If your Twitter followers are fewer than a few thousand, don’t start developing anything

"Under 1K followers = don't build" is the wrong lesson to learn.

Instead, leverage other people's audiences.

Either paid or free.

This is only applicable if you are building and selling specifically to other indie hackers.

If you are selling to restaurant owner, do you think they give a shit about your Twitter following?

It's about going to where your customers, not staying where you're comfortable and hoping they will come to you.

If you are focused on selling to developers though, then Twitter is a great channel! Good luck and keep up the good work.

Your premise is entirely wrong. You can grow together with your product which is what I did with my book Deployment from Scratch.

I just hit $40.000 revenue from Gumroad with my still sub-2000 follower count that was created together with creating the book:

But just having a social handle is not enough, you have to go and market your product.

Why didn't you try to launch your product in Product Hunt, here, in Reddit and etc? Why do you focus only on twitter?

When we launched our first product, I didn't have a Twitter account, and my co-founder had around 300 followers.

If you have no followers on Twitter and don't want to spend time writing, commenting, and connecting, then explore other options.

There are a lot of communities & platforms where you don't depend on algorithms.

Try Indie Hackers, Product Hunt discussions, Polywork, Founders communities, etc. You can find there beta testers, gather feedback, and even find first customers.

But still.

The most common advice from Indie Founders is to build in public on Twitter.

Do cool things outside Twitter, share it on Twitter, and connect with like-minded people to make your feed enjoyable.

Twitter followers are not the only people in the world that could validate what you try to develop. :)

Hey there, understanding the exact issue can be a challenge. From what I can see, you're diligently following the right steps in this situation. It's important to keep in mind that with your new app, acquiring initial users might require a bit more time, so practicing patience is key. I actually checked out your YouTube video and was quite impressed with what I saw!

The landscape of software development has evolved significantly. In the past, programmers would isolate themselves for extended periods before emerging with a solution. Nowadays, a more prevalent approach involves establishing a presence on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, or TikTok to showcase your development journey to a wider audience. An excellent illustration of this is the Icon Generator built by Web Dev Cody.

Keep pushing.

Hey Augusdin,

Building a huge following of twitter followers isn't really necessary.

What's more, it's not even guaranteed to bring you success - many of those with huge twitter followings make very little money (even if they say they do).

The best channel for any business (but especially indiehackers/solopreneurs) is word-of-mouth.

That's what you need to be aiming for - not a huge twitter following (it's a nice to have not a need to have).

However, don't think that you need a great product to create word-of-mouth growth - just a basic one will do if you use the right strategy (you can check out this one for example - www.thebluntmethod.com)

Good luck!

Chris

The number of followers is not the deciding factor. There is a famous marketing case of an influencer with 20 million followers who was unable to sell merch (a small amount of normally priced T-shirts, and there was nothing wrong with the designs). I read about it in a marketing book. The lesson is that followers are not necessarily buyers.

You are doing great! I'm struggling too.

you have not added your twitter to your current indiehacker profile so you are missing out an oppertunity where people look at your post and may interact with you on twitter. You need to do this cross linking in other social media platforms as well i.e. reddit profile should have a twitter link etc.
I don't have much followers on twitter but i don't care much about it either. There are ways to grow on twitter by using some tactics like giving away content for likes and follower etc. if you are ok with it you can use it.

Bullshit.

I started Twitter with 0 followers. I launched apps and gained followers by doing so.

At some point, I build makelogo.ai, when I had around 500 followers.

I made $200 in sales when I launched on Twitter, and $2000 when I launched on ProductHunt, then sold the app 3 months later for $65k

People will follow you when you launch interesting stuffs

In the vast landscape of Twitter, where millions of voices converge, having a follower count in the mere hundreds can feel like a whisper in a crowded room. However, this phase is a golden opportunity to refine your voice, connect deeply, and learn from genuine interactions. Instead of rushing into grand projects, invest time in authentic engagement. Engage with your followers, participate in conversations, and share valuable insights. As your community grows organically, you'll lay a solid foundation for future developments. Remember, the mightiest oaks start as tiny acorns – nurture your Twitter presence patiently, and the forest will follow.

As someone who deliberately left social media years ago (aside from checking Twitter and LinkedIn on rare occasions), your post resonates. But please don't be discouraged. So many creators and entrepreneurs nonchalantly reference Twitter as a seemingly magical growth tool, but the reality is far from that — it requires significant time and work.

At this point in your journey, I might suggest using tactics that don't scale well...launching on free product platforms, joining niche communities, engaging in strategic threads on Reddit, LinkedIn groups, etc.

Given that the product I just launched is a newsletter (https://attentiverebellion.com) focused on helping knowledge workers find meaningful solutions to distraction/overload, Twitter doesn't feel like the ideal place to be audience-building ;) But I have managed to gain some initial traction using the less-than-scaleable tactics above and would recommend giving them a shot.

