32k followers. 0 buyers last month. I tried again & people pre-paid before launch

Last month, I launched an AI code → docs tool to my 32k audience on X.

I got decent traffic and 20 signups but no buyers

I got roasted on Reddit too 🥹

This week, I tried again with a new product and strategy:

The new product is a social listening SaaS that uses AI to find leads (called Alertly, usealertly.com)

I threw up a landing page and posted about it and people started signing up (more than before) but obviously I’d learned that signups don’t mean validation.

So this time I added an additional offer - pre-pay now to jump to the front of the waitlist and get 30% off for life.

It worked! I got my first customer ~6 hours later

This is how I did it –

Landing page + pricing page as normal with a ‘Start Trial’ button that leads to a waitlist signup

Added a callout to jump the queue and join the founding members group and get 30% off for life (see it in action here: usealertly.com/signup)

I also have an automated email that goes out to the waitlist after a few days asking if they want to join the founding members group

This is awesome because:

1. Real validation - a paying customer outweighs dozens of emails
2. Better feedback – early adopters who pay are invested in the product

   Takeaway:

Building an audience will help (a lot) BUT you still have to:

1. build a product people want
2. position it clearly in a way that resonates
3. ask for the sale

Building an audience also builds trust, I think people pay upfront because they trust me, I’ve shipped high quality products before and I’m accountable in public. Much harder to do if you have 3 followers and no track record I think.

Happy to answer questions in the comments