11
21 Comments

Can I launch a side project when my social media accounts have no followers?

So I have this side project that I just finished building and I really wanna launch it soon but I have no followers on Twitter or any other social media account, so I'm worried about whether people would even see it or use it.
Should I take some time to get more followers or just launch now and see what happens?

  1. 4

    Definetely! We recently launched our project (Product HQ) and neither my co-builder nor I have a Twitter following. We launched on Product Hunt which provided the initial influx of traffic.

    No doubt having a Twitter audience would have benefitted us greatly with the launch and ongoing process of our side project. Nonetheless, it is always better to get started building than to wait until you have hit your target followers.

    Share your journey building your product as a way to engage and grow an audience!

  2. 3

    Why do you need them in the first place? You don't need permission from the audience to launch the project 🙂

    Also, instead of one big launch event, I'd focus on constantly shipping.

  3. 2

    you can launch without even be on social media at all...

    1. 1

      But then at that point where would I get those initial users and views from?

      1. 2

        Another question to ask would be...

        Where are you going to get the followers for your social media accounts?

        1. 1

          Well in the past, they just come organically as you post and engage more, and I guess you're trying to tell me that launching would help me increase those followers right?

      2. 1

        List your site in places.

        1. 1

          Could you give example of some of these places? And not just the common ones like HN or Reddit

  4. 2

    Absolutely. Get into the appropriate communities i.e. like IH, offer value (advice) and engage. It'll create exposure and boost your social followers too.

    PS its not about waiting to see what happens, as its all about engaging in communities. If you want drop me a DM and I'll send you my Swipe file for Community Marketing with examples by side projectors and indie hackers you can follow.

    Free of course!

    1. 1

      That would be very helpful, thanks. I'll send you a DM

        1. 1

          Lol, how do we even send DMs here😂

          1. 1

            I don't think we can Ha Ha! I see you've followed on me on Twitter so I'll send you the details on their.

  5. 2

    Firstly, well done building something!

    Secondly, I am not sure that it is an either or situation here. You could launch and then work on getting more followers, exposure, etc. Of course, this is very general since it might be different in your case. But like @Raf said below, it doesn't always have to be a big bang.

  6. 1

    Hi Joke, thanks for liking my post.

    "Always be launching"

    instead of one giant launch, you will have 100 mini launches.. get your site up , out there, let google index, it then "Always be launching"

  7. 1

    Definitely!

    Maybe the most important thing to do right now is to mail/cold mail every people you know which your product could help!

    Set up a Twitter account and start publishing about your journey (the why, why it matters to you, the tech stack, your inspirations…)

    Congrats !

  8. 1

    Launching is how you'll build your audience!

  9. 1

    Good luck. Would love to help if you want with ideas on how to reach your initial audience without any social traction.
    I also assume u have seen here many do the building in public concept which means launch day is just day zero and u can build from there.
    Feel free to ping me and we can jump on a quick call (no charge or anything): [email protected]

  10. 1

    I did something very similar for Price2Spy and later on for BotMeNot (although, not exactly the same) - the thing is, you have to start from somewhere. As many people in this thread have already said, you need to work on building your community and think of it as a continuous process, not something you can be "done with". So I would say go for it, and be as active as you can while providing value.

  11. 1

    This comment was deleted a year ago.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 49 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 29 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 15 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments