Best ways to launch a side project - without coming off as spam?
Hello,
I am looking for some tips on how to best launch a side project. I have recently launched my project on reddit and whilst it went well a lot of places did not respond well as it came of as being spammy.
How can I promote what I am doing without coming of as spam?
@larskarbo recently launched something on Reddit and had a super positive reception, maybe he can share some reflections on why he thinks it worked in his situation.
@mark_mcnally_je What kind of project is it?
My product is aimed at musicians, so it worked really well to post in /r/edmproduction. I also was very careful with the title, didn't want to make it sound to markety.
I chose the personal title: "After learning music production for a while I created a tool for taking notes and marking segments from Youtube and Spotify. For me it's easier than using playlists", but I'm sure different approaches can work. We have to experiment!
My Project is https://youtubetopodcast.com. Converts youtube videos into podcasts. I use it to listen to lectures offline for example!
So did you only post on the one subreddit then? Could you have posted on more?
Posted on 2 subreddits, got positive results on both, but 1 was smaller https://www.reddit.com/user/gaptrast/posts/
Great idea you got there! Not every reddit or other channel has the potential to be a good match. Sometimes it just takes a bit of testing.
In case you need some inspiration for other channels to experiment with
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/what-do-you-think-of-the-19-channels-to-gain-traction-0e9fdfbc6e
Thanks for the link!
Reddit is a tricky one, but in general I think the best way to launch is just hang out in the communities where your target users are, and be helpful. Don't do a hard sell, don't spam. Answer questions they have, turn those answers into blog posts that you can share in other communities when other people have a similar product. Build credibility and social capital in those communities, and they'll find what you are working on.
Avoid: hard selling, posting a link to your product, making people go to your website for your insights.
I wrote up some more on this topic/what works well for me here if it's helpful 👍
That's a great help and is definitively what I am not doing at the moment - building credibility. Thanks for commenting :)
Sweet, glad it was helpful 👍