What's the hardest part about launching a product?

@rautaalin how do you fight that?

@alessandrotesoro what do you hate about it? as someone who loves it I'd be happy to share advice :D

@abadesi It's probably because I'm a developer that I hate marketing. What annoys me the most is not being able to see results immediately. With code instead I can see immediately if something is working or not 🤷‍♂️ I build and sell WordPress plugins so I'm just not sure which channels are the most effective or even where to start from. The only strategy that has ever worked for me is "build it, ship it, they'll come". Which is easy for small projects but very hard for larger projects like the one I'm currently working on.

@alessandrotesoro I hear you. What channels have been most successful so far? Email newsletters? Twitter? LinkedIn?

@kevinnatanzon oh no! hope you get it back up and running ASAP

@markmurphy37 how is it going? I always rely on social and email marketing for that.

@abadesi It's going ok! I've been pushing on some social channels relevant to my audience like Twitter and various Subreddits. I'm thinking of trying some ad slots on a couple newsletter to see how they fare. Do you have any advice when it comes to email marketing and building an initial list?

@markmurphy37 aim to share something regularly e.g. a weekly digest. Include a CTA in the header/footer asking folks to share with friends. When tweeting again be bold with the CTAs. Also try to get on podcasts that target your audience even if they have a small audience - with a niche you may get a higher conversion %.

@abadesi I like the thought of sharing something on a more regular schedule and being more bold with CTAs on Twitter. I appreciate the advice!

@dima_grossman I think that happens to lots of developers! You always know what more could be done and you have an impulse to. So how do you stop yourself from doing that and finally shipping?

@ryan_w_glass Yes reading reviews takes resilience for sure. Do you usually make a launch checklist to ensure it gets off the ground smoothly?

@abadesi I probably should make a checklist - I've just launched today and it seems to be invisible :(

@ryan_w_glass I see it! 🙃Downtime Monkey 2.0?

@ryan_w_glass where are you promoting and sharing? do you already have an email list/audience you are sharing it with?

@abadesi - 1200+ Twitter followers, newsletter to 500+ users, Facebook, Makerlog, Indie Hackers etc. but I think that the reality is that unless you're on the front page it's effectively invisible. Not to worry though as it's not our only method of getting the word out.

@jamesivings yes James solid advice! But what if you are feeling only 20% ready? 😬

@jamesivings The reason why makers want to be sure the product is bug free before the launch is because the game is one shot try, if the users find it ugly or buggy they will not come back again!

@aboubakr_mekhatria no one has mentioned bugs :) I wouldn't recommend launching a buggy product, but as @abadesi mentioned, bugs aren't the only reason for people not to feel 100% ready.

@ostrowele I was pleased with the results! You can check it out here https://www.producthunt.com/post... after the launch I have predominately focused on Twitter as an acquisition channel which has worked well. We were able to 2x our growth in 4 months.

@sarahloertscher that's why I think makers should spend time building their personal brands, you get a great mix of folks who are interested in what you do and share similar interests and values. Thus a captive audience to convert into product users when the time comes.

@abadesi I think that's such a smart way to approach it, although my personal struggle with that is how much time I want to spend on social media (not very much at all). I stopped using social media almost two years ago and am a much happier, balanced person. But that does "cost" me things too, mostly in my work life, and one of those things is an audience, for lack of a better word. I guess it's the common struggle of work/life balance in yet another place. I'm curious on your perspective - have you found way to strike a balance?

@mxmllr what is in the last 20 percent? last minute things?

I believe in the rule that 80% of the product can be finished in 20% of the time. The remaining 20% will take 80% of the time. While I'm in the second phase I find it hard to decide when it's time to release the product. For example, how much time should I invest in quality assurance or bugfixing before introducing the product to the masses?

@mxmllr I love the practice of doing constant reflection / cost benefit analysis.

@conrad_ehing spend each day building your community outside PH so you have as many folks as possible chiming into your launch sharing reviews and comments.

@lindsey_winder Congrats Lindsey :) So, how did it went?

@sisi_l the key is to do both at the same time. It requires an embrace of imperfection and writing about ideas which may not be fully formed.

@povilas_korop yes yes yes! @csallen said in our podcast its better to stop thinking of launching as your ONE SHOT but constantly be launching :)

@povilas_korop True. The hard work starts after launch. Hence the reason you may need to launch again, and again, and again.....

@povilas_korop I think you are absolutely right. Unfortunately, many of us invest so much energy and emotions into building the right product and eventually launching it, so we are already kind of "burned up" when we actually do it. Realizing that launch is just the beginning of yet another very long lap, doesn't really help with burnout at the end of the day :(

@jonathan_sun1 i feel you! That's where you need to lean into the team and trust in the process