Look at me! 📣

Hello friends!

I hope you're enjoying this Serial Maker newsletter! If you missed any of the past editions, make sure to check them out. And if you know someone who might benefit from this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend. 😀

As makers, creatives, or engineers, self-promotion can feel way outside our realm of expertise: too sales-y... not interesting... an afterthought. But in reality, just making something is only part of the process. Watching others interacting with, using, and reacting to your work can be the most rewarding experience. So, as a maker, how can you effectively bring people to your work?

This issue is all about self-promotion 📣
 

TLDR

• Do your research to find journalists & influencers

• Provide journalists with something of value

• Use beta & feedback resources early and often

• Document your process on social media

• Prepare your press kit and blitz your launch

The Maker's Guide to Self-Promotion

All of the tools below offer a free plan. Take advantage of their free tier to prepare and launch your awesome product.
 

Social

You want a social presence. Use these tools to manage all your social media accounts.

Buffer
Generating content can be labor intensive. Write all your social posts ahead of time, and schedule them to be released regularly.

TweetDeck
Manage all of your Twitter accounts in one place. 
 

Press

Finding the right journalist to talk about your work is a challenge. Journalists are approached by vast numbers of people just like you, pitching their story. Here are a few ways to get on their radar.

HARO
Help a reporter out. HARO posts daily headlines from journalists looking for content. Subscribe to the industry that best fits your story, and look for something you may contribute to. By helping out, you can weave your own work into the story, and build a relationship with a journalist for future press.

Right Relevance
Discover influential journalists on Twitter in your industry. Join in the conversation, build a relationship, and when the time is right, pitch your own story.
 

Marketing

Build a marketing presence with your own content. Write about the process. Find the right keywords. Purchase some ads. All of this will get your work in front of eyeballs.

KickoffLabs
A super-fast way to build a marketing page for your product. 

Blog
Write about your work. Cross-post to social platforms like Medium or Dev.to. Contribute valuable content, relevant to your product, and increase your own presence in that space.

Mailchimp
Start collecting emails of people interested in your product. Send a newsletter keeping people up to date.

Google Keyword Planner
Choose the right keywords to get your ad in front of the right customers.

Facebook Ads
Advertise on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook Ads will provide the most reach for the least amount of money.
 

Beta

If you're building an app, submit it early to public beta programs. Provide your target market with early access and get feedback. All of this will inform your public launch.

BetaList
A community of makers and early adopters showcasing their startups.

PreApps
An app marketing service to promote your app to millions of targeted users.

Kickstarter
Kickstarter isn't just for crowdfunding your app. It's an excellent way to generate buzz (and to validate your idea) prior to launch.
 

Launch

Launch day is here! All your preparation has paid off. Time to tell the world that your product is out!

ProductHunt
The coolest stuff on the internet, and a great place to get feedback on your idea.

Press Kit
Put together a press kit, and make it easy for others to promote your product.

Email Journalists
Time to send your pitch to all the influencers you found in your pre-launch prep.

Reddit
Find relevant subreddits and post your work there. Some great maker subreddits are r/sideproject and r/apps.

Show Hacker News
Submit what you built to Hacker News, and let the tech community discuss.


Thanks for reading! 🙌

Hit reply to tell me what you're making. I'm looking for anyone interested in talking about their own side-projects and maker journey, so speak up if you'd like to appear in Serial Maker. I'd also love to know what you thought of this issue, and what you want to hear about in the future.

Until next week,

Craig