I Grew From 0 to 500 Followers in My First 2 Months on Bluesky: Here's How

When I joined Bluesky two months ago, I was starting from absolute zero. No followers, no connections, and honestly, a bit overwhelmed by the platform’s unique features. Fast forward 60 days, and I’ve built a engaged community of 500+ followers. This isn’t just a numbers game – these are real connections that have led to meaningful discussions, collaborations, and opportunities.

In this post, I’ll share my exact strategy, complete with what worked, what didn’t, and the key insights I learned along the way. Let’s dive in!

The First Week: Setting Strong Foundations

The initial week was crucial for setting up my presence correctly. Here’s exactly what I did:

Day 1-2: Profile Optimization

I spent considerable time crafting my profile because I knew it would be my first impression:

• Profile Picture: Used a clear, professional headshot with good lighting
• Banner: Created a custom banner highlighting my expertise in tech and startups. I also added a small call-to-action to let people folloe me. It worked!
• Bio: Wrote a concise bio, mentioning my past project and my skills. Remember, the only thing that your bio should do is to answer a question: “Why should people follow you?”
• First Posts: Pinned an introduction thread explaining who I am and what value I’ll bring.

Day 3-4: Joining and building starter packs

Starter packs are a unique feature on Bluesky that allows you to create a curated list of people to follow. I joined a few popular starter packs in my niche (Indie Hackers, Building in Public, Web Dev, etc.) by simply following the instructions. In most cases, the author of the starter pack would add you to the pack if:

• You had a good profile consistent with the niche
• You followed the starter pack author
• You commented on their post with a good reason why you should be added to the pack
• You liked and reposted their starter pack.

I also created my own starter pack, which I shared with my followers. This helped me get some traction since people want to join my starter pack and do the same things above for me.

Day 5-7: Initial Content Strategy

I committed to posting 2 times daily, focusing on 4 content pillars, which I’m good at and are relevant to my niche:

1. Tech and programming insights
2. Design tips
3. Marketing knowledge and tactics
4. Startup journey updates (building my own startup in public)

Weeks 2-4: Building Momentum (0 to 200 Followers)

This period was all about establishing consistent engagement and finding my tribe. Here’s what worked best:

Content That Drove the Most Growth

1. Thread Format Posts: Thread format posts are the most engaging type of posts on social media.
2. Questions and Answers: Questions (e.g. what do you listen to while coding) resonated well with my followers.
3. Sharing Progress: Sharing my achievements (e.g. 100 followers, SEO progress, etc.)
4. Visual Content: Screenshots of my work and custom graphics consistently outperformed text-only posts.

Here’re my best performing posts (a screenshot from Skyblaze):

Engagement Strategy

I developed a “30-30-30” daily routine:

• 30 minutes: Creating and scheduling content
• 30 minutes: Responding to comments and mentions
• 30 minutes: Engaging with others’ content meaningfully

I also use Skyblaze to engage with my audience efficiently.

Weeks 5-8: Accelerating Growth (200 to 500 Followers)

This is where things really took off. Here’s what supercharged my growth:

Leveraging Bluesky’s Unique Features

1. Custom Feeds: Created a curated feed for “Indie Hackers Building in Public” that attracted over 100 subscribers. The feed aggregated content from verified indie hackers and startup founders, making it a go-to resource for the community. This helped establish my authority in the space.

2. Starter Packs: Got featured in three popular tech-focused starter packs.

3. Threading: Mastered the art of thread creation through experimentation and analysis. My most successful thread about “10 Programming Principles I Learned the Hard Way” brought in 50+ new followers and 200+ reposts. The key was breaking down complex topics into digestible chunks with clear takeaways. Learn more about threads on Bluesky

4. Hashtags: Whenever suitable, I use hashtags to increase the visibility of my posts. Most of my posts have the #buildinpublic hashtag, and I got featured (24h runner up) in the feed for several times.

Community Building Tactics

• Started a weekly “What are you working on this week?” discussion.
• Actively participated in popular tech and startup feeds, providing meaningful insights and engaging with the community.
• Connected with other creators in my follower range for collaborations.

Key Metrics That Mattered

Here’s what I tracked to measure real engagement and growth on Bluesky Social:

• Reply Rate: Averaged 8-10 replies per post indicates strong engagement, while posts with no replies signal low resonance with the audience. I found posts with questions or actionable insights generated the most replies.

• Repost Rate: Approximately 15% of posts got reposted by others, which helped expand reach beyond my immediate network. Posts with clear value propositions and unique insights had higher repost rates.

• Follow-back Rate: Around 40% of users I followed ended up following me back. This metric helped optimize my following strategy - I focused on engaging with accounts in my niche who were likely to be interested in my content.

• Daily Growth: Consistently gained 8-10 new followers per day through organic engagement. This steady growth rate indicated sustainable audience building rather than temporary spikes.

• Engagement-to-Follower Ratio: Maintained a healthy 5-7% engagement rate (likes + reposts + replies divided by follower count), indicating an active and interested audience.

• Content Performance: Tracked which content types (threads, single posts, images) performed best. Found that threads with actionable insights consistently outperformed other formats.

What Didn’t Work

Being transparent, here are some strategies that failed:

• Posting Too Frequently: When I tried posting 6+ times daily, engagement dropped and some of my followers got annoyed and even unfollowed me.
• Cross-Posting from Twitter: Direct cross-posts performed poorly, and what’s more, many of the users of Bluesky hate Twitter, so it’s not a good idea to cross-post from Twitter.
• Following Too Many People Too Quickly: This is what a bot would do, and it’s not a good idea to follow too many people too quickly. Maintaining a health follower-to-following ratio is important.

5 Actionable Tips for New Users

1. Optimize First Impressions: Spend extra time on your profile setup. A lot of people forget about this but it’s the first and most important thing before you start posting. Why should people follow you?
2. Focus on Value: Every post should either educate, entertain, or inspire. Don’t just post for the sake of posting.
3. Be Consistently Active: Daily engagement matters more than sporadic viral hits. At least post 1 time daily.
4. Build Genuine Connections: Quality over quantity in follower growth. Don’t just follow or engage withpeople because they have a lot of followers.
5. Leverage Platform Features: Master custom feeds and starter packs early, and use them to grow your followers.

Looking Ahead

The journey to 500 followers taught me that Bluesky growth is about building genuine connections rather than chasing numbers. The platform rewards authenticity, consistent value, and meaningful engagement.

For those just starting: focus on providing value, engage authentically, and be patient. The followers will come naturally when you contribute meaningfully to the community.

Final Thoughts

Growing from 0 to 500 followers in two months on Bluesky was an exciting journey that taught me the importance of authentic engagement and consistent value creation. For me, it’s the first time that I feel like I’m part of a social media platform. Remember, these strategies worked for me, but feel free to adapt them to your unique style and goals.

The best part? This is just the beginning. I’m excited to continue growing and connecting with more amazing people on this platform. If you’re new to Bluesky or looking to grow your presence, feel free to connect with me – I’m always happy to help fellow creators succeed!