Ask HN: How can I promote my open-source project? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How can I promote my open-source project?

21 pointsbsears11 comments

We just launched the beta about a month ago and we've been struggling to get any sort of traction - we want people to use it and give feedback.

https://github.com/service-bot/servicebot

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Your description needs work:

ServiceBot is a platform for a business to sell their services and automate the administrative tasks such as billing and invoicing.

This really gives me no idea what on earth you do. What problem do you solve? What value do you add?

You don't want to say something like "This tablet has an 8 inch screen." You want to say stuff like "This tablet fits handily in your pocket while having a larger than average screen size and is easily readable in full daylight." Your current description is the "8 inch screen" type description. It is not informative and it is not compelling.

You need to find a way to convey to people what you do for them. Time saved. Money earned. Problems solved. Convenience. Portability. Reduced headaches.

Perhaps provide an example (screenshots/video) of your project in action. Otherwise, people will not see how your project can impact them, and they don't understand how to use it, regardless of how much explanatory text that you give.

This is the very problem that I'm facing on my project (http://bedefiant.io). Because i don't have a working example yet, it is hard to communicate my vision of how you can use my project. Of course, my project is still under development (I'm working on developing the minimally demonstrable features now), but the situation is the same for both: If you want people to use your software, then you have to show them why they need it and how you can solve their problems.

Yeah, I read the whole README.md and I still have no idea how the thing works. Is it bundling up complex implementation details like video and email and ssl (and the other stuff you mentioned) into composable functions that "defiant" applications are made out of?

I'm interested in contributing because if so, that's super cool and I want in!

Exactly... It's a very abstract concept, which is why I am working hard to get it to the point of having something concrete to demonstrate the capabilities. I'm working on it (actually, I'm working on a bit of documentation at the moment, because I don't have any of that committed yet!).

The intent is indeed to bundle the complex implementation details and configurations into something that us mere mortals can easily deploy, but that also allows for more complex configurations. My professional experience has lead me to be constantly thinking about dev/stage/prod rollout needs, while my personal experience drives a desire for out-of-the-box simplicity and functionality.

If you want to talk more, just hop on the slack channel (linked to on the github page), and I would be glad to explain and/or demo further.

1. Consider a permissive software license: Not a big sticking point, but they are seen by some as more commercial-friendly. Also in the node-ecosystem they're more accustom to it.

2. Link to the documentation (https://docs.servicebot.io/) instead of the company page

3. Any travis-ci up yet?

4. Give reddit a try (for the open source project), /r/node, and /r/javascript

5. Consider "spin-off" libraries of reusable components. Make them available via NPM. Give them documentation as well. Creating a popular dependency library attracts more interested users.

6. Did you apply for Y Combinator yet?

7. Try to contact AdWords to see if you can get free credits to advertise the corporate website. Bing has some too. It may not give much but even one or two clients would be a sign of momentum.

8. Consider contacting startups and offering your service free / discount in return for feedback and a testimonial

9. On the website, try an intercom.io widget. It makes it easy for people to open up a chat window to reach you.

IMO what a lot of open source projects are missing is marketers. Developers build things, marketers market them. Its hard for one person to do the other because they aren't educated in it or have the necessary skills.

Honestly the best answer is to find someone to help market it. Since you're asking "How do I do marketing?" the answer probably won't be in an HN comment.. its in a 4 year degree or years of experience.

But apart from that, define your target market and reach them where they congregate. If you want to reach freelance developers, go to whatever website they congregate at and talk to them there.

This reddit thread [1] has lots of reading and some decent ideas. Maybe try writing a marketing plan.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/4p0mke/10_highly_...

The open sourceness of it seems irrelevant to your target audience: businesses. So the question isn't how to promote open-source project, it's how do you promote the business benefits to the right people. Where do your customers hang out?

His target audience might be both in business and development with indie hackers/developers/entrepreneurs, why not?

I can't edit my previous comment. I was looking at the github page on my phone, and neither the URL nor the huge picture that says "Demo" was visible. I still think that a video explanation would be more effective in driving the understanding, but I can also now see (now that I'm on a computer, that is) that you have done work to show off your product.

Your project looks good and I'm in need of something similar. I'm going to give a look at it and see if it have a fit. Nice job :) (and now you are promoting your project).

What channels have you tried already? Reddit or other mediums can be helpful to get people looking at it.

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