How I got my first 10 users
I wanted to share how we got our first 10 users. I'm not going to lie: At first, I was overwhelmed by the success stories of people getting thousands of users in just a few hours (mostly D2C products). I spent too much time reading blog posts instead of taking action. After some trial and error, we finally found some methods that worked for us.
I looked into Twitter profiles that were following companies that have a similar positioning (in our case: Plausible Analytics for Websites) or competitors. I asked them about the tools they were currently using and whether they thought our idea would work. A week later, I followed up with our initial launch and asked for feedback. This worked really well because we were able to connect with people who were already interested in what we were doing.
We found the right subreddits by searching for the right keywords in Google, for example I searched for "site:www.reddit.com mobile analytics". I found that it was really important to ask for feedback rather than just promoting our product. I would usually include a screenshot and then link to our website in one of the first comments. We would kindly ask for feedback and let people know that we were trying to improve our product. Here's an example.
Personal Contacts
This is obvious, but it worked quite well. We contacted other developers and people we knew who we thought might be interested in our product. This was a great way to get some early users who were already invested in what we were doing.
It helped me to realize that the worst thing that can happen is that people don't respond or no one reads your content.
Our product is a privacy-focused and super simple tracking solution for mobile apps (www.uselumin.co). We knew that this is a niche market, but we are passionate about providing a solution that put privacy first. It is really important for us to find users who share that values.
We're still at the beginning stages, but we've gathered some super valuable feedback and we're looking forward to iterating to the next version. I really like the concept of 1000 true fans and we're excited to see where this journey takes us.
Your SaaS Doesn’t Have a Traffic Problem — It Has a Trust Problem
I Got Shadow-Banned on Reddit So Many Times That I Built RedChecker
Thank you for the ideas, I will follow the Twitter steps.
Thanks for your feedback! My response rate was 10-20%, so keep writing :)
That's awesome, congrats! Check out GummySearch to help you find more relevant subreddits. I'm not affiliated with it, just a fan.
Thank you! Will check it out!
Where you get the statistics graph?
We are using https://plausible.io/ for website analytics. I can highly recommend it.
Sounds obvious, but go for your competitor's followers it's a great and cheap idea, because they tell you that they are interested in your competitor's services. I didn't see that until today! Thank you, Max.
Thanks for your feedback! Good point. Our thesis is that existing solutions like Mixpanel are too complex and heavy for small product teams, which is the audience we're addressing. Some responded that they were happy with it, but others were interested in trying our product. If the competitor's product is too similar, it is probably not going to work.
yes, I have to say that, in my opinion, that's the way they should follow to identify their prospects!
The other day, while reading Jay Conrad Levinson, I came across an important piece of advice that might be useful to you: 'when you ask your client about their competition, do it 3 times. The first two times they will answer automatically, out of habit. The third time they will think twice about it and give you a much more sincere answer.'
I hope this advice is helpful for you to gather better data on your competition's weaknesses and threats👍
Thank you! That's great advice! I am a huge fan of the question "How do you solve [problem] today?" - Often the answer is Excel, for example, and not the latest tech startup you might think is your competition.
at the end of the day, it's action that counts. You can spend all day reading about different methods and strategies, but until you actually put them into practice, you won't see any results. Trust me, I've been there.
100%