The UpLaunch Methodology (how we help small businesses win)

The Product Design Journey

When we get together with one of our partners to create a product on the UpLaunch platform, it’s kind of a magical process. It’s typically done in-person, and it usually takes the form of a relatively intense work session filled with messy whiteboards, “Aha!” moments, spirited debates, and inspired creativity.

However, after the dust has settled and the strategies are outlined, we start to organize all of the chaos into a sleek, streamlined set of campaigns that are wide-reaching in scope, yet beautifully simple. We accomplish that by designing products and campaigns according to the UpLaunch Methodology.

What is this methodology, you ask? And how does it help small business across all industries?

It’s simple, really. The UpLaunch Methodology is nothing more than a set of four principles that we use as a benchmark for our work. If every campaign is aligned with all for principles, we know that not only will we be delivering a quality product, but we will also be delivering a product that aligns with our core values.

Alright, enough chit-chat. Here are the four principles that comprise the UpLaunch Methodology:

Principle 1: Automation Can’t Replace Relationships

Our platform, products, and campaigns are NOT magic bullets. To put it bluntly, there is no software in the world that can compensate for business owners and staff members who aren’t willing to build relationships with their leads and clients.

In case you didn’t know: people aren’t buying because of what you’re selling. They’re buying because of WHO is selling it.

Our platform and campaigns are built to help humans relate to other humans. Because of that, we almost always include a manual outreach component in our strategies, which encourages staff members to pick up the phone and have a conversation with the campaign recipient — building a relationship that is simply impossible to build via email or SMS messaging.

Principle 2: Automated Communications Must Be Personalized

This is one of our major market differentiators. Yes, we ship with turn-key content and yes, it’s super effective out of the box. However, for best results, it should still be personalized for your business — and for the specific person receiving it.

So how do we account for that? It’s easy. Not only do we empower small business owners to edit and/or replace all of the content for their default campaigns, we also allow you to edit the content — in advance — on a contact by contact basis

Let’s say you talk to a new lead and find out they’re getting married in two weeks. Awesome! You can drill into their campaign, find an email that is three weeks out, and edit it on the spot to congratulate them on their marriage.

It’s really that easy.

Principle 3: Simple Journeys, No Spiderwebs

What is a spiderweb? It’s what we call the flowcharts of overly complicated automation campaigns that have 7 different options after each step, super complex logic flows, and a nearly infinite amount of options.

Why isn’t it better to be that granular? It’s simple — marketing campaigns must be authentic in order to be effective. If you have a campaign that is so complicated that no one understands what is happening, and a customer comes in and asks you about something that was sent to them…what will your answer be?

“I’m not sure, our marketing program sent that out…”

It’s 2018. We can do better. Effective simplicity is a monumental challenge, and it’s one that we embrace.

Principle 4: Consistent Value For The Win

Effective campaigns and systems aren’t about simply overpowering your leads and clients with a deluge of information. It’s relatively common knowledge that customers usually take 6 to 8 touch points before they make a purchase, but it’s a process that can’t be rushed!

All of our partners are encouraged to write content that delivers insane amounts of value. Give, give, give, give, give, ask.

In fact, when they ask us “are you sure I should just give all of that away?” — that’s when we know we’re on the right track.

Providing massive value for your leads and clients will position your business as subject matter experts in your field, and that credibility — when combined with a good interpersonal relationship — will directly translate to a better bottom line.

Conclusion

Look, nothing in the four principles is groundbreaking in isolation. We didn’t invent authenticity, we’re not the first people to recognize that a good relationship is a powerful influencer on buying habits, and we’re certainly not the first company who has recommended delivering massive value with free content.

The problem we see is that when people go down the rabbit hole writing marketing automations that span the entire client lifecycle, sometimes they begin to stray from these simple principles. They start to chase the “shiny objects” — look at all the crazy stuff my platform can do, look at how complicated my logic tree is, look at how crazy this campaign is…

We’re simply not buying it. At UpLaunch, we steadfastly believe that our products will out-perform the competition simply due to a reallocation of energy. In other words, the energy that other people put into their business logic flow charts, we direct into our ecosystem.

We help our partners mentor their clients and improve their business systems. We in turn mentor our partners and help them level-up their game as well. With each group elevating the next one, everybody wins, and the pie just keeps growing larger and larger.

Keep it simple, be authentic, build relationships, and work your ass off. There, I did it. I just gave away our company secrets.

Now get out there and do something great.