cold start problem

I go through phases with nonfiction books.

I read basically zero last year.

But I've already read 16 so far this year.

One I'm in the middle of right now is called The Cold Start Problem by a guy named Andrew Chen.

He was head of rider growth teams at Uber and helped them grow to 100 million active riders and $50 billion in gross revenue.

The book is about how companies like Uber, AirBnB, and Tinder harnessed "network effects" to start & scale.

It's a fascinating topic.

In case you've never heard the term...

"Network effects" is just a way of saying the user experience gets better the more people they are.

Think marketplaces like eBay and AirBnB.

Or content platforms like Twitch and Instagram.

But the inverse is also true:

Uber is useless if there are no drivers in your area when you need a ride.

And that's the "cold start" problem in a nutshell:

You need to get a critical mass of people onboarded at the beginning for the network to survive.

If not, it dies.

And the book reveals various ways to do that.

Now, email newsletters aren't technically "networked products" like Uber, AirBnB, or LinkedIn...

But if you're looking to sell info products like books, courses, workshops, etc to your subscribers...

Then you face a similar "cold start" problem:

Gathering enough proof to persuade people to buy something before you've actually put it on sale.

There's a few ways to skin this cat:

You could bribe your audience for a testimonial by giving the product away for free...

You could look to recruit beta users in exchange for a discount and hope they'll share a review after...

Or you could even copy-paste testimonials from other products and hope no one notices.

I've personally done all of the above.

Yet here's the thing:

Most coaches, consultants, and experts tend to overestimate how much social proof they need to sell a new info product.

In fact, you don't need any.

At least not at the beginning.

The only proof you need is your own.

You are the case study.

And as long as you have the evidence (aka screenshots, specific details to support the narrative, etc) to show you've done the thing or achieved the result...

You're better off launching ASAP.

Worry about gathering more proof once you've confirmed people are willing to pay for it.

Because if your offer's a dud...

No amount of social proof is going to save you.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

I'm working on a new info product right now.

The details are top secret for the time being...

But I'm really excited about it.

Whether you're a seasoned publisher with thousands of subscribers or have yet to start your newsletter, I'm confident you'll want to get your paws on this thing when it launches.

It's going to remove a lot of the guesswork when it comes to starting a cash-flowing email newsletter.

As Tony Robbins says, "success leaves clues."

I'm not relying on confidence alone though…

I've come up with a clever way to validate the offer before I dive deep into building it.

Sell first, then deliver.

So if that sounds intriguing, then stay tuned for more ;)