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20 Comments

Tips for building in public?

I see a lot of people talking about building in public, but not a lot of how to do it effectively. For example, I've been trying to build a new thing in public ala my twitter. I think it contributed to my recent followers increase, but until makerlog followed me I kept asking myself if this even works.

So let's here 'em.

  1. 23

    Hey Janet!

    I recently started building in public on Twitter, inspired by other Indie Hackers.

    Things I've found to work:

    • Sharing step-by-step guides on how I tackle problems
    • Being vulnerable, asking for help on problems
    • Sharing the free resources you use, so that others can benefit as well
    • Sharing your thought processes in a thread

    When people ask you questions, always engage and add value.

    You can use the #buildinpublic hashtag on Twitter for visibility.

    1. 3

      Hey, thanks for sharing, I'm just curious, when you have few followers, how to get noticed and visibility? Thank!

    2. 1

      Hey Janel, thanks for this concise summary. Maybe this deserves its own post.

    3. 1

      Thanks for the twitter-# tip! Going to use that!

    4. 1

      I saw that hashtag the other day! :)

  2. 15

    Building anything in public, whether that's software or a blog, is about keeping people updated. I write a blog about creativity and personal branding. I workshop a lot of my ideas for what I'm going to write about as tweets, messages to friends, and in the actual blog posts themselves.

    The idea of building in public reflects how we can gauge feedback from others that our ideas actually make sense. That way we don't waste hundreds of hours of time building something that nobody wants. This applies to anything! Blogs, podcasts, software - anything. Always helps to have people tell us that we're not completely insane.

    But of course it also helps to have some time to think things through by yourself. To shut off the noise and focus on what matters to you.

    Building in public also helps you connect to folks who'd love to help you. I've met so many fantastic people through Twitter just by following fellow bloggers, writers, and podcasters.

    Creativity (and I'd definitely call you a creative person) is more than just having ideas. It's also about getting ideas from people. Perhaps someone you connect with on Twitter after asking a coding question has an idea for what you're working on. And let's say its a fantastic idea and you implement it into whatever you're building. Now, it's like a part of that person's brain is in the software you're building. We are all collaborators at heart.

    Good luck to you, and keep tugging away at your goals.

    1. 5

      Now, it's like a part of that person's brain is in the software you're building. We are all collaborators at heart.

      I love this.

    2. 1

      Thank you very much, Paul! Very insightful reply

  3. 2

    Hi Janet,

    I can answer this question as a follower.

    1- Public building startups catch my attention. See the increasing MRR gives me trust.
    2- Also, ability to ask directly to a founder is a big chance
    3- I love stories. I'm searching stories with happy ending. So, I like reading threads about milestones of a success startup.

  4. 2

    Hey Janet! I've done this mostly on Twitter. To start with, I would share my update weekly, even including little presentation decks to highlight the highs and lows. Over time, I migrated towards a quarterly cadence. Basically, each quarter, I'll send out an update like this one: https://projector.com/story/fbf9ba23-b78f-4715-88cd-074965a95473?scene=ddbd7c54

    I've found it super useful - I hear from smart people, solve problems, and get more support. Hope this helps a little!

  5. 2

    doesn't require much... just a simple schedule to share your updates. that's where it starts! don't over-think this!

    keep it up!

    https://www.indiehackers.com/post/building-in-the-open-buildintheopen-51b3ae613b

  6. 2

    Videos, use them if you do not.

    They see it an action instead of something abstract...

  7. 2

    Contributing to an open-source project can be a good option - obviously doesn't build your own product, but can help you feel comfortable building in public

  8. 2

    I've been doing it via Twitter and Indie Hackers for my newsletter. It's been great tbh, definitely an increase in followers, mentions and being associated/tagged in with other people. I did a quick update on IH today.

    This is also worth a read: The Building in Public How-To Guide

  9. 2

    I think it depends on your favorite medium. I like to blog, so to me I like to write blog posts as I build stuff. I'm technical, so my posts are usually about the technology. Also, I can queue up posts so they might lag behind my actual timeline by weeks. Sometimes I can only write about things after it's done.

  10. 1

    How does a new idea come up with revenue to pay out the MRR's that incentivize people to contribute and keep building?

    If one of my projects would be best served by a public (non-profit) entity, how do I gather the initial interest from programmers to tell me if it is even possible?

    Have any projects used a public model and successfully gotten grants to fund the initial stages?

    Have there been any projects that group or contain within them multiple projects, perhaps some for-profit & some non-profit?

  11. 1

    Hey Janet,

    you may wanna check out @arvidkahl's work.
    He's been pretty descriptive about how to go about Building in Public in his books: "Bootstrapped Founder" and "Embedded Entrepreneur".

  12. 1

    Its OK. The only problem is you might find yourself doing more social media than making your product better. I rarely post updates because I am way too busy.

  13. 1

    I'm also doing this with Pazly https://twitter.com/pazlydev and have mixed feelings. Not sure videos are as effective as starting and maintaining a conversation that allows you to express new features and progress. Still trying to find a solution where this conversation happens async but keeps people engaged.

  14. 1

    Very helpful advice as I'm currently on my day 5 building in public on Twitter!

    I almost gave up as first 4 tweets didn't get any attention at all and somehow I got lucky and bigger twitter account retweeted my building in public thread.

    That way I managed to find first customer and real feedback on my MVP 🥳

    To all you trying, don't give up and continue doing hard work!

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