I have been building web applications for about 6 years professionally now, and I have struggled to get users for a long time until I realized one simple thing.
Before we get to that thing, let me get some things out of the way. In the beginning you have ZERO track record, perhaps you have no money to pay for ads, or you don't want to (I don't think its a good idea until you reach a certain stage).
You might even feel like no one cares about your product – an app is a product and you have to see it that way, and develop your knowledge of product design.
On the off chance that you get someone to use it, they don't last long, perhaps they used it for the wrong reasons or as a favor. You need to educate and onboard them well.
Let me tell you a little secret: You are the first user! You are the track record. Do you know who should be happy about your product first? You!
If you are not happy with your product, if you don't use it, no one will! You are the carrier of your brand, and that will get you your first users.
Then comes communication and marketing skills, but everything starts with you! Every interaction, trip or conference you go is an opportunity to sell your product and form meaningful connections. But first you have to BELIEVE.
You need to believe that your product is valuable and that it will transform the lives it touches. Otherwise your energy will repel users instead of attracting them!
Most likely, if you are building something you are an engineer by nature, and I myself was like this, I was very analytical, often stressed and grumpy. But we need to SMILE! We need to activate our human side if we want to be successful.
You can go only so far by being the most incredible technical wizard in the world, perhaps you can even get lucky. But the most certain way of achieving wondrous results, is by helping other human beings, and many of them don't know they need what you have to sell! You should tell them, and you should tell them in a way that makes them feel incredible.
Once you have your users rolling in and they are STAYING, i.e. loving your product, then you will have a track record which you can use to get ever more users.
What got you here, will not get you there. Don't try to imitate big brands... the mechanics change at each stage in the growth of a product or brand. Being a solopreneur is difficult, but not impossible.
The key takeaway here is: you are responsible for the marketing of your product, and you have more power than you think. And when you record that video showcasing your product: smile!
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