I stopped chasing 5 channels. Picked one. Got my first 15 users
I used to spread my efforts everywhere.
Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn, cold email, Discord — all at once.
The result? Mediocre presence everywhere. Strong presence nowhere.
Then I talked to someone who actually cracked distribution.
He said: pick one channel where your users already hang out. Spend 3 weeks participating before mentioning your product.
So I did.
— Chose Reddit (niche subreddits for my target audience)
— Commented genuinely for 3 weeks
— Helped people. Asked questions. Shared what I learned.
Those conversations turned into my first 15 users.
Those 15 gave better feedback than any survey would have.
What I learned:
— One channel, done deep, beats five channels done shallow.
— First 100 users = signal, not reach.
— If they're not actively trying to solve the problem right now, they won't pay.
I'm building TempQR — a tool for freelancers to share expiring links (12,000+ links created).
If you're struggling to get your first users, what's one channel you're going to commit to?
Thanks for the help! This is the biggest issue I am running into right now.
One pattern I've seen with early makers is channel paralysis — trying to be everywhere and ending up nowhere. Focusing deeply on a single channel can create way more momentum than scattered efforts. Curious how you identified which channel to double down on and what signals told you it was the right one.
The first 15 users are often the hardest. They validate that you're solving a real problem and aren't just building in a vacuum. What unexpected insights did you gain from those initial conversations?
I feel you, man - distribution is hell.
For me, Reddit is hell among hells. I wouldn’t choose it over other channels. My personal account, with years of history, got banned from a few subreddits, and my posts got filtered. Now I’m so frustrated with Reddit that I’m honestly ready to drop this channel entirely.
I hear you — Reddit can be brutal.
'My personal account with years of history got banned from a few subreddits.'
That's the risk nobody talks about. Even old accounts aren't safe. The spam filters don't care about your history — they care about keywords, links, and sometimes just bad luck.
If Reddit isn't working, here are a few alternatives:
— Indie Hackers (more forgiving, founder-friendly)
— LinkedIn (if you're B2B or professional service)
— Niche Discord servers (smaller but higher trust)
— Quora (underrated for long-form answers)
Don't force a channel that's fighting you. Pick one where you're welcome.
What's your product? I might be able to suggest a better channel.
Its productivity/task manager, you can check out pretty quick flowly.run.
Any suggestions are welcomed, because I am pretty desperate at distribution.
Really needed to read this. I've been trying
Reddit, Product Hunt, Indie Hackers all at once
as a first time maker. Maybe I need to just
focus on one and go deep.
The 3 weeks of participating before mentioning your product is the part most people skip. They go straight to sharing their thing and wonder why nobody cares.
When you've been genuinely helpful in a community first, people want to hear what you built. The reception is completely different. It's not a trick — you actually become someone worth listening to.
This resonates hard. I spent months trying to maintain a presence on Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn, and two Discord servers simultaneously. The result was basically noise everywhere and traction nowhere. What finally worked for me was a similar approach — I picked one community forum where my target users were already asking questions, and just started helping people without any agenda for about a month. The trust you build from genuine participation is completely different from showing up and dropping links. One nuance I would add to your point about the first 100 users being signal: those early users also become your best distribution channel if you treat them right. My first 12 users referred another 8 just through word of mouth because they felt invested in the product since they had shaped it with their feedback. The compounding effect of depth over breadth is real. How are you thinking about expanding to a second channel now that Reddit is working?
This is a masterclass in how distribution actually works.
'The trust you build from genuine participation is completely different from showing up and dropping links.'
That's the line every founder needs to read.
What I love about your story:
— You stopped spreading thin and went deep
— You helped without expecting anything in return
— Your first users became your marketing team
'The compounding effect of depth over breadth is real.'
To answer your question: I'm still in the 'one channel' phase — Reddit and Indie Hackers are my focus. I'm not expanding until I see consistent traction from these.
What was the signal that told you it was time to add a second channel?
that's a solid way of building a channel!
