āļø 1,500+ upvotes
āļø Product of the Week
āļø Email list grew from 1,300 to 3,300
This is the step by step account of how I did it
š„ I got 2000 new subscribers from my Product Hunt launch
THREAD...
āļø 1,500+ upvotes
āļø Product of the Week
āļø Email list grew from 1,300 to 3,300
This is the step by step account of how I did it
23rd May 2019 Marketing Examples v1.0 went live. The site had a few case studies, several bugs, and an email box which didnāt convert well.
The old version of me would have thrown it on Product Hunt straight away. But I decided to wait.
1) I didnāt want to waste my āturnā with the very first iteration of my site.
2) I didnāt want to launch in a vacuum. Product Hunt multiplies current momentum. Having a small following of āfansā on launch day goes a long way.
āļø 1000 email subscribers
āļø 1000 twitter followers
And then I would launch. 70 days later I hit my target.
It was showtime.
The goal of a Product Hunt launch is not upvotes. I can't stress that enough.
Upvotes are a means to an end. They are coupons you exchange for traffic. Itās what you do with that traffic which matters.
I wanted to maximise email subscribers.
I spent the day before launch making sure my site was in the best possible shape to collect emails.
100 upvotes and 100 email sign-ups is more valuable than 1000 upvotes and a site which canāt convert anyone.
Now I had the foundations in place it was time to schedule my post. I chose 12:01 AM PST and Wednesday (the next day).
New products hit the homepage at midnight so this would give me the full 24hrs of exposure. Iād also avoid the weekend traffic lull.
Things were starting to take shape.
The next morning I woke up early, excited for what lay ahead.
The first thing I did was add a banner to my website. This would give anyone coming directly to my site an easy route to support my launch.
The next step was to leverage the audience I'd built in Step 1.
I tweeted from @GoodMarketingHQ and from @harrydry.
Product Hunt will use the first image in your post as the meta image. So itās worth putting effort into this one.
Beforehand, I clarified with Product Hunt that this was within their rules.
They told me it was, but that āmultiple new accounts signing up and voting one product in the same period of time may trigger our spam detection.ā
I also scheduled emails throughout the day to avoid a rush of upvotes in one go.
The results:
Emails Sent: 1345
Open Rate: 633 (47%)
Click to Product Hunt: 208 (15%)
Next, I posted on the @startupschool forum and also added a Milestone to my @IndieHackers product page.
Both posts sat at the top for the whole day.
Well, I wasnāt just screaming, āEveryone look at me!ā at the top of my voice.
I also included some tips on how best to launch to Product Hunt. And I think people appreciated the balance.
Thereās thousands of Telegram and Slack groups out there for startup folk.
These are great places to share your launch because of the crossover with Product Hunt. I was a member of about 10 groups myself, so I worked through them one by one.
In groups where I'd helped others, others helped me and when I hadnāt, well ā¦ I got ignored.
Product Hunt launch is the day your karma comes full circle.
Finally, I kicked back and spent the rest of the day replying to comments, tweets, etc.
Previously, I would have tried to hunt down more upvotes. Posting on Facebook, badgering friends, etc.
But I can assure you this stuff does more harm than good.
Over the next 7 days, direct referrals from Product Hunt totalled 4,361. But the real benefit came from 2nd order effects.
1) Direct traffic increased 4x
2) Twitter referrals increased 8x
3) Marketing Examples was featured in Tympanus
I'm not sure there's a right way to launch to Product Hunt, but if you:
1) Build an audience before you launch
2) Prioritise conversions, not upvotes
3) Support others throughout the year
you won't go far wrong.
If you like the threads following @GoodMarketingHQ is appreciated ā¤ļø
Thank you to @EmailOctopus for sponsoring
Over and out - Harry š
More from Marketing Examples
More from Startups
There are some amazing founders and indie hackers that have made š¤Æ-worthy progress this last year.
The stuff you can do in a year is seriously astounding š
š @TransistorFM reaching $22k MRR in one year: https://t.co/BuKmXEeEtH
I was one of their first customers and the progress @mijustin and @jonbuda have made working mostly part-time has been crazy.
Now both are full-time. Follow them on @buildyoursaas
š @talk2oneup reaching $10k MRR in one year: https://t.co/SOoGkKA19r
@daviswbaer joined as a co-founder and through many different marketing tactics, pricing changes, and product updates, they've managed to carve out a niche market in a really competitive industry.