Your journey as an indie developer resonates deeply. Sometimes even the most brilliant ideas need a bit of spark to catch fire. Keep that creative flame alive! 🚀 It's not just about the product, but the connections you make and the perseverance you show. I'm also trying to build more in public on Twitter myself. Good luck 💡🌟"

@augusdin What’s the value proposition?
You described what the extension does, but not how it helps or what problem it solves.

Secondly, is anyone else charging for the same service? That helps you know if there is an established market.

First and foremost, thank you for posting and letting the vulnerability we all feel at times show! Awesome!

I agree with what a lot of folks have said: where do the hardcore notion folks hangout? How do they talk shop about Notion? For the record, especially at the current time of such flux at Ex-Twitter I’m guessing not Twitter (admittedly I’m not a huge user of Notion).

But there’s another “truth” here. What are you posting to this account? Do I care about that content or are you just advertising to me on it. One of the more painful things ** I’ve ** is that having a social media account where you say “latest version coming up!” Is all but useless. You have to provide content people want to read AND tell me about your product. But it’s me first, your product way second.

My two cents.

I wish you luck. Don’t give up. Maybe don’t give up on this idea but for sure don’t give up being a solo entrepreneur.

Social media is definitely one channel for engagement but it’s such a large pool of people who might not be your ideal users vs a follower. A few things to consider trying are social media ads, Google ads or even getting a social media influencers to test and promote your extension.

You need to be where your customers already hang out, nothing more, nothing less.

I don't think you need a following tho, plenty of people that have made it without, my "audience" doesn't buy my products at all.

I use Twitter to build relationships and marketing partnerships tho.

That's real if you don't have a lot of followers, you will need to promote your tools by ads
My advice you have to try to list your extension in startup durectory like "betalist solutrend. com , producthunt"

Metaphorically truth, build a community / find your own audience before releasing your product. I was able to build a tiny 3k+ followers on Red, a Chinese Social network before releasing my first product StressWatch.
Im also an indie dev from China, looking forward to discussing with indie devs from other parts of the world.

This has nothing to do with Twitter. ‪I’ve been in business since 2009, my bootstrapped SaaS has thousands of customers who have been making a living using my platform the past 5 years, and a month ago I had less than 200 Twitter followers. ‬Currently I have 400~.

You can validate an idea without having a social following. Talk with people who you believe would be your target customer. Don't try to sell them something. Learn about what problems they have and what they want. People are happy to provide feedback when they believe you genuinely are working at building a solution for them.

There are many things you can do both short term and long term to grow, without spending money. Partnerships, affiliate deals, collaborations, building a blog, newsletter, podcast, youtube, etc. Twitter is great, if you enjoy using it, but it isn't necessary.

Suggestions:

1. Create a not for profit. Google will give all legit not for profits $10K/month in google ads. I know you're in China, so the firewall is an issue, but I'm sure you can find a way to gain access to a VPN---perhaps you already have one.
2. Use guerrilla marketing: flyers, posters, business cards. It's a hustle, but you can get through to people when you speak eye to eye.
3. You only need a few active users who consistently return to keep the thing running, and eventually, you will scale as they refer others, and as you develop more features. It may take ten years, but who cares if you're ultimately successful?

-Monroe Mann
Founder, Break Diving

Disagree with your post title

"If your Twitter followers are
fewer than a few thousand,
don’t start developing anything"

Instead don't try to sell anything, just share what you are doing. And more importantly reply to people.

On twitter people are talking about what they are doing in the open. If you see someone mention a product similar to yours, ask them a question about why they like it, if they would be open to trying yours etc.

Good luck!

Leverage free platforms like reddit & use it to drive traffic through twitter.

I'm in exactly the same boat! I started building and just finished an early prototype of my product. But I barely have any followers on Twitter or any other platform for that matter and am struggling with marketing the product. I agree that the community here has been extremely helpful and it's great to hear similar experiences. Learning from them has been very motivating indeed!

I know quite few companies who have no Twitter at all and managed to grow significant I fluency on LinkedIn. Now also Twitter becoming X, not sure why people are obsessed with Twitter followers anyway 🤷‍♂️ As long as your product solves a problem people are ready to pay for - go for it.

Life = + - + - + - + -

I think you're doing great trying to tackle how to market this product, but there are few thoughts you have here which - while very insightful and useful to your product - seem to be missing some conclusions.

You correctly confirmed that there is a demand for the product, looking at similar products and seeing how many have tens of thousands of users - but I feel like there's a next step missing here? It seems it would be pertinent to do some research around how likely these users are to switch products - whether it's a case of "will they switch at all when already subscribed?", or even just polling a few users asking them specifically which features might convince them to switch products.

Also, you've correctly identified that it's clear these popular products must have some substantial influence or promotional channels. I'd wager, however, that this was not the case for all of these companies, and that some of them only gained such a following (and thus, promotional channels) through the product they deliver.

Another point which touches both of the previous two - almost all AI startups I've encountered have a great deal of roadmap outlined. If I was currently subscribed to a product that was offering upcoming features that yours provided, I would likely stick with my current subscription.

