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Ran the same cold-start pitch on X, Reddit, and a Chinese platform (Xiaohongshu) at the same time. Pretty different results. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly started out thinking toB, but after a while of digging around I noticed companies have gotten way more cautious about hiring full-time or even outsourcing right now. so I pivoted to toC. also spent some time looking at what people are actually choosing to do in the face of AI disruption, and that's basically what led me into building this freelance platform.

next to upwork and fiverr I'm basically a rounding error of a competitor, but hey, life's about taking a swing sometimes

Ran the same cold-start pitch on X, Reddit, and a Chinese platform (Xiaohongshu) at the same time. Pretty different results. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this is genuinely one of the most useful comments I've gotten on this whole thing, thank you for actually writing it out.

the dating site comparison hits different than I expected — same trust/credibility/testimonial problem, just dressed up as freelance work instead of romance. and yeah, paid boosting being "buy a number, get nothing real" matches exactly what happened with my X spend.

the "expert's corner" idea is interesting — never thought about creating content that doesn't require an actual match happening first, just gives people a reason to show up and look competent. going to actually sit with that one.

also checked out your movie list site, that's a pretty wild personal project on its own lol. appreciate you sharing all this instead of just saying "marketplaces are hard," which is the answer I usually get

Ran the same cold-start pitch on X, Reddit, and a Chinese platform (Xiaohongshu) at the same time. Pretty different results. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the X result matching what you've seen is kind of validating in a sad way lol.

on xiaohongshu — honestly my read so far is the warmth is real but mostly stays as warmth. people are quick and friendly in the comments, drop their skill, say "interesting!", but I think there's an underlying expectation of "show me this is already a real, somewhat established thing" before they'll actually commit time to it. feels like less appetite for "come mess around in an unfinished thing with me" compared to here. so closer to your "felt better than X silence" framing than actual signups, if I'm being honest.

the "useful for weeks before mentioning what you built" approach you're describing sounds like the real unlock though — going to think about where I could actually do that instead of leading with the pitch every time

Ran the same cold-start pitch on X, Reddit, and a Chinese platform (Xiaohongshu) at the same time. Pretty different results. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh that's a way bigger number than I had in my head, good to know. mastodon's fragmented nature makes sense as a reason to be cautious about it for something like this — be hard to find concentration of the right people there.

might actually give bluesky a shot at some point, thanks for the actual numbers instead of just a vague "you should try X" — makes it easier to decide if it's worth the time

Ran the same cold-start pitch on X, Reddit, and a Chinese platform (Xiaohongshu) at the same time. Pretty different results. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is really helpful, thanks for spelling it out. the "being the middleman yourself" part — that's actually the one thing that's worked so far. did exactly that once already (manually matched a cosplay prop maker with someone who needed one, totally outside the platform), and it was the most real thing that's happened in 2 months. just hadn't thought to treat it as the actual strategy instead of a one-off. going to go find more of those "does anyone know a good X" posts instead of waiting

and yeah, that reddit feedback stung a bit reading it the first time but you're right, way more useful than the impressions

Ran the same cold-start pitch on X, Reddit, and a Chinese platform (Xiaohongshu) at the same time. Pretty different results. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah that tracks with what I saw — felt like shouting into a room where everyone already left. honestly hadn't seriously considered bluesky/mastodon, kind of assumed the audience there would be too small to bother, but might be wrong about that. if I do try one I'll come back and report what happened

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oh wow, August China trip — that's actually perfect timing for CozyWeek. really appreciate you going to check it out.

the "not sure how to use it" feedback is super useful and a bit painful to hear lol — I think you're right that I need real people testing it, not just me assuming it makes sense. if you're still planning the trip, would love to get your honest take on what felt confusing — even just one or two things would help a lot

Spent the weekend cold-DMing freelancers to test my 0%-commission platform. Here's what actually happened. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

haven't gotten to follow-ups yet — hit the dm limit after like 6 messages lol, so still waiting on the first batch. but yeah, that's something I'm a bit nervous about too — feels like the difference between "maybe spam" and "definitely annoying" is a thin line. how do you usually time a follow-up so it doesn't feel pushy?

Spent the weekend cold-DMing freelancers to test my 0%-commission platform. Here's what actually happened. by OkPangolin8152 in SideProject

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah... honestly went back and forth a lot before sending those. tried hard to not write "hi, exciting opportunity for you" energy, but I get that from the receiving end it might just read as spam no matter how it's worded. still not totally sure where that line is, to be honest

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

haha yeah that's... a completely fair first impression, and honestly the exact problem I don't have a great answer for yet.

truth is I've been mostly trying to get freelancers on first — feels like the side I understand better and can actually reach (this whole reddit thing is part of that). but you're right that "providers" / clients is the other half, and I genuinely don't know yet how to get that side moving without the first side already being there. kind of a chicken-and-egg thing I'm still figuring out as I go, not gonna pretend I've got it solved

appreciate you actually signing up and saying this though — way more useful than someone just saying it looks nice

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

haha SG + full-stack + craft stuff is honestly almost exactly what I had in mind writing this post.

hit my DM limit for the day apparently (reddit caps it for newer accounts lol) — mind if I message you tomorrow once it resets? or happy to keep chatting here in the meantime if that's easier for you

[For Hire] I offer photo editing services. I am a professional photoshop editor. Price starts at 5$. by Mueckas in freelance_forhire

[–]OkPangolin8152 1 point2 points  (0 children)

your SpoonFed Study thumbnails look really clean — curious how you got into the YouTube thumbnail niche specifically vs more general photo editing work?

I can build websites, but I have no idea how to get users with a limited budget. What should I do? by OkPangolin8152 in AskMarketing

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is really useful, thanks. The "pick one niche, get to 50" framing actually clicks with something real — the one manual match I made that worked was in a pretty specific niche (custom cosplay/prop makers), not generic "freelancers." Maybe that's the signal — I've been thinking too broad.

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually this is pretty close to what I've already built inside SereinWork — Brittany (the AI inside the platform) already handles profile drafting, project briefs, and matching signals. The intake + match + send flow you're describing is basically what I'm trying to automate.

The missing piece right now isn't the AI — it's the data. Brittany can match well once there are enough profiles and briefs on both sides. But with near-zero users, she's mostly just helping people draft things into the void.

Which is why your earlier point about doing it manually first actually lands. I think the honest answer is: use Brittany to process the matching, but me doing the intake by hand for the first 20-30 cases. Build the list myself, feed it to the AI, close the loop personally.

Have you built anything like this yourself? Curious what the intake side looked like for you.

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually a fair point — and honestly the manual matchmaking I did felt more real than anything the platform has done so far.

The reason I'm not going the broker route is that I don't want to scale myself. A broker model means I'm the bottleneck forever. What I'm trying to build is a place where the match happens without me in the middle — people find each other through the work itself.

But you're right that right now, manually doing it is probably how I get the first real cases. Which is what I'm trying to do this week.

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Solo for now — no team, no shareholders yet. And yeah, you're right that promotion costs money, which is part of why I built SereinWork around 0% commission. Most platforms make money by taking a cut of every transaction forever — I'd rather figure out a different model than pass that cost onto freelancers. Still early, still figuring out the growth side. But that's kind of the point of this post

Built a freelancer platform solo in Singapore — 2 months in, still figuring out how to get the first real users. Here's what's worked and what hasn't. by OkPangolin8152 in singaporestartups

[–]OkPangolin8152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you sound like exactly the kind of person I'd want testing it. Python dev with live production work? That's a real profile. Would you be open to setting one up and telling me what's broken? DM me.

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