For many businesses, launching a new product is what takes them to the next level. The month of a launch can mean as much as double or triple your normal amount of business. That said, to get that kind of results, you need to manage your launch well.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what a successful launch process looks like from start to finish.
=> Come Up with a Slant or Unique Product
The first step is to come up with either an entirely unique product, or a product that’s similar to other things on the market but with a unique slant.
For example, in the weight-loss market, hundreds of books fail every year because they try to take the same approach as other books in the past. But the “Eat This Not That” books hit the New York Times Bestsellers list very quickly, because it took a very unique angle on an already existing subject.
=> Finding and Managing Partners
The type of emails and offers you’d craft for a JV-centric launch and a launch to your own internal list only are very different. Before you can intelligently structure anything else, you need to know exactly where your traffic is going to come from.
Marketers in the beginning stages of their career will tend to market just to their own lists, potentially with one or two other affiliates.
More experienced marketers may have many affiliates, or several big-time JV partners.
If you’re expecting many affiliates to sign up, then the main goal of your funnel is to make it as easy for your affiliates as possible. Make the link sign-up process easy, make it easy for them to place tracking pixels if they need it, have emails and banners up, and go the extra mile to do anything and everything to help them.
If you have one or two JV partners that are disproportionately big, then do custom campaigns for them. Do custom landing pages, custom emails and, if you can, do a joint teleseminar. This is your one shot to bring their customers to your list.
=> The Push and Sales Process
Once you have your angle and partners lined up, then it’s time to start marketing the product.
Start by just giving teasers of what the product is about. Don’t send emails about it, but just allude to a new product on Facebook or Twitter and in the P.S. sections of emails you’re sending out.
Then, as it gets closer to launch date, be bolder about your marketing. Tout the benefits of your product; sell it with passion – loudly and proudly. Make sure you also have a scarcity mechanism in there so people will act now to buy.
A well-structured launch process can have a huge impact on sales. If you just launched a product without using the proper process, you’ll probably make a few sales. On the other hand, if you launch it with a well-designed sales process, you’ll likely see a massive flood of sales on the day of the launch. It’s that big of a difference.
[YOUR LINK]
Launching a new product isn’t just about selling. It’s about pulling people in and getting them interested. Instead of going for the hard sell, one of the best ways to get people to buy is instead to give them great content.
Not just any content, however. Content that explains the problem well, that delivers genuine value to the reader, while still whetting their appetite for a solution is what will increase your conversions.
Let’s dive into this concept a little more.
=> The Importance of Delivering Content
If your list ever gets the sense that you’re hard-selling them, they’re probably going to stop reading.
On the other hand, if you’re speaking to them in “What’s In It For You” language, so they’re getting something out of reading your content even as you’re selling to them, then they’re much more likely to stick around.
Believe it or not, you can send half a dozen sales emails to your list and have your readership be even more interested in reading your emails, rather than less.
=> Delivering Value while Explaining the Problem
Explaining the problem is one of the most important parts of the sales process. Unless someone gets emotionally connected to the problem, they probably aren’t going to buy.
How can you explain the problem to them, without losing their attention? By telling them things they don’t already know.
Let’s look a specific example to see how this works. The market we’ll use for this example is “How to save for retirement.”
The goal here is to write a series of content-rich articles or emails that people will actually get something useful out of, and that still whets their appetite for solving a specific problem.
=> Market Example: How to Save for Retirement
Product launching in a month: “How and Where to Invest Your 401K”
Email 1: Why Most People Earn Less Than 7% on Their 401K Fund Email 2: Why Just 3% of 401K Plans Beat the Market Email 3: Is Your 401K Plan Secure? (Hint: Most 401Ks Lost 30% in the 2008 Crash)
And so on.
In each of these emails, you can detail some of the reasons why people don’t get the best returns on the 401Ks. You’ll talk about people who select the right funds to invest in and get abnormally high returns, as well as people whose funds were immune to various stock market crashes.
With each email, people need to feel that they understand the 401K system more and more. They should also be feeling more and more curious about what the “right” way to invest a 401K plan is.
Then and only then do you start dripping in the sales emails.
The moral of the story here is this: Deliver content and deliver value, without necessarily giving away the solutions in your paid product. Instead, give people content that’ll help them understand the problem better, while whetting their appetite for the product you’re about to launch.
[YOUR LINK]
Building anticipation for a new product is arguably the most important aspect of launching a new product. How can you get someone so excited about your new product that they’re literally waiting for the doors to open so they can whip out their credit card? These are the five phases of building anticipation in a new product.
