The Busy Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Online Launches in 2018
Save Your $$$ and Time, This is the Only Guide You Need
If you think “launches” aren’t something that will work in your specific business, think again.
Launches aren’t just for “internet businesses”.
Whether you offer products or services, you can use the marketing nerd launch process you’ll learn today to bring more dollars to your business in 2018.
The marketing nerd launch process works for all kinds of niches — from dog toys, to coaching, and even luxury B2B services.
The reason why “doing a launch” could even work for you is simple:
All it involves is teaching about your passion!
“How can I use a launch in my specific business model?”
Let’s go over a few examples so you can see how easy the marketing nerd launch process is to incorporate into your business situation…
“What if I’m not introducing any new products or services?”
This might seem like a BIG barrier to having a launch… But it’s actually pretty simple to overcome.
When you read about my marketing nerd launch process, you’ll see that you’ll have to create some marketing assets to support your launch.
You can easily create a package of products or services that you already have, and just follow the steps by creating the marketing assets for your launch.
Then what you’re “launching” is this new marketing initiative focused on a specific offer of your already existing products or services.
In short: You can use your existing stuff and “launch” it as though it’s something new. You don’t have to claim it’s new in the actual marketing copy.
“What if I don’t have a very big list, or any list at all?”
I’ll cover exactly what you should do in the 1st step of the marketing nerd launch process: laying the foundation.
Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to do to ensure a successful launch :)
“What would I launch if I am a service business like a (magician, dog walker, coach/consultant, computer repairman, etc.)?”
You would put together something like an introductory offer if you wanted to focus on attracting new business with your launch, or small/medium/large packages of your services if you were marketing to your existing buyer’s list.
If you’ve been thinking about creating some kind of product around your business, like a doggy house training video for a dog walker, a launch would be the perfect structure to develop an information product like that!
“What would I launch if I sell a product?”
With 2018 right around the corner, December-January is the perfect time to create a “Get ready for 2018” kind of launch.
Give the uninitiated an opportunity to try out your product.
The reason why the marketing nerd launch process works in all business models is because all you need to do is genuinely teach about the problem you’re solving.
You might just have to get a little more creative depending on the niche. But this launch process can be done in both simple and complex selling scenarios.
Now that you understand how a launch could fit into your business model, it’s time to learn the marketing nerd launch process so you can start 2018 with a bang!
The Marketing Nerd Launch Process In a Nutshell
I wanted to give you an overview of all of the steps so you can see everything that’s involved at a glance. In the next sections we’ll talk about each step of the process in more detail.
The Steps of the Marketing Nerd Launch Process
- Laying the Foundation
- Tease Them
- The Countdown
- LAUNCH! Open Cart Day
- Post-Launch
Now that you know the parts of the marketing nerd launch process, let’s dive into Laying the Foundation.
#1 — Laying the Foundation: What you need for a successful launch
Having a successful launch means having a list to launch to, right?
What should you do if you don’t have a list coming into this though?
Luckily, there are 2 steps you can take to get the information of interested leads to launch to.
Step #1 — Develop a Problem-Solution Webinar and PROMOTE
It should be easy for anyone who’s been in business for a little while to create a short 30–60 minute webinar about the problem you solve.
You don’t have to give out your best secrets, but you do want to try to give people valuable information and even quick wins if you can.
The purpose of this webinar is to call out to people who have the problem you solve and engage them!
You can generate ideas for what topics your webinar should address by thinking about the questions you get asked most often.
Review your email inbox and refresh your memory on questions that you’ve been asked over the years. You could even shoot a quick question over email to your existing customers/subscribers like “What are some of the questions you have about [taking care of your dog/maintaining your computer/managing your payroll/taking care of your skin/creating awesome outfits/whatever problem you solve]?” Let their answers be your guide.
Here’s a simple outline you can follow to create a short webinar:
[Introduction]
What problem are you here to solve? Who are you? (You can talk about your business and your professional experience here. Tell them why you can address this issue.) Overview the topics you’re going to cover.
[Body]
Write down 2–5 topics you want to cover.
Underneath each topic’s header start to write down the information you wanted to share about that point.
Remember the marketing formula Problem-Agitate-Solution.
You can structure the “flow” of each topic just like that! One example might be…
“Topic 1: Dog Pulling on Leash
Now let’s dive into our first point: how can you prepare your dog for a dog walker when he pulls so dang hard on his leash? Coming home with a sore arm can really suck.
Well don’t worry, leash pulling is one of the most common behavior problems dog owners face. Luckily, with a little bit of training it’s something you can easily fix yourself!
