3 builders who never spoke to each other

Plan for the drop after the spike

A launch bump decays fast and settles into a trickle, and you cannot get onto the big launch platforms every week, so the answer is marketing that runs permanently rather than being tied to releases. Model the decay curve in advance and have the plan for the flat months written before the spike arrives.

The method

1. 01

   Plan for the drop after a launch: the spike from the big platforms ends and you are left with a trickle for a long stretch.

2. 02

   You cannot get on the big launch platforms every week, so run marketing as something permanent rather than something tied to releases.

3. 03

   Plan for the decay curve rather than being surprised by it, and have a plan for revenue after the launch spike

4. 04

   Plan for the flat stretch after launch: once the launch attention and the early paid-ad results are gone, there is a demotivating gap before any organic traction shows up, and traction takes far longer to build than the code did.

5. 05

   Launch traffic falls away faster than you expect, so plan what follows it.

What it returned

• 2018

  After launching in 2018 on Producthunt more than once and on Hacker News, signups settled to one or two a week for a long while.

• $12,000

  $12,000 in the first 24 hours, $6,000 the next, then $1,000, holding around $500 a day, down to roughly $150 a day two and a half weeks later

• Fathom's answer to the post-launch drop was a blog, a podcast and daily Twitter activity, plus constant support conversations.

• Zue shipped paid templates and went from launch excitement and positive early ad tests to not a single paying customer

Sources

• July 2021: Retrospective & Income ReportBhanu Teja · bhanuteja.dev · What happened in July · undated
• @levelsio's blogPieter Levels · levels.io · What I learnt from launching products is that the real work starts when everyone has stopped talking about you · 2014-10-06
• $39k in eBook Sales Part 2: Design, Testimonials, and TrafficNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Building a following for your launch · 2012-10-08
• 20 years to overnight success - Fathom AnalyticsPaul Jarvis · usefathom.com · 20 years to overnight success · 2020-06-18
• SaaS lessons shared on the Framework podcast - Fathom AnalyticsPaul Jarvis · usefathom.com · Fathom’s marketing strategy is a constant not a finite point · 2020-07-20
• The Sport of Indie HackingCory Zue · coryzue.com · 2023-11-27
• When Your Business Refuses to Make MoneyCory Zue · coryzue.com · Traction takes time · 2017-08-07