=> Phase 1: The “Mysterious Hint”
Drop a hint that you’re working on something new. Perhaps hint that you’ve been thinking about a specific problem for some time now and are ready to do something about it.
Be vague. This phase should start before the product is actually finished, but once the product is far enough along that its completion is guaranteed – perhaps when it’s in the final editing phase.
The goal here is to just get people curious about what you’re up to.
=> Phase 2: Confirmation and a Highlight
Confirm that the product is going to exist. Don’t spend too much time one it; just briefly mention it at the bottom of a blog post or two. Maybe put out a tweet or Facebook post about it. But don’t make a big deal of it yet.
Drop a highlight of the product. For example, “I’ve found a really unique method to do X, I’m so excited to share it with you all. More on this soon.”
Continue dropping these little “breadcrumbs” throughout the launch process.
=> Phase 3: Selling the Problem
Start writing emails that explain the problem, while delivering value. The idea here is to build up and amplify desire, while still keeping a great relationship with your list by giving them great content.
The best way to do this is to explain the problem, while educating them about the problem and telling them things they didn’t know.
=> Phase 4: “The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread” (Excitement)
This is when the cloak is dropped, the mask removed and the product finally revealed. At this point, you should already have people curious about your new product; as well as being highly aware of a specific issue that they’d like to solve.
Now you announce that the product exists and will be launched shortly. The tone of the emails switches from informational to “This is the Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread.”
Of course, not every email should be hype-ish, just the parts of the email that talk about the new product. If you normally have a 90% content to 10% sales ratio, give yourself permission to move that up briefly to 30% or 40% for the sales process. But be sure you’re still delivering 60% to 70% of rock-solid content.
=> Phase 5: Launch – The One and Only Hard Sell
In the five days or so leading up to the actual launch date is the only time when your list should have the experience of being “sold to.”
This is the time to bring out the one-time offer (OTO) – to remind them of scarcity, to bring out the benefits of the product, etc.
This should also be the time when your readers are at the height of their excitement. They should desperately want your product and be almost at the point where they’re willing to commit. At this point, you need to give them a strong final push to make the buying decision.
[YOUR LINK]
Your offer, more than anything else, is what will determine how successful your product launch is. The more “good stuff” someone gets (or feels they get) from a product, the more likely they are to buy. It’s your job to structure it so they really get the sense that they’re going to get a lot by crafting an irrefusable offer for your launch.
=> Describing the Product in Parts
Rather than creating one “product,” it’s often much more effective to break it up into modules, discs or lessons.
That way, you’re able to promote your product as multiple parts rather than just one part. The perceived value of twelve discs, each with an individual lesson, each sold with spectacular copy, is just much higher than the perceived value of a single product.
=> Bonuses
Bonuses can increase your conversions by a lot. In fact, if you have great bonuses, some people will purchase your entire program just to get their hands on a particular bonus that they fell in love with.
The “pile on bonuses” technique has been popular with marketers for many years. And for good reason, too – it just makes the offer that much sweeter.
If you can increase the total value of your offer from $40 to $300 through bonuses and still be charging just $20 for the product, they’re much more likely to buy.
=> Crafting the Launch Day Offer
The offer of what they’ll get if they buy within 24 to 48 hours of launch day is crucial. This is what will get people to either buy now, or likely forget to buy at all.
The key here is to create urgency. The best way to do that is to create a special offer, just for the day of the launch.
There are three ways to do this:
1: To give a special discount, which closes after a certain period of time. 2: To give a special discount, which closes after a certain number has been sold. 3: To use either #1 or #2, but to discontinue selling the product altogether after the allotted time or quantity has expired.
Naturally, #3 creates the most urgency, but can limit your long-term earnings by not letting people buy a product they’d otherwise want to purchase. That said, an offer like #3 can often earn several months of income all at once.
Another way to combine these kinds of offers is to use #3 and discontinue the product after the launch, then make it available for the general audience six months down the line.
The launch day offer is crucial, because it adds the all-important aspect of urgency. Put some time into thinking about what would really motivate your audience to act now rather than later. Ask yourself: what would motivate you, if you were in their position?
[YOUR LINK]
One of the best ways to get a new product off the shelves is to promote it to other people’s lists. You get to tap into huge wells of existing traffic, many of which have a lot of existing trust already. In other words, you’ll be getting “warm” or even “hot” traffic that’s already pre-sold on purchasing your product, rather than “cold” traffic that often doesn’t convert well.
How do you find these JV partners and affiliates?
=> Start with Existing Contacts in the Industry
If you’ve been in your industry for a while, you probably know a few other influential people. Contact them first.
