How To Ship Your Product With Ship ⛵

Makers that build an audience, discuss their product vision publicly, and listen to their users before their launch stand a much better chance of success.

So, we built Ship ⛵, a suite of tools to help makers and startups build awesome products & engage with their audience.

Ship is useful for anyone building a product: pre-launch, at launch, and post-launch. After all, launching is not a one-time thing and building an engaged community is 🔑. Awesome folks like Eric Ries, Casey Neistat, and larger companies like Shopify all used Ship to announce their upcoming product launches, collect emails from interested subscribers, and gather feedback from their users.

In this post, we’ll give you all the best tips that we’ve seen work best for building your product and launching with Ship. You can also check out our guide for launching on Product Hunt here.

Access to Ship ⛵ is still being rolled out in stages: to join the waitlist by requesting access here. Tweeting and sharing your link will help you move up the list, or you can subscribe to a Pro or Super Pro plan and get access instantly.

Upcoming Landing Page

With Ship, you can create a landing page for your new product in a few minutes. And unlike traditional landing pages, discovery is already built-in. Every new subscriber helps spread the word, sending a notification to their followers within the Product Hunt community. They look like this:

Superhuman VIP

Getting Started

Building your Upcoming Page takes just a few minutes. Once you’ve been given access, or upgraded to a Pro tier, navigate to the Ship admin panel located at the top of any page on Product Hunt.

Here’s what you’ll need to provide:

1. Product Name: Just the name of your product. Easy!
2. Tagline: Describe what your product does in under 60 characters. Be specific! Communicate the value your product provides to the people you’re trying to reach, even if that means leaving out 95% of the features. Avoid slogans, optimize for how users search for products after launch day. Quick slogan check: if your tagline starts with “the world’s best…” you should probably come up with something new. 🙃
3. Topics: Only choose 3–4 topics for your product. While your product might have a great user experience, please don’t add “User Experience” as a topic. An iPhone camera app might include “iPhone” and “Photography Tools,” whereas a product management app might include “Productivity,” “Designer Tools,” and “Developer Tools.”
4. Introduction (Who?): Quickly introduce yourself to the world! Your name and background is a safe bet. While we allow up to 300 characters in every bubble, short and sweet is usually best (1–2 lines!).
5. Product Explanation (What?): Describe your product in a few sentences. Again, short and sweet is usually best.
6. Call To Action (Why?): Give your visitors a reason to subscribe!
7. Success Notice: Thank your new community member for subscribing! Some good examples explain the next steps you plan on taking. If you’re giving someone early access, mention when you’ll send out your beta invites. Otherwise, a quick thank you works well 🤗
8. Logo: Upload your product’s logo. If you don’t have one of your own, there are a ton of free logo generators on Product Hunt. We add a dark overlay on the background, so logos with a transparent background work best.
9. Background Image: We’ve partnered with Unsplash to help you find a beautiful background image for your Upcoming page. You can also upload one of your choice ✨

That’s all you need! 💪

Pro Tips

To get people excited and increase the number of subscribers you may get, consider these pro tips:

1. Share Your Page — We’ve had makers share their Upcoming Pages on their personal Facebook accounts, in Facebook Groups, Slack Groups, and even on Snapchat (with the Snap link feature).
2. Offer an Incentive — Give people a reason to subscribe by offering early access to your product, a discount , or something exclusive just for subscribers. Those that offer incentives often convert 2–3x better.
3. Import Existing Email Lists — The number of subscribers appear at the bottom of your Upcoming page, illustrating additional social proof. The more subscribers you have, the greater the chance new visitors will subscribe as they view this as a signal of popularity and importance.
4. Be Personable — The community wants to support the people behind a project so the better one describes themselves, the more others will related. For example, if you’re a 16-year-old developer from the Netherlands, let people know! Avoid marketing buzzwords and be authentic. 🤗
5. Write Concisely — You only have a few seconds of attention so brevity matters. 2–3 lines is best for each bubble — anything else will overwhelm your page’s visitors.
6. Show the Product — People need to know what they’re signing up for. Describing what the product is and who its for is important to attract the right audience. Showing the product in a short video, GIF, or product screenshots is often best.
7. Position Images Correctly — Any text placed before an image, GIF, or video is difficult to see as the speech bubbles move in the initial animation. Placing any text below the media is often best.
8. Add Social Links — Include your Facebook and Twitter to build your social following. If you’re hiring, make sure to include a link to your AngelList company profile and add jobs — the page links directly to them!
9. Brag (a little) — Social proof can make a huge difference. If you’re in the current Y Combinator batch, tell people. If you’re an ex-Apple engineer, include that detail.
10. Exclusivity Sells — Sometimes, limiting the number of applicants (eg. “We have early access for our first 500 subscribers!”) or asking subscribers to “Apply to Join” instead of “Join” can increase conversion.
11. Emojis — You can’t go wrong with emojis. One or two sprinkled throughout your page is usually best. 👌

