You’re reading edition #9 of the LaunchBoom Newsletter, which is sent every Tuesday to thousands of product creators.
I have three topics for you today:
- The story of a founder who turned trash into a $158K launch.
- How to not waste thousands on product photos.
- LaunchBoom’s first podcast episode.
Enjoy!
Contents
1. Short Story
This founder turned trash into revenue.
His last Kickstarter removed 33,325 pounds of trash from the earth while pre-selling $158,736 worth of product.
Here’s his story.
Meet Marcos – the co-founder and CEO of PANGEA Movement.
It all started back in 2018.
Marcos was traveling the world and met two other backpackers in Mexico. During their travels, they couldn’t believe how much trash was on our earth.
They decided to do something about it.
They started simple by organizing cleanups.
But progress was slow.
They wanted to make more impact faster.
One of them proposed an idea…
Instead of just having cleanups, what if they turned the trash into products? So when someone bought a product, they’d be funding the cleanup of trash.
They all loved the idea.
And they started PANGEA to do just that.
Their first product was called the PANGEA Bamboo Travel Towel.
The promise was simple: for every $10 raised, they’d clean up 1 pound of trash.
They launched on November 30, 2019 and the market loved it – raising $152,888 from their very first Kickstarter.
From there, they launched a few more campaigns:
- On March 18, 2021 they launched the PANGEA Bamboo Travel Towel 2.0 and raised $203,558.
- On November 9, 2021 they launched PANGEA Eco Jacket and raised $116,050.
Flash forward to 2022, and they were ready to launch their 4th campaign.
This campaign would be for the PANGEA Mangrove Sunglasses.
For this launch, they decided to get a little extra help and joined LaunchBoom.
- They created their Reservation Funnel.
- They drove traffic with Meta ads.
- They built up a prelaunch email list.
When they launched, they rose $36,494 in the first day.
30 days later, they had raised $158,736.
But more importantly, the money raised would fund the clean up of 33,325 pounds of trash.
Now, Marcos’ launch didn’t work just because the social cause was great.
It worked because the product was great.
A social cause is not enough to make someone want to buy a product.
In fact, I’d argue that the social cause is more like the “cherry on top.”
Without a great product, very few people will buy no matter how good the social cause is.
But if you mix a great product with a great social cause, you’ll have a recipe for success.
2. Marketing Tip
Don’t waste money on product photos.
Most product creators waste thousands of dollars on unnecessary product photos.
Here are three ways to prevent that:
1. Limit your photos
- You only need a handful for a successful Kickstarter.
- 3-5 studio shots.
- 3-5 location shots.
2. Limit your locations
Find a location that suits a majority of your use cases. For example, if you have a tailgating product…
- Find a beach with a park and parking lot.
- That’s three locations in one.
- Saves time for your photographer.
- Saves money for you.
3. Limit your models.
Here’s a fact:
- You don’t need a model.
- Your product should sell itself.
- You just need someone to use it.
- That someone can be you.
- A family member.
- Or a friend.
3. Favorite Content
Shameless plug…
The LaunchBoom Podcast is here!
Our very first episode is with Alex Lieberman, the co-founder of Morning Brew – a 9-figure newsletter company that sold to Business Insider.
This episode dives into Alex’s foray into the world of consumer products with the launch of his first product called The Plunge.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
Learn to launch your product in 5 minutes per week.
Every Tuesday, I send a newsletter just like this one! You can expect to read about my biggest lessons and most-effective strategies to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign. Sign up using the form right below 👇
