How to launch a digital product: a 2-4 week launch plan (2026)

This guide is for creators launching an ebook, course, template, or other digital product to an audience they already have, even a small one. Full disclosure: we make Eden, a creator workspace with a store, and we show how to run this plan on Eden at the end. The FTC points below were checked on ftc.gov in September 2026.

The launch plan at a glance

Phase	How long	Your one goal	What you do
Pre-launch	1-3 weeks	Get people to raise their hand	Waitlist, behind-the-scenes posts, early-bird offer to the list
Launch week	5-7 days	Turn interest into sales	Open cart, launch price, daily content, daily emails, real deadline
Post-launch	Open-ended	Keep it selling without a launch push	Testimonials, evergreen page, upsells, a sale a few times a year

Short on time or audience? Two weeks works: one week of pre-launch, one week of cart open. Four weeks gives you room to build a bigger waitlist and test your message first.

Phase 1: Pre-launch (1 to 3 weeks)

The goal of pre-launch is not sales. It's a list of people who told you they want this.

Build a waitlist

Make a simple page: what the product is, who it's for, the one result it helps with, and a box for their email. Promise one thing in return: "You'll get first access and the lowest price."

Point every post at that page. Put it at the top of your link in bio. If you already have an email list, send one email asking who wants in, and count the replies. A waitlist is also a test. If almost nobody joins, you learned that cheaply, before you spent weeks on the rest.

A free lead magnet on the same topic can feed the waitlist too. See how to create a lead magnet.

Show the work

People buy what they watched you make. Post behind the scenes two or three times a week:

• The problem. A story about the mistake or struggle the product fixes.
• A piece of the product. One lesson, one page of the template, one tip from the ebook.
• Your process. A screenshot of the outline, a clip of you recording, a draft you threw out.
• Early results. If a few people tested it, share what happened for them (with their OK).

Every post ends the same way: "Join the waitlist for first access."

Line up the early-bird offer

Decide your launch price now, and write it down with its end date. A common setup is a lower price for the waitlist for the first 24 to 48 hours, then the launch price for the rest of the week, then the full price after. Not sure what to charge? Read how to price digital products.

Before launch day, also write your sales page and all your emails. Launch week is too busy to write from scratch.

Phase 2: Launch week

This is the week you sell out loud. Plan it day by day so you only have to press send.

Day-by-day launch week plan

Day	Content	Email
Day 1	"It's live" post with the link	Waitlist first: doors open, early-bird price
Day 2	The story of why you made it	To the whole list: it's live, what's inside
Day 3	Show what's inside (a lesson, a page, a demo)	Answer the top 3 questions people asked
Day 4	A buyer's first result or a tester's story	Proof: what early buyers are saying
Day 5	"Who this is for, and who it's not for"	Handle the biggest doubt (time, price, "is it me?")
Day 6	Reminder: price goes up tomorrow	24 hours left
Day 7	Last call post, then a "doors closed" post	Morning: last day. Evening: a few hours left

A few rules make this work:

• Email more than feels polite. Let people who aren't interested opt out of launch emails, but keep sending to the rest. Email is often where launch sales happen.
• Answer every reply and comment. Each question you answer in public is an objection handled for the lurkers.
• Expect spikes on day 1 and the last day. The middle days are quiet. That's normal. Keep posting.

Use a real deadline

A deadline is what makes people buy during the launch instead of "later." But it has to be real. When the timer hits zero, the price goes up or the cart closes. Don't quietly extend it, and don't restart the clock for the next visitor.

This isn't only about trust. The FTC's 2022 dark patterns report names countdown timers that make people think an offer is time-limited when it isn't as a deceptive tactic. The same goes for "only 3 left" when there's plenty. If you say it ends Friday, end it Friday. If you have limited seats (say, in a live cohort), the number you show should be the real number.

Cart open or cart closed?

You have two choices when launch week ends:

• Close the cart. Nobody can buy until the next launch. Strongest urgency. Best for cohorts and live programs.
• Raise the price. The product stays for sale at the full price. Easier, and it keeps selling. Best for ebooks, templates, and self-paced courses.