I guess It's really being active with your community
Keep going!
Were those fresh threads or did you dig up older posts? I tried the helpful-guy routine on X back in Jan, but the algo just buried everything under the blue-checks. Standard tax, I guess. Total waste
Reddit mods are a different breed, though. Did you stick to the big ones like r/freelance or find some tiny niche subs? Smaller ones usually convert better, but those mods are absolute gatekeepers
Great questions — you've clearly been through the wringer.
On Reddit: I stuck to medium-sized subs (not the giants like r/freelance, but not tiny either). Small subs have obsessed mods who gatekeep hard. Big subs have too much noise.
The sweet spot: subs with 50k-200k members where mods are active but not tyrannical.
On X: same experience. Unless you're already verified or have a following, your helpful content gets buried. Not worth the energy.
Where are you finding the best signal now? LinkedIn? Discord? Something else?
Curious what's working for you.
This resonates a lot — the "spread thin across all channels" trap is so easy to fall into, especially early on when you're anxious to find users anywhere. Your point about spending 3 weeks participating before mentioning your product is key. Genuine community presence before any promotion is exactly the kind of patience that pays off. Curious which subreddits ended up working best for TempQR's audience — did you find niche subreddits outperformed the larger general ones?
Focus is the first step to Sovereignty. Congrats on the 15 users! 🏛️🛰️
Most founders fail because they try to decorate 5 houses on Rented Land at once. Picking one is smart, but remember: The platform is the landlord.
I architected a $10k/mo "Too Native" engine specifically to avoid being a tenant. Use that one channel to build trust, but move the conversion into your own Infrastructure. 🧬
Visual Trust (85mm)
Anatomy-Effect (Native Flow)
The Bunker (Ownership)
Don't just pick a channel. Build the Bunker. ⛩️
This is a next-level perspective.
'Most founders fail because they try to decorate 5 houses on rented land at once. The platform is the landlord.'
That's the trap. You build an audience on LinkedIn? They own the relationship. You grow on Reddit? They change the algorithm.
The smart move: use the channel for trust, but move the conversion to your own infrastructure.
Quick question: what does your 'Bunker' look like? Email list? Own community? Direct outreach system?
This is gold — thanks for sharing.
This resonates hard. I just launched a product last week and made the exact same mistake - Reddit, X, IH, LinkedIn, all at once. Got 130K Reddit views, few conversions. The people engaging were peers, not buyers. Now I'm doing what you did - picking specific channels where my actual buyer hangs out (YouTube comments on beginner tutorials, Quora answers) and going deep. Already seeing Gumroad visits from YouTube after just a few days of focused commenting. The 'one channel deep' advice is gold
This is a perfect real-world case study.
'130K Reddit views, few conversions. The people engaging were peers, not buyers.'
That's the trap. Big numbers feel good, but they don't pay the bills.
What I love:
— You recognized the problem quickly
— You shifted from 'peers' to 'buyers'
— YouTube comments on beginner tutorials is a smart channel
Quick question: how did you identify that YouTube comments would work better than Reddit? Was it instinct or data?
Thanks for sharing — this is gold.
This really resonates. I'm building an AI-powered earnings analysis tool and made the exact same mistake early on — spreading myself thin across Twitter, Reddit, HN, and LinkedIn simultaneously. Got zero traction from any of them.
Your point about "mediocre presence everywhere, strong presence nowhere" is spot on. I'm now focusing on a couple of finance-specific communities where retail investors actually hang out and ask questions about earnings reports. The conversations are so much more valuable when you're genuinely part of the community vs. just dropping links.
Question for you: when you picked Reddit as your channel, how did you decide which subreddits to focus on? Did you test a few first or go all-in on one from day one?
Great question — and you're on the right track.
How I chose subreddits:
1. Start with 3-5 candidates — search for keywords related to your product (e.g., 'earnings report', 'stock analysis', 'investing')
2. Lurk for a few days — see what questions people ask repeatedly. That's your content gold.
3. Check engagement — big subreddits (r/investing) have high volume but low signal. Smaller niche subs (r/earnings, r/stockanalysis) often have higher intent.
