I launched www.techpresslist.com on the 25th August.
(a short intro: the website gives startups 100 journalist contact details for pitching their story to for $20)
I was surprised by how well the launch went! I got 17 sales in the first two days, made the Product Hunt Top 10 and made profits from day one. So far, so good!
However, I'm having trouble now post-launch and sales have dipped. I suppose in all honesty I didn't do enough preparation for sales growth.
Some initial ideas to keep sales going:
Contact startups directly and cold-call/email the product. This may not be ideal as I have to make lots of emails to make a sale. On the other hand, one sale = pure profit as I've covered my costs, aside from my time.
Increase the number of countries covered to increase appeal
Increase the number of contacts covered to increase appeal
Make a deal with sales people working on commission. A trade off between having less money but doing less of the cold-calling etc
Build up Twitter followers and/or blog more so the website gets out there.
Add a subscription box so I can contact potential buyers who aren't ready to buy but like the idea.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
I would totally go with #1 until which time you've:
I would then scale the process with paid ads and drip campaign(s) (perhaps teaching how to pitch, etc.) while you continue building out your DB/adding value.
Great input - thanks! I've been cold emailing today.
You're welcome. How is that faring for you?
well just starting. I can report back in a few days so hopefully will have some good news:)