Ask HN: Advertising a bootstrapped startup
I did a search for this on HN before posting and didn't find anything. So if this question has been asked in the past I apologize.
My question is simple. What is the best way to advertising a startup for little to no money? Currently my startup is in the "Coming soon" stage, and taking emails from people for updates. I apologize if this isn't enough information, I'm new to this. This is my first "startup" so take it a little slow with me.
Published in 2011, this chronicle by @csouth details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Charging customers from day one acts as the ultimate filter for building software that solves genuine, high-urgency problems.
Keeping fixed overhead low and leveraging lean infrastructure allows founders to stay alive until market tailwinds kick in.
Small, repetitive improvements in customer retention and conversion rates yield massive returns over multi-year horizons.
Community Debate Themes:
The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.
CATEGORY Bootstrapping & MRR →
HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE ★ 10 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 6 comments
Networking, networking, networking... Do this at local events and meetups and do this at big industry related events. The cost at most is your travel cost and time. Getting connected helps spread the word better early on, especially if you're on a budget and can't afford paid advertising to get the word out. Word of mouth, depending on the context, is not a strategy. Pushing to your friends and family can only go so far. Go connect with people in your industry and get the word out by connecting with them on a personal level. It works out much better.
You have a nice landing page. Congrats...
Some ideas would be to get small bands/musicians signed up and spread the word to their fans or listeners. If your app is any good, the word will spread on it's own. You are better off not getting a lot of publicity before your app is real slick
YMMV, but I have found advertising with banner ads on targeted user forums gets good return for a small dollar. I always email the admin and have not used any ad placement services. It does not scale well, so eventually a transition is required.
You can find a lot of advice searching around HN as well as googling. However, you may get some really solid info. if you are able to share more details about your start up. Website/industry/revenue model - no worries if this project stealthy.