Built a debt payoff habit planner, it's live, revenue is still zero
I built a small web app that turns a debt payoff plan into daily habits instead of a spreadsheet you open once a month and then avoid. It's live. It works. Revenue is about zero, and it's been up long enough now that I can't call that early anymore.
What I've got is a handful of signups and one person who came back a second week. No paid conversions. I don't think the product is broken. I think nobody knows it exists, which is the less comfortable problem because it's mine to fix.
So I'm asking the people here who already got past this bit. What actually got you your first ten users? Not the growth playbook version. The specific thing you did in week one that moved a number you were watching. I keep reading that you should go where your users already are, and for debt that's some pretty raw corners of the internet, and I don't know how to show up there without being the person selling something in a support thread.
Happy to take it on the chin about the product too. If the landing page doesn't explain what it does in five seconds, say so. If the idea itself is thin, say that.
Anyway, it's here if you want to poke at it: https://debt-habit-planner-site-dep.vercel.app/?utm_source=indiehackers&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=debthabitplanner_202609
@rethreads_app yeah, that approach actually worked for me too. I found building something for yourself first, then showing up in the right places, was far more effective than whatever ads I was running. The I made this because I needed it angle just hits differently. Thanks for the nudge.
@rethreads_app yeah that approach actually worked for me too. Building something for yourself first, then showing up in the right places, is way more effective than the IG reels ads I was running before. The "I made this because I needed it" energy just resonates differently. Honestly, way more powerful. Thanks for the nudge.
Classic distribution gap. We spent €150 on Google Ads for our Chrome ext and got 0 installs. What worked: replying in rising Threads conversations 2-3h before peak. Found our first 10 users there, not cold outreach. Debt forums are raw - show up as "I built this for my own debt, thought it might help" not "try my app."
The €150 for zero installs is the part I would have bet against. I assumed paid traffic at least buys you a handful of curious clicks, even bad ones.
The 2-3h before peak thing is what I actually want to understand. How do you spot a rising thread that early? Reply count per hour, or gut feel from watching the same accounts long enough?
And the framing point stung a bit, because my post here is basically "try my app" with better manners. I built the planner because I was redoing the same avalanche vs snowball maths in a spreadsheet every month. That sentence is truer than anything currently on the landing page.