Hi, I'm on the verge of releasing my first hobby app that I think would have users apart from myself. Any tips for making a good launch?
- How do I stop fighting the urge to delay my release until I fix problem A or add feature B?
- What platforms should I promote to? DEV #showcase, indiehackers, product hunt, Reddit...
- How should I take criticism?
- Do I need a super good looking landing page or will the app speak for itself?
- If I'm launching it free for now, does it look bad if I try to monetize it later?
Hi Matthew, I'm in the same situation. I spent a few days working on the MVP and when it was 80% ready I published it.
It will never be perfect and you will never be finished. Just do it :)
Start with friends and family and ask them for feedback, if you haven't done so already. After that I would start with 1 platform, where you have a following and see what kind of feedback you get. I just shared my project on DEV a few days ago asking for feedback and got a lot of very valuable comments from the community.
Ignore the jerks and trolls. Reply to everybody else. Consider the criticism and either build it in or if it doesn't fit, reply why it doesn't.
You should have at least some kind of front page to welcome users. It doesn't have to be super long, my landing page is a one pager with a heading, a tagline and 1 or 2 sentences.
If you are open about it, it shouldn't be a problem. Will you make it freemium or go from free to paid for all?
Good luck :)