Landing Page MVP

You want to go to whatever made you believe there was a problem in the first place. Have you found specific instances of people talking about that problem? This could be in comment sections, articles talking about the problem, videos made about how to get around the problem - anything that shows that people are searching for a solution. That's where you go for your first potential customers.

If you haven't actually found people talking about this problem then are you sure it's really a problem?

This might come handy - Myths about Minimum Viable Product.

I think it depends on what is your audience. If it's Indie Hackers, post it here. If it's barbers, you might have better chances with walking around and visiting their barbershops. In any case, a little bit of PPC won't hurt your wallet, but it would give you the numbers.

What I did was help folks in niche communities and have links back to my project and would warm email people for feedback.

It is slower than ads but we had time > money.

A couple of thoughts:

• If you're uncomfortable telling your friends & family that you are working on something, you are likely going to run into trouble when you try to tell lots of strangers. I would suggest you practice with your friends & family and then broaden.
• Email everyone you know about your project. Ask people for feedback. If you're on social media, post there and ask for feedback. Ask people explicitly to please forward to someone who could use your project.
• Get on the phone and call people who are in a position to give you useful feedback. Coworkers, schoolmates, etc. If they didn't respond after getting your email and social post, this is another opportunity for them to take 5 minutes and help you.
• Anyone who responds to any of these mechanisms: ask if you can email them when you launch. They did a little bit to help you get there, show them something when it comes to fruition. It's teamwork!