Got featured on Product Hunt today – personal anecdote
We didn't have any PH cred at all, no rights to post, nothing. We figured we'd cold email some PH influencers - we had nothing to lose. Just a two sentence summary: who we were, what our product did. To our surprise, several influencers actually replied positively and offered to feature us. Alex Carter (@AlexCartaz) who heads up the Product Hunt podcast did the honors - for that we are extremely indebted. Some PH users prefer that you not contact, but many don't mind if you keep it short and unique.
Leading up to the day of the feature, I started compiling our friends and colleagues into a contact list, as well as our beta users, and influencers who were enthusiastic. I drafted different emails to each of them. We never asked anybody for a vote but we'd say something like "if you believe in the mission, please help us share and get the word out."
The morning of the feature (today), I took a strategic approach to sleep. Being on the west coast, I went to bed at 9pm the night before, got up at midnight, and as soon as we were featured, emailed all of the contacts I mentioned above. I went back to sleep at 2am, and then woke up again around 6am. We did some cross posting but those were not really that impactful. I think the biggest impact were our circle of friends and colleagues, the influencers, and of course the product itself which is kind of controversial.
Throughout the day, it's been an exercise in responding to emails, comments across all the channels, and following every one of the people who supported us and saying thank you to them. I love what PH is about - giving products a chance to stick. I'm happy to answer any questions, if you have any, or provide tips. Thanks!