Got #3 on Product Hunt, still launched too early

Hey IndieHackers! 👋

Following my previous post on launching my project on Reddit, I decided to take a leap and launch on Product Hunt as well. I managed to get the #3 product of the day, but reflecting on the experience, I still feel like I launched too early. Here's what I learned and some insights on how to approach a Product Hunt launch.

As many of you know, Product Hunt is highly competitive, with everyone vying for that top spot every single day. It can be a stressful and grueling experience if you're not prepared. I did my homework by researching launches from the previous weeks and found that Sundays were the least competitive, with fewer upvotes. This meant fewer eyes on my product, but a better chance of securing a higher position.

In contrast, the most competitive days are midweek (Tues-Thurs). Although it's harder to get a top position, these days can drive more awareness for your product. Product Hunt runs from 12 am PST to 12 am PST, so I had to be up at 3 am (EST) to engage with every comment, which helps drive the algorithm in your favor.

I informed everyone I knew about my planned launch and requested their support, as every vote counts, especially early in the morning. The early hours of the post are crucial, and having a following in Asia or Europe can be advantageous.

As the US began waking up, my product started to climb thanks to the upvotes from people I knew. It's crucial to promote your product and use any available resources to drive votes. Once your product is up, it will naturally get more engagement if it's an interesting product.

That said, I was unimpressed with the results:

• ~300 installs
• 2 paid subscribers

So why do I think I launched too early? I didn't feel like my product was ready to compete on the week days, so for that reason I posted on the weekend. In retrospect, this may have lead to the unimpressive results. Don't get me wrong 300 installs is great, I guess I just expected Product Hunt to be more impactful. If I could do it again I would probably have waited until I had a larger network to drive engagement.

But hey, every mistake is a lesson learned. And I hope my mistakes help you during your own indie hacking journey!

P.S. My product's name is bluf.ai a browser extension that answers questions about the page you are on. links:
🌐 chrome.bluf.ai
🦊 firefox.bluf.ai