I've noticed a recent trend of self-promotion that I don't understand. I'm not writing to criticize, I just want to know why you say some of the things you do.
For instance, you call yourself a "rising sophomore". What does this mean? How is it different from any other sophomore? Can you explain why you chose that word and what the impression you intended to convey is?
Also, I love that you made a product like this quickly. In reading your story I noticed something you did right that I totally would have done wrong, and I appreciate being reminded of it. I applaud your gumption.
But then I clicked thru to the website and saw: "Our team of web usability experts has put together a comprehensive survey". So, do you have a team of web usability experts behind domain polish? I'm assuming it is your solo project. Why not say "Our carefully crafted, comprehensive survey" instead? Do you think that would really kill your sales that much? Do you have any qualms about saying you have a "team" of "experts"?
Notice, I'm not passing judgement... I'm asking questions because I want to understand your thinking, and also I find this alien culture of the "kids today" baffling and mystifying. :-)
"Rising" sophomore (or junior or senior) is a common U.S. expression. It just means he'll be a sophomore when school resumes this fall. There's no self-promotion, it is just used by students during the summer break.
I've made $350 to date. All from three pages
and some payment code.
Sounds brilliant, and it's the title here. Earlier, however, it says:
I was scrambling to fill orders. I had a huge TextEdit
file open with customer names, site URLs, and email
addresses. I sent every email, and set up every survey
by hand.
So, the three pages and the payment code were the structure, and in truth, you were doing the work.
By 6 am I had completed processing every order and went
to bed. I got up an hour later for work at 7 am.
...
So now I’m sitting here writing this blog post with a
bunch of orders to fill, features to build, and
customers to help.
So this is a continuing requirement, that you service the requests from your customers via your web site.
It's a service, and it's making you money, and it's successful. For those things alone you deserve to feel happy and a little smug. But I felt misled by the title.
But having said that - all power to your elbow, and well done.
Great post, Dan. It reminds me of the article the Buffer App guy wrote on his experience getting everything up and running. very smart and disciplined to root out the demand before committing dev. keep up the good work
Thanks a lot! It took me a while to learn that lesson. My instinct was always to code first and ask questions later. I would recommend 4 Steps to The Epiphany - it was a big eye-opener for me about the development process.
I just logged in to check out this site, and Dan was there, chatting live with folks. So cool. Go Dan Go! You got a customer in me... and I'll be back tomorrow with an order.
This was the same thing that caught my eye as well. I said congrats on the launch, and Dan was right there with a quick friendly comment. This alone convinced me to try it as I was on the fence.
The signup/interview through checkout process took about 30 seconds. Curiously awaiting the results. Thanks again Dan.
I hate to nitpick, but this part caught my eye: I needed to fix about the site – SSL (even though all of the payments are secured through Stripe). If the checkout page isn't loaded over SSL, my credit card number isn't secure since the page is still vulnerable to a MITM attack completely removing the Stripe code.
Thanks! Yes there is a chance for a MITM attack but as far as I understand from talking to Stripe that risk is very, very low. I'm going to be adding SSL this week anyway however. Thanks for your comment!
sorry to be blunt but r u kidding me...he forgot to remove the test code..who knows what kind of data is being stored...is credit card data even encrypted ?...instead of writing these blogs and getting this kind of publicity on HN...please have responsibility to use SSL before providing credit card functionality..
Well, if I understood correctly he didn't really make $350 in the end. He had his upfront costs, his processing costs and his turk costs. I'd be curious how much return he's getting after all that and figuring in something for his time. If he can automate some of his tasks to eliminate some overhead then he may have something. But if in the end he's making minimum wage after factoring in costs then, well, it is what it is.
You have too much drop shadow on your buttons, it makes the text blurry. (Yes, I find reviewing your website ironic when your service is website reviews)
Wow dude, here, have some more haterade... Who does this kid think he is, making websites and telling people about them and stuff... he must be running some kind of scam!
I'm sorry you didn't like the post. I'm really trying to share what I thought was a worthwhile experience with the community. I appreciate the feedback though :)
I agree. I really liked the thought process and the history/experience that made you think of using MTurk for this project. It shows that we sometime stumble on ideas that aren't just useful for just ourselves.
Well the point is that now I'm set up to continue making money with minimal effort for a long period of time. So in the short run yes I was making very little money per hour, but eventually the work put in vs money taken out becomes much greater.
So, if I understand this is essentially reselling Mechanical Turk services with a little work in hiding the details from the customer? I'm not quite sure if this is a scam or not...
...but I can think of plenty of cases where people sell "expertise" which boils down to the same thing... normally its a bit more complicated than this though. I wonder if the customers would pay if they knew of Amazon's service? My guess is they just don't know about it, or at least didn't think it would be any good for them...
You're wrapping Turk in a human. That provides value. +
Have you ever dealt with Turkers? I did for a client once. Here's the task, simplified: "I give you job title, you give me degree title. For example, if I say 'elementary school teacher' you say she has a Bachelors degree in Education and so your answer is Education."
Input (to turker): Car technician
Output (from turker): BACHELORS DEGREE IN CAR TECHNICIAN
I rejected that: sorry, I will not pay you two cents for that work. The Turker got into a running email argument with me: "WHY U NO PAY?" "Because the answer is in all capital letters, does not follow formatting instructions, and is wrong." "U NO SAY WRITE SMALL LETTERS!!"
