sales-openhunts

name	sales-openhunts
description	OpenHunts platform help — weekly product launch and discovery platform for indie makers with community voting and dofollow backlinks. Covers free submission (20 slots/week, ~89-week queue, dofollow for Top 3 only), the paid Premium launch (next-Monday slot with a guaranteed dofollow backlink), the Highlight tier (instant pinned launch with a guaranteed Twitter/newsletter shoutout), weekly Monday launch cycle, 72+ categories, founder leaderboards, and newsletter/social promotion. Use when you want early traffic and backlinks from OpenHunts, your product needs more visibility among indie makers, unsure if the paid tier is worth it, or comparing launch directories for the best exposure. Do NOT use for general launch strategy across multiple directories (use /sales-launch-directory), email marketing (use /sales-email-marketing), or audience growth (use /sales-audience-growth).
argument-hint	[describe what you need help with on OpenHunts]
license	MIT
version	1.0.1
tags	["sales","product-launch","startup","discovery","platform"]

OpenHunts Platform Help

Helps the user with OpenHunts platform questions — from submitting a product and understanding the weekly launch cycle through premium tiers, backlink strategy, and community engagement.

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. What do you need help with?

   • A) Launching a product — submitting, writing a listing
   • B) Getting a backlink — understanding free vs paid backlink conditions
   • C) Premium/Highlight tiers — evaluating paid options
   • D) Comparing OpenHunts with other launch directories
   • E) Something else — describe it

2. What stage is your product?

   • A) Idea stage — haven't built anything yet
   • B) MVP / prototype — working but early
   • C) Launched — live product with users
   • D) Growing — looking for more visibility

3. What's your goal?

   • A) First users and feedback
   • B) SEO backlinks (DR50 dofollow)
   • C) Long-term discovery via weekly rankings
   • D) All of the above

If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to a specialized skill, route:

• Launch strategy across multiple directories → /sales-launch-directory
• Product launch strategy and funnels → /sales-funnel
• Email list building / audience growth → /sales-audience-growth
• Email marketing to subscribers → /sales-email-marketing
• Landing page / checkout optimization → /sales-checkout
• Open Launch-specific questions → /sales-openlaunch
• Firsto-specific questions → /sales-firsto
• CtrlAlt.cc-specific questions → /sales-ctrlaltcc
• ProductBurst-specific questions → /sales-productburst
• MicroLaunch-specific questions → /sales-microlaunch
• LaunchingNext-specific questions → /sales-launchingnext
• SoloPush-specific questions → /sales-solopush
• SideProjectors buy/sell questions → /sales-sideprojectors
• Huzzler-specific questions → /sales-huzzler

Otherwise, answer directly from platform knowledge below.

Step 3 — OpenHunts platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for detailed module documentation, pricing, integrations, and data model.

You no longer need the platform guide details — focus on the user's specific situation.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Submission checklist

Step	What to do	Why it matters
1. Prepare your listing	Clear name, problem-focused description, screenshots	First impression + weekly ranking position
2. Choose your tier	Free (patient), Premium ($9.90), or Highlight ($20)	Determines backlink guarantee and visibility
3. Time your submission	Launches go live on Mondays	Coordinate your community push for Monday
4. Rally your network	Share your OpenHunts listing on launch day	Early votes drive weekly ranking position
5. Engage the community	Comment on other products, respond to feedback	Community engagement improves visibility
6. Share externally	Post your listing link on Twitter, communities	External traffic drives ranking

Which tier to choose

Free ($0) when:

• Budget is zero AND you can wait ~89 weeks (1.7 years)
• You're confident you can reach Top 3 weekly
• You want to submit and forget — it'll go live eventually

Premium ($9.90) when:

• You want a guaranteed dofollow backlink — no conditions
• You need to launch next Monday
• Best value for a guaranteed backlink among launch directories

Highlight ($20/week) when:

• You want maximum visibility — pinned at top of the page
• Guaranteed Twitter and newsletter shoutout matters for your launch
• You're coordinating a broader launch and want OpenHunts to be a high-impact moment

Multi-platform launch strategy

OpenHunts works best as one platform in a broader launch:

1. SoloPush + ProductBurst — instant listings (Day 1)
2. Huzzler Launch Arena — submit Monday for weekly competition
3. Open Launch Premium ($12) — next-day launch with DR65 backlink (highest DR for the price)
4. OpenHunts Premium ($9.90) — next-Monday launch with DR50 backlink + full week voting
5. Firsto Premium ($19.90) — 24-hour launch with DR57+ backlink + permanent SEO page
6. MicroLaunch — 30-day leaderboard cycle
7. CtrlAlt.cc + LaunchingNext — curated directories (queue or pay to skip)
8. Product Hunt — save for main launch event

Gotchas

Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.

• ~89 week free queue is extremely long. This is one of the longest free queues of any launch directory — nearly 2 years. If timing matters at all, the $9.90 Premium is effectively mandatory.

• Free backlink requires Top 3. Regular free listings do not get a dofollow backlink. You must finish in the Top 3 weekly ranking to earn one.

