BOPA Playbook: Borrowing Audiences Without Being Weird
Published 2025-09-18
Hey, loopers, builders, dreamers—yeah, you.
Ever stare at your screen and think, “Cool, I’ve got the idea. I’ve got the energy. But uh… where is everybody?” It’s like you set up the disco ball, snacks, and playlist, and then forgot to actually invite humans. The silence? Deafening. (Keyboard clacks don’t count as party vibes, sadly.)
If that sounds familiar, congrats—you’re in the “starting from zero” fan club. Building an audience feels less like a straight road and more like juggling flaming bowling pins while running a marathon. In flip-flops. And if you’re knee-deep in a TenK 6 loop, you don’t exactly have years to waste, right? You need people now. You need feedback yesterday.
So… what do you do? Enter: BOPA. No, not the new K-pop supergroup. It’s “Borrow Other People’s Audiences.” (Catchy acronym, slightly chaotic vibe.) Basically: skip the endless content hamster wheel of doom and tap into places where people are already hanging out.
And before you ask: no, it’s not creepy. It’s not stealing. It’s just… showing up with snacks to someone else’s party. Offer value, be helpful, and, if the timing’s right, mention your thing. Done right, everybody wins.
The BOPA Playbook (casual edition)
Step 1: The Detective 🕵️
Where’s your crew hiding? Could be r/saas. Could be a Discord about productivity memes. Could be a Facebook group for… artisanal pickles? (Don’t knock it till you’ve checked.) Find the watering hole where your folks are already gossiping.
Step 2: The Friend 🤝
Important: do not just barge in shouting, “Hey guys, buy my product!” That’s the fastest way to get yeeted out the digital door. Instead, act like, you know, a person. Answer questions. Drop some funny-but-useful stories. Earn your place.
Step 3: The Gentle Exchange 🔄
Once you’ve built some trust, you casually slide in with a little “by the way.” Share a resource, ask for feedback, or mention your tool as part of your own story. The goal? Conversation, not conversion. (At least at first.)
A tiny example
Let’s pretend you’re building a SaaS called LoopFlow—project management without the 14 open tabs. You want 5 users this week. Instead of launching a blog into the void, you camp out on r/saas. Spend a couple days chiming in on threads, being helpful.
Then you see a post: “Anyone else drowning in project management tools?” Jackpot. You reply:
“I feel this. Our team hit the same wall—too many tools, too much chaos. What saved us was consolidating into one source of truth. We actually hacked together our own thing (now called LoopFlow) to fix the sprawl, and just started letting a few teams try it out for feedback.”
Boom. Not sales-y. Not pushy. Just honest. A couple people click your link. One or two sign up. You’re in.
BOPA isn’t magic. But it is smart. Borrow trust, borrow reach, and make friends while you’re at it. Think of it as the anti-grind strategy for early-stage builders.
If you want to explore more strategies and insights on audience building and indie growth, here are some related reads:
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