Most indie devs assume you need money to get users. Here's what actually works.
1. Find Where Your Users Already Hang Out
Don't build it and hope. Go to where your target users are:
- Subreddits (r/webdev, r/SideProject, r/indiedev)
- Hacker News threads about related problems
- Twitter conversations about the category
- Discord/Slack communities
Contribute genuinely. Don't spam links.
2. Build in Public
Share your journey building the product:
- Weekly progress updates
- Problems you're solving
- Decisions and tradeoffs
People become invested in stories. Early followers become early users.
3. Content Marketing That Solves Problems
Write about the PROBLEM your product solves, not the product:
- "How to do X without Y" performs better than "Introducing Product Z"
- Target long-tail search terms people actually use
- Answer questions in your documentation publicly
4. Strategic Free Tier
Make free actually useful, not crippled:
- Solve a real problem, even at free tier
- Power users hit limits naturally and upgrade
- Word of mouth from satisfied free users
5. Early Reviews Matter Most
The Chrome Web Store / App Store algorithms weight recent reviews heavily:
- Get 10-20 real users to review in week one
- Respond to every review, especially negative ones
- Update based on feedback
For Chrome extension developers, ExtensionBooster's review exchange connects you with real users who want honest, verified reviews - essential for new extensions trying to build social proof.
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