But overall, regarding your initial statement, I think it's a fallacy that you shouldn't start a product if you don't have a significant social media following. I think it's only true in the case you only wish to promote your product via your existing social media accounts. In other words, there are hundreds, if not thousands of other options to try. Whether as simple as some paid promotion or ads, or more complex ideas like a private beta (to stir up hype), hosting a hack-a-thon around your product, etc.

To answer the Twitter issue specifically, it's currently VERY cheap to take out ads on twitter, as they're in a bit of a crisis. As much or little as you spend, I'd wager this would ultimately be cheaper than the combined worth of all the hours one might put into blog content, graphics, topics and threads all related to a viral or highly-followed Twitter account. These sorts of followings take lots of time to build, and all that time you're spending is worth something.

Building an audience on Twitter is hard. Don't make an objective out of it, unless it's a long-term and you are open to put in the work into it until it works.

There's no magical formula, we're all struggling.

I've seen some great examples (like Yasser at Chatbase) where starting with a small audience doesn't have to hold you back.

Don't give up if you're confident you have a useful and valuable product. Keep pushing it and the right people will find it.

Hey , I am also having less fallowers on social media. I am planning to grow on LinkedIn. Looking forward to chat with you so that we go grow together 👍.

I know the journey can be difficult and long, but don't give up, you have potential. 🚀🚀

I'm still in the process of developing my 2nd software, the first was a good lesson for me like, things I should do first and last.

The main point I discovered was, to find and nurture your audience before start building. Something like buying land before planting the seed.

先支持一波。
老哥，别气馁。我试用了一下插件，可能是因为用户没有购买chatGPT，造成了使用门槛。
一条路走不通，还有其他路，全当攒经验了。

You are right about having twitter follower help to get the audience.

If you are doing 9-5 and need time for family and cannot take much risk and also have not much time to spend to build stuff on day to day basis, yes growing audience on twitter first will be the best option. It take less effort can be done anywhere but take sometimes to build the audience.

On the other hand if you looking to make money from the product, and want to build the product, having whatever number of twitter follower does not matter. The most important thing is the usefulness of the product. I would recommend you checkout this article : Great Product Is the Best Marketing

Also what I am doing right now is building a product and then using it as an interesting thing to talk in the twitter and people who found interesting will start to follow your journey. ( build in public ).

The wilder your journey is the better it is. For example if you publish a video telling that today you as a father of 5 sons and daughters just quit job sell house and sell cars to start business the journey is wilder and more stakes for people to know what happen

I can understand how you got to that conclusion but it's incorrect.

From a marketing perspective, doing marketing and building a distribution channel (a twitter following) are completely different things.

Sure it MAY be easier to get users if you have a Twitter following. But that's not necessarily the case.

I think you are more correct in saying you probably didn't build anything with a particular competitive advantage. Just because there is a market for something doesn't mean there is room in the market for someone else to come in and provide the same thing as the people already in the market.

I would also take another look and getting specific around who the product is for and focus on finding them online. Otherwise it's really easy to "start building an audience" without having recognized that your audience might not be filled with potential customers.

I have just come to the same realization myself and reckon I have to spend some time to get some rep on Twitter and getting familiar with relevant forums.

Good idea might be to just implement some fun side projects with no purpose but to get some rep in the indiehacker community.

2 quick thoughts:

1 - who wants this product?

Identify this person (hopefully they work in tech) and each day send 25 - 50 cold emails to these people (You can scrap work addresses and find the right people on LinkedIn) inviting them to test it.

When you invite them, use words like "private" or "Vip" to make them feel more special.

2 - use it yourself

If this product is what I think it is, you could product content using it. You could publish on your own blog, or even on medium to earn through the partner program. An example could be "5 must-know things from the 20VC Adam Mosseri podcast" and you use your product to create this. You could then distirbute this via LinkedIn and Twitter as well, with an end note saying "made by <<product name>>

Happy to go further into detail if need be!

It's really important to validate an idea of how to get followers before building an idea. That doesn't necessarily mean growing a large social following, but that is one idea.

It is true that if you have a lot of followers it's easier to launch products. But this is a bit of a chicken and egg problem. The inverse of the logic is that a person can build a product and then use that value to build a following.

Another way to validate the idea might be creating social ads that drive email signups.

Another option is a company hires you to create a speciality application for them and then you productize and sell it (if that's ok'd in the agreement with the company).

If we want to get very meta for a minute. It's a great idea to have a productized service for startup idea validation!

Sorry to ramble, the main point is that idea validation is super important, but I don't think social followers is the best measure... although it is one measure for sure.

Let's assume you have a mass audience and people can see the tool, what will drive them to use it? you mentioned a friend used it initially but did not use it frequently ...so may be you are looking at solving a wrong problem..shouldnt you look at finding what exactly is your value proposition to user

You're right, if you have a few thousand people following you on twitter, it's easier to reach out and attract users for your product... However, building such a following takes time, so you have to be patient and determined! Even successful people started with 0 followers 😊

It seems this article will also be lost here...