What do you do when you receive an offer for $40,000? Two months ago, I faced this choice, but for various reasons, I refused. Now, 60 days later, the monthly revenue of that product, Black Magic, has reached $2,164. Today, I want to share this experience with you, hoping to bring you some inspiration.
1. From rejection to reconstruction: Black Magic’s transformation
Black Magic was originally positioned as an app to help people decorate their avatars and banners, but it didn't solve any major pain points. When I realized this, I started thinking about how I could make it more valuable. There are a lot of things I want to improve on Twitter, but how to bring them together has always eluded me.
Until one day, I saw T wuex, a sidebar application for the Twitter network. I knew immediately that this was the pivot I was looking for. So, I decided to transform Black Magic into a browser extension to provide users with more valuable functions on Twitter.
2. Rapid iteration and user feedback
Over the next week, I designed a minimum viable product (MVP) and used it myself for a while. I then invited some Twitter friends to try it out and shared a small demo on Twitter. People responded with excitement, which gave Black Magic some appeal.
I started an invitation-only beta program to let people try the extension for free and invite their friends to join. I ask for people's feedback, make improvements, and add more features. Release new features almost every day, talk to test users, collect feedback, and repeat the process.
3. Gains and challenges in the testing phase
The testing phase lasted about 60 days and I got about 920 testers. During this process, I received a large number of free users and feedback suggestions, many of whom later became paid users and left reviews in the extension store.
However, the testing phase also presented some challenges. In order to serve a large number of free users, I had to upgrade the server and consume a lot of free points. At the same time, communicating with customers also takes up a lot of my time. But I think it was all worth it because I was able to identify and fix problems early on.
4. My Unfair Advantage
When I started testing, I already had about 14k followers, which definitely increased the reach of my tweets. Additionally, I've gained a lot of free users through Black Magic in the past six months, thanks to some of the content I've created using Black Magic. Finally, I have 13 years of coding experience, which allows me to ship features quickly.
However, I also understand that not everyone has the same advantages that I do. But what I want to say is that even if you don't have these advantages, you can still achieve your goals through hard work and innovation.
5. Summary and Outlook
At the end of the 60-day beta test, I gained 920 invitation-only beta users, 1,660 active users, and 248 paid users. Monthly income reached $2,164. Although this is just the beginning, I am confident about the future.
Looking back on this experience, what I want to tell you is: don’t be afraid of rejection and don’t be afraid to try new things. Only when you bravely take that step can you discover more possibilities.
See you next week!
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