
John Shea introduces a step-by-step plan to build your own software as a service business, using a case study and week-by-week guidance from product idea to marketing.
Contact John through the automated Facebook bot for quick answers and direct communication. Click the lecture link to open a Facebook message and chat with him.
Explore how a SaaS business solves customer pain points with scalable software, sustains low overhead, and grows via recurring revenue and ongoing feature updates.
Explore real SaaS examples like Market Hero, What Funnels, Thrive Themes, and Get Truth to see how niche software solves pain points, drives signups, and builds recurring revenue.
Identify daily pain points, build targeted SaaS solutions, and differentiate on price, design, and support, illustrated by a project management tool for marketing agencies.
Focus your software on a very specific niche to deliver a targeted solution, such as sales funnels or ROI-tracking autoresponders for sales pages, avoiding feature creep.
Learn to validate your SaaS idea through market research by surveying your audience and prospects, using Typeform, SurveyMonkey, and Google Forms to gather pain points.
Create a master doc to track market research and feedback from target customers. Conduct 10–15 one-on-one calls to validate your SaaS idea and uncover project management and Slack integration needs.
Brainstorm a clever, easy-to-spell brand name for your SaaS that is memorable and easy to find. Use domain-name tools, thesaurus ideas, and availability checks to ensure a .com-friendly, searchable name.
Learn to stay organized while building a SaaS business using Google Drive: structure folders, share documents with developers and partners, manage prospecting lists, training videos, and key task lists.
Create a feature wishlist for digital marketing agencies, detailing client task management, template management, onboarding, discounts, and white-label options in a concise one-page document presented as sales copy.
Develop and manage a master task list document to guide SaaS development, using a color-coded summary tab, status codes, and templates for onboarding and file upload workflows.
Explore why a joint venture partner accelerates your SaaS launch by matching skills and sharing 50/50 costs. Leverage combined audiences and future project opportunities to grow faster.
Learn how to establish and fund joint venture partnerships to build saas ventures, including finding partners, interviewing, structuring revenue shares, and using tools for collaboration, with success and failure examples.
Break down a general partnership agreement used to onboard a new partner, detailing a 50/50 revenue split, confidentiality and non-compete terms, and a Google Drive template with sign-request workflow.
Learn how crowdsourcing via Kickstarter can validate and fund your SaaS idea, using a campaign video, backers, features, and testimonials as proof of concept.
Discover financing options for your SaaS startup, including crowdfunding and investor platforms, bank loans, and small business loans, and weigh rates, eligibility, and due diligence for development costs.
The creator shares a quick update about his busy year and invites viewers to subscribe to his free entrepreneurship channel with tips on online income, product reviews, and daily tools.
Identify key programming languages to consider for your SaaS, from Ruby on Rails and Python to JavaScript and PHP, to inform hiring a developer or team.
Explore how Upwork works as a freelancing platform to hire web developers and software programmers, post jobs, review profiles and samples, negotiate rates, and pay through the platform.
Sign up as a client, post a detailed job, and vet freelancers with profiles, portfolios, tests, and tailored screening questions to hire capable developers for your SaaS startup.
Explore freelance sites such as Top tall, freelancer dot com, and Three up to hire high-end freelancers for web, mobile app development, software development, logo design, and writing.
Secure a domain and cloud hosting with SSL for your SaaS landing page and app, using a subdomain and WordPress when needed.
Bubble is a visual no-code platform for building SaaS apps and mockups. Learn about drag-and-drop design, workflows, plugins, pricing, and when to DIY versus hiring a developer.
Develop effective communication with developers to move your SaaS project forward using Skype, Slack, and Facebook chat, while managing files and avoiding distractions.
Maintain consistency, perseverance, and clear communication as you build your SaaS, recognizing six to seven months of development, testing, quality assurance, beta feedback, and feature adjustments before launch.
Use screen recording to communicate with your development team through short, 30-second to a few-minute videos linked to a master list of screencasts, detailing exact changes like reset passwords.
Explore payment platform options such as Aksa and Sparc for selling digital products and courses, with affiliates, trials, recurring and one-time payments, and API integrations.
Compare Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.Net as payment gateways for your SaaS, discuss funnel integrations like ClickFunnels, and emphasize automation for partner commissions tracking.
Learn best practices for trials in SaaS, including credit card requirements, 14-day free trials, demo accounts, social sign-ups, and strategies to maximize conversion.
In 2017, first impressions matter: a polished, modern SaaS design with color, fonts, and layout drives adoption, so use templates or design services.
Discover templates and UI designs for SaaS, with live previews, professional layouts, and easy customization. Explore sources like rapid bootstrap, code kanyon, and dribble for ready-made dashboards or custom design.
Conduct testing to uncover bugs and issues before going live, reducing refunds and preserving customer trust. Prioritize fixes by impact on functioning and the user interface to prevent losing customers.
Document and video-record bugs quickly, maintain a master task list, and coordinate across time zones to accelerate fixes, double-check results, and test changes for fast SaaS progress.
Learn how to run effective demos and beta access for your SaaS by offering free lifetime access to select users in exchange for actionable feedback.
Collect beta user feedback through simple surveys like a typed form, assess usability and design issues, and organize results in a master task sheet and a feedback and improvements page.
