Ask HN: Developers–How Did You Get Your First Paying Customers? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Developers–How Did You Get Your First Paying Customers?

6 pointsHSK1117 comments

I have just launched a SAAS.

But I am not on any social Media, neither I like Social Media, How do I promote it, I am Totaly stuck now, I spent 1.5 years building it.

Now I came to know that distribution is the main thing , and i am really bad at it as introvert, dont know how to market it.

Any Idea how I can distribute it, It is bootstrapped so no marketing budget as well, kind of stuck to be honest , no idea on how to scale it.

Can you share your stories how you scaled you SAAS to first 100 customers.

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For me, paying for featured listings on launch directories (Product Hunt, There's An AI For That, PeerPush and few others) brought immediate, traffic with zero social effort that brought leads to start with.

Its not magic , you will have to work hard to get the users, but at least you will get some quality leads this way.

I think it all depends on your ICP, because launch directories are primarily browsed by other founders and developers Reddit might be a better option.

Reddit Posting or comments

Thanks man

Pick one forum where your buyers already ask questions. Answer five relevant threads each week, without pitching. Track profile visits and signups before adding another channel.

I do cold outreach across a few channels (X, Discord, Indie Hackers). I built a lead gen system for my target customer, so I don't have to spend too much time searching. My initial reach out offers high value for 0 upfront effort. When they engage, I provide value and they are happy. At that point, most are willing to engage with your product further.

Btw, I can do a live video review of [redacted] with honest feedback and reactions. Let me know if this sounds useful.

I also recently launched my product and am still struggling to gain a user base. But one week ago, I started posting my app on specific platforms, such as SaaSHub. I think that over time it will deliver results because it not only anchors your product in a software DB but also provides your website with dofollow links. These links help to upvote the domain rating, which leads to better visibility in Google search results.

Close circle. Make something for your friends/family/colleagues. The best first customers are those that, right now, are in your phone's address book.

not sure if they will pay subscription, although they are using it

that's a good signal. Not paying means the value isn't where it should be yet. Focus on that part.

no i already gave them premium subscription for free so that they can test

Watch out for where your users talk. Be timely to the signal. You can use free tools like trysygnal for that.

let me see to it.

b2b - so I use the phone or email.

I try avoid email at first, since most cold emails can be 'spammy'.

Through Refrence

One important part of getting paying customers is asking for money.

The most important part, however, is not making excuses for not doing so.

Good luck.

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    if (!thingsYouOwn.includes(“yourself”)) {
      neverLetItGo(thingsYouOwn);
    }

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