I’ve been working on a small side project for a few weeks. It solves a personal pain point and I really enjoy building it. I’m now reaching the point where I’d like to open it up to the world — not necessarily to turn it into a startup, but to share it and maybe get feedback or users.
The thing is, I’m quite new to all this. I’ve never really launched anything before. I don’t know how to "put it out there" without sounding too self-promotional or spammy. I really want people to tell me what's wrong with it.
What’s the best way to do this?
I’d love to hear your experience, or what’s worked for you in the past.
Thanks a lot!
(P.S. If it’s OK I’d be happy to share a link when it will be ready, but right now I’m just asking for advice.)
PaulHoule•7mo ago
If you say "people won't understand my product if they just visit the landing page" you're doing it wrong! The expectation is that people will visit your landing page with zero context so your landing page must say enough about your product that it stands on its own. If you really want to explain a bit it is OK to post a comment on your own "Show HN"
picolas•7mo ago
PaulHoule•7mo ago
fuzzfactor•7mo ago
Lots of times it makes better sense to put effort into opening up the world to your project, in advance of opening the project up to the world :)
runjake•7mo ago
picolas•7mo ago
runjake•7mo ago
Both. I think people mean well, but there's sometimes a lack of EQ.
leros•7mo ago
I've found Reddit to be much better. Found relevant communities and share.
PaulHoule•7mo ago
There's a much bigger question of how to promote something effectively. Unfortunately a lot of people are seduced by something like "get into TechCrunch" or "get to the top of Product Hunt" or "Tik Tok will make me a star without me doing anything."
The short of it is that marketing takes 100x the effort that you think it would, especially if you don't want to spend a lot on paid media, but it takes a lot of effort even if you do. Unless you're exceptionally lucky the first 10 things you try will disappoint you, that's how it is.
leros•7mo ago