Launching a website template is an exciting endeavor for any designer or creative solopreneur. It's an opportunity to showcase your skills, share your unique vision with the world, and, of course, make some money with your passion. However, a truly successful product launch goes beyond the pursuit of profits. In today's issue of Creative Prosperity, we delve into the concept of launching a product you (would) also use yourself, exploring why this concept is crucial and how it can help you achieve long-term success with your product(s).

In January 2023 I built myself a new personal site, after tinkering around in Framer for 3/4 year or so with freelance projects and a few first templates I’ve built. I also built this personal site for the first time in public, and the echo was crazy. The Dashboard-styled personal website design was an anomaly in the yet so-young Framer universe. This positive echo led me to think about why not try to sell an improved copy of my own personal site? With that, DashFolio, my most successful Framer template that has alone made me $12K in revenue, was born. Since then, I’ve applied this concept to nearly all of my bigger and new templates, such as Supply for Canvas Supply and CourseOS for Framer Money.

There must be something note-worthy in this idea, this is why I wanted to share all the why’s with you in today's issue:

Authenticity Breeds Trust

Launching a product you used yourself demonstrates authenticity, which is a vital aspect of building trust with your audience. When customers perceive that you genuinely believe in the value and quality of your own product, because you used and built it for yourself, they are more likely to trust you and invest in what you have to offer. By putting your own reputation on the line, you instill confidence in your customers, increasing the chances of product success.

Real Usecase

Because you have built this template as one of your own ventures before, it automatically has a use case already, and most importantly, it’s built in a good way to be used. Most digital products like templates suffer in usability and don’t have a real use case because they were designed and built fictional. For me, this ended up by productizing cedric.design and making $12K with it! The same goes for canvas.supply which ended up as my Supply template, additionally coming soon I will repeat that once again for framer.money, which will be productized as another template called CourseOS.

Aligning Passion with Expertise

Passion is contagious, and when you create a venture you're genuinely enthusiastic about, it shines through in every aspect of your marketing and communication. Designers often have a deep appreciation for aesthetics, functionality, and user experience. By aligning your passion for design with your venture, you infuse it with a level of expertise that can't be replicated. This expertise becomes evident to your customers, enhancing their perception of your venture's value. So why not use all this momentum to productize it by turning it into a template?

Continuous Improvement

Let’s say you launch a new venture, like I did with framer.money. The idea is brilliant, and the art direction is nice, but the execution could have been a little better because you were in a hurry to launch it. I was, too. Launching a template out of this venture opens up opportunities for continuous improvement. Your firsthand experience from your real project (like framer.money) enables you to identify areas of improvement, gather feedback, and implement changes that enhance the overall user experience. As another example from framer.money I quickly saw, that an overlay for each lesson isn’t the ideal case for everyone. This is why I’m changing the lesson view into a page for my upcoming CourseOS Framer template. Improve where it makes sense for your customers. If you iterate on those areas and produce an amazing product out of it, it not only meets the needs of your customers but also aligns with your evolving vision.

Cut Building Time

You already have a lot of work done by just completing your venture. This cuts the building time of your template that you are building out of it heavily down. By 60-80% of what I experienced. This speeds up your productized business a lot. Trust me!

Wrap-up

Launching a template from a personal project or venture is more than just a strategic decision; it's a mindset that sets the foundation for long-term success. By combining your knowledge, authenticity, passion, and expertise, you created a venture that resonates with your target audience and builds trust. Afterward, by pushing it through continuous improvement, you refine it to better serve your customers and launch it as a product for sale.

Lastly, when it comes to launching a product, remember: build something you are proud to launch and (would) use yourself, and success will follow.