I Can't Afford Ads for My SaaS, So I'm Trying This Instead.

#saas #marketing #affiliation #ai

I did the thing every developer dreams of: I built and launched my own SaaS product, PostPulsar (https://post-pulsar.com). It’s a tool I'm genuinely proud of—it uses AI to help content creators like me save hours by repurposing blog posts into social media content.

Then came the hard part. The part they don't always talk about in the success stories.

Marketing. As a developer, my first instinct is to solve problems with code, not with marketing campaigns. And my second problem is a bit more specific: I'm based in Brazil.
The Two Walls of Marketing for an Indie Hacker

I quickly ran into two massive walls.

Wall #1: The Time Sink

Like many of you, I'd rather spend my time improving my product than trying to keep up with five different social media platforms. I actually built PostPulsar to solve my own problem of not having enough time for social media. But getting the word out requires a different kind of effort.

Wall #2: The "Currency Wall"

This is the killer. A modest ad budget of, say, $200/month might sound reasonable if you're earning in USD. But when you convert that to Brazilian Real (BRL), the cost becomes astronomical. It’s like trying to compete in a race where your fuel costs 5x more than everyone else's. Paid advertising, the default growth engine for so
many, was simply not a sustainable option for me.

So, what do you do when you can't afford to pay Google or Meta to find your customers?

The Pivot: From "Buying" Customers to "Partnering" with Creators

I had a realization. Instead of paying giant ad platforms, why not pay the actual people who believe in the product and bring in customers?

Instead of spending money I don't have on ads that might not even convert, I decided to invest directly in a community. A performance-based model where everyone wins.

So, that's what I did. I created an affiliate program.

It’s my plan B. My growth experiment. It costs me nothing upfront, and it rewards people for genuinely helping the product grow.

This is an Invitation

I’m sharing this story on Dev.to because this is a community of builders, creators, and marketers who understand the grind. If you have an audience of developers,
writers, marketers, or entrepreneurs who could benefit from saving hours on content creation, I’d love to partner with you.

I’ve set up a simple affiliate program with PromoteKit.

You get a 30% recurring commission on every single customer you refer.
It's a win-win. You earn revenue by recommending a tool you believe in, and my SaaS grows in a way I can actually afford.

You can sign up to become an affiliate here:
https://postpulsar.promotekit.com

It's an experiment in community-powered growth. Let's see what we can build together.