The Indie Hacker Marketing Roadmap: 0 to 1,000 Users

Marketing advice assumes you have a team. 'Hire a content writer.' 'A/B test your ads.' 'Build a growth team.' What if it's just you?

I built MediaFast as a solo founder. Here's the realistic marketing roadmap,no team, no budget, no BS.

Focus: Build in public + direct outreach

• Week 1: Set up Twitter, start daily building-in-public updates
• Week 2: Find 50 potential users on Reddit/Twitter. DM each personally.
• Week 3: Post first Reddit content (journey post, not pitch)
• Week 4: Launch on smaller communities (r/SaaS, r/SideProject)

Target: 100 users by end of month 1

Focus: Feedback → iteration → retention

• Talk to every user. Literally. Send personal messages.
• Identify what feature keeps people using (or what's missing)
• Get 10 passionate users, not 1,000 lukewarm ones
• Start collecting testimonials and screenshots

Target: 10 users who would be upset if you shut down

Focus: Systematic content + community presence

• Weekly Reddit content (batched on Sundays)
• SEO: Write 5 comprehensive guides on your core topics
• Product Hunt launch (aim for Thursday)
• Start referral program (simple: 'Get X free for referrals')

Target: 500 users, first paying customers

Focus: Double down on what works

• Analyze: Which channel drove actual revenue?
• Cut: Drop channels that didn't perform
• Double: Put all effort into 1-2 winning channels
• Automate: Use tools for scheduling and monitoring

Target: 1,000 users, $1K MRR

1. Reddit: Best ROI for bootstrapped founders
2. Twitter/Building in public: Brand building + accountability
3. SEO: Slow but compounds forever
4. Cold outreach: Uncomfortably effective when personalized
5. Communities: Indie Hackers, Product Hunt, Hacker News

• Paid ads (save for post-revenue)
• Podcasts (time-intensive, low conversion)
• Webinars (nobody attends anymore)
• LinkedIn (unless B2B executive audience)

Start where your users are. For most indie hackers, that's Reddit. MediaFast makes it systematic. See how I got my first 100 users.