Monday preparation #6: it's all about the Mac app and Story Valley

This weekend, I was a bit undecided on what to do.

In my last weekend rundown, I said Sunday was for writing content for TWO. By the end of that same post, I was already wondering if I should re-evaluate my target audiences first.

That doubt won. The writing plan got reverted ad hoc, and I went all out on redefining the primary target market for my flagship SaaS. For now, at least.

Still not sure

I'm honestly still not sure about it.

Maybe it's because the product isn't finished yet. It's hard to say exactly who something is for when half of it still lives in Xcode.

Or maybe I'm just stuck on the messaging. I know what TWO does. Saying it in a way that makes the right people stop and care is something else.

Probably a bit of both.

No marketing plan, no playbook

What I do realize is that I haven't built a proper marketing strategy. Let alone a playbook for everything around it: customer support (if there's any), cold outreach, and maybe even Reddit.

Read also: My MVP is ready. I still don't have a marketing plan.

Right now, all of that happens in my head, if it happens at all. A playbook would mean I don't have to reinvent the answer every time a customer emails me or I open Reddit.

Not the desperate road

The one thing I don't want right now is to take the desperate road. Launching on Product Hunt, or submitting TWO to endless directories. That's not my fucking thing.

I might still do it in the future. But it's not on the road right now. Not until the Mac app is built and battle-tested, and the iPad app after it.

Because in the end, the iPad app is what it's all going to be about.

The hardest part is done

The good news: Claude told me the hardest part is done.

The core architecture of the docs editor for the native Swift Mac app was the biggest hurdle of the whole build. It also ate up my limits incredibly fast. But that part is over now. So this week, I can plan better and work in smaller blocks.

Read also: How do you vibe code a Mac app? Part 4: limits & 90% confidence

Smaller blocks also mean smaller surprises. If one feature goes wrong, it costs me a session, not half a week of limits.

I also updated the roadmap on the TWO website, and that's a huge relief. Seeing the plan written down somewhere outside my own notes makes it feel real again.

Writing less for TWO, for now

I haven't written much content for TWO. Writing here on pieterborremans.com comes easy. The TWO blog takes more thought, and it's the first thing that slips when something else takes over.

So maybe, instead of forcing a lot of it, I can temporarily screw the pace down to once or twice a month.

Because this weekend, I went all in on Story Valley.

Story Valley is surprising me

The current numbers on Story Valley, the latest addition to my podcast shows, are encouraging. It's surpassing everything I have, including the OG show, Story Brew.

Right now, Story Valley is outranking all of my shows on Apple Podcasts, and it's slowly gaining more traction on Spotify.

But it looks like the real audience lives on Apple. Engagement rate, engaged listeners, and the number of followers gained in one month on Apple Podcasts all point to the same conclusion.

I didn't see that coming. I thought YouTube would carry this show. Instead, it's the platform I added last.

Read also: My podcast stats are a bit surprising

Scheduled until December

During the weekend, I scheduled as much as possible from what I recorded during the week. On YouTube, I'm already set until the first week of December (I delayed it a bit there). On Spotify, it's scheduled until November 16th.

In the beginning, I published one episode every two days. Now I aim for one a day, because the show is getting too popular to keep people waiting.

Daily episodes also mean the buffer burns twice as fast. Which is exactly why the recording can't stop.

The goal this week

So my goal this week is to finish November (in Spotify) and record 15 more episodes for Story Valley.

Part of the reason is balance. This kind of recording is a great counterweight to the serious stuff: building a native Mac app and planning marketing. Reading a short story into a microphone uses a completely different part of my brain than fixing a Swift editor.

I don't think anything else this week is extremely relevant. Besides, I'm still ahead of schedule on Story Brew and Study Brew too.

One podcast, the rest of the year

My only real goal is to have one podcast fully scheduled until the end of the year before October ends. That's around 45 episodes in 11 days.

A few weeks ago, that would have sounded impossible. It doesn't anymore. At six to ten stories an hour, it's a handful of good recording sessions.

Final note

A new week, a solid plan, and I hope to finish at least half of the Mac app.

Two things are pulling in opposite directions right now. TWO needs patience: a clearer audience, a real marketing plan, a finished app.

Story Valley needs the opposite: more volume while the numbers are still climbing. For once, I don't think I have to choose between them. One fills the gaps the other leaves.

Next Monday, I'll know if half the Mac app was realistic. And if Story Valley is still beating everything else.