What advice would you give to a newcomer who is going to submit to Product Hunt for the first time?
Today, I am co-organising my first hackathon in my country, and I will give a talk to the participants about Product Hunt as one of the ways to distribute a product.
Some participants may hear about the platform for the first time, and I would like to encourage them a little in building and launching products.
I believe that I have many regular readers here so you can encourage them too.
How would you explain Product Hunt to a newcomer in the simplest way possible?
What would be your advice for them when launching?
Do you have any type of product that you would advise them to build and launch here?
By the way, we will also stream it on our YouTube channel. For those who want to watch. 🙂
And you can also stay up to date thanks to our LinkedIn, Instagram, X and FB.
Replies
Songbox
Honestly my advice would be to not sweat it too much. Product Hunt is a listings site for new products and as such, the only people (in the main) who visit this site are other makers looking to promote their own product. Very few if any visitors are here to find and pay for a new product.
I've done circa 20 launches on product hunt, and believe me, back in the day I was a super fan. However, my WORST performing product release on product hunt is the one that went on to be a real business that is now well into 6 figure ARR. It did nothing on here.
Also remember that there isn't even any domain authority to be garnered from links on Product Hunt as they are "nofollow" by default.
If you've spent a bit of time in this "maker" world and frequent the various subreddits and platforms like indiehackers, you'll read tale after tale of underwhelmed, disappointed founders who had all their hopes and dreams pinned on the big product hunt launch that they'd been planning for months, only to get nothing from it. This is the truth for 99+% of people who "launch" on here.
Some companies do go big after being on product hunt, very few, but it happens. These companies would almost certainly have succeeded anyway (like mine did, completely irregardless of PH). And of the even smaller subset of companies that do succeed tangibly and only because of their PH launch (are there even any? I can think of maybe one) then i would say that someone also wins the lottery every week.
I'll say again, I was a product hunt superfan for over a decade, visiting the site multiple times daily for several years. The awakening came to me after learning more, reading more, and finding my own business success the hard way (the real way).
In summary my advice is this: Product Hunt is one of many listings sites you can put your product own. Lower your expectations of any "big bang" success to zero.
@mickc79 developing my launch strategy now. Where would you put more focus for the first B2B2C SuperApp, primarily targeting SMBs?
Songbox
@felicite I would establish where my intended users hang out. A very crude example - if you're targeting painters then there's no point pushing content to places where plumbers hang out.
Who is your customer? Get as specific as possible. If its very generally SMBs, is there a way to niche that down at all? Either way if SMBs are your thing then LinkedIn is probably your best shout. Definitely not Product Hunt though. How many SMB decision makers do you think hang out on product hunt? I'd say close to zero.
LinkedIn and targetted SubReddits as well as a good google ads campaign, however I found google ads very tricky and I didnt see results there until i could afford to pay an expert. After that, i did/do get good results from Google Ads.
@mickc79 I REALLY appreciate this response! Thank you so much for the detail (and examples)...I neglected to mention the maker component of the app (I need to settle down) which is why I'm researching Product Hunt! Fully digesting your comment and developing a maker message to complement. Thanks again!
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@mickc79 It is a fact that Producthunt has changed a lot in terms of visibility of products (launched vs featured). I take it as one of the ways to partially make yourself visible. But it is also a good marketing training and can help produce some "content" and buzz around the product. People pay with their attention (a limited resource), so makers need to craft a really useful product and also communicate around it.
@mickc79 This was very helpful level-setting, thank you. I have had multiple totally non-promotional posts rejected now and as a new user it's made me wonder if this is worth my time to invest heavily as I was inclined. I wanted to connect with other builders, not just promote my thing, etc. It seemed promising as I am struggling with both outreach and finding "my people," but I will re-set my expectations. :)
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@je_suis_yaroslav Who are the best hunters?
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@je_suis_yaroslav We should give some points for that :D
@je_suis_yaroslav And how best to approach a hunter if one is new to the platform?
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@je_suis_yaroslav @felicite I am curious about this answer too :D But some people can be new on the platform, but not new on LI or Twitter. Credibility matters.
@je_suis_yaroslav Thank you! Definitely doing my research!
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@felicite @je_suis_yaroslav THIS ONE IS 🔝
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@manu_goel2 this is actually a good idea – maybe to have more AMAs with successful founders who launched there and had the 1st position.
MultiDrive
@manu_goel2 I completely agree. I’ve learned a lot from the community here - being active truly makes a difference. :)
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@manu_goel2 @tetiana_hryshmanovska How long have you been there? :)
MultiDrive
@busmark_w_nika Actively for about two months, and more active this past month. But I’ve actually been here since the summer - I just didn’t understand a lot of things at first. :)
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@tetiana_hryshmanovska I am pretty sure you will position yourself here pretty well! :)
Think of PH as a big launch party where makers, founders, and curious early adopters hang out. My advice for a first launch: don’t just drop your product and leave, but spend time engaging with others before and after launch, and tell the story of why you built it, not just what it does.
Products that solve a real itch (even small, niche ones) often resonate most here.
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@andreitudor14 BTW, there is a rule that people can launch 1 week after registering on the platform. So they basically have 7 days for engaging.
Here's how I would explain the platform to newcomers: https://www.producthunt.com/p/general/product-hunt-101-launching-on-product-hunt-is-like-being-on-a-reality-tv-show
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@rohanrecommends I read it :D quite hitting article :D
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@fmerian Thank you! :) I already see mistakes I made, and need to improve for next time when giving tasks :D
DiffSense
PH is a snapshot of products that are relevant to the times we live in today
No advice needed. As long as your product is relevant to the times we live in
Make products that are relevant to the times we live in
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@sentry_co Make products relevant to this era (TL;DR) :D
DiffSense
@busmark_w_nika Next* era preferably 😅 Make the future, not the past. This is the universal nr1 mistake. If you make the past. You wont get featured on PH. You wont get any users because market already saturated. And you wont attract any funding. !!!---FOCUS ON THE FUTURE---!!! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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@sentry_co Be the future (:
This thread is super valuable for me 🙌 I actually created my account recently and I’m preparing to launch my first product on Product Hunt soon, so the timing couldn’t be better. I really appreciate the way you framed this question, it’s exactly what I needed to read right now.
Also, I’d love to watch your live session on YouTube! Could you please share the link here? I think it will be a great learning opportunity! and thanks again for organizing this and for encouraging newcomers like me 🌟
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@giulia_borghi Hey Giulia, only pitches of makers were recorded:
@busmark_w_nika thanks a lot for the video, will definitely check it!
Welcome to the best of times.
Please register your X, LinkedIn, FB and Reddit accounts, and sign up for telegram + whatsapp.
Record your desires, your confusions, and upload your bohemian, crystalline tears.
So that it’s not only the product on PH that speaks, but also your proof in the real world.
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@rickyguo you probably refer to the problems with trust and AI on this platform, or?
@busmark_w_nika nah, not really. I was trying to say that there are actually a lot to focus on while launching a product on PH :)
@busmark_w_nika like probably more than ever imagined.