Ask HN: Do you think this is a viable product? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you think this is a viable product?

4 pointscmorgan850612 comments

I built an app that allows me to monitor website content for keywords and keyword combinations via their rss feed. http://www.feed-alert.com

The idea was to create a tool that you could use to monitor job websites for job posts with certain keywords and, so far, it works really well. It can be used in any capacity, but that was what I personally built it for.

Do you think it has potential to be a viable product for the public? If so, any advice on how to get it to market?

I'm mostly curious if I should put more time into it or just start on my next side project.

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I'll observe that while general purpose alternatives exist, the fact that you were unaware of their applicability to the job search domain suggests that there may be a business opportunity.

To put it another way, the problem to be solved is not technical, but the logistical one of connecting a particular market to a technology. AirBnB didn't invent empty room technology or real estate listing websites. They just connected the two.

The challenge of executing your idea isn't reading RSS feeds, it's monetizing what is read by packaging and distributing it in a way which generates revenue. That's a much harder problem.

Well said. I have no idea how I would go about generating revenue with it.

How do others in the space generate revenue?

Looks to be primarily ad based revenue. I suppose an ad-supported and premium paid version would be possible.

You've got me thinking though. Perhaps, if I shifted the concept slightly to be specific for job search, it might be a viable business.

Pay to play is tough from job search candidates. But there might be other areas less saturated and better suited for it.

Thanks for the input. Gave me lots to think about.

If your idea is better than FeedDemon's implementation, clearly that's a business model worth investigating. Freeware->Shareware/Nagware might be a great option. I think it comes down to whether or not you can create a better experience, and whether or not you think it's worth your time. There are plenty who want RSS to go away forever...

I agree that RSS is clunky and old. Maybe adding preset feeds and grouping them under very granular categories would keep things more user friendly.

There are tons of tons for that sort of thing already though. FeedDemon is the first thing that I think of that does exactly what you said. Google Alerts can be even broader. Is there something you are suggesting that is different from the above? If so, sorry but I think I missed it.

Not currently. I was considering building it out, but it looks like the idea is already covered on several levels. Looks like I've got my answer.

the problem is user aquisition costs. Let's assume $3 to get someone to sign up and 1 out 10 to use it on a regular basis. How do you recoup the money. I guess you could ad ads to the email. it's not so wizbang cool that you can get free press for it. It doesn't seem real viral. It feels more like a feature of a bigger product to me. like RSS-> twitter, twitter->RSS, RSS->text, etc. and you'll still have a montization problem.

In all honesty, the same result can be achieved with an http://IFTTT.com recipe. Neat concept though.

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