How to find product-market fit before launch.
Not because they weren’t good. But because I was afraid of what people would think if I talked about them.
So instead of launching the things I was spending so much time on, I’d move on to something else.
I’d rationalize this by saying things like it wasn’t good enough, my new idea is better, or the timing wasn’t right.
But really, I was afraid of it failing.
I was afraid of finding out what other people thought.
This is because I never told anyone about what I was working on. Instead, I’d work on every project quietly by myself, waiting until I thought it was “perfect” before saying anything.
But, even when I felt like something was perfect, I still wouldn’t tell anyone about it.
And the few times I did, no one cared. Maybe some people said it was cool or whatever, but nothing ever felt like it had enough interest to make me want to take it further.
So I wouldn’t.
And, of course, I knew my first few things probably weren’t going to work out, so it was ok to think of them as learning experiences when I quit them. But after trying time and again to get something off the ground, I got tired of starting one thing after another to only give up and start all over.
After enough times of this happening, I finally realized the problem was me. I was quitting not because I thought the ideas were bad but because I didn’t want to find out what other people thought of it.
By not launching my projects, I could at least say I was successful in building the initial thing without the risk of finding out what others might think of it.
It was a personal success but not a public success. I was getting in my own way.
By not talking about what I was working on, no one else was emotionally invested in these projects like I was. And when I did have a project I wanted to talk about, no one knew why they should care or how much work it took to get to that point.
So when they didn’t care, it felt personal even though it wasn’t at all. They just had no reason to care.
Realizing this is when I decided I’d make sure people were aware of what I was doing the next time I started something.
Now, of course, we’ve all heard the advice to launch before you’re ready and that you should be embarrassed by your first iteration. And, as much as we know that’s right, it’s still hard to do because it’s not always clear what that means.
So, here are three simple ways to talk about your idea before it’s ready, get people emotionally invested, and generate interest so your idea has the momentum it needs to turn into a real business.
Finally doing these things made all of the difference for me.
Have people tell you what they want.
While you might have intuition and personal insight into the problem you’re solving, the market, and your target audience, you don’t want to base everything on your assumptions.
Instead of guessing, you want to be sure you’re right about what you know.
And, to do that, you’re going to ask people to fill out a survey.
This will help you learn how people talk about products like yours, the industry you’re in, what’s important to them, and what they don’t care about.
Ultimately this tells you who your customers really are.
And depending on the product or service you’re planning to develop, you can likely send this survey to your friends, family, and people you work with. That group should be enough people to get you started. And, when you send it to them, you can always ask them to forward it to anyone else they know who might be interested.
Hopefully, people will forward it as this will help you get some unbiased opinions, as most of the people you know will probably try to confirm what you’re already thinking.
Then, if you want people to actually complete your survey, you have to make sure it’s not overly complicated or takes a lot of time to complete. No more than a few minutes.
Remember, they’re doing you a favor by doing this for you, so it shouldn’t be more than five or so questions, and they shouldn’t be hard to answer.
Your market survey should have questions like:
Do you use products like this
What’s your favorite product like this
How often do you use products like this
What do you like about products like this
What don’t you like about products like this
All you’re looking for is a bit of confirmation on what you’re thinking and insight on what’s important to people.
And, of course, ask for their contact information and if it’s ok for you to follow up. Because remember, the real point of this is to get people invested in the outcome of your project, which is why the next thing we’re going to do is send them samples to test and give you feedback.
Validate your product with early adopters.
Now that you have a bit of insight into your audience and what they want, you can’t stop there.
As soon as you’re ready, you need to share a prototype with them so they can give you feedback and help you shape it into something people will buy.
You can’t wait until it’s “perfect” because it never will be, and you need other people’s input to help you make something they’re willing to pay for.
Getting this real-world feedback will also help you protect against scope creep and thinking you need to add more things to whatever you’re building so people will like it more. If you let that happen, you’ll often end up with a product no one wants rather than something you know they want.
So, give people samples and ask them for honest feedback with open-ended questions like:
What did you like about this
What don’t you like about this
Would you recommend this
If yes, what would you say
If no, why not
Anything else I should know
Answers to these questions will give you insight into what people value and how they talk about your product which can help guide how you market it when it comes time to launch.
And not only do these answers help guide you in the right direction, but they also give these people a sense of ownership as they see their feedback influencing the product through the various iterations. This gives these people a reason to help promote your product and make it successful once it’s ready to launch as they’ve had a hand in it.
Attract more customers with social proof.
Ok, so I know we’re skipping a lot here, and it’s really hard to create a new product. But let’s agree you’ve done your customer research, developed a prototype, and have been getting iterative feedback along the way that’s gotten you to a product you’re happy with.
So, the next thing to do is launch your brand and product.
And, now, the best part is you know it’s going to work because a bunch of people have already tried it and like it. On top of that, you have a solid list of people asking when it’s going to be available because you’ve been talking about what you’re working on and sharing the process from the start. Awesome. That’s exactly what you want.
But the one tricky thing at this point is that most, if not all, of these people are people you either know directly or are friends of friends. These people will buy and support whatever you do because they know you, which will be great for the first few days. But, unfortunately, that list of people you know, or kind of know, is going to run out pretty quickly.
So what will you do to convince the people who don’t know you?
For that, you’re going to need social proof.
People like knowing other people have had a good experience with something before they’re willing to buy it too.
So, this isn’t really something else you have to do, but while you’re validating your product with those early adopters, ask them to leave a review or give you a testimonial you can put on your site to show people that others are using and liking it.
In their reviews, you can ask them to talk about things like:
What do they like about your product
What has your product solved for them
What products have they replaced now that they have yours
What makes your product unique
Then, of course, set up a system to automatically request reviews from all of the people who buy in those initial days to show there’s momentum with more positive reactions.
The subtle difference is now, instead of building anticipation with the people you know by sharing parts of the process with them. You’re trying to make other people feel like they’re missing out if they don’t have your product because of what everyone else is saying.
Why you shouldn’t be afraid to launch your product early.
What this all comes down to isn’t so much about these tactics, but about being comfortable sharing things before you think they’re ready.
What you have to remember is, very few people are trying to do anything more than just get by. So at worst, someone who hasn’t ever tried to do something will say your idea is dumb. And, at best, people will think it’s cool that you’re trying something new.
So, care about the people who think it’s cool and use these tactics to validate your ideas and get people invested in helping you turn your idea into a business.
Want to know exactly what to say when you’re asking people what they think about your idea? I go over all of it and give you word-for-word templates in my 5-Day Brand Bootcamp.
The Brand Bootcamp is a 5-day, self-paced email course guiding you step-by-step through validating an idea, designing your brand, and getting your first sales.
Full of tools, tactics, templates, and strategies, you’ll learn what’s worth worrying about now, what you can figure out later, and how to effortlessly make decisions as you continue building your brand.
