The Biz Launches launch playbook
Below is the Biz Launches plan for a product launch: what to prepare, what to share and how to follow up afterwards.
Ahead of the launch
Complete your listing
Check every field: name, tagline, description, features, FAQs and links. A complete founder profile with a photo and a short bio makes the page feel real. Your founder profile
Add clear screenshots
Screenshots of the product in use explain more than a paragraph. Add a clean logo, and a short demo video if you have one.
Decide when to launch
Choose a week you can give some attention to. Replies and follow-ups on the first days make the difference. See the launch calendar
Prepare your posts
Write the messages you will send on the day now: a post for each place you share and a note for your mailing list.
On the day itself
Use your mailing list
Email your list with the launch link. For the week, add a line and the launch image to the welcome email new users receive.
Post where it fits
Post in communities you already take part in, as yourself and within their rules. On Hacker News, Show HN is for something people can try right away.
Keep replying
A quick, honest answer often matters more than the launch post itself. Reply to every comment and question. Your listings
Put the link out
Write one honest post about what you built and why, with the listing link. Pin it, and put the link in your bio while launch week runs.
Never chase votes from extra accounts or vote-swap groups. Each person has one vote, votes can never be bought, and real interest is what counts.
Across launch week
Share what you learnt
Follow up your launch post on LinkedIn a day later. Share a lesson, a piece of feedback or a quick improvement.
Add other directories
Spread your launch over the directories that match your product. Compare them before you pay for any of them. Find more launch directories
Edit as you learn
Read the comments again and improve the page: answers to common questions, clearer wording and current images. Edit your listing
Put the launch badge on your website
Copy the badge code into your website. Visitors who click it land on your listing page.
After the launch
Keep the listing current
Check the listing every few months and update anything that has changed, from pricing to screenshots.
Look at your analytics
After launch week, look at the numbers in your own analytics and write down what to repeat and what to drop. See the launch receipts
Relaunch later
Plan the next launch around a real change: a new version, a big feature or a milestone you can explain. Relaunch from your account
Find more launch directories
For the next places to list, see Best Launch Directories: launch platforms, startup directories and AI tool lists, each with Domain Rating, pricing and link type.
Want a hand with your launch?
The steps above cost nothing. These extras from Biz Launches are there if you want them, priced as shown.
- Featured launch $19
The Featured spot on the homepage for 7 days, from your launch week on, with a Featured label. It does not add a vote.
- Multi-site bundle $99
Write it once and we do the rest: live on the other 49 launch and discovery sites, reworded site by site, with every later edit flowing to all of them automatically.
- Done-for-you listing $149.99
49 other launch and discovery sites, set up by us, each with its own description of your product; you get one email listing every link.
- Home page sponsor $49
A 7-day run in the homepage Sponsored slot: your company name, logo, tagline and link.
- Category page sponsor $19
For 7 days your company tops your listing's category page, labelled Sponsored.
- Newsletter sponsor $29
One issue of the weekly newsletter carries your company in its Sponsored block.
- Billboard from $5
A labelled paid board: the company with the highest total contribution is at the top, and no vote is bought or moved.
- Product review $19
A structured review of your product, from your public website and listing, shown on the listing with the maker named as the one who commissioned it. No vote, no rating.
- Editorial founder feature $29
A founder article built from your own story and the facts on your listing, edited by one of our editors. Nothing is invented.
Prices are in US dollars; VAT is added where it is due.
Questions
- May I ask for votes?
- Tell people about it, yes. But one person has one vote, votes cannot be bought, and asking for votes from extra accounts is not allowed.
- When do I announce my launch?
- Share on the day your listing goes live, then post again during launch week with something new. Be around to reply on the first day.
- Should I list my product in other launch directories?
- Choose the directories that list products like yours. Compare their prices and link types first, and avoid pasting the same text everywhere.
- What next, once the week ends?
- Measure, update and plan the next one: your analytics show what worked, and a big update is the time to relaunch.
Use what fits your product and skip what does not. The Biz Launches help centre has more on each step. Open the help centre