A week from launch? Any last minute tips? 😱
Bertie IP
31 replies
Hey PH community,
I'm 1 week away from launching my first product (nervous is an understatement!) - what are the best last-minute tips you have for me?
Thanks in advance 🙏
Replies
Matthew Johnson@mattovca
Startup-Investor Fit
Make sure to activate your community - users, former colleagues, friends, and have them come support you on launch day!
Don't just ask for upvotes, aim for engagement such as comments and shares as well.
Try to enjoy it - take the full day off to devote to making your launch successful :)
Have some more tips and a checklist here: https://taskablehq.com/templates...
Share
@mattcrail thanks for this, @mattcrail
My favoruite thing about PH has definitely been appreciation for products getting upvoted, rather than requests driving upvotes.
Will definitely be taking the whole day to engage properly. I obviously hope PH'ers love the product and looking forward to some feedback!
Thanks for your advice!
Startup-Investor Fit
@fatima_ashfaq1 Activating your community for sure. Get your users, friends, family etc. to come support you and get some momentum going and hopefully get to the front page where the rest of Product Hunt can see you
I’m sure it would be quite a tense moment because product launches are a big deal and you only get one opportunity to make it right. I’ll share some quick tips that you can use for a better launch:
Build an online buzz: A great way of getting the audience's attention and making potential customers anticipate the product launch is by creating hype online. This will increase your adoption rate as more and more people will be eager to try your product.
Pilot test: A great way of ensuring a successful launch is testing your product before it is launched. You can test it internally and externally by letting your employees and a sample of customers use the product.
Know your competitors: A great way to launch your product is by distinguishing from the products that already exist in the market. You can do this by researching your competition and their product offering, then tweaking your product accordingly to pitch a better solution to the customers.
Offer early use incentives: Try and provide incentives to people who buy your product in the early stages of the launch. Promotions like these will help attract more customers and also spread a positive word around.
The next step involves collecting feedback where you can deploy an online tool like @qualaroo that will enable you to embed your surveys on different channels like website, email, social media, and SaaS products to collect insights from the users about their overall experience with your product. You can also add surveys to your prototypes and collect valuable feedback in the early stages of your product development to create a flawless product.
Keep the momentum going: Product launches are not a one-day thing. Always make sure to keep promoting and testing your products on a regular basis after the launch to attract more customers and brush off any imperfections that still exist.
There are tons of other tips as well, but all you need to do is keep your head cool, follow the right steps, and your product launch will be as smooth as ever. Good luck!
Poppins
@chandan_maruthi1 Thanks Chandan for tagging, Hey @bertie_ip keep a manageable todo-list handy for the launch week with all the items to do during, pre and post launch! helps alot.
also focus on the first 1-2 hours of launch!! it makes or breaks it.
make a list of supporters and gather/warm them up. create hype and lastly enjoy!!
@bertie_ip thanks a lot for the comment @mishra_mayank - so helpful! And thanks for tagging, @chandan_maruthi1! See you on the otherside!
Checklists!
Like pilots, we need a clear list of things to check last minute before take off.
Depending on your product this could be double-checking the sign up & login flows (also if there's automated emails make sure they work as expected, test the links in them too), making sure it can be installed if it's an app, anything infrastructure-related, broken links.
The point is that under the last-minute pressure you're bound to forget something so it's vital you have a list to guide you. Over time you can improve this list and make it your release process- super useful when you have to onboard team members too.
Of course checklists can also be used for other things like staying on top of your engagement across communities, the timings of your announcements etc.
Impressions
Hold on tight! You're in for a great ride! Don't forget. Your product is never perfect.
If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.
– Reid Hoffman
get some sleep in ready ;-)
Best of Luck!
@steveprocter if there's one thing I know I'm good at, it's napping - this is the sort of advice I love to get! Thanks for your thoughts!!
1. Keep your assets ready and start collecting subscribers for your upcoming page.
2. Start building a community of makers on Twitter by reaching out and asking for their feedback and suggestions. These makers are sweethearts.
3. The initial traction decides a lot of things so make sure you email your subscribers and ping your founder's network half an hour before the launch.
4. Don't target a lot of groups, find small communities and be active in those.
5. Let your audience know to leave reviews instead of just comments. They have a lot weightage.
Last but not the least, have fun. It's a rollercoaster of emotions and teamwork!
Update: we're live https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Thanks for all your help and advice guys!!
Side Project OS
Try to be online and active on Product Hunt for as much of the day as possible. It's such a great opportunity to engage with the community and users of your product. Good luck with the launch! I'll be following along
Thanks, @hugh_dawkins! I'm really looking forward to interacting with everyone and hearing their feedback. Looking forward to seeing you on the page on Monday!
Maybe not a tip. It's more of a reminder. Just remember, nobody's judging you. Don't worry. Have fun with it!
Make sure you have plenty of coffee available. Make sure your product can be purchased on ALL browsers. We often run into issues cross browser so make sure they are all tested including phones.
Usersnap
We're in the same situation! Best of luck Bertie <3
