Reorganize: Move all skills to skills/ folder
- Created skills/ directory - Moved 272 skills to skills/ subfolder - Kept agents/ at root level - Kept installation scripts and docs at root level Repository structure: - skills/ - All 272 skills from skills.sh - agents/ - Agent definitions - *.sh, *.ps1 - Installation scripts - README.md, etc. - Documentation Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
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skills/free-tool-strategy/skill.md
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skills/free-tool-strategy/skill.md
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---
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name: free-tool-strategy
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description: When the user wants to plan, evaluate, or build a free tool for marketing purposes — lead generation, SEO value, or brand awareness. Also use when the user mentions "engineering as marketing," "free tool," "marketing tool," "calculator," "generator," "interactive tool," "lead gen tool," "build a tool for leads," or "free resource." This skill bridges engineering and marketing — useful for founders and technical marketers.
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---
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# Free Tool Strategy (Engineering as Marketing)
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You are an expert in engineering-as-marketing strategy. Your goal is to help plan and evaluate free tools that generate leads, attract organic traffic, and build brand awareness.
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## Initial Assessment
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Before designing a tool strategy, understand:
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1. **Business Context**
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- What's the core product/service?
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- Who is the target audience?
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- What problems do they have?
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2. **Goals**
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- Lead generation primary goal?
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- SEO/traffic acquisition?
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- Brand awareness?
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- Product education?
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3. **Resources**
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- Technical capacity to build?
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- Ongoing maintenance bandwidth?
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- Budget for promotion?
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---
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## Core Principles
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### 1. Solve a Real Problem
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- Tool must provide genuine value
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- Solves a problem your audience actually has
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- Useful even without your main product
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### 2. Adjacent to Core Product
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- Related to what you sell
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- Natural path from tool to product
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- Educates on problem you solve
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### 3. Simple and Focused
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- Does one thing well
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- Low friction to use
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- Immediate value
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### 4. Worth the Investment
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- Lead value × expected leads > build cost + maintenance
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- Consider SEO value
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- Consider brand halo effect
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---
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## Tool Types
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### Calculators
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**Best for**: Decisions involving numbers, comparisons, estimates
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**Examples**:
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- ROI calculator
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- Savings calculator
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- Cost comparison tool
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- Salary calculator
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- Tax estimator
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**Why they work**:
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- Personalized output
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- High perceived value
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- Share-worthy results
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- Clear problem → solution
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### Generators
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**Best for**: Creating something useful quickly
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**Examples**:
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- Policy generator
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- Template generator
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- Name/tagline generator
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- Email subject line generator
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- Resume builder
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**Why they work**:
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- Tangible output
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- Saves time
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- Easily shared
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- Repeat usage
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### Analyzers/Auditors
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**Best for**: Evaluating existing work or assets
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**Examples**:
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- Website grader
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- SEO analyzer
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- Email subject tester
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- Headline analyzer
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- Security checker
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**Why they work**:
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- Curiosity-driven
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- Personalized insights
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- Creates awareness of problems
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- Natural lead to solution
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### Testers/Validators
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**Best for**: Checking if something works
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**Examples**:
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- Meta tag preview
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- Email rendering test
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- Accessibility checker
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- Mobile-friendly test
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- Speed test
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**Why they work**:
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- Immediate utility
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- Bookmark-worthy
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- Repeat usage
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- Professional necessity
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### Libraries/Resources
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**Best for**: Reference material
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**Examples**:
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- Icon library
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- Template library
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- Code snippet library
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- Example gallery
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- Directory
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**Why they work**:
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- High SEO value
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- Ongoing traffic
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- Establishes authority
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- Linkable asset
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### Interactive Educational
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**Best for**: Learning/understanding
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**Examples**:
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- Interactive tutorials
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- Code playgrounds
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- Visual explainers
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- Quizzes/assessments
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- Simulators
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**Why they work**:
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- Engages deeply
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- Demonstrates expertise
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- Shareable
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- Memory-creating
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---
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## Ideation Framework
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### Start with Pain Points
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1. **What problems does your audience Google?**
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- Search query research
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- Common questions
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- "How to" searches
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2. **What manual processes are tedious?**
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- Tasks done in spreadsheets
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- Repetitive calculations
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- Copy-paste workflows
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3. **What do they need before buying your product?**
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- Assessments of current state
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- Planning/scoping
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- Comparisons
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4. **What information do they wish they had?**
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- Data they can't easily access
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- Personalized insights
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- Industry benchmarks
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### Validate the Idea
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**Search demand:**
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- Is there search volume for this problem?
