My Free Micro SaaS Ideas Generator got Reddit silence but 19K views
Hi all,
My name is Tony. I recently built this free tool which generates Micro SaaS Ideas for your niche (can be found here https://www.startersyrup.com/free-ai-tools/micro-saas-ideas-generator?ref=indiehackers).
Posting on Reddit
I chose to initially post about it on Reddit to see if it would be of any use to anyone. I've used Reddit before for stuff like this and have found it to be pretty useful but there’s an ugly side to Reddit and you'll more than likely see that with any post you look at. I try to engage with people on there and for the most part it's nice but that nice is soon met with tons of hate too. For instance I initially tried posting about this tool in one small subreddit and the only comment on it is a gif of someone laughing at me. Great for the confidence!
The Unexpected
I then chose to post on the subreddit r/InternetIsBeautiful as it looked like free tools are welcome there and it has a large following. So, like my previous posts on Reddit I was expecting that hate I was talking about to come but instead I was met with ZERO comments and minus 1 likes over a full week. Another great confidence booster! But weirdly even without any engagement (and that -1 like) the views for the post kept on growing and growing. In total over a week it got 19,000 views.
Interestingly it looks like there’s a bit of a discrepancy between engagement and views. If the post got more comments and likes I would imagine that there would be a lot more views because the post would be closer to the top posts of the day/week but it’s taught me that no engagement on a post doesn’t necessarily mean that people think your post is useless.
The view count of 19,000 translated into more than 900 uses of the micro saas ideas generator so so far people are getting good use out of the tool.
Lessons Learned
Engagement Metrics Aren't the Only Indicators of Interest: Getting eyes on your product can be just as important as likes or comments in measuring interest.
Indirect Feedback and Validation: Usage of the tool itself without engagement from the people using it still shows that there is a demand for it. People want a bit of help in thinking about what their next startup might be and this tool is providing that to some extent.
Hopefully this can be of use to someone. Get your products out there for people to see and don’t be afraid or discouraged if there’s a lack of engagement (or if people just reply with a gif of someone laughing at you).
Wow Tony. This is a fun tool. I've been struggling with starting a relevant project this past week and this makes it go a long way. I don't wanna have to internet search everytime to get ideas or get crappy preexisting ones.
This does the work. Thanks for making it 💯
This comment made my day, thanks! I'm so glad it's of use to people. You just never know until you get it out there. Thanks again for the kind words!
Thanks for sharing Tony, especially wrapping it up with those lessons learned. I think it's very illustrative of the realities of getting a product out there. Every community is different and may not be a good channel for many reasons. But, as you point out, you won't know until you test it (preferably in a way that doesn't require a lot of resources).
No problem at all and thanks for the kind words!
Thanks for sharing!
Do you post on Reddit solely to share / market your products, or are you regularly contributing to communities there with other posts and comments?
I was wondering about how different it would be for engagement to post on Reddit as a one-off VS as a known and contributing member of a community.
Btw, just tried your product and it generated some very cool ideas, I love it and will definitely use it more!
What's your plan with this free tool?
Thanks for the kind words! I've been contributing in some of the subreddits but this was my first time posting in this particular subreddit. I think you definitely need to be participating in some form or another with Reddit in general but not sure if it makes a big difference for the InternetIsBeautiful subreddit.
Thanks for trying the product out! I'm delighted you liked it! My plan is to create more free tools and then maybe incorporate them into my paid tool at some stage. My paid tool https://www.startersyrup.com/ is web app that transforms your startup idea into an action plan so I think I'll try find some way to incorporate them into that.
I have had the same treatment on Reddit for my project, selftalk.ing ie zero views and upvotes.
But on the other hand, it has 20+ users now. My net takeway has been to not ponder a lot and focus on marketing everywhere else.
Yes definitely best not to ponder too much on the number of likes/comments.
Just checked out selftalk.ing too, such a cool idea! Congrats on getting the first users and all the best with it!
Thank you for sharing, it turns out that there can be no comments, but still have such a large traffic!
Great post, great story to keep going despite adversity. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words, appreciate it!
Got it. You want to know if there are any other benefits of using Reddit for prelaunch feedback besides gathering feedback and finding early adopters.
