This is a lesson I have learned the hard way... You should know the answer this question before you start work on anything. If you're having trouble figuring out who your product is for, or how you're going to get in touch with prospects in an affordable way, you may have picked the wrong thing to work on.

That said, it's definitely possible to recover from being in this position. It can just take a long time.

Sites that are relevant to your audience. Don't prioritize "startup" sites over industry-specific sites.

This is super hard and there is no great answer. I've never met anyone who's had good luck with places like Betalist. (Though "Show HN" can work.)

Realistically you are going to be tracking down your first 100 users yourself manually. Figure out who among your friends is a good fit and bug them. Then ask all your other friends who they know who'd be a good fit. If they don't click, follow up and ask why. If they click but then don't come back, follow up and ask why. If they become an active user, you are about to become best friends, always talking about what they like and why.

You're going to feel like a mooch for a while -- like you're always asking your contacts for things and not giving back. This is normal.

Also, this thread is on the front page, so post a link. Quick -- an opportunity!

I'm currently working on http://headlinr.com/

It's supposed to be a billboard for startup and product launches.

I pushed it out about three weeks ago, it's picking up some pretty good traffic so far.

I plan on expanding it into something more, something that actually gets you your initial user-base.

My best tools for getting beta users when I was kicking around Draft as an idea:

1) Build your own audience through teaching. Stop looking for the one time hit. The odds your startup/project is going to last the long term are probably low, and if you move onto the next thing, you'll be in the same spot. Start trying to build an audience around you of people and students who share your world views, and build stuff for them. Blog, write articles, do webcasts, talk at one of the many co-working spaces that look for speakers now.

Many people reading this are saying "But I don't know anything to teach." That's ridiculous. You just learned something last week that someone still doesn't know. I was teaching an entire Freshman Chemistry class as a Senior. There were juniors doing it. Sure, I took the class myself, but I didn't think I knew it well enough to even teach them. But I did the work to prepare, and teaching made me learn it backwards and forwards. Teaching isn't just good for the student; it's good for you.

"What is obvious to you is obvious to you" -John Medina (author of BabyBrainRules).

There is so much you know that someone else would love to acquire.

2) User testing. Get some beta testers simply by paying some people to use your app. (Read: Don't Make Me Think) I got some early folks on Usertesting.com. They were invaluable in finding problems and providing feedback in way you just don't get from some comments on a forum or thread about your product.

3) Go do some volunteer/non-profit work for 2 hours a week. Join something that has a big group of people you can help out and commit to for awhile. You'll quickly find when you start working for groups have a cause much bigger than you, you make a lot of new friends. And when you help them out, they love helping you out. You'll have these new groups to reach out to kick around new ideas. And they are the first ones spreading your stuff. Even better if you can find some groups to help with stuff you are building, but definitely not required to get some great benefits.

If B2B, decide on a few target verticals. Verticals that post email addresses to websites would help you get started easily, else get creative with linked in and google to find emails.

Then create an email campaign using something like Toutapp.com to email these people telling them you'd like their opinion on a tool that does x for their needs.

If consumer, try the same thing with facebook or similar.

Hmm. It seems to me, that if you answer such a question, then you do not know who your users are. And this is not good for your startup. Because you have to know your users to be able to fix problems worth fixing. So try ask another question. Who are my users? And what actual problem I want to fix for them? Then, I think, you will be able to find a way to them.

Once you're no longer closed beta Museum of Modern Beta's is another option: http://momb.socio-kybernetics.net/

Technology showcases also work, like e.g. builtwithbackbonejs.com

Where do your customers hang out online? If your customers are “everyone”, pick a narrower group to start with that you can target more directly, and then once you get traction there, expand to other groups.

I had my last product on the front page for a while. Show HN can be a good source of traffic, but it was quite useless for getting users, or even quality feedback.

I suggest you look for niches in your industry.

You don't appear to have a link to it from your profile?

Startup Buffer: http://startupbuffer.com Disclaimer: I am built that.

http://startupli.st is one I often look at.

Are the people who use "betalist" and HN in your product's target market?

Contact non-profits directly and offer them a free beta account. It worked for us.

Centercode is a good, for-pay beta service provider. (Centercode.com)

producthunt.co

By picking up the phone