HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Trade Free Subscriptions for a Site Review

Trade Free Subscriptions for a Site Review is a cold outreach tactic for getting your first users: He built a list of young startup founders and sent personalized automated emails asking them to review his site in exchange for two free months of the product; every positive reply became a guaranteed future user plus early feedback.

It's a strong fit for B2B SaaS teams, and works especially well for pre-launch or very early SaaS. As a cold outreach play, plan for medium effort and expect results to arrive at a steady pace, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

Cold outreachMedium effortMedium

Why does cold outreach work for this?

Asking for feedback rather than a sale lowers the bar to reply and converts reviewers into committed early users.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

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Sources

Works for
B2B SaaS

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Trade Free Subscriptions for a Site Review" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for B2B SaaS — pick it when your product looks like that, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Trade Free Subscriptions for a Site Review" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be medium.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

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