Here are some examples of successful and creative Upcoming Pages:

1. Superhuman — Rahul illustrated social proof by including the names of high-profile users of his product today (Justin Kan, Naval Ravikant, and Jason Calacanis) and track record building one of the most well-loved email tools of this decade, Rapportive.
2. Discord — Jason, CEO of the wildly popular gaming communication platform, teased their existing userbase about a big new feature in development, resulting in 5,000 subscribers within an hour. Upcoming Landing Pages can be used for big new features, not just new products.
3. Hitlist — Gillian created an Upcoming Landing Page for their expansion to Android, a great way to attract users of that platform that cannot use the current iOS app.
4. PullRequest — In his introduction, Lyal informed visitors that they’re in Y Combinator S17 batch and provided a GIF to illustrate his the product.

FAQs

When should I create my Upcoming Page?
You can create an Upcoming Page at any time but the sooner the better so you have time to measure interest and build an audience. Some people create an Upcoming Page the same day they register their new product’s domain name.

Should I delete my page after I launch my product on Product Hunt?
No! Launching is not a one-time-thing, so we encourage companies and makers to edit their page to tease new features, services, or products that are in the pipeline & continue to build your community. For instance, Discord has been using their page to give users access to screensharing & videochatting.

We also recommend makers launch on Product Hunt whenever they have a significant update or feature release to their offerings, so don’t think you’re forbidden from being hunted again! 🤗

How does the main Upcoming feed work? Will Product Hunt find me subscribers for my product?
We feature an assortment of pages every day. While any Upcoming Page will collect emails from traffic you drive to it, we choose to feature an assortment of pages every day that will be discoverable on the main Upcoming feed, as a card on the front page of Product Hunt, and underneath the success page on other Upcoming pages.

What goes into being featured on the main Upcoming feed?
In the same way only the most popular products appear on the main homepage, we curate the products on the main Upcoming feed every day. It’s everybody’s goal to get featured, but following the tips in this guide will increase your chances 🚀

If you’d like to guarantee that your page will be featured, subscribe for a Pro, Super Pro, or All-Star plan — each subscription includes a single page that we will promote on the main Upcoming feed, as a card on the front page of Product Hunt, and underneath the success page on other Upcoming pages.

What happens when I click “Publish”? Will people discover my page?
Only people with the link to your page will be able to find it, unless it’s featured on on the main Upcoming feed. Publish away! You can also edit your page anytime, so feel free to change and update your page as you make more progress on your product.

Are Upcoming Pages only available for new products?
No. You can create an Upcoming Page for existing products that are still in development.

We understand makers are constantly shipping, building new things. If you’re expanding to new platforms (e.g. new Android app), working on a big new feature, or pivoting your product into something new, go for it!

How do I see who’s subscribed and download their email addresses?
Visit your dashboard, select the Upcoming Page of interest, and click on “Subscribers” on the left-hand navigation. Here you will see eveoryone that has subscribed with a link to “Download CSV” which will include their name, email, subscribe date, and the number of Product Hunt followers they have.

Can I build more than one Upcoming page or see my page analytics?
Only Pro, Super Pro, and All-Star subscribers can build more than one page or have access to page analytics. Get more information here.

Ship Messages

Ship Messages make it easy to broadcast updates, solicit feedback, and build your community all in one place. Messages are delivered to your subscribers’ email inbox and include a link to join a discussion, where they can ask questions and discuss feature ideas.

Getting Started

First, create an Upcoming Landing Page if you haven’t already & start promoting your page!

Once you’ve acquired subscribers, visit your dashboard here. Click on the Upcoming Page you want to manage and select the NEW MESSAGE button on the left. Enter the subject (this is the subject line of the email that’s delivered to subscribers) and message body text. Note that you can include simple text formatting (bold, italics, headers, etc.), links, and images/GIFs/videos.

Before you send your Message, we highly recommend clicking “Send Test Email” to ensure it appears as expected in your inbox. The test email will be sent to the email address associated with your account.

