Chapter 15: Distribute Track — Grow Your Audience

You’ve validated that people care.
Now comes the next bottleneck: getting in front of more people.

You can have the best idea in the world, but if nobody sees it, it’s dead on arrival. Distribution is how you put oxygen on the spark.

This isn’t about going viral. It’s about consistently reaching more of the right people, one loop at a time. Distribution compounds when you show up with useful things, in the right places, on a reliable cadence.

Why Distribution Matters

Indie founders often treat distribution as an afterthought. They think:

“If I build a great product, word will spread.”
“Marketing is cringe, I’ll focus on product.”
“I’ll start posting once I hit $1k MRR.”

That’s backwards. Distribution isn’t optional—it’s the second engine of momentum.

Validation proves there’s demand. Distribution proves you can reach it. Without distribution, insight stays private and progress stalls in the dark.

How to Run a Distribute Loop

The six steps of TenK 6 applied to distribution:

1. List 5 — Channels & Tactics

Brainstorm five possible ways to reach people this week. Examples:

Write a blog post.
Record a short demo video.
Post on Indie Hackers or Reddit.
Run a small paid ad test.
Reach out to a micro-influencer.
Guest post or newsletter swap.
Share a two-minute Loom walkthrough.

2. Pick 1 — Focus on One Channel

Don’t scatter across all five. Choose one.
Criteria:

Where your audience already hangs out.
Something you can execute this week.
A channel you’re willing to test multiple times.

3. Ship 1 — Publish Something

This is the action step. Put something in the world:

Blog post or tutorial.
Tweet thread or LinkedIn post.
YouTube short or TikTok demo.
Partnership email to another founder.

Remember: imperfect but published beats perfect but hidden. Ship something that teaches, not teases.

Don’t just hit “publish” and pray. Actively share with at least three people or communities:

DM a friend and ask for feedback.
Drop the post in a niche Slack/Discord.
Reply to someone else’s thread with your resource.

Distribution isn’t just broadcasting—it’s conversation. Ask for one small action: “Would you share this with one person who needs it?”

5. Measure 1 — Track Reach

Pick one metric that shows distribution is working:

Clicks to your landing page.
Email sign-ups.
Social shares.
Comments from real people.

Don’t obsess over likes. Look for qualified attention. A comment from a fit user beats a hundred impressions from randoms.

Content That Compounds

Favor assets you can reuse: a tutorial that answers a common question, a checklist that speeds a task, a small tool people bookmark. These keep working while you sleep.

Meta is powerful. Share what you tried and what happened:

“I posted my first demo video, got 327 views and 4 sign-ups.”
“Tried a blog post on X community, 12 comments of feedback.”

Even small results inspire others and compound your credibility.

A Real Example: Early Indie10k Distribution

When I had a tiny landing page and a handful of sign-ups, I didn’t buy ads.

Ship → Wrote a short story on Indie Hackers about my 65 failed projects.
Ask → Shared the link in one founder Discord and to a friend over DM.
Measure → 400 views, 20 sign-ups, 5 comments of encouragement.
Share → Posted a build log: “Turns out, my story resonated more than the tool.”

That loop did more for traction than months of silent coding ever did. It also gave me a piece I could send in DMs for weeks—one asset, multiple uses.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Trying everything at once. Scattering weakens signal. Focus on one channel per loop.
Chasing vanity. A thousand impressions mean nothing if nobody clicks through.
Inconsistency. One post won’t grow you. Ten loops will.
Copying blindly. What worked for a SaaS giant won’t necessarily work for you.
Posting without a follow‑up. Plan what you’ll do when someone replies or asks a question.

Micro-Exercise

Right now, list five ways you could put your work in front of people this week.
Circle one.
Ship it in the next 48 hours.

At the end of the week, measure one thing: did it reach anyone new—and did any of them take a next step?

Key Principle: Consistent Visibility

Distribution isn’t about a single viral hit.
It’s about showing up, week after week, until people know you exist and trust what you’re building.

Every Distribute loop adds surface area for serendipity. The more you show up, the more luck finds you. Show your work. Teach one thing. Invite one action.

👉 In Chapter 16: Monetize Track, we’ll move from reach to revenue—converting attention into paying customers through simple pricing experiments.

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The TenK 6 Handbook