Bootstrapped Web

MicroConf is right around the corner and Jordan is gearing up for his talk for the event. He bounces some topic ideas off Brian and reveals how his topic choices are reflecting what is happening in Carthook. The version 2 upgrade is finally working properly and Jordan and his team are seeing some major cultural shifts in the business. Brian has found himself with some downtime, so now he is thinking about new avenues for Audience Ops. Brian outlines his idea for a new service offered through Audience Ops. An done-for-you podcasting service. He gets Jordan’s feedback and really explores why he thinks podcasts are the next logical step for the business. He also drops a big announcement… Brian wants to learn to code. We have some interesting conversation about alternative content on this episode and some really useful reflections on the founder’s role within his company. [tweetthis]If somebody asked the most valuable thing you’ve learned the past months it would be related to our process. - Jordan[/tweetthis] Here are today’s conversation points: Get ready for MicroConf. Brian’s new service launch. Considerations for future podcast topics. Jordan’s March recap. Why Brian wants to launch a new service. The all-done-for-you podcast service breakdown. Brian’s small beta group for the new service and the results. The benefits of podcasting content. The second version of Carthook update. Jordan’s webinar experiment. The benefits of webinars. How to create pitch-hitter scenarios. How Carthook uses paid ads. The ad strategy Jordan used for the webinar. Brian’s results from his Productize webinar. Why Brian wants to learn to code. How to be a full stack product person. Jordan’s adjustment to a larger work team and changing the dynamic. [tweetthis]If you are a designer of web applications, you should have a full stack skillset. - Brian[/tweetthis] Resources Mentioned Today: Audience Ops Podcasting Service Bullet Train CodeMentor.io Carthook Castos MicroConf Ops Calendar Productize As always, thanks for tuning in. Head here to leave a  review on iTunes.

2017 is coming to a close and Jordan and Brian are looking back on this explosive year. They also share their plans for 2018. Audience Ops and Carthook both saw tremendous amounts of growth this year. That growth has caused the guys to reflect on 2017 and the lessons they have taken away from the experience. Brian has seen an uptake in sign-ups and Audience Ops has ridden a roller coaster this year. Brian shares what he learned from the sudden stop and go growth of the business. 2018 looks to be a major year for Audience Ops, Ops Calendar, and Productize. Jordan has had a monster of a year. He is recuperating from a breakneck year with a well deserved slow down period. Jordan shares what this year taught him about team building and how he plans to fix some of the issues he noticed during Carthook’s major growth spurt. [tweetthis]Growth is great, but it will mask problems. - Jordan[/tweetthis] Here are today’s conversation points: The problems Jordan discovered when onboarding new team members. Brian’s surge in service sign-ups. Carthook’s Drip campaign disaster. Setting new goals and themes for 2018. The downside of sudden growth. Coping with wild growth and rapid plunge of business. Jordan’s tech issue in 2017 and how he plans to fix them. Productize’s new course launch in January. Jordan’s general observations about 2017 and 2018. Brian’s general observations about 2017 and 2018. [tweetthis]I actually have a lot of firepower to play with going into 2018 now. - Brian[/tweetthis] Resources Mentioned: Audience Ops CasJam Carthook Ops Calendar Productize As always, thanks for tuning in. Head here to leave a  review on iTunes.

2017 has been a phenomenal year for Jordan and Brian. On today’s episode, they give the audience an update on the businesses and offer a glimpse into their plans for 2018. Brian is going to shift focus to Productize and relaunch a bigger and better product later. This means he will be closing enrollment in the course and beginning the maintenance phase of this upgrade. He shares how he reached this decision and why he is excited by the new possibilities it can bring. Jordan is adjusting to a growing business and finding ways to restructure his processes to make Carthook more efficient. He uses his previous experience over the last year to prepare Brian for his up-coming wild ride. The guys also share some new tools and resources that have found to make this new stage in their businesses a little easier. [tweetthis]This has been the biggest spike in revenue for Productize and way beyond expectations. - Brian [/tweetthis] Here are today’s conversation points: Brian’s shift to working on Productize during the month of December. Jordan’s look back over his year, from an investor’s point of view. Coping with a larger team and the issues that arise. Brian’s awesome Black Friday! Brian’s plans for relaunching Productize. Jordan’s new team members and the importance of good content writing. How Jordan is restructuring his processes. The trade-offs a team has to make for the sake of speed. How to build a great product without slowing down the project. [tweetthis]It's still a mindset and a process, if everything is a trade-off, where are you putting the emphasis? - Jordan [/tweetthis] Resources Mentioned Today: Appcues Audience Ops Beacon Carthook Drift Seeking Wisdom Podcast GoVideo Productize Course Ops Calendar Soapbox As always, thanks for tuning in. Head here to leave a review on iTunes.

Welcome back to Bootstrapped Web! Today we share progress reports about our respective businesses and ask the question, “Should you go freemium or not?” Jordan has begun the process of “fattening” up Carthook’s systems to add value to the company and move the business to the next stage. Carthook is also growing their team and there have been some growing pains in the communication process. There have been some hard lessons in the process that Jordan hints at that could help business owners build their systems more effectively. Brian has been putting a lot of energy and time into Ops Calendar. He is getting a lot of interest in the service and the product. This new interest has given him a reason to ask the question if freemium is a viable option for Audience Ops. There is some really useful and thoughtful discussion in today’s episode, so tune in to join the conversation. [tweetthis]I feel freemium is one of these things that a lot of bootstrappers have not given a fair shake as a strategy. - Brian[/tweetthis] Here are today’s conversation points: The “fattening up” process of Carthook. The struggles of building an effective team. Audience Ops and Ops Calendar progress reports. Ops Calendar’s features and fixing the unexpected bugs. The usefulness of Slack. The benefits of letting  people “win.” Working with freelancers and building a positive business culture around them. Jordan’s marketing experiments and the results. The pros and cons of freemium. [tweetthis]I admire people who are super product focused because I think it's fun. It's so creative and interesting. - Jordan[/tweetthis] Resources Mentioned Today: Audience Ops Calendar Carthook As always, thanks for tuning in. Head here to leave a review on iTunes.