# Viral Product Principles > 32 battle-tested principles for building products that spread and convert — landing page copy, pricing psychology, visual restraint, and growth loops. Use when designing a landing page, pricing page, launch strategy, or any user-facing product surface that needs to convert and spread. - Skill: `eosbot/viral-product-principles` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add eosbot/viral-product-principles` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/eosbot/viral-product-principles/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - License: Internal / derived from public product-design writing. Not for r - Author: EosBot (https://skillmd.com/u/eosbot) - Updated: 2026-09-21 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/eosbot/viral-product-principles --- # Viral Product Principles A compact, opinionated playbook of 32 principles for building products that people *want*, *pay for*, and *share*. Each principle is a single lever you can pull on a landing page, pricing page, or launch. Use them as a checklist when reviewing your own product surface — if a principle is violated, that is a concrete, fixable defect. ## How to use this skill 1. Before building or rewriting a product surface, skim the principles below. 2. Pick the 3–5 most relevant to the current page (e.g. a pricing page → principles 8, 17, 18, 29, 30). 3. Review the surface against those principles and list violations. 4. Fix the highest-impact violations first. ## The 32 principles ### 1. Kill the free plan Free users drain support and servers, and fewer than 3% convert. Focus on the people who pay. ### 2. Hard paywall Signups don't pay the bills. Ask for payment before you ask for data. No credit card, no real validation. ### 3. Numbers > adjectives "Fast" is forgettable. "Save 4 hours a week" is tangible. ### 4. Shareable footer 97% won't buy, but they might share. End the page strong and memorable. ### 5. OG image = YouTube thumbnail The preview image of your link is seen more often than your site. Design it to earn the click. ### 6. Show before you explain A visual demo communicates more than paragraphs. *Show, don't tell.* ### 7. Extreme simplicity Complexity kills curiosity. Use words your mom or a 5th-grader would understand. ### 8. The 3-color rule Black text. White background. One vivid color for the buy button. More colors steal attention from what matters. ### 9. Uncopyable copy If a competitor can copy-paste your text onto their site, your copy is generic. Write from your own experience. ### 10. One idea per screen Don't say everything at once. One screen = one message (like the Instagram feed). ### 11. Do exactly one thing Nobody remembers Swiss Army knives; they remember the tool that solved their problem. Be known for *one* thing. ### 12. Surf a wave Build around trends, technologies, or problems already being discussed (e.g. AI). The wave does half the marketing. ### 13. Sell in the hero section 80% of visitors don't scroll. If they don't understand and want the product in the first seconds, you've lost them. ### 14. Steal the customer's copy Your customers describe the product better than you do. Write like they speak. ### 15. Show your face People buy from people. A founder screen-recording converts better than a polished corporate video. ### 16. Memorable, emotional headlines Write for humans. Your headline should provoke a laugh, shock, or curiosity — and be remembered 24 hours later. ### 17. Popcorn pricing Simplify. Offer only three options: *Good, Better, Best*. More options cause decision paralysis. ### 18. Highlight the price Put "Pricing" in the header. It's the first thing people look for to understand value. ### 19. Empathy first Before trusting your solution, the customer needs to know you understand their pain. Describe the problem better than they would. ### 20. Specific CTA "Get started" means nothing. "Analyze my site" removes uncertainty about what happens on click. ### 21. Social proof is non-negotiable Never launch without testimonials. Get beta testers first; blind trust from strangers doesn't work. ### 22. Comparison table People don't care what you do, they care *why* they should switch from the tool they already use. Make the decision easy with a clear table. ### 23. Single CTA More buttons = hesitation. Give exactly one next step. ### 24. Sell the desire, not the feature People buy status, time, health, money, or pain relief. Features are just the vehicle. ### 25. Let them play Don't hide your best features. Put them on the landing page so people can try before paying. ### 26. No weak words Avoid "most", "many", "rarely". Make strong, clear claims people can visualize. ### 27. The novelty factor Nobody shares "another clone". Surprise people with something they've never seen. ### 28. Memorable name Use known words. Avoid complex puns or names that need explanation. ### 29. Avoid subscriptions People are tired of monthly fees. One-time payments are 10x easier to sell. ### 30. Charge more Nobody talks about the second-cheapest option on the market. Charge more than your competitors. ### 31. The 10-word rule If you can't explain your product in one sentence, your users can't either. ### 32. Author's closing insight *"If you found a 33rd principle, I'd love to hear it."* — The iterative-building mindset never stops. Build fast, test in the market, adjust. ## Anti-patterns to avoid - **Feature dumps** — listing everything violates principles 10 and 11. - **Vague CTAs** — "Submit" or "Get started" violates principle 20. - **Hidden pricing** — violates principles 18 and 23. - **Generic copy** — violates principle 9 (competitors can copy-paste it). - **No social proof at launch** — violates principle 21. ## Self-review checklist After applying these principles to a surface, confirm: - [ ] Hero section sells the product in < 5 seconds (13) - [ ] Exactly one primary CTA (23) - [ ] Price is visible and uses 3-tier or one-time model (17, 18, 29) - [ ] Every claim is specific and number-backed (3, 26) - [ ] At least one testimonial present (21) - [ ] Copy is uncopyable / from real customer language (9, 14)