ph-community-outreach

---
name: ph-community-outreach
description: Engage Reddit, Indie Hackers, Hacker News and other communities for Product Hunt launches. Use this skill to identify relevant communities, craft appropriate posts, and drive cross-platform engagement without appearing spammy.
---

# Product Hunt Community Outreach

## Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: `strategy/brand.md` for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; `about/me.md` for personal voice; `content/ideas.md` and `content/calendar.md` for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to `content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md`, and route durable learnings back to `strategy/brand.md`, `about/me.md`, or `content/ideas.md`.

## Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.



This skill helps you leverage online communities to amplify your Product Hunt launch while maintaining authenticity and following community guidelines.

## When to Use This Skill

- Identifying communities relevant to your product
- Crafting community-appropriate posts
- Timing cross-platform promotion
- Building relationships before launch
- Avoiding spam flags and bans

## The Golden Rules

### Rule 1: Be a Member First
- Participate for 2-4 weeks before launch
- Add value through comments and discussions
- Build karma/reputation organically
- Never cold-post your launch

### Rule 2: Provide Value, Not Just Promotion
- Share learnings, not just links
- Answer questions in your domain
- Help others with their launches
- Make posts interesting standalone

### Rule 3: Follow Each Community's Rules
- Read sidebar/rules before posting
- Check if self-promotion is allowed
- Note any format requirements
- Respect moderators

## Platform-by-Platform Guide

### Reddit

#### Relevant Subreddits

**General Startup/Product:**
- r/SideProject (253k) - Very friendly to makers
- r/startups (960k) - Broader startup discussion
- r/Entrepreneur (2.4M) - Business-focused
- r/smallbusiness (1.3M) - SMB audience
- r/InternetIsBeautiful (17M) - Cool web things

**Tech/Development:**
- r/webdev (1.7M) - Web development
- r/programming (5.6M) - General programming
- r/learnprogramming (3.5M) - Beginners
- r/opensource (400k) - Open source projects
- r/selfhosted (280k) - Self-hosted solutions

**Specific Niches:**
- r/SaaS (44k) - SaaS products
- r/nocode (120k) - No-code tools
- r/artificial (1.4M) - AI products
- r/productivity (1.1M) - Productivity tools
- r/design (470k) - Design tools

**Product Hunt Specific:**
- r/ProductHunters (small but targeted)

#### Reddit Posting Strategy

**Pre-Launch (2-4 weeks before):**
1. Join relevant subreddits
2. Comment helpfully on 10-20 posts
3. Build karma organically
4. Observe what content works

**Launch Day Post Template:**
```
Title: I built [Product] to solve [specific problem] -
       launching on Product Hunt today

Hey r/[subreddit]!

After [X months] of building, I'm finally launching
[Product] on Product Hunt today.

**The Problem:**
[2-3 sentences about the problem]

**What I Built:**
[2-3 sentences about your solution]

**What Makes It Different:**
[Your unique angle]

**Current Status:**
- [Key metric or milestone]
- [Another relevant detail]

**Looking For:**
- Honest feedback on the concept
- Suggestions for improvement
- [Specific question for community]

Product Hunt link: [URL]

Happy to answer any questions about the build,
the tech stack, or the journey!
```

#### Reddit Best Practices
- ✓ Post during active hours (9 AM - 5 PM local)
- ✓ Respond to every comment
- ✓ Be humble and open to criticism
- ✓ Share actual value/learnings
- ✓ Use authentic language

#### Reddit Avoid
- ❌ Posting in 10+ subreddits at once (spam)
- ❌ Using the same text everywhere
- ❌ Just dropping a link
- ❌ Ignoring negative feedback
- ❌ Posting in large subreddits without karma

---

### Indie Hackers

#### Why Indie Hackers Works
- Community of makers/founders
- Celebrate launches and milestones
- Value transparency and learning
- Often reciprocal support

