Week 1 reality check: social media, articles, and the gap between advice and results
It's been 9 days since I launched SharpDay, and honestly? It's been a rollercoaster.
Going in, I had two big fears: First, is my whole approach to productivity even valid, or am I building something nobody wants? Second, where the hell do I find my first users?
The numbers right now: 15 trial users, and 2 already converted to paid plans. Those 2 are actively bombarding me with feature requests and feedback, which feels like putting their real trust in what I'm building.
Not huge numbers, but they're real. And getting here wasn't easy.
I prepped before starting. Watched tons of videos with advice about what works and what doesn't. But in the end, most of it didn't work for me. Maybe my use-case is too different, or my personality doesn't fit the mold, I'm not sure.
The advice is good as a starting direction, but you still need to run the same experiments yourself. Figure out what works for you, how to market your thing, and where your people actually are. There's no overnight success in marketing either. And honestly? Those advice-givers probably didn't have quick success either.
Here's what happened when I threw everything at the wall to see what stuck.
30K+ Views Across 5 Platforms. What Does That Actually Mean?
It sounds really great because I got my product in front of a lot of people. But in reality, not everyone really looked or cared. Let's narrow it down a bit more.
The people actually interested in what I had to offer? Between 1,500 - 2,000. These people showed real interest, clicked through, looked at the landing page, checked out what SharpDay actually does.
And in the end, only 15 decided to give it a chance. Which is not bad for my first week, honestly. But it did teach me a lot.
Let's unpack what I learned.
Here's What I Learned Posting on TikTok, YouTube, IndieHackers, Reddit, and Instagram
TikTok & YouTube: The Tale of Two Videos
Videos are really great for quickly getting your product in front of a lot of people. Especially if you use TikTok's promote feature, which I did. Otherwise, I couldn't reach my target countries - TikTok was really focused on showing my content only in my own location.
I posted two totally different videos so far.
Video 1: The "Perfect" One
Perfectly delivered, perfectly edited. There was a hook, a buildup, and finally I showed my product. This was advice I followed: be confident and all-knowing, copy how successful creators do it, copy their delivery, and you'll be fine.
Well, I was not really fine. š
This type of content did not do well on TikTok. People didn't even wait for me to show the product.
YouTube, on the other hand, was more interested. Around 46% of people got to the part where I showed the product... but then swiped away.
So here's what I learned: TikTok wants more entertaining, raw, and honest videos. YouTube liked the perfectly edited video, but the moment it became too sales-y, people didn't care anymore.
Video 2: The "Raw" One
I changed the strategy. In the next video, I wasn't even talking or showing myself. No screen recording. Just recorded my laptop screen with my phone and quickly showed people around while music played. Shorter, quicker video.
Guess what? TikTok really liked it. Views were the same as the last video, but the interest was 4x more, and some people actually looked at my landing page.
YouTube, on the other hand, was disappointed. This video did not perform well at all.
Lesson learned: I need to make two different types of videos for each platform. But at least the "not being sales-y" part worked better in both cases.
The takeaway on video platforms: They're great for reach, but it takes time to convert viewers into users. It's a good long-term investment though, so I'm definitely sticking with this one.
I'm not going to go into Instagram numbers because that platform performed extremely badly. I couldn't reach anyone, so I dropped it entirely.
IndieHackers & Reddit: Written Posts Brought More Users
Here's what surprised me: writing posts on platforms like IndieHackers and Reddit actually brought in more users than videos did.
Written posts are really great for bringing users quickly, which was strange to me at first. People are usually visual, right? When they see how a product looks, they decide if they like it or not and check it out.
But turns out, visual representation isn't everything. How you write about your product and deliver it to people performs much better than any video, even with a much smaller number of views.
IndieHackers: The Unexpected Winner
IndieHackers was really a surprise because most of my current users are from here. Around 9 people subscribed from here alone to check out the product and give feedback, which I'm really grateful for. I have a chance to improve quickly and make necessary changes so people like my product better.
