I started this newsletter business in one afternoon.
It was a usual Saturday morning. Except today, I wanted to launch a newsletter.
And not only launch it. But also get subscribers in the same day.
I did this successfully with a strategy that allowed me to test customer demand and get subscribers, before writing a single article.
It’s called the fake door test.
How I used the fake door test to start Business Deconstructed
When I started this newsletter, I wasn’t sure how the readers would respond.
Would anyone sign up? Would they like the content?
I wanted to know if people would like this newsletter. And if they didn’t, no worries.
I would pivot to a different newsletter or start another business.
But there was a problem…
I didn’t have months to set everything up and learn newsletter creation if no one signed up and clicked the advertisements (how I get paid).
So, I had to find a faster way of testing if Business Deconstructed would work.
Enter fake doors.
Fake doors testing is asking customers to sign up or buy before you create the product.
Using the fake door test, I did two things:
Created the website and a clear CTA (call-to-action) to sign up
Posted on X, Reddit, Instagram to see if people would sign up
After the first day of posting, I had three subscribers. It confirmed that people did want to read Business Deconstructed.
You see, most people worry about creating perfect products. But there is a good chance no one wants your product.
So, you should always test the demand first by creating a fake door.
It’s as simple as:
Create a landing page for your product/service with a CTA to “sign up”, “get early access”, or “pre-order.”
Post content on social media or run low-cost paid ads to drive your target audience to the landing page
See how people respond. If a lot of users sign up or buy, create the product. If they don’t, try a different positioning or move on to another product.
Deconstructed: Buffer
Buffer, a social media scheduling tool, used the fake door when they started.
From social media, users got directed to a pricing page. Once they clicked the “Plans and Pricing” CTA, the users would get directed to an email newsletter.
Source: Userpilot
This test worked really well because there were two steps to measure customer demand:
The number of people who clicked “Plans and Pricing”
The people who signed up for Buffer’s newsletter
After thousands of users signed up, Buffer then built the product.
Here’s a quick tip for the fake-door:
The closer the fake door is to the actual action of buying, the better.
If you are selling expensive software, create a landing page with a CTA for an expensive payment for early access. Not “get a free demo.”
- Warren
PS: Want to check out the past posts? I just created an archive with all of Business Deconstructed’s posts. Check it out here.