We’re back with Season 2 Episode 2 documenting the launch of my latest product, Julep.

This week I’ve invited returning guest, Troy Dean of WP Elevation, to talk about the fears of launching a product. We also get into providing some advice for growing your e-mail list for a product launch.

Sit back, take a sip of your favorite summer cocktail and let’s get into the show!

Overcoming our fears

If you’re not embarrassed of your first product, you’ve launched too late. I love that line.

So many of us are paralyzed while in pixel perfect mode, that we never ship our next thing. From blog posts to products, it’s not easy to launch. I get it, it’s human nature, we want to be accepted. I know as a founder, when asked what my 10 year plan is, it’s to make things people love. When people don’t love my stuff, it hurts.

More often than not, this journey is going to come at the cost of some egg on our face. However, our best lessons and growth opportunities come from failure.

Listen to Season 2 Episode 2: Overcoming product launch fears

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Gathering your first 100 e-mail subscribers

I’ve already surpassed my short-term goal of 50 subscribers to the Julep e-mail list. I wasn’t going for astronomical list growth. I’m sure there are some that laugh at 68 subs — but hey, no fear, right?

How did I get the list to 68

* Announced GetJulep.com on Carrie’s podcast

* Announced it on my podcast

* Sent an e-mail to my Matt Report Newsletter list

* Wrote a blog post on GetJulep.com here.

* Tweeted about it (roughly 6 times)

* Posted the announcement article on ManageWP.org

My next goal is 100.

Seeing that I’ve hit a snag in the development of the plugin — can’t move text 100% across the image — I’ll have a bit of delay. I’m shooting for beta announcement in a week. By then, I hope, I’ll be at 100 interested folks.

When Troy and I chatted about growing an e-mail list, he mentioned creating a downloadable “style” guide of sorts. Some PDF or checklist of sorts to help bloggers create more engaging photos. Your typical “lead magnet” strategy.

Here are some of the e-mail platforms we mentioned:

* Mailchimp.com

* GetDrip.com

* MyEmma.com

* Infusionsoft.com

* ActiveCampaign.com

* AgileCRM.com

Should Julep go freemium or paid only?

Have you seen what’s available for free on the internet? – Troy Dean

I’m still exploring the business model of Julep, but I’m certainly leaning towards the freemium model. I think the interesting thing, as it relates to add-ons, is the price point. I think add-ons in the e-commerce plugin space can be priced a lot higher than more of these “accessory” add-ons I have planned for Julep. As to say, a payment gateway is a “must-have” versus with Julep, a new font is a “nice-to-have.”

Either way it’s going to be fun to explore that!