How do you find your first users?
This might be the most common question among indie hackers — especially those working on their first products with small or nonexistent marketing budgets.
So I asked a bunch of successful founders how they got over this initial hurdle.
From their answers you'll learn that you definitely don't have to burn through your savings or raise cash from VCs to get your first users in the door. This is the good news. The bad news? You might have to work just a little harder (and smarter) than those who do.
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We are very close to launch, there is definitely some tips and tricks I am going to implement!
Thanks for this great overview. I interestingly got my first few users as Lifetime Deal buyers when I launched the lifetime deal from my website.
This is a nice overview. Especially how different approaches work for different products and markets.
I am in the middle of this journey. I got some great new low/no cost channels thanks!
Excellent info. Thanks for posting. I'm now following several of these founders. Thank you also for showcasing those with modest streams as well as those with over-the-top income.
I did the same thing for crowdfunding and put in my book, "Kickass Kickstarter Gods."
Great post. Curious how some of these strategies are creative and not what we usually see from courses or general guidance. What worked well for us was partnering with marketing agencies and entrepreneur mentoring groups to get leads for our CRM in exchange for a commission. We had some users to validate use cases for free and although at the time it felt like we were working for free, it payed off after a few weeks.
So many ways to get initial traffic, thanks.
V very useful post. will be awesome to see it updated regularly tho
This posy is super valuable! Thanks to all those building in public, being honest about their journey and sharing their story so others can learn and be inspired.
This is awesome so many great insights, thanks.
This is great. Thanks for pulling it together.
yes it is
I think for B2B platform, LinkedIn is the best way to reach people to get feedback. Usually if you’re genuine then those people might turn into first user for trial. If things go well then they will become paid user.
This is such a great resource thanks
Great post ! It's inspiring to see the diverse strategies founders use to gain their first users without ads. Your insights highlight the value of direct engagement and community involvement. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this extensive post! I will submit my app to BetaList next week :)
Also will post to subreddit like r/SideProject and ProductHunt by the end of this month :)
Thanks for this, great read!
An excellent post. I recently launched the first product on product hunt and and SideProject reddit. As an interesting side effect it was picked up by aggregators like theresanaiforthat which drove significant traffic and first paid customer 🥳
super useful :) thanks for sharing all
This is a super useful forum for anyone starting out. This stuff really works so I wanted to show my appreciation. Initial customers are the hardest to gain so thanks!
My main concern with asking warm connects to try my product is that more often than not, I don't get real feedback.
Do others think this is a problem as well? Are there any ways around this? Maybe communicating differently?
Great article
I love this. As a designer, I find getting into a growth mindset and finding new users deeply uncomfortable. Glad I discovered IH to get some practical inspiration! thx for sharing!
Cool didn't know that there were so many ways to get a first user.
I always thought growing a following with blogs is difficult or impossible. Recently started writing on DEV and the traffic and followers I get there are too unexpected!!
Wow, nice moves! Very useful tips. However, the majority of my posts are usually declined in the social network as it looks like a promotion of business. Are there any tips on how to still post to those groups (FB, Reddit and etc.) without advertising the product?
Excellent post! Thanks for sharing. For TinysiteTools.com I have listed on Betalist and got approved on alternatives.to. My audience is largely website developers and digital marketers or agencies. Tried Reddit but did not get much traction there. This definitely helps to think is other directions.
This is so awesome and not just a list of items but ignites ideas on to what I could do.
Definitely starting with most of these soon
gold. Thanks for sharing
A lot of different ways to promote your product!
Really smart ideas here, thanks!
Anyone know any specific tips for launching a Chrome extenion?
just launch on the chrome store, increase reviews, optimize the usage of keywords as per search volume
Send updates frequently, we had seen significant surge whenever we sent an update. It could either be a content or a code/product update.
I had worked on screen recording chrome extension
Also try to make it multi lingual in top 5-7 languages, so that it is visible when users search in their native language. Gets higher CTR as well
Good tips! Thanks for the info @sukh_la!
When it comes to cold emailing people, how many do you do/should you do?
This is the most useful content I have read here so far. (I have been here for two days haha)
Excellent Content. This Really Helped me in Figuring out what is the proper way to scale up my SaaS Project
Another great way is to offer valuable information on reddit, then one the post blows up, add in a message + link to your service.
I am wordpress developer. I have developed my own SAAS service. Marketing is my biggest pain. Where to go and how to find my first clients. No clue. I am lost.
Thanks for sharing. This is very helpful!
This is a great article, which touches different distribution channels. I like that the founders offer free help to customers and gain traction from there.
I've recently published my app on the App Store and I need to find the first users. Thank you for an insightful post!
Thank you for sharing!
Great examples. Curious how folks are handling general market consumers, who are not necessarily in a "power-user" community.
Loved this post. Thank you
Thanks for the post!
How did you guys overcome the fear of reaching out into the wild?
I‘m currently struggling to wrap my head around what i can do to be more comfortable putting my work out there.
Heya @yCrab,
Think of your why.
If your why is big then it will always outweigh fear.
If your why is to make a difference, to solve a problem. You’ll muster the courage to step into the wild.
Best
I think it's totally normal to be scared of being vulnerable and sharing what you do.
What helped me actually might seem counterintuitive...but for me it worked. Someone told me: Put it out there, and you will see that at first absolutly nothing will change. So it doesn't have to be perfect yet.
So I did, and it was true. For example the day I opened a store, I think I got literally 1 customer. Thats it. So, should I be scared of only 1 customer? No, not at all!
So my advice is that...start somewhere, and live it day by day. Best of luck!
This is an excellent resource for indie hackers looking to get their first users without breaking the bank. I'm particularly impressed with the emphasis on building relationships and contributing to relevant communities. It's clear that these strategies can be incredibly effective for building trust and attracting potential users.
I'm also a big fan of the idea of leveraging marketplace platforms to get your product or service in front of a wider audience. This can be a great way to get some initial traction and start building a user base.
Overall, I highly recommend this post to anyone who is looking for practical and actionable advice on finding their first users without spending on ads.
Here are some additional thoughts:
It's important to be patient and persistent. It takes time to build a user base, and it won't happen overnight.
Don't be afraid to experiment with different strategies. What works for one person may not work for another.
The most important thing is to focus on providing value to your users. If you do that, the users will come.