How to promote your projects for free
Hi! It's my first post here. Time to pop the cherry, right?
This weekend I worked on my first big solo project: https://www.indiehacker.tools/
The goal of the website is to display tools (apps, books, courses, newsletters, etc) made by indie hackers. I want it to be your go to website when you want a place for research or simply want inspiration.
Listing your tool(s) is completely free and it'll always be like this.
So how do I plan to monetize it?
So far I have 3 ideas.
- Use affiliate links (if the tool listed has an affiliate program)
- Sponsorships
- Merch for indie hackers (I am a designer by trade, so I can design merch and upload it on a POD website)
Any feedback or roast is welcome.
In the meantime, I'd be so happy if you listed your work on my website.
https://www.indiehacker.tools/
Trending on Indie Hackers
😬 brave using that name. Isn’t it trademarked… lol
Lol, launching it is one way to find out.
Yeah. If there's an issue you'll hear about it lol
I have no idea. I am not impersonating anyone or claiming any connection with this platform.
They are completely different IMO. The platforms just have the same target audience.
welldone on getting started. thats very important
Nice, just listed my tool on it.
Great! Thank you. I'll add it as soon as possible :)
Added AI Shoot.
One thing work thinking about is who's your target audience? I get that IHs are incentivezed to publish their project there but who will be the consumer?
Hi Bernii!
I'll add AI Shoot sometime tomorrow. Thank you for submitting it!
I was thinking IHs are the audience/consumers. The reasons to visit the website would be:
Do you think this would be enough incentive to make someone visit the website?
Hmm not really sure - there's plenty going on IH itself + you've got stories + ways to contact people here.
Wondering if there's an opportunity to create a some kind of a 'curated list' where you'd present the best of the best so it's easier to consume than the vast amount of information @ IH
A curated list is actually a good idea. It can be a newsletter.
Thank you, bernii!
The status type of the project is a nice feature because you can list a tool you work on before the launch.
I will submit https://www.growthaq.app/ after I finish the customer discovery.
Good luck!
Thank you! I appreciate the kind words.
Looking forward to adding Growthaq to the repo :)
Looks awesome. Love the confetti after you post your app :)
I just listed my tool, https://IcyOwl.io - if anyone is looking to get there first users on to their app/newsletter/etc, twitter DMs have been how I went from 0 users for my first 10.
My DMs are always open, let me know if anyone needs any help :)
I am glad you love them :3
I'll add the app sometime tomorrow. I'll let you know.
And yeah, Twitter DMs are a good way. I did the same thing with my app. The first 4-5 submissions were from DMs.
Thanks for posting. Really appreciate what your doing for folks here :)
Just showing my love for the community :)
Hey I created a chrome extension using ChatGPT that will generate email basis on subject and also generate reply to your emails in Gmail. I'm looking for feedback.
You can try that here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chatgpt-for-gmail/mllkpgcojiooenmengajhkailfjocond
Looks good. Could tell you know design from the looks of it. Regarding the trademark issues, I usually check for the names before buying any domain on: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk
Also, some words are trademarks work only in specific countries. So, do check for your country.
BTW, what techstack did you use? Did you code it used no-code?
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it :)
And thank you for the link. I'll definitely check it out.
It's just plain HTML and CSS, with a little bit of JS. I add the tools manually. The users use a tally form to add their tools (and assets). I take the assets from the form and add create everything manually.
It's a lot of work, but I didn't want to pay for a no-code tool. User retention might be too low for this app to become profitable. I figured this is the best way. I might have been wrong. We will see how things play out.
Maybe like APPSUMO?
Never heard of it until now, but I'll definitely take a close look at it. Thank you!
Amazing Website....
You are far too kind! :)
Awesome! Just submitted and wishing you all the best! :)
The same goes for you!!
Good luck on your indie journey
I will definitely add https://rolade.io/ (Job board for No-Coders) on it. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Perfect! Thank you for adding it.
I'll create a Job Boards section specifically for your app :)
Oh, that's great! I would love it!
The pleasure is mine :)
Looks awesome thank you!
I just listed https://graphql.security/ to give it a try ;)
Thank you too!
I'll add it asap :)
(your apps' UI looks very neat btw)
Ow thank you! we work a lot on the UI/UX. :)
I can tell, really. Time well spent imo
Congrats on the launch!
How are you going about sponsorships? Outreach and pricing?
Thank you!
Right now my only ideas about finding sponsorships would be to make a list of likely clients and try cold mailing/DMing and heavy promotion on socials. I can't think of anything other than this.
As for the pricing, it will be affordable IMO. Something like $20 to have your app on the homepage for a month. (just an example. Nothing's been decided yet).
One thing I know for sure is that I won't ask for outrageous amounts. There's an app I use frequently that has 100-200 users but asks for something like $100 for a week or $300 for a month to promote your app. AFAIK no one has promoted their apps yet.
I am ok if I get like one sponsorship a month. I don't expect to make thousands with this app. I just want to at least cover the costs.
Always good to support another directory ;)
Much appreciated!
Drop a link to yours? :)
Really its a good idea👍 Also, I'll share mine which I have done for my website.. I usually collaborate with public who have similar interest..Participate in online forums and groups that are relevant to your niche.. I have also focussed on blogs, and wrote articles and shared on social media and encourage others to share them as well.
Also, i keep on tracking for my keyword rankings using our tool itself - Serpple.. You can explore it so that you will find it easy to measure your website performance..
If you need any assistance pls let me know...Thank you..
Website: http://bit.ly/3mdAIlR
Sounds good. The app looks neat. I'll definitely take a closer look.
I suggest you submit it on my app. You might get new users. ^^
Thank you..
your 3 ideas was good and helpful. thankyuuuu
I am glad you found it helpful! :)
If you don't provide a good search by multiple parameters it will become a mess pretty soon...
Thank you for the feedback!
Can you help me with a few suggestions for parameters?
Sure!
It may not be a full list, but I think it's pretty enough for the beginning.
This is more than enough. Thank you!
So far they are divided in categories like AI, Analytics, Twitter tools, Productivity, etc.
But you are right. They need to be filtered more.
Thanks!
Thank you for providing valuable information to me and to so many others. i am trying to advertise my company so that more people know https://cuphead.online is an active shooting action game website.
Your game looks fun. You should definitely submit it on my app. I'll create a gaming section specifically for you :)
Nice website, just posted my new app :)
I added it in the No-Code section :)
https://www.indiehacker.tools/tools/no-code.html
Thanks for the support!
Hey @IulianPistol, we just recently migrated and changed our website to InteraxAI.com, If you could please change the name of the website and link that would be awesome <3
Changed it!
Let me know what you think. :)
Hey! Thanks for letting me know.
I'll change it when I add the next batch of tools.
Exciting!
Thank you. I'll add it asap.
good one, listed.