Tips for a startup.

Congratulations on launching your start up! The only advice I can give you is to promote to as many channels as possible. Start creating some buzz around it this early on.

Hi Aouragh,

I wrote up an article on this very topic last week (launching a new web brand, predominately focusing on a social network).

Bullet points are as follows: -

1. What Is My USP?

There are thousands of new social networks launched every day. Why should people sign up to yours? What makes it unique?

2. Is There The Critical Mass Required To Make This A Success?

Is my niche big enough to make this a success?

3. How Tech Savvy Is My Target Audience?

Are they the type of audience that is likely to be interested in a virtual community dedicated to their interest?

4. Am I Prepared To Put The Work In?

It takes a lot of hard work to get a social network off the ground!

5. How Can I Monetise The Site?

Only think about this after addressing the points above.

You can read the full article here 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Launching A New Web Brand

With regards to the launch itself, you've got to get your target audience excited and give them a reason to sign up (hence needing a USP). Competitions etc are of course a good way to do this too, or exclusive discounts etc depending on the niche.

Also, it's important to launch a new social network with a bang. It's a bit chicken and egg, you need active members on there to get other members to sign up (noone will join a 'dead' community) so maybe do a soft launch first to invited 'VIP' members.

Hopefully the above helps and best of luck with the new site!

What kind of community is it going to be? Whatever you are planning to do, the main thing is that you get your research right. Analyze your market and see if there truly is scope at what you plan to do.
Once you have done a thorough research, only then should you venture into building your community.

All the best
Regards

"Press release" is a really good way to promote a new launched start up. Please consider. Good luck!

Some more tips...

Find out where your target audience congregates (be it forums, facebook groups etc) and start becoming an active member of the community now (way before the launch).

With regards to press releases, try and get real press coverage, not just a PRWeb generic press release and approach magazines/blogs specific to the niche for coverage. Also if you are not already a member, sign up to Free Publicity - Connecting Reporters and News Sources - Help a Reporter Out and look for opportunities.

I don't have any advice, but congrats!

Congratulation and hope it goes well! You should spread some news about your project. Advertising sounds good, but that depends on your budget, so you know best what to do. But make sure you have an interesting catch in order to attract more users.