Let them know what you’re doing and propose a win-win joint venture deal. Give them the product and let them vet it, as most people won’t promote a product without first making sure it passes their own quality tests.
=> Announce It to Your Affiliate List
If you have an existing affiliate program, then send an email out to all your existing affiliates about your upcoming launch.
If you’re using a system that doesn’t automatically collect affiliate email addresses (e.g. ClickBank, which just gives you IDs of affiliates), then create a separate list in your list management software for affiliates to sign up to.
Having a list of affiliates is a powerful tool, especially when it comes to things like product launches.
=> Cold Calling Potential Partners
One of the highest paid personality traits in business is the willingness to pick up the phone.
If you’ve built a strong reputation for yourself already, cold calling won’t be nearly as difficult as you think. If someone’s already heard about you, they’ll be much more receptive to hearing a proposal.
If you’re brand new to the market, you’ll probably have a hard time convincing a “bigger” player to promote you. That said, if you have a great product and can get them on the phone to build a connection, it can be done.
More often than not, deals are done between people who have been in the space for some time. If you have some reputation points already, don’t hesitate to just pick up the phone and call people who you want to be your partners.
=> Buzz Building and Contests
One fun and effective way to bring on new partners is to host a contest.
For example, give away the latest Apple laptop to the person who sells the most products. Or create a series of prizes, with the first place getting to choose first, second place choosing second and so on.
Contests tend to spread virally in the marketing community. If you have a great prize, affiliates and JV partners who you’ve never even heard of will come out of the woodwork to compete.
Contests and buzz allow you to bring affiliates to you, rather than having to reach out to them.
These are just a few ways to get affiliates for a product launch. Using your own contacts, announcing it to your affiliate list, cold calling partners you want and hosting contests are all proven methods for getting other people to sell a brand-new product.
[YOUR LINK]
Using just one media to launch a product will have a limited appeal to a lot of people. On the other hand, if you get a mix of traditional email and website marketing, combined with audio, video, teleseminars and social networking, you’ll create a much more dynamic, fun and engaging launch process.
Here’s a bit about each type of media and how it’s used.
=> Teleseminars
Teleseminars are one of the highest converting ways to run a JV campaign or affiliate campaign.
A plain email sent to a JV list usually has one big problem: they don’t know who you are. Even though you’re being endorsed by the list owner, they’re still hearing about you for the first time and just don’t have the same level of trust developed as someone who’s been following you for a while.
The teleseminar solves this issue. By having both you and someone they already know and trust on the call, the credibility is instantly passed over to you. You can then deliver a content-packed 40-minute presentation, followed by a short pitch to promote the actual launch.
=> Using Video
Video sales letters have taken online sales to a whole ‘another level. In the past, it was rare for pages to get any higher than 2% conversions. With video sales letters, conversions as high as 8% and above are possible.
Why? Because people get to attribute a real face and personality to what they’re seeing. If you’re congruent and believable, the increased trust makes it a lot easier for someone to feel comfortable pulling out their credit card.
The videos don’t have to be high-tech or expensive. With just a $200 camera and a $50 mic, you can create a compelling series of videos to compliment your sales campaign.
=> Social Networking
Social networking can help your content go viral. It’s rare that someone will love your content so much that they’d actually forward an email or website to a friend. But to “like” it on Facebook or “retweet” it on Twitter is both much easier and much more socially accepted.
Choose one to three social networks to build a presence on. They should be social networks your audience is already on. For example, the younger tech-centric audience might be more prominent on Twitter, while the older and more professional network will more likely be found on LinkedIn.
=> Creating Your Own Mix of Media
Instead of coming up with a new mix of media for every launch, you’ll save a lot of time and energy by mastering just one formula.
Perhaps text and video works best for you. Others might run product launches with twenty teleseminars. Still others create tons of viral, link-baiting content designed to spread like wildfire through social networks.
Pick your own set of media and learn the ins and outs of it. Don’t just use text; but create a mix that works for you.
[YOUR LINK]
If you haven’t launched a product yet, how can you get testimonials for it? As most copywriters can attest, testimonials are a crucial part of any high-converting sales letter, especially on the web. If you can get written, audio or video testimonials, your conversion rates will be multitudes higher.
But if you don’t have actual customers yet, how do you get those all-important testimonials? Here’s how.
=> Start with Friends and Family
If you’re running your own business, chances are you have your own cheerleaders and champions who want you to succeed. They can be anyone from your mom to your running buddy, from your best friend to your former co-workers.
If they have any interest at all in your product(s), ask them to do a review. For example, if you’re selling a dating product for men, just ask any men you know, even if they’re not explicitly interested in the product.
