How far in advance do you prepare your launch on Product Hunt?
Sometimes I wish I had a clear answer to this question, but... I don't :D
A lot of people ask me in DMs what to do and when the best time to start.
I know people who prepared 6 months in advance and were not featured.
Then I know a guy who set up a page literally 3 hours before and got into the top five promoted products. 😀
Sometimes the power and usefulness of the product outweighs distribution.
However, the combination of both can do a lot.
(For example, a few years ago, we prepared for the launch of a minimalist phone app for about 5 months, including platform observation, but you probably know this story already.) :)
How long before the launch do you prepare, and what does that involve on your part?
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I am a bit new here, so this is something I am also curious about!
I initially thought that it only matters if your product is great to get a decent rating in the end, but I also saw many people mentioning that you have to build an audience, do a warm-up, etc. Sharing the Product Hunt launch with LinkedIn followers probably won't help much because PH is a pretty niche thing, and not everyone has an account here. We've got a few days left until the launch, and I am not sure if I should do anything about it.
+ We've spent several months on the product, so the stakes feel high, and it gives quite a lot of anxiety tbh :D
But let's see how it goes, would love to read other people's stories here!
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@lauragenno I have my fingers crossed for you.
Yeah, some people take the launch like science: warming up people, email sequences about the platform registration (to have an account), DM-ing, social media posts, and some even ads.
Definitely advise to also read Product Hunt forums – people who shared some learnings, it can help with you launch too :)
A practice I follow is to create a new product that builds upon my last one. This keeps things in motion and I don't always have to plan things from scratch. For instance, I released a product called "EssayStylist," which helped people improve the quality of their essays. I then narrowed my focus to resume bullet points and made "BulletForge", an AI application that takes the user's work experience and job description, and generates points that are ATS-friendly and follow the STAR format. The next product I will make will be an upgrade of "BulletForge", and I won't have to spend too much time preparing for the launch that since I am building on an active product
In case you want to try BulletForge (I would be great if I could have some feedback): https://bulletforge.vercel.app/
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@kushagrasinha I suggest creating an option to put links to the job position from the career website + upload the CV.
@busmark_w_nika That's a great idea!!! Thanks
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@kushagrasinha ;) a few days ago I recommended the same to guy who did the same product :D
ZapDigits
Planing about a month so far. Let's hope it will go smooth.
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@malithmcrdev What does your preparation include?
2 weeks is a good period of time to prepare I guess specially now there are content/checklist available on the internet so just need to plan those activities over a period of time. But if dont have time atleast focus on adding a good title, images and first comment this should be must for every launch so people can take your product seriously. Even PH can filter those low quality launches from the platform using AI or moderator.
P.S. I have done both by I was not expecting to get featured as my products were not SaaS, my motive was to explore PH, connect with community, share something useful and get feedback from the makers.
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@gamifykaran Have you also launched beyond the Product Hunt platforms? I mean alternatives.
@busmark_w_nika Yes on most of them, I provide a submission service to startups where we submit their product to 100+ platforms to get more visibility and backlinks.
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@gamifykaran aaa u mean https://www.boringlaunch.com/ :)
@busmark_w_nika yeah :)
Dope Notes
It’s usually in the back of my mind from the start of the project, but I really start prepping a few weeks before launch. I’ll reach out to people, line up early support, and get the messaging in shape. That said, it mostly comes down to when the product actually feels ready — I’d rather launch a week late than rush it.
One of the nice things about being a solopreneur (or working with a small team) is having that flexibility — you can move fast, shift gears quickly, and launch when the timing feels right.
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@tim_holmgren1 Good to see you have a positive POV. Being a solo has pros/cons and definitely – no bureaucracy or long processes can sometimes be useful in these terms :) When you feel to launch, just launch :)
I'm new to the community and this is something I'm struggling with at the momment. We got a flexible goal to target a mid August launch. The product is nearly ready, thus, think is manageable. My understanding is that we're allowed to move launch dates if needed, right?
Is there a producthunt guide for launches?
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@gabriel_martinez_volquez As far as I know, you can reschedule.
If you mean some useful official guidelines, I would refer to these articles:
1) https://help.producthunt.com/en/...
2) https://www.producthunt.com/p/pr...
@busmark_w_nika Thanks, I'm completely new to the community, can't believe I missed the guide resources. 😀
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@gabriel_martinez_volquez I recommend reading more from their official web :D
@busmark_w_nika Did the interactive launch guide and read a bunch of the resources. Getting excited now :D
Triforce Todos
I have done both rushed prep and long-term planning, and each comes with its lessons. 😅
The most successful one? I started preparing around 4 weeks in advance. That gave me time to:
Warm up my network
Create strong visuals, a demo, and copy
Engage with the community beforehand (without being spammy)
Test and refine the product’s first impression
However, I have also seen last-minute launches succeed, mainly because the product was extremely timely or perfectly solved a pain point.
I think the sweet spot is being prepared enough to tell a clear story and activate support, but not overthinking to the point of burnout.
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@abod_rehman also, successful launches have folks with a bunch of followers on other socials :P :D
Preparing right now, planning to launch in a week.
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@boogiemuffin How long have you been preparing for this occasion?
I'm honestly just here learning from everyone else at this point 😅. Appreciate you starting this thread, @busmark_w_nika
We're planning on launching Equally AI soon (fingers crossed), so it's nice to learn from others who've done it successfully.
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@a11yexpert Cool that I came with this topic :DDDD Good luck. Do you already have your "Notify me" page?
@busmark_w_nika Thanks!
About the notify me page, not yet! Got any insights on how to shape that?
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@a11yexpert I think that when you prepare your launch page, you should have somewhere the option to create the pre-launch page (then you will show up here: https://www.producthunt.com/coming-soon )
I think that Jake wrote a post/guideline about it: https://help.producthunt.com/en/articles/6684724-how-do-i-create-a-teaser-for-my-launch
@busmark_w_nika Oh cool. I'll definitely check out that resource. Appreciate the tip!🙏
findable.
We didn’t spend months prepping, just a couple of focused weeks working on the message, the PH page, and paying attention to how things work around here before we launched Findable (SEO Toolkit, currently #2 on Product Hunt).
Honestly, I’ve seen both sides too, people who plan for ages and get buried, and others who wing it and land in the top five.
Feels like there’s no guaranteed path, but being active here before launch definitely helps. The forum gives way more insight than you’d expect :)