The indie developer's guide to getting your first users

The indie developer's guide to getting your first users

You built something. Now what?

You shipped. The code works. The deploy succeeded. Your app or website is live, sitting on a server somewhere, waiting for users.

And now you're staring at an analytics dashboard showing zero visitors. Or maybe a handful of people who clicked your link and left. The silence is deafening.

This is the moment where most indie projects die. Not because the product is bad, but because the developer who built it has no idea how to get it in front of people. You spent months learning to code, but nobody taught you how to find users.

This guide will teach you everything you need to know to get your first users, then your first hundred, then your first thousand. No marketing degree required. No budget required. Just a willingness to do things that feel uncomfortable at first.

Why marketing feels wrong to developers

Before we get tactical, we need to address the elephant in the room. Most developers have a visceral negative reaction to marketing. It feels manipulative. Salesy. Beneath you.

This reaction makes sense. You've been on the receiving end of bad marketing your entire life. Pop-up ads. Spam emails. Influencers hawking products they've never used. The word "marketing" conjures images of suits in boardrooms figuring out how to trick people into buying things they don't need.

But remember: marketing is communication. You tell people that something exists and explain why it might help them. That's the whole job.

When you tell a friend about a tool that solved a problem for you, that's marketing. When you write documentation explaining what your product does, that's marketing. When you answer a question on Reddit and mention that you built something relevant, that's marketing.

The sleazy stuff you hate is bad marketing and you don't have to do any of that.

Your job is simple: find people who have the problem your product solves, and tell them about it. If your product is good, you're doing them a favor.

The first rule: talk to humans

The single most important thing you can do right now is talk to potential users. Not through a feedback form. Not through analytics. Actual conversations with actual humans.

This terrifies most developers. A good number of them chose their profession partly because they prefer computers to people. But there is no shortcut here. You cannot growth-hack your way around human conversation.

And the fact is that in the early days of your product, you probably don't fully understand your own customer or market yet. You know what you built. You don't know what it means to users. You don't know what language they use to describe their problems. You don't know which features matter and which are noise. You don't know where they hang out online. You don't know what they've already tried.

You learn all of this by talking to people. For a systematic approach to gathering customer feedback, see seven steps to get great customer feedback.

How to find people to talk to

Start with people you know. Friends, former colleagues, people in your network who might have the problem you're solving. Send them a message:

"Hey, I just built [thing]. I'm trying to learn more about how people deal with [problem]. Would you be up for a 15-minute call this week? I'm not trying to sell you anything, I just want to understand your experience."

Most people will say yes. People like talking about their problems, and they like helping friends.

If you don't know anyone with the problem, find communities where these people gather. Reddit has a subreddit for almost everything. There are Discord servers, Slack groups, Facebook groups, forums. Join them. Lurk for a while. See what questions people ask. Then reach out to individuals:

"Hi, I saw your post about [problem]. I'm working on something in this space and trying to learn more about how people handle this. Would you be open to a quick chat? No pitch, just trying to understand the problem better."

You need to have at least ten of these conversations before you do anything else. Twenty is better.

What to ask

Do not pitch your product. Do not demo your product. Do not even mention your product unless they ask.

Ask about their problem:

• Tell me about the last time you dealt with [problem].
• What did you try?
• What worked? What didn't?
• How much time or money does this cost you?
• What would a perfect solution look like?
• How are you handling this today?

Listen more than you talk. Take notes. Look for patterns across conversations.

This approach comes from a book called "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick. The title refers to the fact that if you ask your mom "Do you think my app is a good idea?" she'll say yes because she loves you, not because it's true. The book teaches you how to ask questions that give you honest, useful information. Read it. It's short. For more on structuring these conversations, see seven steps to get great customer feedback.

What you'll learn

After ten conversations, you'll know things you couldn't have learned any other way:

• The exact words people use to describe the problem (use these words in your marketing)
• Which features actually matter (probably fewer than you think)
• What alternatives exist (your real competition)
• Where these people spend time online (where to market)
• What objections they might have (what to address in your messaging)
• Whether the problem is painful enough to pay for (critical for pricing)

This information is worth more than any amount of clever marketing tactics. Tactics without understanding are just noise.

Bonus points for recording the conversations and generating transcripts. You can feed the transcripts into an LLM and it will tell you the most common phrases and sentiments. This is what LLMs absolutely excel at.

Choosing where to focus

You cannot be everywhere at once. Most indie developers make the mistake of trying to maintain a presence on every platform, posting occasionally to all of them, and building an audience on none of them.

Pick one or two channels and go deep. Here's how to decide which ones.

Where does your audience already gather?

During your conversations with potential users, ask where they spend time online. Where do they go for information about this topic? What newsletters do they read? What podcasts do they listen to? What communities are they part of?

Go where they already are. Don't try to pull them somewhere new.

