How to Survive Launch Season Part 2: What’s Happening Behind the Scenes

This is part 2 of a 3 part series called How to Survive Launch Season. Part 1: Do You REALLY Need to Buy a Course is available right here, and Part 3: Deciphering the Selling Messages is right here.

January is a really big season for online marketers because of the whole New Year, New You idea that takes hold of everyone. This is going to be the year you achieve your goals, and they want you to know that they can help you do it.

So, for the last couple of months, possibly for the entire last YEAR business owners in the information marketing space have been planning their January launches. You would not BELIEVE how much planning goes into a big program launch (I’ve been on the inside of more than a few) there are people whose entire job is writing the emails for them, arranging sales partnerships for them, editing the videos used to sell them… I could go on and on.

Typically, there will be more sales of a course- or mastermind based business in January than at any other time, and that means that the stakes are very high for a business that generates the majority of their revenue from selling them. They want to sell a lot.

But why courses and coaching and masterminds etc? Why not just sell services and consulting and… more traditional stuff?

There are a lot of reasons.

· There is a limit to the number of people you can provide services to alone, or even with a small team. The number of people you can sell a course to, on the other hand is virtually unlimited.

· Business owners think they should. Seriously everyone is doing it. Why wouldn’t a business owner want some of that sweet, sweet course money?

· They are trying to stop ‘trading time for money’. People want a passive, scalable income — a business that will generate revenue for them while they sleep, without them having to invest a lot of additional resources. That means, for people who can’t develop software, selling information.

· They want to impact more people than they can one on one. This is one of those reasons that I think a lot of people genuinely believe is their main motivation. And in some cases, it actually is, of that I have no doubt. But since they’re still charging each and every one of those people the same price… a lot of the time it’s what people tell themselves to feel better about the fact that they’re offering less service for more money.

· What they are selling is really best consumed in a course (or coaching or mastermind) format. This is a small category, but a meaningful one. Sometimes it makes the most sense to deliver information this way. An example of that might be a particular marketing strategy. If it’s something that you can learn at any time, but has a lot of steps and nuances that you’ll want to repeatedly refer back to as you apply it in different scenarios — then a course that you can revisit is a great way to present the information.

(Can you think of more reason people are selling info products? I want to hear them! Tweet me @MeganTwoCents!)

Whatever the reason for selling this kind of product, there are a lot of tactics that people are going to use to do it — and not all of them are what you might call… ethically above-board.

So, let’s talk about some of the strategies that have gone into planning this year’s launch season bonanza. I’d like to preface this by saying that not everyone who uses a particular technique is doing it for bad reasons. Sometimes it’s not knowing any better, sometimes it’s not considering if it’s harmful, and sometimes it’s desperation. Ad you know what — for good or ill — people do it because it works. What I want you to take away from this isn’t that “anyone who does X is bad!” but rather be able to separate the marketing from the content, so that you can decide if a particular offering is actually something that will help you.

Partnerships and Affiliate Promotions

Most people who hope to make a lot of money with information-based products know that they can’t do it with their audience alone. They need to get in front of more eyes, and that usually means arranging partner and affiliate relationships to essentially “borrow” another person’s authority and access to new people. This can be a fantastic way to connect with new folks, but sometimes, it’s a bit of a cash grab. What it definitely wasn’t, however, was a spontaneous decision. Partnerships are arranged well in advance of promotions — I’ve got more on this from an expert in thee field a little later in the next update — but for now, just remember that when you hear about a product offering from multiple people — that a LOT of time has been spent planning this sales event — and that it’s not just the person who created the course or program that stands to profit from it.

Sales Funnels

Pretty much nothing gets sold on the internet without a sales funnel, and information based products are no exception. If you’ve ever subscribed for a free eBook, or signed up to attend a video event — you’ve entered into a sales funnel that is going to eventually lead to an offer of something for sale.

