Starting indie hacking from scratch with 0 following
If you can't get someone to like your post or follow you on social media, how can you convince them to swipe their credit card?
Hagfish is live 🚀
Hey indie hacker, it’s been a while I wrote to you and that’s because I have been busy working on Hagfish which just launched today 🥳.
If you send up to 5 invoices per month, you should go try out Hagfish with a 60% off any plan with this discount code GYMDG3NQ.
P.S: The discount code can only be used in March, 2024.
Alright, let’s dive into today’s issue…
I often come across variations of the below question:
"If you're a programmer starting from scratch with no following, how would you approach indie hacking?"
I think the above question comes from a place of overly emphasising building the product and having less emphasis on marketing, sales, and, distributions.
Let’s be honest, the best product is not the one with the best engineering, its the one with the best engineering that you know about.
Marketing matters a lot for big companies, but it's even more crucial for indie hackers like you.
People want shortcuts to decide what and who to buy from. So, good marketing helps you stand out and attracts customers, which is super important for indie hackers that want to succeed.
One of those shortcuts comes from a place of trusting the person building the product.
So here is what you should do when starting out indie hacking with 0 following 👇🏾
Get a following 🤷🏾♂️
Perhaps it’s not the solution you hoped for but the idea is quite simple: get a following.
If you can't get someone to like your post or follow you on social media, how can you convince them to swipe their credit card?
To quote Ben Orenstein of Tuple in his Laracon US 2023 talk:
…If you can't get 25 likes on your tweet, you're probably not great at marketing…
As I have mentioned a couple of times on the internet; programming is not the most important skill when it comes to indie hacking.
Your most important skill is the ability to solve problems and make money from that solution.
You see, getting a following is signal to how good your marketing(persuasion) chops are.
Marketing often receives criticism, but in my view, if you've created something that you know people need, you have a moral obligation to inform them of how your creation solves their problems. That's what marketing means for the indie hacker.
Think of your social media posts as offering something valuable for free—whether it's an idea, a tip, or something else. If you can't effectively 'sell' this free offering and still gain followers, it might be challenging to convince anyone to spend money on your products or services later on.
The game is give, give, give… then ask.
I recall the earnest beginnings of my indie hacking journey, steadily growing my Twitter(X) following from 500+ to now 18,000+ within just a year.
My strategy revolved around consistently delivering value without immediately asking for anything in return.
What I've discovered is that many rush to sell without first earning social currency through giving value in their posts.
When cultivating your audience, resist the urge to push sales too soon. Instead, focus on building trust by consistently providing value and authentically engaging with your audience.
Remember, authenticity and relatability are key to fostering lasting connections.
Be consistent
I can’t stress this enough because most people quit three feat from gold.
One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another. - Napoleon Hill
Before you quit on growing your audience and blaming the “algorithm”, take the Rockefeller test as coined by Ben Wilson 👇🏾
If you have clarity on your goals and you know this is what you really want, ask yourself "Have I failed about twice as much as any reasonable person could possibly expect?"
Only then think about doing something different.
Marketing is part of your journey
Remember, mastering the art of marketing yourself and your product is an integral part of your indie hacking journey.
Don't overlook it; instead, embrace it as a crucial aspect of the process.
Learn from those you admire who have excelled in this.
Take proactive steps, experiment with different approaches, analyse the outcomes, and adapt as needed if you're not achieving your desired results within a reasonable timeframe.
Happy indie hacking!