Dima

Night shift entrepreneur 🌗| Sharing inspiration ✨ | Building & learning in public 🔬
🗂️ CoCreator of

[Dima @dimamakess]

Paywall experiment: Upadate 202601 📊
Timeline:

Dec 24: Added paywall → traffic died
Feb 25: Removed paywall → slow recovery
Mar-Nov 25: Content work + time → continuous SEO growth

Key insight: Open content + consistency + time = SEO compound effect

Recently added Pro features paywall - monitoring closely 👀

#BuildInPublic #SEOLessons

[Dima @dimamakess]

Data doesn't lie: The paywall experiment 📊

December: Added paywall → Traffic CRASHED
February: Removed paywall → Traffic SURGED

Key insight: For directories, open access = SEO power

Current monetization options:
• Strategic ad placement
• Directory as top-of-funnel to guide traffic to other products

Is there a monetization option I missed 🤔?

#BuildInPublic #SEOLessons

[Dima @dimamakess]

@Coryhighsea @sorzel It feels like one is never out of this phase with Agency and SaaS 😅

[Dima @dimamakess]

@Coryhighsea @sorzel Nice 👍 do you have already clients?

[Dima @dimamakess]

@Coryhighsea Indeed! I start to get some free time again and my directory is getting some financial traction. I'd say I'm good. Who are you doing the NIS2 topic with?

[Dima @dimamakess]

@Coryhighsea That sounds like a boring business! And boring means not much competition 😁 👍

[Dima @dimamakess]

@Coryhighsea Interesting! Do you have any stakes in this topic?

[Dima @dimamakess]

Shoutout to @marclou and @DataFast_ for exceptional service 🙌

The situation:
Bots were cluttering my stats and burning through my plan resources. 🔥

The response:
• Reported the issue when my plan was expiring
• Quick response in < 24 h and problem solved within few days
• Marc unlocked my dashboard for free during the fix

That's how you turn a problem into a loyal customer.
This is the kind of service that builds trust.
Now a very satisfied customer! 💯

[Dima @dimamakess]

I made $150 in my 2nd month with paid content 💰

🔍 ERPExplorer (SAP directory)
• 8 paying customers
• 7 joined this month
• Built entirely after hours

Not $100K jet but here's what matters:
Each customer validates:
✅ Real problem
✅ Working solution
✅ People will pay

The grind continues 🌗

[Dima @dimamakess]

Just got my first year plan customer! 🎉

MRR went from $10 to $130, that's a 1,000% jump in one sale 🤯

The adrenaline rush when that notification popped up? Insane!

Now I get why people say this stuff is addictive.

The grind just got a whole lot more motivating 🌗

[Dima @dimamakess]

That is a honest, simple and easy guide to hit 10k MRR (I like the cry part)

[Anthony Riera @anthonyriera]

getting to $10k MRR with your SaaS is simple AF

just follow these 50 steps:

(tested by me)

1. quit your job
2. have a brilliant idea
3. ask chat gpt to validate it
4. someone built it in 2019
5. cry
6. build it anyway because yours will be better
7. code for 3 months straight
8. create a waitlist
9. post on reddit
10. get roasted
11. cry again
12. tweet "building in public"
13. get 3 likes (your mom, you and a bot)
14. add stripe integration
15. make $0
16. refresh stripe dashboard 400 times
17. join 7 indie hacker groups
18. watch everyone else hit $10k
19. feel like a failure
20. add features nobody wants
21. ignore features people beg for
22. rewrite entire codebase
23. call it "technical debt"
24. launch on product hunt
25. rank #47
26. eat ramen
27. do SEO
28. rank for the wrong key words
29. get zero traffic
30. try paid ads
31. burn $500
32. get 1 signup
33. they cancel immediately
34. start cold emailing
35. 0.3% reply rate
36. celebrate that one reply
37. they say "not interested"
38. pivot your entire business
39. confuse your 2 users
40. they churn
41. MRR drops to $0
42. contemplate going back to corporate
43. see someone hit $10k in 3 months
44. cry harder
45. you keep building
46. get first paying customer
47. $29/month
48. only 345 more to go
49. cry code =
50. repeat until $10k

easy

[Dima @dimamakess]

Update: Building consultant directory in public 📊
Last 7 days:

Data:
1.3K unique visitors
3.3K pageviews
2m 45s avg duration

Acquisition:
Mostly organic search + word of mouth

Revenue:
5 paying customers in 2026
Growth rate: 1 customer/week

The grind continues 🌗

[Dima @dimamakess]

Learning of the day - Magic link auth isn't corporate-friendly 🔐

The problem:
Corporate IT security opens magic links to scan them → link gets invalidated → customer can't login

The fix:
Switching to magic PIN auth instead

[Dima @dimamakess]

We are living in an amazing time now. AI makes it possible to implement important features in hours which would have taken me days to implement.

[Dima @dimamakess]

@CodeWizard Keep it going Luke! Working on a side project to break out the 9-5 is what makes the 9-5 bearable, and the 9-5 let's you keep the lights on.

[Dima @dimamakess]

What I've learned from Scott Adams:

Successful people don't chase goals - they build systems.

Goals are just milestones you celebrate along the way.

🔄 The system keeps you moving when motivation fades.
📈 The system compounds over time.
🎯 The system is the actual success.

(in memory of @ScottAdamsSays)

[Dima @dimamakess]

@ce_amit Thanks! One step at a time - double digits next 🚀

[Dima @dimamakess]

Update: 4 paying customers now! 🥳

Doubled in 10 days
💸 $20 MRR

Next mission: collecting testimonials
Time to ask the scary question: "What made you pay for this?"

[Dima @dimamakess]

@nicomaker Thank you sir!

[Dima @dimamakess]

First internet dollars earned! 💰🥳

2 paying customers in 2 months
$10 MRR 🤑

Sounds small? Maybe. But the motivation boost is HUGE to keep grinding! 😌

#BuildInPublic #FirstDollar 🌗

[Dima @dimamakess]

@KintuLabs I also thought about making a "an App every week" challenge. Curious to see how you are doing it! You sir got a follow!