I made 4 BIG mistakes launching my first FREE digital product
And why you should not make the same mistakes that I made.
Gah. Don’t you hate it when you make a mistake? And then you beat yourself up because you cannot figure out why you made that mistake in the first place.
It’s absolutely fine to make mistakes.
We learn for as long as we live, so never let your mistakes stop you from learning new things or acting towards your goals.
What remains relevant is you learn from your mistakes and actively try to improve whatever you are working on.
Getting better a little each day is better than not doing anything.
After launching my naked Notion template on LinkedIn and Twitter, I took some time to figure out why the template didn’t perform well.
I had an epiphany. I realised four things.
Mistake #1. People could tell I was a newbie
When you launch a new product, you should always try to put your best foot forward. No one will take your work seriously if you fail to take your work seriously.
I failed to do just that.
I rushed into launching my first digital product.
No one will care enough to grab those freebies, no matter how good they are or how great your system works. If your product sales page lacks the presentation and precision the digital product page should have to match the other premium products in the marketplace, the hasty move will result in a loss of conversions for you.
This way, you’re already losing half the battle.
That is because when they see your product page, they will see that things don’t work right, and you will come across as an amateur with your product listing.
It doesn’t matter much if your product is free or paid if it doesn’t convert. It will continue to fetch low revenue from it. Even free products generate good revenue long-term once you build trust with your audience.
If you fail to take the time to fix your product, people will generally have low expectations for it to perform well. That is, it doesn’t solve the problem they wanted to purchase the product to solve in the first place, so why would they invest their time in checking out your product?
I wasn’t that surprised when I saw only a few people reaching out to me upon my product launch, and that was because they did not know how to use the product or understand what problem it solved.
So, as things go, please research before launching your product out of the blue.
Mistake #2. Are you sure if it is even a product launch?
I mean, I just dropped the links out of the blue. I’m pretty sure most people didn’t understand/know that I was launching a digital product. If they didn’t know about the product beforehand, they didn’t know what my product consists of, what it is, what it does, and how it adds value to their lives. Additionally, how to use it or how it will help them save time, be productive or make their lives efficient.
I made zero effort to educate my audience about what Notion is as a productivity system and how it could help small businesses manage their workspaces better. Also, when I released the template, how one could duplicate it in their own workspace to use it?
Another person who texted me was worried about their privacy. They were concerned that if they downloaded my free template and duplicated it in their own workspace, would I be able to see the changes they were making on the template? Will their changes be reflected in my account?
The answer was no, but it was a problem that I should have anticipated. The question raised a valid point because understanding the fear and pain point since they wanted to retain their privacy while they manage their business is something I should have seen coming beforehand.
Burning questions, fears and rejections like these in the first place stop a sale from converting.
I should have been more thoughtful about brainstorming the possible queries and answered this particular question in the FAQs section of my product page.
Mistake #3. Since I launched the Notion template with a naked link, I wasn’t able to track down the downloads
When I launched the product, I waited twenty-four hours to see any new activity on my email account, wondering if I had made any conversions with the free template. I also paused to think if Notion HQ sent any email updates once someone duplicated my template into their workspace, but I realised they didn’t do that.
Nothing of that sort takes place because you’re not using a marketplace to sell your free products.
It was demotivating for me since I couldn’t calibrate the customer interest in the product because I didn’t have all the data.
I put out a naked Notion template link for others to download.
I did make this horrendous mistake and lost on all the future leads I could have gotten from my free downloads.
Since I wasn’t able to track the purchases or downloads, I wouldn’t know if anyone was duplicating/downloading the template. I couldn’t see the conversion metrics because you do not get that with a naked Notion template link. I also wondered why the customers didn’t like the template.
There is little way to improve on the different aspects of the template if I do not get any feedback on the product. Even complaining customers tell you where you need to improve with their feedback.
But with a naked Notion link, I couldn’t get positive or negative feedback. There was nothing but crickets.
Mistake #4. Rushing a product launch can never benefit you
Whether I’d like to accept it or not, rushing a product launch can ruin the long-term chances of the visibility of a digital product and can also impact lifelong sales. If I had taken the time to educate my audience, build awareness about the product, and remind them how my product solves one of their problems, I would have gotten a higher conversion on my free product.
I also wondered if maybe I have created a product that no one wants, and there’s no additional evidence to back my claims or pinpoint the exact cause of the silence on my launch posts because, again, I launched the product with a naked link.
Now, I wish I didn’t rush into launching my first digital product, but I have made that mistake anyway.
Conclusion
So, don’t be me.
I’ll advise you not to make the same mistakes I made when I launched my first digital product.
Please note that planning your product launch can get more eyeballs on your product and generate increased customer interest, which can lead to more sales in the future.
So, definitely plan your product launch before dropping your digital product into a sea of other new products.
Use Gumroad to sign up as a seller on their platform and sell your Notion templates there.
Also, I’m curious to know about this.
What are some of the mistakes you might have made when you launched your first digital product?
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Thank you for reading!