Kickstart a micro local service. How ?

by ku
4 replies
Hey,

Aim:
kickstart a mobile app .

The app:
Connects people with other people near them.
The environment - extremely dense city. Like 20,000 people in a 500 meter radius. yes twenty thousand.

Potential uses of the App:
People (will) post about things they want to sell/share/buy/advertise
Use it as a noticeboard, advertise small micro services
Localized meetup.com - find people with common interests
and so on

The biggest hurdle I am facing is that finding those first 20-30 users.
App with 5 users and 2 posts just won't cut it.

How can it be populated with real posts and genuine users? Just to start..
I am prepared to pay well, but have no idea how to bring in those posts. Can't / don't want to make fake posts.

One idea was to pay people with lots of contacts to use it among their group. But I don't see it working now.. or could it ?
Another was a paying invite system, but that I think this will come later..?

Any ideas/suggestions.

I am in India btw.

Thanks
#kickstart #local #micro #service
  • Profile picture of the author Yvon Boulianne
    Remember when paypal where giving us 10$ to get us onboard !!!

    Not so bad for a client acquisition cost...

    there you go
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    30$ / task, pay after done!
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    With density like that.. you need to straight up go at Gorilla marketing. Get fliers in store fronts.. get out there and put paper in peoples hands that have a QR code. 20 users with a tight population like that should be an afternoons worth of work.


    Originally Posted by ku View Post

    Hey,

    Aim:
    kickstart a mobile app .

    The app:
    Connects people with other people near them.
    The environment - extremely dense city. Like 20,000 people in a 500 meter radius. yes twenty thousand.

    Potential uses of the App:
    People (will) post about things they want to sell/share/buy/advertise
    Use it as a noticeboard, advertise small micro services
    Localized meetup.com - find people with common interests
    and so on

    The biggest hurdle I am facing is that finding those first 20-30 users.
    App with 5 users and 2 posts just won't cut it.

    How can it be populated with real posts and genuine users? Just to start..
    I am prepared to pay well, but have no idea how to bring in those posts. Can't / don't want to make fake posts.

    One idea was to pay people with lots of contacts to use it among their group. But I don't see it working now.. or could it ?
    Another was a paying invite system, but that I think this will come later..?

    Any ideas/suggestions.

    I am in India btw.

    Thanks
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    Success is an ACT not an idea
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  • Profile picture of the author ku
    With density like that.. you need to straight up go at Gorilla marketing. Get fliers in store fronts.. get out there and put paper in peoples hands that have a QR code. 20 users with a tight population like that should be an afternoons worth of work.
    But, all the content will be user generated and at the beginning , there will nothing! Wouldn't an empty site with practically 0 users be a major turn off for all ?
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  • Profile picture of the author animal44
    Don't know if this could fit into your business plan and your App, however I own a couple of community magazines, similar to those freebie things that drop through the post, except ours are delivered by email.
    The way we got signups was to offer:
    1. Local deals.
    2. Whats on locally.
    The whats on is pretty easy. You just look at the local magazines and newspapers and contact everyone who posts in the whats on section. They're happy to supply you with their announcements. Albeit, these usually are better edited to make them more enticing...

    The local deals are a little more difficult when you don't have anyone on your list. However, if you can sell the concept, you'll usually get some on board and as your list grows, more will jump on board.

    We were able to persuade some local businesses to place our signup form on their websites. Again, you will need to sell them on this. Those already with signups won't be interested. Fortunately few local businesses have signup forms. This was sufficient to build our list, without any paid advertising...
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