How to promote your launch: the Launching Pro playbook
Use this Launching Pro page as a checklist. Each stage has a few steps, and each step says why it matters.
In the days before launch
1. Finish the profile
Write a clear tagline, a description in your own words and the questions people ask you most. Complete your founder profile too: people like to know who is behind a product.
2. Sort out the pictures
Pick screenshots that show the main thing your product does. Keep them current and readable, and add a brief demo video if you can.
3. Plan the date
Set the date for a week you can be online, so questions get answered while people are still looking.
4. Get the word ready
Tell your users, friends and colleagues when you launch, and write your launch posts in advance so the day itself is calm.
On launch day
5. Be there to reply
Set aside time to reply. People who ask questions are interested, so answer them properly and thank them.
6. Email your list
A personal email to your users on launch day works well. Keep it short, include the link and add it to your welcome email for the week.
7. Share in the right places
Choose a few relevant communities, check their rules on self-promotion and post as yourself. Show HN is for things people can try.
8. Announce it
Share your launch where your followers already are. Pin the post, and update your bio link to the listing for the week.
Keep it honest. Votes can never be bought, each person has one, and asking for votes from borrowed or extra accounts is against the rules.
While the week runs
9. List in other launch directories
List your product in other launch directories that suit it. Check each one's terms, price and link type first.
10. Fix what people ask about
Treat the listing as a living page. Add answers to new questions and correct anything that confused people.
11. Post again with something new
Mid-week, write a short LinkedIn follow-up: what surprised you, what you are fixing next, and the link.
12. Display your launch badge
Add the badge to your site: it shows where you launched and links to your listing page.
When the week is over
13. Keep the page up to date
An old page loses trust. Update the description, pricing and images whenever your product changes.
14. Read your own data
Use your own analytics to see where sign-ups came from. Add tracking tags to the links you share so each place is counted separately.
15. Use your next milestone
Each new version is a chance to launch again. Save your relaunch for an update people will notice.
The best launch directories
Compare your options on Best Launch Directories, which lists launch directories by kind with their Domain Rating, pricing and link type.
Add-ons for launch week
You can follow every step without paying. These are the optional extras on Launching Pro, with current prices.
- Featured launch $19
7 days in the homepage's Featured spot, starting with your launch week and labelled Featured. No vote is added.
- Multi-site bundle $99
You write it once; we put it live for you on 49 other launch and discovery sites, each in its own wording, and every later edit you make is carried to all of them automatically.
- Done-for-you listing $149.99
Your listing on 49 other launch and discovery sites without lifting a finger: a separate description for each, then one email with every link.
- Homepage $49
For 7 days the Sponsored slot on the homepage shows your company, logo, tagline and a link to your website.
- Category $19
7 days as the Sponsored company at the top of your category page.
- Newsletter $29
Your company as the Sponsored entry in one weekly newsletter issue.
- Billboard from $5
The Billboard is ordered by money contributed and nothing else, with the biggest total at the top. It is kept apart from votes.
- Product review $19
Your product, reviewed in a structured way from your public website and listing, shown on your listing and labelled as commissioned by the maker. Not a vote, not a rating.
- Editorial founder feature $29
Your founder story turned into an article from your own facts and edited by one of our editors. Nothing is made up.
Prices are in US dollars; VAT is added where it is due.
Questions
- Do other launch directories help?
- A short list of well-matched directories beats a long list. Read the terms and compare price and link type for each.
- Can I ask people to vote for my launch?
- You may share it and ask for honest support. One person, one vote, no extra or borrowed accounts, and votes can never be bought.
- What timing works for sharing a launch?
- On launch day, as soon as the listing is live, and once more later in the week with an update or a lesson learnt.
- What happens after the launch?
- Keep the listing accurate, note which places worked from your analytics, and relaunch with your next big update.
Bookmark this page for your next launch. The Launching Pro help centre covers the rest. Open the help centre