Be interested in something for so long that you can't ignore it
You're going to work on a side project for weeks, maybe months. Between design, development, marketing, and iterating post-launch, you need intrinsic motivation to push through the boring parts.
My threshold: I haven't stopped thinking about this idea for at least two weeks.
Build an ongoing communication channel
Marketing is hard. But this is fundamental: you must have a way to tell people about your work.
Email lists work. They're straightforward and deliver solid results. The number represents people who are more-than-superficially interested in what you have to say.
Respect this channel. Don't abuse it.
Set a ship date (and stick to it)
A lot of people make excuses to never ship. "It's not ready. There's this one bug. It doesn't have all the features."
Three triggers that help:
- Minimum quality bar: Write out the features you need for v1. When you've checked those boxes, ship.
- Minimum content volume: For a content project, decide how much you need before launch. Front-load the work.
- A date: Pick a day and ship what you have. Having imperfect work in front of real humans provides the motivation to fix what matters.
Work with the garage door open
Talk about what you're building while you're building it. It invites interest from people who are likely to care about your project.
It's also important to bring people along for the ride. Sharing openly as you learn and iterate helps your audience build shared understanding along the way.
Create multiple launch days
Launch days are exciting but short-lived. You get that day-one spike, then things slump.
Spread your launch over multiple days by talking about the meta of your project: traffic numbers, what you learned, features you cut, what's next.
People love peeking behind the curtain.
Anticipate the long-tail visitor
Most people who visit your project won't know the context of how you arrived at the final product. The copywriting and value proposition should be clear for first-time viewers.
The secret: All of this compounds when you put the playbook into practice a few times. A growing audience, a body of work that sees long-tail traffic, and infrastructure for writing about your process will make the next project faster and easier to ship.