Indie Maker W29 | On Work, Marketing, and a Few Product Milestones
August 17, 2026 00:00
Today is day 207 of my one-person company. This Indie Maker column is where I record my own growth and how the business is going. I hope you find something useful in it.
This week:
- Four lines about how to work
- A few moments from marketing the product
- Five weeks later, Apple's Small Business Program finally came through
- The product's official account passed 1k followers, and an Android knockoff showed up
0810: On work
Monday afternoons usually aren't my most productive, so I spent some time reading instead. I came across four lines from Toni Morrison about work, and they really landed.
The four lines come from Toni Morrison's The Work You Do, the Person You Are. I made them into a poster.
- Whatever the work is, do it well — not for the boss but for yourself.
- You make the job; it doesn't make you.
- Your real life is with your family.
- You are not the work you do; you are the person you are.
I don't work for a company at the moment, but I'm still creating, working, and building products — and some of the principles above are always worth sitting with:
- Work for yourself, and don't let the work alienate you from who you are.
- Good work shapes a better version of you.
0814: On marketing the product
I've put real effort into posting and replying these past couple of days, and yet the offhand replies seem to work better. Why? I need to look into it more, but one guess: when you're trying hard to share from a selling posture, even genuine effort carries a whiff of self-interest.
The posts I reply to offhand are mostly written when I have downtime, or when I'm out somewhere — and chances are the people on the other side of that post are in the same state. On top of that, when I reply from that place, it comes from real enthusiasm and honest sharing.
A few moments that moved me this week, all from users:
The first was a note of encouragement: "your passion for making software comes through the screen — I'm sure your app will be a success." See? As long as you express and share honestly, users can feel it.
The other one also came from an overseas user, who even typed out "jiayou" in pinyin for me. That was touching — and it's exactly what makes continuous iteration worth it.
0815: Apple's Small Business Program finally came through
After more than a month of waiting — three emails to support along the way, plus a phone call yesterday — my Small Business Program application was finally approved.
What's the upside? Previously every user subscription charge had 30% taken off the top; from here on it drops to 15%. Effectively a 15% raise without doing anything.
So, another reminder to anyone planning to build an iOS app: apply for the Small Business Program the moment you launch!
0816: A few product milestones
Today the product's official Xiaohongshu account passed 1k followers. That account is only two months old.
The other thing — half funny, half not — is that the product is now being ripped off. Friends who follow along know my product is currently Apple-only; I haven't had the bandwidth to ship on Android. But today I got a message from a user: "I downloaded this product on xx platform, and it doesn't seem like the one in your video." I took a look: it borrows the ColorWander name and its logo is a malicious AI-mangled version of mine. Beyond that, it has nothing to do with my product.
If you're a ColorWander user, please keep your eyes open: the only official version right now is on iOS. Android is in the works, and I'll announce it properly when it ships. Please don't support pirated copies.
Finally
There were a few days this week where I didn't write my product diary, so when I sat down on Sunday night to recall what I'd done that day, nothing felt worth expanding on. Next week I'll go back to writing something down every day, so I'm not drawing a blank at the weekend.