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I Got 4 Reddit Accounts Banned Before I Figured This Out

#reddit #ai #makemoney

Three weeks ago I got my fourth Reddit account permanently banned.

Same message: "Your account has been suspended for breaking Reddit's rules against spam." I wasn't even being spammy. One comment mentioned my product after giving genuine advice. Boom. Gone.

That was when I realized I'd been doing Reddit promotion wrong. So I spent two weeks studying what works.

The Mistakes That Got Me Banned

Mistake 1: Promoting too early

My old strategy: create account → join subreddits → start commenting with links.

Within 3 days, banned. Every time.

Reddit's spam detection catches new accounts that immediately post links. Doesn't matter if content is useful.

Mistake 2: Copy-pasting comments

I had a "helpful" comment template. Used it across 10 posts. Reddit detected duplicates. Flagged as spam.

Mistake 3: Ignoring subreddit culture

What works in r/Entrepreneur fails in r/technology. Treated every sub the same. Bad move.

The 90/10 Rule

Most important principle:

90% genuine contribution
10% promotional (max)
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This is how Reddit's algorithm evaluates accounts. Bad ratio = flagged.

For every 1 promotional comment, you need 9 non-promotional ones. Build this BEFORE your first promotion.

Account Nurturing Strategy 

Days 1-3:   Zero activity (browse, upvote)
Days 4-7:   Comments only, no links
Days 8-14:  Build presence, help people
Day 15+:    Subtle mentions allowed
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What "Subtle" Actually Means

❌ Bad:

Check out my tool at example.com!
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✅ Good:

Yeah this is frustrating. I use a desktop tool called 
Wappkit Reddit for this since the API limits were killing me. 
Not perfect but saves maybe 2 hours a day. The real trick though is...
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Product = small detail. Focus on solving the problem.

I built Wappkit Reddit after getting frustrated with this exact problem. It runs locally so no API blocks.

Safe Subreddits for Promotion

  • r/SideProject - designed for this
  • r/IMadeThis - show what you built
  • r/AlphaAndBetaUsers - find testers

Many subs also have weekly self-promo threads. Check sidebars.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Reddit marketing is slow. 2-4 weeks per account to build credibility.

But if you invest the time, Reddit converts like crazy. My conversion rate from Reddit is 4x higher than Google ads.

Quick Summary

  1. First 2 weeks: No promotion. Build karma.
  2. Follow 90/10 rule.
  3. Never post links in comments. Just mention product name.
  4. Use self-promo subreddits.
  5. Be patient.

The accounts I manage now have survived for months. No bans. Steady traffic.

It works. It's just slow.

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