Justin Ferriman

Unlike most folks who move from California to Texas, we are going the other way around. Earlier this year, Lorena and I purchased a new home in California. We are transitioning there this year and beginning in January, it will officially be our primary residence.

I will always have a special place in my heart for Austin, as it’s the place where we got married and officially started our life together. It was our home base as we travelled during the heart of the pandemic to visit family in Mexico, Michigan, Connecticut, and Colorado.

But ultimately, we both really value gorgeous weather, and SoCal has the best weather in the country. The culture is more in line with what we prefer as well. Plus, I mean… you can’t beat the ocean.

I am excited to settle in California and start this next phase of life together.

Seeya, Texas… it’s been real.

Real hot. 👎

#personal

👋 Did you like this?

Get an article like this emailed to you once a month.

RSS feed

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to win. I despise losing, so much so that it has always motivated me to outperform my competitors. I suspect that this started as a young child, when my parents enrolled me into every sport imaginable.

I vividly remember one day before a tee ball game, I asked my dad, “who are we fighting today?”

I was five years old.

He corrected me, explaining that we aren’t fighting anyone, but simply playing a game. I was confused, there was no difference in my mind.

If there is one thing I love about entrepreneurship that isn’t mentioned frequently, it’s the thrill of competing (and winning). I suppose some might describe this mentality as “old school”, especially as it relates to business. I believe there are winners and losers, and not everyone gets a trophy because not every has earned one.

When I am in a competition that I care about, I go hard. If you get one over on me, then I acknowledge it and respect your victory – but you better believe that I’m coming back, and even harder.

For me, there is no better way to show respect than by giving an opponent your absolute best. You show respect by running up the score. In business, that means getting more market share, winning customers of competing products, and being the go-to solution in a segment.

Competing makes me happy. It keeps me engaged, excited, and thinking creatively. It is for this reason that I decided to start another software company.

#personal

👋 Did you like this?

Get an article like this emailed to you once a month.

RSS feed

When I was in middle school, my principal used to say:

“The hardest part about any project is starting it.”

I had this in mind when starting GapScout, my second foray into the world of software, but first as a traditional SaaS. I learned a lot during my time building (and selling) LearnDash, and I can't wait to apply those learnings to this new venture.

One of those lessons learned was building an audience before and during the build process. For that project, I started content marketing 10 months before the product was built. I built an email list, got a good solid footing in Google, and was able to build buzz. This made the launch a success.

For GapScout, I am using this same formula (except we won't have to wait 10 months for launch this time)! 🙂

The content marketing strategy will be taking place at the same time as product development. I tapped my network and was introduced to a couple of content marketers who will be helping me in this area. As always, I like to start out with a few trial articles to see how things go. So far, so good for the both of them!

Smart content creation is just the first step.

I’d like to first build a solid footing in Google (seeing as this is a brand-new site), at which point I will begin the outreach process to start building relations with bloggers and websites in the same niche.

When you start a business, it's not always about the “big milestones”, it's nice to recognize the smaller achievements along the way.

Recently, the GapScout website celebrated one month. While developer conversations are happening in the background, the content marketing has started to make progress. There is no “hack” for content creation. It's a slow, long process. But it pays off!

The @GapScoutApp website is 1 month old today. Pretty pleased with the traffic in the first 30 days!?

Content marketing, friends.#buildinginpublic pic.twitter.com/eSuj8WcNV8

— Justin Ferriman (@JustinFerriman) September 3, 2022

In 30 days, the GapScout website has seen 2,083 unique visitors.

No secrets, just keyword research, writing quality articles, and sharing the content on the normal social channels.

I do intend to use paid ads as well, but not quite yet, as I'd prefer to do that when there is a product ready to use. So for now, the content marketing approach will continue, it definitely is paying off.

Want early access to GapScout? Get on the early adopter list!

#entrepreneurship

👋 Did you like this?

Get an article like this emailed to you once a month.

RSS feed

How do you define life?

For me, life is just a series of transitions from one moment to another.

They define our character.

They teach us.

They get easier with experience.

Our reaction to those transitions often dictates if we are stressed or content.

We measure our lives with our transitions because they are what we look back on as our most defining moments.

Embrace your transitions.

Transitions are your life.

#happiness

👋 Did you like this?

Get an article like this emailed to you once a month.

RSS feed

Well, that didn’t take long.

Closing in on one-year since the sale of LearnDash, and I am jumping back into the software industry. This time, with a micro-SaaS as opposed to WordPress.

After a successful entrepreneurial journey in #WordPress, I'm now creating a micro-SaaS: https://t.co/EaannfON0x.

I am following the #BuildingInPublic method, which is something very new for me. ?

I hope you follow along as I share each step of the journey!

— Justin Ferriman (@JustinFerriman) August 10, 2022

I’ll discuss a little about the why, but first let’s talk about what.

Meet GapScout!

In a sentence, GapScout is the easiest way to identify the profitable gaps in a market. It does this by analyzing reviews of your product or service and highlighting common themes & opportunities.

Reviews are a goldmine for a business. Not only your own reviews, but the reviews of your competitors as well. They can reveal desired features, opportunity areas, and influence your sales messaging so that you are saying the right thing, to the right people, at the right time.

From experience, I can tell you that sifting through reviews and knowing what to look for can be confusing and time-consuming. Especially if you are a solopreneur or a small business. GapScout systemizes the process and does the heavy-lifting for you. All you need to do is decide which action to take with your newfound insights.

When I was running LearnDash, I was constantly keeping an eye on the pulse of the market. What people were saying about my product, and also my competition. As a result, I was able to:

• Improve my current offers
• Find new opportunities
• Spy on competitors
• Improve sales copy

This was my secret sauce. I know it works, and I am excited to be building a solution that lets others benefit from it as well.

Sounds cool, but why start a software company (again)?

When my role with LearnDash ended, I was able to catch my breath. I’ll admit, I was a little burnt out from doing software (especially, WordPress). As I searched for inspiration outside of tech, I was originally attracted to land investing. Truth is, it’s something I’ve been interested in doing for a long time.

I was just about to pull the trigger on my business (everything was set up), but I stopped. Something didn’t feel right. I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew that I needed to pump the brakes again for some more self-reflection.

I realized that what energizes me the most, what I love to do, is to compete. To think creatively, to give people tremendous value, and to try to “win” in the game of business. The absolute best place for me to express this desire has been in software. It’s fun for me, but only if I believe in the software that I am building & selling.

I feel this way with GapScout. I completely believe in the value it can provide solopreneurs and small businesses selling services or products. I can’t wait to help people make more sales!

Even though it’s only the beginning of this journey, the response I have been getting from folks has been overwhelmingly positive. They want this product, and I’m excited to bring it to fruition.

If GapScout sounds cool to you, and you’re interested in getting early access, you can sign-up here. An early, pre-beta phase is targeted for the October/November timeframe.

Also, I am building GapScout in public, so if you like occasional updates, then follow me on Twitter as I post insights into the process there frequently.

#entrepreneurship

👋 Did you like this?

Get an article like this emailed to you once a month.

RSS feed