LfM

My experience

How about 2020, right? What a year!

As much of a terrible one it has been so far, it has pushed me to start making and building with #nocode more and more. And I am very happy to say that I took full advantage of it.

Every year, I lay out a few goals I have for myself. 🏅

For 2020, launching my first product on Product Hunt was one of them. It feels so good to have checked it off my bucket list.

NoCode Club started as a simple idea of connecting makers to solve their no-code challenges and a desire to learn how to build with Bubble.

So there I was, furiously building the dream app I had in mind without even talking to my no-code network. ❌

Don't be like me. You should absolutely start talking to potential users before even dragging the first blocks on your app.

Nonetheless, I was lucky to find a handful of early adopters within the 100 days of no-code community (5) to put my app to the test. Received lots of constructive feedback, improvements to make, and finally soft launch the app.

About two weeks later, we were closing in on 50 members which was really cool to see. But as any community driven product, you need some critical mass of users so your product can deliver some value for them. 💰

This is when the idea of launching on PH creeped in my mind.

Only problem was that I had never done it. I started searching through the web, reading countless blog posts and resources to learn how to successfully launch on Product Hunt.

As much as they were useful (a handful of them), the most important and valuable thing I did was to reach out to KP. He was kind enough to set up a call with me and share his launch playbook. He knows his stuff and has launched several times with tons of success.

Launching on PH was a goal but having KP hunt it was the cherry on the cake 🍰

I was so lucky to connect and receive the support from awesome makers like KP, Whit, Sharath, and Michael. I can only encourage you to do so if you're thinking about launching. They are so approachable and always looking to help fellow makers.

The no-code community is also the best group I have had the chance to be a part of. It's been amazing to follow this movement and connect with so many people over the past few month.

Now, I hope that this little post will have some value to you 😇and do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything! I would love to help you out a bit like these guys did.

Tips

Big thanks to KP for all these tips

• Manage your expectations. Don't shoot for the moon. A few upvotes will already be a win and strong learning experience.
• Launch on Tuesday or Thursday at 12:01 PST
• Get 20 upvotes by 7-9am PST or more if you can (it's possible)
• Ask friends and early members to go support the launch.
• "Excited to share with you..."
• "Would love your support"
• "Join the conversation"
• Tweet from accounts about the launch, same content but a bit less direct, focus on inviting people to come in and join the conversation and comment.
• Comments are as important, if maybe more, than upvotes. They are the best way to drive a conversation with your visitors.

My learnings

• When you think everything is ready, chances are it's not. But it's okay. Show empathy and reactivity when a user finds a bug or issue. Read about mine later in ❌ My mistakes
• Have all your messages for social media, slacks, communities, ready to go.Pro tip ⇒ customize each for the community you are addressing. Message dropping a bunch of slack workspaces does not feel like a fun read for its members and feels spammy.
• If you are in Europe where the launch happens between 9 and 11am, take advantage of this window to get upvotes early.
• I sent a few (30-50) DMs to the people I knew were enjoying the platform a bit, our 50 early members pretty much. I customized each to start a real conversation, not just transactional. Many of them even tweeted about the launch which was absolutely awesome. It was the fruit of trying to build strong relationships with early users. #Buildinpublic
• Be on top of comments and always reply. Be active on Twitter. It is my only social media and the one where lots is happening around no-code so I put an extra focus by replying, engaging, to get more traffic on our PH launch.
• A launch can feel like a sprint but it is a bit more like a marathon (24 hours). Felt long and lost some energy at the end of the day here (past midnight in Europe).
• Should have done it more but progress tweets worked well to stay visible. People want to follow along the progress of your launch.

My mistakes

• Responsiveness on the home page was not good
• Twitter auth required too many agreements from user and 2 of them reached to let me know they were not comfortable to login this way because of the many authorization that it required.
• No link to the privacy policy in the signup popup.
• Go through your signup flow ten more times and make sure it is the clearest, simplest possible. Get rid of question that are not core to the value that the platform aims to deliver.
• Check box "I want to help makers" unnecessary

Metrics

• #4 product of the day (#1 most of the day)
• 405 upvotes
• 500 new members