How I Sold $19,031.26 in a Four Day Product Launch — With Only a 5K Audience On X
16 months ago, I launched a product and made $0.
Last weekend, I launched The Creator’s Welcome System and made $19,031.26.
134 people purchased it over a 4-day span.
My Twitter following at launch was 4,900, and my email list was a shade over 2,000.
Launches like this are supposed to be for folks with much more reach, right?
So how did I do it?
It’s not an easy answer, I’ll be honest. We’re talking about 16 months of trying things, failing, getting small wins, failing some more, and learning, learning, learning.
So instead of a step-by-step “how I did it”, it may be easier just to share the factors that I believe were instrumental to such a successful launch with such a small audience.
Growing a “mega-audience” is tough these days, but I’m proof you don’t need one to do something cool.
So I hope you’ll find this article helpful on your journey to launching a product.
Niche Down
In the fall of 2022, I became “The Welcome Sequences Guy” for solopreneurs. I found a hole in the email marketing market that nobody else owned, so I took it and made it all mine.
My product was literally a welcome sequence product — a tool to help solopreneurs build a highly effective lead magnet and welcome sequence.
My goal was to become the go-to person for welcome sequences — and everything else revolved around that niche.
Focus on Reputation…Not Following
I spent more than a year on Twitter focused on building authority.
I believe an audience is a byproduct of your reputation, not vice versa. So, every day for over a year, I shared helpful advice on:
Lead magnetsWelcome sequencesMisc email marketing
And even though my audience didn’t grow as quickly as others around me (+4k in 2023), I’ve always gotten really great engagement on my content.
I attribute that to establishing a reputation of being helpful and generous while consistently sharing proof of my concepts and teaching people how to do things for free.
As I’d hoped, people began seeing me as the go-to for welcome sequences.
Make Friends
You can’t launch without friends. Period.
Over the past year, I’ve connected with dozens and dozens of people. Mostly just as friends, but often, it turns into mutually beneficial relationships.
When I launched last weekend (December 2023), my friend gladly shared my posts and told others about my product.
I had 10 people who affiliated for me (and another 5 folks who wanted to but never got “approved” by the platform…but that’s a story for another time) and sold my product to their lists for a 50% cut of the sales they brought in.
Not to mention, launches are tedious and super stressful. The constant support and encouragement I received from friends made it feel even more special.
Product is KING
My product is damn good. I poured my soul into it, and I believe 100% there’s nothing on the market quite like it.
It’s not just an info-product; it’s a tool designed to help people implement a welcome sequence — quickly. This is a fundamental belief I have about products, and it was a big selling point for this product.
No amount of marketing or even reputation can save a crappy product. You have to believe it’s the best thing on the market — or it’s going to be hard to sell.
Send lots of emails
I sent my email list 14 emails over a 7-day period.
4 prelaunch emails over 3 days and 10 launch emails over 4 days.
The prelaunch emails were purely intended to build anticipation for the product.
The launch emails were purely intended to sell, and believe it or not, each launch email grabbed at least one sale.
Surprisingly, I didn’t get as many unsubscribes as I thought I would (there were still a few curmudgeons). Many people were happy to see me selling something (re: reputation) and were rooting me on.
I sent 4 emails on the final day of the launch, and that one day accounted for nearly 50% of the entire sales. The final 2 emails grabbed quite a few sales each.
It may feel like you’re emailing “too much”, but if you lead with value, tell stories, and treat people like people — most of ’em won’t mind.
Overall, these were the focus of my launch emails:
buyer hesitationsproduct uniquenesssocial proofstorytellinglessons
Your launch is only as good as the anticipation you build
I teased the product periodically for 2 months.
I talked about it and showed sneak peeks of it.
I sent 4 emails about it in the days leading up to the launch — showing proof, sneak peeks, and positioning the uniqueness of it. If you can’t get people excited about the product, it’s going to be hard to sell.
My goal was this:
On the day of the launch, I wanted my audience to be thinking, “Oh my gosh Jeff! Just give me the damn product already!!!”
Remember, you’re not bugging them if it’s actually something they want and need.
Get people excited about your product BEFORE you launch it, not once the doors are open.
Storytelling for the win
Of the emails I sent to my list, the two best-sellers were obviously:
The launch email and the ‘final call’ email.
But in between, I sent 8 other emails. And the ones that delivered a surge of sales? The ones in which I led with a story.
I used subject lines like:
“Glenn was driving me BONKERS”
“Bob-Bob’s beer steins”
If you’re wondering how to send 10 emails in 4 days without driving your list crazy, stories are the ticket.
Stories are a refreshing break in the noise. They get our attention, entertain, and have a powerful way of communicating without beating people over the head.
Here’s the general storytelling framework I used:
Tell a story → Make a point → Segue into the offer
It’s a great way to say things you want to say without saying it.
Keep showing up
A year ago, I had 650 followers on Twitter and 250 email subscribers.
I had no idea this would happen a year later, and a year ago, I probably could not have pulled this off by myself. But I believed it was possible — and I focused on getting 1% better every day.
Over a year of helping people, sharing content, making mistakes, and refining my approach went into this product — and consequently, the launching of it.
I’ve never gone viral.I don’t have a huge audience.I’ve made a heap of mistakes.
But showing up every single day pays off more than you can see in the moment.
Final Words
The Creator’s Welcome System isn’t just an info-course; and it’s way more than a humble template. It’s a unique system.
It’s everything a solopreneur needs to get a high-quality lead magnet and welcome sequence up and running quickly.
The product is born out of the approach I use with freelance clients and hinges on foundational elements like trust, proof, and thought leadership (not silly gimmicks).
If you’re curious, you can read more about it here.
I hope my campaign gives you confidence that you can sell your knowledge at scale — with meaningful results — without having a massive following.
How I Sold $19,031.26 in a Four Day Product Launch — With Only a 5K Audience On Twitter. was originally published in Entrepreneur's Handbook on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.