What are great ways to find beta testers for a product?
I have done the first version of my web app and want to get some people in and have a play. It is all pretty much working fine (lol - I'm sure there's lots of bugs), but without some people putting it through its paces it is hard to know.
Have a look here!
http://listhour.com/startup-directories/
That's an awesome list. Thank you for taking the time to let me know. I'd heard of the first few, but didn't have a clue about almost all the others.
BIG THANKS!
Reddit Reddit Reddit! Find the most appropriate subs and engage with them. Best source for your 100 first users. I've done it so many times before.
I've never used Reddit apart from the odd time it has turned up in search results. On your recommendation I have just been checking it out, and it is amazing. It is like a whole new world. Would you recommend posting articles or just diving in and commenting on others?
Thanks for the advice!!!
It's a little tricky to engage when trying to market your own product. A lot of sub Reddits have no self promotion rules. They do love freebies and giving feedback. So maybe post your product in one of the startup sub Reddits asking for advice. Or offer your product for free to redditors
Yes. Luckily I noticed the self-promotion rules before diving in too much. I've posted a few things just to sound it out and will see how that goes, but it is in a bit of a weird niche and there isn't a reddit directly related to it. There are however, dozens that are indirectly related such as mental health ones and anxiety.
There's a SaaS for that...
I put Lakebed on Betafy. I've not gotten any beta users but Lakebed is not really the right product for consumer beta testers.
As @rosiesherry said, I've been spending time in LinkedIn and sending personal messages to users within my network that might see value in the product. Spending time in Quora, Reddit, Twitter, etc and providing free insights, building community, and discount codes is a good way to get the word out.
Thanks for that. btw, just checked out Lakebed and I can see what you mean re consumers, but that looks like an awesome B2B resource especially with data becoming the new Klondike :-)
Thank you. Sounds like you were able to figure out what Lakebed does, which is great news considering the state of the landing page/site.
I know self-promotion is really hard and I think its something every dev has trouble with. That's one of the reasons it's so important to work on an area of passion, it's really hard to organically, genuinely engage with a community if you're only in it for the money.
My profile on here flat-out says "I joined to spread the word about my own startup", granted that is sort of the purpose of IH. Point I'm making is that I've been able to provide free insight in this thread and help you, which in turn prompted you to check out Lakebed. But that entire interaction has not at all been self-promotional. Finding communities focused on your niche and just hanging out and solving problems will be a great help for credibility and and SEO.
Find niche groups where your target audience hangs out and try letting them know about it.
I am worried about being considered a spammer. I need to pluck up the courage and just dive in, but I'm not too hot about blowing my own trumpet in any way.