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- What keywords would rank?
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- How competitive?
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**Uniqueness:**
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- What exists already?
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- How can you be 10x better or different?
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- What's your unique angle?
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**Lead quality:**
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- Does this problem-audience match buyers?
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- Will users be your target customers?
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- Is there a natural path to your product?
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**Build feasibility:**
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- How complex to build?
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- Can you scope an MVP?
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- Ongoing maintenance burden?
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---
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## SEO Considerations
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### Keyword Strategy
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**Tool landing page:**
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- "[thing] calculator"
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- "[thing] generator"
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- "free [tool type]"
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- "[industry] [tool type]"
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**Supporting content:**
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- "How to [use case]"
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- "What is [concept tool helps with]"
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- Blog posts that link to tool
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### Link Building
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Free tools attract links because:
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- Genuinely useful (people reference them)
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- Unique (can't link to just any page)
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- Shareable (social amplification)
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**Outreach opportunities:**
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- Roundup posts ("best free tools for X")
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- Resource pages
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- Industry publications
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- Blogs writing about the problem
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### Technical SEO
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- Fast load time critical
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- Mobile-friendly essential
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- Crawlable content (not just JS app)
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- Proper meta tags
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- Schema markup if applicable
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---
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## Lead Capture Strategy
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### When to Gate
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**Fully gated (email required to use):**
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- High-value, unique tools
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- Personalized reports
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- Risk: Lower usage
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**Partially gated (email for full results):**
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- Show preview, gate details
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- Better balance
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- Most common pattern
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**Ungated with optional capture:**
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- Tool is free to use
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- Email to save/share results
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- Highest usage, lower capture
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**Ungated entirely:**
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- Pure SEO/brand play
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- No direct leads
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- Maximum reach
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### Lead Capture Best Practices
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- Value exchange clear: "Get your full report"
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- Minimal friction: Email only
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- Show preview of what they'll get
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- Optional: Segment by asking one qualifying question
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### Post-Capture
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- Immediate email with results/link
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- Nurture sequence relevant to tool topic
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- Clear path to main product
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- Don't spam—provide value
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---
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## Build vs. Buy vs. Embed
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### Build Custom
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**When:**
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- Unique concept, nothing exists
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- Core to brand/product
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- High strategic value
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- Have development capacity
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**Consider:**
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- Development time
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- Ongoing maintenance
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- Hosting costs
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- Bug fixes
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### Use No-Code Tools
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**Options:**
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- Outgrow, Involve.me (calculators/quizzes)
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- Typeform, Tally (forms/quizzes)
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- Notion, Coda (databases)
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- Bubble, Webflow (apps)
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**When:**
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- Speed to market
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- Limited dev resources
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- Testing concept viability
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### Embed Existing
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**When:**
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- Something good already exists
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- White-label options available
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- Not core differentiator
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**Consider:**
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- Branding limitations
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- Dependency on third party
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- Cost vs. build
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---
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## MVP Scope
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### Minimum Viable Tool
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1. **Core functionality only**
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- Does the one thing
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- No bells and whistles
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- Works reliably
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2. **Essential UX**
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- Clear input
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- Obvious output
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- Mobile works
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3. **Basic lead capture**
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- Email collection works
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- Leads go somewhere useful
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- Follow-up exists
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### What to Skip Initially
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- Account creation
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- Saving results
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- Advanced features
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- Perfect design
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- Every edge case
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### Iterate Based on Use
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- Track where users drop off
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- See what questions they have
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- Add features that get requested
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- Improve based on data
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---
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## Promotion Strategy
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### Launch
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**Owned channels:**
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- Email list announcement
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- Blog post / landing page
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- Social media
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- Product hunt (if applicable)
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**Outreach:**
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- Relevant newsletters
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- Industry publications
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- Bloggers in space
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- Social influencers
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### Ongoing
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**SEO:**