Match the channel to your product

Different channels work better for different types of products:

Developer tools and technical products:

• Hacker News
• Reddit (r/programming, r/webdev, r/SideProject, and niche subreddits)
• Dev.to
• Twitter/X (developer community is very active)
• GitHub (if open source)

Consumer apps:

• Product Hunt
• TikTok (especially for visual products)
• Instagram
• Relevant subreddits
• Facebook groups

B2B SaaS:

• LinkedIn
• Industry-specific communities
• Cold email (done correctly)
• Content marketing and SEO (see using launch blog posts to drive growth for developer-focused products)

Creative tools:

• Twitter/X
• YouTube
• Dribbble/Behance communities
• Product Hunt

Match the channel to your strengths

If you're a good writer, focus on written content: blog posts, Twitter threads, Reddit posts.

If you're comfortable on camera, make YouTube videos or TikTok content.

If you're good at building relationships one-on-one, focus on communities and direct outreach.

Don't force yourself into a format that doesn't fit. You'll burn out and quit.

Remember, focus is your friend. At this stage, you have no choice. You must focus. But that also means you get to focus on the things you like and are good at.

The launch playbook

Even though you've already shipped, you can still do a proper "launch." A launch is a coordinated effort to get attention during a compressed time window. For more on structuring your launch, see how to write a go-to-market plan.

Product Hunt

Product Hunt is a website where people discover new products. Every day, products compete for upvotes, and the top products get significant exposure.

Preparation (1-2 weeks before):

1. Create a Product Hunt account if you don't have one
2. Build relationships by upvoting and commenting on other products
3. Prepare your assets:
   • A clear, benefit-focused tagline (what does it do for me?)
   • Screenshots or a demo video showing the product in action
   • A concise description explaining what problem you solve
   • A "maker comment" explaining why you built this
4. Find a hunter. Product Hunt lets anyone submit products, but products submitted by established "hunters" (people with large followings on the platform) get more initial visibility. Reach out to hunters and ask if they'd be willing to submit your product. Many will if your product is interesting.
5. Tell your network. Email friends, post on your social media, reach out to anyone who might be willing to support you. Ask them to upvote and leave genuine comments on launch day.

For detailed guidance on writing your launch blog post, see writing the perfect launch blog post.

Launch day:

1. Launch at 12:01 AM Pacific Time (this is when the Product Hunt day resets)
2. Post your maker comment immediately explaining your story
3. Respond to every comment quickly and thoughtfully
4. Share the Product Hunt link everywhere
5. Don't ask for upvotes directly (against the rules). Ask people to "check it out and let me know what you think"

After launch:

Even if you don't finish #1, Product Hunt drives traffic for days and creates a permanent page for your product that people find through search.

Hacker News

Hacker News is a community run by Y Combinator. It's where many technical people discover new things. A post that reaches the front page can drive tens of thousands of visitors.

Show HN posts:

The "Show HN" format is specifically for sharing things you've made. Your title should follow this format:

"Show HN: [Product name] - [What it does in plain language]"

For example: "Show HN: Supabase - Open source Firebase alternative"

In the text of your post, explain:

• What you built
• What problem it solves
• What's interesting or different about your approach
• Your technical stack (HN readers care about this)

Be genuine and humble. Hacker News users have finely tuned BS detectors. Don't use marketing speak. Don't exaggerate. If there are limitations, acknowledge them.

Engagement is critical:

Monitor your post constantly for the first few hours. Respond to every comment. Answer questions thoroughly. Be gracious with criticism.

HN's algorithm changes frequently and is somewhat of a black box. What worked last month might not work today. That said, users have reported these tactics as consistently helpful for driving engagement:

Do:

• Respond quickly to early comments (within minutes if possible)
• Answer technical questions thoroughly and honestly
• Share interesting implementation details or technical challenges you faced
• Engage with criticism constructively rather than defensively
• Post during weekday mornings (8 AM to 12 PM Eastern Time) when traffic is highest
• Include a "Try it" link or demo if relevant

Don't:

• Coordinate a "click swarm" where you ask friends to all click at once (this can trigger anti-gaming measures)
• Ask for upvotes directly (against the rules and will get you flagged)
• Use marketing language or hype
• Ignore comments or respond defensively
• Post on weekends or late at night (lower traffic)
• Delete and resubmit if your post doesn't take off (this is against the rules)

The algorithm rewards genuine discussion. Posts with active, substantive conversation tend to rise higher than posts with just upvotes. Your job is to create interesting conversation, not game the system.

Reddit

Reddit is a collection of communities (subreddits) organized around topics. There's a subreddit for almost everything.

