Why do good products die without anyone noticing?

Good products die unnoticed because they're launched once, to the wrong people. A launch is a morning. Distribution is what happens on day 2 and every week after it, in the place where the people with the problem already talk, and most small products never get any.

9 that worked

The biggest pile in my graveyard is products that worked. A booking tool for music teachers. A browser extension that saved recipes. A weekly broken-link checker. A tool that tracked which client had signed off which version of a design. Every one did what it said. Almost nobody ever found out.

What they had in common

• Launched to followers, not customers. The music teachers' tool went to the 300 or so people who followed me, almost all developers. None taught music.
• A store standing in for a launch. The recipe extension's installs came from people searching for something else.
• One morning, 6 rooms. The link checker got a spike by lunchtime and a flat line by the next day.
• A room I was in but not known in. A price list tool for a group I read nightly. Polite silence.

The question that catches it

Who will hear about this on day 2? Not who will see the post. Who will hear about it next week, from somebody other than you, because they're the sort of person it was built for and they talk to each other.

If you can't name that group and the place where they talk, you don't have a launch. You have a post.

What to do instead

Before building, name 10 people who have the problem and ask them for money. Launch to them first, by name. Then go back to the room where they talk, every week, with something useful. It's slower than a launch day. It's also the only thing that has ever worked for me.

Nobody Bought It has all 9 in Part I. The graveyard has their cards.