Justin Jackson's Blog, page 22
July 11, 2017
What is Jobs to be Done?
Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a framework for understanding what motivates customers to buy (hire) your product. In the same way, a boss hires an employee to make their business better, customers hire products to make their lives better.
You can visualize it this way: people want their lives to be better. They have a vision of where they want to go. But there are obstacles in their path. A product’s job is to help people make progress towards their dream.
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Contrary to what you might think, a Job...
July 6, 2017
“People need my product!” (But do they want it?)
I recently received this question:
I’ve built a software product. Currently, there’s no demand for it in the market, but I’m sure people need it. How can I get people using it?
Here’s my response:
The only way to successfully market a product is to make something people want.
Identifying a “need” isn’t enough:
People need to lose weight for their long-term health, but most don’t. (In the USA, over 68% of adults are overweight or obese). People need to switch to environmental transportation o...June 17, 2017
How to create a membership website
Have you built an audience through your podcast, blog, or YouTube channel? Creating a membership website is a great way to start earning an independent income.
BackgroundI’ve had three podcasts (MegaMaker, Build & Launch, and Product People) all focused on a very specific niche. They’re for software developers, designers, and other makers who want to launch their own digital products (apps, software, courses).
Here are things I tried that didn’t work:
Advertising. Attracting good advertis...May 2, 2017
Don’t stand still
What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but I’m going to tell you about a crazy experience I had.
(Note: this is the third issue of my newsletter for independent makers. Subscribe here.)
I was recently in town speaking at a conference.
The first night, there was a party for attendees. I got talking to the bartender. He was an older gentleman in his 70s. He told me some history about the Tropicana hotel: how it had opened in 1957 and had links to the famous mobster, Frank Costello....
April 17, 2017
Adam Wathan’s $100k product launch
Adam Wathan has always been passionate about learning new things. This past year he discovered how he could earn an independent living doing it.
Note: this is the second issue of my newsletter for software developers and product people. Subscribe here.
His book and video course, Refactoring to Collections, teaches PHP programmers how to apply functional programming principles to write clean, maintainable code.
This is my interview with Adam about his $100,000 book launch.
Pssst… this is a lon...
April 6, 2017
How I make my money
Note: this is the first issue of my new newsletter for independent makers. Subscribe here.
My friend Suzanne Nguyen asks:
“How do you make your money? Do you offer many products for different markets? What’s the breakdown of revenue between the various projects you do?”
Suzie has developed a reputation as the “go-to” person for Snapchat. Plus, she’s built a sizeable audience there. Now she’s looking for a sustainable revenue stream. She is considering a few models (membership platform, online...
February 28, 2017
Things to do when Amazon S3 is down
February 11, 2017
Why most product ideas aren’t that good
When you’re building software, the question you need to ask is:
“How does this tool make people more awesome?”
In practice, it’s difficult to create a product that provides customers with a real benefit. Often, product people will BS their rationale:
“Will this help people? Oh yeah, for sure!”
In reality, most new products ideas aren’t that good because they don’t actually give users progress in their lives.
There’s only one way to find a good product idea: observe real people, and recognize...
January 12, 2017
Watch for mind gremlins
Do you ever get mind gremlins?
They’re the nagging worries in the back of your mind.
We get them about tech stuff:
“Do I have Google Analytics configured properly? Is it reporting correctly?”
We get them about marketing stuff:
“Should I be posting on Medium? Am I missing out on a good channel?”
If you’re a product person, you should pay attention to the kinds of things that make people anxious.
Building a new product?A recurring worry that’s felt by a lot of people can be the seed for a new...
