Melv

revenuemaxxing apps to fund my vibecoding addiction.
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[Melv @devmelv]

legendary pull 😭 https://t.co/jeutcx19cV

[Melv @devmelv]

@DudleyAppDev yeah took me very long as well. You hear it from a couple of people but somehow it takes time to realize

[Melv @devmelv]

i've shipped 5+ ios apps. here's everything i learned about actually making money from them:

1. distribution beats product. every time.

a mediocre app with a distribution channel beats a great app nobody finds. your best feature is worthless if nobody installs it.

2. the app store doesn't pay you.

downloads are free attention. the paywall is where the business is. most devs obsess over the icon and the onboarding. the paywall converts or it doesn't. that's the whole game.

3. sell the outcome, not the features.

nobody cares that your app has ai tracking, smart reminders and cloud sync. they care what changes in their life. i stopped listing features on my paywalls and started selling the result. conversion went up immediately.

4. on tiktok, format beats followers.

a fresh account with the right format gets pushed. a big account with the wrong format dies. the algorithm tests the content, not your follower count. that's why 0-follower accounts print views.

5. research the format before you build.

before i write one line of code, i look at what's already winning in the niche. which formats get millions of views, which hooks repeat, which apps show up again and again. building blind is gambling.

6. one post a day beats ten posts once.

consistency compounds. warmed-up accounts, one solid post daily, and the niche learns you. most people quit in week two, right before it starts working.

7. kill fast.

if the format doesn't move after honest testing, the idea is dead. sunk cost is what actually kills indie devs, not bad ideas.

distribution is a learnable skill. product taste is a learnable skill. most devs only train one of them.

[Melv @devmelv]

the BEST way to warm up a tiktok account (i run one per app, this never fails):

every account gets 2 sessions a day at random times. each session starts tiktok fresh, straight to for you. watch times are random: mostly fast skips, sometimes a long watch, a short pause before swiping. look human.

DAYS 1-2: just exist. scroll for you 15-20 min per session. no search, no likes, no follows, no posts. you are a normal new user discovering the app.

DAYS 3-4: teach it your niche. warm up on for you for a few minutes, then type a niche term into search letter by letter and open the first result. i rotate ~10 niche terms. watch way longer than on for you: 12s to 1.5min per video. still no likes.

DAYS 5-6: become a fan. same flow, but now like ~8% of videos after long watches. your for you fills up with niche content.

DAY 7: post. 10 min of normal scrolling first, then upload 1 slideshow with caption and hashtags. max 1 post a day. and keep the niche sessions running every day, even on days you dont post.

your account never posts cold. the algorithm already knows your niche before your first video exists.

(check comments for VIRAL content automation)

[Melv @devmelv]

@fmischel TikTok all the time

[Melv @devmelv]

@pypy774168 Ive vibecoded a couple of apps that are absolutely nothing special. and those work insanely good with the right distribution strategy.

[Melv @devmelv]

@LucasC43966 a couple iphone 8's, one iphone X, one iphone 12 pro max

[Melv @devmelv]

@ihsanfir_dev TikTok account before the app got approved

[Melv @devmelv]

@tomwstocks obviously that is possible as well. my peptides app has 0 marketing and grows basically by itself and by the people using it. but that takes long to build and a lot of iteration. ultimately that is the best outcome of an app

[Melv @devmelv]

@imsnk8 yes! onboarding needs to be on point as well. also dropoff isnt always bad. you still want to filter out users that have low intent while priming those with high intent for the paywall

[Melv @devmelv]

@shiboecom also bei mir funktioniert alles. checkst du deine proxies auf scores und dns leaks?

[Melv @devmelv]

@simplydt exactly!

[Melv @devmelv]

@totovoto sure! will post more in the next couple of days

[Melv @devmelv]

@vlad_novytskyi yup. somehow no one realizes that

[Melv @devmelv]

@MelvinZaid yeah hardest part is sticking to something that doesn't instantly show results.

[Melv @devmelv]

@anufella good point yeah. definitely super important

[Melv @devmelv]

@BitCovenX alrighty

[Melv @devmelv]

7 tiktok slideshows. 3.19m views. $762 in 4 days.

no followers when i started. no ads. no posting 5x a day.

i built a tool that does the research for me: it finds winning slideshow formats, writes the full post, and sends it to my phone.

(check comments)

price goes 55€ -> 119€ tomorrow. today is the last day.

[Melv @devmelv]

the BEST way to warm up a tiktok account (i run one per app, this never fails):

every account gets 2 sessions a day at random times. each session starts tiktok fresh, straight to for you. watch times are random: mostly fast skips, sometimes a long watch, a short pause before swiping. look human.

DAYS 1-2: just exist. scroll for you 15-20 min per session. no search, no likes, no follows, no posts. you are a normal new user discovering the app.

DAYS 3-4: teach it your niche. warm up on for you for a few minutes, then type a niche term into search letter by letter and open the first result. i rotate ~10 niche terms. watch way longer than on for you: 12s to 1.5min per video. still no likes.

DAYS 5-6: become a fan. same flow, but now like ~8% of videos after long watches. your for you fills up with niche content.

DAY 7: post. 10 min of normal scrolling first, then upload 1 slideshow with caption and hashtags. max 1 post a day. and keep the niche sessions running every day, even on days you dont post.

your account never posts cold. the algorithm already knows your niche before your first video exists.

(check comments for VIRAL content automation)

[Melv @devmelv]

last hours at 55€. tomorrow it's 119€. one payment, not a subscription.

https://t.co/UZQOCORkSj

[Melv @devmelv]

@ChadAppDev oh this is great, didnt know about this. thanks for sharing!!

[Melv @devmelv]

7 tiktok slideshows. 3.19m views. $762 in 4 days.

no followers when i started. no ads. no posting 5x a day.

i built a tool that does the research for me: it finds winning slideshow formats, writes the full post, and sends it to my phone.

https://t.co/cmikzlUqSG

price goes 55€ -> 119€ tomorrow. today is the last day.

[Melv @devmelv]

day 3, all organic btw

this tool is inane, what else can I say

[Melv @devmelv]

stopped listing features on my paywall. started selling the outcome.

"unlimited calculations" -> "never second-guess your dose again"
"ai meal tracking" -> "log your food in 10 seconds"

conversion went up. features don't sell, outcomes do.

[Melv @devmelv]

this is the EXACT paywall setup ive been using in all of my apps.

it might not look like much, but its the highest converting from all my tests BECAUSE its super simple,

also do NOT sleep on the winback offer, it genuinely makes a bunch of money