Ask HN: I built a site that IMO can be huge. How can I promote it?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3979860

by victorin • 14 years ago

9 20 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I love to build stuff on the Internet so I created http://guyshelpmedecide.com - A place where you can easily get advice from your friends on buying decisions

It is still kind of a pet project, but I do believe on its potential to go viral

The problem is that I'm a coder and I don't have a clue on how can I promote it.

Maybe trying to contact blogs/media and hope they write about it? Or it is better to create a facebook Ads campaign targeting amazon fans?

I really appreciate any ideas, feedback on the product or whatever that can help me to make this site huge

relaunched• 14 years ago

I think this is a cool concept. Let me caution you that I worked on a similar project about 3 years ago. What we found out was that most people that solicit advice, ignore it. We used affiliate links to monetize, and didn't find social feedback to be significantly better at converting than blog posts, or anything else.

What that meant was that we were in the same eyeballs rat race that everyone else is.

If what you are asking is how do you become the next pinterest, in terms of viral growth, it's a lot of hard work and a dash of luck. Shake and hope it turns into gold.

victorin9• 14 years ago

Thx for commenting.

I'm using affiliate links to monetize it too, but it definitely it is not a company or something that needs to break even in x months. Actually I had a great time coding it and I learnt a lot about the technologies it uses (facebook open graph, amazon apis, twitter bootstrap...) so in terms of ROI it's already covered by far.

Being said that, of course I want it to be huge. Not as the next pinterest because it'd require lots of resources and energy but more like a bootstraped project that grows organically and we'll see.

In other words, I built something that I want to use (no other ambitions), and right now I am wondering if it could be something mainstream or not

redspark• 14 years ago

Have you figured out your target market and validated it?

victorin9• 14 years ago

No, I just built something I wanted to use but I'm not sure at all if the market is worth the try

timmm• 14 years ago

I don't want my friends advice on buying things. I want expert opinions from places like Cnet and ConsumerReviews.

Also word to the wise don't focus on trying to get your app to go viral, it really doesn't tend to work like that. Also success in general - real success - is almost by definition a slow process.

victorin9• 14 years ago

I probably prefer expert opinions while buying tech products (for example a new HD TV), but I'll give much more credit to a friends' first hand experience on that same TV than the expert advise. That's the base idea of guyshelpmedecide.com

And as for the success opinion I fully agree with you. I don't pretend to create an overnight million dollar business from that, it was just an experiment that looks nice for me

iamds2• 14 years ago

I think it looks great!

In order for other people to start using it, it needs to look like it's being used. I think that you should create about a 100 users and add a few hundred products and comments. It'll take you a few hours of work, but it'll make the site appear to be much more successful, thus bringing in more users.

victorin9• 14 years ago

Totally agree, right now the site doesn't look like it's being used. In fact it isn't cause it's brand new.

However I don't want to make all this monotone work. Do you know any place where I could outsource that?

iamds2• 14 years ago

In all honesty, I'd just go ahead and do it yourself. It's easy mindless work. Put a movie on the tv, sit back with your laptop and just go at it. You'll get more done by the end of the film than you'd think.

dholowiski• 14 years ago

I agree - you need to fake some data... it sounds kind of shady but it's common and necessary for a service like this. I would do it myself, but you can outsource on amazon mechanical turk (if it's dead easy), or use something like elance.

debacle2• 14 years ago

This is an amazing idea.

victorin9• 14 years ago

I'm glad you like it! Now I have to find a way to attract users and see if they like it too :)

debacle2• 14 years ago

I wouldn't necessarily target specific markets. Things I've purchased in the last year that I would have used this for:

1. Herbal teas

2. A camcorder

3. A digital camera

4. A laptop

5. Console games

6. A new phone (which I still haven't bought, because I can't find one I'm comfortable with)

Most of those are electronics, but I'm sure that if I thought about it longer I could come up with a bunch more.

rajdesai2253• 14 years ago

Interesting, though I would like to caution you regarding your assumption that it may go viral. In the world of business - assumptions are very dangerous.

Let me give you an example of what goes viral. I recently came across an app for calling a cab using a smart phone. They advertised it very cleverly. They said, think about you are stuck on the road at an unknown location. It is 2:00 AM in the morning and there's no one around! With our app, you can call a cab with a single click without knowing a thing about your location. All you have to do is click the button, stay put and a cab will be there promptly.

Now, I travel a lot so I realized that this could be really nice and handy. So, I immediately downloaded the app. I spoke with my wife and guess what? She downloaded it as well as she thought this could come in handy for her as well. My wife is more social than I am so she posted this newly found app on FB and within no time, most of her friends had downloaded this app as well.

The important thing I am trying to convey about virility to you is that it has to have two key ingredients - utility and the sense of urgency. If you can effectively communicate those two ingredients - your app will go viral. Otherwise, it’s a rat race so before you develop it a whole lot - test out the concept and its virility!

victorin9• 14 years ago

Totally agree with your virility point.

Perhaps the title of my Ask HN is too much ambitious. I't be better something like "how to make it start getting traction" (more convenient than getting viral)

Ask HN: I built a site that IMO can be huge. How can I promote it?

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