If they think the content is good, ask them for a testimonial. It won’t be as good as having a real customer whose life you’ve changed, but it’s a start.
=> Give It Away for Free to “Super Customers”
If you’ve been in business for a few months and you’re producing original, useful content, then you’ll probably have a few “super customers.”
A “super customers” is basically someone who deeply and passionately loves your work. They love what you’re about, they love your style and they want to help in any way they can. If they have the means, they’ll probably buy every product you sell. If they don’t, they’ll be advocates of your business, helping you both on the web and offline through word of mouth.
Identify these customers. Build a relationship with them. Anytime you create a new product, ship it out to them. Ask them for a review, preferably on video. Tell them you’ll give them products for free, an $X dollar value, in exchange for a short five-minute video. They don’t need to exaggerate, just tell their true and honest opinion.
=> Host an Event
Let’s say you’re launching a product that teaches people how to teach their parrot to talk. One way to get a lot of testimonials is to host an event.
Host a free event in your local area and announce it to your list. Send private emails to people you know would be interested, inviting them as well.
At the event, demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about and can genuinely help others achieve the same success. For example, show the birds that you’ve already taught to talk, and teach a bird how to talk, live.
At the end of the event, ask for volunteers to give a testimonial about you or your techniques. People who give a testimonial will get a free copy of the product when it’s released.
These are effective ways to get testimonials for a product before it’s even launched. You don’t need to have a hundred testimonials to launch a product; usually anywhere between three and ten will suffice. Use one of these three methods to get the testimonials you need to launch, then add testimonials as real customers get real results.
[YOUR LINK]
Getting someone to open an email, become interested in a new product and ultimately buy is not an easy feat. In this article, we’ll go over a few tips for writing emails leading up to a launch, including tips for writing emails to other people’s (JV partners’ and affiliates’) lists.
=> Building Excitement
The most important part of building excitement is to phrase what you’re doing as something that nobody’s ever done before.
In other words, the more you can make your product sound like it solves a long-neglected problem and the more you can make it sound one of a kind, the more click-throughs and sales you’ll make.
Use power words liberally. Be unabashed in talking about the benefits of your new product, especially as the launch date approaches.
At other times throughout the relationship with your list, you might want to hold back to avoid burning out your list. In a product launch, however, you want to sell as much as you can.
Think of delivering content as putting “deposits” in your reader’s trust bank. The key in the long run is to make many deposits and few withdrawals. A product launch is a withdrawal, however, so make it your goal to achieve as many sales with that withdrawal as possible.
=> Conveying Urgency
The other crucial component of writing launch emails is urgency. Even if users get really excited about your product, they probably won’t buy immediately unless there’s a good reason for them to do so.
Always emphasize that the offer is time or quantity limited. Keep reminding them of the fact and drill into them that it’s urgent for them to act right now.
=> Writing for Other People’s Lists
The most important component of writing for other people’s lists is to build trust and credibility. The first time you’re introduced to someone else’s list, you have almost no credibility and need to work your way up from scratch.
One of the best ways to do this is to leverage the existing trust with the list owner.
If possible, have the list owner write the emails and endorsements. If they’d prefer, you can write those emails in their names and just have them edit it until they feel comfortable putting their name on it.
If you can get people to believe in you as much as they believe in the list owner, then the sales process becomes much easier.
If you can convey both excitement and urgency while getting people to trust and believe in you, you’ll have a sure-fire formula for success. Ramp the vibe of the emails up over time, with the language and copy getting stronger and more urgent the closer it gets to the actual launch date.
[YOUR LINK]
Launching a new product is unlike anything else in running your business. You’re often dealing with a whole new class of customers who may not know anything about you. You’re dealing with new partners and affiliates you’ve never worked with before. Your support and fulfillment facilities are going to be put under an abnormally high amount of strain.
What can you expect? How can you make sure the whole process goes smoothly? Here are a few tips, starting from the 72 hours before the launch all the way through to a month after the launch process.
=> 72 Hours before Launch
The three days before the launch are going to be hectic. Here are a few things to prepare for.
First, call your merchant account and let them know you’re going to be doing a launch. If a merchant sees someone who’s been doing an average of $3,000 a month suddenly pull in $30,000 in a single day, they’re going to be suspicious, especially if they don’t know what’s going on.
It’s often a good idea to have a back-up merchant account, even if that back-up is PayPal, just in case your account gets frozen. (This is unfortunately common for marketers launching new products who have merchant accounts that don’t understand internet marketing.)
Check with fulfillment to make sure they have enough products. Though you don’t want to overstock, it’s often a good idea to print a few more copies of products just in case you get more orders than expected.