š @hostifi_net $9k MRR in one year: https://t.co/TknroGZWoK
After getting fired from his full-time job, @_rchase_ embarked on a year focused on building products to replace his salary in a year.
The dude seriously SHIPS and even took investment from @earnestcapital
š @ClosetTools $11k MRR WHILE WORKING FULL-TIME AND WITH A FAMILY: https://t.co/pKQ7pFvpZY
With a strong product, continuous improvement, and SEO, @unindie has really been inspirational.
There are no excuses.
The stuff you can do in a year is seriously astounding š
š @TransistorFM reaching $22k MRR in one year: https://t.co/BuKmXEeEtH
I was one of their first customers and the progress @mijustin and @jonbuda have made working mostly part-time has been crazy.
Now both are full-time. Follow them on @buildyoursaas
š @talk2oneup reaching $10k MRR in one year: https://t.co/SOoGkKA19r
@daviswbaer joined as a co-founder and through many different marketing tactics, pricing changes, and product updates, they've managed to carve out a niche market in a really competitive industry.
š @hostifi_net $9k MRR in one year: https://t.co/TknroGZWoK
After getting fired from his full-time job, @_rchase_ embarked on a year focused on building products to replace his salary in a year.
The dude seriously SHIPS and even took investment from @earnestcapital
1/ "Hardcore Year" (https://t.co/cjx7HfGeEK)
— Reilly Chase\u2601\ufe0f\u2601\ufe0f\u2601\ufe0f (@_rchase_) July 31, 2019
MRR in July:
\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593 $9,109 of $8,333 goal (109%)
Totals@hostifi_net $8,463@ghostifi_net $361@locklinnetworks $125@captifi_net $147@patreon $13
I reached my goal for the year! \U0001f942\U0001f37e
Details in thread \U0001f447 pic.twitter.com/cUEeiADDAk
š @ClosetTools $11k MRR WHILE WORKING FULL-TIME AND WITH A FAMILY: https://t.co/pKQ7pFvpZY
With a strong product, continuous improvement, and SEO, @unindie has really been inspirational.
There are no excuses.
This year is flying by. How am I doing a July report already? Here it is: Closet Tools' July open stats:
— Jordan O'Connor (@unindie) August 1, 2019
MRR: $11106.28 (+11.43%)
Organic Search: 3958 (+20.45%)
New Trials: 154 (-8.33%)
Less trials, more revenue (churn is going down!). The focus for July was feature stability. pic.twitter.com/4YRpkPvKxo
1/ Tuesday was my last day as CEO of @CircleUp. Iāve been CEO since starting the co. in 2011 with my co-founder @roryeakin.
This is a thread about what happened, why and my emotions about it. For more detail:
https://t.co/vYImcm1bTM
Much of this I have never talked about.
2/ My goals: I hope it helps founders feel less lonely than I did. Little public content about the challenges of transitioning exists, but I longed for it. Iām not here to provide a playbook- just to share my experience. Hope it might build greater empathy.
Here goesā¦.
3/ Why: When I tell people that Iām transitioning to an Exec Chairman role their first question is always: āwhy?ā Short answer: co. pivot + fertility issues + health issues + a false sense that grit was always the answer = burnout. Long answer: is longer so hang in there with me
4/ Over a 12-18 month period that ended in late 2017 I ran my tank far beyond empty for far too long. You know that sound your car makes when itās sputtering for more gas? It was like that. Worst year of my life. Since then it has felt like bone on bone.
5/ Here is what happened:
Professionally: pivoting a Series C company was a living hell in and of itself, as Iāve talked about before.
This is a thread about what happened, why and my emotions about it. For more detail:
https://t.co/vYImcm1bTM
Much of this I have never talked about.
2/ My goals: I hope it helps founders feel less lonely than I did. Little public content about the challenges of transitioning exists, but I longed for it. Iām not here to provide a playbook- just to share my experience. Hope it might build greater empathy.
Here goesā¦.
3/ Why: When I tell people that Iām transitioning to an Exec Chairman role their first question is always: āwhy?ā Short answer: co. pivot + fertility issues + health issues + a false sense that grit was always the answer = burnout. Long answer: is longer so hang in there with me
4/ Over a 12-18 month period that ended in late 2017 I ran my tank far beyond empty for far too long. You know that sound your car makes when itās sputtering for more gas? It was like that. Worst year of my life. Since then it has felt like bone on bone.
5/ Here is what happened:
Professionally: pivoting a Series C company was a living hell in and of itself, as Iāve talked about before.
