🗞 What's New: Nailing your Reddit launch

Engagement is the secret to virality:

• Answer most Reddit comments right away, but always leave a few unchecked. When engagement slows, go back and answer those.
• Curating content can help take the pressure off of having to constantly create. Diversify your sources, and always get permission and give credit.
• $12K in revenue. Four months. Zero marketing marketing spend. PodNotes gained early users from an AppSumo launch.

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by Robin Saulet

Going viral on Reddit and generating a flood of signups is not as impossible as you might think.

With just a few simple steps, I managed to generate 100K+ views for one of my posts, and I got 90 signups for the launch of Kaptr.me in just one day. Here's how!

1. Identify key subreddits

Pinpoint the subreddits where your potential users hang out. I ended up with a list that many indie hackers will find familiar:

• r/RoastMyStartup.
• r/EntrepreneursRideAlong.
• r/AlphandBetaUsers.
• r/Microsaas.
• r/Sideproject.
• r/IMadeThis.
• r/Internetisbeautiful.

2. Craft a hook that captivates

90% of success is in your post's title (the hook). It needs to evoke emotion and curiosity. The higher the emotional value, the better.

For this part, I followed this simple advice: Find the posts with the most upvotes and copy their style.

I also noted that most of the posts that generate traction start with one of these three hooks:

• "I made…" → Present your own story.
• "I worked at…" → Include big names.
• "I got __ views…" → Include specific numbers.

3. Use engaging content that tells a story

Talk about why you built your product, what it does, and how people can use it. Give your story a beginning, middle, and end.

4. Engage

Answer every single comment you get, but always leave 2–3 comments unchecked. Then, when the replies slow down, leave a comment under those unchecked ones.

5. Dissect

Analyze what went well and what could have been improved. Find the lessons in the results.

Engagement is the heartbeat of virality. Also, posts that include video tend to get more views than those that don't, depending on the subreddit.

Discuss this story.

from the Growth Trends newsletter

❤️‍🔥 OpenAI emerges from the ashes, and has a lot to prove.

📧 Email obfuscation: What still works?

💲 Get $100 off an In the News section ad with code MINUS100.

💰 The IRS has delayed a new tax reporting rule on Venmo and PayPal payments.

💻 Site quality may actually be simpler than people think.

🎁 The best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on tech gadgets.

Check out Growth Trends for more curated news items focused on user acquisition and new product ideas.

by Thomas Griffin

Creating relevant content is an intricate, time-consuming process. This is where content curation may come in handy, as it allows you to share valuable content by leveraging third-party sources.

However, be careful when sharing curated content. Don't make these mistakes.

Sharing irrelevant content

Relevance is very important, whether you create content from scratch or curate it. You need to ensure that the content you share resonates with the needs and preferences of your intended audience, and helps them find the answers to their questions.

If you take your eye off the ball, you will start attracting junk traffic.

Sticking to a single content format

There's nothing wrong with sticking to a tried-and-tested content marketing strategy, but be sure to also explore various formats. Social media posts, infographics, podcasts, and expert roundups are all good places to start.

When it comes to curating content, versatility helps maximize your efficiency, and makes your content stand out from your competitors!

Curating content from limited sources

Diversify your sources. Using information from the same sources time and again may deprive you of content diversity, which may lead to your audience getting bored with the content you share.

Skipping the consent and credit

Always reach out to your sources for consent before using their content. Always properly credit your sources.

This is the ethical way of doing things, and also minimizes the likelihood of receiving copyright or regulatory violations.

Sharing without verifying

Even though you are only taking information from reliable sources, there's a possibility for human error. Plus, content gets obsolete with time. So, it's possible that the facts or statistics that you share may not have been updated by the original source.

So, it's very important to ensure that the information you use for curation is up-to-date. Don't take everything at face value.

Sharing poor quality content

If your curated content is of subpar quality, you need a better curation process.

Always strive to leverage trusted sources, find relevant information, and ensure that the curation process does justice to the data gathered.

Discuss this story.

👀 Showcase your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Posted by E-commerce Platforms.

🚀 I launched and made $1K on the first day. Posted by Mike.

🔎 How to appear at the top of Google Search. Posted by Gabriel Pineda.

👋 Introduce yourself and your product. Let's network! Posted by Matteo Mirabelli.

🧑‍🏫 The technical founder's guide to B2B sales. Posted by Tamas Abraham.

💪 How I became more productive. Posted by Tom Hackett.

Want a shout-out in next week's Best of Indie Hackers? Submit an article or link post on Indie Hackers whenever you come across something you think other indie hackers will enjoy.

by Vatsal

Our podcast transcription and content-repurposing tool, PodNotes, recently crossed $12K in revenue in just four months, with zero marketing spend.

The product

PodNotes is a spin-off of AudioNotes, our note-taking tool. We observed that a good number of people were using AudioNotes to transcribe podcasts and videos, so we tweaked AudioNotes a little bit to build out PodNotes.

We wanted to try AppSumo, so we reached out to them and were onboarded after aligning on the deal.

AppSumo

Why did we list PodNotes on AppSumo?

• AppSumo solves distribution for SaaS companies, and in return, offers great deals on lifetime plans for users.
• We wanted to improve the product and generate some initial capital. AppSumo fit the bill for this.

The good

• We got early users, and they have been instrumental in helping us improve the app. We can now target the biggies in our space.
• Generating $12K in revenue without any marketing spend would have been extremely difficult otherwise.
• AppSumo customers are tough. After satisfying them, we can now service any customers!

The bad

• We offer an LTD for $49, $98, and $147, whereas our competitors charge ~$15 per month. On top of this, we pay 30% in commission to AppSumo, and also fund any additional discounts that are run by them.
• Users can refund their purchase within 60 days. We had a percentage of users misusing the refund policy.
• AppSumo payouts take 60 days, which isn't exactly that great.

Tips for selling on AppSumo

• Collect reviews from customers without violating AppSumo guidelines.
• Make sure your customer support is great.
• Answer customer questions on your product page.
• Ask the AppSumo team for features when you hit review milestones.

What's next for us?

• We will continue our campaign on AppSumo for another month or so.
• We plan to move to a recurring revenue model early next year.

Discuss this story.

by Tweetmaster Flex

I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:

Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.

Also, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter.

Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Robin Saulet, Darko, Thomas Griffin, and Vatsal for contributing posts. —Channing