You may have seen discussions or threads about starting a business if you’re a Reddit user. A user asks what others think about his business idea. Do you think this would work? Do you think this venture would take off? This app idea of mine, do you think it would kick off?
Reddit is a community. A social platform where members create posts, threads, or discussions. Other members upvote or downvote these posts. When a post gets more upvotes, this will rank higher than other posts, and more members will see and join in.
People who have business ideas use Reddit’s forums to find answers, share experiences, and confirm their ideas. No wonder many small businesses and startups began as a subreddit.
And before Reddit and other social media sites, Usenet was the most preferred venue for accessing information. Reddit and other social media platforms are accessible online, while to access Usenet you need a usenet provider, some of the best usenet providers can give you unparalleled USENET experience.
TopLine Comms has identified the best small businesses subreddits in an insightful post. To rank as one of the best, factors like member count and engagement levels count. Also, international status, content type, active moderators, and Reddit rules (rediquette) are considered.
But how does a user confirm his business idea on Reddit?
How online Reddit discussion forums help confirm entrepreneur ideas
Reddit forums will not just nudge you towards your next business venture. These forums will also give you ideas on finding out if the idea looks okay or not. Also, most users won’t settle for a simple yes or no. You’ll get tons of advice, tips, and strategies on how to start your small business.
More member count, higher engagement
The member count is how many users are in a subreddit. A large subreddit may not always be the best, as smaller subreddits may attract more engagement. Still users look for aged Reddit accounts with karma as a large subreddit may signify that the content is relevant.
Granted that there will be ideas and comments and engagements that will have no bearing at all, always look at the bright side. These seemingly unnecessary comments are still engagements. It still affects the algorithm of the site and makes it more popular. Thus, more people will get to see your post.
If the interactions are funny, they might even be reposted on other sites. That will also engage other like-minded people to give your post a visit. It’s actually a win however you look at it.
The more members in your subreddit, the more opinions and tips you get for your business idea. As they say, two heads are better than one. What more if you have a community helping you out?
Member Engagement Levels
The engagement level is how people become interested in a subreddit page. In Reddit, engagement is about the number of upvotes and the comments. More upvotes and comments mean the subreddit page is very engaging.
Use a subreddit with a higher engagement level to post your ideas. This way, more users will likely check on your comment and offer tips for your small business. A few small business subreddits have high engagement levels. These include r/SmallBusiness with 540k members and high engagement levels. Another is r/Entrepreneur, with 929k members and high engagement levels.
International Subreddit
When you post ideas, comments, or any questions on Reddit, you’re taking the advice of members from all over the world. Yet, some subreddits are primarily US-centric than others. If you want a local view or opinion, stick to a local subreddit. But if you want a global opinion, choose an International subreddit page. r/SmallBusiness and r/Entrepreneur are towards USA users. r/Startup and r/Sales (also popular subreddits for small businesses) have an international audience.
Type of content for a subreddit
Choose advice-driven subreddits to post your questions or opinions. Avoid diving into discussions that are full of memes. It’s best to check these subreddits out before you become a member.
As a budding business owner, you might find threads, such as “Business owners, how did you get your start?”. This is an actual Reddit thread with more than 400 replies and more than 1,000 upvotes.
The comments vary greatly. From being granted opportunities from bosses to chance encounters, you are sure to find inspiration from the comments. Moreover, you can also find specific tips that will work best for your mindset and business outlook.
These threads provide various perspectives on how one can start a business. Going through these threads can provide fresh outlooks or controversial takes on your business decisions. It can make you think twice about previous decisions that you were so keen into.
Who knows? These subreddits may save you and your future business from eventual doom.
Active moderators
Mods or moderators keep the discussion on topic and ensure everyone follows the rules. Post your business-related questions from subreddits with active moderators. This will make sure that you get a reasonable answer to your questions and the answers you get are helpful and not spammy.
Follow Reddit rules
Reddit has a set of rules for all subreddits, but mods may also impose restrictions. You’ll notice that higher-quality subreddits come with strict rules. The quality of replies and posts is also better and more professional in high-quality subreddits. These subreddits are where you must post your questions to get the best response.
In turn, you can also impose these rules when you start your own thread. At first, it can be as simple as “serious answers only” before evolving into more complex rules and restrictions.
Validating Reddit startup ideas – how to get started
Reddit is more than just a place to get ideas. It’s a helpful community with members ready to listen and assist you with your startup ideas. A user anygor explains how their team validates business ideas through the site.
- Formulate at least 5 keywords – depending on your niche, product, service, or brand, look for 5 related keywords. If you wish to start an online organic fruit store, consider keywords like “healthy,” “natural,” “safe,” “top-quality.” Use the search bar to look for these keywords. You will get a list of all the subreddits that use the keywords you entered.