Regardless, though: reselling labor is not skeezy.
+: You might think Amazon Turk pays for human intelligence. No, it pays for human intelligence that finds it economically viable to work on Amazon Turk. Y U NO GET DIFRENCE.
I don't get this attitude. All of business is using raw materials to create something that people are willing to pay for. Using Mechanical Turk is not always a pleasant experience. There is quite a bit of nuance on how to price things, how to qualify submissions and submitters, etc (not that a service will get all this correct right out of the gate). And don't forget, we're talking about a rather modest $10-40.
Hey jheriko thanks for the comment! Yes what I'm doing is essentially taking the MTurk service which is for doing a very wide range of tasks, and is also somewhat time consuming to set up, and reselling it as a targeted service for people who want to get their websites reviewed. It's definitely not a scam, just me building a service I thought people might find useful and charging for it. Feel free to email me at [email protected], I would love to talk to you more about your thoughts on this.
Figuring out how to use mTurk, figuring out how to ask questions to get useful results, and tabulating/summarizing answers are all things that the person who is asking for the tests probably has more important things to do, particularly the first two. It's a fair amount of work.
[+] [-] econgeeker|14 years ago|reply
For instance, you call yourself a "rising sophomore". What does this mean? How is it different from any other sophomore? Can you explain why you chose that word and what the impression you intended to convey is?
Also, I love that you made a product like this quickly. In reading your story I noticed something you did right that I totally would have done wrong, and I appreciate being reminded of it. I applaud your gumption.
But then I clicked thru to the website and saw: "Our team of web usability experts has put together a comprehensive survey". So, do you have a team of web usability experts behind domain polish? I'm assuming it is your solo project. Why not say "Our carefully crafted, comprehensive survey" instead? Do you think that would really kill your sales that much? Do you have any qualms about saying you have a "team" of "experts"?
Notice, I'm not passing judgement... I'm asking questions because I want to understand your thinking, and also I find this alien culture of the "kids today" baffling and mystifying. :-)
[+] [-] OstiaAntica|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ColinWright|14 years ago|reply
I have to take issue with one point. It says:
Sounds brilliant, and it's the title here. Earlier, however, it says: So, the three pages and the payment code were the structure, and in truth, you were doing the work. So this is a continuing requirement, that you service the requests from your customers via your web site.It's a service, and it's making you money, and it's successful. For those things alone you deserve to feel happy and a little smug. But I felt misled by the title.
But having said that - all power to your elbow, and well done.
[+] [-] tzuptzup|14 years ago|reply
It's a good story :)
[+] [-] ig1|14 years ago|reply
The comment that inspired it:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=362459
Various other HN discussions about it:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=feedback%2Barmy%2Bsite%3Ane...
[+] [-] jamesgagan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] angryasian|14 years ago|reply
pickfu.com
usertesting.com
feedbackarmy.com
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jfi|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] simonista|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pulak|14 years ago|reply
Do you expect to automate this any time soon?
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orenjacob|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eurokc98|14 years ago|reply
The signup/interview through checkout process took about 30 seconds. Curiously awaiting the results. Thanks again Dan.
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtogo|14 years ago|reply
I hate to nitpick, but this part caught my eye: I needed to fix about the site – SSL (even though all of the payments are secured through Stripe). If the checkout page isn't loaded over SSL, my credit card number isn't secure since the page is still vulnerable to a MITM attack completely removing the Stripe code.
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pwzeus|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] talmand|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] redguava|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josefresco|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hhorsley|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ThisIBereave|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dave_sullivan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zizee|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dtwwtd|14 years ago|reply
Thanks for writing this!
[+] [-] jeromeparadis|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plasma|14 years ago|reply
Never used MTurk personally, there may be better things available.
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] khangtoh|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jheriko|14 years ago|reply
...but I can think of plenty of cases where people sell "expertise" which boils down to the same thing... normally its a bit more complicated than this though. I wonder if the customers would pay if they knew of Amazon's service? My guess is they just don't know about it, or at least didn't think it would be any good for them...
[+] [-] patio11|14 years ago|reply
Have you ever dealt with Turkers? I did for a client once. Here's the task, simplified: "I give you job title, you give me degree title. For example, if I say 'elementary school teacher' you say she has a Bachelors degree in Education and so your answer is Education."
Input (to turker): Car technician Output (from turker): BACHELORS DEGREE IN CAR TECHNICIAN
I rejected that: sorry, I will not pay you two cents for that work. The Turker got into a running email argument with me: "WHY U NO PAY?" "Because the answer is in all capital letters, does not follow formatting instructions, and is wrong." "U NO SAY WRITE SMALL LETTERS!!"
Regardless, though: reselling labor is not skeezy.
+: You might think Amazon Turk pays for human intelligence. No, it pays for human intelligence that finds it economically viable to work on Amazon Turk. Y U NO GET DIFRENCE.
[+] [-] pbreit|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dget|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rodh257|14 years ago|reply
Making it easier to access these services is extra value.
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] acangiano|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] imcqueen|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dshipper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mponizil|14 years ago|reply