Hey people!
Haven't really planned a PH launch for Gadget Hunt but well, now we're here. I'm the maker of Gadget Hunt - a site I started 2.5 months ago after I quit my job at Shortcut Labs (makers of Flic - the wireless smart button). Gadget Hunt is a project I run alongside my marketing studies at Stockholm University.
Feel free to ask any questions about the site. I'm here to answer them all!
Remember, GH is like PH - the more people that sign up and use it, the better it gets. :)
@mkaroumi how do you differentiate yourself from already established sites like ThisIsWhyImBroke.com? (or even lesser sites like uncrate, BlowMyPayCheck, etc.)
@rossdcurrie that's a great question! Seems like ThisIsWhyImBroke & BlowMyPayCheck are more into "fun" gadgets. I want GH to be more like PH - useful gadgets that doesn't cost too much for a normal person. Fun posts are allowed but the main focus should be on useful and beautiful gadgets (and mostly innovative gadgets). Seems like they don't post crowdfunding projects, maybe because they want to feature products THEY can get money for (?). What I approve/post on GH won't be based on if I get a commission or not!
The focus will also be more on building a community. The community is a big part of why PH is so successful, no doubt! For example, the content on the sites you mentioned isn't really community/user generated, right? I think the best content comes from the community!
So what will differentiate GH from the other gadget sites:
- Useful gadgets - including crowdfunded products.
- It's not there to directly sell something to its users.
- Daily structure like PH makes it easier to find the LATEST gadgets, not just the ones that the site owner want you to see!
- Community!!!
Hope that answered your questions. Thanks! :)
@mkaroumi Well, it answers my questions but it sounds like you've never heard of ThisIsWhyImBroke, which is perhaps one of the greatest examples of affiliate marketing around, and of sites in your market. To me it says you maybe need to do a bit more market research.
To address your points:
1) ThisIsWhyImBroke features products they make money for and also products they don't. The owner has written on a few occassions of the importance of featuring products that they may never make money for.
2) ThisIsWhyImBroke also features Kickstarter projects. They featured mine, so I can personally attest to that. They also updated it post-Kickstarter to point to my product page (where they make no kickback)
3) The argument that you want to be more like PH because you're going to post 'useful' stuff is kind of moot. Arguably, the most successful products that were launched on PH (and by that, I mean projects that have really gone on to hit mainstream media) are Yo and Send Your Enemies Glitter. @rrhoover actually wrote a great post about useless products.
4) Is a Russian Roulette Water Balloon really a 'useful' gadget? By the way, search for "russian roulette water balloon" and tell me what site comes up #1? Hint: I may have mentioned it in the first two points.
5) My own experience with Crowd Loot tells me that if you're the sole arbitor of what's hot or not, then you will have great trouble building the community. The success of PH can definitely be put down to community, but it's the way in which the community was opened. You can't be the only guy approving.
Long story short, you've got a decent site but you really need to think harder about what your actual unique value proposition is. There are a HEAP of sites that do what you do. Then again, if you can sustain traffic post-PH, and get enough returning users, then maybe it doesn't matter.
Fun to hear what you think. You're right, I haven't put much effort into market research and such. Why? Well, I just made this site to try things out and a deep market research is one thing I should have focused more on.
I've mostly looked at PH and Gadget Flow. Gadget Flow is great but like ThisIsWhyImBroke - they post "gadget" like chairs, earrings (no tech) and such. I want these posts to be something people haven't seen before. Hopefully something innovative. If it's a Russian Roulette Water Balloon every now and then, that just makes the site better. Not all posts have to be serious stuff.
I'm the sole arbitor - I decide what should be approved. Why? I want to keep the site kinda consistent. I decide what will be HOT ON THE SITE, THEN the community decides WHAT IS WORTH SHARING.
Please tell me about the value propositions of Crowd Loot!
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Very late in this discussion but to be honest, I think the idea is quite great. I'd love to talk to you a little more about it!
@ourielohayon not a stupid question at all. This is something I've thought about for a long time.
Some posts on Product Hunt are physical gadgets, but most of the posts are web services and apps. I wanted to create something that focuses on gadgets ONLY that I would love myself!
Do you have any suggestions on improvements or changes I could make?
@mkaroumi the only suggestion i could see is by going deep in verticals. Gadgets is indeed a very wide world. create specific entries by major themes (eg watch, home, cars,...)
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