a single source, nothing corroborates it

Give away real material from inside the product

Sending an actual lesson, interview or tutorial rather than a description of one lets subscribers judge the quality before they are asked for money. Timing a free sample a couple of days before the open puts the peak of interest exactly where the sale is.

The method

1. 01

   Release one bundled expert interview as a free sneak peek two days out so the anticipation peaks right at launch

2. 02

   In the weeks before launch, mail the full text of a relevant tutorial post inside the email body instead of just a link to it.

3. 03

   For the second launch, drip actual lessons out of the finished product as free content to the whole list before reopening sales.

What it returned

• 6,223

  Interview with Michael Flarup sent to 6,223 subscribers two days before the November 6 launch

• 2

  January 2 email to 8,548 recipients: 49.1% open, 10% click, 0.3% unsubscribe

• 16,085

  Two redesign-video emails to about 16,085 recipients, the first at 53.1% open and 21.3% click; the launch that followed sold 121 units for $22,600

Sources

• $36,297 in 24 hours: behind the scenes of The App Design Handbook launchNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Let's talk about email · 2013-11-11
• Should you launch more than once? I’ve got $58,332 as evidence.Nathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Launch #1 – January 14th, 2014 · 2014-02-28