=> During the Actual Launch
Expect the launch day to be hectic for you and everyone else on your staff.
People will call because they can’t get their order to go through. A video on the sales letter might not be configured properly, or an affiliate might discover halfway through his campaign that his traffic isn’t being tracked properly.
The list goes on and on. Even if you do everything you possibly can to create a smooth launch process, there are still going to be many mini-fires that need to be put out.
You and everyone on your staff need be on full alert that day, keeping track of everything. Watch your website stats and sales stats constantly and be in contact with customer support so you’ll know if any issues pop up.
=> Up to a Month after the Launch
The product launch process doesn’t end with just the launch day. There are still issues that can come up, for as long as a month after.
It’s important to remember that you’ve just taken a large number of people who aren’t familiar with you and turned them into buyers. These customers, sent from JV partners and/or affiliates, will behave very differently than your normal buyers.
They may refund your trial period more often. They might bombard you with emails. Or, on the plus side, they may be much more susceptible to upsells because they liked your product and haven’t been exposed to the rest of your work.
It’s important to recognize the difference in psychology between people from your own list and your new customers. Put out the fires that come up and jump on opportunities as soon as you see them.
These are a few things to look out for when you’re launching a new product. A product launch isn’t just a product push; it entails a complete different way of thinking. It takes care and vigilance, from at least 72 hours before the launch all the way to 30 days after the launch is finished.
[YOUR LINK]
It’s one thing to get someone excited about a product. But it’s something else entirely to get someone to pull out their credit card and pay. A new product, especially one with a well-planned launch, will often have a very excited audience. But to actually get someone from being excited to making a purchase requires quite a bit of convincing-power.
Here’s how it’s done.
=> End with a Strong Call to Action
Summarize all your most powerful selling points. As they near the call to action, the excitement level should be rising higher and higher. You want to hit them with the close right as they emotionally “peak.”
Near your call to action should be all the main benefits and perhaps just a handful of carefully selected bullets.
You’ll also want to have some sort of proof element near the call to action. This helps “soften” the hard-hitting sales power that’s concentrated around the call to action.
=> How to Ask for the Sale
Asking for the sale is one of the most important components of a great call to action. But how to you actually ask for the sale?
One way is to recap all the main points of not having the solutions, recap why you’re credible and recap the benefits. Then, ask them to buy.
Another way is to stress how risk-free it is. Emphasize the money back guarantee, so they know they can get their money back if they at all feel it’s not worth it.
Finally, one method that works surprisingly well is the “sincere ask” close. This is where you connect with your reader one on one, remind them that you really know what it’s like to be them and ask them sincerely to buy, so they can change their lives.
You can also try experimenting with payment structures. Try selling your product with a $1 trial, with the product being billed later. Or try selling it through payment plans. These can all increase conversions.
=> Lowering Shopping Cart Dropout
After someone hits the purchase button, there’s a good 3-5 minutes where they’re just entering in credit card details.
During this time, people who’ve decided they want to buy might change their minds. A lot of business owners lose a lot of sales to what’s called “shopping cart dropout.”
The best way around this is to make your shopping cart a “sales letter” in and of itself. Have the benefits, main points and snippets of copy sprinkled throughout the checkout page.
These are a few things to keep in mind when you’re giving someone that final push to order. Don’t be timid when it comes to your call to action. Use all the momentum, excitement and power you’ve already generated and give them that one last burst of selling power needed to get them over the hump.
[YOUR LINK]
For many businesses, launching a new product is what takes them to the next level. The month of a launch can mean as much as double or triple your normal amount of business.
A well-structured launch process can have a huge impact on sales. If you just launched a product without using the proper process, you’ll probably make a few sales.
On the other hand, if you launch it with a well-designed sales process, you’ll likely see a massive flood of sales on the day of the launch. It’s that big of a difference.
In today’s special report you’ll discover…
- The TRUTH about product launches during early stages and why most, if not all launches are used to build long term assets.
- 2 Things you ABSOLUTELY need to have to ensure your launch is a success… and why some launches fail even with the best product in the marketplace!
- What price points you should sell at for introductory sales… and what price point to sell at for BIG PROFIT.
- Why giving away 75-100% commission upfront is one of the MOST PROFITABLE things you can do… and how to use this to give you leverage for your next product launch.
- Find out EXACTLY what you need to do 2 weeks BEFORE your product launch …and what to do 2 weeks AFTER!
- How to create a BUZZ and get the word out. Simple easy-to-follow steps you need to take to attract JV partners and affiliates to promote for you…
Download directly from the link below…
[YOUR LINK]
To Your Success!
[YOUR NAME]
Your Online Teacher.