Yuan's Blog
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A Systematic Methodology for Growth from 0 to 1

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAmYYzStt8k

Indie Hacker: A community forum for independent developers Medium: A platform highly tailored for founders building in public

Product Launch

Purpose: Beyond Product Sales

  • Product validation
  • The start of a strong reputation
  • Building momentum for future growth

Website and Assets

  • Domain
    • Recommended: .com, .ai, .pro, .io
  • Basic SEO
  • Copywriting & Design
  • Product Demo Video
  • Analytics
  • Supporting materials: screenshots, product story, etc.

Channels

Early Growth

Channel Selection

  • Validation, confidence, quick feedback → Paid ads
  • Viral exposure → Social media
  • Stable, long-term growth → SEO
  • High ticket, precise targeting, low cost → Niche communities & DMs
  • Early-stage, low-cost marketing → Reply marketing (tool: replyhunt.ai)
  • Other channels → PR, affiliate, email marketing, etc.

SEO

Features

  • Controlled cost, long-term value, and defensible moat
  • Many “mystical” methods online — be cautious

My Approach

  • Build foundational authority first, then focus on quality content
  • Avoid aggressive backlink strategies
  • Let your content spread naturally and earn organic backlinks
  • The goal of your content is to solve user problems
  • Don’t obsess over session duration or page views
  • Make your website the final stop for the user’s search

Content Building

  • High-quality articles: written by founders or the core team
  • Keyword-targeted articles: volume matters, but keep quality high
  • Stay authentic — avoid misleading or fake content
  • AI-generated content: likely to face stricter review
    • Prefer human writing with AI assistance
    • Use AI detection tools: zerogpt.com

PSEO (Programmatic SEO)

  • PSEO ≠ low-quality content — the key is solving real user problems
  • Ask yourself: can your product automatically generate helpful content for users?

Tool Marketing

  • Must align with your site’s expertise and search intent
  • Great examples:
    • Ahrefs → free site authority checker tool
    • Semrush → professional SEO tools
  • Free tools are great for influencer promotion; KOLs can share invite links as a “win-win” for their audience
  • Startups can build multiple tools using the same codebase
  • Usually only consider Meta, Google, and TikTok
  • For iOS apps → target developed countries
  • For Android apps → target developing countries to earn ad revenue
  • General rule:
    • Android apps → focus on Google Ads
    • iOS apps → focus on Facebook Ads

KOL Marketing

  • Product features must be suitable for influencer demonstration
  • The stronger the platform’s recommendation algorithm, the less you need top-tier KOLs — and vice versa
  • Most KOL tools are mediocre; the cost is often higher than expected

Reddit

  • High traffic and effective — but requires skilled operation and account credibility
  • Demands 1–2 months of preparation for content and accounts
  • Managing multiple accounts can be challenging

Build in Public (Twitter, Reddit, Medium, etc.)

  • Requires the founder’s willingness and transparency
  • On Twitter, early follower growth can come from replying to others
  • Medium allows for submissions and reposting
  • One piece of content can be repurposed across multiple platforms

Other Platforms

  • LinkedIn: Great for DM outreach — highly targeted with good reply rates
  • Discord: Popular among younger and AI-focused communities
  • Telegram: Strong in crypto, Africa, and Latin America — potential for mini-apps and ad networks