The Indie Hackers secret to viral posts

On my first IH post, I got 1k views, 21 bookmarks, and 37 likes

I never shared it on social media

I didnt have a following here (new account)

And I wrote the article in 10 mins

So how did it happen?

Many of the topics I see on the homepage barely get 10 upvotes…

Here’s how

First, lets start with the title of the post

Always open a loop

My title was “The Twitter secret to getting your first customers, for free”

The word “secret” tricks the reader into thinking “damn I must find out what this is”

It’s the same trick I used to make you open this article 🙂

Hook

To hook the reader I use statistics or numbers in the first sentence

My first line was “I run BD for a startup and have generated $645,000 in the last 8 months”

You immediately say “damn thats a lot, how does he do it”

I continue to peak your interest

For me, the combination of title and first line is enough to get you to read

Give it to em

So afterwards I immediately give you what you came for

I hate when people write articles and say “work harder” or “never give up”

The advice is so vague and often leaves the reader unsatisfied

I make it a point to be specific and tell you something you haven’t heard before

Plus give you an example in case you didn’t understand

Like the example DM I share in the article "hey mike..."

Plug call

At the end, I plugged my Tweedy app which helps you get your first customers

And I did it by giving access for free without needing an account

It's something free the reader can use to get results immediately (they love it)

All in all, the formula goes something like this

Loopy title > first sentence stats > give them the goods > help them with examples > give them something for free > sneakily plug your saas

Oh, and to make the thumbnail I used Dalle in Chatgpt

Here’s the prompt

“create a 16/9 illustration in the simpsons style of a professional software developer sitting at his desk marveling at his new discovery about Twitter. Make his face have exaggerated expressions. in vintage colors”

Hope this info helps! If it did, show the post some love 😀