4. Pick one to start — not three. Just one.
I didn't test multiple. I picked r/freelance because that's where my target users (freelancers) complained about the problem I solve.
For you: find where retail investors ask 'how do I analyze this earnings report?' — that's your subreddit.
What's one finance community you're already active in?
This is exactly the advice I needed to read today.
I've just started marketing Smooth Handoff, a white-label client portal for web agencies, and the temptation to be everywhere at once is real.
I'm committing to Reddit. Specifically the freelance and web dev subreddits where people are actively complaining about the exact problem I solve. No pitching, just showing up and being useful for the first few weeks.
Also love the point about your first 100 users being signal, not reach. That reframe takes the pressure off chasing numbers and puts it back on finding the right people.
This is the right mindset.
'No pitching, just showing up and being useful for the first few weeks.'
That's the hard part — because it feels slow. But it's the only way to build real trust.
Smooth Handoff sounds like a solid product. Client portals for agencies solve a real pain point (look professional without building from scratch).
Quick question: what's the #1 problem you see agencies complaining about in those subreddits?
Wishing you success with Reddit — stick with it for 3 weeks before you mention your product
The 3-week rule is real, but there's a cost nobody mentions: Reddit's spam filter doesn't care how genuine your content is. New accounts get silently removed regardless of quality. I posted a legitimate founder story to r/SideProject yesterday — self-promo explicitly allowed there — and it was filtered automatically. No notification, no appeal path. The warm-up you're describing isn't just about community trust. It's also about surviving the algorithm long enough to be seen at all.
This is the hidden cost that nobody talks about.
Reddit's spam filter doesn't care about your intentions — it cares about your account age, karma, and activity history.
What I've learned:
— You need to build account credibility before posting anything promotional
— Even then, some subreddits have minimum karma requirements that aren't published
— The '3-week rule' includes upvoting, commenting, and getting upvoted — not just lurking
Workaround: start in smaller, less strict subreddits. Build karma there first. Then move to bigger ones.
What's your account age and karma? That might explain the silent rejection.
It's frustrating, but it's the game.
Completely agree, but the hidden trap is picking one channel and still talking to the wrong slice of users inside it. Reddit only started making sense for me when I stopped thinking use Reddit and started thinking find the exact threads where people are already frustrated right now. For a career-pivot product, broad career communities were too noisy; specific adjacent-move threads were the real acquisition surface. One channel only works if the pain, timing, and audience are all narrow enough.
This is a solid reminder. Most founders fall into the trap of being 'everywhere' and end up being 'nowhere.' Master one platform first. The 'help first, promote later' rule is the only way to build real trust on places like Reddit or IH. If you skip the value part, the community sniff it out instantly."
Short, sharp, and completely true.
'Most founders fall into the trap of being everywhere and end up being nowhere.'
That's the quiet mistake that kills momentum before it starts.
The 'help first, promote later' rule isn't just nice — it's survival. Communities like Reddit and IH have built-in bullshit detectors.
What's one platform you've seen founders actually master before expanding?
Hot take: I don’t think it’s about “one channel” vs “many channels”.
I don’t think any channel really works consistently anymore.
Everything feels like noise — Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn… you can spend weeks doing the “right things” and still get zero traction.
Feels like we’re all just rationalising randomness after the fact.
Would love to be proven wrong, but so far nothing seems repeatable.
I’d probably go all-in on one place where the target users are already talking about the problem — not just hanging out.
Earlier I used to think in terms of channels (Twitter, Reddit, etc.), but now it feels more like finding the right conversations within a channel and staying there consistently.
That shift alone makes a big difference.
This is actually a great reminder—going deep on one platform really does work better than trying to be everywhere at once. The part about spending time helping first before promoting is what most people skip.