- Look for subreddits using keywords – from the search result, select 5 subreddits that talk about your topic. As you find more and more relevant searches, save all the information you gather from the readers. Save this in a spreadsheet for reference. We recommend checking out subreddits that have at least 10,000 readers or more. Don’t waste your time on subreddits with low audience views.
- Take advantage of User Overlap – Reddit has User Overlap to help you find subreddits where topics overlap. For example, keywords like “organic” and “natural” also apply to niches other than fruits. These keywords also apply to natural supplements, face and body care, etc.
With User Overlap, you can locate subreddits where your keywords get more ideas. These are subreddits where your audience hangs out.
- Read the posts in the subreddit – list down all the subreddits you found. Check all the posts from these subreddits to find out if people are interested in your service, product, or brand. Take note of these in your spreadsheet and assign a rank to each. Rank 1 is the most relevant and has the most potential, while Rank 10 is the least appropriate.
- Sort the subreddits – after noting and ranking all the subreddits in the spreadsheet, sort the content according to their scores. You’re now ready to choose the most significant subreddit for your business. All you need to do is create content, a good title, and choose the best time to publish your post.
More tips for posting in subreddits
Whether you have a business idea or any venture, Reddit users can help you validate your ideas. It takes the right subreddit to launch a conversation. Here are more tips for you:
- Post directly on targeted subreddits. Don’t hesitate to share your ideas.
- Create a video of your idea and add this to your post. This will give users a good idea of your new business idea.
- Create a landing page with a pre-order button or an email form to ask for users’ reactions.
- Usually, it takes only 24 hours to see if your post is getting traction. Set up an alert for any comment or pre-orders for your products. Don’t worry if you get ignored or get negative feedback. Post in other subreddits instead.
The change of discussion forums online – Usenet to social media forums
According to Linux Magazine, the web was completely different during the early days. Instead of social media sites like Facebook and forum sites like Reddit, people relied on Usenet.
Usenet is a vast internet forum with thousands of subcategories and discussions. This system is a federated network; you must connect to a Usenet server to access all Usenet features. You need a Network News Transfer Protocol or NNTP to connect to Usenet.
Usenet is declining in popularity. But it is still used to publish web articles, complete mailing lists, and upload different files. To take advantage of Usenet and its many features, you need to find the best provider. Some top Usenet providers for 2021 are free. Meanwhile, some paid providers have a reliable Usenet server.
Usenet Early Days vs. Social Media Today
Usenet’s purpose is to share information on discussion sites called newsgroups. It was the online version of bulletin boards back then. In the 1980s, these newsgroups focused on academics, science, technology, and current events. Nowadays, forums such as Reddit concentrate on any topic.
Usenet was only limited to articles, texts, and posts. Online chatting, which is readily available today, came in late for Usenet as well. Today, social media lets users share all kinds of content from photos, videos, audio, and text.
Entrepreneurs can use Usenet for business. It can promote services, products, or brands by creating a specific newsgroup for your business. Usenet users looking for these topics can come across your newsgroup.
The topical categorization of Usenet was a huge help for entrepreneurs who were just starting out. By posting in these newsgroups, they are sure that they are reaching their target audience. They are sure that they are not spreading their resources too thin across marketing platforms that are not effective for their business at all.
There are similarities between Usenet and today’s social media platforms and discussion forums, and these are not the same. Unlike social media sites, Usenet is accessible offline using the best Usenet provider. These service providers have a monthly subscription for a limited download or unlimited content.
Social media sites, on the other hand, are banking on the people’s desire to stay connected at all times. Businesses take advantage of ideal posting hours to get the maximum engagement. There are site algorithms to worry about and current trends to keep up with.
Today’s social media is far-fetched from Usenet’s slow and steady flow of information and posting activities.
Usenet offers unrestricted access. This is why it attracts all kinds of people, even those looking for business ideas. Usenet is secure, so all downloads and content are safe and private.
Final Words
If you wish to use Reddit to confirm business ideas, you must remember the following. Engage in a subreddit with a high member count and high engagement level. Post your questions on subreddit pages with active moderators to ensure quality content and responses.
Prefer an international-focused subreddit to get worldwide user views. Finally, don’t underestimate the proponent of modern discussion forums, which is Usenet. Usenet and its features have stood the test of time and technological advancements.
Up until today, Usenet continues to prove that it is beneficial to business owners looking for fresh ideas from different newsgroups. Usenet may be way different from the social media forums that we know today, but it never strayed away from its original purpose as a discussion site.
Between Usenet and Reddit, both are effective tools for budding business owners to validate their business ideas within their ranks.
