How I launched my new product and made $7k in 5
days
Yes, that's $7k in launch sales in 5 days, not $70k or $700k.
I was hoping to at least crack the 5-figure mark, but I've made some mistakes that hampered my sales.
But overall, I still consider it a modest success and, more importantly, it successfully validated my product idea (market), my product itself (execution), and my marketing strategy (distribution).
📍 Where I launched
So I don't have an audience or anything like that.
I have only 2k Twitter followers, no TikTok, no Instagram, no YouTube. Nothing.
What I did have was a list of 7k emails that I've amassed over the years from free trials, lead magnets, newsletter sign-ups, etc.
Unfortunately, these emails are stale, as I rarely emailed them at all.
Regardless, I decided to leverage that to launch my new product to them.
I've decided not to launch on AppSumo, Pitchground, or Product Hunt for 2 reasons:
-
I wanted to know for sure I could launch products on my own without depending on a partner/3rd-party platform. I've launched on AppSumo before and made plenty, but unfortunately I didn't learn anything, other than to be dependent on them again whenever I wanted to launch a new product.
-
I wanted to learn the skill of converting an email list into actual revenue. I couldn't ignore email marketing anymore. IMO it's more important than SEO and social media, and most likely more profitable than paid ads.
💻 What I did
My new product was Zylvie - a platform to sell digital products.
I know that, in order to jumpstart sales and have a successful launch, I needed to offer something unprecedented, something people can't refuse.
I decided to do a 0%-commission lifetime deal (most platforms take 5-10% in commissions and/or monthly fees).
In order to also validate my product itself, I decided to also use my own product to create a landing page + long-form sales letter to sell this deal (eating my own dogfood).
So literally using my own product to sell my own product.
I wanted to make sure I could create a high-converting landing page myself using my own product before selling it to my customers.
In order to increase conversions, I decided to limit my launch deal to the first 100 buyers, 5 days in total, and add a countdown timer.
You can still see the landing page here: https://zylvie.com/deals/p/BFCM2023
📧 Pre-launch
For about 7 days leading up to the launch date itself, I sent out a few email broadcasts with valuable info.
They're short (1-min reads), but I tried to make them as insightful as possible.
Towards the end, I dropped crumbs/hints that I have an upcoming launch offer coming for my new product. Just 1-2 lines.
Here are the subject lines for my 3 pre-launch emails:
- "Just a few quick tips for Black Friday!"
- "Digital products are the key to escaping the rat race."
- "The formula for a successful product business"
The good thing was that a few of my email subscribers emailed back with positive feedback, like "can't wait to see what you have brewing" and "I'll be keeping an eye out for your launch deal," so I was confident enough to move forward with my launch.
🎉 Launch
I decided to launch on Cyber Monday (27 Nov, 9 am PST).
The deal was to run to Saturday (2 Dec), for a total of 5 days.
For each day of the launch, I sent out 1 email promoting the deal.
These are purely promotional, but for each one I added something new -- I shared a testimonial, sales receipts for social proof, answered some FAQs, etc.
On the last day, I sent out 3 emails: one for 12 hours, 8 hours, and 3 hours before the deadline.
You wouldn't believe the number of unsubscribes I got from doing that, but I'm glad I did that, as sales spiked towards the end of the deal.
💰 Results
Day 0 - $2,114.78
Day 1 - $1,229.87
Day 2 - $134.95
Day 3 - $449.91
Day 4 - $1,629.82
Day 5 - $1,529.84
Total: $7,089.17
What surprised me was that, on average, each email subscriber was worth about $1.
If I had built more trust/authority with them beforehand, and I had optimized to build a larger email list over the past years, I bet I could have grossed even more, maybe $1.50 or $2 per email subscriber.
📈 Post-Mortem
What I Did Right ✔️
-
I had multiple plans ranging from $99.99 to $499.95. I intended for the $499.95 plan to be decoy, just there to make the other plans look cheaper/more reasonable, but 2 customers actually bought the $499.95 plan. This was crucial, as I had no idea what my customer's willingness to pay was.
-
I offered promo codes for customers residing outside the US/EU (parity pricing). Most of these customers who emailed me for a better deal end up converting after being provided a discount code. Unfortunately some customers used the code multiple times (which was an unintended form of abuse).
-
I emailed them daily during the entire period of launch. Despite the unsubscribes, it was necessary to sustain traffic to my landing page.
-
I continually updated my landing page/long-form sales letter, as I had more social proof or FAQ answers after launching.
-
I added conversion boosters, like a "quantity left" indicator and countdown timer.
