.jpeg)
Table of Contents
Do not index
Do not index
Canonical URL
Hide CTA
Hide CTA
Related to Authors (1) (Content)
PDFShift is a simple HTML to PDF converter doing $9K MRR
- 1 Problem
- 1 Solution
- 1 Founder (Developer + Marketer)
Top lesson from Cyril Nicodeme’s success?
Keep shipping - Cyril has shipped almost 70 projects, and only 4 of them have made any money.
What is PDF Shift
PDFShift is a simple API to convert any HTML document into a PDF, Screenshot, Banner etc.
It is used by businesses for various use cases like converting invoices to PDFs, or sending reports, sharing customer data etc.
Going through the testimonials of PDFShift you can clearly see the value it provides to its users -
Initial Launch
PDF Shift was launched back in May 2018 on Indie Hackers with a simple post - “Don't be afraid! Ship it!”
That’s when Cyril built the product and announced it to the world.
Without even having a payment gateway set up.
The crucial thing is that he didn’t let procrastination or any other excuse come in the way of shipping. He kept shipping and writing on Indie Hackers after that.
4 months later PDF Shift was launched on Product Hunt. At this point it already had 1000+ registered users on the app.
With a strategic launch PDFShift ended up getting 1059 upvotes and achieved product of the day.
This was Cyril’s PH strategy -
- Newsletter to existing users
- Twitter influencers
- Facebook groups
- Articles on subreddits and Indie Hackers
Quora Marketing
The Product Hunt Launch got a lot of eyeballs for PDF Shift.
But traffic from PH dies out gradually, you can’t rely on it for the long term.
So after that Cyril started to get active on Quora to get customers. He started answering all questions around HTML to PDF conversion, adding value to the platform, and also promoting PDF Shift in a non-spammy way.
You can check out his Quora profile for the kind of answers he wrote.
Organic Growth
Most channels like Quora or Reddit gradually dry out. That’s when most indie SaaS businesses start relying on organic search.
Same for PDFShift.
According to SimilarWeb, 46% of PDFShift’s total traffic is from organic search.
(Quick Note: I’ve created a super actionable course for the members of the indie masterminds community to get stated with organic SEO. To understand the fundamentals and start getting free traffic from Google. Do join us to get the course)
Top Lessons
Top Lessons from PDFShift’s success -
- Just ship it, don’t hold back, don’t let procrastination get better of you.
- Solve a narrow, painful and recurring problem for businesses.
- Build a great product that customers love using.
- Leverage communities and forums for initial traffic
- Product Hunt for massive spike and wide coverage
- SEO for long term traffic and growth
Further Reading
- How I Developed A $3.5K/Month Tool That Converts HTML To PDF - Starterstory
From the vault -
3 random post from the Superframeworks archives -
🔗 Super Links
Useful links you don’t want to miss -
Last week’s top link -
- The future of building SaaS - Greg Isenberg
🤗 How can I help?
Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you -
- Join the tiny community of for yoru big dreams -
- Feedback sessions/Demo Days to get personalized feedback 📝
- Co-working sessions and a peer accountability group with weekly checkins 💪
- Courses, Tutorials, Workshops on topics like SEO, Copywriting, Landing Pages, and more so that you keep growing 🚀
- And lots more!
- We support, inform, educate and inspire each other every day. We are a tight knit group of indie hackers and solopreneurs working on our projects. We would love to have you. Entrepreneurship is hard, don’t do it alone. Come join us!
- Get Copy OS - A complete system to write high converting copy (Like a Pro!) - 800+ users and 17 5 star review!
- Make money with words: Find your voice and monetize your writing
Thanks,
Ayush 🙏
