I wish people didn’t have such a knee jerk reaction to my advice, but for many years I too believed a dev should at least try to wear many hats.
All it took was seeing how professionals always do the job far better to change my mind. It doesn’t matter if a dev picks up some skills, if you plan to be a dev then a dev is all you’ll ever be, focus on the development and let sales worry about sales.
I see a lot of founders struggle with delegation. It seems they would rather juggle things they don’t do well instead of learning to trust and onboard people who can do things they don’t specialize in.
I read your original comment as steeped in sarcasm that a single developer should even attempt to sully their good name by engaging in marketing. Actually surprised you were being serious.
OP has a product he enjoyed making, is providing real world utility, and that he isn't trying to turn in to a billion dollar company. The obvious solution is for him to pick up a phone, send out a few emails, and generally reach out to the local business community instead of sitting back and waiting to see if it will magically make money and he can hire a sales person to do those tasks instead for his hobby project that has grown too expensive for a single person but would barely qualify for justification at a business.
Context is important here, and while your advice it valid in some situations, it's not valid in all situations, and specifically its not valid in this one.
I get that once a business grows to a certain point it needs "professionals" to do some of the tasks. Ideally start by hiring people with skills you don't have. Sales is a skill.
That said many people have more the one skill. Context matters. I write libraries for programmers. I attend trade events where I talk to, and sell to programmers. I do a lot of marketing in this space. I have an authenticity that a non-programmer does not have, and I believe that is reflected in our sales.
In this case the developer is perfectly capable of picking up the phone. They may or may not maximise potential income (but that's not their stated goal).
If there's enough demand then they can pivot to a sales person later on.
Incidentally, I would likely figure out who does the marketing for the local businesses you see. They buy the ads, not the business directly. They're easier to talk to (they -want- more exposure opportunities) and they may bring multiple customers to the table.
All it took was seeing how professionals always do the job far better to change my mind. It doesn’t matter if a dev picks up some skills, if you plan to be a dev then a dev is all you’ll ever be, focus on the development and let sales worry about sales.
I see a lot of founders struggle with delegation. It seems they would rather juggle things they don’t do well instead of learning to trust and onboard people who can do things they don’t specialize in.