also instilled a profound sense of empowerment and the belief that with dedication and perseverance, the potential for success in the online world is boundless.
I wonder if the same with work for website creation business (aka digital agency). What are your thoughts, IHs?
100% sure it works for that.
Congrats! Reminds me a bit of DesignJoy 🙃 I’m thinking about starting a similar one-person agency, but in content creation. Keep rockin' it! And sharing your journey!
Yeah, Brett really showed the way to go with DesignJoy!
Nice, great work!
Thx!
Congrats! 🎉🎉🎉
🙏
Amazing looks good
Thank u!
The SaaS revenue curve is exponential in nature. The fact that you hit $10k within 5 months is impressive. Great things await you my internet friend!
🙏🙏🙏
VERY GOOD
🙌
there are many ways to make it happens but most share some common facts and that makes articles like this valuable. Thanks for sharing your experience
My pleasure 😊
Agree! The infinite search-for-a-problem loop is the worst. Just do your job and at some point, you will meet a person whose problem you will solve. Thanks for the inspiration, Jim!
💯
Nice.
Thx!
Congrats
Thx!
Dude, $10k is a brilliant achievement and shows you have a captive audience. I set up a SaaS (b2b procurement software) and sold a big fat £0. Keep going!!!
Thank u! Don't give up.
Nice!
Thx!
Nice! I agree that make $10k for SaaS is not so easy. But you did it, my congrats!
Thx!
This is amazing ! Keep going
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing!
Welcome!
Congrats! It's nice when hard work pays off. Even $1 is a success so don't think it's not a significant amount. Even small wins are wins.
True!
Congrats Jim on hitting your first $10,000 mark. It is a surreal experience, to say the least. I've been in business for 2+ years and have some interesting stories to share as well.
Waiting on my posting feature to unlock as I recently joined Indie hackers. For any curious souls, I'm @johnalimedia everywhere.
Looking forward to reading your stories!
Just got the posting feature unlocked, the posts are coming!
Awesome Jim! I have a similar story in the video editing space.
Thanks Joradan 🙏 Would love to read your story! :)
Congrats! Seems you were inspired by Bratt from DesignJoy. :)
Anyways, I‘d like to build my own productized service. I‘m an SEO and Content specialist, so that will be my niche.
My only problem - I don‘t know if I should start it in English or my native language :(
I wish you the best.
Brett showed us the way to go for sure, and I'm grateful to him for that! The only difference - apart from the pricing - is that I only do Product Design (UI/UX) because that's what I'm really good at.
Do it! and I'd suggest English as you'll probably touch more people. ;)
Thanks for your suggestion. Will do. What Tool would you suggest to build the Landing Page and how did you get your first customers?
I coded mine myself. But if you don't code, I'd suggest Framer or Webflow. Got my first customer from my PH launch.
Thank you. Wrote you on Twitter :)
Congrats !!!
🙏
Congrats! I just made my first $100 internet dollars with my project. It's really a challenge on patience and consistency especially during the early stage. Keep up the good work. Just followed you on twitter (my handle @lycfyi)
Congrats too! Yes it is for sure, but at the end of the day, the ones that make it through are the ones who didn't give up!
Congrats!! I am just curious to know what's your favorite way to get traction?
did cold out reach work for you? maybe paid ads?
Thanks ! It really is building in public. I tried some cold out reach, but it didn't work. Haven't tried paid ads.
You've made me re-think on what I am good for 🤔, since I consider myself as a generalist. Very inspiring story :)
🙏
Congrats, very inspiring story
Thank you, appreciate it 😊
What do you recommend for landing page?
I coded mine myself. But if you don't code, I'd suggest Framer or Webflow.
No. 4 is amazing! Thanks
😉
Congratulations Jim and thank you for sharing your story with the world!
My pleasure 😊
#thisistheway
Godspeed Jim! awesome to see you thrive
Thanks Edwin, appreciate it! 😊
It's a really inspiring story Jim! Taking action is very important.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Welcome. Hope it inspires others.
Congrats
Thanks!
Nice one amigo! Very pleased for you. :-)
Thank u!
Congratulations 👏 keep it up. Thanks for sharing with us this milestone.
Thanks Younes, my pleasure!
Congratulations Jim! Here's to the next 100k!
Fingers crossed! :)
Awesome. By "build trap" do you mean building beyond what is necessary?
Spending most of the time building vs getting traction more exactly ;) Unless you build a very complex/advanced product, the building is the easy part.
