Zack

I'll go first. A large HR platform sent out an automated AI-written email offering condolences on a prospect's coworker's death, and then tried to hook them into a demo.

I've spent exactly all of last year building a total of 6 products, 4 of which are paid.
But I haven't gotten a single paying customer yet.
Channels I've tried.

• Posting on Hacker News and Product Hunt

• Paid ads (Google, Instagram, Reddit)

• Listing on tool directories ("ThereIsAnAIForThat.com" etc)

• Creating Free tools and sending some related traffic back

• Asking a couple of people I know to try my products

Each have given me various degrees of success. Rest assured, I have lots of users using the free parts.
Recently I'm trying push marketing; for example recently my girlfriend and I went to a pet-friendly cafe in Bangalore and we got talking with the proprietors. One of them was interested in what I was building and I found myself pitching my product them.
I felt icky and weird since all my life I've been a software engineer and hardly ever someone who sold anything.
What's your experience getting customers, especially the first ones for your product?

Hey Product Hunt!
This morning I launched my first solo product ever: Controol a minimalist finance app built around one idea:

Know how much you can spend, not just what you already did.

No team. No paid ads. No launch list. Just late nights and building something I personally needed.
I honestly didn t expect much but hours later, it made it to the Top 5 of the day

The feeling? Wild.
Strangers are connecting with the mindset behind it, and it's been amazing to read their comments.