Here’s how I normally work with dogs who pull on the leash… [Detail out training content.]”
I wanted to spell out for you what kind of content should be involved so you don’t have to face Blank Page Syndrome. Feel free to copy this outline into a new Word or Google Doc so you can begin to fill in the information with your own topics and ideas.
You could create a simple speech outline, or you could create a whole script for the event if you want to. If you script everything, remember that you should only use your script as a guide while speaking. Don’t “read” at people, just glance at the ideas you wanted to express and use your script as a way to make sure you covered everything you wanted to say.
You will then want to promote your webinar using Facebook ads to generate signups.
The reason why you should go to “traditional” webinar route with signups is because you’re trying to generate email addresses. You wouldn’t be able to capture all of the email addresses of your attendees if you used something like Facebook Live for this, even though Facebook Live can also be a great platform to deliver “webinars” from.
Here are 2 great webinar products you can check out that are affordable, but come with a LOT of features (like creating “Evergreen webinars”, webinars that run without you having to present them live):
Webinar Ninja
WebinarJam
Here’s more information on Facebook advertising if you want more help on promoting your webinar:
Step #2 — Create a Squeeze Page
Before you can launch to a big list, you have to build a scalable process to capture the information of interested people.
Other than the webinar method, you can do this by creating a squeeze page and promoting a content opt-in lead magnet.
What’s a squeeze page?
A squeeze page is simply a landing page with the goal of collecting information, rather than making a sale.
What’s a lead magnet or a content opt-in?
It’s some kind of value that you give people in exchange for sharing their information with you.
These can be things like reports, PDFs, ebooks, audio courses, videos, tool kits, checklists, the sky’s the limit!
If you don’t have any of these systems set up, and you don’t have a list to launch to, you’re going to need to take care of this first.
I have a complete guide on how to develop your content optin and the technology you need to deliver it to your leads here:
#2 — Tease Them: Creating curiosity for your launch
Can you really make money without being “salesy”?
Can you tease people’s curiosity and build up their anticipation for what’s coming?
Can you make your launch fun, entertaining, and even exciting?
Can you get your audience’s help building your offer so you can be sure it’s EXACTLY what you’re looking for?
Can you even uncover their objections to your offer before you’ve even launched?
The answer is a resounding YES to all of these things.
You can accomplish all of this and more with the simple pre-launch strategy in the marketing nerd launch process.
To drum up curiosity for your launch, you’ll want to send a simple email to your list…
Subject: Quick announcement and a favor
“Hey [NAME], [Your Name] here. We’ll be sending your [NEWSLETTER TOPIC] update in just a little bit. But first I need to ask you a favor…
We’re really close to wrapping up our long-awaited [YOUR OFFER]. We will be releasing it in [TIMELINE, ex. mid-January]. Before I do, I have to ask you a couple of questions. Can you help us out?
You can answer the questions here (and get a little more detail on the upcoming [YOUR PRODUCT]) at this link:
[YOUR SURVEY LINK]
Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]”
You can set up a survey on something like Google Forms or Survey Monkey for free!
A rough outline for the text on the survey would be:
- I’m VERY close to finishing my long-awaited [OFFER]
- I’ve been working on it for several months, but I’m finally going to wrap it up. I will be releasing it in [TIMELINE].
- The course is focused on…
- Detail what the offer includes [how many coaching sessions, how long per session, what services are included, at what frequency, etc.]
- However, I need your help. Before I finalize everything and send it off to be produced, I need to make sure I covered everything.
- That’s where you come in. Please take a few minutes to answer this survey-there’s only 1 thing I need to ask you…
- What are your top 2 questions about [YOUR TOPIC]?
It’s really THAT SIMPLE!
Now you’ve hinted that something is coming without having to feel gross about it, you’re building curiosity, you’ll get help building your offer to meet your audience’s specific needs, you’ll learn about their objections, you’ll get ideas on the content you should create for your pre-launch Countdown sequence, and you’re turning your launch into something fun that you and your audience can do together.
#3 — The Countdown
Now it’s time! The day to share your pre-launch content has come.
You’ll be sending a “pre-launch” of 3 videos to your lead list to drum up excitement for
What should you include in your pre-launch content?
Your Pre-launch Sequence should be made up of 3 videos that work together to tell one story.
Think of it as a 3-act play with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
You’re going to tell people about the prize at the bottom of the box, then you’ll teach them something of value, and finally you’ll pivot to talking about the impact your offer will make on your prospect’s life or business.
Pre-Launch Video #1: The Transformation
Look, you’re offering your product or service for some kind of a reason, right?