#### Indie Hackers Post Template
```
Title: Just launched [Product] on Product Hunt -
       here's what I learned building it

Hey IH community!

Today I launched [Product] on Product Hunt and wanted
to share the journey.

**📝 The Backstory**
[How you got the idea, why you built it]

**🔨 What I Built**
[Product] is [description]. It helps [audience]
[achieve outcome].

**📊 Key Numbers**
- Time to build: [X months]
- Lines of code: [X] (or tech stack)
- Beta users before launch: [X]
- Current MRR: [X or "pre-revenue"]

**💡 Lessons Learned**
1. [Key lesson]
2. [Key lesson]
3. [Key lesson]

**🎯 What's Next**
[Your roadmap or next steps]

**🙏 The Ask**
Would love feedback from this community:
- [Specific question]
- [Specific question]

Product Hunt: [Link]
Website: [Link]

AMA about the build!
```

#### Indie Hackers Best Practices
- ✓ Share real numbers (transparency wins)
- ✓ Focus on the journey, not just the product
- ✓ Engage with other launches too
- ✓ Join relevant IH groups
- ✓ Follow up with results post

---

### Hacker News

#### Hacker News Reality Check
- Very high bar for quality
- Community can be harsh
- Not for every product
- Best for: Dev tools, technical products, novel tech

#### HN Post Strategy

**Show HN Format:**
```
Title: Show HN: [Product Name] – [Brief description]

[Link to product]

Then in comments, add context:

Hey HN! I built [Product] because [reason].

Technical details:
- Built with [tech stack]
- [Interesting technical challenge]
- [Performance/scale info]

I'd appreciate any feedback, especially on:
- [Technical question]
- [UX question]

Happy to discuss the implementation!
```

#### HN Best Practices
- ✓ Technical substance required
- ✓ Be ready for tough questions
- ✓ Respond thoughtfully to criticism
- ✓ Don't ask for upvotes (ever)
- ✓ Time it well (morning US)

#### HN Avoid
- ❌ Marketing speak
- ❌ "AI-powered" without substance
- ❌ Voting rings (will get you banned)
- ❌ Complaining about downvotes

---

### Other Communities

#### Discord Servers
- Find servers related to your niche
- Participate genuinely first
- Check if #self-promotion channels exist
- Don't DM spam

#### Slack Communities
- Many industries have Slack groups
- Similar rules as Discord
- Often more professional

#### Facebook Groups
- Still relevant for certain niches
- B2B groups can be valuable
- Follow group rules strictly

#### Product-Specific Communities
- Dev.to (developers)
- Hashnode (developers)
- Lobste.rs (tech)
- Designer News (designers)
- Growth Hackers (marketing)

## Timing Strategy

### Pre-Launch (2-4 weeks)
- [ ] Join all relevant communities
- [ ] Comment on 20+ posts
- [ ] Build relationships
- [ ] Save posts where you can share later

### Launch Week
- [ ] Soft mentions in comments
- [ ] Help others, mention your launch naturally
- [ ] Prepare posts for each platform

### Launch Day
- [ ] Space out community posts (not all at once)
- [ ] Different post for each community
- [ ] Monitor and respond quickly

### Post-Launch
- [ ] Share results and learnings
- [ ] Thank communities
- [ ] Continue participating

## Community Post Checklist

### Before Posting
- [ ] Am I a recognized member of this community?
- [ ] Have I read the rules?
- [ ] Is self-promotion allowed?
- [ ] Does my post provide value beyond promotion?
- [ ] Is my post format appropriate?

### After Posting
- [ ] Monitoring for comments
- [ ] Responding to all feedback
- [ ] Thanking people for support
- [ ] Not getting defensive about criticism

## Output Format

```
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PLAN FOR: [Product Name]

TARGET COMMUNITIES:

1. Reddit
   Subreddits: [List with member counts]
   Pre-launch activity: [Status]
   Post timing: [When]

2. Indie Hackers
   Groups: [Relevant groups]
   Pre-launch activity: [Status]
   Post timing: [When]

3. Hacker News
   Suitable: [Yes/No and why]
   Post timing: [When]

4. Other
   [List other communities]

POSTING SCHEDULE:
- [Time]: [Platform] - [Subreddit/community]
- [Time]: [Platform] - [Subreddit/community]
- [Time]: [Platform] - [Subreddit/community]

PRE-LAUNCH CHECKLIST:
- [ ] [Community]: [X] comments, [X] karma
- [ ] [Community]: [Status]
- [ ] [Community]: [Status]

POST DRAFTS:
[Include customized drafts for each community]
```