Finding the right subreddits:

Search for subreddits related to your product's problem space. Look for:

• The main subreddit for your category
• Smaller, more niche subreddits where your target users gather
• "Self-promotion" or "showcase" subreddits where sharing your own work is explicitly allowed

Understanding Reddit culture:

Each subreddit has its own rules and norms. Read them. Lurk for a while before posting. Reddit users hate obvious self-promotion and will downvote you into oblivion if you show up just to plug your thing.

The key is to be a genuine member of the community first. Answer questions. Share useful information. Build a reputation. Then, when you share your own project, people will be receptive.

How to post:

Frame your post around the problem and your journey, not just the product. "I was frustrated with X, so I built Y" performs better than "Check out my new product Y."

Be honest about the fact that you built it. Reddit users appreciate transparency and hate feeling tricked.

Respond to every comment. Answer questions thoroughly. Take feedback graciously.

Twitter/X

Twitter is where a lot of tech industry conversation happens. Many successful indie products have been built almost entirely on Twitter audiences.

The "build in public" approach:

Building in public means sharing your journey as you build: the progress, the setbacks, the decisions, the numbers. This builds an audience before you even launch.

It's not too late to start. Share your post-launch journey:

• Weekly updates on user numbers
• Interesting problems you're solving
• Features you're adding based on feedback
• Revenue milestones (if applicable)
• Lessons learned

Be genuine. Share failures as well as successes. People connect with honesty, not perfection.

Tactical advice:

Post consistently. Daily is ideal. At minimum, several times per week.

Engage with others in your space. Reply to their posts. Share their content. Build relationships.

Use threads for longer content. A thread that tells a story will get more engagement than a single tweet with a link.

Don't just post links to your product. Provide value. Share insights. Teach something. Be interesting.

Indie Hackers

Indie Hackers is a community specifically for people building independent products. It's a supportive environment where self-promotion is welcomed when done authentically.

Post your product in the products directory. Share your story. Engage with others.

The community is small but high-quality. Many successful indie makers started here.

Content marketing fundamentals

Content marketing means creating useful content that attracts your target audience. Blog posts, videos, podcasts, guides, tools. Anything that provides value related to your product's problem space.

This is a long-term strategy. It takes months to see results. But it compounds over time and can become your primary source of users. For a deeper dive into content strategy, see seven tips for building your content strategy.

The core principle

Create content that helps your target user solve problems, whether or not they use your product. This builds trust and positions you as an expert.

If you built a budgeting app, write about budgeting strategies. If you built a developer tool, write tutorials about the problems it solves. For developer products, see the 12 types of content that work for developers to understand what formats resonate best.

SEO, GEO, and AEO

In 2026, optimizing your content means thinking beyond traditional search engines. You need to optimize for three types of discovery:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Creating content that ranks well in Google searches. When someone searches for a problem you solve, your content appears.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): Optimizing content so AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity cite and recommend your product when users ask questions.

AEO (AI Engine Optimization): Making your content structured and machine-readable so AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Codeium can understand and recommend your product to developers.

The good news is that content optimized for AI discovery also tends to rank well in traditional search. For a complete technical guide on implementing all three, see making your content AI-friendly in 2026.

Keyword research:

Think about what your target users search for. What questions do they type into Google? What problems are they trying to solve?

Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even free options like Ubersuggest can show you what people search for and how competitive those searches are.

Target specific, less competitive keywords (called "long-tail keywords") rather than broad terms. Long-tail keywords are more specific queries that fewer people search for, but the people who do search for them are more likely to convert because they have a very specific intent. "Best budget app" is incredibly competitive. "How to track expenses as a freelancer" is more achievable.

Creating content that ranks:

1. Choose a specific question or problem to address
2. Create the most comprehensive, useful answer on the internet
3. Structure it clearly with headers and subheaders
4. Include the key phrases naturally (don't stuff keywords awkwardly)
5. Make it easy to read with short paragraphs and clear language

Technical SEO:

Make sure your site loads fast. Use descriptive page titles. Write meta descriptions that make people want to click. Use header tags properly. Make sure your site works on mobile.

These basics matter more than any advanced tactics.

Distribution

Creating content is only half the job. You also need to distribute it.

Share every piece of content on your social channels. Post it to relevant communities. Email it to people who might find it interesting.

A great piece of content that nobody sees is worthless. A good piece of content with great distribution beats a great piece with no distribution.

Email: your most valuable channel

Every visitor to your site who doesn't give you their email address is probably gone forever. You have no way to reach them again. They'll forget you exist.

Email changes this. When someone joins your email list, you can reach them directly. No algorithm decides whether they see your message. No platform can take away your access to them.

Building an email list

Put an email signup on your site. Offer something valuable in exchange for their address:

• Early access to new features
• A useful resource (guide, template, tool)
• Exclusive content
• Updates on development

Make the value proposition clear. "Subscribe to our newsletter" is weak. "Get weekly tips on [topic] plus early access to new features" is better.

