Personal Diet and Health Tracker Generates $40,000 a Month
About
Cronometer is a nutrition tracker app born from a personal need that evolved into a successful venture.
The Team
Cronometer was started in 2005 by Aaron Davidson as a personal project, the app gradually gained traction, fueled by its user-friendly interface and comprehensive nutrient database.
Business Model & Revenue
Cronometer operates on a freemium model, offering a basic version with core features for free and a premium tier with advanced functionalities like meal planning and recipe analysis.
They make money from 3 channels:
- Money earned from Adsense in the free version.
- Money earned from people who subscribe to Gold and Professional editions.
- Money earned from selling the mobile app.
Over time, Cronometer evolved from a hobby into a bona fide company, boasting $40,000 per month in revenue, a team of full-time employees, and a user base exceeding one million.
Distribution
The primary distribution channels Cronometer are organic growth through word-of-mouth, influencer partnerships, and sponsorships. They rely less on traditional digital marketing methods like SEO and paid ads.
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Word-of-mouth: Organic growth through people recommending the product on various platforms like blogs, forums, Reddit, YouTube videos, etc.
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Influencer Partnerships and Sponsorships: Active marketing efforts involve collaborating with influencers in the personal health and dieting space. Cross-promotions with authoritative figures who are already fans of the product help attract users from their audiences.
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Limited SEO Presence: Although the business has poor SEO and doesn't invest much in it, the primary source of acquisition is through people talking about the product online rather than search engine optimization.
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Experimentation with Paid Ads: The business experimented with paid Google and Facebook ads but found it challenging to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI), so this is not a major channel for them.
Tech Stack
- Backend: Python
