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What’s the story behind the “SFDC99” name? Mailbag!

April 30, 2017

Dear David,

What is the story behind SFDC99??

4-5 years back, why did you choose this name??

Everybody wants to know it!

Sincerely,
Everybody

————–

Dear Everybody,

First of all, thank you for taking interest in my website origins!

I had a fun time naming “SFDC99”. It was one of the first names that came to mind, because around the time I started this site, the We are the 99% movement was everywhere in the news. I didn’t agree with everything about the movement, but I thought it had a killer name.

I thought “SFDC99” rolled off the tongue well, and I also liked it because I wanted to write for the 99% of people who didn’t already know how to code. Another benefit – the domain wasn’t taken!

My wife (girlfriend at the time) didn’t like the name. I trusted my gut and didn’t listen to her. LOL

Fun fact: the site you see today is actually the second iteration of SFDC99.

When I launched the first version of SFDC99, it took me A LOT of time. I spent time thinking about how to scale the site, how to analyze metrics, how to format the site, etc etc. Basically I spent most of my time thinking about everything other than the content.

SFDC99 at that point was so bad that I deleted it and restarted.

The second time around, I focused purely on content and gradually added in the rest – the formatting, the themes, the analytics, etc. I found this was more effective, and, I had more fun doing it. No one was reading this site at the time anyway so I had nothing to lose, ha ha ha.

I learned an important lesson, and I hope others can learn from this. Content is everything! You can spend all your time worrying about everything else, and at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter yet. Focus on what’s important now, and the rest will come when needed.

I’ll save Salesforce blogging tips for another post! Hope this answers your question!

David


Join the discussion in the comments section below! Got a question? Send it to the mailbag: sfdc99.mailbag@gmail.com

14 Comments
Janardhan reddy
January 25, 2018 @ 10:44 am

Please Notify me if there is any new things to learn in SFDC.com

Reply
    David Liu
    January 25, 2018 @ 9:41 pm

    Subscribe to get notified!
    https://www.sfdc99.com/subscribe-to-sfdc99/

    Reply
Prem Chauhan
September 19, 2017 @ 10:10 am

Hi David,
This is so amazing to know how it all started And All stuff are just amazing to know about,
Thanks keep sharing :)

Reply
Vipul Goel
May 16, 2017 @ 11:23 pm

I was thinking a Quote all the time According to the SFDC99 : Learn 99% SFDC

Reply
    David Liu
    May 17, 2017 @ 8:54 pm

    Ha ha ha 99% of SFDC is A LOT!!!!

    Reply
cybereddie
May 15, 2017 @ 2:22 pm

When they ask me about your T-Shirt … SF99 … I am replying … For the 99% its Salesforce … for me its magic.

Reply
    David Liu
    May 15, 2017 @ 9:12 pm

    LOL!! If I ever make a shirt with that quote I’ll send one to you!

    Reply
Chris Weihe
May 1, 2017 @ 8:18 pm

Occasionally I say.. I don’t care what you call me (Chris, Christopher, Salesforce guy, etc.) as long as you call me! It seems like you have the same positive attitude about the name of your website… in many ways, it doesn’t really matter what your website is called, especially with the great content you are providing for the SFDC community!!

Reply
    David Liu
    May 1, 2017 @ 8:22 pm

    Thank you Chris!

    Reply
Chris Neal
May 1, 2017 @ 4:15 am

And here I always thought the reason for the name was because Salesforce was started in 1999.

Reply
    David Liu
    May 1, 2017 @ 8:23 pm

    LOL! In 1999 I was playing video games 8 hours a day

    Reply
Vipul Goel
April 30, 2017 @ 7:52 pm

Thi is so amazing to know how it all started and this is #ohanalove which makes you connected with us. Thanks for all what you do !

Reply
Medhanie Habte
April 30, 2017 @ 2:37 pm

That’s awesome stuff, its easy to focus on metrics and format at first instead of content, which was where I struggled when I started working in technology, especially coming from a more visual thinker method. You’re structured approached has helped us a lot in how we communicate about Salesforce with users.

Just wondering, at what stage in your Salesforce career were you when you first launched SFDC99?

Reply
    David Liu
    April 30, 2017 @ 2:50 pm

    At that point I had 2-3 certs and knew how to write Apex and Visualforce, but not too in depth. The first time I started I probably couldn’t have passed PDII. I had been in the Salesforce industry ~3 years then!

    Reply

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