How I got +200 people on the waitlist
Hey friends!
Some of the active hackers here might remember 2 weeks ago when I soft-launched Selfbase https://selfbase.app
Since then, we have had a little over 200 people on our waitlist. My social pages have less than 1200 followers, so I'm not an "influencer" but I'm pretty active in two small Discord communities.
Here's how I strategized the distribution.
- Friends and Family (Instagram, Facebook)
- Small communities (Discord, Linkedin, Twitter, Read.cv & Polywork)
- The open web (Indie hackers)
Now, each one helps you gradually build engagement and that's the secret imo. Your friends will support you no matter what (say you get 10-20 likes), then smaller communities will push it to 40-50, and then the chances of a total stranger taking a look grow significantly.
How I approached each distribution circle?
→ For friends, family, and smaller communities: add a personal touch to your post. Whether you have the possibility to make a video of yourself presenting the project, or just write a text that describes how important the project is to you. That will help tremendously (even for people who don't know you)!
→ For the open web: Start a topic about the problem you are facing/solving and don't be too aggressive with promoting your project. If enough people have that problem, they will engage with you and even support you.
The launch post on IndieHacker was about my frustration to build a non-ai product in the gold rush era of AI. It did over 1200 views and more than 30 people joined the waitlist from IH. I'd say that's amazing 🤩
Anyway, that's my two cents so far! Follow me for more updates about my journey!
Btw, here's the last video about the modular UI of Selfbase. Let me know what you think!
