Shy Scared Warrior's Guide to Publishing Your First WSO

I recently just published my first WSO and man was it a rush... (and still is), and I wanted to share with you my experience as a first-timer. There are a lot of WSOs out there that teach you how to create products and launch them on the Warrior Forum, but I've yet to see one that focuses not only on the "how-to" but also on the emotional barriers that stop a lot of us newbies from launching a product.

A bit of background

The product that I had launched had been something that I had been selling on my website for quite a while. It was my experience with Virtual Assistants and how I used them to grow a successful offline web development business.

Anyway, while I knew the information in the product worked (since I was living it) I never really marketed it aggressively. I always just assumed that people would find it, see the value, and buy it. The furthest thing from my mind was to actively seek out affiliates, or to publish it as a special offer. However, I had no idea why...

I am an introvert by nature. I don't like to initiate relationships and I definitely don't like to toot my own horn. Selling is one thing - but promotion is another. Helping a business owner to understand why my company is the best fit for their web development business is easy when you are face to face - but "telling the world" to spend money on something you've created felt dirty. Rather, it felt like I my product couldn't possibly be good enough to tell the world about.

So although I listened to the gurus to price the product high, I made sure to keep quiet about it expect for on my blog - that was my place after all.

Why the Warrior Forum?

After a while it was apparent that you can't sell a product that nobody knows about. Sure, there were a couple of copies sold throughout the year, but it was luck since my sales page sucked and there was a part of me that was afraid to sell it.

Then came the Warrior Forum...

I've been a lurker on the forum for quite a while and only recently signed up. I have bought numerous WSOs, all beneficial in some way, that I couldn't believe were selling as much as they were. Again, not because they were bad, but because they were short reports that were packed with information or they were plugins that only did 1 thing and did it well, or they were web based software that focused on 1 problem.

The difference between blog visitors from all over and the Warrior Forum is that people are looking to solve a specific problem and are willing to pay for it. Most blog visitors are not. Most forum members know that you have to spend money to make money. So if you have a valuable product, it's a no brainer to promote it.

But... that is the scary thing...

The Pre-WSO Jitters

The forum is full of experienced IMers. Who are you to show a 20+ year IMer how to effectively manage a VA, or create a profitable Linkedin PPC campaign, etc..?

You don't know how to write a sales page...

You don't know how to get affiliates...

You don't know how to use Warrior Plus...

What if nobody likes the product?

What if someone says the product is crap on the WSO post?

What if your product falls to the 100th page?

What if someone asks for a refund?

How do I approve an affiliate?

What if someone pirates my product?

All of these were thoughts that ran through my head. In fact, although the sales page was done and was approved to be posted, I hesitated for 6 days to post it because I was afraid that something horrible was going to happen that I couldn't recover from.

I'm not going to lie, some of these situations did happen (and will happen to you) but none of them was as bad as they seem.

3....2.....1.... We have lift off

Working up the courage and tired of my eyelid twitching because of stress, product was launched. Almost immediately 2 things happened...

1. It was a Dimesale so I had buyers right away. Some of them even left great reviews (which I was extremely grateful for).

2. Affiliates contacted me and asked to promote the product (some of them were even IM heroes that I followed).

Whew... well those were 2 huge obstacles out of the way... now all of the fear was directed at worry about irrate customers demanding refunds...

Waiting... waiting... waiting... No refunds the first day. In fact, it's been a couple of days and there has only been 1 refund and it was handled automatically through Warrior Plus.

Hmm... maybe this wasn't a bad idea. Less than 1% of refunds, that was much lower than my fears had me believe.

Profit was made and people learned something to benefit their business.

Your Fears Are Overrated

I still have a full-time job so I need to make this short since I want to go home.

- You can create a create a product that is valuable to people here on the forum. Even if it's a personal take on a subject it can be something that someone else needs.

- All of your fears regarding creating a WSO are about 1% the size that you think they are.

- Don't underrate what you know. Even though you may be shy people need what you have to offer.

- Launching a product on the forum is far easier than you may think it is.

Practical Lessons Learned

- If you are scared of launching a product, start with a dimesale. Nobody is going to refund a 10 cent product, and it is very likely that they will give you a review since it is human nature to give back in value what you receive. (but I'm sure there are better ways to get reviews).

- If you don't know how to get affiliates, who cares, launch your WSO. Let them come to you. the ones that do well for you, just note who they are and maintain contact with them in the future for other products you'll launch.

- Use the Warrior Plus System. It's super worth it and easy. It reduced a ton of stress for me.

- If you use the Warrior Plus System, make sure that you screen your affiliates. Oh, and always look at the notes that they leave before you approve them. I denied a super affiliate because his forum name changed even though he mentioned that in the notes.

- Stop reading this and create a WSO. The only way you'll learn anything is to do it.

Seriously... stop reading this.