Read this if Reddit isn't working for you

A marketing channel is not a marketing strategy but I know a lot of Indie Hackers are wondering how they can utilize Reddit.

I've made a few thousand off of Reddit and here's what I recommend.

1. Respect the fact that you're a guest in someone else's house

When you go to someone's house, you do what they say. If they want you to take off your shoes, you'd do that.

But when founders go to subreddits, they show up uninvited and start pitching. Trying to give value doesn't mean you've earned the right to pitch.

Why not? Because it's them who get to decide whether or not your post was valuable.

Reddit is very pessimistic (many even cynical) so you really have to go above and beyond in their eyes.

But if you truly manage to "deliver value" (excuse me for using the v word ugh), they'll tolerate a pitch.

2. Pitch with some class

The best way to pitch is if it makes sense. Something like this:

"I don't want to go off on a major tangent on game theory right now but I wrote an in-depth essay on that. So anyway, the key thing to remember in this situation is..."

3. Don't pitch

Another counterintuitive approach is just to avoid pitching altogether. If you continuously show up in your relevant subreddit and do a good job of helping potential customers, they'll start to recognize your username.

At that point, people will start to reach out to you for help at which point you can pitch or, if it feels right, you can start proactively DMing them.

Also, and most founders aren't aware of this, people can follow you directly. If you do a good job at being helpful, people will follow you and you can post directly to them instead of to a subreddit.

If someone follows you, you've gotten their permission to be more "pitchy" because the trust is already there.

Hope that helps :) If you like this kind of content, you'll probably enjoy my daily newsletter for solopreneurs that want more customers.