It's there. It feels great to have shipped. It's my own creation on my own time. It's mine. I'm proud. But, now what? How do I get people to use it? I've implemented all the best practices for viral growth via social sharing. How do I get the initial 100 users? 1000 users? How do I get it written about in the big blogs, publications, etc.? Bonus question: If the answer is different for mobile apps, what about for those?<p>* I left out the url on purpose. I want to spur a discussion on best practices <i>after</i> releasing.
Best way to promote your web app:
<a href="http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=341138" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=341138</a><p>Getting PR for your startup:
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/8/jason-calacanis-on-how-to-get-pr-for-your-startup-fire-your-pr-company" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/8/jason-calacanis-on-how...</a><p>Preparing for launch:
<a href="http://blogs.balsamiq.com/product/2008/04/18/preparing-for-launch/" rel="nofollow">http://blogs.balsamiq.com/product/2008/04/18/preparing-for-l...</a><p>Startup marketing advice:
<a href="http://blogs.balsamiq.com/product/2008/08/05/startup-marketing-advice-from-balsamiq-studios/" rel="nofollow">http://blogs.balsamiq.com/product/2008/08/05/startup-marketi...</a>
Submit to the good directories. Killer Startups, FeedMyApp, and probably a few more I can't remember. They'll give you a few hundred visitors for relatively little effort.<p>Get involved with local events. Things like demos and barcamps can be quite valuable. Doesn't matter how small - someone is listening and might write about it. Plus, you get some solid feedback and possibly a lead or two.<p>Use AdWords if you can make the math work.<p>If you have a market that will oblige, cold calling bloggers will get some links. This is tough with technical products, but can be very productive with a less web-savvy audience. (If someone knows how to get tech/development blogs to pay attention, please let me know - we're a tough nut to crack).<p>If you want to hit the BIG blogs/media outlets, hire a good PR guy with connections to those blogs. It does work, but costs a fortune.<p>SEOMoz and Hubspot (among others) have some pretty nice SEO tools that will help drive the content you need to write and the links you need to target. Expect a multi-thousand dollar investment here, though.<p>Find trade groups and tell their members about your product.<p>Then you just do it over and over. Think opportunistically, and be patient. Just before it starts working, you will probably want to quit. Don't.