Chapter 1
Define what counts as a sale
first-10-sales counting policy is the practical output of this chapter. Complete it in one focused work session so you can decide which paid, discounted, refunded, gifted, test, and internal orders count toward the milestone, without using a motivational number that cannot support product decisions.
What you’ll get
- A completed first-10-sales counting policy ready for the next chapter.
- A documented decision about which paid, discounted, refunded, gifted, test, and internal orders count toward the milestone.
- A pass or fail signal: the sales log can be audited without inflating evidence or mixing unlike transactions.
- A first implementation move: Write the counting rules before outreach and apply them consistently to every order.
Protect the integrity of the milestone
Before outreach, decide:
- Which product and version count
- Minimum price or whether launch pricing counts
- Whether refunds remove a sale from the milestone
- Whether test purchases, internal purchases, gifts, and swaps are excluded
- Start and review dates
- Which payment record is the source of truth
Do not buy your own product ten times, count free access, or pressure friends who do not need it. The value of the milestone comes from real buyer decisions and delivery.
Translate ten sales into planning assumptions
Work backward from ten without treating any rate as a promise. Create a scenario table and replace assumptions with your own observed data:
| Planning input | Illustrative assumption | Your actual |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant people reached or visiting | 100 | — |
| Meaningful product-page visits | 40 | — |
| Checkout starts | 15 | — |
| Completed, non-refunded sales | 10 | — |
These numbers are an example for capacity planning, not an industry benchmark. Their purpose is to ask whether you have enough relevant access and where the real bottleneck appears.
Apply this chapter to your store
Start with the live customer path, not a hypothetical version. Open the relevant content, profile, Tapmy page, email, or operational record and capture what a buyer sees now. Keep the scope to one campaign and one decision so the result can be measured.
Implementation move: Write the counting rules before outreach and apply them consistently to every order.
Connect the decision to evidence: customer language, transition counts, questions, observed behavior, or a completed end-to-end test. If another person cannot understand why you chose the action, add the missing evidence rather than more strategy language.
Decision checkpoint
| Check | Pass condition | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | One buyer, one campaign, and one next action are named | Narrow the work before creating more assets |
| Evidence | The current state is visible in a live route or record | Capture the source, destination, and decision point |
| Decision | which paid, discounted, refunded, gifted, test, and internal orders count toward the milestone is written clearly | Remove competing goals and choose one priority |
| Verification | the sales log can be audited without inflating evidence or mixing unlike transactions | Rework the weakest boundary, then retest it |
Common failure mode
Counting free copies, tests, or refunded orders as equivalent customer evidence. It creates activity without reliable learning. Use the chapter deliverable as a gate: the work is complete only when the decision is written, applied to the live path, and verified with the stated signal.
20-minute implementation sprint
- Open the live route or record and capture the starting state.
- Complete the smallest useful version of the first-10-sales counting policy.
- Apply the decision to one campaign or Tapmy path.
- Test the pass signal from the buyer’s point of view.
- Save the evidence and the next review date.