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9,238 pageviews from Hacker News - a few tips

Last night I wrote a post and shared it on HN: https://www.swipe.page/p/from-an-airtable-to-10k-in-side-income

Within 20 minutes it was on front page.

Here are some tips if you are looking to do something similar:

  1. Have a post with substance. I think just any post won't do. Make it technical for the Hacker News audience. HN is full of professional male audience who are fairly affluent.

  2. You only need about 8 points/upvotes to start ranking. You also need to show the engagement on the post via comments.

  3. Share with friends early on.

  4. Leave the first comment and follow up with every comment. Just like you would on a PH launch, you'll want to follow up -- as engagement drives rankings too.

That's it. I hope this helps.

In case you are wondering, this generated $500 in sales for Swipe, and 17 subscribers (not as many as I expected in terms of subs, but still nothing to laugh at).

My article was not necessarily the right fit for the audience, but given that many HN developers aspire to quite their boring corporate jobs, I think the side gig income post is appealing.

Cheers!

  1. 2

    Fantastic. 👏🏼 The few times I ranked on HN, it got me a large influx of traffic and email signups. Thanks for the tips!

    1. 1

      My pleasure, Mike! Yeah it really is an awesome boost!

  2. 2

    You're killing it at the moment Gene :) Grats on the extra $500!

    1. 1

      Appreciate it, Scott! You're gonna zoom past quickly :)

      1. 2

        Haha, it's all part of our journey to the top 💪

  3. 2

    These are good points! I will keep them in mind for the future, thanks!

  4. 2

    Great tips - thanks!

    1. 1

      No problem! Thank you for reading!

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