When you’re ready, hit the SEND button, do a little dance 🕺, and the Message will be queued up for immediately delivery. Note, it may take a few minutes to arrive depending on the size of your subscriber list.

Pro Tips

To best engage with your audience & maximize the amount of feedback you get from your users, consider these tips:

1. Tease Product Updates — Your early adopters subscribed to your product because they care about your journey. Give them some sneak peeks into new features that you’ve been working on.
2. Call To Action — Give your subscribers a clear call to action at the bottom of your email update — ask them for feedback about your latest feature or to fill out a survey.
3. Write Concisely & Consistently — Especially over email, concise and frequent updates are often better than single updates once in a blue moon. Don’t be afraid to ask your audience for feedback!
4. Behind the Scenes — People love seeing behind the scenes of their favorite products. Give people a look into what actually building the product is like, they’ll love it & feel more engaged with your process.
5. Good Email Practices — Don’t use ALL CAPS IN YOUR SUBJECT OR MESSAGE COPY, all bold for entire paragraphs, or overly STYLIZED text! It won’t look good and will turn your subscribers away from your product.

Messages can quickly help gather feedback for your product and help you grow your company’s reach.

1. Chameleon — Richard did a wonderful job explaining the two updates he made to his app & teasing new features that he’s working on in the future. He also included a product screenshot of his upcoming release.
2. Letterfuel — Ramy had a clear ask, bolded in the second line of his email to allow his subscribers to quickly answer and give good feedback for his next project.
3. VIPHawk — Alex’s email clearly describes his product & gives his subscribers early access with a link in the first two paragraphs. He also gave his subscribers two clear actions they can take to help his company progress.

FAQs

Why should I send a Message?
People subscribe to Upcoming products because they want to hear from you. There are many reasons to send Messages to your subscribers. Messages are a great way to:

• Communicate progress and updates. Avoid sounding overly promotional and marketing cliches. People respond to authenticity and love to get a “behind the scenes” look at the product development process.
• Gather feedback and ideas. Subscribers generally want to help so be direct. Include specific questions and ask for their feedback.
• Build a community of fans. The sooner you build an audience of true fans, the better (here’s why). Doing so before public launch is ideal so that you have a group of evangelists that can speak about your product and spread the word.
• Announce your public launch. As soon as you’re posted on Product Hunt, it’s recommended to notify your subscribers. If they helped you during the development process, send them thanks! They’ll appreciate it.

How often should I send Messages to my users?
There’s no rule but we recommend sending a Message once every 1–4 weeks. Sending more than one per week can be overwhelming for most people and may lead them to unsubscribe; however, if you go months without sending a Message, they may forget that they even subscribed.

Can anyone see my Message on the web?
Every Message is delivered to inboxes but also viewable on the web where the discussion occurs. Anyone, not just your subscribers, can view this and participate in the conversation. If you’d like to broaden the reach, share the link on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Easy peasy! 💌

Ship Widget 📣

The Ship Widget is a simple way to inform your existing audience about your upcoming product launch and capture emails from your own site, blog, or web app. As an extension of your Upcoming Landing Page, emails collected from the Widget are yours to keep.

Getting Started

To create a Widget you must first create an Upcoming Page (see above).

Once that’s complete, all you need to do is navigate to that Upcoming Page and click “Widget” on the left-hand menu to view the embed code. Now copy and paste the provided code on every page you want the Widget to appear.

If you’d like to customize the teaser text that appears next to the widget, you can do that directly from the Upcoming Page edit panel. Easy!

Examples

1. During — Zach embedded the Widget on his blog to inform readers about his new startup.
2. First Round Capital — FRC’s Dorm Room Fund included the widget on their website to give student founders access to their newest fundraising tool.

FAQs

Does the Widget appear on small, mobile screens?
Currently the Widget only appears on larger desktop screens to ensure it doesn’t not interfere with your site’s content.

What happens to the Widget after a user has subscribed?
Once the visitor has subscribed, the Widget will not appear on consecutive visits to avoid unnecessary disruption.

I added the code but I’m not seeing it appear when I visit my site.
If you’ve already subscribed, we suppress the Widget from appearing and unnecessarily prompting your users. Double check that the Widget is working by visiting your site in an incognito browser window. If it’s still not appearing, please contact us.

We hope this is helpful. Good luck on your launch! Please remember to not get discouraged, whatever happens. If you have any questions, send us an email and we’ll get you sorted. 🤗