Happy Sunday, fellow creators!

This week, we hit an enormous milestone that we couldn’t have done without you. 94,169+ creators have collectively earned over $500,000,000 on Gumroad. Thank you!

If you missed our new pricing announcement, read more about it here.

In today’s newsletter, we’re going to cover:

How Daniel (The Cold Email Wizard) created a business empire from one product
Why you should offer a free trial to your Gumroad memberships
How taking small bets leads to big wins

Let’s get right into it.

Daniel's 5 Tips To Build A Business Empire

Daniel built a business empire on Gumroad that started with a $15 e-book. From here, he’s built a massive following on social media and has launched multiple successful Gumroad products. Recently, our Senior Writer, Justin Mikolay, interviewed Daniel on The Gumroad Podcast, where he gave a rundown on how he scales products, builds an audience, and runs ads.

Below are five main takeaways from the podcast episode:

1. Build A Minimum Viable Product First

Daniel didn’t start by creating an in-depth product that took months to create. Instead, he started with a $15 e-book that tackled one problem. Then, he used this to test the demand. After the demand was met, Daniel decided to scale from an e-book to a course.

2. Scale Your Product After More Questions Come In

Daniel scaled his products as more questions came in. The more questions that came in, the more problems he could solve. The more problems he could solve, the more content he could add, which resulted in scaling his products. And as he added more content, he continuously increased the price.

3. Build An Audience On The Platforms With Organic Reach

If you’re trying to build an audience, start creating content on platforms that offer an ample amount of organic reach. Platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter are prime examples. The organic reach is still strong because they haven’t developed strong ad platforms.

4. Advertise On The Platforms With Dead Organic Reach

If you’re going to incorporate ads into your marketing strategy, focus on the platforms where the organic reach is “dead.” The platforms with a low organic reach have the best ad platforms. These will be your go-to ad platforms, from targeting to analytics, if you want to maximize every dollar you spend.

5. Upsell Your Products

As you scale the number of products you offer, you can effectively upsell your products to increase your customer lifetime value. Daniel’s main product is The Cold Email Wizard. After he acquires a customer, Daniel upsells by offering his other products through his email marketing.

You can listen to the full podcast episode here or watch the discussion here.

You can purchase Daniel’s products here.

Here’s What We Shipped For Gumroad Creators

We've updated the Licenses API to allow decrementing uses count. More info here

What’s Happening In The Creator Economy

Just last week, Gumroad creators earned over $3,335,515.
The 8 steps to create and sell an e-book
This is what your choices should focus on if you enjoy the self-employed lifestyle
How Sahil plans on scaling Gumroad and the rest of the plans for 2021
Jose Rosado on going independent, learning sales, and making money online

Why You Should Offer A Free Trial To Your Membership

Not every customer is ready to commit to your monthly or annual membership from the jump.

This is where offering a free trial can convert customers who are on the fence.

By offering a free trial, you’re giving customers a “taste-test” of the value you provide and, therefore, can showcase your best work to convert customers.

This “taste-test” gives a glimpse into how your membership will make the customer’s life better.

And in less than a minute, you can offer a free trial to your Gumroad memberships.

You can learn how to activate this feature here.

And you can learn everything you need to know to build a thriving membership here.

Take Small Bets. Fail Fast. Learn Faster. Win Big.

Sahil says, “Don’t take risks. That’s scary! Place small bets. That’s exciting!”

Meaning, don’t put all your time, money, and effort into one big bet where it feels like everything is on the line.

That’s risky.

Instead, take small bets where it’s okay to fail.

Where these failures lead to feedback, which leads to reiterating and implementing on your way to success.

View our Instagram to learn how artists fail upward.

The Creator Journey: From $0 to $1,000,000

See tips and get inspired by fellow creators with our guide in the community.

Learn all the steps to get started, sell, grow, and scale to make a living doing what you love.

Until next Sunday,

The Gumroad Team