Advertising free software for free

Question

I've finished an application that I've written as a hobby. I think it could be of great help to many individuals and businesses. I want to make it available for download -> free. I can make a nice website for it (and I'm willing to accept those costs). But I'm not willing to spend money advertising it. Can anyone recommend methods to create awareness? It would be great to make a post and link on stackoverflow, but i'm sure that's not allowed.

I will review license possibilities (will be open to all w/ attribution).

Answer 1

Make it available on common, reputable software distribution sites such as download.com

Answer 2

Submit it to free software directories like freshmeat.net, nonags.com, download.com, tucows.com and - if it's a game - happypenguin.org.

Answer 3

Try:

• Getting your project on Freshmeat and SourceForge, as these are very high-traffic sites.

• Writing to open-source or Linux-focussed magazines and publications - often these will publish information of good applications for free. Some even take writing about it. (A good Linux mag, BTW, is Linux Format)

• High-profile banner exchange programs could work. These were more effective in the "old" internet, as banner blindness is now a much bigger problem. Make sure that the other site gets plenty of hits, though.

• Post articles on The Code Project and similar sites, making sure that you post on the right site. No spamming!

• Submit the program to software collections such as Softpedia

• Blog about the program (or find other's posts) and try and get the posts Dugg or Reddited or Slashdotted or Lifehackered, etc.

• Try monetising the site or program (possibly through donations), and use that income to fund advertising. I know this is slightly off-topic, but I don't think you should discount it completely.

Answer 4

Get the word out. Tell your friends, your family, any neighbors, anyone who will give you the time of day about your tool and what it can do for them. Become your tool's "evangelist," to use the term loosely. No one cares about your tool more than you do; get people to care half as much and you will have a lot of users.

Answer 5

As much as I think twitter is stupid, an idea is to search for people tweeting about things related to your software on twitter, and reply to them.

Answer 6

You can publish it on a popular software archive sites. It will live in a specific category and it will be easier for people to find it. After that you need your program mentioned in software reviews.

Answer 7

Twitter, Facebook, Digg could get some people looking. Try putting the name and purpose in front of eyes wherever you can.

Answer 8

First, add that website URL to your profile here at SO! Then any SO visitor who checks your profile will be able to see the link. Then follow the advise given by everyone else here. :-)