How (not) to gather first users when you are an unknown brand. May be helpful to new product makers

From testing new products, I've come to several conclusions and possibly also identified mistakes that product creators make when launching them.

Whenever you want to attract your first testers (especially those who are well-known), try first to build up your credibility.

During product testing, I encountered the following mistakes that left an inconvenient impression:

🥲 No publicly available contact (about the company, owner)
🥲 Testimonials using "fake" stock photos (this is especially noticeable to people who work in marketing and tech)
🥲 Untraceable product creator – do not know his name, face,...
🥲 Not offering a free trial version and immediately asking for payment

If you do all of these things at once, it leaves a very bad impression.

Recently, I wanted to try a tool, and accepted the terms of use, but couldn’t cancel the trial after submitting my card – the system technically didn’t allow me to cancel. At the same time, the product didn’t even work. There was no person I could contact. Suspicious.

I’m surprised how many people launch products this way, even on Product Hunt, because, with these steps, such a product feels more like a scam than a serious business.

If the business is not supposed to be a scam 😉, please:

☝️ Build trust, ideally also a personal brand, if you’re serious about it.
☝️ If you don’t have testimonials from people yet, use a video where you demonstrate the product; ideally show your face too – human aspect.
☝️ It’s better to let people test the product for free because it might not be technically finished yet, viz. my experience. (People, who don't pay, are not so loud on the internet as people who already paid, IYKWIM.)

Do you have a similar experience?

Next time, we could cover how to prevent fraud, btw. 😀 (I have a lot to share.) 😀