The Idea
Over the past year, I’ve been exploring an app idea that could help people become more social, break the ice, and nurture meaningful relationships. While I’ve brainstormed a few potential approaches, I haven’t had the ‘chance’ to test them out yet.
The Inspiration: Noah Kagan’s “One Million Dollar Weekend”
After reading Noah Kagan’s book “One Million Dollar Weekend,” I decided to adopt his approach of “Not How – Now.”
The main idea is to skip the extensive planning and research phases and instead rapidly test your idea with potential customers. This involves creating a minimum viable product (MVP) or landing page and gauging interest by asking people to put down a small deposit.
The Landing Page
This is the first method I choose to test the idea. I created a landing page for OneTrueTribe on Carrd.co which made it extremely simple to put something together quickly.
My First Test
Just before the CrossFit Open started, I decided to use CrossFit athletes and enthusiasts as my initial target group. (Let’s be honest, anyone dedicated to CrossFit is an athlete – it takes immense effort and can be highly addictive!)
I created a landing page and shared it on my Instagram, hoping to reach some local CrossFit enthusiasts in London.
The Results
While about four people from the target group saw my Instagram story, and one engaged with it, they didn’t seem to fully understand the proposed solution. According to Google Analytics, five people visited the landing page, but none converted.
Lessons Learned
This initial test-validation taught me that I need to make the landing page and messaging much clearer to explain what this is all about in as short a message as possible. I’m considering adding an animation or a clear app prototype screenshot with simple benefit explanations alongside a clear, concise message.
Next Steps
Moving forward, I plan to:
- Improve the landing page and messaging based on the lessons learned.
- Reach out to people from my local CrossFit gym to gather feedback on the updated landing page and gauge their interest.
- Potentially run a small campaign targeting concentrated CrossFit communities in London and another city to assess open rates.
- For curiosity’s sake, test the concept in Switzerland, as the culture may respond differently to the idea of addressing loneliness.
The goal is to attract a specific percentage of the CrossFit target audience to the landing page and convert a certain percentage of them (by collecting emails and sending a TypeForm to validate the pain point).
If successful with the CrossFit community, I’ll proceed with this target group. If not, I’ll pivot to a different group that might be a better fit.
The Bigger Picture
I strongly believe in this idea, as it would solve a problem I’ve faced personally. However, there may be underlying issues I haven’t yet identified. I have a hunch that people might be reluctant to openly discuss loneliness, as many of us prefer to maintain a positive image rather than confront the issue head-on.
Despite the challenges, I’m excited to continue refining and testing this app concept. With the right approach and target audience, I’m confident it could make a meaningful impact on people’s lives.
