So by your logic OpenAI is completely fine.
Hmm…as someone who has been in comms the last couple of years, Google trends are better for what’s hot versus what’s sustainable.
SpaceX stock is a hot topic but we all know where that’s heading…
My point is that the whole “Bubble is in decline” is an echo chamber. If you want to judge if a business is sustaining you can:
- see if they are hiring versus layoffs
- check for business activity stagnancy
- untimely seed rounds
- desperately squeezing money from existing customers
Only Bubble knows if they are sustainable or not. As observers, make good observations. Not the hype.
I find these comments about it’s time to move on to another platform to find clients comical.
Back to the OP and their question…
as I said, even if they move to another platform, the way they market themselves will leave them right where they are now. And this is what I tried to explain.
Then the doom and gloomers started talking about how Bubble wasn’t relevant anymore…
I can only guess they practiced the type of marketing where they hung out a sign and waited for clients. Worst marketing of them all, by the way.
Now that the hobbyists have moved on, their low-hanging fruit has left, and they haven’t the slightest idea how to market successfully.
I remember when AI started getting big… tons of stories about how developers were going to not be needed. Well, actually, junior hiring sank because companies tried to use AI as a cheap shortcut, and now companies are panicking because there’s a massive shortage of senior developers who actually understand architecture and systems design (all documented).
But this goes back to the whole marketing aspect I’ve been trying to explain. Lazy marketers (if you call it marketing) are finding out that it’s time to quit practicing lazy marketing if you want clients.
There are agencies booked 12 months out (yes, I know). These were agencies that, a couple of years ago, when AI came out, were told they would probably not have much work soon.
Most new businesses fail. Truth is, most should because they have no idea what they’re doing…
same with those crying that the clients are leaving. They really didn’t have any idea how to get clients to start with. They were sitting around waiting to get lucky.
Doesn’t matter what platform you go to, if your marketing is bad like I described earlier concerning the OPs, you’ll end up always thinking the grass is greener on the other side, platform after platform after platform.
As I’ve said before on here, my businesses are doing great. Once you quit blaming everything else for the reason lazy marketing isn’t working, you just might get somewhere without having to always pack up your shop and try another platform and hope you get some luck there.
Anyway, if you think it’s time to move on, move on. In a few months, I’m quite sure, and history has shown in these types of things, that you’ll be disgruntled and complaining and ready to move on to somewhere else.
Quit blaming everything else for failures and learn how to do things the way that allows you to build an empire regardless of naysayers.
A lot of emotion, very little substance.
If you actually read the posts, you might understand the point that is being made.
All good advice if you follow it.
Want to compare your businesses with mine and see if it works?
When the OG power users jumped ship and no longer actively promote the platform, you should take notice and make a plan B.
My intention is to present points that are useful to this topic, not make this about me or you.
However, if you want to go there we can.
Absolutely, where do you want to start?
What business do you own?
Also, how much marketing does your marketing department do?
What are your main marketing avenues?
How successful are your businesses that have good marketing?
Any advice you can give that I didn’t cover in my brief replies that would help others?
I’m a gentleman, ladies first … lets talk numbers please.
For starters, I’ve posted many times on here about a property managment app I’ve built so my property manager can manage the about 500 apartments I have.
There are also other posts on here where I talk about my businesses.
I’ve pretty much talked about this quite a few times.
Never seen you mention anything… maybe I missed it
Let me help you.
You have a 6-figure business correct?
No, that’s just the apartments.
I also have 7 other businesses.
An 8-figure total.
How about you?
Great if that’s true, that means you haven’t been actively looking for development work.
Correct?
Correct.
Our agency is entirely word-of-mouth.
I’ve worked on apps from Uber to ZodDoc, etc. Too many to list. I’ve also talked about this before on here.
How about you?
Which means no marketing correct?
I rest my case.
Yes, we have the best marketing there is… word of mouth.
Also, to add: We didn’t get to where we are now without great marketing. We now, as I said, have the best marketing: word of mouth. We also do marketing for companies. We have some of the best marketers in the world… another reason why we’re booked up.
Anyway, we’re getting way off topic.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
I hope you can find a couple of clients if you’re looking for some.
Best wishes on your businesses
I hope you learnt a lesson today.
If you were starting today, as a Bubble agency exclusively, no AI, traditional code or other nocode platforms, what marketing tactics would you employ to grow that new business in today’s environment?
Word of mouth… duh
It’s interesting reading everyone’s responses here.
@senecadatabase is spot on about OP’s initial troubles,
In addition to that, there is a fairly uncomfortable reality that people don’t seem to acknowledge.
There is a lot of demand for senior developers. There are hundreds of Bubble devs making $100k+ as freelancers or hires. Companies are desperate to hire more. I know this because they come to our agency after being unable to hire internally.
The number of people who are actually senior developers in Bubble is exceptionally small. There are very few people that can reliably be trusted to own a feature implementation end to end and build it in a maintainable, secure, and scalable way.
There are people with 5+ years of experience that, unfortunately, are just not good developers.
The best Bubble developers around are not scrambling for work now and their opportunities have never been greater. These developers are working on existing apps that are successful and scaling happily on Bubble, or on new apps from serious businesses that want a serious product rather than vibe coded slop.
If you are not a top Bubble developer, then yes, it is challenging to find work. That is compounded by the fact that in Bubble, there isn’t really a place for junior developers, which makes it difficult to train and upskill. You can’t just be a ‘UI builder’ or ‘API integrator’ or ‘logic engineer’. As a Bubble developer, you need to do all of the above.
Ok, so can I be more helpful than saying something that basically boils down to ‘git gud’?
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work on a variety of apps if possible; you’ll begin to see what works and what doesn’t on different apps. Learning how notto build Bubble apps is a good way to learn to do it right, because you see the consequences of those decisions.
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for similar reasons, working on existing apps rather than just new apps will let you upskill much quicker
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when you deliver a feature, consider whether you’re proud of it. Is it built in the best way possible (best way often means the most simple, not the most complex!)? Would you change anything with hindsight? If yes, change it.
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understand the product and business problems behind the work you are doing. Do not just be an order taker; add commercial value with product sense.
Good luck!