Ahh I see. Great!
Not an easy milestone to cross at all, congrats!
Absolutely, the first few dollars are the hardest to get, but also the most rewarding!
Congratulations! That’s an awesome story :)
Here’s to the next 10k 🚀
🚀🚀🚀
Congratualtions Jim ! GREAT Start. Wish you all the very BEST for your design agency.
🙏🙏🙏
Congrats dude that's awesome
Thanks dude!
That is a great achievement. Congrats!
Thanks!
Congrats Jim!
Thank you!
That's Awesome! Congrats!! I'm really happy to see you reached your goal. I look forward to seeing your next chapter!
Thanks, appreciate it!
Congratulations 🎉
🙏
That’s amazing Jim, congrats!!! You say that’s not much, but it’s not easy to break into the 5 figure club, and now that you’re there, there’s no going back! Looking forward to your post when you get to 6 figures! 👏👏👏
Thanks a lot Navin, appreciate it! 😊 Looking forward to it too!
I think you've actually gone further than most. Congratulations 🎉
Humbled.
Congratulations bro! Good job. Keep working hard and you will earn more dollars.
Thank u!
Congratulations on reaching the $10,000 milestone with Jim Designs! As an indie hacker, it's these small, incremental victories that keep us going and motivated, and I believe your achievement is pretty damn significant.
Got any plans for the next stage of Jim Designs?
Thanks Joseph! Appreciate it. Plan is just to continue growing my reputation to create a steady flow of new customers, and to gradually increase my pricing.
Congrats
Thank u!
Congratulations! Do you know of any locations or directories where we can find more listings of similar productized offerings? We would like to get some inspiration from them.
Hey, thanks! I've seen one a few weeks back, but cannot find it back unfortunately
Congratulations. Can you share how you received the money?
Thanks! Trough Stripe subscriptions.
Congrats! How did you get your first customers?
Thank you! From my PH lunch, then from referrals mainly.
Congratulations. Are you aware of any place/directory where we can find more of such productized offering listed (to get inspiration from).
Thanks, there are some out there, but I don't have the link, unfortunately. There's even a Productized Service category/group within IH.
Congratulations. These posts are so inspiring.
Thank you! Reading these kinds of posts made me start in the first place. So happy to contribute back here.
Wow, congratulations! I've been pondering how the programming equivalent of this business strategy would appear, but it doesn't seem as feasible.
Why not exactly? With programming we have GPT, but don’t have a lot of AI helpers for design work specifically yet
That's actually about to change: https://www.figma.com/blog/ai-the-next-chapter-in-design/
The reason why we don't have a lot of AI helpers for design work specifically yet is because design work involves a lot of creative and subjective decision making. While AI has made significant progress in areas such as natural language processing and image recognition, creativity and subjective decision making are still difficult for machines to replicate.
Design work also requires a deep understanding of human emotions, behavior, and culture, which is not always easy to program into AI. While there are some AI tools available for design work, they are limited in their capabilities and are often used more as a starting point for human designers to build upon rather than a replacement for human designers.
That being said, there is ongoing research in the field of AI and design, and we may see more advanced AI tools developed for design work in the future.
Thanks! There are actually a couple of development agencies out there that work with the same subscription model.
Congrats that's amazing! I've been wondering what the programming version of this business model could look like. Doesn't seem as viable though.
Thank you. I've seen a couple of development agencies using the same model. But not sure if they make it through though.
Thank you, this was a great read for me. I've been stuck in the building phase for a while, so I'm going to move on to the next step now. Cheers
My Pleasure.
You should be so proud! Totally worth shouting about from the roof tops. I checked your site and you have such a nice clean experience. Wishing you all success moving forward.
Thanks a lot!
Inspiring!
Thank u! 🙏
Thanks for sharing. I have few questions:
"my only wish is that I'd started earlier" How much back in the past? How old were you then? Why would it have been good to start then?
The sooner you start, the more time you have to build up reputation and audience, but also to adjust and pivot if needed. In my case, I could have started at least 4 years earlier when I was 28.
Okay. I will do my best to start my actual journey as soon as possible.
You should. Best of luck!
Thank you!
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Thanks James, appreciate it!
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It's just Jim. I think I read that in the FAQs. A lot of these new productized services are just one person as they set up great automation workflows so they can just focus on what they do best. In this case, great design. It's a great model. Brett from Design Joy has talked about his workflow stack on Twitter and podcasts a few times, one of the key platforms being Trello and also not doing meetings.
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