How Readwise got its users

Build the export for one note app and get it listed in that app's own plugin browser. Readwise shipped an official Obsidian plugin (github.com/readwiseio/obsidian-readwise), then a Logseq one, so the install sits where those users already shop for plugins. Pick the app whose forum is full of people asking how to get their data in, and ship the integration before you write a single post about it.

done whenCount the threads in that app's forum or Discord from the last month asking how to move data like yours into it. Fewer than five and you picked the wrong app to integrate with first.

Post the launch in the forum category built for it, under a named person. Readwise's community marketing manager posted "The Official Readwise Obsidian Integration Has Launched" in the Obsidian forum Plugins section, listed what it does, and closed with an offer to DM her to reinstate a lapsed free trial. A plugin author announcing a plugin in the plugin category is on-topic, which is why it stayed up.

done whenCheck your own account age and post count in that forum before you announce, and read which category allows product posts. If the launch post would be your first post, or the only place it fits is general chat, it reads as an ad.

Make the product leave a trace inside the user's own workspace, and make it deletable. The Roam sync writes "Highlights first synced by #Readwise [[date]]" onto each page and posts sync notices to a #Readwise page in the user's graph. Roam people publish screenshots of their graphs, so the tag rides along into other users' posts. Every line is a Jinja2 template, so anyone who hates it edits it out in a minute.

done whenAsk whether your users show their workspace in public. If nobody screenshots the surface your product writes to, an in-product tag reaches no one and you should spend the build time elsewhere.

Publish the API and let the room's own hackers build what you have not. A community member built and posted an unofficial Readwise Obsidian plugin in the forum months before the official one existed, and a separate maintainer runs an "awesome-readwise" list of 50+ third-party tools. Readwise documented the API at readwise.io/api_deets with a token users copy from their account page. Do not fight the unofficial version.

done whenHas anyone asked you for an API, an export, or a webhook without being prompted? One unprompted request is the start of the list. Zero means nobody wants your data out yet, so writing docs is premature.

Put a utility inside other people's servers instead of a pitch. Readwise ships a Discord bot any server owner installs from readwise.io/gg: members react with a save emoji to keep a message, and links shared in the server roll into a public feed with RSS at readwise.gg. Daniel Doyon also ran a one-hour guided tour of Reader at Nick Milo's LYT Conference. That slot takes a relationship with the organiser first, so ask early and offer a demo, not a sponsorship.

done whenName the moderator or the event organiser of the community you want to be in. If you cannot name a specific person, you are not ready to ask for a bot install or a speaking slot.