Aha Studio’s First Sales Were Slow. The Fix Was the Message.

Build in Public · #23

When Aha Studio launched, the first sales were slow. The product worked, so I looked at the questions people were asking, and the problem was clear: they didn’t understand what the offer actually was. Once I explained it simply, it turned round fast. Here’s what was confusing people, the message that fixed it, and the lesson for anyone launching something new.

About three weeks before launch, I ended up in hospital. The whole episode cost me about $10,000.

I needed that money back as quickly as possible.

Once the message for Aha Studio finally landed, I got it back in one day.

But it didn’t start that way.

The first sales were slow

We launched with six AI workers on a live webinar, and the workers did real jobs in front of everyone.

And sales were slow.

So I stopped and asked myself why. The demos worked. People were watching. Something was getting lost.

The questions told me what was wrong

Here’s the thing… the questions in the chat were the clue.

Someone asked: “If we already bought individual tools, do we have to pay for Aha Studio again?”

Someone else asked if I could do a training on “this software”.

That told me people were seeing Aha Studio as another tool, or another bundle of the tools they already owned. They were trying to fit it into a box they knew.

If people can’t say what it is, they won’t buy it.

The message that fixed it

So I stopped explaining features and pushed the core concept, as simply as I could:

1. Every AI worker, for one price. You don’t buy them one at a time.
2. More are being built all the time. We launched with six and had 18 a few days later.
3. Playbooks take it further. Several workers in a workflow, handing off to each other, running a whole strategy for you.
4. It’s done-for-you marketing. The workers do the work. There’s no software to learn and no agency to hire.

Then I gave people comparisons they already understood.

Comparisons people already understand

An agency. It’s like having a PPC person, an SEO person and a content marketer working for you. Stephanie and her husband Vinny researched what people charge for AI marketing automation services, and some are charging $10,000 a month for simple things.

Fiverr. When Fiverr first came out it was cheap and fun to order five-dollar gigs. Nothing is five dollars any more, and you don’t know who you’re buying from. It takes longer to fill out a Fiverr gig order than to type the prompt that builds a calculator site or a directory site.

Software. I’ve built software for years. Even when you make it as easy as possible, some people just don’t grasp it. And most software does one thing: SEO, or PPC, or content. Typing “I want a directory site about card shops in New York” and clicking twice is a completely different level.

See how that works? Each comparison is something the buyer already knows the cost and the pain of.

What I’d tell anyone with a slow launch

• Check the message before you touch the price. A cheaper offer that people don’t understand still won’t sell.
• Read the questions. The questions people ask tell you exactly which box they’re trying to fit you into.
• Explain it in their terms. Compare it to something they already pay for: an agency, a freelancer, a tool.
• Show it working. A live demo of a real job beats any feature list.
• Say the core idea in one breath. If you need a paragraph, keep cutting.

My Take: When we first launched Aha Studio we had slow sales, so I focused on how to get the audience to grasp what the offer actually is, because I think there was confusion around that. Once I started pushing the concept more clearly, it changed. All the AI workers for one price, more being built, and Playbooks, where several workers hand off to each other in a workflow, taking it to a new level. It’s done-for-you marketing without the software or the agency. I got the money back for a $10,000 hospital bill in one day once that message landed. The words made the difference.