Issue #19 - I Built It. Now What?

INTRO — “YOU DON’T GET USERS BY JUST LAUNCHING

Here’s the cold truth:

Building something is hard.

But getting anyone to care that you built it?

Way harder.

I had just finished building Time for Price, my Chrome extension that shows you product prices in terms of hours worked, not dollars. The tech worked. The deployment was solid.

Now I needed eyeballs.

But not just any eyeballs.

People who actually cared about time, money, and self-discipline.

THE PLAN: COMMUNITY-FIRST MARKETING

I didn’t have a marketing budget.

No launch email list.

No hype machine.

So I went to where I hang out online — and started there:

📍 Reddit:

• r/ynab — people obsessed with budgeting and time value

• r/microsaas — builders who get it

• r/chrome_extensions — extension lovers and feedback givers

• r/SaaS — fellow SaaS creators and indie hackers

• r/simpleliving, r/productivity, and more

📍 X (Twitter):

I started sharing:

• Behind-the-scenes dev updates

• Screenshots of the extension in action

• Personal takes on why this tool changed my shopping behavior

No spam. No sales pitch. Just real use cases.

THE HIT POST: r/ynab BLEW UP

And then it happened.

One post on r/ynab — short, honest, and paired with a screenshot — blew up.

“I Built a Chrome Extension to Show Prices in Work Hours Instead of Dollars.”

78k impressions.

Over 70 comments.

over 500 upvotes.

And most importantly…

✅ The waitlist started growing.

This was the first time I saw actual traction.

Real people signing up..

That single post proved:

If the right people see it, they’ll get it immediately.

OTHER SUBREDDITS THAT HELPED

• r/microsaas: Brought solid feedback from indie devs

• r/chrome_extensions: Useful UI critiques + install bumps

• r/SaaS: Fellow builders who shared it forward

Each subreddit had a slightly different angle — so I tailored each post accordingly. No copy-paste.

X (TWITTER): SHORT HOOKS, HARD MODE

I showed up on X with punchy, emotional hooks like:

I posted early mornings. I shared mockups. I even jumped into replies and DMs.

But let’s be honest — X is tough.

The algorithm favors the loud, the viral, or the already-famous.
Traction was slow, and discoverability? Practically a ghost town unless someone big boosts you.

Still, a few people noticed. I had real convos. I got feedback.
Not viral. But not a waste either.

Lesson learned: On X, you're not just competing for attention — you're battling invisibility.

❌ MY BIGGEST MISTAKE

While Reddit was blowing up and people were joining the waitlist...

I did nothing with them for two whole weeks.

just a welcome email.

No update.

No onboarding.

Nothing.

And that momentum?

It cooled. Fast.

By the time I sent my first email, many had already forgotten why they signed up.

I lost a golden window to turn interest into habit.

WHAT I LEARNED:

✅ What worked:

• Screenshots > links

• Posts that sounded like a realization, not a launch

• Subreddits with aligned values

• Writing for humans, not “users”

• DMs and comment convos kept it real

❌ What didn’t:

• Posting without researching subreddit rules

• Using the same copy in different communities

• Tweeting during dead hours

• Waiting too long to activate my waitlist

BUILD IT. SHOW IT. TALK TO PEOPLE.

Time for Price didn’t grow because of ads.

It grew because I showed up in the right places, with the right message.

But growth is a fragile thing.

You have to follow up.

You have to build relationships.

You have to earn trust.

One post won’t carry you.

But one real connection?

That can snowball.

✅ Marketing Takeaways:

• Reddit is 🔥 if you lead with value, not links

• r/ynab was my tipping point — find your version of that

• Tailor your voice for each community

• Collect emails — but follow up fast

• Don’t treat your first users like a stat — treat them like allies

This has been quite a journey, and I hope you enjoyed this 4 part journey.

Reply to this email and let me know what you think.

Thanks for being here. More soon.