a single source, nothing corroborates it

Assemble demand over months, not on launch day

Excitement cannot be created on the morning you open sales, so the run-up is built as a scheduled drip of posts, samples and updates spread across weeks. The aim is that buyers make up their minds while there is still nothing to click, which is what produces a queue rather than a trickle.

The method

1. 01

   Run the pre-launch over roughly three months as a drip of free chapters and posts rather than a single announcement: first tweet, then sample chapters spaced weeks apart, a blog post, a list update, and a two-day warning to the list right before launch day.

2. 02

   Warm the list for a month before launch day with useful content rather than promotion: a case study, a republished essay from your co-author, then a sample of the paid material

3. 03

   Lay the run-up out as content on days 1, 5, 10 and 15, then a launch-details email on day 20.

4. 04

   Grow an email following first, then spend the run-up manufacturing anticipation, and only open buying at the very end of that build-up.

5. 05

   You cannot manufacture launch-day excitement on launch day itself; demand has to be assembled over months across repeated touchpoints.

What it returned

• 23

  Adam Wathan's dates: Twitter announcement 23 Feb 2016, sample chapters 21 Mar, 29 Mar and 26 Apr, blog post 7 Apr, list update 10 Apr, two-day notice with a screenshot 16 May, launch 18 May.

• 7

  Pre-launch sequence: iOS 7 design case study to 5,671 subscribers on Oct 10; co-author's iOS 7 essay to 6,150 on Oct 31; sample expert interview to 6,223 on Nov 4; launch Nov 6

• 1

  Five-email sequence at days 1, 5, 10, 15, 20

• $36,000

  Refined over five or six launches, with one reaching $36,000 in 24 hours

Sources

• Adam Wathan's $100k product launchJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What was your launch sequence? · undated
• How to build demand before you launchJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Building anticipation during your product launch · undated
• $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
• Three reasons product launches failNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Excitement · 2014-03-18
• Should you launch more than once? I’ve got $58,332 as evidence.Nathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 2014-02-28
• Stop sending email broadcastsNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Preparing for launch · 2014-12-15