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How To Sell On Gumroad?5 min read

A step-by-step workbook that guides you to a successful product launch from start to finish (and guarantees sales).

Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash

If you haven’t heard of Gumroad you are leaving a lot of money at the table. Period.

What is Gumroad?

It’s a gigantic marketplace of digital products (e-books, courses, training, consultations, and almost anything else).

And yes, everyone (including you) can take advantage of it right now…

Check out here what my latest Gumroad product looks like.

But wait a minute…

How is this different than a bunch of existing e-commerce solutions (e.g., Shopify or even a WordPress website)?

Well, Gumroad gets paid only when you get paid (they take 10% of every sale you make).

Think of it for a second… There are “armies of top-notch” techies at Gumroad optimizing your store for the best possible conversions…

(Based on the data of all the shops that are under the same roof at Gumroad.)

And the best part is that you pay $0 dollars for all of that…

So, the platform is 100% optimized for the best performance and you only have to create your product to get started.

See here how I made my first Gumroad sale in less than 24 hours.

No Thinking Required: Ready-To-Use Blueprint To Start & Grow Your Blog From $0 To $1,200/Mo In…
Want to get into blogging but confused about where to start?igordr3.gumroad.com

What’s the catch?

If this all sounds “too good to be true”, you are probably right…

So, what’s the missing part?

Even with the best product and a killer store, you’ll get 0 sales unless you have a crystal-clear launch path.

(Read that line again.)

But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

Here is an exact, step-by-step, plan that you can use to launch new products on Gumroad.

(This strategy worked like a charm for me.)


Get ready for launch 3…2…1

Listen carefully now.

The trick is to build momentum until the full force forward like a freight train.

Here are the steps you need to do (order matters) to successfully launch any product.

If you tick all boxes it’s practically impossible not to make at least one sale in the first 24 hours.

(Provided that you made a product that solves a problem.)

  1. Sanity-check [Day -3]: Email a few friends with the product link (or family members or just post in different internet groups) and ask for feedback. Mention you are open to hearing any comments. Make the final adjustments to your product page based on these.
  2. Experience-check [Day -2]: [Optional] Find someone who has more experience than you in selling on Gumroad (or online in general). Ask for the costs of them reviewing your product page and providing comments. This usually fits into a single 1:1 session in my case. (You may even find consultants who will do this for free.)
  3. Pre-announcement social post [Day -1]: Blast a post on all your social networks/email subscribers about the upcoming launch of the brand-new product. Focus clearly on what burning problem your reader can solve with it. You may even add a call to action and invite people to like/comment (to get a free copy of your product — limit this to the first 10 people). You want the post to go viral (the more likes/comments the bigger chance).
  4. Launch post [Day 0]: On the launch day, publish a Medium/Substack post announcing that the product can be ordered as of this moment. Make sure you tell all the benefits and burning problems it resolves for the buyers.
  5. 2nd social media blast [Day 0]: Let all your followers know that the product is now live (this includes your email list if you have one). Invite them to buy right away because of the limited number of copies (at this price). See a good example of a social post below this list.
  6. Launch-path post [Day +2]: Write another Medium/Substack post about your experience and results when launching the product (behind-the-scenes sneak peek). Make sure this post links heavily both to your announcement post and to your Gumroad product (see here how I did it).
  7. 3rd social media blast [Day +3]: Promote now the [Day +2] post on all your social media/email newsletter networks.
  8. Thank you post [Day +5]: By this point, you must have made sales. Write another Substack/Medium post where you thank all the people who bought your product. You may even publish the detailed figures (if you feel comfortable).
  9. The final social media blast: Now let all your networks know about the [Day +5] post (so that you show gratitude and build relationships with the audience even if they didn’t buy).
Twitter social post of my product

One important point. The steps don’t require any huge following base.

I managed to make sales even when I had around 100 followers across my social networks and 200 subscribers on my email list

If you need help building your audience and starting ground up, consider my Gumroad course from here. (I also provide 1:1 consultations here.)

Final thoughts

Gumroad is a great marketplace to sell you virtual products (any niche will work).

I personally tested and confirmed that you can make money on Gumroad.

In this post, I explained step-by-step what a successful product launch looks like.

If you follow all the steps it is practically impossible not to sell at least one product in the first 24 hours.

(Even with a brand-new product and Gumroad account — just like me.)

Try and see for yourself.

P.S. If you are a total beginner (no following, no email list, no nothing), consider my Gumroad course here to get all of that.

P.P.S. If you decide to give this a go, please put the link to your Gumroad product in the comments, I’d love to see what you come up with!


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By Igor Jovanovic

Founder & Full Stack Tech Consultant

Experienced tech professional with a strong track record in web services and fintech. Collaborating with Silicon Valley's multi-billion tech giants and offering a range of services committed to excellence. Check the Services page for how I can help you too.

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