> I've often seen people launch mailing lists and pre-orders for products, books, courses, of which they have not yet written a single line. So their early users get a discount in exchange for providing invaluable feedback during the development process.
Or, more often, their users get nothing at all.
I steer clear of people doing this. It's one thing get other people's feedback on what's clearly communicated as just an idea, or a work in progress. It's another thing to claim you have a ready (or launching any minute now!) product/service, while all you really have is a webpage full of lies and a textbox for victims of your con artistry to leave their contact information, so you can "gauge interest" / "determine market size" (and possibly spam those e-mails later with something else). The latter I consider dishonest, and on the off chance someone doing this actually launches their thing, I'll already be biased against purchasing/subscribing.
The ones I've seen were completely honest about the situation. "Here's what I'm making, here's when I expect to launch, the first part will come out in a month, if you sign up now you get early access and a nice discount, and you can help me shape the final product."
Or, more often, their users get nothing at all.
I steer clear of people doing this. It's one thing get other people's feedback on what's clearly communicated as just an idea, or a work in progress. It's another thing to claim you have a ready (or launching any minute now!) product/service, while all you really have is a webpage full of lies and a textbox for victims of your con artistry to leave their contact information, so you can "gauge interest" / "determine market size" (and possibly spam those e-mails later with something else). The latter I consider dishonest, and on the off chance someone doing this actually launches their thing, I'll already be biased against purchasing/subscribing.