10 Comments
User's avatar
Pat Hennessy's avatar

This is interesting to me as I’m not a big fan of the person who “sells something before they create it.”

So…is there a timeframe or a “number” someone should keep in mind when validating levels of interest?

Sinem Günel's avatar

Hi Patrick! I understand where your thought is coming from, however it's purely depends on how you look at it because you are not taking money for nothing. By offering a low-priced beta version, you can ensure that you actually build the most useful product for your customers.

There is not a definite time frame or number that you can rely on since part of the feedback can also be subjective and not numbered. You can come up with different strategies to validate depending on your audience size and your goals. What matters is that you can say for sure that people will in fact be willing to pay for your offer when it's presented to them.

Kiwi Guy Does AI's avatar

great idea about the cross promote. The one question I have is, how does that actually look from the actual tracking, money movement etc. Is the transaction going through a shopify store, or does substack have a way of doing it… asking for a friend :)

Jari Roomer's avatar

It's usually best to set up some sort of affiliate link for someone. Gumroad has a built-in affiliate system, so that could be a great way to do it.

Work By Elliot Cowan's avatar

Thank you for this guys. What platform do you use to host your courses as I don’t believe that’s possible on Substack

Sinem Günel's avatar

Personally, we use Teachable primarily because they have enough back-office features that make it easy for us to handle taxes, since we're based in Europe with mostly US clients. There are a ton of alternatives that you can look into, and the right choice really depends on your circumstances, expectations, and goals. :)

Gracie Peacock's avatar

Is the "app" that substack keeps asking me to download, absolutely necessary in order to be on this platform? What does that app actually do, and is it for working on one's phone, or a requirement to work on substack. Thanks!

Sinem Günel's avatar

It's not a requirement, but it makes it easier to use the platform on your phone, just like any other social network.

Dr. Yulia Akisheva's avatar

A lot of useful insights here, thanks!