What to send

Don't just send product announcements. Provide value.

Share useful content. Tell stories about your development journey. Highlight interesting ways people are using your product. Teach something related to your product's problem space.

Be consistent. Send on a regular schedule, whether that's weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Irregular emails train people to ignore you.

Be personal. Write like a human, not a corporation. People can tell the difference.

Measuring what matters

You need to track what's working and what isn't. Otherwise you're just guessing.

Essential metrics

Traffic sources: Where are visitors coming from? This tells you which channels are working.

Conversion rate: What percentage of visitors sign up or become users? This tells you if your messaging and onboarding are working.

Retention: Do users come back? This tells you if your product is actually valuable to them.

Activation: Do users complete the key actions that make your product valuable? (This varies by product.) This tells you if they're getting value.

Tools

Google Analytics is free and shows you traffic and basic behavior. Set it up.

For product analytics, tools like PostHog (open source), Mixpanel, or Amplitude help you understand what users do inside your product.

Simple is better when you're starting. Don't get lost in dashboards. Focus on the few metrics that actually matter for your stage.

What to do with the data

Check your metrics weekly. Look for patterns:

• Which content drives the most signups?
• Which channels bring users who actually stick around?
• Where do users drop off in your onboarding?

Double down on what works. Stop doing what doesn't.

The first hundred users

Getting your first hundred users is different from getting your first thousand. At this stage, you should be doing things that don't scale.

Direct outreach

Identify specific individuals who have the problem you solve. Find them on Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, wherever. Reach out personally:

"Hey, I saw your post about [problem]. I just built something that might help. Would you be interested in trying it? Happy to give you free access and walk you through it."

This doesn't scale. That's fine. You only need to do it a hundred times.

Use existing relationships

Email everyone you know. Not a mass email. Personal, individual messages to people who might be interested or might know someone who would be.

"Hey [name], I finally launched that thing I've been working on. It helps [people] do [thing]. Know anyone who might find this useful?"

Your personal network is warmer than any other audience. Use it.

Be helpful in communities

Find the communities where your users gather. Don't spam your product. Instead, become a valuable member.

Answer questions. Share knowledge. Help people solve problems. When your product is genuinely relevant, mention it. But focus on being helpful first.

This builds reputation and trust that pays off over time.

Personal onboarding

For your first users, offer to personally onboard them. Get on a call. Walk them through the product. Watch how they use it. Ask questions.

This feels inefficient, but it's invaluable. You'll learn more from watching five users struggle with your product than from any amount of analytics. As you scale, you'll need written documentation. See how to write a great getting started guide for when you're ready to systematize onboarding.

Common mistakes to avoid

Premature scaling

Don't run ads before you have product-market fit. Don't hire a marketer before you understand your users. Don't automate before you've done things manually.

Scaling multiplies what you already have. If you don't have a product people love, scaling just burns money faster.

Spreading too thin

Being mediocre on five platforms is worse than being great on one. Pick your channels and commit to them fully.

Ignoring feedback

When users tell you something isn't working, listen. When they ask for features, understand the underlying need. When they churn, find out why.

The fastest path to growth is making your product better based on real user feedback. See seven steps to get great customer feedback for a structured approach to gathering and acting on user input.

Comparing yourself to funded companies

Venture-backed startups have millions of dollars to spend on marketing. They can hire teams, buy ads, and sponsor conferences.

You can't. Don't try to compete on their terms.

Your advantages are speed, authenticity, and direct relationships with users. Play to those strengths.

Giving up too early

Marketing takes time. Most overnight successes took years. If you're consistently creating value and engaging with your audience, results will come.

The developers who succeed are the ones who don't quit.

What to do this week

You've just read thousands of words. Here's what to actually do:

Day 1-2: Have five conversations with potential users. Learn what they struggle with and where they spend time online.

Day 3: Based on what you learned, choose one or two channels to focus on. Create accounts if needed.

Day 4-5: Prepare your launch materials. Write your Product Hunt listing. Draft your Hacker News post. Prepare your Reddit introduction.

Day 6: Launch on your primary channel. Engage actively with everyone who responds.

Day 7: Set up basic analytics. Add an email signup to your site. Send a personal message to ten people who might be interested in your product.

Then keep going. Every week, have more conversations. Create more content. Engage more with your community. The work compounds.

Final thoughts

Marketing is finding the people who need what you've built and helping them understand how it can help them. That's the whole game.

You already have the hardest skill: you can build things. Now you just need to learn to communicate about what you've built. That's a learnable skill, just like programming was. For a deeper dive into developer marketing strategies, see the complete developer marketing guide.

Your first hundred users won't come from some viral hack. They'll come from steady, consistent effort. From showing up every day. From talking to people and genuinely trying to help them.

The best marketing feels like being useful. Because it is.

Now stop reading and go talk to a potential user.