I spent 2 weeks trying every free distribution channel to sell a $19 digital product (a CSV of 798 marketing agency contacts across 54 countries). Here are the results.
The Product
A verified list of marketing agency emails for salespeople doing cold outreach. Built by scraping agency websites across 54 countries.
Channel Results
1. Indie Hackers — Best Engagement, Zero Sales
58 posts. 39+ comments. Real conversations and collab offers. But the audience is builders, not buyers of agency contacts.
2. Dev.to — Good SEO, Zero Conversion
31 articles published. Several rank on Google. But developer readers do not buy agency contact lists.
3. Cold Email — Worked Until Gmail Killed It
342 personalized emails. 3 replies (0.82%). 1 warm lead. Then Google restricted the account.
4. Gumroad — Zero Organic Discovery
26 products listed. Zero organic views. Gumroad Discover only activates after your first sale.
5. Reddit — Mixed Results
Posted on r/sales and r/entrepreneur. Some engagement but zero tracked conversions.
6. Hacker News — Rate Limited
1 Show HN post with minimal traction.
7. LinkedIn — Zero Connections
Account exists but zero network means zero reach.
The Lesson
The best channel is where your buyer already searches. For agency contact lists, that is LinkedIn Sales Navigator and niche Slack communities — not developer forums.
Try It Yourself
Building in public. Currently at $0 revenue and 58 IH posts.
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