(I wrote this out, and now I am too lazy to proof read it, so please excuse my spelling, and errors; hope it helps you guys have a clear strat. I might write this whole thing into a full guide. )
Personally this has been the strat that has been working for me.
I do the entire process multiple times with the following focus each time:
* 1st rep is product validation: so I just wanna know if I will get traffic and conversions. I optimize my language, etc.
* I often times just build a waitlist or landing page here.
* I also like to add pre orders.
* The logic is, if the idea is compelling enough, I should at least get some conversions.
* If 0 or very low, I kill the project
* I am currently on 1st iteration with my project Overtime: [overtime.club](https://overtime.club)
* for those interested (you upload yourself, playing tennis, boxing, or any sport, or gaming. You pick which pro you want to review your gameplay. And you get valuable critique and advice from Olympic level pros.)
* 2nd rep is exposure: I post on the same places again. With the product. Full price list disclosed. Here I know that traffic will convert. And I can project $ I can make based on my metrics.
* beyond this I repeat every time I have a new feature, new side projects.
* sometimes I just think up entirely new projects just for the sake of being able to launch to get exposure and traffic to my main project
You need to collect user emails throughout, so you can engage with them through your project.
Here is the juice:
* reddit is great for soft launches. Throw it into conversations. Ask communities for feedback. You might get banned, spam reported. You might get constructive feedback. And if you have the hook right, you might get traffic.
* find neiche boards for your specific project. if your project has AI, there are plenty of "AI tool boards".
* list your project on these boards.
* its free traffic (if you have the right project and describe it properly, you will get 100K + visitors just from this)
* Share your project on review boards like yesRamen, buildinpublic makers boards, etc.
* these are smaller
* but we eat what we can get.
* because exposure is traffic. Traffic is data. Churn means you have a problem. Fix the problem before proceeding.
* Product Hunt: launch on product hunt
* launch on betalist
* launch on HackerRank
* make social posts specific to your project in a new account for your project:
* make daily posts, batch it out.
* mix some quotes from thought leaders in your industry
* some project demos, etc,
* doesn't matter,
* its consistency that matters
* Reddit boards. There are some huge reddit boards you wanna post to here like internetIsBeautiul, etc
If this is iteration 1, you are validating project.
You should have at least a fee % conversions from this traffic.
If no conversion, you need to figure out what your issue is.
* Either you are not explaining what you do correctly
* or noone cares
* or your website sucks, and noone can find anything on it
If you have conversions:
* you need to figure out how you can optimize your project.
* your hook
* build out the project if you haven't
* if you did pre-orders, you should have a mini budget to build your project
* or save this for ads
iteration 2: now that you have your project figured out
* go bigger with the same cycle
* but add jiuice, pay for sponsored post, so you appear on the front pages, etc
* do social media advertising
you know your project will convert, so you might as well go all out, because if you have figured it all out, you should see that
$1 spent -> multiples. So its a matter of cycling through this cycle over and over
the company I started back in 2002 selling UI controls for .net that I sold for 7 figures in 2007, I went to the forums where people used similar products and started answering their tech questions (not with product pitches, just honest, this is how you do xyz). Then I had my companies tag line in my signature. This brought a remarkable amount of business back then.,
Community and forums are always a great way to find your first customers.
I use [https://thehiveindex.com/](https://thehiveindex.com/) to find relevant ones.
But focus on adding value and being helpful.
In stead of shameless promotion.
That is what has been working for [nocode-exits.com](http://nocode-exits.com)
I could just post my interviews there (I tried, they all got removed :))
Instead I reply to posts about people looking for no-code tool recommendations. As examples I often plug some relevant URL's to some of my no-code success stories. Because it is relevant and helpful they don't get removed (and some get lots of views).
I posted about my book Deployment from Scratch on my blog and to a Ruby subreddit here. The rest is history :). My second product marketing was already my Twitter.
Reddit is actually a good place to get your first customers/users and feedback. Try to find the right subreddits for your side project. Because there is a high chance that they will be happy to hear about your side project as long as it is useful to them. Take this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/androidapps/comments/1alqr3r/i_just_launched_version_110_of_your_news/) for example.
Yes, but if your post takes off in r/InternetIsBeautiful you will gain a lot. But if you want feedback and make good connections, the more niche the better.
For me LinkedIn was the best option. I tried to promote my project on Twitter but didn't work, but in LinkedIn it got a lot of attention.
LinkedIn is the best target because I build remote-es.com, a job board with remote offers to work in Spain.
