Where I've Been (And Where We're Going)
Hey everyone — I want to fill you in on what's been happening and a shift in direction for this community. For about a decade, I've been cycling through marketing tools: ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, High Level, N8N, Zapier, Calendly... the list goes on. Each one eventually frustrated me enough that I dropped it. (I'm still on High Level, but that relationship is... strained.) These are legitimately hard problems to solve, and I don't fault anyone for not getting it perfect. But the frustration kept piling up. About a month ago, something clicked: I have the skills to build exactly what I want. With some AI coding assistance, I can actually create my own marketing toolbox — tools I'd genuinely love using. So that's what I've been doing. For the past month, I've spent roughly 10 hours a day on this: developing the plan, making key architectural decisions, designing the initial UI/UX (about 2 weeks ago), and just last week I started building the actual framework. I'm also restructuring how I earn income to make this sustainable. Starting in the new year, I'm taking on a sales role with a specific goal: dedicate 2 weeks to sales, then use the other 2 weeks each month for development. What this means for YDTB: This community is shifting. Moving forward, I'll be posting status updates, sharing tutorials, and showcasing progress as I build this thing out in the open. But more than that — I want this to be a two-way conversation. This is your space to provide feedback, share ideas, and help shape what this toolbox becomes. If you see something that could be better, or you've got a feature idea that would solve a problem you've been dealing with, I want to hear it. Your input will directly influence what gets built. A question for you: As you know, we have a free tier and a monthly contribution tier. The free community will always get updates on progress. But I'd love to hear from you — what would make a monthly contribution feel worth it to you? Early access to tools? Behind-the-scenes breakdowns? Direct input on the roadmap? Something else entirely?