Hi Tony,
Thanks for sharing your insights on using Reddit for prelaunch feedback.
I understand that Reddit can be a valuable platform for gathering feedback and potentially finding early adopters for products. However, I'm interested to know if there are other advantages or unexpected benefits that you've discovered through your experience with Reddit.
In my experience I've found Reddit to be good at just initially getting eyes on your product. It really depends on the subreddit but if a large number of people are in the subreddit then you will either get some sort of feedback or even better there's a chance that your target market is somewhere within the large number of people in the subreddit already.
First hypothesis: People didn‘t trust you (because of the self-promotion) and didn‘t want to give visibility to a potentially « bad » tool
Second hypotesis: People found it valuable but they didn‘t want it to become too known and therefore didnt comment.
Third hypothesis: They tried but didn’t think it « deserved » visibility - either because the product lack some useful features or for other reasons
In any cases congrats on this small win and try to get feedback to iterate and improve!
Some very valid points. Thanks for the kind words! Appreciate it!
I agree. Keep shipping until u find product market fit no matter what!
Love it! Your target market is out there, it could be small or it could be big but keep going until you find them
Thanks for sharing. I’ve been hesitant to share my new micro saas on Reddit for similar reasons (fear of “hate” etc), but also that a lot of subreddits respond negatively to any kind of self promotion. I’ve also had the same experience where a reddit post drive a good amount of traffic even without many upvotes or comments.
I’m not sure internet is beautiful is the right place for something more targeted to product managers/team leads like Upfollow.app but maybe I could try after tuning its messaging a bit?
EDIT: Btw, I tried StarterSyrup on it. Pretty cool!
Thanks for the kind words and for trying out StarterSyrup! I hope you liked it and if you need any help with it or have any issues at all just give me a shout! Just checked out upfollow.app, I love it. The messaging itself is clear and I knew exactly what the product was as soon as I hit the landing page. I can imagine there being a big demand for something like this, it's something so simple that solves a serious pain point for product managers or team leads, fantastic job!
I say get the word out there on Reddit. With the internet is beautiful you will be getting a lot of eyes on it and you just never know how many of them are your target audience but the community size is so big that the chances of finding customers is pretty high.
Ignore the hate if it comes! At the end of the day the hate won't effect how useful your product is for your audience who needs it!
Impressive achievement with 19k views on your micro-SaaS ideas generator! It's not uncommon for platforms like Reddit to have varied engagement levels, but the view count indicates significant interest.
In light of the visibility you've gained, how are you planning to leverage this attention to further develop and market your generator?
Thanks for the kind words! The plan is to create some more new free tools eventually but right now I want to market the micro saas ideas generator a bit more to see what kind of audience it suits. My main product is a tool that transforms your startup idea into an action plan so maybe in the future the micro saas generator can integrate with the main tool.
Your approach of focusing on marketing your micro SaaS ideas generator is a wise one. Understanding your audience is pivotal, and it can help tailor your offerings effectively. The potential integration of the micro SaaS generator with your main tool sounds like a promising way to offer additional value to your users by providing a seamless transition from ideation to action.
Keep us updated on how your audience responds and any insights you gather along the way. And when you're ready to expand with more free tools, the feedback you've collected will be invaluable. Keep up the fantastic work, and I'm excited to see how your tools evolve and integrate!
Really appreciate it! Thanks again!
Nice story. Did you track the source of the visitors to ensure they were coming from Reddit? How are you generating the ideas? Using GPT?
seems like he used a GPT to generating IDEAS
Yep its essentially using AI to generate the ideas
I agree!
Hey thanks, yep I tracked the source and they were all from that subreddit. The ideas are generated using AI
It sounds like you're discussing a project or initiative related to generating micro SaaS (Software as a Service) ideas and sharing them on Reddit. Despite not receiving responses or engagement in the form of comments or replies (which you referred to as "Reddit silence"), your post has garnered significant attention with 19,000 views.
Thanks ChatGPT
I just entered a niche of my choice and I got very nice ideas from your SaaS generator, so here you have my like sir! It ain't Reddit but it's something. A GIF laughing at you means nothing, you need to focus on constructive criticism. An anonymous survey to see what people around you thinks may also help.
Gentleman! Appreciate it my friend