Create training videos for your software, including a quick three-minute overview, a bonus training course with clear access, and sections covering onboarding, forms, campaigns, tasks, and user feedback.
Explore advanced tools for recording training in your software business, including Camtasia and ScreenFlow, with robust editing options and guidance on investing for future video updates.
Evaluate video hosting options for training videos, comparing YouTube's embedded playback and distraction risk with paid plans and Amazon Web Services' flexible, free setup.
Learn why software needs marketing to succeed. Explore promotion strategies, choose a couple to focus on, and craft compelling sales page content for your tool.
Discover how to build a compelling software sales page with ClickFunnels or Drive Themes, using a drag-and-drop editor, pricing options, testimonials, and live demos to highlight features.
Learn how to build a sales page using Thrive Themes Content Builder within WordPress, utilizing drag-and-drop sections, headlines, testimonials, pricing, money-back guarantees, and bonuses.
Explore building a WordPress based site for your SaaS, using Thrive themes and the klick funnels plugin for landing pages, and compare blogging versus landing pages with hosting options.
Learn how to tell your SaaS story, explain why you created the software to solve problems, and use a live demo and one-on-one call as a compelling call to action.
Break down a $12,000 webinar case study to show how to grow an audience, run a live webinar, and use replay pricing to drive initial software sales.
Explore the $40,000 SaaS case study of Phone Wagon, showing how tracking numbers informs marketing, and compare development, design, and hosting costs with a lean launch under $2,000.
Schedule one-on-one demos to walk through the software and answer questions. Use an embedded calendar for easy 15-minute, time-zone aware live demos and collect beta feedback.
Hire a virtual assistant through freelance sites to build a target prospect list of digital marketing agencies, collecting websites, company names, addresses, phones, and emails for outreach.
Execute a focused cold email prospecting strategy with Mailshake to build a targeted outreach list, automate follow-ups, and optimize open rates.
Pull emails from LinkedIn with Hunter.io to reach the right people for your SaaS. Use the Chrome plugin and free Hunter.io accounts to save and export leads for outreach.
Discover how to locate joint venture partners and affiliates to launch your SaaS, using forums, outreach, and 50/50 revenue splits to build relationships and promote your software.
Learn how strategic outreach and interviews can open sponsorship opportunities and expand your SaaS audience by connecting with industry leaders, leveraging podcasts, and networking events.
Discover how to boost your SaaS publicity through guest blogging: publish articles on relevant sites, assemble expert insights, and attract press coverage from outlets like Inc.
Explore beta list dot com, a startup directory to list software before launch for exposure, feedback, and early traction from makers and adopters.
Discover how to use Product Hunt to launch your SaaS product. Sign up for a free account, interact daily, and submit to gain audience, votes, and viral traction.
Explore how Quora functions as a research and marketing tool, where questions provoke answers from communities and company owners, boosting visibility for product management software in small digital marketing agencies.
Learn to launch and market a software product on Black Hat World by registering, earning a VIP membership, posting marketplace threads, and using review copies to drive traction.
Learn how AppSumo runs limited-time promotions that offer deep discounts on software, driving surge sales. Prepare a ready, valuable product and reach out to AppSumo to secure a promotional deal.
Master paid advertising to scale your software business by generating leads and trial sign ups through targeted campaigns, email follow-ups, and retargeting across Facebook ads, Google Adwords, and YouTube ads.
Are you entrepreneurial and yearning to build the next big thing without a programming background?
Have an idea in your mind that you want the world to see?
Maybe you don't like current solutions and want to build a solution to a "pain" you've faced?
That's what this course is for - you are going to:
Learn about the benefits of building your own SaaS (Software As a Service) business
Come up with your own unique software idea
Use market research to find paying customers
Find a joint venture partner to build a business with
Hire your first developer to build your software
Work and communicate with your developer over time to maximize results
Properly test and QA your software prior to launch
Beta test your software with users and get proper feedback
Create helpful video content that can train your users
Market and launch your software for high impact results
Support your users and grow your software long term
If you've ever had a SaaS startup idea of your own that you really wanted to execute but didn't know where to start, then this course enables you to realize how to build it from design to shipment without writing a single line of code.
Who's teaching it? My name is John Shea and I've been in the online marketing space for over 6 years. In 2017 I launched a SaaS application called Evolutly and decided to share everything about how I launched it inside this course.
Why would I take it? There is nothing like the feeling that you can build anything. When I started learning about software development, I felt overwhelmed by all that I had to learn though I still wanted to.
If you're ever felt that way or don't have too much time to invest in learning, then this course will convince you that is very possible to take your ideas and make them into reality.
What will I do? You will mostly be working with your ideas and a developer to bring your idea to life. Most of the work involves your instruction to help them create your vision.
How much time? Most of the time will be dedicated to working with the developer and marketing your product properly. Most of the time invested will be on the developers side and not yours. Depending on how complex your idea is could depend on how long it takes to come to life.
Who is the target audience?
Entrepreneurs who want to build the next big thing
Investors looking to quickly validate concepts
Designers interested in making their work come alive
Development beginners who seek to understand SaaS startups
Anyone wanting to get into the rapidly-growing world of startups