Hi all — I’ve been struggling with getting the first paying customer for my SaaS, and I know a lot of people here have been too. I spent some time working through it last week, and here’s a simple approach I used that costs less than $10/month: 1. Stop building and start validating with real users. I reached out directly to potential users (LinkedIn, Reddit, niche communities) and asked for honest feedback before adding more features. 2. Set up a simple landing page (Carrd / Notion / Framer). No fancy product — just clear problem, solution, and a waitlist or “book a demo” button. 3. Offer a “done-with-you” early version instead of full service/automation. Instead of waiting for a perfect SaaS, I manually delivered the outcome for the first users and learned what actually mattered. 4. Use a simple CRM + follow-up system (Google Sheets + Gmail templates). Tracked every conversation and followed up every 2–3 days — this alone increased replies a lot. 5. Close the first users manually before building anything scalable. Only started automating once I saw repeated demand. The biggest shift was realizing the first customer doesn’t come from the product — it comes from conversations. If anything is unclear, let me know. Hope this helps you 🙏

Most people have a huge "fun" deficiency in their lives. (and probably Vitamin D too) They still want to solve problems and escape pain... But when you make it FUN, you fill up a bucket in their soul they didn't even know was there. People buy MORE when it's fun... And they buy more OFTEN. That's why I'm loving auctions right now. Auctions are fun. People love 'em (built in gamification). They're ZERO risk (if you test BEFORE running it) And you can auction off ANYTHING. But what's really amazing (and what no one else is talking about) is what happens AFTER the auction ends. Most people think there is ONE winner in an auction. But they ignore the BIGGEST hidden asset of the auction: The bidders. Everyone who bids is telling you how much they're willing to pay. Folks that bid multiple times are telling you their pain is strong. Every bidder is a lead. Not just a lead, a warm, ready to buy lead. That's where the magic is. It's hard to do when you're selling a physical item, like a Picasso, because you only have one original Picasso.. But with digital stuff like SaaS, courses, programs, services, etc... You can sell dozens (or hundreds) because the quantity is basically limitless. Is that making sense? If you can see that the real win in an auction isn't the winning bid, but all the leads, engagement, fun and good will you get from the BIDDERS, you can make a lot of $$ and have a lot of fun doing it. I've run auctions where I sold $17,000 in 5 days, and ones where I made $500. Couple buddies of mine ran an auction and made $150k in 4 days. The worst thing that could happen is you end up getting your offer in front of 100's, 1,000s of people in a fun way. (We always test our auction offer BEFORE we run anything to make sure people actually want it). I'm looking for a few adventurous folks who wouldn't mind if me and my team tested and ran an auction for them. We'd handle everything: 1. The offer (we'd come up with something your audience would LOVE and that wouldn't be a huge drain on your time and resources) 2. We'll test your offer to make sure people would actually bid on it. 3. We'd run and manage the bidding 4. We'll send out reminder emails and posts 5. And follow up with every bidder with a custom offer

Curious on how everyone here markets their SaaS. I've built a couple SaaS projects and looking for some ideas on bringing them to market. thank you for your time. Cheers -Yuriy

Today's idea is a massive value-add for service businesses that fits the SaaS in a Weekend model perfectly. " 💡 The Idea: Simple Client Portal 🏷️ Potential Name: PortalSpace or ClientDock (or pick your own!) 🛠️ What it does: It gives agencies, freelancers, and service providers a single, branded hub where their clients can log in to view project status, download deliverables, upload assets, and pay invoices. Instead of scattering communication across messy email threads and Google Drive links, everything lives in one professional dashboard. ✨ What's unique about it: While enterprise tools like Moxo exist, they are often too complex and expensive for a solo freelancer or small agency. This idea thrives by offering radical simplicity: a clean, white-labeled dashboard that takes 5 minutes to set up, instantly making the service provider look like a premium, highly organized agency. 🎯 Why it perfectly fits the SaaS in a Weekend model: - Broad Market: Every freelancer, consultant, accountant, and small agency needs a professional way to interact with clients and deliver work. - Crystal Clear Job-to-be-Done: "Give your clients one branded link to access all their files, updates, and invoices." - Minimal Third-Party Reliance: Core features are just file storage (like AWS S3) and a payment integration (like Stripe). No fragile APIs required. - Instant ROI: The user feels the value immediately when their client says, "Wow, your onboarding process is so professional." It helps them justify higher rates. - Tolerates Downtime: If the portal is down for a few minutes, a client can simply check back later to download their file. It's not mission-critical infrastructure. - Easy Upsell Path: Free tier offers 1 active client portal; Pro tier unlocks unlimited clients, custom domain mapping, and white-labeling (removing the "Powered by" badge). Who's claiming this idea for their weekend build?