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How I made $2k in pre-orders in just days

Indie hacking has some very high highs and low lows...
It's been almost a year since I started doing products on the side and I think now for the first time I am starting to believe that somewhere in the future this could be my main revenue source.

In 2023 I've launched about 5 major products (listed at the end).
One by one, none of them seemed to me like they could get so big that they'd become my main gig.

That's until I announced Shipixen.

imigur.com

How it started

I didn't have a name for it. I stitched together a prototype that required many manual steps and wrote a post on X about it.
It blew up.

๐Ÿ‘€ 175k views later, I knew I was on to something.
I had to move fast. Come up with a name, make a landing page and have a pre-order link ready.

First marketing push

The funny thing about this product is... I could use it to build the landing page for itself ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

The absolute best proof / dogfooding / whatever you want to call it was โ€• if I manage to build this landing page with it and make any sales, it's a solid product.

So I set out to do just that.
Came up with a name with the help of ChatGPT.
Made a logo with Dall-e.

Then I generate the landing page in literally 5 minutes, deployed and started on the copy.
Few hours later, I had the website ready.

I wrote another post on X.
Within the first 5 minutes I got a pre-order.

That post also did 125k views.
In less than 24h, it got me $1k in pre-sales.

24h shipixen presales

Second marketing push

After I realized I'm getting many eyeballs on the post, I had to act quickly.
In just a couple days I got 8k visitors.

48h visits

So I limited the pre-order number. That further accelerated the number of orders.
At the same time, I thought if more people saw the value that I see, they'll be more likely to pre-order.

What's the best way to show that? Easy.
Make a video showing how I built & deployed the initial Shipixen landing page & blog.

That post also made it to 75k eyeballs and ultimately got me to $2k in pre-orders days after announcing.
Shipixen pre-sales

Mistakes

After the 30th pre-order, I increased the price by 20%.
That took away some of the momentum. I think even though the price increase made sense, I should have reduced the license duration instead for the same price.

It seems that $50 crossed a threshold for what many people were willing to pay in pre-orders. I could have kept it at $36 and reduced the license duration from 1 year to 6 months.

It remains to be seen if I'll make up for those on launch day.

Also, my Vercel analytics exceed the amount included in the Pro subscription and I ended up paying 20 bucks for the privilege :D
Probably could have avoided that.

Next steps

Soon after the pre-orders I had a number of user interviews where I watched them use the app.

I then made the Beta available and collected even more feedback.

A large part of that has been implemented and I plan to go on Product Hunt with Shipixen within 1-2 weeks.

I am excited to continue marketing this product and have big ideas for how to bring more users after launch.

That's if for now. Thanks for reading about shipixen and coming along with me on this crazy journey! ๐Ÿ™Œ

--

Footnotes. Products I've launched this year:

  • Clobbr an app to load test APIs
  • Crontap a SaaS to schedule API calls online
  • MRRArt a web app to make ascii charts that can be shared on SoMe
  • ContentPal a SaaS to generate SEO content.
  • Hunted.space product hunt live stats that could support ads
on November 7, 2023
  1. 4

    Create a product or service that people want. This is the most important step. If people don't want your product or service, you won't make any money.

    Build a pre-order campaign. This is a great way to get people excited about your product and to start generating revenue.

    Promote your pre-order campaign. Make sure people know about it by using social media, email marketing, and other online channels.

    Deliver a great product or service. This is essential for building customer loyalty and getting repeat business.

    Here are some additional tips:

    Set a realistic goal. Don't expect to make millions of dollars in pre-orders overnight. Start with a smaller goal and then work your way up.

    Offer incentives for pre-ordering. This could include discounts, free shipping, or early access to the product.

    Make it easy to pre-order. People should be able to pre-order your product or service with just a few clicks.

    Follow up with pre-order customers. Keep them updated on the progress of your product or service and thank them for their support.

    1. 1

      Could you share some case studies from IH platform similar to pre-orders?

