From a Nottingham founders meetup to a clearer brand direction.
This week felt like honing in on trying to grow the user base and trying to generate revenue through the application. I attended a Nottingham tech meetup to ask peers about potential connections, get an outside perspective on the app, and learn how other founders balance building a product with running a startup alongside their other responsibilities.
That's where I met Tom Walters from Craft (https://www.craftbrand.co.uk/). He had decided to nominate himself for a talk on his new venture and business, and discussed the challenges relating to AI in his line of work. It really hit home with me that whilst AI has been able to elevate and excel my progress in the tech world, here is a scenario where it has actually hurt an industry. We live in a world where AI marketing and branding is being generated at a vast amount and its damaging brands and businesses. Heck, I know I've used it, especially for my initial artwork for my upcoming University event. But the thing that all successful brands have in common is trust and authenticity. Which resonated with me greatly; I want to not only grow my user growth and revenue short term, but become a staple for consumers to trust my application.
So I decided to have a follow up with Tom today, delving deeper into brand archetypes, what type of brand do I want to be? What is the clear promise I am making to my users? For me, I can see it clearly; I want to bridge the gap to those who finding health and wellbeing difficult; provide a more seamless application with nutritional support, a platform for PTs to provide better sessions with more insights.
As well as the above, I've also secured discounted tops for Persistence branding, with local support on the printing, so I can represent the app when I'm out meeting people. It's a small but practical step in building awareness on a limited budget.
Speaking to people has prompted ideas for further enhancements too. I'm capturing the problems behind those suggestions and prioritising them, rather than treating every conversation as a commitment to another feature.
The progress this week is a clearer direction for the brand, new connections and useful challenges to my thinking. Thanks to Tom and everyone who has taken the time to listen and share advice. Next week for me will entail two different avenues; I have a 3 of my 4 evenings booked up with going to present my app to local gyms, show the brand and try gain further traction on the founding offer. On Friday, this same focus will switch to the Nottingham Founders Fair at UoN, something I'm so excited about. The other mission will be to really focus on my marketing and branding strategy, putting myself at the forefront of my product and bringing AI away from the creativity part of it. Even if it did give me sunglasses in a gym setting and made me look cool...
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