Being honest and authentic does work better than any sales speech. That's what clicked here.
Reddit: Good Feedback, Mixed Reception
I made one post on Reddit which got a lot of views and 3 people subscribed from there. But the overall impression of my product wasn't really good, and that taught me a lot.
Here's what I learned: I'm still missing some features that would be essential for people who want long-term benefits from the product. Currently, it's more for immediate problem-solving.
I'm working on adding more features, and the feedback I got from Reddit just sped up getting these features into the app as soon as possible. At least I got real feedback there, which is really great. I know where to improve, what I should do.
Probably my low conversion rate is coming from this problem alone, the app isn't complete enough yet for everyone.
But it's also true I haven't found my exact audience yet. Still looking.
What's Next for Me
I'm planning on establishing more presence on video platforms and preparing for long-form videos on YouTube. I'll also write more posts, including on platforms I haven't tried yet.
I'm adding new features and polishing up the app before I launch on Product Hunt as well. Definitely not giving up.
I really enjoyed this week, although I'm tired as hell. š
Your Turn
If you've read this far, thank you.
Let me ask you now: What would you have done differently than me? Do you have any tips and tricks with any of these platforms? Is there a better platform for marketing I should try?
Let's help each other figure this out.
Also, if you're interested in what's coming to SharpDay, you can find my roadmap here: https://www.mysharpday.com/roadmap. I'm open to any feedback.
Thanks for reading š
This was such a refreshing read, Krisztina! š I love how you shared the real numbers and lessons instead of sugarcoating the launch week. Totally agree every platform has its own ālanguage,ā and being authentic always wins over polished sales talk. The IndieHackers results make so much sense ā genuine storytelling connects best here. Keep going, youāre clearly on the right track!
Thanks so much! Writing it all out actually helped me connect the dots I was missing during the chaos of doing it. Really appreciate you reading!
Thatās awesome to hear! š Itās cool how reflection turns chaos into clarity ā youāre clearly learning fast and building with heart. Canāt wait to see how SharpDay evolves from here.
Itās rare to see someone actually share real numbers and what they learned instead of pretending everything skyrocketed overnight. Thereās so much advice out there that treats ācontentā like a one-size-fits-all thing, when in reality, itās the tone and authenticity that build traction.
I also love how you framed feedback not as criticism but as direction. Most early builders freeze up when they realize their app isnāt ācompleteā yet, but youāre clearly using that feedback loop exactly the way itās meant to work: test, learn, refine, repeat.
If anything, Iād say keep doubling down on IndieHackers and expand that written storytelling style into your product updates and emails too.
What I like most is how it saves time. You can switch between analytics and visual post creation without leaving the dashboard. Itās great for traders who want both data and style in one place. brattgeneratocom
Really appreciate the honest breakdown of what actually worked vs. the typical advice! It's refreshing to see real numbers and authentic experiences rather than just generic tips. Your approach to experimenting across platforms and learning from each one is spot on. Keep going - you're clearly on the right track!
Thank you! Being transparent about the messy reality feels way better than pretending I have it all figured out. Really appreciate the encouragement! :)
well done mate, as someone in development at the moment and sharing the fear 'am i totally misunderstanding this entire problem???', converting 2 users to paid is inspiring stuff. the first of many i hope!
question - did you create a waitlist page w/ signup, and do you have a twitter where you were sharing BTS and 'build in open' style threads?
hey, thanks, I also hope I can convert more users soon :)
as for your question, I did not create a waitlist page this time. I tried twice with previous two ideas I had, but none of them took off in the end, because i couldn't get people to sign up to the waitlist. I spent more time chasing people than building the product, and then I got discouraged and just let it go. The thing is, most people already want to use something when they come to the landing page (at least that's how I saw it), and if there is nothing, they leave and forget. so now I just built an MVP with the core features and differentiators to start with and just launched that without letting anyone know beforehand, and it seems to be the better approach in my case.
as for twitter, I don't have an account, never had, and did not have the patience for it tbh :D maybe later on, but that's probably a different story.