I'm trying to get 50 users in 25 days with zero audience. Here's my exact plan
3 days ago I posted here about Helios — my all-in-one platform for freelancers that replaces the 5-6 tools most of us pay for separately.
Zero customers so far. That's fine. Here's what I'm doing about it.
The goal: 50 real users in the next 22 days. Not signups. People actually using it.
The channels I'm running:
Reddit — warming up my account this week, posting in r/freelance and niche subs from day 3
Facebook groups — already warmed up, posting today
Product Hunt — launched yesterday
Cold outreach — targeting freelancers directly via LinkedIn and email
IndieHackers — documenting the whole thing here
Why I'm posting this publicly:
Accountability. And because someone here left a comment that reframed how I think about my own product — the best feedback I've gotten so far came from this community in 24 hours.
I'll post updates every few days with real numbers. What's working, what isn't.
If you're a freelancer juggling HubSpot, Notion, Bonsai, Harvest, and Mailchimp — helios.today, 14-day free trial, no card needed.
What would you do in my position to hit 50 faster?
try applying for relevant podcasts in your niche on podvertise .fm
This is the right kind of public challenge because your goal is not “get signups,” it is getting freelancers to actually replace part of their daily workflow. That distinction matters.
The biggest friction I’d watch is not the channel mix. It is whether freelancers understand Helios as one clear operating system or just another bundle of tools. If the pitch is “replaces HubSpot, Notion, Bonsai, Harvest, and Mailchimp,” the value is strong, but the category can feel broad unless the brand and positioning make the workflow feel unified.
That is also where I’d pressure-test the name early. Helios is clean, but it is already used in a lot of places and does not immediately carry freelancer workflow, client ops, proposals, time, email, and CRM in one product memory. If this starts working, you may want a brand that feels more ownable before users, content, and launch assets lock in.
Xevoa .com would fit this better as a sharper product shell for a freelancer operating system: workflow, clients, outreach, time, projects, and business admin under one cleaner platform name.
Really appreciate this — the operating system framing is exactly what I'm going for, not just another bundle. The connected workflow is the whole point. On the name, noted — I'll pressure test it as users come in. For now heads down on getting the first 50. Thanks for engaging with this so closely, genuinely helpful.
Love the “real users, not signups” constraint. I’d make the 22-day plan more diagnostic by splitting the 50 into 3 buckets:
The main thing I’d track is not just source, but activation moment: what did they do in the first session that proves Helios replaced one existing tool? If you can name that action, every channel gets easier to judge.