This is where you want to tell people why they should care, what end results they’ll get for spending the time listening to you… What can you do for them?
Here’s a basic formula for the 1st pre-launch video:
- Show the transformation. Talk about how people’s lives change and what results they get from your product or service. Are you offering people silky smooth skin? Are you offering them a well-behaved dog? Are you offering them an influx of new clients? Paint this picture vividly.
- Position. Why should they listen to you? Talk about your professional or personal experience that gives you authority on this topic. (Maybe you created a skincare product to solve a problem for yourself, and decided to sell it because it worked so well for you.)
- Teach. What might your prospect NOT understand about their problem? Can you offer them any quick wins?
- Raise objections and either answer them or promise to answer them in upcoming videos. No matter HOW good of a marketer you are, you’re not going to sell everyone. And that’s okay! What are some reasons someone might not think your solution is right for them? Mention some and tease answering them in the next pre-launch video, you could even make a call to action for people to email you their objections and questions!
- Foreshadow your 2nd Pre-launch Video. What should they stay tuned for? Make it juicy!
- Call to action! Ask for shoutout on social media (you could make a “Click to Tweet/share link). If you have a blog where you’re talking about your launch journey, you could ask for a comment there. This call to action section would be a good place to ask people to share their objections and questions with you.
Show them the vision of what they will be.
Pre-Launch Video #2: The How
Why should someone trust you?
That’s what you’re trying to prove in this 2nd pre-launch video. This piece of content is all about teaching something valuable so you can show your prospects what you’ve got!
If you’ve created some kind of course, you could tease a lesson from inside there. Or you could teach a related skill that would pair perfectly with the information you’re intending on launching.
If you’re offering a service, some kind of “self-assessment” or process of discovering “Do you have this problem?” could be a good route to go down. By helping people diagnose the issue, you’re showing expertise on solving it too.
If you don’t want to teach, you could substitute presenting a very strong case study in detail for this content!
Here’s a basic formula for the 2nd pre-launch video:
- Thanks and recap. Thank everyone for their questions and comments on your first video, and give a quick recap of what you covered in the 1st video.
- Recap the vision. What is the transformation you’ll help them make? Remind them what they have to be excited about.
- Recap your positioning. Remind people again why they’re listening to you. Just in case they didn’t catch it the first time, everyone wants to feel like they’re getting information from a trustworthy source!
- Teach your content or present a case study. Aim for quick wins, or AMAZINGLY detailed case studies! Give them something to sink their teeth into. This is the most content heavy portion of the launch, so you want to impress here.
- Objections. Address the top 2–3 objections you heard from the 1st video and answer them.
- Foreshadow the next video. Build some anticipation for it by telling them what you’re going to cover and when it’s coming out.
- Call to action. Ask for your readers to share their objections on your social media, or leave a comment on a blog where you’re tracking your launch progress.
Pre-Launch Video #3: Tease the Offer
You’ve shown the potential transformation or change — whether it’s being able to play the piano or having smoother skin. You’ve strutted your stuff and given your audience actionable content about your topic. Now it’s time to tie the knot.
Here’s a basic formula for the 3rd pre-launch video:
- Express thanks. Thank everyone for their comments and questions over your last 2 videos. Tell them how excited you are and how excited all of your viewers are about what you’re going to be sharing in this video. (“The moment you’ve all been waiting for.”)
- Quickly recap the vision and your positioning. What are they working towards? Why can you get them there?
- Present a short case study. Optional, but effective.
- Answer the top questions you’ve been getting. You want to do this even if you’ve already raised and answered these objections earlier in your pre-launch sequence. Go ahead and answer those questions that keep popping up on your social media and blog comments.
- Explain the big transformation and how to make it happen. Step back and review what the ultimate transformation is and project into their future. How will they get there? How do you help them? What will their life be like after?
- Pivot to your offer. By now your prospects are excited about you and have fallen in love with you because you’ve been giving them huge value. You don’t want to go from being their best friend to full-on sales mode though! Instead, go for a “soft landing” by mentioning that in your next video you’re going to have an offer for them, and they need to watch if they’re ready to take their transformation to the next level.
- Preview the scarcity of your offer. You should not hit them over the head with scarcity at this point, because they haven’t even seen your offer… But you’ll want to mentioned that they should be on the lookout for your next email, because this is going to be a limited time offer.
- Call to action. Ask them to send their questions and feedback to your social media. (Remember to experiment with click to share links.)
Why is the “soft landing” so important?
