Building a business from scratch - day 4
Tags: webdev, career, devjournal, tutorial
Published: 2022-03-12 13:50:16

Welcome to day four of the [useaffiliates.com](http://useaffiliates.com/) build log! This series covers my journey of building a business from scratch in public. If you missed day three, you could [check it out here](https://www.twankrui.com/blog/building-a-business-from-scratch-day-3). I also uploaded today's [Twitch stream](https://twitch.tv/twankrui) to [YouTube](https://youtu.be/mP1lOw9h9Co) if you want to watch the replay.

## So many platforms to publish to.
This week's theme was not only to design the UI of [useaffiliates.com](http://useaffiliates.com/), but also to set up the content channels for this project. And I have to say, cross-posting to many platforms is very prone to errors.

It already happened that I forgot to post one of the build logs to one of the platforms, and I forgot to make one of the YouTube videos public. The result of this is that it doesn't give a great first impression to people who, for example, open a link and get to a 404 YouTube page. Chances are those people will stop reading the build log and won't return for the next one.

![Notion table](https://imgur.com/LbarW3E.jpg)

### Setting up a notion habit tracker table
Since I use Notion for this project, I thought I would create a system to avoid making these publishing mistakes. Habit trackers are a popular use of Notion tables, and it is pretty much all that I need to stay on top of publishing the build logs and other content.

Towards the end of the project, I can also use this table to include data about how many views and post interactions there were per platform. I think that would be a good and insightful conclusion to this whole cross-posting experiment.

### Micro-content
Currently, I am only focusing on macro content; the stream, the YouTube archive, and these "long-form" build logs. However, I am not utilizing all this content to its full potential since I am not creating more content out of it.

I could make more clips on Twitch and post those to social media. Or I could create images of segments of these build logs...

But, as with many things at the moment, so many ideas, so little time. I will start thinking of a system to create and publish micro-content with the remaining time I have.

### Do you want to make a million bucks?
It would be awesome if a tool, I haven't researched this yet, would allow you to post the same thing to multiple platforms and forums. What frustrates me the most is that I have to redo the whole configuration of the tags, canonical link, title, groups, description, etc. For every build-log I post.

If you could cross-post and create default settings for those posts, that would be a massive time-saver not only for me but for many content creators out there.

## Database work and data validation
Today's stream was pretty much filled with answering questions, making a couple of minor design revisions, but primarily validating data and adding more affiliate programs to the database.

What annoyed me is that many affiliate programs do a great job at hiding what commissions you can make; it's often hidden between a couple of links. Now, this is a good thing because [useaffiliates.com](http://useaffiliates.com/) can create value by saving creators time.****

### 404 affiliate program not found.
It's pretty interesting to see that many brands have discontinued their affiliate marketing efforts. Or, what I think is more likely, is they probably reach out directly to influencers to promote their products.

When I look at a lot of these "apply here" pages of affiliate programs that are still up, it seems that most of them are stuck in the early 2000s. Boring pages, long forms, rarely responsive, overall it's pretty depressive.

Maybe there is an opportunity there? An industry to disrupt? Anyone? Please?

## Next week! 📅
Now that the database has a good amount of programs, we can start building the application. We'll set up the NextJS app, begin implementing the design, and tweak the design as we see fit.

Before we jump into another week of hacking, let's enjoy the weekend! I always use the weekends to recharge and spend time with friends, family, and Apex Legends (😏).

Next Tuesday, I'll do another stream! But maybe, I'll start streaming Monday. Stay tuned via my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/twankrui) if you don't want to miss it!

For now, have a great day!

With love,

Twankrui