Ok. You've got your screener written. You know how much you're willing to pay people.
It's time to get your screener in front of possible participants. Before you work on this step, you'll want a link to your screener, which you've created and posted on something like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms.
But first, you have to figure out where your target users are. Depending on the type of user you're looking for, you're going to want to look in quite different places.
Here are some examples of places you might want to try. There are, of course, lots more types of people you might want to recruit, so do your best to find out where they hang out.
| Location | Good For... |
| Craigslist | General Consumers Users of very common products (like Google or Microsoft products) |
| Forums | Hobbyists People in specific professions (for example, did you know there are several forums for airplane pilots?) Moms, students etc. depending, obviously, on the type of forum |
| Startup Founders Techies Followers of specific celebrities (need to recruit 5 Beliebers? I know where you can find them!) |
|
| Facebook & Facebook Promoted Pages | Your friends & family |
| Blog Comment Sections | Anyone, depending on which search terms you target |
| Product Database | Your product's users |
| Physical Locations | People who naturally congregate in specific places (for example, churches, cafes, YMCAs, office buildings, etc.) |
Ask for Participants
Depending on which channel you're using to connect with your users, you're going to need to invite them to look at your screener. Here are a couple of tips for maximizing the number of people who will click through:
Let's say you're looking for mothers of more than 2 kids who drive minivans and enjoy horror movies. I have no idea why you'd be looking for that, but it's reasonably specific. You might tweet the following:
"Are you a mom who enjoys movies? Get a $25 Amazon gift card for a 30 minute phone call. [link to screener]"
Again, the reason you don't put everything you're looking for into your ad is that you don't want people to just pretend to have three kids, drive a minivan, and watch horror movies. You count on your screener to screen for people who fit all of your criteria.
If you're posting in someplace like a forum, you want your post to fit in with the rest of the posts and not seem too spammy. You'll have to use your best judgement on this. Consider actually participating in things like forums and Facebook groups that fit your particular persona in a non-recruiting capacity, as well. This will make people more likely to engage with your recruiting posts.
Why Does This Matter?
Look for participants in the places that they normally gather - both online and in person. If you can't find a place where potential users hang out, you're either starting the wrong product or you need to create a gathering place yourself with a blog, forum, or online group.