Thread by @IndieHackers

Acquisition channel of the week: Freelancing Marketplaces

@zerotousers analyzed all 489 Indie Hackers interviews and identified 34 different channels.

Can you use sites like UpWork to promote a Saas? Yes

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1/ He was a Shopify app developer. Building custom apps over and over. "We need a custom store locator". His clients were asking for it.

@tylertringas solution?
StoreMapper — a SaaS that you can add store location maps on your website.

Now, how to expand?

2/ "I searched job sites like Upwork for people looking to hire a freelancer to do a custom build, and would swoop in and pitch them on Storemapper instead."

Another example?

3/ ActionPages, a referral marketing SaaS.

An article: 'Harry's Shave Club open-sourced their referral campaign platform'. Meanwhile, Alex Kehaya's clients were asking for a referral campaign service.

Open-source + demand -> new SaaS platform.

Time to acquire more clients.

4/ UpWork. Companies looking for developers to work with that open-sourced platform.

His pitch to those companies? "Hey, why pay an expensive developer when you can get a SaaS and pay monthly for it?"

5/ "I also offer to build and manage the campaign for them if they'd like."

"The best thing about this channel is that the customer has already expressed interest in the service and has budget!"

6/ Freelancing platforms can be a viable acquisition channel if people are actively looking for a developer to build them something your product already does. Give them a shot.

What's been your experience with freelancing sites to acquire customers?