The Power of Promotional Videos
Unlocking Success with Promotional Videos for Indie Hackers
As an indie hacker, when you build a product, you want to magnify chances to reach potential customers. One way to increase these chances is with a promotional video. These short and engaging clips offer an effective way to convey messages, create brand awareness and drive conversions.
Let me take you back to 2019, when I embarked on my most profitable indie hacking adventure - creating a Spanish online course on Docker hosted on Udemy. Inspired by my ex-coworker Alex Lora's success in teaching JavaScript, Kotlin and Flutter (I’m glad he is nowadays undertaking Kekomo, an online restaurant menu), I decided to explore the world of Docker. My mission was clear - simplify developers' lives through an engaging Spanish online course hosted on Udemy.
The course creation process was a rich learning experience, offering insights into the course environment and tools. Udemy, being a key partner in this venture, shared valuable resources and guidance, forming a symbiotic relationship that not only involved them taking a share of the revenue (50%) but also promoting the course to their extensive user base of over 57 million potential learners.
The course creation process unfolded over a month, peppered with subsequent updates. Drawing inspiration from Udemy's guidance on crafting the perfect promotional video, I crafted my promotional video, ensuring it resonated with potential learners.
As the course progressed, my engagement with students grew, albeit with only 15 questions received since its inception. Although Docker is receiving updates, I haven't dedicated efforts to update the content.
Udemy has a tool to provide insights into their marketplace. These are the insights provided by Udemy today on Spanish courses on Docker. At the time of building the video, the number of courses was low.
Despite the 3.93/5 course rating and initial positive engagement, the course gradually faded into obscurity within Udemy's vast course catalog. The revenue generated fell short of expectations, yet the venture was not in vain. The experience garnered, resources acquired, learning how to create a course, and deepening in Docker became invaluable takeaways.
While I may not have immediate plans for another course, the experience has left me with a clear catalyst. When the passion to deeply explore a subject meets the motivation to share that knowledge, the intention to create a course becomes a natural progression.
Today's promotional video
Fast forward to today, where my focus is on the development of Curl2Url – a utility designed to convert curl commands to URLs seamlessly. The half-year journey invested in this project has culminated in a new promotional video, crafted using tools such as Camtasia and OBS. Reflecting on the Udemy course experience, I can't help but acknowledge how pivotal that prior venture was in shaping my current endeavors.
I'm thrilled to share the latest promotional video. It took me more than expected to produce this video. The procrastination was real, primarily fueled by dissatisfaction with the initial plot. Multiple iterations later, I found a storyline that resonated with the essence of Curl2Url.
In this video, I aim to showcase the practical use cases and features of Curl2Url, offering a glimpse into its functionality and highlighting the value it brings to developers.
As an indie hacker navigating the vast digital landscape, the power of promotional videos is undeniable. They are not just tools for marketing; they are storytelling devices that can captivate your audience, convey your message effectively, and elevate your brand. The journey may be filled with challenges, but each venture contributes to a wealth of experience that fuels future successes.
Tomorrow Tuesday 19th I will launch Curl2Url on Product Hunt, we will see how this experience goes. See you around!