# 6-week launch calendar The full sequence, in order, with the work and the dependencies. **You cannot compress this** — the pre-launch work is what makes the launch day work, and the post-launch follow-up is what makes the launch compound. --- ## Week -6 (six weeks before launch) **Goal:** prep the launch assets, line up the press, set the metrics baseline. - [ ] Confirm the catalogue is the size you want it at launch (currently 1,424 tools; can go higher if you want to time the launch with a milestone) - [ ] Write the Show HN post (draft is at `show-hn.md`); get 3-5 people to read it and tell you what\'s wrong - [ ] Write the 3 subreddit posts (drafts are at `reddit-r-selfhosted.md`); same review - [ ] Write the Product Hunt post (draft at `product-hunt.md`); same review - [ ] Write the X/Bluesky thread (draft at `x-thread.md`); same review - [ ] Write the press-pitch email (draft at `press-pitch.md`); same review - [ ] Identify 5-10 journalists to pitch (customise the journalist list in `press-pitch.md` for your actual targets) - [ ] Set up the INCOME.md measurement block — add the 5 launch metrics (HN points, PH upvotes, GitHub stars, referral traffic, AI citations) so you have a place to record the numbers - [ ] Take baseline screenshots of every page so you can spot regressions after launch **Time:** ~10 hours --- ## Week -5 (five weeks before) **Goal:** soft-launch the press pitches, get early feedback, write any missing content. - [ ] Send the press-pitch email to 2-3 warm contacts (people you know or have a prior relationship with) - [ ] If any respond, do a 15-minute call and write down the questions they actually ask — these are the questions the public will ask - [ ] Use those questions to refine the Show HN body and the PH maker comment - [ ] Make sure the 12 definitive guides are linked from the home page (they are; verify) - [ ] Make sure the 12 guides have FAQ + Article JSON-LD (they do; verify with a Google Rich Results test) - [ ] Add any tools you\'ve been meaning to add (no more than 10 in this window; the launch should not be a "we just added 50 tools" surprise) **Time:** ~5 hours --- ## Week -4 (four weeks before) **Goal:** submit the Show HN post *date* (lock it in), get a hunter lined up for PH, prep the embeds. - [ ] Pick the Show HN launch day (Tuesday is best; avoid US holidays, product launches from bigger companies, and any day with a major tech event) - [ ] Pick the PH launch day (2-3 days after HN, so the launch energy carries over) - [ ] Ask a maker-friend with a 100+ PH follower count to hunt the PH post - [ ] Create 3-4 "embed examples" — sample pages that show how to embed a tool (a non-profit use case, a school use case, a personal-blog use case) - [ ] Set up a simple "press kit" page if you don\'t have one — the press page on the site (https://www.themostusefulsiteintheworld.com/press.html) is the canonical one; verify it has the factsheet, the 3 story angles, and the contact **Time:** ~4 hours --- ## Week -3 (three weeks before) **Goal:** prep the social posts, write the launch blog post, plan the pre-launch engagement. - [ ] Write the launch blog post (the one that says "we just launched the marketing site"; the post is internal-facing but is also a signal to AI engines that the site has been *recently* updated) - [ ] Schedule 5-10 genuine community comments on HN/Reddit in the *target subreddits* in the 3 weeks before launch. Don\'t promote; just be a useful participant. This is the "warm up the audience" step. - [ ] Identify the 3-5 "first-hour supporters" — friends or colleagues who will comment, upvote, and engage in the first hour of the launch. Brief them: "comment with something substantive about the site, not just a generic +1." - [ ] If you\'re going to run a small paid campaign (you said you wouldn\'t; the no-display-ads commitment is in AGENTS.md), this is the week to do it. Skip if you\'re honouring the no-paid-ads commitment. **Time:** ~6 hours --- ## Week -2 (two weeks before) **Goal:** prep the embed examples, prep the press follow-ups, set the launch-day alarm. - [ ] Publish the 3-4 embed examples (in /blog/ or as separate HTML pages) - [ ] Follow up with any journalists who responded to the soft-launch pitches - [ ] Set the launch-day alarm (Tuesday, 08:00 ET, for the Show HN post at 09:00 ET) - [ ] Re-read every launch asset one final time - [ ] Have a friend who hasn\'t seen the site try to find the mortgage calculator without using the search bar (this is the single best test of the home page) **Time:** ~4 hours --- ## Week -1 (one week before) **Goal:** soft-launch the embed examples, set the launch-day logistics. - [ ] Send the embed examples to the relevant communities (a non-profit mailing list, a school mailing list, a maker mailing list — depending on which example) - [ ] Re-test the embed snippets in a fresh browser (incognito) - [ ] Re-test the home page in 4 different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) - [ ] Re-test the home page on a phone - [ ] Pre-write the "first