I’ve been applying a similar approach in the anime niche, focusing on community discussions and real feedback instead of just dropping links. It’s slower at first, but the users you get are way more engaged. For example, I’ve been building around a simple anime setup with Anilab (https://anilabapkdownload.com/) and most of the traction comes from genuine conversations like this rather than direct promotion.
This is a great real-world example of the strategy working.
'It's slower at first, but the users you get are way more engaged.'
That's the trade-off most founders aren't willing to make. They want speed. But engaged users compound; fast users churn.
What I love about your approach:
— You're not dropping links
— You're participating in conversations
— The traction comes naturally
Quick question: which community or platform has been most responsive for your anime niche? Reddit? Discord? Something else?
Keep building — this is the way.
This hits hard. I just launched a micro-SaaS for freelancers and made the exact same mistake — tried IG DMs, Facebook groups, and Reddit all in the same day. Got my IG account temporarily restricted for sending too many DMs 😅
Your point about "one channel, done deep" is exactly what I needed to hear. I'm going to pick Instagram and commit to it for 3 weeks. My target users (nail artists, photographers in Hong Kong) all live there.
Thanks for the reality check!
This resonates hard. I just went through the exact same realization — I built a product (a text-file "operating system" for AI assistants) and spent zero time on distribution. Finally started focusing channel-by-channel this week instead of blasting everywhere. The "3 weeks participating before mentioning your product" advice is gold. Which channel ended up working best for you?
This is the journey most founders don't share publicly.
'I built a product and spent zero time on distribution.'
That's the real story behind most failed launches.
To answer your question: Reddit (specifically r/freelance and r/webdesign) worked best for me. Why? Because that's where my target users (freelancers) complain about the problem I solve (client access after project ends).
What channel are you testing first? And how did you decide on it?
this is so real. i spent months trying to be everywhere and ended up being nowhere lol. the “3 weeks before mentioning your product” part is key tho — most people (myself included) jump straight to promoting on day one and wonder why nobody cares.
also love that you treat those first 15 users as signal not vanity metrics. thats the part most people get wrong, they obsess over numbers when really 15 engaged users who actualy talk to you is worth more than 1000 passive ones.
commiting to one channel rn. thanks for the reminder.
12k links created but 15 users from community participation is the interesting data point here
that gap suggests people are finding the product some other way, or the link creators are not the buyer. did those 15 reddit converts come from people who already had accounts, or did the reddit participation bring in people who had zero prior exposure? that conversion path question is where the real distribution lever usually hides.
12k links created but 15 users from community participation — that gap suggests people are finding the product some other way.'
You're right. The 12,000 links came from initial launch momentum and organic search (people searching for 'expiring link tool').
The 15 Reddit users were new — they had zero prior exposure. They came from genuine participation, not from existing accounts.
So the gap tells me:
— Organic search brings volume (but low conversion to paid)
— Community participation brings quality (but low volume)
The real lever is combining both: use organic to attract, use community to convert.
What's your take on this? Have you seen a similar gap in your products?
I'm at the beginning of this journey and I just automatically thought more would be better but you've given me serious food for thought. I'll probably focus on Reddit for a while too. Thanks
This is spot on—depth over spread is underrated. That 3-week “no selling, just helping” phase is probably the real unlock because it builds trust before you ever mention your product. Also love the point about first users being signal, not scale—those early conversations are way more valuable than chasing vanity metrics.
Thanks for your message yesterday!
15 YouTube channels + a SaaS — that's a lot of plates spinning.
'The moment you start helping first, people go check your profile on their own. You don't even need to pitch.'
That’s the hidden mechanic most founders miss. Trust drives discovery, not volume.
What did people find when they checked your profile? A landing page? A waitlist? Something else?
This is exactly right and most founders resist it because spreading across channels feels like more surface area for luck to find them. But it's the opposite — you end up invisible everywhere. 3 weeks of genuine participation before mentioning your product is the key detail here. Community trust is a prerequisite, not a shortcut. What subreddit ended up working for you?
You nailed it — 'more surface area for luck' is exactly the trap.