The sales funnels around course and info products launches are intense and complicated, usually with lots of partners, sophisticated tracking (a marketer using a good email marketing software knows every single page you’ve visited on their website, and will send you messages accordingly.) The different steps in a funnel are meant to do a few things: demonstrate authority and competence in the subject matter, and create a slight feeling of obligation, so that when the time comes to attend a webinar and open up you’re wallet, you want to reciprocate for what you’ve been given.

Typical Launch Format

People who are selling information-based products have usually spent a LONG time crafting their launch (and a lot of them are using specific plans and formulas that OTHER business owners have sold them), and what is going to happen on every single day of a launch. From the first email or ad, to the final **last chance to buy!!!** Facebook message, it has ALL been scrupulously prepared, tested and evaluated.

A typical launch has these elements:

Pre-launch — building an interest list. This is where marketers are starting to get people to opt in to receive information about the topic of the eventual course to be sold. Here, you’re going to see a LOT of free videos, ebooks, cheatsheets, webinars — you name it! Generally at this stage there won’t be much discussion of anything to buy — it will be presented as free training or information.

Cart Open — This is when the program officially becomes for sale. This might happen on a webinar, or via email, and it’s when the push is ON to start getting people signed up. There might be several live events during it, you’re certain to get tons of emails, and there might be contests, bonuses or giveaways. (Fun fact — big programs often have competitions for their affiliates to encourage them to push it hard to their lists and make the most sales. Prizes for the affiliates that sell the most can be money, vacations or cars. Remember that that is the motivation of many, but not all, people promoting programs!)

Cart Close — This is the day the program stops being available, unless it’s an evergreen, or open enrollment opportunity. A cart close can be a legitimate and rational business choice, but it’s often a way to create a sense of scarcity and urgency so that you are more inclined to buy. Some of the reason I believe are fair for a firm cart-close are: everyone in ‘class’ is working at the same pace, towards the same goal, and there is real-time support that goes alone with it, or it’s a beta program and there needs to be a limit on new students so that the process and content can be thoroughly tested. Other reasons have more to do about the SELLER than about you.

Down-Sells — Often, there is going to be a less expensive offer made to you if you decide that the initial, high priced offer isn’t for you. Sometimes this is valuable in and of itself — or a better fit for where you are in your business. Be very careful to evaluate a down-sell offer the exact same way you would the bigger one! Just because it’s less expensive does not make it a good deal if it will not help you achieve your goals, and you do not owe the creator a sale, no matter how much free content they gave you.

Bonuses and Special Offers — People selling courses and other programs are trying to make them as compelling as possible, and so they may add TONS of bonuses to their offer to make it seem like an irresistible deal. Sometimes bonuses are additional help and support, other products offered by the entrepreneur, or provided by third parties. Deals can be offered at cart open, in the form of early-bird, or fast action bonuses, throughout to enhance the perceived value of the course, or right at the end to encourage last-chance sign ups.

Nicole Girouard, a business consultant and founder of GNIC Consulting has a bit of advice to keep in mind when you’re somewhere in this launch process and considering making a purchase:

“One way to determine if a course, mastermind, training, or experience is right for you or your business, is to see if it passes the ‘Full Price Factor’ test. If you are tempted by deep discounts, bonuses or rapidly closing carts, ask yourself, “would I pay full price for this”? Taking a step back and removing the carefully crafted emotion out of the offer, if you wouldn’t be willing to whip out that credit card and pay full price for the opportunity by itself, then it’s most likely something that you should leave behind.”

I would add to her point that if a bonus looks like it is critical to succeeding in the objective of the course, it was probably artificially REMOVED from the body of the course and presented separately as a bonus. If something you judge critical is offered as an up-sell or “optional” additional purchase, just say no.

Have you firmly resolved not to be swayed by bonuses, scarcity and being pushed to hard by people with exterior motives? Good.

So, if you think you’re going to really benefit from a coaching or training program, let’s talk about how to evaluate the information you’re getting about them. I, and a few more experts are going to talk about the two most popular and important selling mechanisms in the final post in this series— email and webinars.

(If you’re considering buing a course, I’ve created a simple checklist of potential red flags that you can use to evaluate your options. Get it here!)