2 builders who never spoke to each other

Take money before the thing is finished

Pre-orders and paid early access convert interest into evidence: someone who has handed over money gives better feedback than someone offering an opinion, and their reviews are in hand by the time the public release arrives. Offering it to a slice of an existing list is enough to land a paying customer well before the launch date.

The method

1. 01

   Take pre-orders on nearly every product, because feedback from people who have already handed over money is worth more than opinions.

2. 02

   Pre-selling to your existing list produces reviews from early readers that are ready in time for the public launch.

3. 03

   Email a small slice of your list an early-access offer before you launch publicly; most will ignore it and one may buy, so you launch with a paying customer already.

4. 04

   Open an early-access tier at a set annual price with a two-week free trial before the public launch, and collect your first users from your own newsletter.

5. 05

   Run the mailing list for months before you ask anybody to pay, then put the membership ask to that list once it has visibly done something for the people on it.

What it returned

• $99

  SwagFan early access was priced at $99 per year with a 14-day free trial, and two people had signed up when the newsletter went out.

• 1

  Hillman's call for paid Independents Hall membership went to the list roughly five months after it started on 1 March, and he opened it by pointing at the effect list members had already had on one another.

• Justin pre-sold both Marketing for Developers and Jolt this way.

• Zue offered early access to part of his mailing list in the weeks before launching Pegasus and got his first paying customer that way, far sooner than expected.

Sources

• All Posts (Page 15 of 18)Alex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · Calling for Independents Hall Membership · undated
• Why I sell before I launchJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Why I sell before I launch · undated
• The pipeline problemJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What's Next · undated
• Can preorders work for software-as-a-service companies?Nathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · More preorders · 2013-02-25
• The Horse Finally Learns to FlyCory Zue · coryzue.com · Revenue · 2019-07-01