How to get your first 1000 users - a guide
I see time & time again that a lot of builders struggle to get their first 1000 users. It is easy to launch the product & lose momentum while trying hard to break the 1000-user barrier.
So here is a guide to help you get to 1000 users quickly - https://antichurn.substack.com/p/how-to-get-your-first-1000-users
Do subscribe if you find it useful.
Also, feel free to share what you are working on, and I will reply/DM with a personalised tip on how you can grow your product.
The generic advice trap is real. 'Post on social media' means nothing. What worked for me: finding a specific shocking data point (13 trackers in a crypto app including TikTok SDK) and letting the outrage do the marketing.
I think this sort of generic advice is not really helpful. I'm sorry.
What indiehackers really need to learn are hacks to get a bunch of users fast.
e.g. Gas app got its first 150 users by using Instagram. They followed all students who studied at a school with an account marked private and then when they followed back, at 4 PM, they marked the account public which made a bunch of people download their app at the same time due to the notification which Instagram sends when someone accepts your friend request.
Now that is something which is useful to someone who is building a social app for high schools with a high k-factor.
But this sort of generic advice floods our industry and that is why so many people don't really break out and learn how to actually get the first 1000 users.
I understand what you mean. I think it's all about background. For me, someone with a more code/engineering background, these generic points can be useful.
That said, it's impossible to give specific advice that applies to all use-cases.
I think many people/founders I have met don't even do these things. These, in my opinion, are low-hanging fruits which can get you the best effort-to-reward ratio.
Plus, providing specialised insight doesn't work at scale as it is on a very case-to-case basis. You have to help founders by making their fundamentals stronger. At the end of the day, they will devise industry-specific growth ideas themselves only.
But you are right. People do need specialised advice. The goal with the post was the same to get people to reply & I can share personalised growth insights. Will try to keep my future post more on specific tips & tricks. Thank you for your time & going through the blog. Looking forward to more feedback from you.
Good tips. I will definitely read through them. As a developer it is always difficult to find the first users if you do not already have a certain audience. That's why I'm trying to build one on Twitter right now, so that the start is easier.
Yes, this is an excellent way to go about it. As a developer, you can also create free tools to gain an audience quickly.
You never know if one of these products will pick up & people will start paying you for that.
Nice guide. I'd like to add to the research, knowing if your type of customer is someone who is use to spending, a term coined "pro-sumer", e.g people who customise keyboards so they're use to paying for parts and such so getting them to make a payment isn't something they're unfamiliar with
That's a great point. Easier to convert them for sure.
Good tips thank you. As a developer it's user acquisition I struggle with so I'll be sure to follow some of these tips. Out of interest, what advice do you have for building up courage of communication? Sometimes when you're just starting out it can feel quite nerve-wracking to start cold messaging people.
In my opinion, practise and know that the worst thing that can happen to you is "No response." So be at it till you are comfortable.
Also, don't patronise the person you are sending a message to. Try to believe that you are adding value to their life (which is why they will reply too)
Good Tips!
Thank you!
Wow really insightful content! Love it!
Glad it could help. Do subscribe
Thanks for sharing these insights. Very helpful!
Thank you for your reply! Glad you found it helpful.
Thanks Ronak! I found some new points there
Thank you!
Amazing read, Ronak. Just subscribed and love the content you create - so useful.
I'd love to share my project Geeks and Experts with you.
Let me know what you think about the idea.
Maybe we could consider some kind of crosspromotion or collab?
Hey Sneha, Thank you for your kind words. Glad it helped. Sure, DM'ed you.
Do you think we should focus on fast-and-easy users, or the long term ones more?
Initially, it is hard to say which of them are short-term vs long-term users, so focus on getting them fast. Then you can focus on why someone is staying or churning out. That's when you decide that you want to build for people who are staying if the no. is large enough or build on users' feedback who are leaving.
Hi ! Thank you so much for sharing your tips about getting users !
I'm Vincent. I'm a French iOS engineer and I love to learn new languages. I speak French, English, Italian and a little bit Russian.
I never found a satisfying app to create my own lexicon while learning new languages. I created Leximio that helps the user keep track of what matters to him: translate a word, see an example in a sentence and add a personal note to help remember the vocabulary.
Here are some things I'm trying to get users:
I'm now looking for advice on how to grow my business, generate traction and get more users.
Thank you again for you sharing and I wish you a nice day !
Vincent
Congrats on the launch! This is a great idea, but you are in the wrong place. Product hunt won't help you get the right audience.
Try to capitalise on Tiktok & Youtube. There are so many YouTubers trying to teach languages. Partner with them to create content & run an affiliate program. Position your tool as a way for people to learn & recollect things faster; hence these YouTubers will also recommend your product. Also, try to capitalise on vertical videos & user-generated content. Many micro-influencers can help you grow on Insta, Tiktok & YT shorts.
You can also create a niche around a few languages to start with, ex. being from France, you can just find people who want to learn French. This will help you take a bigger market share and improve your targeting.
Let me know if you have questions. Feel free to DM me on Twitter, would be happy to help.
This guide is just what many new entrepreneurs need to kickstart their journey! It's fantastic that you've put together such a valuable resource to help others achieve their goals. Thanks for sharing the link, and I'm sure it'll make a difference for many IndieHackers here.
And speaking of growth, have you heard about LeadGraph? It's a game-changing B2B search engine designed to revolutionize lead generation. With its advanced features and extensive company coverage, it could help you find and prioritize leads that resemble your closed won deals.
Keep up the great work and don't forget to explore LeadGraph to boost your success even further! 🚀
Good points you made.
It actually took me 176 days to convince 100 users at https://skilledup.life. Now acquire 100 per easily.
We built a user acquisition team using our own SkilledUp Lifers, which is why we have been able to increase the daily acquisition. We now have a total user base of 28,000+ SkilledUp Lifers.
What this means is that you no longer need to go through the same pain as we went through.
Once subscribed, you can build a number of functional teams which can acquire a large number of users. Just for this task, I would build four functional teams
All the best
manoj@skilledup.life