Stop worrying about code and get that distribution channel

# Stop worrying about code and get that distribution channel
This post goes out to all full-stack developers like I am. You are one month away from launching, and you have got your heads down looking to launch that new cool shit because you believe your product will be game-changing, and you are betting that people will love it.
You are probably right. But how will people hear about your product?
>  Before you read on, I recommend you read a quick snippet about [who I am](https://giki.wiki/@nubela/whoami) before deciding if I am a reliable source.
## Build it and they will NOT come
We are not Elon Musk, so let us not believe that tweeting to our followers is going to move the needle in terms of sales. I want you to think about it. You are done with your app or web service, what do you do next?
Do you post on Reddit and Hacker news? Everyone is already doing that. Besides, your article will probably not be upvoted. Even if you can upvote anything to the front page, it will probably be taken down for spam.
#### Learn from me
I made this mistake recently with [Accountgram](https://accountgram.com). 
Accountgram is a receipt management chatbot on Telegram. 
Every SMB owner needs to manage receipts. Surely my method of managing receipts with a Telegram Chatbot will finally be the end-all solution for all SMB owners like it was with me! Naturally, I posted the website on Hacker News, wrote articles targeting keywords for SEO optimizations, posted it on Reddit and begged everyone to upvote it.
This is what happened after three weeks:
- Almost all my posts on Reddit were taken down for spam.
- Accountgram was never upvoted on Hacker News.
- I still am not ranked anywhere on Google for relevant keywords.
What I should have done instead is to have considered a distribution strategy coupled into my product roadmap.
## What the heck is a distribution strategy?
Distribution Strategy is not SEO. (SEO is a subset of distribution tactics) 
Nor is it pay-per-click (PPC) methods like Adwords or Facebook Ads.
Instead, what distribution strategy means is how are you going to reach out to a sizeable group of people on launch day, with a good chance for you to get your first 1000 users. (1000 users is a good number for a B2C product).
To get a distribution strategy, you have to have an answer to these two questions.
1. Where do they congregate? For which you can have an intimate conversation with each user with automation.
2. What can you offer so much so that they will not ignore you?
I will come up with three examples to dissect the thought process with coming up with a distribution strategy.
### Tactics
#### Github Pages as a distribution channel
Kloudsec is a CDN like Cloudflare, with a vision of building an operating system that sits on the CDN edge. But how do you get users to come on a CDN? 
I needed users who had a website, who had access to their domain and wanted something that modern CDN services do not provide. On top of that, we needed users who are savvy enough to update DNS records. Then, we needed to offer a perk that these users couldn't refuse.
Then I thought of Github Pages. At the point in time, Github pages were unencrypted http:// only, and Google started punishing sites without HTTPS. Cloudflare, the leading CDN that provided automated HTTPS SSL provisioning did not support Github Pages.
There lies our distribution channel.
Github pages needed https, pronto, so they could get ranked on Google without the HTTPS penalization.
Also, we could communicate directly with the users by posting on the issues page of their Github Page project, like this: https://github.com/certbot/certbot/issues/1748
With some crawling, we were soon able to reach out to many Github Pages, and soon we have more than a Github Pages on Kloudsec, and many more were onboarding their personal/commercial websites on Kloudsec.
Alas, Kloudsec died because we were burning through too much cash due to the massive bandwidth bill, and we were not able to monetize the product or raise money for it.
#### News as a distribution channel
A few years ago, Singapore blocked porn nationally. Men in Singapore were whining and griping on the forums about the porn firewall.
As a programmer, I wanted a VPN that was super easy to use. One-click and it's active.
Everyone was asking for VPN recommendations, but none offered a solution as a Chrome Extension. So I built one, launched it, and gave it away for free (at the start) on Hardwarezone Forums.
In the first day, Gom VPN acquired 3000+ users because Gom VPN was the easiest VPN that let you watched porn in Singapore. The VPN was called "Go away MDA". MDA is the regulatory body that blocked porn in Singapore.
This was a case of distribution-first approach, and it was replicated a few months later right after UK blocked porn. I re-released the same chrome extension by calling it "Go away Cameron". It went viral, yet again.
See:
* https://www.cnet.com/news/go-away-cameron-chrome-extension-bypasses-pms-porn-filter/
* https://www.wired.co.uk/article/go-away-cameron
* https://vulcanpost.com/3310/singaporean-creates-browser-extension-to-bypass-uk-porn-filters-puts-country-on-world-map/
#### Serial generation as a distribution channel
I built [Picturebook](https://getpicturebook.com), a chrome extension that lets you view hidden photos of anyone on Facebook. I knew I had something that most people want because humans are voyeurs.
So I had something people want, and there is an infamous local forum in Singapore known as Hardwarezone where men post pictures of women in scantily clad clothing all the time. That's a distribution channel.
I had the perfect recipe: voyeur tool for horny men. 
Let's make it more interesting. I blocked the chrome extension until they have an activation code, for which can be generated if and only if they convince another person on the forum to activate their code.
I did this because I wanted people to tell their friends about Picturebook by getting them to install it as well, and unlock their installation.
With this little tweak built in, I amplified my voice and turned the entire forum into an echo chamber of people begging for activation codes.
This is by far my favorite distribution tactic that added virality into distribution.
## Get that distribution channel
Your product needs a distribution channel. It is your first piece of data after launch on where to take the product next. Feedback and growth from your very first users will tell you if you have a viable product or not.
Lastly, if you are not able to think of a distribution strategy, do not proceed with building the product. If you build it, they will not come.

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