Bearconnect.io: Is the “waiting list” a myth or just misunderstood?
When I started building Bearconnect - a LinkedIn automation tool - I set up a landing page with a waiting list. Over 9 months, around 200 people signed up.
I launched Bearconnect on May 19th. It’s been 1.5 months - and out of those 200 early signups, only 2 have become paying users.
What went wrong?
A lot of people were expecting to try it for free, but I decided to charge from day one for our early users. There will be a free trial of 7 days when we launch fully.
I didn’t nurture the list much during those 9 months. No regular updates, no sneak peeks, no early demos. Just a product launch email after months of silence.
I assumed people who signed up were eager to buy. Turns out, many were just curious.
Now I’m questioning the whole waitlist approach.
Was it a vanity metric? Or did I just not use it well?
Would love to hear from others - did your waitlist convert? What worked? What would you do differently?
Great question!
In the beginning, I used a simple landing page built with Hostinger’s website builder, and I was only collecting emails. After a couple of months, I realized it would’ve been smarter to also collect first names - it makes email communication feel more personal and targeted.
Hostinger had a built-in subscriber view, which worked fine at the start.
Later, I discovered Tally and switched to using Tally forms. I added extra fields like First Name, Last Name, LinkedIn profile, and email to better understand who was signing up.
To send marketing emails (which I’ve sent only a few so far), I used MailerLite. That’s still my current setup.
When you visit bearconnect.io and click Start for Free, you’ll land on a Tally form. Once it’s filled out, I get an email notification. I manually add the person to MailerLite, and they receive an automated welcome email.
Hope this helps!
Hi Mona,
Just curious — how did you collect those users, and where did you keep their info? Was it a community-focused approach, or did you just collect emails? I agree with the previous commenter — it can still work if you actively engage people, but at the same time, it might become overwhelming for you depending on your resources. Hopefully, you can re-engage some of those curious users to test your solution! Good luck!
Hey Mona, your waitlist wasn’t a myth, just underutilized. 200 signups show interest, but only 2 converted (1%) because you didn’t nurture them over 9 months—no updates, demos, or engagement. Many expected a free trial, not a paid launch.
What went wrong?
No nurturing: Silence lost their interest.
Mismatch: Expected free, got paid.
Assumed intent: Curious signups, not buyers.
Vanity metric: 200 looks good but wasn’t engaged.
Fixes for next time:
Send regular updates (e.g., sneak peeks).
Qualify signups with questions.
Offer beta access to build trust.
Set clear pricing expectations.
Use FOMO (e.g., early adopter discounts).
Now what?
Re-engage the 198 with a trial offer or discount.
Share a user win (e.g., “Saved 5 hours on LinkedIn!”).
Survey non-converters for feedback.
Waitlists work when nurtured—others report 15% conversion with demos and betas. Try re-engaging and let us know how it goes! What’s your next growth step?
Anyone else? Share your waitlist wins or flops!
Thank you Shakhawat! Really insightful next steps. My current offer is $399 for Year 1. Many people don't want to commit for a year. I haven't done a full launch yet since we are working on a few additional features. I am hoping in about 15 days, we can launch fully and then users can opt for a monthly subscription at $67/month.