How do I find my initial users without paying for it?

Question

I recently started a business and uploaded my product onto the Chrome Store a couple of weeks ago. Without a budget for paid marketing, I've tried to gain initial users via Facebook Groups, Reddit, starting a blog and many other avenues, but I've been fairly unsuccessful. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to get over the hump and get some early adopters without paying for social media ads. For some context, the product is called Trendi and it helps you save money on beauty and skincare products. It would be great to know how I could find this type of user.

Ed Torres · Accepted Answer

Hi, this is my humble opinion:
1- keep the blog, keep gaining authority on your field, is not automatic but it pays off.
2- did you consider scaling by recruiting users one by one? This is done by actually approaching people and asking them to try it. If you are not in position to provide now, then take an order, (do it remotely for now, since we are in social distancing), start with friends and family, someone you know that expends money in beauty and skincare products.
3- After that, once you have a few handpicked users, try implementing referrals rewards program.

Harry Parkin · Answer

@austinmeta I haven't tried that but I will certainly give it a go. Thank you for your help!

Elen Udovichenko · Answer

@edutorres is right about recruiting users for your product one by one. We've been doing in since day 1 at Reply.io and it's been a pretty effective tactic. You can do this manually through email and LinkedIn or use outreach automation tools to streamline and scale your efforts.
This approach also works great when pitching your story to the media and inquiring about guest posting opportunities or even reaching out to investors down the road!

Harry Parkin · Answer

@elen_u @edutorres Thanks so much for your help. I'll start recruiting users manually and I'll definitely give that book a read. If you know anyone who buys beauty and skincare products, feel free to let them know about Trendi as that would really help!

Ed Torres · Answer

@elen_u Reply.io looks great..! One other thing about recruiting users one by one is the fact that you get to see the user interacting with your product, and you get valuable feedback from a on-hands experience from the user. Reach to them, talk to them, listen to them as they try your product. Depending on how early stage are you, @parkinhjt, I would like to recomend you a book called "the right it" by Alberto Savoia, it is a real time and money saver..

Harry Parkin · Answer

@edutorres Thanks for your help! I'm going to start getting in contact with people that have beauty blogs and YouTube accounts. Hopefully, that will start some traction!

Elen Udovichenko · Answer

@parkinhjt if you need help finding emails for people to reach out to, try https://name2email.com

Austin Marks · Answer

Have you tried reaching out to specific beauty/makeup people on social media, especially people who don't have as many followers (1000-2500). They would be happy that you are reaching out and recognizing them, and maybe by establishing a relationship with them you could get free plugs. I think this is a decent next step.

Austin Marks · Answer

@parkinhjt Of course, and let me know how that goes. Set a goal to reach 10 people and see how that works!

How do I find my initial users without paying for it?

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