How to Make $1,000,000 on Your Product Launch

After working with 100+ startups, I have seen . . .

A SaaS get 10,000 users in 1 day
A DTC hit $1.5M in 3 days
A Book hit #1 on Amazon in 48 hrs
Here are the launch tactics that changed everything for these companies.

1/ Work backwards from the launch date
Setup your strategy into 3 phases: 1/ Pre-launch Strategy 2/ Launch Strategy 3/ Post-Launch This framework is outlined in @JeffWalker book Launch.

2/ Design a Thunderclap Launch Plan
Time all of your efforts to hit at once making a “thunderclap”. From PR and podcast interviews to your launch day email and ads, all of your resources are concentrated on launch day.

3/ Build a Waitlist BEFORE Launch
Your launch is only as good as your waitlist. Whether it’s ProductHunt, Kickstarter, or your own website, create a waitlist 3 months pre-launch. Tip: Nurture this list leading up to the launch.

4/ Engineer List Growth with Referrals
How to turbo charge your waitlist? Turn your potential customers into marketers with referrals.

Some examples: Harrys had tiered referrals

Invite 5 friends = Get shaving cream
Invite 25 friends = Get Winston Shave Set
Engineer List Growth with Referrals

4b/ RobinhoodApp Launched with Scarcity & FOMO
They could only let limited people in to trade stocks for free.
Their Move: They made you share with friends to move up in the waitlist.
RobinhoodApp Launched with Scarcity & FOMO

4c/ Girlfriend Collective Gave Away Their Product at Launch
When Girlfriend Collective launched they asked you to share on social in exchange for free leggings.

This tactic got picked up by places like Refinery29, VOGUE, etc.

Girlfriend Collective Gave Away Their Product at Launch

4d/ The Growth Marketer’s Playbook Referral Giveaway
When I launched my book, I did a giveaway valued at $4k. People could increase their chance of winning by posting on multiple channels.

This helped me get my book to #1 on Amazon!

5/ Run a Giveaway Valued at Over $500
Yes, Giveaways are annoying but they work. They can be a great way to grow a list.

TIP: Make the value over $500 to drive interest. Also, make the rewards aligned with the product so you get quality emails.

6/ Seed Product with Partners
Whether it’s a SaaS or shoes, give your product to evangelist pre-launch. They can promote your company to their network.

50 customer evangelists
50 partners / Influencers
50 friends

7/ A Launch Email Sequence for The Big Day

One framework to test out is the Soap Opera series from @russelbrunson

TIP: The money is in the reminder email!

8/ Fine, Lets Make a Viral Video
Yes, you want to go viral. Yes, you want a video. Yes, it’s hard.

Here are my favorite examples:

Bala Nursing Shoes: This helped them hit $1.5M in 7 days of launch. (Everyone in this video is a real nurse.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaspI2miNqQ&feature=emb_title&themeRefresh=1

8b/ Tommee Tippee Wipes
They did engineering as marketing where you make a product designed to make noise and sell other products. Their “Advice Wipes” product did just that. @tommeetippee_UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnoQGBwzUYA

8c/ Dollar Shave Club We have all seen this one.
It’s a classic and worth a rewatch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI

9/ Amplify Launch Day with Paid Ads
You’re options for ads:

OPTION 1: Make ads that go for the sales or the sign up. The ad should be direct w/ your offer.
OPTION 2: Make ads that ask for the share. The shareable content should be something people want on their own feed.

10/ Leverage Launch Platforms Aggregators
Here is a list of 100 places to launch your startup thanks to @IndieHackers

11/ Activate Media Partners
Can you partner with another company, blog or organization w/ a big following to accelerate your reach on launch day.

Universal Standard was able to partner with Buzzfeed’s insane list to pull this off.

12/ Podcast Tour
From small podcasts in your niche to the biggest on that’ll take you, start your podcast tour 3 weeks before the launch so they all land on launch week.

13/ Offline Activation
Want to pair your online launch with offline events then go for it. That could be a pop up, crashing a conference or a publicity stunt.

WarbyParker did a guerrilla marketing stunt at NY Fashion Week.

14/ Create Open Space on Launch Day to Be Engaged
As much as you can, have everything scheduled ahead of time and delegate manual tasks. You want to be able to react to customers or ride any momentum that can come from launch day.

Hope it helps!

That’s a wrap! If you enjoyed this thread:

Follow me @JimWHuffman for more of these