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I have launched a web app a couple of days ago in closed BETA and I have been trying quite hard to contact relevant bloggers (about 12 of them now) to post/tweet about my startup and to offer BETA codes to their users.

Most haven't got back to me (its been 5 days), the one that did at least said they dont think their users would be interested which is fair enough!

So how can I get my BETA codes out there to relevant people such as Email Marketers/Web Designs/Developers as these are my primary audience?

Thanks all

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It would be great to know why I got a down vote. Apologies if this is a newbie question. – Carl Feb 25 '11 at 16:14
1  
You question is ok for me. – Ross Feb 25 '11 at 16:37

2 Answers

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  1. If you have an ad budget, even a small one, you could go to BuySellAds.com and purchase ad space on relative sites, and advertise 'now in free BETA, get your code' (or hopefully something a little catchier).

  2. I would advise you to always be building relationships with people long before you ask something like this. I know that's advice a little late now, but I once launched a product with the same method you did and got the same response. But I've launched products since then and got tons of bloggers to write about it and tweet it. Here's how I did it:

    • long before I had a product, I contacted people/bloggers in related niches and just introduced myself. Many times I would offer to promote their site or product on my own site and I asked nothing in return.

    • I paid attention to all of their sites, often retweeting their own content over Twitter, commenting on their FaceBook posts, etc. Never asked for anything in return, just tried to support them in whatever they were doing.

    • Introduced them to mutual friends who they could benefit from without any expectation of a payback.

    • When my product was ready, I contacted them all, talked about what I was doing and asked if they would provide feedback.

    • When the time came for my launch, the response was overwhelming. Bloggers and others wrote about it, tweeted about it, and gave their full support to what I was doing, without asking for anything in return.

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you are right, I should be building relationships long before asking anyone for anything. I think making use of an ad network is not a bad idea now for me. I actually know one good place to buy advertising space where my target audience tend to hang around! Thanks. :) – Carl Feb 27 '11 at 21:24
up vote 2 down vote

Presumably your startup is going to offer value to the "Email Marketers/Web Designs/Developers" you're targeting. You've thought about how to create value for them, and looked to make your offering and its presentation work for them.

But now you're not thinking about what would be valuable for the bloggers you've identified. You're just thinking, in effect,

  1. I need people to beta trial my web app
  2. You have an audience
  3. Tell them to try me out

Sure, you could strike it lucky. But more likely, you're causing annoyance. We all need to start the day reminding ourselves (courtesy of Chris Dixon), "no one cares about my stupid little start up."

So first off, you need to make your primary activity reaching out directly to your audience. Find out who's talking about the kind of problem you've set out to solve, and build conversations and relationships. Do that well and you'll be rewarded by committed triallists.

And secondly, you need to invest time in getting to know those 12 bloggers individually. How do they see the world? What's their stance in areas you know about? What are the services they promote, and why? What are the services they disparage, and why? What do you know about their readership - anything distinctive? Then you'll have a better idea about how to approach them in a way that is more than just ask.

Then, when you've got your trial group, you'll let them know about my new web app too, won't you?

No?

Exactly.

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I like the blunt approach to answering my question and you have stated nothing but facts. I really do need to invest time in getting to know people before just sending them a random email! – Carl Feb 27 '11 at 21:21

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