#26 - How to build a successful Shopify App 🚀

I just came back from Nice (south of France).

And I had a fantastic time with WideBundle's team. You know, we don't meet a lot. We're all remote so it's always a pleasure to spend time with them!

It was supposed to be 7 days with them in the south of France but finally I only spent 3 days.

And you know why? I got covid! 😅

Last week I shared with you a not-so-great moment for entrepreneurs. I got covid with a fever and at the same time I had to fix a lot of bugs on WideBundle.

Yea, I chose the wrong time to release a big update...

But hey, it's part of being an entrepreneur!

But in 2 weeks I went from one of the hardest moments as an entrepreneur, to one of the best. 🤩

We rented a house near Nice with an amazing view and a jacuzzi

Look at that! 👇

And as I was relaxing inside I remembered where I came from. I remembered the challenging moments I've been through to be where I am today.

I started to feel grateful. Because not so long ago I wished so hard to be where I am today!

And this is how you have to feel. I'm sure if you look 5 years ago and compare it to today, you will see everything you overcame!

In case you missed it, I finally opened the community for Shopify Apps owners and I'm so excited about everything that is coming!

This is a community for every founder to learn how to grow their Shopify App. So marketing is the main focus.

Here is what you can expect from that group:

• Lives about topics to help you grow your app

• Interviews with other founders

• Analysis of Shopify Apps and strategies

• Meetups in real life

• Brainstorming sessions

• Networking with other founders

I've always wanted to have a community. I mean, sharing on Twitter is great but it's harder to get real conversations and feedback.

So here we are!

75 early people joined it because it was invite-only. And you can't join it today.

But no worries! Next week we'll invite more people so if you're interested, you can join the waitlist by clicking here

Most of you struggle to find your 10 early users.

So I will share with you a technique that you can use.

As always, you have to talk to potential merchants to find early users. But it can be hard to know where they are.

So here is the technique to find small communities of merchants.

Step 1: Find influencers

Influencers are people followed by thousands of people in a specific niche.

So go to: Linkedin, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram

Search for keywords like: E-commerce, 7 figures, 6 figures, Shopify, Merchant, Brand Owner

And add every person you find to a list. Now you will follow them everyday.

But there is something special that you have to follow: Do they talk about some event? Or meetup? Or community?

That's what you need to find.

Step 2: Join the community

I focus on the French market, as always, with less competition.

On Linkedin I know some French people created a group for brand owners. You can't enter the group as you want but you need to figure out how to get in.

Same for Twitter, I know some people who sometimes organize masterminds where 20 merchants will meet for a week.

Basically you have to find these communities. If the meetups or communities are in real life, it's even better!

Step 3: Show them your work

People in communities (and in real life) tend to listen carefully when someone talks to them.

Let's say you can join a private event with 20 people. If you can talk to the 20 people and understand their pain or show them your work by asking for feedback for a free plan for example.

Then you might find 10 people willing to use your app for free, give you feedback, and leave a review on the Shopify App Store.

And remember something: 10 reviews are enough in the early days to start your machine.

Because 10 reviews will help your app get a better ranking, and more installs. With these 10 users you will also improve your app, understand what people want, etc...

But I agree, this technique is not some easy action you can take from your computer without talking to someone.

But you're an entrepreneur, you need to go out of your comfort zone to get what you want

I hope you enjoyed this mail!

See you next week,

Mat