5 alternative tips on how to plan for a successful launch
You've meticulously built your product and service. But how do you plan for its successful launch?
I know one thing for certain, launches scare most people. Does it scare you? Yet we need a successful launch to give our product the best possible head start. We cannot avoid it!
Let’s just clarify WHAT I actually mean by launching or a launch. For this article I use the word launch and launching interchangeably and it means the same thing in my humble opinion.
Think of a launch like a party you want to host (for example your birthday bash) – you can’t just expect people to show up without them first having gotten an invite right? You got to send the invite, tell them why you’re having the party and give them a few more details – then on the day you can have a good time with those that attend.
A successful launch is just like my party analogy – it is about preparing your audience for a new product or service you will be offering, it’s about warming them up to then purchase from you. Imagine one day you’re walking from the coffee shop to your car when a random man steps in front of you, shoves a blender in your face and says – “BUY THIS”. You would be like – “who are you?” and “why should I buy this blender from you?” “Move out of my way”, and you would side step him and continue what you were doing before – heading to your car.
Get my point?
Launching is a process we all go through whether we are a one person show or a whole company, I actually believe that launching is a necessity if we want to grow our businesses as launches a) get people knowing about you and your service/product i.e. new eyes and b) alert those that know you already that you have something new and exciting about to showcase.
If you have been in the entrepreneurial and marketing space for a while you probably have heard of some scary figures – “how I made a 100k launch”, “6 easy steps to a successful launch with 30,000 subscribers”, “how I made 7 figures in my latest launch.”
Scary stuff.
Those numbers make me freak out, when I read titles like that I tend to say to myself “I’m too _________ [insert how you feel about yourself here] to have a launch like that.”
Let me tell you – you don’t need to have a big launch like that to be successful at launching your next beautiful service or product.
Here are 5 tips on how to have that next successful launch that makes you scream, “YES, I did it!”
1. Define what a successful launch means to you.
How can you have a successful launch when you don’t even know what success means to you? Do you need 1000 people to buy your product, do you need to gain 3000 followers onto your email list, do you need to make X amount of money….
Define what a successful launch means to you BEFORE you even start your launching process.
Without a clear goal you won’t know if you reached it or not. Setting a clear goal also means you can look back and analyse your launch to see where you perhaps need to focus more attention (like did your Facebook ads really work or was it a waste of money?) or where you can see what totally worked!
Point being – success means something different for everyone.
2. Write EVERYTHING down.
When I say EVERYTHING I mean it – write down your ideas on what you want to launch, HOW you want to launch, to the different parts to your launch, to how you want to market, to even your limiting beliefs.
I’m a big advocate of the ol’ pen and paper. I write down ALL my thoughts including my to do lists every single night. This ‘brain dump’ of all things that are swirling around in my mind has the effect of making me stop worrying about it and of course allowing me NOT to forget my ideas.
Seeing it all written down also allows me to get clear on my priorities, strategise more effectively; share my notes with others (like team members) and bring me back to my own original ideas when I start to freak out.
PLUS, like in point number 1 you can go back and relook at your ideas and see how much they have developed.
3. Create your audience.
No one will buy from you if they don’t know about you. You can’t launch into thin air.
Yes, this does mean you need to create your community, cultivate your tribe and start that mailing list of yours. Having a social media following (choose any platform you wish) also works, BUT not as effectively as directly sending an email into the very highly coveted inbox!
Capturing emails is my first recommendation to anyone who is just starting out in online business, you don’t need a website or the fully flush branding but you do need a way to get emails from those people who potentially want to know more about you and what you do.
Then when you’re in the launch process you can start to market WHAT you’re launching to those who are actually interested in hearing from you. The number one tip for HOW to get people to leave you their emails – offer them something so valuable (that transforms some part of their lives) that they want to hear more from you.
4. Gather a support team around you.
This is probably my favourite tip. I suggest asking personal friends and business friends to form an inner circle around you during your launch phase. These people are going to be there for you. Ask them to support you, to shout out for you, to help you with your reach on social media, bounce ideas off of them, get them to share their opinions.
It’s kind of like having a business coach but more like having a crowd of people cheering you on so you can cross the finish line.
I can tell you now; it helps heaps with your self-esteem and you’re going to need it every bit of the way, launching (in other words sharing something you created yourself for the first time out into the public) is a deep experience that many people take very personally.
Get the support YOU need to be strong.
5. Be prepared to feel like a fraud.
“No one is going to like my thing, this isn’t going to work, who am I to deliver this to people?”
These type of thoughts, or limiting beliefs are more than likely going to pop into your head at some stage during your launch. It’s completely normal to think this especially when you’re being vulnerable and sharing something you have created with the world.
First of all, tell yourself that’s it OK to have these thoughts, second have some tools ready beforehand so you know how to deal with these thoughts.
Limiting beliefs are part of our primal brain whose sole purpose is to protect us, these beliefs are not logical and are often total assumptions about ourselves and the world around us, the thing is we consider them to be 100% true. They are usually totally irrational as well.
We need to learn how to soothe and love our limiting beliefs (basically telling our animalistic brain that we are safe and already protected).
That feeling like you’re worthless? That’s a limiting belief.
That feeling like you’re a fraud? That’s one too.
That pit of fear in your belly. That’s probably a limiting belief being formulated.
Here are a few tools to calm down those limiting beliefs
Emotional Freedom Technique (or EFT)
Kinesiology
Meditation
Journaling
Work with positive affirmations
Try them all – see what works for you, play with it. With limiting beliefs, you can throw everything at it and see how it helps! Watch yourself, catch your limiting beliefs during your launch and then ninja them away with the tools you know that work for you.
Give yourself some love. Launching is an emotional process, give yourself space to cry, laugh, freak-out and dance. Most of all enjoy the wild ride that a launch is.
By knowing your launch goals, being clear in your mind, having your devoted tribe, feeling loved by your support team and knowing how to tackle those sneaky limiting beliefs you’re going to rock that next successful launch of yours.
I believe in you.
About the author
Nora Wendel is a visual designer, dancer, yogi, photographer and global gypsy constantly enjoying the beautiful adventure of life. Nora inspires other female entrepreneurs to live the life they love by showing them how to stop trying and just start LIVING. She does this by mentoring women in both their personal lives and their businesses allowing them to find the flow that gives them the energy to thrive.
Her newest online business – The Photo Forest – is the first community driven stock photography membership site for niche wellness businesses where members can request the type of photos they need.