• Weekly cycle means slower results. Your launch competes for a full week, which is good for accumulating votes but means you wait longer for your ranking result compared to daily-cycle platforms.

• DR 50 is mid-range. Higher than CtrlAlt.cc (DA30), ProductBurst (DR46), and SoloPush (DR46-47), but lower than Firsto (DR57), Open Launch (DR65), or Product Hunt (DR91).

• No public API. Everything is manual through the web interface.

• No SEO Growth/article option. Unlike Firsto ($149) and Open Launch ($59), OpenHunts doesn't offer editorial review articles for additional SEO value.

• Small platform. ~11K monthly visitors is modest. Don't expect significant direct traffic — the value is the backlink and category discovery.

• Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.

Related skills

• /sales-launch-directory — Launch strategy across multiple startup directories
• /sales-openlaunch — Open Launch platform help (open-source PH alternative, DR65 backlinks)
• /sales-firsto — Firsto platform help (fair launch platform, sustained SEO discovery)
• /sales-huzzler — Huzzler platform help (founder community, weekly Launch Arena competition)
• /sales-ctrlaltcc — CtrlAlt.cc platform help (curated tool directory)
• /sales-productburst — ProductBurst platform help (daily/weekly rankings, badges)
• /sales-microlaunch — MicroLaunch platform help (30-day leaderboard, deals marketplace)
• /sales-launchingnext — LaunchingNext platform help (curated startup directory)
• /sales-solopush — SoloPush platform help (indie maker community, no-pressure launch)
• /sales-sideprojectors — SideProjectors platform help (buy/sell side projects)
• /sales-funnel — Build and optimize sales funnels for conversion
• /sales-audience-growth — Grow your email list and subscriber base
• /sales-checkout — Optimize landing pages and checkout for conversion
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Examples

Example 1: Launch a product on OpenHunts for a backlink

User says: "I want to launch my SaaS tool on OpenHunts to get a dofollow backlink" Skill does:

1. Recommends Premium tier ($9.90) since free backlinks require Top 3 weekly finish
2. Walks through submission checklist: name, description, screenshots
3. Explains the weekly Monday launch cycle and how to time community push
4. Compares $9.90 Premium value to Open Launch Premium ($12 for DR65) and Firsto Premium ($19.90 for DR57)
5. Suggests submitting to both OpenHunts and Open Launch for two backlinks under $22 Result: Tier recommendation with cost comparison and multi-platform suggestion

Example 2: OpenHunts vs other directories — which to choose

User says: "Should I use OpenHunts or Open Launch or Firsto?" Skill does:

1. Compares pricing: OpenHunts $9.90, Open Launch $12, Firsto $19.90
2. Compares DR: Open Launch DR65 > Firsto DR57 > OpenHunts DR50
3. Notes launch cycle differences: OpenHunts weekly, Open Launch daily, Firsto daily
4. Highlights unique features: OpenHunts weekly voting window, Open Launch highest DR for cheapest price, Firsto SEO Growth articles
5. Recommends using all three — total $42 for three guaranteed dofollow backlinks from three different domains Result: Clear comparison with recommendation to use all three for complementary backlink value

Example 3: Maximize visibility on OpenHunts

User says: "How do I get the most out of my OpenHunts launch?" Skill does:

1. Recommends Highlight tier ($20) for pinned placement + guaranteed newsletter/Twitter shoutout
2. Advises optimizing listing description with keywords for long-term category discovery
3. Suggests timing network push for Monday when the weekly cycle resets
4. Recommends engaging with other products in the community to build visibility
5. Notes the founder leaderboard as a way to build presence through multiple product launches Result: Tactical launch plan for maximum OpenHunts visibility

Troubleshooting

Stuck in the ~89 week free queue

Symptom: Submitted for free weeks ago, product hasn't launched Cause: OpenHunts limits free launches to 20 slots/week. With ~89 weeks of backlog, free submissions wait nearly 2 years. Solution: Upgrade to Premium ($9.90) for next-Monday launch. This is one of the cheapest paid options across all directories. If budget is truly zero, use the wait time to submit to instant-listing platforms like SoloPush and ProductBurst where you'll go live immediately.

Free listing but no dofollow backlink

Symptom: Product is listed on OpenHunts but backlink check shows nofollow Cause: Free-tier dofollow backlinks require finishing in the Top 3 weekly ranking. Regular free listings get nofollow links. Solution: If the backlink matters, upgrade to Premium ($9.90) for guaranteed dofollow. Or submit to directories with automatic dofollow backlinks: ProductBurst (DR46), SoloPush (DR46-47), LaunchingNext (DR51).

Not getting votes or engagement

Symptom: Product launched but has few votes after several days Cause: OpenHunts is a smaller platform (~11K monthly visitors). Organic discovery alone may not generate significant engagement. Solution: Actively share your OpenHunts listing URL on Twitter, relevant communities, and with your network. Engage with other products on OpenHunts (comment, vote) to build reciprocal visibility. Consider the Highlight tier ($20) for guaranteed social/newsletter promotion. Set realistic expectations — most value comes from the backlink, not direct traffic.