-
I actually honored the end time of my deal, so my deal deadline actually had real teeth to it.
What I Did Wrong ❌
-
I didn't set up an affiliate program beforehand. So many people reached out and asked if they could promote my deal for a kickback. And I couldn't partner with them because I didn't set it up.
-
I didn't plan to launch simultaneously in LTD Facebook groups, like Ken Moo and LTD Hunt. It would have made a big difference. This also ties in to 1, because these private FB groups would only allow self-promotion with affiliate links.
-
I didn't take email marketing seriously before this. My list was stale, my deliverability was shit, my open rates were abysmal, etc.
-
I ended the deal on a Saturday night. This was a terrible, terrible idea. I probably lost out on a lot of sales here, because most people aren't at their computers at this time.
-
I launched the deal on Cyber Monday, when most people already have buying fatigue from Black Friday deals.
⤴️ What Now From Here?
Right now, I'm still running a closed beta with my paid users, implementing their feedback one at a time.
At the same time, I'm also running a deal on AppSumo (https://appsumo.com/products/zylvie/) to keep garnering feedback.
I'm planning to monetize in the future through 3 ways:
- Monthly plans/subscriptions
- Commissions for each sale
- Lifetime deals
But that will come in the near future as I work to get my product closer to product-market fit.
Ask me anything!
Great read. Wonder what you wouldve done different if you didnt have that email list? A lot of people here dont have lists so cant get lucky in that regard. Either way, congrats man. Keep it up!
If I didn't have a list, I'd still leverage email marketing.
By partnering with an influencer of significant audience (10k email subs and up).
Unfortunately that requires a bit of salesmanship and networking, but if they believe in your product, it should be trivial for them to mention you once or twice in their newsletters in return for affiliate commissions.
Interesting case about $499.95. What features do you think made users decide to choose and purchase this tariff?
Unfortunately the answer probably isn't what you think:
These customers were buying the highest tier so they can resell these accounts at a later date on LTD groups.
Congrats Jay, great to see your launch go well. Was just wondering, what email software did you use and how much did it cost you? I need an email marketing tool and would love some suggestions, thanks!
I used Birdsend, it's only $29/mo for up to 10k subscribers.
Highly recommended.
thanks sounds good, i'll check it out
Smart launch strategy - the lifetime deal, countdown timer, multiple price points, affiliate opportunity, and regular email updates seemed effective
learn from the missteps around timing and list engagement to optimize future promotions.
More power to you
Yup, I still think I did more things right than wrong.
If I had a sale/launch again in the future, I'll double-down on what works and remedy what I did wrong.
Thanks for dropping by, Fuzen.
Jay, this is an incredible journey and a testament to the power of strategic planning and execution! Your transparent breakdown of what worked and what could be improved is invaluable. It's inspiring to see how leveraging your email list, even if seemingly 'stale,' became a pivotal asset in your successful launch. The decision to build trust with your audience through insightful pre-launch emails, along with the innovative use of your own product for marketing, truly paid off.
GPT
nice, thank you for sharing!
appreciate!
What made you choose email marketing in the first place?
Good question!
Because something just clicked in my head when I saw so many people getting deplatformed on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.
I knew I had to own my audience. I can't outsource my audience to some 3rd-party platform who can delete my entire existence with the push of a button.
Hence getting good at email marketing and building an organic, engaged list.
Nobody can get in between me and my audience now, because SMTP isn't controlled or owned by any 1 particular corporation.
Hope this answers your question.
Those are great insights @simplisticallysimple thanks for sharing. Quick question before determine that 0% fee was your USP, Did you carry out some type of survey or how did you come to the conclusion that this was the perfect USP?
Well when I was looking for a business idea, Gumroad had just recently hiked their fees from 3% to 10%.
So I was guessing that a 0%-commission alternative would be a hit, and I was right!
This is really encouraging. Good work!
Thank you, glad you found it encouraging!
Thank you for sharing bro, really inspiring and eye-opening story, I hope you hit 100k before 2024, best of luck mate <3
Oh, you're too kind.
Thank you very much.
Hope you have lots of luck and love and success in 2024!
What service did you use to send the emails?
Birdsend!
Handles up to 10k subscribers for $29/mo.
Well done Jay! Very inspirational and I'd love to learn from you. Building an email list is one of my goals for q1 in 2024 and I'd love a blueprint. Anyway I can connect with you?
Hi Tioluwani!
Yes, we can connect, you can subscribe to my newsletter if you want.
I send out weekly 1-min reads about my most salient learning point of the week:
https://birdsend.page/forms/9255/Mw7NC0sReJ
Do you have a sign-up page yet for your list?