Let me tell you a little joke…
It goes like this: Bob goes on vacation. He asks his moron brother to take care of his cat. After a few days on vacation, Bob calls to say hi. The moron brother blurts out “Your cat is dead.”
Bob is beside himself with grief. And he chastises his moron brother for breaking the news to him in such an abrupt manner. The moron brother asks how he could have done it better.
Bob explains “Well, for example, you could have told me the cat was on the roof. The next time we talked, you could say the Fire Department is trying to get him down. The next time, you could say the cat fell during the rescue and was in the veterinary hospital. The next time I called, you could say the cat succumbed to his injuries and passed away. That way I would be prepared for the bad news.”
The moron brother says he understands. Then he adds, “Oh, by the way. Mom is on the roof.”
If you change too quickly from being pals to making sales, you might upset some of your readers. Go for the “soft landing” so that everyone is on the same page about being presented an offer.
Timing Your Pre-Launch Videos
Pre-launches can last anywhere from a few days to 1 month. A good range to experiment with when you’re starting out is 5 to 7 days.
Keep in mind that if you’re selling a cheap product, you can generally have a shorter launch. If you’re selling a more expensive product you might want to make it longer.
A 5 day pre-launch might look like this:
Day 1 — Pre-launch video #1
Day 3 — Pre-launch video #2
Day 5 — Pre-launch video #3
Day 7 — Open Cart
A 10 day pre-launch might look like this:
Day 1 — Pre-launch video #1
Day 5 — Pre-launch video #2
Day 8 — Pre-launch video #3
Day 10 — Open Cart
#4 — LAUNCH! Open Cart Day
Over the last few days you’ve been pre-launching, and now your list knows there’s an offer coming.
Now that your marketing nerd launch sequence has done the hard work, the actual mechanics of your launch’s 1st Open Cart Day are pretty simple:
- Your sales page
- Your Open Cart Email
Your Sales Page
Even though your audience is to some extent pre-sold, you don’t want to skimp out on your landing page!
Make sure that it still has a strong sales message.
There are 3 keys to a strong sales message:
- The reader understands the problem
- The reader believes that problem exists, and that they have that problem
- The reader wants to overcome the problem
So even though you have ALREADY talked about the vision, defined what the problem is, taught about how to overcome it, and addressed the most common objections — you’re still going to need to write a good landing page that includes all of those points.
And be sure that the landing page looks nice.
More guides to help you write kickass landing pages and compelling sales arguments:
The Open Cart Email
Your Open Cart Email doesn’t have to be anything fancy. The more you can get out of the way, the better. It’s good to hammer on the scarcity if you can.
Here’s a script you can adapt for your own Open Cart Email:
Okay, the cart for [YOUR PRODUCT] is now open. We’re live right now here:
CLICK HERE for [NAME OF YOUR PRODUCT]
www.[YOURURL].com
(I opened it up a bit early to reward the people ready to take action.)
P.S. Remember… The cart is only going to be open for [NUMBER] days, so please don’t delay. Get yours before they’re gone. Here’s the link:
www.[YOURURL].com
Your Open Cart Strategy
Notice that the script mentions a deadline to make a purchase by. Adding elements like a Close Cart Day (the last day of your “open cart”) creates scarcity in your offer.
If that makes you feel a little weird, don’t panic.
I know it seems strange to not have a permanently open cart, but you can run this launch monthly so you can still effectively take orders throughout the year with the marketing nerd launch process.
Usually you’ll want to keep your launch open somewhere between 4–7 days.
A 5 day open cart window would be good for a first launch.
You should expect to see the first ¼ of orders in the 1st day, and about ½ on the last day. The spike in the beginning is from the anticipation you’ve built, and the wave on the last day is the scarcity trigger kicking in.
The last 25% of your orders happen between the 1st and last days.
Email Delivery Strategy During Your Open Cart Window
Let’s assume that you’re going to try your first launch and use a 5 day open cart window.
A sample email schedule might look like this:
Day 1 — Open Cart Day Email (script above)
Day 3 — Overview of the bonuses
Day 4 — Reminder than the offer and all bonuses will go away
Day 5 — THE GRAND FINALE! (This can be 1 or 2 emails)
After you do your first launch and rinse and repeat it to develop an “evergreen launch”, you can experiment with your Email Delivery Strategy. You might want to try less communication one time, and another round of the launch you might want to try over communication (1 email every day with 2 on the GRAND FINALE day) the next time and see which brings you better results.
So have fun with it!
The Grand Finale!
For a successful launch, there should be negative consequences for people who hesitate to buy in your specified open cart window.