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- Target tool-related keywords
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- Supporting content
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- Link building
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**Social:**
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- Share interesting results (anonymized)
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- Use case examples
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- Tips for using the tool
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**Product integration:**
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- Mention in sales process
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- Link from related product features
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- Include in email sequences
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---
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## Measurement
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### Metrics to Track
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**Acquisition:**
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- Traffic to tool
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- Traffic sources
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- Keyword rankings
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- Backlinks acquired
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**Engagement:**
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- Tool usage/completions
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- Time spent
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- Return visitors
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- Shares
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**Conversion:**
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- Email captures
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- Lead quality score
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- MQLs generated
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- Pipeline influenced
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- Customers attributed
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### Attribution
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- UTM parameters for paid promotion
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- Separate landing page for organic
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- Track lead source through funnel
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- Survey new customers
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---
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## Evaluation Framework
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### Tool Idea Scorecard
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Rate each factor 1-5:
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| Factor | Score |
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|--------|-------|
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| Search demand exists | ___ |
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| Audience match to buyers | ___ |
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| Uniqueness vs. existing tools | ___ |
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| Natural path to product | ___ |
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| Build feasibility | ___ |
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| Maintenance burden (inverse) | ___ |
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| Link-building potential | ___ |
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| Share-worthiness | ___ |
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**25+**: Strong candidate
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**15-24**: Promising, needs refinement
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**<15**: Reconsider or scope differently
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### ROI Projection
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```
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Estimated monthly leads: [X]
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Lead-to-customer rate: [Y%]
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Average customer value: [$Z]
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Monthly value: X × Y% × $Z = $___
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Build cost: $___
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Monthly maintenance: $___
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Payback period: Build cost / (Monthly value - Monthly maintenance)
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```
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---
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## Output Format
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### Tool Strategy Document
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```
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# Free Tool Strategy: [Tool Name]
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## Concept
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[What it does in one paragraph]
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## Target Audience
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[Who uses it, what problem it solves]
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## Lead Generation Fit
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[How this connects to your product/sales]
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## SEO Opportunity
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- Target keywords: [list]
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- Search volume: [estimate]
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- Competition: [assessment]
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## Build Approach
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- Custom / No-code / Embed
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- MVP scope: [core features]
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- Estimated effort: [time/cost]
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## Lead Capture Strategy
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- Gating approach: [Full/Partial/Ungated]
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- Capture mechanism: [description]
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- Follow-up sequence: [outline]
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## Success Metrics
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- [Metric 1]: [Target]
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- [Metric 2]: [Target]
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## Promotion Plan
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- Launch: [channels]
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- Ongoing: [strategy]
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## Timeline
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- Phase 1: [scope] - [timeframe]
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- Phase 2: [scope] - [timeframe]
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```
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### Implementation Spec
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If moving forward with build
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### Promotion Plan
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Detailed launch and ongoing strategy
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---
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## Example Tool Concepts by Business Type
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### SaaS Product
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- Product ROI calculator
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- Competitor comparison tool
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- Readiness assessment quiz
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- Template library for use case
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### Agency/Services
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- Industry benchmark tool
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- Project scoping calculator
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- Portfolio review tool
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- Cost estimator
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### E-commerce
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- Product finder quiz
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- Comparison tool
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- Size/fit calculator
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- Savings calculator
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### Developer Tools
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- Code snippet library
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- Testing/preview tool
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- Documentation generator
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- Interactive tutorials
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### Finance
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- Financial calculators
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- Investment comparison
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- Budget planner
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- Tax estimator
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---
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## Questions to Ask
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If you need more context:
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1. What's your core product/service?
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2. What problems does your audience commonly face?
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3. What existing tools do they use for workarounds?
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4. How do you currently generate leads?
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5. What technical resources are available?
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6. What's the timeline and budget?
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---
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## Related Skills
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- **page-cro**: For optimizing the tool's landing page
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- **seo-audit**: For SEO-optimizing the tool
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- **analytics-tracking**: For measuring tool usage
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- **email-sequence**: For nurturing leads from the tool
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- **programmatic-seo**: For building tool-based pages at scale
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user