3 Easy Ways to Nail Your Product Hunt Launch!
and why we built Product Friends
We’ve read some sterling blog posts on PH launch analysis, as well as tips for what to do once you’ve been hunted. We even wrote one on the benefits of launching exclusively a few weeks ago.
However, we wanted to create a concise set of PH launch tips that are often forgotten. I think these are the best ways to get more upvotes, more feedback, and more love. This comes from our own launch (Hey Press), covers some of the things we did right as well as wrong, and details why we built Product Friends to help other makers with their launch.
1. Go Through a Moderator
As far as I know, Product Hunt doesn’t publish an official list… but it’s probably safe to say that everyone in their team is a moderator:
Along with these guys:
Moderators have the ability to post straight to Product Hunt (I think it’s generally limited to 1 product per day), and naturally they’re always on the lookout for great new products.
Take an interest in what they’re up t0 — whether you become active in the PH community, give feedback on PH features, or get involved with their other projects (Maker Hunt, by Eric Willis, and Startup Stash by Bram Kanstein spring to mind).
Before launch, Harry and I had our heads down coding, barely seeing the light of day (although when I did, it was a picturesque sunset in Koh Lanta). Our biggest mistake was not being an active part of the community before launch… basically we just got lucky when Eric spotted Hey Press on Hacker News.
So, tip 1: be active, and make friends with some moderators. It’s the biggest win — you’ll most likely be able to line up your launch to a more favourable time, and if your product’s good, you’ve got a better chance of getting hunted!
P.S. to help see which moderators are most active on PH, you can check out the Product Hunt leaderboard:
http://www.yvoschaap.com/producthunt/
2. Thank Your Upvoters
Surprisingly few people thank their upvoters (I know, because I regularly upvote stuff on PH). However, it’s the easiest way to gain love after you’ve been hunted… and why do you want love?
love = beta feedback + return visits + paying customers
We spent ages on Hey Press launch day individually following our upvoters on PH and Twitter. We didn’t manage to get through everyone, but I think it’s one of the reasons so many people were tweeting about us:
However, individually following people on Product Hunt and Twitter ended up taking us hours. This is the main reason we made Product Friends — to help make this process quicker. So if you’re launching a product, check it out.
3. Reach Out
Journalists
The best time to reach out to journalists is generally 1-week before your launch (at least for the big publications). That being said, journalists love Product Hunt.
Send a quick follow-up to say you’re on PH (a simple 1-line email will do). The bigger publications probably won’t write about you at this stage… but they might do, and besides, they’ll be more likely to remember you next time you’re looking for press coverage.
As for the smaller publications, now’s the perfect time to reach out. You’re hot off Product Hunt and they’re hungry for stories — so there’s a good chance they’ll cover you. Try niche blogs and publications relevant to your startup, as well as blogs that specifically cover PH launches — e.g. The Daily Hunt.
You can also use Product Friends to see if any of your upvoters are journalists (a lot of journalists use PH). They’re already interested in you and your product, so are far more likely to write an aritcle vs a journalist you’ve never had any interaction with.
Investors
If you’re looking for investment, now’s a great time (especially if you’re receiving lots of upvotes). This tweet from the makers of LeanFlix was a great idea — it ended up getting loads of retweets, including from Marc Adreessen:
Product Hunters
Find products that are similar to yours, see who’s been commenting on them, and pop those hunters a tweet to ask for feedback. Only once has someone ever done this to me, but it’s really effective. You’ll probably get even more interest from them than people discovering you directly on Product Hunt.
Your Users
To climb the PH ranks, the first hour of your launch is the most important. If you can coincide your hunt with an email to your mailing list, you’ll probably do pretty well. Don’t explicitly ask for upvotes (it’s against PH T&Cs) — but definitely do let your users know you’ve been hunted. Hopefully they like you enough to give a legitimate upvote ;)
