Half-day build

Hey friends, I participated in an event half-day build organized by @louispereira this past Sunday. The goal is to launch any product in 12hrs from idea to potentially making revenue.

It could be anything. from a simple pdf giving a brief introduction to a topic or a complex product build that solves a particular problem.

The main intention behind my joining this event was to see how fast can I go from a simple idea to bringing it out in front of people.

I thought of building an info-product, that will explain all there is about newsletters. This was research for me to understand why newsletters came into existence and also to understand if newsletters will be staying with us for a while.

So, I decided to make a notion doc, and the tools I thought I will be using were -

1. Notion
2. Figma
3. Typedream

Although, I didn't have the time to build out a landing page, unfortunately. So, I skipped the part about building a typedream landing page.

Why am I making this?

I am fascinated by how in the ever-changing world of technology emails are still the most commonly used medium of communication. This and the latest boom of all trying to make something on the internet apart from their standard jobs made me wonder whether there is scope for individuals to build an email list.

That is why I decided on making a detailed info-guide delving into topics about the history of newsletters, how the first newsletter was printed, and how the email newsletter started.

The only thing I couldn't get to write about is how it can help your reasoning. I deliberately did that, because not all should want to write newsletters. It is for people who want to have some sort of practice and a routine. Newsletters to me are just that - A routine practice to help me keep writing something every week.

The next thing I had to figure out was who am I am making this for?

Although anyone can write online, the key person I am making this for would be myself 2 and a half years ago - A recent graduate looking for ways to write online and figure it out entirely on his own.

It is hard to get started online. It is fun if you enjoy discovering new things and not worry about the metrics (which I am trying to gain) but every once in a while the metric FOMO creeps in. It just wants you to see unbelievable metrics and give most of the rewards that you wishfully think will be true someday.

I didn't make this product in the hopes of that, but to genuinely explore my curious traits of how newsletters came to be and what happens if we continue to send out newsletters for a while. I thought to give them the reason why newsletters are a must in the creative stack, but also how newsletters have moved from newspapers to corporate communication to marketing strategy for e-commerce to now what we are witnessing as personal newsletters.  

If one person on the internet finds it useful. I thought it will be a successful half-day build.

I recommended two platforms to start writing and publishing on(one free and the other paid) to get started. I only gave two options because giving my opinion on many platforms and then letting you decide is a bit rough on me and I probably couldn't have done it in 12 hours. Also, you will be stuck in picking the right one for you instead of just starting to write.

I finished writing the content in Notion. which took a huge chunk of my time that left me o time to create a simple landing page on  Typedream.

However,  fine-tuned the content and packaged it in a good way (hopefully). It is a good read for people buying it.

Then went on to create a simple cover image to demonstrate what it is. I know the 101 thing is a bit cliche but it is what it is.

You get -

1. Introduction
2. History
3. why you should start a newsletter
4. types of newsletters out there
5. which platform to start in
6. what next?

Reflections from the half-day build:

You see, I am a classic plan everything and then move ahead kinda guy. But also, life isn't fair. So, things don't work out even after planning. After which, I kinda feel bad to do all the planning. That is why I decided to take part in this event. it is time-constraint and I don't have a lot of time to plan. It was a simple hack for me.

When I first heard of the half-day build. My first thought was I will learn bubble and I have written this in my yearly journal of 2021 as my plan for 2022. But in all honesty, I haven't even started learning building in the bubble.  

So, to break from my chain of thoughts of planning and then doing things, I thought why not join to see what I can build without giving much pre-thought to see if I can do it. So, now, I am confident in the next event, I will build something better and possibly useful.

If it weren't for this event I would have never sat down and finished something like this.  

This made me realize 2 things.

1. Whenever I am starting something new. I will give only a limited time for myself to plan it and get going. Or else, I will just be at the start line wondering if I will win the race or not without even running.
2. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

In case you are interested in such an event, Louis hosts it every 2 months and it is free. You can join by signing up at the link here: Half-Day Build

Also, the product is published you can grab your copy covering everything about the newsletter here: Get this guide for $2

Newsletter 101

Newsletter 101 is a collection of how and why you should start a newsletter. I am fascinated by how in the ever-changing world of technology emails are still the most commonly used medium of communication.Although emails were previously used in the corporate world and we personally only use them to…

Gumroad

Thank you for reading.

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