1/ We Pivoted a few yrs ago. This is the story- mostly my feelings. It has never been told publicly.
— Ryan Caldbeck (@ryan_caldbeck) April 16, 2019
This will be rambly and represents the chaos in my head at the time. There is [hopefully] no advice here. I don\u2019t know if we did it right.
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MDZS is laden with buddhist references. As a South Asian person, and history buff, it is so interesting to see how Buddhism, which originated from India, migrated, flourished & changed in the context of China. Here's some research (šš¼ @starkjeon for CN insight + citations)
1. LWJās sword Bichen āis likely an abbreviation for the term čŗ²éæēŗ¢å° (duĒ bƬ hĆ³ng chĆ©n), which can be translated as such: čŗ²éæ: shunning or hiding away from ēŗ¢å° (worldly affairs; which is a buddhist teaching.) (https://t.co/zF65W3roJe) (abbrev. TWX)
2. Sandu (äø ęÆ), Jiang Chengās sword, refers to the three poisons (triviį¹£a) in Buddhism; desire (kÄma-taį¹hÄ), delusion (bhava-taį¹hÄ) and hatred (vibhava-taį¹hÄ).
These 3 poisons represent the roots of craving (tanha) and are the cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain) and thus result in rebirth.
Interesting that MXTX used this name for one of the characters who suffers, arguably, the worst of these three emotions.
3. The Qian kun purse āä¹¾å¤č¢ (qiĆ”n kÅ«n dĆ i) ā can be called āHeaven and Earthā Pouch. In Buddhism, Maitreya (ą¤®ą„ą¤¤ą„ą¤°ą„ą¤Æ) owns this to store items. It was believed that there was a mythical space inside the bag that could absorb the world.ā (TWX)
1. LWJās sword Bichen āis likely an abbreviation for the term čŗ²éæēŗ¢å° (duĒ bƬ hĆ³ng chĆ©n), which can be translated as such: čŗ²éæ: shunning or hiding away from ēŗ¢å° (worldly affairs; which is a buddhist teaching.) (https://t.co/zF65W3roJe) (abbrev. TWX)
2. Sandu (äø ęÆ), Jiang Chengās sword, refers to the three poisons (triviį¹£a) in Buddhism; desire (kÄma-taį¹hÄ), delusion (bhava-taį¹hÄ) and hatred (vibhava-taį¹hÄ).
These 3 poisons represent the roots of craving (tanha) and are the cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain) and thus result in rebirth.
Interesting that MXTX used this name for one of the characters who suffers, arguably, the worst of these three emotions.
3. The Qian kun purse āä¹¾å¤č¢ (qiĆ”n kÅ«n dĆ i) ā can be called āHeaven and Earthā Pouch. In Buddhism, Maitreya (ą¤®ą„ą¤¤ą„ą¤°ą„ą¤Æ) owns this to store items. It was believed that there was a mythical space inside the bag that could absorb the world.ā (TWX)
Margatha Natarajar murthi - Uthirakosamangai temple near Ramanathapuram,TN
#ArudraDarisanam
Unique Natarajar made of emerlad is abt 6 feet tall.
It is always covered with sandal paste.Only on Thriuvadhirai Star in month Margazhi-Nataraja can be worshipped without sandal paste.
After removing the sandal paste,day long rituals & various abhishekam will be https://t.co/e1Ye8DrNWb day Maragatha Nataraja sannandhi will be closed after anointing the murthi with fresh sandal paste.Maragatha Natarajar is covered with sandal paste throughout the year
as Emerald has scientific property of its molecules getting disturbed when exposed to light/water/sound.This is an ancient Shiva temple considered to be 3000 years old -believed to be where Bhagwan Shiva gave Veda gyaana to Parvati Devi.This temple has some stunning sculptures.
#ArudraDarisanam
Unique Natarajar made of emerlad is abt 6 feet tall.
It is always covered with sandal paste.Only on Thriuvadhirai Star in month Margazhi-Nataraja can be worshipped without sandal paste.
After removing the sandal paste,day long rituals & various abhishekam will be https://t.co/e1Ye8DrNWb day Maragatha Nataraja sannandhi will be closed after anointing the murthi with fresh sandal paste.Maragatha Natarajar is covered with sandal paste throughout the year
as Emerald has scientific property of its molecules getting disturbed when exposed to light/water/sound.This is an ancient Shiva temple considered to be 3000 years old -believed to be where Bhagwan Shiva gave Veda gyaana to Parvati Devi.This temple has some stunning sculptures.