Most founders think: more channels = more chances. But what actually happens: mediocre everywhere, strong nowhere.
The subreddit that worked for me was r/freelance and r/webdesign — because my product (TempQR) helps freelancers share expiring links.
But the principle applies anywhere:
— Find where your users already complain about their problems
— Spend 3 weeks helping, not selling
— Then mention your product as a solution, not a pitch
What subreddit are you considering for your product?
Discord — specifically the 2-3 niche servers where our exact user already hangs out every day.
We build Scoutivex for Vinted resellers. Early on we did the usual: SEO content, broad social, directory submissions. Same trickle you describe. Then we went deep into the Discord communities where active flippers already spent their time.
The rule we followed exactly mirrors yours: show up, ask questions, help people solve the real problem (which is buying items at bad margins without knowing resale value). We didn't mention the product for weeks.
When people eventually asked what we were building, those conversations converted at a completely different rate than anything else. They already trusted us. They'd already seen we understood their problem. No pitch needed.
The 3 weeks before mentioning your product thing is real. You can't shortcut it without it feeling like spam. Good luck with TempQR.
Discord — that's a smart play. Most founders overlook it.
'We didn't mention the product for weeks. When people eventually asked, those conversations converted at a completely different rate.'
That's the key. They ask you. You don't pitch them.
The trust built during those weeks does the selling for you.
What I love about your approach:
— You identified where your exact user hangs out daily (Discord, not generic channels)
— You solved the real problem (buying at bad margins) before mentioning your product
— You let them come to you
This is a masterclass in niche distribution.
Quick question: how did you find those 2-3 Discord servers? Search? Word of mouth?
Thanks for sharing — and good luck with Scoutivex.
It's a trade-off I feel torn over.
Engaging with like-minded people, feeling genuinely helpful with your posts, it's rewarding. And knowing that when someone from that community does access your site/product/content that it's someone who WANTED to be there and is interested in what you're building....it's a bit of a rush. Feels good. Feels validating.
Time lurking and posting is also time I'm not spending building. And I feel guilty about that. The more I build, the more opportunities for organic search discovery (content based site).
One appreciative comment from another community user makes my day. But it doesn't make my build. Then there's my day job....there's just not enough hours in the day!
This is the most honest comment in this thread.
'One appreciative comment makes my day. But it doesn't make my build.'
That's the tension. Validation feels good. But it doesn't pay the bills or ship features.
Here's how I think about it:
— Building without distribution = a product nobody sees
— Distribution without building = a promise with nothing behind it
— Both take time — and time is the scarcest resource
The guilt is real. But the only way out is a system:
— Block 1-2 hours for community engagement (not all day)
— Build first, engage second (or vice versa, but separate them)
— Accept that growth is slower than you want, but faster than doing nothing
What's one small change you can make this week to balance both?
funny, we kind of did the opposite and still landed on the same lesson. we run 15+ youtube channels so we were already spread across every platform just by default. but for our SaaS (video review tool), we made the exact same mistake -- tried reddit, twitter, linkedin, cold email all at once. nothing stuck. recently went back to basics and picked just indie hackers and reddit. your "3 weeks participating before mentioning your product" rule is spot on. the moment you start helping first, people go check your profile on their own. you don't even need to pitch. congrats on the 15 users, that first batch always teaches you more than 6 months of building in isolation.
"15 YouTube channels + a SaaS — that's a lot of plates spinning.
What you said confirms the pattern:
— More channels doesn't mean more traction. It means more noise.
— Going back to basics (Indie Hackers + Reddit) is what actually moved the needle.
'The moment you start helping first, people go check your profile on their own. You don't even need to pitch.'
That's the hidden mechanic most founders miss. Trust drives discovery.
Quick question: when people checked your profile, what did they find? A landing page? A waitlist? Something else?
Congrats on finding what works — and thanks for sharing.
good question. right now it's just my IH product page for YouViCo (our video collab tool). nothing fancy, no waitlist gate or anything. honestly i didn't even link it in my first few comments here, people just clicked through on their own which kind of proved the point lol. i think if you force it too early people can smell it. the product page is there when they're curious enough to look, that's it.
