In the field of self-development, there is such a compelling social media homepage tool - Lens. Stand out in the market with its own advantages and make considerable profits. Let's take a closer look at its story.
Lens is essentially a mobile-first small website and website building tool that can be used as a landing page for all social platforms, media and other content. It is a commonly used main link in social media profiles such as INSTAGRAM and Tiktok. Currently, Lens generates about $25,000 in revenue per month and has about 5,300 paying users, of which about 4,800 users choose the $4 per month Premium plan and 500 users choose the $4 per month Premium plan. Users choose the Professional plan for $10 per month. It has grown 11% over the past 12 months and is profitable, with profit margins between 80% - 90% (depending on monthly ad spend), and generated approximately $250,000 in revenue over the past year.
Lens founder Charlie Clark originally set out to create a print-on-demand marketplace for artists after quitting his full-time job in 2019. While promoting with artists after launch, he noticed a lot of people were using the link tool on Instagram, and after researching existing tools, he realized he could build a better one. Because the market coverage of link tools is extremely broad, almost everyone needs such a tool to promote themselves or their business, and its core functions are relatively simple. It's basically a bunch of buttons that link to different URLs. At the same time, have software engineering and design capabilities. His background and experience launching side projects helped him develop the skills needed to build and launch Lens from the ground up.
When Charlie Clark started developing Lens, he had just spent six months building and releasing another Web application, VISU, and was able to reuse much of what he learned from it. In fact, much of the infrastructure, code, and user experience for the first version of Lens came from VISU. With this foundation, he built a minimum viable product (MVP) that allowed users to create accounts and build simple pages in about two weeks. At the technical level, he uses a relatively simple technology stack, such as react NO js and MONGODB. Everything is self-hosted on digital ocean's VPS. He also uses AWSS3 to store assets. The monthly cost is approximately $50. Register via strap album. The LLC fee is $500, and the overall cost is low enough that you can rely on the savings to move forward with your plan. Costs will be recouped later by finding product market fit and launching paid plans.
To build a user base, Charlie Clark employed many strategies. He proactively reached out to potential users, especially those using competing tools, and recreated their pages on Lens in a better style, then asked if they were interested in switching to Lens; for those who didn't use any tools, he You'll also create a custom Lens page for them and convince them to give it a try. After gaining some initial users, he launched the product on Product Hunt, where it garnered about 300 likes and ranked eighth on the homepage. This launch was relatively successful. Although some users complained that this was yet another linking tool, most were supportive and brought many new users and great feedback. The first version of Lens was initially free. After all, it was too simple at the time and not worth the cost. After bundling enough features, it launched a premium plan for three dollars per month. About two months after launch, it was making money. The first revenue is an important moment that validates the viability of the business and motivates continued building and marketing.
Charlie Clark learned many valuable lessons building Lens. On the one hand, taking smaller, calculated risks and focusing on incremental growth maintains control of the business and avoids burnout, such as passing up venture capital opportunities. On the other hand, it ensures that you have full control of the business without sacrificing important personal time. , understand when to make tough decisions for the long-term health of your business, such as canceling the free model, even when you detect malicious behavior in the free model (such as phishing attempts and spam). Ultimately the decision paid off, reducing overhead and attracting higher quality clients.
For entrepreneurs who are just starting out, he gave several suggestions: First, focus on early release, iterate based on real user feedback, adhere to the mentality of "completion is more important than perfection", and be able to quickly adjust the product according to the situation. The actual needs of users; the second is to understand that luck plays a greater role in success than imagined, and may have a huge impact at the right time and place; the third is not to exhaust your energy chasing every opportunity, it is best to take small steps, Take controllable steps to maintain momentum rather than going all in all at once and risking losing everything.
I hope Lens’s story and these experiences and suggestions can inspire the majority of independent developers and entrepreneurs and help them move forward more steadily and further on their entrepreneurial journey. You are also welcome to share your thoughts and insights in the comment area. If you find this article valuable, don’t forget to like and share it!
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