
Should you launch more than once? - nathanbarry
http://nathanbarry.com/multiple-launches
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gk1
My product isn't tech-related[0], and my (re)launch didn't net me $58 G's, but
I had great results when I relaunched it.

The site was running for years, but without any grand purpose or vision. Then
I decided to completely revamp it, open it up as a platform for other
cartoonists, and focus on a mission (help cartoonists make money). I wrote
about this rebirth[1] and got an amazing response--24 hrs on the front page,
lots of love and feedback. (And one minor snafu that cost me a few hundred
bucks.)

I have another post sitting in draft mode about the exact results of that
relaunch, including metrics, analysis, and discussion on getting qualitative
product feedback.

[0] [http://www.gagcartoons.com](http://www.gagcartoons.com)

[1] [http://www.gkogan.co/blog/creating-new-business-model-
cartoo...](http://www.gkogan.co/blog/creating-new-business-model-cartoonists/)

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mos2
I think this is a pretty interesting article about doing a revised product,
2nd product launch. From what I gather, it is quite similar to a 2nd or
subsequent edition of a non-fiction book. I can't remember where I read it,
but someone said that you can often make more money off of a 2nd edition, and
often it takes a lot less work than the 1st edition as you are just revising
the content.

~~~
nathanbarry
I was reading about this yesterday. Seems the publishing industry will release
a hardcover, softcover, and then a small softcover version of the book. Not
sure the exact benefits, but they wouldn't do it unless it made money.

~~~
SatvikBeri
I think it's price discrimination. As I understand it hardcover books have
much higher profit margins. The major fans want to buy a book ASAP and if
hardcover is the only option they'll buy that. But if all editions are
available from day 1 then a lot of customers will buy the cheapest one.

~~~
nathanbarry
I think you're right. I found the article I was thinking of:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24patterson-t.htm...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24patterson-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all&_r=1&)

Here's the section:

"WHAT IS PERHAPS most remarkable about the Patterson empire is the sheer
volume of books it produces. The nine hardcovers a year are really only the
beginning. Nearly all of those books are published a second and third time,
first as traditional paperbacks, then as pocket-size, mass-market paperbacks.
“Scarcely a week goes by when we aren’t publishing something by James
Patterson,” Young told me, only half-joking."

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programminggeek
In a lot of places it is common to have a big new feature launch once a year
or so. Something as simple as a decent email launch sequence educating and
informing your users and potential customers of the great new things you've
added is often enough to make a nice bit of new money along with probably
higher residual money.

Joel Splosky wrote about this a long time ago with the whole idea that each
new set of features lets you serve more customers, but it also gives you the
benefit of a new "marketing event" that you can use to go out there and tell
everybody what you are doing.

Like anything, "launching" is a skill, and the more you do it, the better you
get.

Tim Ferriss also mentioned once that one reason he got into nonfiction books
is he can relaunch a new edition every so many years and continue to make good
money with basically the same material.

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antidaily
You can make $50k too. Just sign up for his free course.

~~~
RobAley
Well I found it quite useful. I've been doing small updates to my book [1],
(mainly adding additional links, small examples and tidying text) since it
launched late last year. I'm currently working on a larger update (adding a
new section on Raspberry Pi programming, and some bigger code exaples, plus an
enhanced HTML version), and I was wondering on how best to position the
updated version. My choice was to continue with my current marketing, or to do
a relaunch like Nathan. The information he gave is quite enlightening.

[1] PHP Beyond the Web,
[http://www.leanpub.com/php](http://www.leanpub.com/php)

~~~
makmanalp
... and you just hijacked this discussion about self-serving advice as an
opportunity to plug your own book :)

I think it's fine to plug oneself when it's at the end of an ostensibly useful
article but a bit more jarring in a "me too" comment. I think the more
socially acceptable thing to do is to put your book in your profile and
mention that you're working on it. Those who are interested will find it
easily. Opinions on this vary, of course.

~~~
davidw
This isn't reddit where you have to be ashamed of trying to make money or
promote your hard work.

The thing people should avoid is _only_ commenting to promote their stuff.

~~~
mattmanser
Nathan Barry posts are bad enough as it is without people in the comments
doing the same thing.

~~~
davidw
Nathan's posts are very much on-topic for a site interested in startups and
business. Far more so than the political post du jour. If you don't like them,
don't read them.

~~~
mattmanser
I didn't say they were off-topic, they're ok content wise, but they're very
thick on the 'buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing'.

They're blog-verts.

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zrail
For what it's worth, I read Authority before starting on my own book[1] and
have earned almost $26k so far, sans relaunch. I'll be doing a 2nd edition
sometime this year with lots of updates and will probably "relaunch" then.

Nathan's stuff is great, I highly recommend it if you're planning on doing a
project like this.

[1]: [https://www.petekeen.net/mastering-modern-
payments](https://www.petekeen.net/mastering-modern-payments)

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janesvilleseo
Good post. It reminded me of the US College textbook system. They do this at a
larger scale. It definitely drives home why you would want to relaunch the
product.

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easy_rider
Here is a motivational song for y'all [1]

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJDtTZ0Q1lY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJDtTZ0Q1lY)

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nickstinemates
Amazing level of transparency. Thanks for sharing, Nathan.

