3 builders who never spoke to each other

Show up for years before you sell anything

Being a genuine participant in the places your buyers gather is what makes the eventual pitch land, and it cannot be started the week you need it. Circulate other people's work, write substantial replies and give more than you take, in the subreddit, the industry news site or the physical room, and the help you get on launch day tracks almost exactly what you put in beforehand. The side effect is that you end up knowing the customer better than competitors do.

The method

1. 01

   Go and sit where the audience you want already gathers, help out there, and mention what you're building - the effort conventional marketing demands drops sharply once the venue is right.

2. 02

   Earn the right to promote by actually joining each community: circulate other people's work, write substantial replies, and give more than you take.

3. 03

   Contribute to communities in the months before you need them, because the support you get on launch day tracks almost exactly how much you gave earlier.

4. 04

   Embed yourself in the community for years before you sell to it, because first-hand exposure to their struggles is what lets you know the customer better than competitors do.

5. 05

   Before publishing anything, go be present in the specific places your target market already gathers - the subreddit for that trade, the industry's news site.

What it returned

• 2012

  Justin had podcasted since 2012 and hung out in podcasting forums building industry relationships before starting Transistor; he also watched peers like Basecamp, CodePen, Paul Jarvis and Ashley Baxter start shows.

• $45

  Joined Public Lab at $45 a year for builders shipping in public and Island at $12 a month, a maker community focused on marketing.

• In groups where he had helped others he got help back; in groups where he hadn't contributed he was ignored.

• Named examples: /r/interiordesign for interior designers, Designer News for designers, Inbound.org for marketers.

Sources

• May 2021: Retrospective & Income ReportBhanu Teja · bhanuteja.dev · What I got done during May · undated
• How Freelancers Can Kickstart Their Audience - Double Your FreelancingBrennan Dunn · doubleyourfreelancing.com · Step 1: Find a place you can influence · 2014-09-04
• How do I build something people want?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Be in the community: help and observe · undated
• Get traffic for your contentJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Get traffic for your content · undated
• How to get 30,000 Hacker News visitors to your websiteHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · One final thought · undated
• How I promote my contentHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · One last thing · undated
• How I got 2,000 new subscribers from Product HuntHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Step 7 - Telegram and Slack · undated