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independence5 unconnected · 2 more authors in those circles
applies to

b2b, no audience needed

confidence

high

evidence

9 claims · 9 articles · 4 receipts

window

2015-10-21 → 2024-05-05

5 builders who never spoke to each other

Contribute in the group before dropping your link

In the forums, subreddits and Slack groups where your buyers already sit, read the rules, answer what people ask and keep most of what you write free of any mention of your own thing. When you do bring it up, lead with what went wrong and what you learned rather than a pitch, because bare self promotion is what these venues are built to punish.

The method

  1. 01

    In the Facebook groups and Slack communities where your audience already sits, contribute first and post your own work only occasionally, when it is directly relevant to the thread.

  2. 02

    Find the recurring threads where makers post their products and drop yours in there, using a search for that phrasing rather than hunting manually.

  3. 03

    A free tool still needs its own distribution: push each one into Reddit, LinkedIn, X, Hacker News and the indie maker forums, checking each community's rules first.

  4. 04

    Join the Facebook groups where your topic is discussed, answer questions and give real advice for a while, and only then mention the newsletter.

  5. 05

    Read each subreddit's rules on links and self-promotion before commenting, and keep most of your comments free of any mention of your own thing.

What it returned

  • 509

    Sharing the failures alongside the milestone is credited for the top three placement and 509 upvotes on r/entrepreneur.

  • Tyler Parker did this in career-focused groups and picked up five to ten subscribers every time he mentioned Office Party after helping someone.

  • Nate Kontny grew Draft by spending his time on Reddit and Twitter answering people's writing questions rather than running campaigns.

  • An offhand Hacker News comment produced an email inquiry, which became a project and then a long-term consulting relationship.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in social

all social plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.