Matt Morris is an indie developer working on a SaaS tool called Blotter which brands itself as a Twitter-powered comment system.
The value proposition is obvious: comments on blogs are powerful when they're work. Unfortunately, there are lots of ways they can be a drag on a site, especially when they're
- empty, making it seem like the site is dead;
- full of spam or ads;
- hard to engage with.
Blotter promises to overcome theses problems using Twitter as comments. The service aims to turn tweets into comments in three different ways. First, it provides an interface for including tweet teasers directly from the blog post. Then it surfaces tweets it finds that include the URL of the blog post. Finally, it can share an auto-generated first comment tweet.
From my perspective, this serves a genuine need. I've been doing something like this manually for almost two weeks (before I understood Blotter). Just being able to automate the process would be a significant win. Driving better engagement would be gravy. The built in analytics for gauging engagement and pointing out blog posts that could connect seems terrific.
Customer Segments & Relationships
Blotter's key customer segment is people with blogs and since blogs are currently seeing a bit of a resurgence at the moment, this seems well timed. Matt is building in public and using Twitter to create interest.
Of the four buyer types, the main buyer type the blotter site focuses on is the researcher. As a new product, this makes sense, as new users need many questions answered before committing to try or purchase a service. The site also accommodates the Action Taker with frequent CTAs to "Request Access" and the Bargainer's quest for a deal satisfied with free usage while the product is in closed beta. Considering how powerful Blotter would be with Group Buyers, adding it to the site seems like a terrific opportunity to address this buyer type and show off the functionality at the same time.
Being invite-only is a wonderful way to build a sense of in/out groups and exclusivity. There might be some benefit to creating a sense of urgency with a hint of scarcity with mention of either a date when closed beta ends or a few slots "still open".
Costs & Revenue Streams
Like LazyStartup's AI market research SaaS, the major costs are development and maintenance of the software, and server costs. As a bootstrapped enterprise, most of these costs will be as sweat equity.
While in closed beta, the product is free and paid once it goes live. The revenue model is not yet available. The critical challenge Blotter faces is to reach far enough to find bloggers struggling with implementing comments and to build a reputation that makes a commercial relationship a straightforward decision for those bloggers. Free is the best way to grow reach. Delivering a terrific beta experience for early adopters will solidify the value of the relationship.
A freemium model could be a good in-between step, lowering the barrier to trying the product while still creating a revenue stream from the users getting the most value — and most willing to pay. Freemium also builds on the in-group/out-group dynamic started with the closed beta offer. Getting to a subscription model would provide a consistent revenue stream that would enable long-term planning for the product.