Ask HN: $1k+ side projecters, what was the best thing you did to market it?
For https://userinput.io (my service that connects you with reviewers on-demand feedback for your website, app or idea), getting on Product Hunt was the biggest thing. I got on Product Hunt nearly three months ago, and I still get traffic from there that converts. I was #3 the day I posted it. And yeah as other people have said in this thread, you need to know someone who can post it for you. I coordinated with an influencer that I kind of know, and he helped me out. My advice with Product Hunt is to post your project at like 1am California time, then start working your mailing list and social networks to try to get upvotes from Europe / Asia / Australia before Americans wake up, so that you have a decent amount of upvotes already, then just keep hustling getting attention to it that day. Be very available on PH to answer questions and respond to comments etc.Early on, my first customers actually came from Twitter, which I still find surprising, but it worked. I simply did the "copy followers" technique of copying people who follow similar Twitters, and since they're probably interested in the topic of feedback, they would follow me back or check out the site.Reddit ads also got a few orders, and are pretty cheap and interesting to try out.Also I built out http://feedbacktools.org as a way to promote my own project and learn about a ton of other similar tools. It's basically just a small curated directory of every tool I could find that was related to feedback, but of course mine is at the top.Also, a referral plan helps. I give customers a code that they can share with their friends for $10 off their first order, and anyone who refers a new customer gets a $10 credit.