You have a digital product idea, but no audience and zero budget. The traditional approach—build it for months, then hope people buy—often fails. This guide shows how to pre-sell your product to validate demand and fund creation, all in under a week with free tools.
Steps
Pre-selling validates demand before building. Create a landing page, offer early access pricing, collect emails, and use payment links to secure pre-orders. This method reduces risk and funds development with zero upfront audience. Follow these steps to launch your lean pre-sell campaign.
-
Define Your Minimum Viable Offer
Your Minimum Viable Offer (MVO) is the core benefit you promise to deliver, not a fully-built product. Describe what the customer will achieve. For example, “A 50-page guide to landing your first freelance client” is specific and outcome-focused.
Set an early-bird price that reflects the value but rewards early adopters. A template for your MVO:
- Product Name: Clear and benefit-driven
- Core Promise: The single biggest outcome for the customer
- Format: eBook, video course, template kit, etc.
- Early-Bird Price: 30-50% off the intended final price
- Delivery Date: A realistic date, e.g., “Within 30 days of pre-sell closing”
-
Build a Simple Pre-Sell Landing Page
You don’t need a complex website. Use a free, single-page builder like Carrd or a platform like Gumroad that handles pages and payments together. Your page must convert visitors into pre-order customers.
Essential elements to include:
- Compelling Headline: State the primary benefit immediately.
- Bulleted Benefits: List 3-5 specific outcomes the user will get.
- Clear Pricing: Show the early-bird price and the future retail price.
- Strong Call-to-Action (CTA): A prominent “Pre-Order Now” button.
- Email Capture: A simple form for visitors not ready to buy.
-
Drive Initial Traffic with Zero Audience
Without an email list or followers, you must go to where your potential customers already are. Focus on niche communities where you can provide value, not just spam a link.
Effective zero-cost tactics:
- Niche Subreddits and Facebook Groups: Find communities related to your product’s topic. Engage in discussions, answer questions, and only share your link when it’s genuinely helpful and allowed by group rules.
- Cold Outreach: Personally email 10-20 people who would benefit from your product. Ask for feedback on the idea and mention your pre-sell page. Keep it short and authentic.
- Social Media Posts: Use Twitter or LinkedIn to talk about the problem your product solves. Frame your pre-sell as a solution you’re building based on demand.
-
Collect Pre-Orders and Validate Demand
Set up a way to accept money. Gumroad and Stripe Payment Links are excellent for this. They let you create a buy link without embedding a complex checkout on your site.
Track these key metrics to validate demand:
- Pre-Order Conversion Rate: Aim for 2-5% of your landing page visitors. If 100 people visit and 2-5 pre-order, you have validation.
- Refund Requests: If people immediately ask for refunds, your offer might be unclear.
- Email Sign-ups: A high number of email sign-ups (without pre-orders) signals interest but a pricing or offer problem.
If you get a handful of pre-orders (e.g., 5-10), you have proven someone will pay for your idea. If you get zero after 200+ targeted visitors, it’s a sign to pivot.
Real Example: Pre-Selling a $500 eBook in 7 Days
A freelance UX designer wanted to create an advanced Figma template kit for SaaS onboarding. Instead of building it first, she defined her MVO: “A library of 50 proven onboarding components.” She built a one-page site on Carrd, set an early-bird price of $49 (planned retail: $99), and shared it in two specific SaaS founder communities on Facebook and a subreddit for product managers.
She focused her posts on the specific problem of user onboarding friction. Within 5 days, she received 15 pre-orders, generating $735 in revenue. This validation gave her the confidence and funds to create the product. She publicly documented this process in an Indie Hackers forum post, providing a credible, real-world case study.
Free Tools and Templates
You can start a pre-sell campaign today without spending money. Here are the best free tools and a template to get you started immediately.
Free Tool Stack:
- Landing Page: Carrd (free plan for one site) or Gumroad (free to set up a product page)
- Payments: Stripe Payment Links (no coding needed) or Gumroad’s built-in system
- Email Marketing: Mailchimp (free plan for up to 2,000 contacts) to manage your leads
Pre-Sell Checklist Template:
- Day 1: Define your MVO and set pricing.
- Day 2: Build and publish your landing page.
- Day 3: Identify 3 target online communities.
- Day 4: Craft your outreach messages and posts.
- Day 5: Launch – share your page and start outreach.
- Day 6-7: Track metrics and engage with respondents.
FAQs
How do I pre-sell a digital product with no audience?
Focus on outbound outreach. Join niche online communities, contribute value, and share your pre-sell offer where it’s relevant. Use cold email to personally contact potential customers. The goal is to drive targeted traffic, not to rely on a built-in audience.
What if no one buys my pre-sell offer?
This is valuable validation. It means your offer isn’t compelling yet. Pivot by interviewing visitors to understand their objections. Change your pricing, clarify your benefits, or solve a different problem before investing more time.
Can I use pre-selling for any type of digital product?
Yes, pre-selling works for eBooks, courses, software, templates, and newsletters. The key is a clear promise of a future deliverable. For complex software, pre-sell access to a beta version instead of the full product.
What free tools are best for pre-selling?
For a quick start, use Carrd for your landing page and Stripe for payment links. Gumroad is also excellent as it combines the page and payment processor. Use Mailchimp’s free plan to capture and manage email leads from interested visitors.