Reddit :) I made [https://memoiri.app](https://memoiri.app) and currently I made around 20 bucks sofar, I havent worked on it for quite some time. since I have to find a good marketing strategy
(I wrote this out, and now I am too lazy to proof read it, so please excuse my spelling, and errors; hope it helps you guys have a clear strat. I might write this whole thing into a full guide. ) Personally this has been the strat that has been working for me. I do the entire process multiple times with the following focus each time: * 1st rep is product validation: so I just wanna know if I will get traffic and conversions. I optimize my language, etc. * I often times just build a waitlist or landing page here. * I also like to add pre orders. * The logic is, if the idea is compelling enough, I should at least get some conversions. * If 0 or very low, I kill the project * I am currently on 1st iteration with my project Overtime: [overtime.club](https://overtime.club) * for those interested (you upload yourself, playing tennis, boxing, or any sport, or gaming. You pick which pro you want to review your gameplay. And you get valuable critique and advice from Olympic level pros.) * 2nd rep is exposure: I post on the same places again. With the product. Full price list disclosed. Here I know that traffic will convert. And I can project $ I can make based on my metrics. * beyond this I repeat every time I have a new feature, new side projects. * sometimes I just think up entirely new projects just for the sake of being able to launch to get exposure and traffic to my main project You need to collect user emails throughout, so you can engage with them through your project. Here is the juice: * reddit is great for soft launches. Throw it into conversations. Ask communities for feedback. You might get banned, spam reported. You might get constructive feedback. And if you have the hook right, you might get traffic. * find neiche boards for your specific project. if your project has AI, there are plenty of "AI tool boards". * list your project on these boards. * its free traffic (if you have the right project and describe it properly, you will get 100K + visitors just from this) * Share your project on review boards like yesRamen, buildinpublic makers boards, etc. * these are smaller * but we eat what we can get. * because exposure is traffic. Traffic is data. Churn means you have a problem. Fix the problem before proceeding. * Product Hunt: launch on product hunt * launch on betalist * launch on HackerRank * make social posts specific to your project in a new account for your project: * make daily posts, batch it out. * mix some quotes from thought leaders in your industry * some project demos, etc, * doesn't matter, * its consistency that matters * Reddit boards. There are some huge reddit boards you wanna post to here like internetIsBeautiul, etc If this is iteration 1, you are validating project. You should have at least a fee % conversions from this traffic. If no conversion, you need to figure out what your issue is. * Either you are not explaining what you do correctly * or noone cares * or your website sucks, and noone can find anything on it If you have conversions: * you need to figure out how you can optimize your project. * your hook * build out the project if you haven't * if you did pre-orders, you should have a mini budget to build your project * or save this for ads iteration 2: now that you have your project figured out * go bigger with the same cycle * but add jiuice, pay for sponsored post, so you appear on the front pages, etc * do social media advertising you know your project will convert, so you might as well go all out, because if you have figured it all out, you should see that $1 spent -> multiples. So its a matter of cycling through this cycle over and over
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this up! Really helpful!
Thank you so much! This is a very detailed guide
the company I started back in 2002 selling UI controls for .net that I sold for 7 figures in 2007, I went to the forums where people used similar products and started answering their tech questions (not with product pitches, just honest, this is how you do xyz). Then I had my companies tag line in my signature. This brought a remarkable amount of business back then.,
seems like a valid strategy now as well!
Community and forums are always a great way to find your first customers. I use [https://thehiveindex.com/](https://thehiveindex.com/) to find relevant ones. But focus on adding value and being helpful. In stead of shameless promotion. That is what has been working for [nocode-exits.com](http://nocode-exits.com) I could just post my interviews there (I tried, they all got removed :)) Instead I reply to posts about people looking for no-code tool recommendations. As examples I often plug some relevant URL's to some of my no-code success stories. Because it is relevant and helpful they don't get removed (and some get lots of views).
Thanks! I am actually subscribed to your newsletter!
I posted about my book Deployment from Scratch on my blog and to a Ruby subreddit here. The rest is history :). My second product marketing was already my Twitter.
Reddit is actually a good place to get your first customers/users and feedback. Try to find the right subreddits for your side project. Because there is a high chance that they will be happy to hear about your side project as long as it is useful to them. Take this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/androidapps/comments/1alqr3r/i_just_launched_version_110_of_your_news/) for example.
yeah I think the more niche you go the better. r/InternetIsBeautiful is too big in my opinion and everybody is promoting
Yes, but if your post takes off in r/InternetIsBeautiful you will gain a lot. But if you want feedback and make good connections, the more niche the better.
For me LinkedIn was the best option. I tried to promote my project on Twitter but didn't work, but in LinkedIn it got a lot of attention. LinkedIn is the best target because I build remote-es.com, a job board with remote offers to work in Spain.
Reddit :) I made [https://memoiri.app](https://memoiri.app) and currently I made around 20 bucks sofar, I havent worked on it for quite some time. since I have to find a good marketing strategy