hour" PH maker comment (the draft in product-hunt.md is the one) - [ ] Pre-write the "first hour" Show HN first comment (the draft in show-hn.md is the one) - [ ] Pre-write the 8-tweet X thread (the draft in x-thread.md is the one) **Time:** ~5 hours --- ## Launch day (Tuesday, 09:00 ET) **Goal:** ship the Show HN post, hold the thread, follow up. ### Morning (08:00-12:00 ET) - [ ] 08:00 — final checks: home page loads, embed page loads, donate page loads, /llms.txt loads, sitemap.xml loads - [ ] 09:00 — submit the Show HN post (`show-hn.md`) - [ ] 09:01 — post the first comment (the author intro in `show-hn.md`) - [ ] 09:30 — check the first 10 comments; reply to every one - [ ] 10:00 — post the X thread (`x-thread.md`) if the HN post is gaining traction - [ ] 11:00 — check the post is still on the front page; if it is, hold the line; if it isn\'t, post the r/SideProject post as a backup ### Afternoon (12:00-17:00 ET) - [ ] 12:00 — second check of the HN post; reply to every comment - [ ] 14:00 — if HN is going well, post the daily.dev post (`daily-dev.md`) - [ ] 15:00 — follow up with the press-pitch email to 2-3 more journalists (the ones you held back from the soft-launch) - [ ] 16:00 — third check of the HN post ### Evening (17:00-22:00 ET) - [ ] 17:00 — final HN check; if the post is at 50+ points, do a "thank you" maker comment - [ ] 18:00 — start drafting the post-launch blog post ("we just launched the marketing site, here\'s what we learned in the first 8 hours") - [ ] 20:00 — post the post-launch blog post - [ ] 21:00 — record the day-1 numbers in INCOME.md **Time on launch day:** ~6 hours of active engagement (not all at once; spread it out) --- ## Day +2 (Thursday) **Goal:** launch the Product Hunt post, follow up on press, post the Reddit posts. - [ ] 00:01 PT (03:01 ET, 08:01 UK) — submit the Product Hunt post (`product-hunt.md`) - [ ] 00:02 PT — post the first PH maker comment - [ ] Post the 3 Reddit posts (r/SideProject first, then r/selfhosted, then r/programming, 4-6 hours apart) - [ ] Follow up with any journalists who haven\'t responded - [ ] Record the day-2 numbers in INCOME.md **Time:** ~4 hours of active engagement --- ## Day +3 (Friday) **Goal:** follow up on the post-launch engagement, send the final press follow-ups. - [ ] Reply to any new PH comments (PH\'s algorithm weights day-2 engagement) - [ ] Reply to any new Reddit comments - [ ] Send the final press follow-up (one polite "bumping this in case it got buried" email to any journalist who hasn\'t responded) - [ ] Record the day-3 numbers in INCOME.md **Time:** ~2 hours --- ## Day +7 (one week after) **Goal:** record the week-1 numbers, write the retro, plan week +2. - [ ] Record the full week-1 numbers in INCOME.md: - HN points, comments, peak rank, referral traffic - PH upvotes, comments, day-rank, follower gain, referral traffic - r/SideProject / r/selfhosted / r/programming upvotes, comments, referral traffic - daily.dev upvotes, comments, referral traffic - X impressions, engagements, referral traffic - GitHub stars gained - Press coverage (which outlets ran the story, what they said) - AI citations (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews — search the 10 long-tail queries and record which engines cite which guides) - [ ] Write a 1-page retro: what worked, what didn\'t, what to do differently next time - [ ] File the retro in `INCOME.md` under a new "Launch 1 retro" heading - [ ] Plan the next launch (the next milestone: 1,300 tools, or a major feature, or a year anniversary) <-- historical-count: a target, not a claim --> **Time:** ~3 hours --- ## Day +30 (one month after) **Goal:** record the month-1 numbers, decide what to do next. - [ ] Record the month-1 numbers in INCOME.md: - GitHub stars (target: 50+) - AI citations (target: at least 1 citation on each of the 10 long-tail queries) - Organic search impressions (target: 10,000+ from Google Search Console) - Bing impressions (target: 1,000+) - Referral traffic from HN + PH + Reddit + daily.dev + X (target: 10,000+ combined) - Press coverage (which outlets ran the story) - New tool requests from the post-launch traffic - [ ] Write a "what to do next" plan based on the numbers - [ ] Plan launch 2 (the next milestone) **Time:** ~3 hours --- ## What this calendar does NOT do - It does not buy ads. - It does not buy links. - It does not post anything on your behalf to PH/HN/Reddit/X. You post the drafts; the calendar is the sequence. - It does not invent fake testimonials or engagement. - It does not violate the no-fly list in AGENTS.md §3 (display ads, paywall, crypto-promotion, fake urgency, autoplay hidden video). ## What this calendar does - It coordinates a 6-week sequence that the research says is the highest-ROI indie-launch sequence in 2026. - It uses the drafts in this folder (show-hn.md, reddit-r-selfhosted.md, product-hunt.md, x-thread.md, press-pitch.md, daily-dev.md). - It is auditable. Every action is logged in INCOME.md. - It is repeatable. Launch 2 (the next milestone) uses the same calendar.