HN Explorer

Ask YC: How do I promote a web app to bloggers?

22 points by samson ↗ HN
I created a simple web app (Mytipnetwork.com) that lets a blogger create a page where their readers can tip them off to interesting stories, images or clips that they find on the web.

example page http://www.mytipnetwork.com/n.php?site=adtoferlnn

It works pretty simply you add a tipbox image to your page that tells you and your readers how many tips you've recieved today from them. And you can respond back by saying what you got tipped by(meaning heard for the first time and/or found interesting)

As a tool, what I thought it might achieve is help bloggers get inspired to their next blog post by their readers.

Problem is I don't have a blog, I don't have friends who are bloggers, and my only available currency towards promotion is time and energy.

14 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 54.1 ms ] thread
jgrahamc
How is this better than having a public email address? How will you prevent spam?
thorax
Well, we run into a similar consideration with our feedback widget we recently released on featurelist.org: http://featurelist.org/info/features

It won't always remain so, but at the moment, the average spambot isn't processing javascript or iframe content to populate spam forms. For now it seems the spammers are content to submit to open/typical HTML forms.

To compare some of the spam levels we get on our site bug.gd:

* We have open email addresses on our site. These are spammed insanely.

* We have a feedback widget (powered by featurelist). This has never been spammed and is getting us great user data.

* We have basic HTML search forms, comment forms, and solution forms. These are spammed 10 or more times a day.

* Our blog comments receive a good bit of spam each week.

All in all, widgets are pretty resistant at the moment. (Please no one here start a company to do this. Of course someone will.)

Readmore
"Problem is I don't have a blog, I don't have friends who are bloggers"

I think the first thing you would need to do is start a blog. It's the whole 'eat your own dogfood' thing. If you had a blog you could do linking agreements with other bloggers to spread the word, and you would be able to better test your service.

mrtron
Upmod * 10 if I could

If you don't have a blog, or know any bloggers, how do you know this app solves a need?

Dogfood it!

samson
Thats an honest question. And I won't deny that I fall into that category. I guess since I read a ton of blogs, I made from the point of view of a reader who might like to interact with bloggers in a fashion different them email thats more open. Aswell I thought in the fashion of opennes seeing other people tipping off their blogger to stories and getting responses might encourage me to share tips as well.
Readmore
I think that's a great viewpoint to take however if you're going to now sell bloggers on this idea you need to also share their viewpoint on the product.
tx
How many fake "blogs" will this world be able to absorb? And you're advising him to start another one. Do you remember what the word (and a thing) really means?

Lets face it, todays "blogs" are nothing but little PR agencies, and your advice really reads as "start your own PR firm".

Get real, running a successful "blog" is equally hard to running a successful business, and he already trying to run one. Starting a real blog is easy: you just write what's on your mind, but those blogs have nothing to do with business and usually have an audience of 10-12 friends and family members.

SwellJoe
I think this is really the wrong way to think about blogs in the context of your startup. Sure, you could make yet another useless blog to brag about your startup...or you could make a blog that provides useful information in your field, thus proving your expertise and spreading around good will that's bound to come back your way. You obviously shouldn't create another useless blog about your product, and no one is suggesting you should (at least, I hope no one here at news.YC is).

Wufoo gets a significant portion of their traffic from their (excellent) blog. 37signals got pretty much all of their initial uptake from people who read their blog. Not because they talk about how awesome their product is...but because they help people learn new things, solve problems, and enjoy their time on the web a little more.

If you want to call a blog a "PR firm", that's fine. Most of us are doing our own PR, as well, and if blogging fits into that line item on your budget, that's fine. The OP wants to take advantage of blogs without blogging, and people are telling him that it doesn't work that way. Nothing you've said counters that advice.

Readmore
If someone was trying to sell you a new type of car would you want him to know how to drive? Or would it be sufficient if he just thought he knew how cars worked?

The question was specifically about getting the word out to bloggers I don't see any better way to do that than to BE a blogger and reach out to the audience. It also just so happens that being a blogger will make it easier to test out his app and see what is and isn't good.

fourlittlebees
So along the lines of Skribit and Outbrain?
samson
not quite the same, but I can see some similarities with skribit
hendler
http://shareit.com consolidates submissions to social bookmarking. http://mashable.com is a popular web 2.0 news site.

Develop a "press release" and submit it to all the valley news sites you can... including here.

samson
Thanks hendler, I'll try that
staunch
Feel free to post in their comments (when appropriate) and send them email. There's nothing wrong with being upfront about it. Just make sure that you're not in any way obnoxious about it and no one will mind.