written by
Renjit Philip

A Guide for Newbies to Create and Launch Digital Products with ChatGPT

Generative AI ChatGPT Indiehackers 6 min read , May 9, 2023

Introduction:

Are you a newcomer in the world of coding and product development? Fear not! With the power of ChatGPT by OpenAI, you can turn your digital product idea into reality and launch it successfully on Product Hunt. This blog post will guide you through a series of customizable templates to help you develop, market, and launch your digital product using ChatGPT's capabilities. But first, let's explore ChatGPT and why it is an invaluable resource for product developers.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an advanced language model by OpenAI that can understand and generate human-like text. It can be valuable r overcoming product development, marketing, and customer support challenges.

Why Product Hunt?

Product Hunt is a popular platform for discovering and launching new digital products. It attracts a large audience of tech enthusiasts, early adopters, and investors, making it an ideal place for creators to showcase their work and gather valuable feedback.

Now, let's dive into the step-by-step guide for developing and launching your digital product on Product Hunt using ChatGPT.

Background work

The idea is to make something people want like Paul Graham says. I was discussing this with a friend, and he told me how software testers need to create dummy data for testing. I am from the financial services industry and immediately latched on to generating credit card data for testing. We needed a simple UI like the Google Sheets interface to create the product, which offers App Script programming capability. No need for a complex IDE that I will have to learn to use. The only downside is that the code will be exposed, and the purchaser could use it to resell if they wanted. That could be marketed as a product feature!

Distribution is key, and Gumroad gives a decent platform to list digital products and has a fair number of quirky products like these. You can connect your PayPal account to get paid, which works well for indie hackers and side hustlers.

Product Launch- I decided on Product Hunt, a very tolerant and supportive community with clear launch checklists to help newbies like me. It is important to follow their checklist and ensure you launch on a future date (not today or the day you list your product)- this gives you a full 24-hour cycle of visibility during the launch. Their time window starts at midnight PST. I also decided to respond to comments that came my way to ensure that the Product Hunt algorithm keeps my product visible.

Also, decided to use ChatGPT to construct Tweet Threads and LinkedIn posts to announce the launch and lessons learned. This would be useful for other hackers and drive upvotes on Product Hunt. As you can see, these are fairly replicable background work for any basic digital product launch.

Step 1: Define Your Product Idea

Template:

"Help me build a [product type] that [main function]. I want it to [specific features and functionalities]. Please guide me through the process."

Example:

"Help me build a Google Sheets tool that generates dummy data based on user input. I want it to generate data like credit card names, numbers, expiry dates, etc. Please guide me through the process."

Step 2: Refine Your Product's Functionality

Template:

"How can I improve my [product type] to make it [more efficient/effective/user-friendly] by [adding/removing/modifying specific features]?"

Example:

"How can I improve my Google Sheets tool to make it more efficient by adding generation of CVV/CVC numbers, cardholder names, and addresses?"

Step 3: Request Assistance with Coding Errors

Template:

"I'm encountering an error in my code: [error message]. Can you help me identify the problem and suggest a solution?"

Example:

"I'm encountering an error in my code: TypeError: SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(...).getMaxRows is not a function. Can you help me identify the problem and suggest a solution?"

Step 4: Create Product Marketing Content

Template:

"Write a [type of marketing content] that persuasively describes my [product type], highlights its key features, and directs users to [URL]."

Example:

"Write a series of tweets in a thread format that succinctly captures the creation process of my Google Sheets tool, highlights its key features, and directs users to https://renjitphilip1.gumroad.com/l/boring-credit-card-test."

Step 5: Develop Product Visuals

Template:

"Give me a prompt for [AI image generator name] to create an [dimensions] image that represents my [product type] and highlights its [unique selling points]."

Example:

"Give me a prompt for the DALLE-2 AI image generator to create a 240x240 px image representing my Google Sheets tool and highlighting its efficiency and accuracy in generating credit card test data." I developed my image on Midjourney after a few experiments.

Step 6: Request Feedback from the Community

Template:

"Write a short message asking for feedback and improvement opportunities for my [product type] on [platform]."

Example:

"Write a short message asking for feedback and improvement opportunities for my Google Sheets tool on Product Hunt."

Step 7: Launch Your Product on Product Hunt

Template:

"Write a brief [Product Hunt] comment describing my [product type], its development process using ChatGPT, and the challenges I overcame with the help of the AI tool."

Example:

"Write a brief Product Hunt comment describing my Google Sheets tool, its development process using ChatGPT, and the challenges I overcame with the help of the AI tool."

Here are the coding-related prompts that I used:

1. **Define the code requirements:**

"I need to build an application on Google Sheets using App Script that generates dummy data based on user input, such as credit card information. Users should be able to input the type of data they want and the number of rows."

2. **Resolve coding errors:**

"I'm getting a 'Rowdata not defined' error in my Google Sheets script. How can I fix this?"

3. **Call a specific function:**

"My 'generateDummyData' function is not being called in the script. How can I fix this?"

4. **Understand existing code:**

"What does this code do? `ui.createMenu('Dummy Data').addItem('Generate Data', 'generateDummyData').addToUi();`"

5. **Implement additional features:**

"Add generation of CVV/CVC number, name of card holder, address (line 1 & 2), city, country, and PIN/ZIP code to the dummy data generator."

6. **Optimize code for specific countries:**

"Make changes to `generateDummyData()` to ensure that the cities, streets, and country are matched while outputting to the sheet for India, China, UAE, Nigeria, Brazil, and Turkey."

I added this to give you an idea of how detailed you can get in your prompts to resolve various coding related issues.

Conclusion:

I hope this step-by-step guide provides you with a solid foundation for using ChatGPT to develop and launch your digital product on Product Hunt. Remember that my templates are just a starting point; you can customize and adapt them to fit your needs. Don't hesitate to ask ChatGPT for additional help or clarification throughout the process. Good luck with your product development journey, and I can't wait to see what you create!

Have questions or need further assistance? Feel free to tweet me @renjitphilip. And don't forget to give my"Boringly Useful Credit Card Test Data Generator" a try at https://renjitphilip1.gumroad.com/l/boring-credit-card-test!

Ready to expand your horizons? Consider exploring other digital product ideas, integrating additional features, or targeting new markets. The possibilities are virtually endless when you combine your creativity with the power of ChatGPT.

Remember to gather feedback and iterate on your product. Engage with your users and the Product Hunt community to identify areas for improvement and fine-tune your offering.

I am excited to see the innovative digital products you'll create using ChatGPT!

Generative AI ChatGPT