I'd like to subscribe too.
Signed up bro!
https://thetioluwaniakeju.substack.com; that's mine, Thank you so much.
Thanks, practical article.
Glad you think so!
You're welcome to bookmark it for future reference.
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Back-end is Django, Postgres, on Linux VPS (nginx + gunicorn).
Front-end is Vanilla JS and Bootstrap!
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Thank you.
Congratulations on your successful product launch, Jay! It's great to see your detailed breakdown of what worked well and areas for improvement. Thanks for sharing your experience, and best of luck with the continued success of Zylvie!
Appreciate your comment, Jon.
Nice sharing!
It's a brilliant idea and also tasks courage to explore launching on your own instead of a 3rd-party platform. You did it!
Yes, this was something I've always wanted to do on my own.
And yes, I did it.
I was so afraid no one would buy when I did it on my own that I was sleepless days before the launch of my offer.
Awesome post, thanks for sharing. Really shows the power of having an audience (even one that you haven't engaged with). We're publishing a weekly newsletter and give away freebies occasionally to precisely achieve this in the long run.
Also really liked the summary of what you did and didn't do well, will use that lesson in a webinar series we're aiming to launch in Q1 2024.
OMG yes, in my opinion most indie hackers are sleeping on email marketing.
Everyone is so busy with SEO, paid ads, social, etc., that they don't know just how monetizable email is.
Good luck with your newsletter and webinar series!
This is awesome, thanks for sharing! I noticed that in your "what now from here" plan, you didn't include reviving your email list. Is there a reason why?
No, I'm keeping my email list active by turning it into a newsletter.
Let me know when you do! I'd love to sign up :)
You can sign up here:
https://birdsend.page/forms/9255/Mw7NC0sReJ
Thanks for your support!
Yay! Thank you :)
This is incredible work, Jay! You should be so proud of your achievement in launching this new product and making $7k in only 5 days. Your success is inspirational and shows the power of hard work and perseverance!
GPT
Absolutely not. I'm just starting out in this industry and I try to be kind and respectful. The title surprised me because I am creating a non-profit tool. Everything related to monetization is very interesting to me. I'm just learning. I'm sorry if you felt otherwise.
My bad, I apologize.
I thought your comment was AI-generated.
Thank you for stopping by.
Truly inspiring! What's next?
Get to product-market fit.
Then I'll figure out how to monetize.
Most likely a combination of commissions, monthly plans, and also lifetime plans.
What do you recommend from an affiliate approach? How would you have set it up now looking back on it?
I would have built a native affiliate system.
Since my product is a selling platform, I'll need to build that sooner or later.
Just a simple system where I can manually add affiliates for my products + a dashboard for them to view their due commissions/request payouts.
But I was so busy preparing for the launch that I didn't build it in time.
Congrats on the launnch. Question If i may. If I want to get going on Affiliates, what source can you suggest? I dont know much, so it would be good to have a solid start if possible. Thanks.
When it comes to setting up an affiliate program, it's best to reach out manually to influencers who have the best fit with your product.
I previously sold a Twitter tool, so I reached out to a Twitter influencer with 150k followers who sold a course on how to monetize Twitter.
It's a match made in heaven.
Once I partnered with him, I 5x-ed my MRR back in 2020.
1 good affiliate > 100 shitty ones
If I may...set up the Affiliate program first. Rewardful seems popular with SaaS creators. Then you can promote the Affiliate program along with the actual product. Also, there are bloggers/Youtubers, directory owners, looking for products to promote. You can reach out to those in your niche and a sizable audience.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend Rewardful.
It's expensive and bare-bones, and they rarely add new features.
Source: paid $79/mo for Rewardful for 3+ years
Of course, there are other options, including a custom build. I've used Gumroad, for instance.
Very inspiring story, thanks for sharing!
Appreciate it, Gwendal.
Amazing story, Jay. Thanks for sharing!
And a very beautiful, minimalistic product. Good luck in the future!
Thank you very much.
Thanks for stopping by!
Inspiring story.
I made $2850 within 5 weeks of launching https://www.pentaclay.com
Should I write a case study like yours?
Absolutely.
I don't see why not.
We can all learn from one another.
Thanks will share.
Do you know the conversion rate of your landing page?
Unfortunately no, I did not set up any kind of tracking on that front.
On hindsight, probably should have!
This comment was deleted a year ago
Thank you, Andrew. 🙏
This comment was deleted a year ago
Thanks for your GPT response.
😂 so true
He got so embarrassed that he deleted it. 😂