8. Hunting for Our First Beta Users
How we’re finding Shopify app developers to test our plugin opportunity directory
In our last article, we put out some feelers on Reddit to test our business idea: a directory of plugins that are proven successful in one marketplace (like Shopify) but don’t yet exist in another.
Our goal is simple — to find a small group of interested people who could become beta users if we eventually build this app.
Our first attempt — a public Reddit post — didn’t yield much traction. So today, we’re taking a more targeted approach: individually messaging people who look like our ideal audience.
Defining the Ideal User
Our ideal customer is a serial plugin creator or an app development agency.
To narrow things down, we’re starting with Shopify app developers. These are people who already know how to build and monetize apps in that ecosystem.
So the question is — where do they hang out?
Here are some likely communities:
A Discord server I found mentioned on Reddit
A Slack group (also shared on Reddit — I might be able to get an invite)
A WhatsApp group that’s forming through Reddit
These seem like solid starting points.
Setting a Measurable Goal
Our goal for the day:
Identify a list of potential beta users from these communities.
Send them personalized messages.
Wait and see if anyone shows interest.
When doing outreach like this, 30 responses is the minimum sample size you need to draw any kind of meaningful conclusion.
If I reach out to 30 people and get zero replies, that tells me my message likely needs reworking.
If I reach out to just a handful and get no response, it’s hard to tell whether the problem is the message — or just bad luck.
The Outreach Strategy
On Reddit, I picked the top 10 posts from the past month in each subreddit and messaged the posters directly.
Each message was personalized — I checked their profile, commented on something specific, and then sent a short, value-driven note.
To guide the tone, I leaned on marketing advice from Alex Hormozi:
Lead with value, not curiosity.
Remove anything that smells like you’re taking.
Make the outcome vivid.
Here’s the message template I used:
Hey [Name] — congrats on [something from their profile]!
I’m building the first directory of proven Shopify app opportunities — apps already doing well on other platforms (Woo, BigCommerce, etc.) but not yet on Shopify.
It sounds like you could profit from this. Are you interested in free beta access?
Avoiding the Spam Filters
After a few messages in quick succession, Reddit’s anti-spam filters kicked in.
I discovered a tool called dmdad.com that can help automate outreach, but for now, I’m sending messages more slowly to stay under the radar.
Exploring Other Channels
Discord:
The community there is intense. There’s a clear anti-self-promotion culture — which is fine, since I’m not selling anything yet. I filled out a 10-part questionnaire to gain access. Once approved, I’ll ease into the conversation and see if our project idea resonates.
Slack and WhatsApp:
The WhatsApp group is currently out of reach — I’ll have to wait until Reddit unblocks me from DMs. The Slack invite seems quite closely guarded for now.
Takeaways from Today
This article isn’t as long as normal, as I’m on the way to the airport.
We did learn a few useful things:
Reddit’s DM spam protection is very aggressive.
Discord, Slack, and WhatsApp are where the serious developers hang out.
There’s no great tool for large-scale, personalized DM outreach yet — Dmdad is the closest option, but limited.
Next time, I’ll share how the responses go (if any!) and what we learn from our first real outreach campaign.