    2. 1

      this is a brilliant overview. Well done ๐Ÿ‘

  2. 3

    Good approach I have one question Is Lemon Squeezy better than Stripe or what are the difference

    1. 2

      the difference is they take care of tax for you globally.
      With stripe youโ€™d technically have to declare tax in each country individually and youโ€™ll likely need an accountant to do that properly (people donโ€™t usually do that tho which is illegal).

      Read more here: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/reporting/merchant-of-record

  3. 2

    Congrats Dan. Thanks for sharing, I think I'm gonna try the pre-order thing, too. Hope it works out.

    1. 1

      Thanks Aaron! Best of luck with it ๐Ÿ™Œ

  4. 2

    I gonna try pre-order concept but it looks like hard in my industry. Anyway, thanks for sharing

  5. 2

    Nice work on those pre-orders, my friend! You are a master at naming stuff. What did you ask ChatGPT to help you find the name? :)

    1. 1

      Thanks buddy! Sci-fi names of products that help you build websites ๐Ÿ˜…

  6. 2

    Thanks for searing

    1. 1

      Sure thing!

  7. 2

    Inspiring story! I'm launching my first product next week and after one month of working on it, I'm regretting that I wasn't looking for clients before development.
    You do this perfectly, congratulations!

    1. 2

      Thank you and good luck with the launch! Sure itโ€™s gonna go great ๐Ÿ™Œ

      1. 1

        Thanks! Keep grinding!

  8. 2

    Congratulations on your journey and the exciting progress with Shipixen! It's clear that you've put a lot of effort into developing and marketing your products. The approach of building the landing page with Shipixen itself is a clever way to showcase its capabilities and demonstrate its value.

    It's impressive to see the positive response you've received with significant views and pre-orders, indicating a strong interest in Shipixen. The decision to limit pre-order numbers to create a sense of urgency was a smart move, and creating a video on how you built and deployed the landing page adds a personal touch to your story.

    Learning from your mistakes, such as adjusting the pricing strategy and being mindful of subscription limitations, is a valuable part of the entrepreneurial journey. The user interviews and beta testing you've conducted show a commitment to refining your product based on user feedback, which is crucial for long-term success.

    Launching on Product Hunt is a great next step, and it's exciting to hear that you have big ideas for bringing in more users post-launch. Best of luck with Shipixen and your future endeavors! Keep up the excellent work, and I look forward to hearing more about your successes in the future. ๐Ÿš€

  9. 2

    Congrats Dan! The layout looks amazing, did you design it yourself?

    1. 1

      Thank you! Indeed I have :)

  10. 2

    Honestly i wish i would have read this post yesterday - I just spent all day making a shitty landing page for my project https://xtensions.pro ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ

    Ahhhh i feel so stupid. I might still get this shipixen - just to confirm it's called "pre-order" but is the software available and working if I order it today?

    Or is it pre-order and i will get it when it's ready? I'm a bit confused about this.

    1. 1

      hey! Thanks for reading.
      Sorry for the confusion! Yes you can use the Beta right now by downloading from https://shipixen.com/download/macos ๐Ÿ™Œ
      Let me know if I can help with anything!

      1. 2

        Is the beta version a paid version? That is, if a customer has paid for a month and is using the macos program?

        1. 1

          heya! So the beta program just finished.
          The official release date is the 20th of November, but the app is already available to use with a valid license (pre-order or any license you can currently purchase on https://shipixen.com/pricing)

      2. 1

        Make sure to turn on "generate example sections" to get some content on the landing page if you get to use it! โœจ
        https://x.com/d4m1n/status/1724132368016134416

  11. 2

    Congrats Dan! Great write up and some really useful stuff. Good luck with it man!

    1. 1

      Thanks Sam!

  12. 2

    Thanks for sharing, this is very inspirational!

    1. 1

      Thanks Anthony!

