Launch Mistakes I Made (And How to Avoid Them)

My first launch was technically a success and practically a disaster.

I made 9 sales. My product page had broken links. My delivery email went to spam for at least two buyers. I had no follow-up sequence. One buyer couldn't access their download and I didn't hear about it until a week later when they asked for a refund.

I made $270. I also created a messy customer experience that I was embarrassed about for months.

I've launched a lot of products since then. Here are the actual mistakes I've made — not the clichéd "I didn't believe in myself" stuff, but the real operational and strategic errors — and what I do differently now.

Mistake 1: I Launched Without Testing the Checkout

On my first launch day, at least two buyers had trouble downloading their product. The issue: I'd set up the delivery incorrectly and the download link in the purchase confirmation email pointed to the wrong file.

I didn't catch this because I'd never actually gone through my own checkout as a customer.

Fix: before every launch, go through your full checkout as a test buyer. Use a real email address. Complete the purchase. Confirm the download link works. Read the confirmation email. Make sure everything a real buyer would experience is functioning correctly.

This sounds obvious. Very few new creators actually do it. I now do it every single time, and I've caught issues on at least four subsequent launches before buyers experienced them.

Mistake 2: I Had No Post-Purchase Email Sequence

When my first buyers purchased, they got a single confirmation email with their download. Then nothing.

No welcome email. No instructions for getting the most out of the product. No invitation to share feedback. No mention of other products I was working on.

I left an enormous amount of value on the table — not just revenue, but relationship-building. These buyers had just demonstrated they trusted me enough to spend money. They were warm. Responsive. Interested in what I was doing.

And I ghosted them.

Fix: set up a minimal post-purchase email sequence before you launch. Even three emails over a week:

• Email 1 (day 0): delivery + one tip for getting started
• Email 2 (day 3): check-in, ask for feedback
• Email 3 (day 7): share one related resource, mention you're working on more

MadeThis integrates with email marketing tools so you can wire this up without building custom infrastructure. It took me about two hours to set up, and my re-purchase rate from buyers improved noticeably within the first two months.

Mistake 3: I Launched Too Quietly

My second launch: I'd learned from the first one. The checkout worked, the delivery was clean, the product was better.

But I launched it by posting once on Twitter and once on my blog. I got 3 sales in 10 days.

The problem wasn't the product — it was the launch approach. I treated "publish" as "launch" and just made the product available without any effort to drive attention to it.

Fix: a launch is a campaign, not a moment. Even a small campaign. You need multiple touchpoints — email, community posts, social posts, personal outreach — spread over a few days. One announcement reaches maybe 10% of your potential audience. Multiple touchpoints, over time, reach a much larger fraction.

Mistake 4: I Set the Price Too Low and Couldn't Easily Raise It

My first product launched at $9. It sold steadily for three months. When I tried to raise it to $27, buyers who'd been watching my page noticed the change immediately and some mentioned it on Twitter.

I hadn't prepared for this at all. I had no explanation, no narrative, no communication to existing buyers. It felt abrupt and slightly icky to buyers who'd paid $9 and saw others being asked for $27.

Fix: plan for your first price from the beginning. Don't launch at $7 or $9 thinking "I'll raise it later." Launch at the price you can genuinely defend. And if you do raise prices, communicate it proactively to your existing list with a genuine explanation.

Mistake 5: I Didn't Collect Testimonials Fast Enough

The most persuasive thing on a product page is a real testimonial from a real buyer. I knew this. I still waited 3 months after my first launch to systematically ask buyers for feedback that I could use publicly.

By that time, many early buyers had moved on. The experience of using the product was less fresh. Getting responses was harder.

Fix: ask for testimonials within the first 7 days of purchase, while the experience is fresh and the buyer is still engaged. Send a personal email, not a bulk survey. Ask two specific questions: "What did you find most useful?" and "What result did you get?" — specific questions produce specific, quotable answers.

Mistake 6: I Launched Without a Sales Page

My first "product page" was three paragraphs and a buy button.

There was no headline. No outcome statement. No bullet points. No testimonials. No FAQ. No explanation of who the product was for or what they'd get.

Buyers converted in spite of the page, not because of it. Later, when I rewrote the page properly, my conversion rate went from about 1.5% to 4%.

Fix: write a real sales page before launch. It doesn't need to be long or fancy — clarity beats length every time — but it needs: a specific headline, an outcome statement, what's included, who it's for, and at least a few testimonials (from beta testers if you don't have buyers yet).

Mistake 7: I Launched and Then Did Nothing

After my first launch, I checked my sales dashboard constantly for a week and then basically abandoned the product. No new content driving traffic to it. No seasonal promotions. No updates. No featuring it in related blog posts.

Products don't sell themselves indefinitely. They need ongoing attention — new content, occasional promotions, updated product pages, new testimonials.

Fix: build a 90-day post-launch plan before you launch. What content will you create to drive traffic? When will you do your first promotional sale? When will you update the product?

The launch is not the end. It's the beginning.

For the full pre-launch framework that sets you up for success from the start, check out the pre-launch strategy that made my first sale before I opened the cart.

When you're ready to launch on a platform that handles delivery, checkout, and email integration cleanly — MadeThis is where I build everything now. The errors I made early on are much harder to make when your infrastructure is solid.