This is a masterclass in restraint.
'I didn't even link it in my first few comments here, people just clicked through on their own.'
That's the proof that the strategy works. You helped first. Built trust. Let curiosity do the rest.
What I love:
— No forced links
— No 'check out my product'
— Just value → trust → discovery
Most founders skip straight to the link and wonder why no one clicks.
Quick question: how many clicks did you get without ever dropping the link?
This is the way.
Agree with the core point, but I'd frame it as a sequencing problem, not a "one channel" problem. I built a CLI tool specifically to work 5 channels (X, Reddit, Discord, note, IH), but I still only go deep on one at a time — the tooling exists so that after 2-3 weeks of real participation I can keep that channel warm passively while I move my full attention to the next. Parallel from day one = mediocrity everywhere, you're right. Sequential depth with lightweight maintenance = way harder to execute, but that's how you eventually get all five working.
This is the advanced version of the strategy.
'Sequential depth with lightweight maintenance — not one channel forever.'
Most founders can't execute this because it requires:
— Patience (weeks per channel)
— Systems (to maintain passively)
— Discipline (not jumping early)
What you're describing is the difference between:
— Amateur: pick one channel, stay there forever
— Pro: master one, systemize it, move to the next
Quick question: what does 'lightweight maintenance' look like for you? Scheduled posts? Automated monitoring? Something else?
This is a masterclass in scalable distribution.
This is so true/ I've been building a small tool, and made the exact same mistake - posting everywhere, but not really connecting anywhere. Now trying to focus on one place, and actually help people first.
Already getting way more meaningful conversations than before.
We do a everything with everything.
If you distribute your content on said social platforms and not treat them similarly. you can indeed get a good amount of outreach. Youtube isn't reddit and vice versa.
We did unfortunately get banned on reddit though and we appealed 3 times and no responses.
This is a real risk that doesn't get talked about enough.
Reddit is powerful — but one wrong move (or overzealous mod) and your account is gone. Appeals? Often ignored.
'We appealed 3 times and got no response.' — that's the norm, not the exception.
What I've learned:
— Build multiple accounts (slowly, naturally) if Reddit is core to your strategy
— Start with low-stakes participation for weeks before any promotion
— Even then, you're at the mercy of mods
The platform is a goldmine, but it's a volatile one.
What did you get banned for? Self-promotion? Or something else?
Curious to hear how you're adapting without Reddit.
feel this. I've been mainly focused on LinkedIn atm, but reddit is calling me back! might just have to go back.
LinkedIn is safe. Reddit is real.
LinkedIn: people are in 'networking mode' — polite, professional, non-committal.
Reddit: people are in 'problem-solving mode' — complaining, asking, looking for answers right now.
If you want validation, go to LinkedIn.
If you want customers, go to Reddit.
What subreddit are you thinking about?
Agreed, and appreciated. LinkedIn is very....idk, gilded? I dont know if thats the right word or not. But yeah, seems shiny, but not necessarily that....real.
It's a safety intelligence platform, aimed at EMS to start, EHS later. EMS as my beachhead given my experience. So I'm posting to r/EMS.
Gilded' is the perfect word for LinkedIn.
Shiny, professional, polished — but often performative. People are in 'networking mode,' not 'problem-solving mode.'
Reddit is the opposite. Messy, real, unfiltered — but that's where the actual pain lives.
You're doing the right thing by going to r/EMS. That's where your future customers complain about their day-to-day problems.
Here's a simple r/EMS playbook:
— Sort by 'new' (not 'hot')
— Look for posts about: reporting, documentation, safety issues, paperwork fatigue
— Answer genuinely for 2-3 weeks
— Then: 'I'm building something to help with this — would you be open to a quick chat?'
One conversation from Reddit is worth 100 cold LinkedIn DMs.
What's the #1 problem you see EMTs complaining about most often?