Do you know NomadList?
NomadList is a directory of places for nomads. You pay to get premium access to more filters, chat, and a few other things.
This website makes $770k+ per year.
You can also create something similar. Here’s how I would do it…
So:
70% profit margin
Transparent, open metrics page
Founder spends almost no time on it
The plan is literally in front of you.
Find a similar SaaS Business Idea
You don’t necessarily have to invent something new. It can work for other topics as well. Let’s build it…
First, choose your topic.
Should be:
a topic you like
A large and growing audience
Bonus:
- visually appealing
Some ideas:
- Sports (Formula 1)
- Food
- Movies
- Job roles (product manager, marketer)
- Business types (courses, podcasting)
- Productivity, etc.
- Example: Select topic
- Let’s take Formula 1.
Example: Select your topic
Let’s take Formula 1.
Millions of fans.
Collect information in car clips, driver interviews, etc. – Be where the fans are.
What information do the fans want. ???? Where are they looking for? What would they like to filter out?
- Rankings?
- Drivers?
- Teams?
I think teams are most likely – any news/info can be categorized by teams involved. Cool, let’s do that.
What would fans pay to access?
- Interviews with f1 employees
- Behind the scenes footage
- Exclusive interviews?
- F1 merchandise?
- Meetings?
- Get in touch with other fans
- F1 related jobs
- Possibly.
It may also be difficult to get some of this information. But let’s take a look.
We have millions of fans, can we get a few thousand to pay $100-200 for hard-to-find information about F1?
Probably.
Strategic product/service creation
Let’s get some content.
Search where Formula 1 employees already are – on Linkedin. Simple.
I found a few people. Let’s write to 50-100 of them and ask if they would be willing to be interviewed.
Say something like:
You’re launching a new thing for F1 fans and want some perspectives from F1 employees… 10-20 say yes?
Either stick to a certain format, e.g. same/similar questions every time, OR you could do a podcast/video interview.
Build StartUp Community
From here, there are 2 options:
Start with a newsletter. Build a readership of about 500 people by publishing the interviews you conduct. Ask your interviewees for recommendations for others!
Build the website and then solicit users. (I would go like this).
“Um, how do I get 500 subscribers?”
Tweet, post, talk about what you are doing. If there are F1 forums, go there and talk about it, go to Reddit, reply to people on Twitter.
Don’t be spammy, but ask for feedback on the content you post.
This may take some time.
Ok, I would build the website because I’m really impatient. But that’s just me!
I know the first option is probably better, but I don’t listen to myself.
I build! I’ll deal with the customers later.
We use no-code because that’s my thing – and to be honest, it should be most people’s thing.
You don’t have to learn to code,
You drag something around in your browser,
you publish your website.
Simple.
I would use Webflow, Airtable, Jetboost, and Zapier. Those are my favorite tools, for everything.
I like them – use tools you like to use.
- Webflow – the website+memberships.
- Jetboost – filtering
- Airtable – database for all content
- Zapier – connect + automate everything
- Makerpad is based on these tools.
And actually the whole model was very similar to NomadList: people pay for access to premium content.
Finding customers for my StartUp
Heck, now I need customers.
I would do the same thing I said above. Reply to people, follow them, go to chat rooms, etc. and ask for feedback on your idea. Tell them about the content you get from your interviews.
Email capture on website ‘for new interviews weekly, sign up here’.
There’s no one-size-fits-all recipe for attracting customers. It’s about a lot of individual comments and contact.
Therefore, you should like the theme you choose!
Okay, we’re looking to grow now. We have a small amount of clients, we are working our way through our list to interview more people.
We need a big increase in website visitors.
Secret Traffic Boost for a StartUp
TikTok + A Great Interview.
Create F1 highlight TikToks, ask permission if necessary. If necessary, hire some people to do it. Get the engine running.
One big interview. We need exactly one.
Use existing interviews, outreach and manual tasks – you may be surprised that someone is willing to give an interview. You’ll need to be persistent, not aggressive, but over time you’ll find a team leader, an aspiring Formula 1 driver, or the like.
Repeat the process for a while.
Identify copy/paste tasks and repetitive actions and automate them if possible.
StartUp “make money” strategy
The fun part – money. How are we going to make any?
Do we have enough content that people would pay for early access (7 days before release)? Do readers possibly want to chat with each other?
Try it out – give them free accounts.
Start with 10-20 free members in your Slack/Discord community. Talk about upcoming F1 events, people you should interview, and get feedback on the site.
Let people in slowly, keep it close.
Oh, someone mentioned jobs in the community? Is there a good place for all F1 job postings? No? Ok, let’s add that feature.
Search Linkedin/job boards daily/weekly for new job postings. (You can automate or outsource some of this).
Now you can sell. Offer a 5-year access fee of $49 on your website. Say it’s a limited offer, prices will increase to $149 in 30 days or whatever.
Content + community, keep up the good work – you have jobs too!
Share on social media all the great conversations from the community + your content.
Are people buying? If yes, keep doing it and raise your prices every ~30 days.
If no, talk to your community more. Ask why they didn’t pay or want to pay and try to solve the problem.
Conclusion – Create StartUp successfully
Can’t find a solution? Not every site works. That’s fine, change the theme and try again. That’s it.
There is a lot of work involved. But that’s what it takes. You have to do it and be willing to do it. Now it’s up to you.