One scarcity tactic you could experiment with is a discounted early-bird price on Day 1 of your Open Cart Window, with a price increase on day 2 onwards. (Which you would mention in the earlier script for the Open Cart Email.)
In your Grand Finale email you should hit on the fact that the offer will go away after your close cart time.
#5 — Post-Launch
“Wait… What? Why do I care about what happens after the launch?”
The Post-Launch is the perfect time to ensure the true success of your launch.
It’s the time for you to take care of everyone who did decide to make the purchase. By deepening your relationship with your clients through good onboarding you can ensure their success and their happiness with your product.
The Post-Launch is also a great time to learn how you can be better next launch. I’ll give you an email script to gather intelligence from people who decided not to buy on how you can improve your marketing nerd launch process next time!
Strengthen Your Relationship With Customers
The key to doing this is going to be to develop a solid new-client follow up process.
Developing that process is going to take trial and error, and it’s something that you will develop over time as you repeat the marketing nerd launch process over and over again.
Here are a few ideas on what you can include in your onboarding process…
How’s it going?
Something you can do right out of the gate is send 1 email explaining again how they can access their product, or when to expect it.
If it’s a product that they access online, just give them the directions to access it and an email or something where they can point any questions they have about the material.
If it’s a service, you’ll want to explain how the client should access their purchase. Will they have to come into your office, or do you treat them at their home? Will they have to access some kind of online scheduling software to book a time? This should all be detailed in the 1st email you send customers after they purchase.
If it’s a product, be sure to tell them how long your average shipping window is and provide their online tracking code if you can.
You can also send them a 2nd email after they should have tried it and ask how they liked it. Did they get everything okay? Did they get everything they were supposed to? Have they had a chance to try it out?
Following up with the customer and seeing how they liked it is an easy way to build your ongoing relationship with them. It also makes a great opportunity to source testimonials immediately after purchase ;)
Send them a link to a private Facebook group
Assuming that a Facebook group isn’t already one of your bonuses :) You could always send them to a private Facebook group of people who have purchased that product.
Some people have just a combined group across their products of all of their paying customers going into 1 main premium Facebook group. That could be a fun way to introduce your clients to each other and beneficial for building a strong tribe.
Wine & Dine Them
Flatter them a little. You can offer them extra bonuses that you didn’t even mention on the sales page!
Don’t you think that would make someone feel special? To immediately start getting sent extra goodies that they weren’t even expecting after making the decision to take on your help in making the change they’re looking for :)
What About Prospects Who Didn’t Buy?
Even if they didn’t buy today, prospects who didn’t convert are still great leads for future offers.
Don’t let that trail run cold just because they weren’t ready today.
One technique that marketer Ryan Levesque teaches on capturing objections of people who don’t convert is the “Do you hate me” email. It’s a coy little way of saying “No hard feelings, but what happened?”. Here’s my script for this email:
[Name], I need you to be honest with me…
Did I not do a good job of explaining something? Did I not cover a specific topic that you’re really dying to know about? What’s the single biggest reason you decided not to try [YOUR OFFER]?
Was it something I said, something I didn’t say, OR do you just hate me? :)
Please click here and tell me what was the #1 reason you decided not to try [YOUR OFFER]? (link, Google Form)
Then you can capture all of the objections you didn’t address well enough in one easy to see spot.
You can then edit your marketing nerd launch process parts above to better address these unanswered objections.
… The End?
Say it ain’t so!
Is the post-launch the end of your marketing nerd launch’s life?
Luckily, it will live on.
After you’ve done it once, you can take it from the top!
Go back to your lead generation strategies if you have to. Retool your webinar, your pre-launch video content and emails, your open cart strategy with everything you learned when you surveyed people who didn’t buy.
Try it a 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 12th time until it’s better than before!
Once you’ve run your marketing nerd launch process a few times it can become an “evergreen launch”.
That means that the webinar is pre-recorded instead of live (you can always switch and do it live when you want!), you have a highly converting pre-launch email sequence, it’s timed perfectly, your open cart day landing page is conversion rate optimized… That means that your marketing nerd launch process is a perfectly well oiled machine that you can let run for 1 month or more without doing that much to it and it just works.
What would you do after it’s an evergreen launch? Well, you could start again on a new marketing nerd launch process for a different product or service you offer!
First, bookmark this article.
And let’s go over some next steps if you want to learn more about what was discussed in this article, or you want to get some specific help with one of the skills needed to create this system like Facebook advertising, creating squeeze pages and content optins, and email marketing.
Books that you’d love
The Ask Method by Ryan Levesque
