Today I built a wait list landing page for a new project of mine.

I did it in around 2 hr 55 min. This is a PB for me.

I could definitely have done it faster, but with the trade offs I wanted, I am quite happy.

The Strategy

Note: I’m not affiliated with the brands mentioned.

1. Audit current state of drag-and-drop website builders

Time: 45 min | Cost: $0

  • I really wanted to find one but couldn’t find anything that felt slick and cheap out of the box for a developer tool.
  • I still don’t enjoy wordpress.
  • I will use Webflow for the landing page if I get big enough, due to the sheer value of quick landing page iteration, but I cannot will myself to pay $18 /month rn.

2. Find an html/tailwind template

Time: 20 min | Cost: $0

3. Customize the template

Time: 1 hr | Cost: $0

  • Haven’t done much pure HTML in a while, makes you realize me nice components are.
  • I wanted to have a code snippet hero image and found this neat little web app.
  • Another nice web app to get an emoji as a png for my temporary logo.
  • I added a little extra to the landing page with the planned features.

4. Buy a domain

Time: 15 min | Cost: $10.16

  • I went with PorkBun, which is my first time using them. They’re really neat and dev friendly. I probably will stick with them now over Namecheap.
  • They have a free email forwarder built in, which is super nice. It’s great for signing up for services that you’ll want to use for the new project.
  • Note: Found a $1 dollar coupon code: VIKAS for .com domains. Probably not worth the time looking for it, but whatever.

5. Sign up / Configure an email tool

Time: 15 min | Cost: $0

  • Signed up to EmailOctopus with new custom domain email address.
  • I knew I’d use EmailOctopus, they’re great for indie hackers, nice free tier, and really simple.
  • Generated a form to collect emails into the list

6. Add email form to HTML & Test email sign up

Time: 5 min | Cost: $0

7. Deploy Webpage

Time: 15 min | Cost: $0

  • I used Github Pages, where I host this website already.
  • Super easy to post a static site and point a custom domain at it.
  • PorkBun can actually autofill Github’s DNS into its DNS settings, which was so cool. Saved me some time.
  • Let’s ignore the few minutes I waited for DNS propagation and my SSL cert loading.

Results

Time Spent:

2 hrs 55 min

Cost:

$10.16

Deliverables:

  • My own website
  • Customizable code / theme
  • Functioning Email list
  • No hosting / email fees

Thoughts

This would be easy to speed up if repeated. I could get it down to 1 hr if I did an exact copy with a different idea.

Here’s some some more thoughts on why I like using wait lists.

Thanks for reading.

Let me know if you know if you can recommend any other services!