Best way to post on Reddit to validate an idea?
Hey guys,
Let's say you want to validate if an idea works, how do you post it on Reddit, so it doesn't violate most of the fourm's self-promotion rule?
Hey guys,
Let's say you want to validate if an idea works, how do you post it on Reddit, so it doesn't violate most of the fourm's self-promotion rule?
Maybe this can help 👉 free collection of 100+ self promoting posts on Reddit (I actually made it, and it's free)
Thanks for the list I paid some $$$ for it. Well worth it. I was really surprised by the posts that did so well. Would never have thought they would gotten so much engagement.
Nice! Great resource, just signed up for it. Will hope to get some insights to help me promote TurboNav https://turbonav.com/ on Reddit
I download it twice, but don not get the link. One leads to me receipts, another leads me to a company called Inc**** with a 14 day free trial.
Hey Emma, that's really weird. Do you mind sending me a DM on Twitter (@tomjacquesson) with the screenshot of the email? Because I have 0 products with a 14 day free trial so I have no idea what you're talking about.
Just in case, you can check your spam for an email from team@ponyexpress.studio, that's the email containing the right link, the other one is just a confirmation from Gumroad.
Here is my process:
Step 1: I enter an email on GumRoad via your link.
Step 2: I have an email in an inbox (pic) https://ibb.co/BBWzHf0
Step 3: I click a link inside an email (pic) https://ibb.co/gJZbTH2
I try with two accounts, but I don't have an link but a fallback where everything starts. One account I have a 14 day trial demo. That's it.
Ok so the email you're are clicking in is the Gumroad confirmation email. What you need is to check your inbox and your spam folder for an email from team@ponyexpress.studio.
Or, since you seem to be having trouble, you can just send me a DM on Twitter or send an email to team@ponyexpress.studio and I'll send you the direct link.
Here is an email ********@**********- Thank you.
@emmagogo just sent it. If this is an email you use frequently, I suggest you delete your message so it doesn't get scraped by someone.
I confirm that
Thank you for your spreadsheet and an extra effort to put it here.
Super helpful link
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I actually started working on something like this, but right now it's on pause. It's called Product Lift.
It's no easy task and right now I'm really focused on Tweet Hunter which is my main SaaS.
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I'm super curious about this too.
I've been on Reddit for years and you get a mixture of comments about self-promotion.
I'm working on a landing page that I'll be promoting this week and would love to get some eyes from Reddit, I just have to find the sweet spot. I posted over in Landing Page Feedback:
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/landing-page-for-turbonav-im-ready-for-a-critique-52bb4c3a7a
My two cents, I think the trick is to give something away for free. Users can be more forgiving that way.
Also, talking about their problems and main concerns rather than promoting a feature just to get sign-ups is the way to go and generally being friendly. That's what I've seen from a user's perspective, now I'll see if taking my advice will work this week while promoting TurboNav
This is true. Redditors are more forgiving if you are giving something useful away for free.
I got over 200 upvotes here when I gave away access to my database of growth strategies (now GrowthHunt.co)
That helped me build up my first 500 subscribers.
That's a great post dude. In the beginning, did you charge the users or did you wait till there is a bit of user base then you charge them?
Well its better to ask for money once you build up an engaged audience.
The reason why I highlighted engaged is that people will subscribe to you easily. Getting their engagement is a whole other issue.
When I send out my first email after building up the 500 subscribers from Reddit, I got a really pitiful open and click rate.
This prompted me to scrub my list (remove those who does not open my emails) and rebuild my email list again.
Now I've improved my open rate to 43%.
To answer your question: build an engaged audience first before asking for money.
Ahh, I see
Because another guy was recommending to ask money upfront and test if the users would pay for the product.
Seeing what you've done I would give more credibility to you because you turned your users into paying customers.
I always hesitate to ask users for money worrying they would run away....
An email list is a delicate matter. I made the mistake of not categorizing active and none active users and kept sending them emails. The email was filtered by Google as spam.
There is no wrong with asking money upfront too. I've got some case studies of founders setting up a landing page and checkout flow with no ready products to validate their idea.
Yea, giving away something for free is a good idea.
I wish you luck with your TurboNav launch. Keep me updated how it worked out for ya
Thanks! sure thing
Actually decided to wing it and post on /r/chrome_extensions. They don't have a rule on self-promotion so that's neat.
I got my first message! it feels good!
https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome_extensions/comments/oea763/turbonav_yet_another_tab_manager_with_a_twist/
Simply don't post it in forums with a prohibition on self-promotion.
If you try to find a way around that rule then you're just being a dick.
Instead, post in forums that allow you to promote your own business such as https://www.reddit.com/r/Startup_Ideas/
When in doubt, you can always use modmail to ask the moderators if there's a way you can make your post without violating their rules. Many of the more active communities have helpful moderation teams who are happy to guide you.
Would the best way not be just to post a question to what you are trying to solve.
example?
What is the problem your product solves?
help marketers finding marketing spaces
So let me share my learning for the last week.
I have been building some products around automation of specific accounting / bookkeeping tasks.
I found accounting and bookkeeping sub reddits.
The first mistake I made was that I automatically assumed that the accounting subreddit was for accounting questions whereas it was for careers in accounting so I was blasted quickly.
Lesson: Read carefully what the subreddit is about and what posts they welcome.
I then found a bookkeeping subreddit, they have been great and here I have managed to get some feedback with good engagement.
My questions so far have been:
1.) Best way to capture bank transactions?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bookkeeping/comments/ofplrd/best_way_to_capture_bank_transactions/h4ggq36/?context=3
2.) Worst parts of bookkeeping
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bookkeeping/comments/ogal4j/worst_parts_of_bookkeeping/
In this post I address the painpoints that I have identified and whether anyone else has them.
Good luck
Thanks for the detailed examples.
I see how you were approaching it now. Turn your product assumptions into questions, see if anyone else is having the same problem. If there is, there is a market.
That's a great way to bypass promoting products on subs and getting banned.
Have you tried DM people on Reddit?
I'd say also be aware of the guidelines of the reddit. It'd be a shame to get some traction but have your post removed.
Most subreddits are quite forgiving and friendly towards Indie Devs even if you are self promoting. You just need to make sure that the content is relevant and the tone is right.
Here is one I did that got decent traction - https://www.reddit.com/r/aws/comments/kn1p0f/i_built_a_new_visualisation_tool_for_aws/
I got around 200 signups from this with just a marketing page and a demo.
that's great! thank you for sharing this. I will try one and see how it goes.
I think, don't post anything at all. Which subs are you thinking?
If you're on r/entrepreneur, then just browse for 20-30 minutes to find 10-15 people who are obviously active on the forum and don't talk out of their ass and then just DM them.
Marketing sub, this is a great idea. I will try that.
Super curious to hear answers on this. Thanks for posting!
I also used (and am helping build) Kern.al to validate my startup ideas like this one - https://kern.al/idea/audio-alerts-for-podcast-phrases
But am curious to hear how i could test reddit too
I'd like to hear your opinion too. I recently launched Dollo, constantly looking for feedback. How would you post it on Reddit? @MrBanana
I would try to post on side project first. and if the tool is dedicated to artists or entrepreneurs, reach out to a few and DM them. What do you think?