How I Got 3000 Users in Just 5 Days for My New App?

A step-by-step guide on how it happened that you can follow

Last month, I launched MiniFigureAI.com. It turns your headshots into MiniFigures. Marketing is challenging when you don't have a large audience or distribution channels, so I was amazed by the launch response. In this post, I share the list of events that helped me find users for the app. I want to share this with others who may have similar challenges.

(Screenshot of Google analytics at peak)

1. The Idea

I found someone on X making minifigures one-by-one using ChatGPT, which was cumbersome for them. Below is a screenshot from the conversation.

I was curious about what it would take to build a one-click solution. That's how the idea for MiniFigureAI.com was born. I spent the next 12 hours building the app. If there's one thing I've learned over the past year, it's this: Building an app is step 0. Getting your app to reach users is the real start of the journey.

2. Before Launch

I talked about my app and engaged with my audience on X while I built it, not after. I shared videos of myself writing the code and the steps. The engagement was low, but I wasn’t disheartened. However, it helps you build accountability, especially when you are working alone.

3. Launch

I shared my app on various forums like Reddit, Hacker News, and X once it was ready. The audiences on each of these forums are different, so I braced for different responses and didn't take feedback personally. I'll go through these forums one by one.

a. Reddit

I posted on the OpenAI and sideprojects subreddits. The OpenAI subreddit got me the most views. Most of the comments were helpful and provided good feedback. It is important to note how you frame the subject of your post. For example, because the OpenAI subreddit focuses on OpenAI’s technologies, I shared the post with the title “I used DALLE-3 to Turn Your Headshot into a MiniFigure.” This made the post interesting for the members to learn more about the use of Dall-E 3.

b. Hacker News

Hacker News allows users to "show" their new projects, and the stories on that tab are sorted in chronological order. I received useful comments on my post, but it didn't make it to the first page of Hacker News. However, something interesting happened.

c. AI Directory

An AI directory, There's An AI for That, picked up my Hacker News post. It was featured on their front page for free for about 24 hours. For context, TAAFT typically charges $347 for submitting to their directory.

d. AI Newsletter

Around the same time, AIToolReport mentioned the app in their newsletter. This brought a ton of traffic to the site.

4. Post Launch and Next Steps

The domain's DR rating jumped from 0 to 7 in just 30 days without spending any money on SEO marketing or buying backlinks. DR stands for Domain Rating, which shows a website's authority. Traffic dropped after the launch, but I plan to use the improved DR and SEO to build steady traffic to the site.

Users have already created more than 10,000 Minifigure images of themselves, and they love it. I plan to add new features to the app in the coming weeks. If you haven’t created your MiniFigure yet, go ahead and do it for free at www.MiniFigureAI.com.

Share your MiniFigureAI experience by replying to this email or writing a comment. Share MiniFigureAI with someone who may love it.