24 hrs post-launch šŸš€ 7 things I learned + will do differently next time.

Mick Essex
23 replies
Yesterday was my first time hunting and launching on PH. My takeaways: 1. Omg what a rush! I had butterflies like the first day of school or race day (Iā€™m a triathlete). It was so much fun šŸ¤© 2. Is Wednesday the best launch day? I donā€™t think so. I think we created more competition for ourselves because all the guidance in articles said Wed. Next time Iā€™m going to research & follow launch totals M-F and determine the best launch day for us. 3. We chose to launch during US time zone not at 12:01 am. Idk if this helped or hurt, but launching in the middle of the night when 90% of our user base (and ICP) is in the US didnā€™t make sense to us. 4. Watching the launch dashboard like a madman is not helpful šŸ˜‚ Check in on it periodically throughout the day but donā€™t obsess over it. If you prepared properly, things will work out. 5. Donā€™t assume everyone knows what PH is. A lot of our new followers and upvotes are first time PH users, so in your outreach, also explain what PH is and does. 6. Be very active in Discussions at least 2 weeks prior to launch day. Not only is it fun, and you get to connect with awesome people, but thereā€™s a colorful ā€œLaunching soonā€ graphic next to your name. Itā€™s very helpful for gaining exposure. 7. Support other hunters and makers launching alongside you. Follow and upvote them too. Weā€™re all in this together! What did you learn from your first launch?

Replies

Michael Litt
Thanks for the summary - great list and I hope the launch continues to go well!
Mick Essex
@michaellitt Thanks Michael! And btw, I love Vidyard!! Just set up my Notify me.
Ted Schaefer
Congrats Mick! 3. Agreed, I'll probably launch ~6 AM PT in the future. Just about the right time for people on the east coast, and not too late for our smaller international market. 4. Yes šŸ˜… Great points. Albert didn't do quite as well, but it was a side project after all - can't wait for my next launch!
Mick Essex
@sixbangs Thanks for the feedback Ted! We did ok, but we didn't hit our target mark of 200 upvotes on day 1. Lesson learned for next time!
Liza Karelina
Mick, hi! We are launching now! And I totally agree with you šŸ˜… Check out our helpdesk Pulsedesk with ChatGPT - https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Mick Essex
@elizakarelina Congrats Liza! Of course, you have my support
Hunted Space
Hunted Space
Launching soon!
Great takeaways, thank you so much for sharing!! We also followed most of those tips prior and during our launch last week:)
Mick Essex
@sandradjajic That's awesome, thanks for sharing Sandra!
Hirak Kocharee
Launching soon!
Congrats. Thanks for the tips.
Mick Essex
@hirak You bet! Thank you šŸ™šŸ¼
Gaurav Sharma
Thanks for sharing Mick! When you recommend explaining what is PH, is that to new people you asked for support?
Mick Essex
@grvsharma Hey Gaurav, sure, I'll explain. I wasn't a 100% sure how many of our current users were familiar with PH, so I decided to add a small "Who are they?" section. If someone ask for support on a site I'd never heard of, or used, I would be a bit skeptical. I just said this: Ever heard of Product Hunt? It's a fun site for tech-loving enthusiasts to learn about all the best new products on the market. If youā€™re not already signed up - itā€™s super easy with their one-click login. You can signup with your email, Twitter or Facebook handle. I HIGHLY recommend it. Iā€™ve found tons of useful tools for free!
Toni
Great feedback ! Thanks for sharing your insight Mick šŸ™šŸ» Launching next week, will keep those in mind. How did you explain simply what PH is in layman s terms ?
Mick Essex
@toni_pm I Thanks for replying Toni! I'll give you my exact email copy: Ever heard of Product Hunt? It's a fun site for tech-loving enthusiasts to learn about all the best new products on the market. If youā€™re not already signed up - itā€™s super easy with their one-click login. You can signup with your email, Twitter or Facebook handle. I HIGHLY recommend it. Iā€™ve found tons of useful tools for free!
Toni
@mick_essex Thanks a lot, great email šŸ™šŸ»
Paris Pateli
Xence by Gaspar AI
thanks for the tips and congrats!
Brian Hurst
Thank you for the advice! I'll be launching my product mDash (an AI-powered project management software built specifically for web development) next month and I've got the jitters about it. If anyone is interested in helping to support us, please check out our coming soon page: https://www.producthunt.com/prod... And best of luck to anyone else launching soon, too!
Brian Hurst
@mick_essex I appreciate it! Thank you!
Mick Essex
@brianhurst Jitters are totally normal Brian! I truly had a blast engaging and interacting with tons of new people. I just clicked Notify me on your product and anxious to have a look at it.
Mick Essex
@ty_holland Thanks for the comments Ty! I can't say it was a 'bad' day for launching, I just meant I think it made it more difficult to rank when launching on a really popular launch day.