My Product is ready, should I wait to launch on PH?

Leena Chitnis
27 replies
Hello everyone, I've been visiting Product Hunt many times over the years, however sporadically. I may not have the level of tenure that people say one should have on this site prior to launch. However, my product is beautiful, dialed-in, ready to ship, and already receiving buzz and momentum through awards. Should I:

Replies

Leena Chitnis
The last option reads, "...and engagement on PH"
Mary Rumyantzeva, PhD
Launching could be a good opportunity to engage with potential users and ask for their support. This way, you can build the community. Furthermore, you don't necessarily need to announce the date until you are ready. Simply state that you will launch in a couple of weeks and use the time needed for launch preparation. Good luck!
Leena Chitnis
@mary_rumyantzeva The massive risk is that I launch and no one really sees it because I'm low on followers and community/engagement. There is a huge possibility of that happening - and that means I won't have any feedback. Once I launch, I can't launch again. And even if I could, I would lose credibility launching over and over again.
Mary Rumyantzeva, PhD
@chitterz, Yes, I get your point, but what I meant is you can use the launch as a reason to reach out to people you don't know yet but who would find your product useful. Some of them will follow you or click the notification button. In other words, the launch is a good way to market the product. But, of course, some marketing work should be done to get an exposure.
Leena Chitnis
@musium Instead of giving me links, please tell me here in one sentence what you do and why I should connect with you. Otherwise it feels like you don't care and comes across as if you're spamming me.
Olena Bomko
Give yourself about 3 weeks for promotion. Create a Notify me page on PH. And start engaging and promoting your launch on PH and your social media platforms. If you want to be a Product of the day/week, you need more time :)
Leena Chitnis
@olenabomko I agree with this assessment. The crazy thing is that so many people voice your sentiment but then the vast majority of the poll above shows over 70% voting for me to launch now. What's a notify me page? I wish the launch sequence on here would be more intuitive and take me through that. I set up a teaser and a launch page, but nothing more....and I've pushed my launch out to October. I'll keep pushing it out until I feel like I've got enough community...
Yannick
I think you should wait, or maybe program your launch. Because of a lack of participation or a lack of followers your product could not be displayed on the featured page and never really be visible. Be careful.
Leena Chitnis
@mho22 I agree with you 100%. I just can't figure out why everyone's saying the same thing and yet the poll above shows people voting the opposite...
Salar Davari
Launching your product without building a community first is risky. Ask your colleagues, employees, friends, etc. to use your product for a while and join you on Product Hunt. Then, when you already have some users, you can launch it on Product Hunt. Keep in mind that the more users you have on Product Hunt, the more display your product will get.
Leena Chitnis
@salar__davari Agreed 100%. But asking people to join yet another website with login credentials is like pulling teeth. They'll smile at me and say they'll do it, but won't. I know, because I've been doing such things for a long time. Can't say I blame them. Also, I don't have a tech product. I made a highly technical pet bed that's winning awards. We all own dogs here (mostly anyway) so I'm trying to appeal to all the techies on here for reasons other than app-buildling. It's tough. I'm on here every day engaging in discussions.
Yavuz Tunc Emran
The timing of your product launch should align with your overall marketing and growth strategy, taking this into account would be beneficial for your product.
Leena Chitnis
@tunc_emran I don't have any money for marketing so I can't market right now. I'm going at it the other way, building community and buzz at the grassroots, hoping to make sufficient sales to start marketing in earnest.
Brian Wadley
Maybe do a little bit of community building and maybe find a hunter but if you feel it’s not time yet then wait a bit.
Leena Chitnis
@brian_wadley1 Intrigued with this answer. I've already made my own page, and when it launches, doesn't that mean I'm the hunter? Or should I find a hunter before it launches? How do I find these elusive hunters? I want a very prominent one. But they all charge money, and I don't think it's ethical to pay them. I want a genuine hunter.
Drew_Quinn
be active mate! and schedule for it
Leena Chitnis
@cloodoworkspace Thank you! Isn't it scheduled if there is a "Launching Soon!" sticker next to my name? I have scheduled it but isn't anyone seeing this sticker?
Prem Saini
It is dangerous to launch your product on Product Hunt without an established community. It is recommended that you enlist the help of colleagues, employees, friends, and others to utilise your product and support you on Product Hunt. Having a user base before the launch might improve your product's exposure and effect on the platform. Remember that a greater initial presence on Product Hunt can lead to increased product visibility.
Leena Chitnis
@prem_saini1 I'm starting to see/understand that. Numbers-wise, what does this look like? I'm very data-oriented and want to strive for a healthy base of followers, upvotes, discussions, etc. How much of each do I need? By the way, I realize that it's a qualitative thing, not quantitative, but numbers do help optics and spur public confidence.
Simon Peter Damian
Every comments here is gold, top notch insights you'd have to pay a consultant $$$ for