Both work. Just say which one it is on day 1, and do what you said.

Phase 3: Post-launch

The launch ends. The product doesn't have to.

Collect testimonials while it's fresh

Email buyers a week or two after they buy. Ask what they got stuck on before, what they did with the product, and what changed. Those answers become your proof for the next launch and for the sales page. We cover the full method in how to collect testimonials.

Make it evergreen

Put the product on your link-in-bio page for good, near the top. Link it from your best-performing posts. Add a free lead magnet on the same topic, so new followers join your list and see the product in your emails.

Add upsells

A buyer who just paid is the most likely person to buy again. Add a small order bump at checkout (a template pack, a checklist) and a bigger upsell right after (coaching, a course, a bundle). See upsells and order bumps.

Run a sale a few times a year

A 48-hour sale on a holiday, or on the product's birthday, gives you a small launch without a full launch. Same rules: a real end date, and the price goes back up.

Common launch mistakes

• Launching to nobody. No waitlist means no day-1 sales. Build the list first.
• Writing emails during launch week. You'll skip days. Write them all before day 1.
• A fake deadline. Buyers notice when "last chance" comes back next week. They stop trusting your deadlines, and the FTC calls it deceptive.
• Stopping after day 2. The middle of the week is quiet, but the last day can beat the first.
• Not tracking where sales came from. Without it, you can't tell if the video, the thread, or the email did the work.

How to launch a digital product on Eden

See the full tour on the Eden store page.

Every step above runs from Your store:

• Waitlist. Publish a free product (price 0), like a sample chapter or a checklist, and send free claims to your email list. Or add an Email capture block to your creator page. Running a live cohort? Turn on Waitlist when full, and the buy button becomes Join the waitlist when seats run out. See run a cohort.
• Launch price with a real end date. Open Promotions and click New sale. Pick the products, the discount, and when it starts and ends. There's a Launch week preset. Buyers see a banner with a countdown, and when it hits zero the price goes back up and checkout refuses the sale price. A sale can run up to 30 days. See run a sale.
• Early-bird for the waitlist. Set the sale to With a code, or add a discount code to the product. Click the link icon to copy a link that applies the code, then put it in your waitlist email. See offer discount codes.
• One link per launch post. Make a content link for each video or post. It opens your page with the product on top and shows which post made each sale. See content links.
• Start here. Turn on Start here on your launch product so it's the first thing visitors see on your page.
• Know what worked. Overview shows Where sales come from (by UTM tag or the site they came from) and where people drop off. See see where your sales come from.
• Ads. On Pro, add your Meta Pixel and Conversions API token, and each sale is reported to Meta. See track ad sales with Meta.
• After launch. Collect testimonials with one link and add order bumps. Pro adds up to three one-click upsells after checkout.

Where Eden falls short: it doesn't send launch emails or sequences for you. Write and send those from your email tool (Kit, beehiiv, GoHighLevel, and Substack connect directly so buyers and signups land on your list).

Publishing (even a free product) needs the $29 Starter plan, and Eden takes 5% per sale. Meta Pixel tracking and upsells need Pro at $79 a month. Stripe card fees come out of your share, and sales tax through Stripe is yours to handle.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a digital product launch be?

Two to four weeks in total. One to three weeks of pre-launch to build a waitlist, then five to seven days with the cart open. Longer than that and people stop paying attention.

How many emails should I send during launch week?

Plan on one a day, and two on the last day. Let people opt out of launch emails if they want, but don't stop sending to everyone else. Email is often where launch sales happen.

What if nobody joins my waitlist?

That's useful news. Change the promise (the result, or who it's for), post about it again for a week, and see if more people join. If they still don't, pick a different product before you build more.

Is a countdown timer legal?

A real one is fine. The FTC calls out countdown timers on offers that aren't really time-limited as a deceptive tactic. If the timer says the price goes up Friday, raise it Friday.

Should I close the cart or keep selling after launch?

Close it for cohorts and live programs, where a start date is real. For ebooks, templates, and self-paced courses, raise the price instead, and keep it on your page.

Ready to plan your launch? Start Eden free, build your product, and set your launch sale.