  13. 2

    Congratulations Dan! And thanks for sharing this with us :)

    1. 1

      thanks Diego my pleasure to share! ๐Ÿ™Œ

  14. 2

    Impressive strategy using rapid prototyping and social proof to validate and drive pre-orders for Shipixen.

    1. 2

      thanks Alex!
      Indeed, social proof was a big part of it ๐Ÿฆพ

    1. 1

      thank you! ๐Ÿ™

  15. 2

    Hay Dan, it's great to listen whole your product story, rooting for your next steps ๐Ÿ™Œ

    1. 1

      thank you so much! ๐Ÿ™Œ

  16. 2

    I am a huge advocate of building in already existing market but improve the product to meet the demand of certain group of users.

    By adjusting the product for certain group not just your product will have better qualities in the eye of that group but you can easily focus on that group to improve your product.

    For example, currently I am building a seo tool but specific for blogging ( if you are blogger can check it out at creativeblogtopic.com ) Which the idea is to tune the current seo to specially for blogging. So far it working great !

  17. 2

    Thank you for sharing!

    1. 1

      absolutely! thanks for reading ๐Ÿ™Œ

  18. 2

    Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes of your product and how it found it's first visitors and buyers!

    1. 1

      sure thing! thank you for dropping by & reading ๐Ÿ™Œ

  19. 2

    This is a really awesome product! Reminds me of Mark Lou's Shipfast, except no-code. Question, how did you go about building your audience and how long have you been building it? That is my biggest hurdle right now, and curious how to build my audience well, while building my product.

    1. 1

      Thanks for the kind words! Appreciate it ๐Ÿ™Œ
      On Twitter/X Iโ€™ve started with 400 followers this year.
      I did the following:

      • tweet daily (mostly about product but also more relaxed topics)
      • reply to people every day. Go on #buildinpublic and talk to people there.
      • do not write what you think people want to read - write what comes to your mind. The raw stuff.

      Do this for long enough and good things will come :)

      I wrote a bit about it a few months ago, should do an update. But still relevant: https://blog.mindrudan.com/articles/thoughts/what-twitter-is-all-about-for-me

      1. 2

        Your approach on how to grow your audience was very helpful. Thank you!
        I will try to do the same thing, but it'll require some patience and motivation...

        1. 1

          yes! need plenty of patience :)
          good luck with it ๐Ÿคž

      2. 2

        Thanks, this is awesome advice! I will be sure to put it to practice and i'll be looking forward to seeing the progress on shipixen in the future!

        1. 1

          of course!
          Cheers! ๐Ÿป

  20. 2

    Good reading, thank you.

    1. 1

      thanks for dropping by! ๐Ÿ™Œ

  21. 2

    Awesome break down. Congrats & thanks for sharing!

    1. 1

      thank you Circe!

  22. 2

    Excellent tips there. Thanks for sharing!

    1. 1

      my pleasure, thanks for reading!

  23. 2

    Congratulations man

    1. 1

      thanks so much!

  24. 2

    This is great news, Dan. Congratulations :)

    1. 1

      thanks buddy! Hope to make this an even bigger success! ๐Ÿ™Œ

  25. 1

    Harnessing the power of a compelling marketing strategy, I created anticipation around my product, offering exclusive pre-order deals. Leveraging social media, targeted email campaigns, and influencers, I generated buzz and incentivized early commitments. Transparent communication about the product's unique features and benefits fueled excitement, prompting a surge in pre-orders within days. The limited-time offer and a sense of exclusivity played a pivotal role in achieving a remarkable $2k in pre-sales, showcasing the effectiveness of strategic promotion and customer engagement.

  26. 1

    Do we need to have a site/landing page to have pre-orders or just a post on IH platform will do?

  27. 1

    I have an unclear question about pre-orders.

    Let's say IH decides to take money from the market through pre-orders but he doesn't have enough money himself (hasn't worked for a long time, etc.). He invests it in the product, goes bust and can't pay it back in the next year. Has anyone had this experience or maybe read about it? What does it look like?

  28. 1

    This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

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