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500 Paying Customers for Newsletter OS!

I hit the 500 customer milestone with Newsletter OS a couple of days ago!

I've been quiet on the sharing front because I don't want to share metrics without adding actual value.

So here I am with some reflections & lessons learned.

Reflections

  1. There is a trickle effect after Product Hunt launch. It can carry on for weeks, and days. Make sure that you keep your DMs & email open and answer any queries about your product as this helps you to address any concerns from potential buyers and build trust with them.

  2. Black Friday Sales are great for business.
    You don't even need to drop your prices much to benefit from it. The fact that people are primed psychologically to "take advantage of a sale" should not go to waste. I didn't want to drop my prices because I had just launched on Product Hunt the week before Black Friday, and I wanted to respect everyone who bought it at a cetain price. So I didn't do any crazy price cuts. Instead I created a giveaway. I didn't get a lot of sales on Friday itself, but I got a spike on Sunday. I would recommend running Black Friday sales from Thursday to Monday for the best effect.

  3. There will be 0 sale days and that's ok. Since I launched my product, I've had sales on most days but I had a 0 sale day recently. Don't let that get you down. Instead, think of it as an anti-milestone that you don't want to see again. And work harder to sell more.

  4. Experiment, experiment and experiment. You will not know what distribution channels work for your product. The key is to just try. If you see a chance to promote yourself, be shameless and do it. But always give first before you take.

  5. If you have a refund policy, expect that people will ask for a refund. Some of them might even do it rudely. Someone tweeted (not DMed) me to ask for a refund and was super sarcastic about my product. I refunded him quickly and my friends were mortified by his behavior, telling me to ask him to take the tweet down. As I'm quite confident in my product (and have received so much love for it), it doesn't really matter.

  6. Collect social proof for your product. It goes a long way in helping you convert people who might be on the fence. I keep all of mine in a Notion Wall of Love and my Product Hunt page. An added benefit is that if I ever feel like I'm struggling with imposter syndrome, I can look at it!

  7. Find a circle of close friends to discuss strategies with. I talk to a few Indie Hackers regularly to discuss how we can improve our products & distribute it better. It's not a zero-sum game, you can gain so much by sharing lessons with one another.

Exciting news!

I'm going to offer parity pricing for my product. If you had been thinking of purchasing Newsletter OS, but can't afford it because you're from a country with a weaker currency, or have a challenging life situation, please reach out to me on Twitter (@JanelSGM) and we'll work something out.

What's next?

  1. I'm going to experiment with different distribution channels (including paid ads)
  2. I'm going to collaborate & launch something exciting with another Indie Hacker in January (more details will be revealed in due time)
  1. 3

    Congrats! (From one of those 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣)

    1. 1

      Thanks so much for the support!

  2. 2

    Thanks for the insights!

  3. 1

    Nice work, Janel! I just purchased because it sounds really cool. I'm just getting to the end of my first month running a newsletter and hoping to take it to the next level. Looking forward to checking it out. :)

  4. 1

    499 of those were mine

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