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I'm an online marketing coach and launch strategist who loves helping female grow successful online businesses!
Thinking of launching a digital product, like an online course, a membership or a group program?
Amazing!
Jump right in.
But first, there are a few key things you need to know to make it a successful launch.
Your digital product and your offer aren't the same thing. And your offer should be completely irresistible. In other words, your customers should be blown away by the value they’re going to get that they can’t say no.
Your digital product is the main item and basis of the offer, of course, but your offer is how it’s packaged up overall and presented to your market.
Things that should include in your digital product offer:
So there’s a lot more to the offer than just the digital product itself.
And you can see that parts of your offer can be the things that tip people over the edge, or make them decide not to buy.
Testing your offer overtime is key. Take note of what worked with your first launch, then improve it. For example, if a limited-time bonus doesn’t generate any extra sales, then you know to swap it out for something else in your next launch.
It’s a constant cycle of testing and tweaking.
I go into what an offer is vs what your product is in-depth in this post.
In the period of time prior to your launch, it can be easy to approach your content as business as usual. And then only start talking about your launch topic only once you start promoting your launch event.
But that’s way too late.
You need to be planting seeds about your online course a lot earlier than that.
How much earlier?
As early as you can. Ideally up to 90 days prior to your launch event. This is called your launch runway, and focusing on this part of your launch can make all the difference by the time you finally open the doors.
It’s vital that you’re sharing one main message during this time. Just focus on one message, and reinforce it over and over again.
For example, if you’re a business coach who is selling a course about money mindset, then talk about money. Reinforce the message that money mindset is a real thing, and that people need to care about it. Don’t start talking about something different, like business systems. Even if they are also important, and you also help your one on one clients with that, you’re not launching a course on that.
So stick with the one message.
This sounds easy, but often I see my clients want to talk about all sorts of other things as they get bored. But it’s not our job to be entertained by our own content – it's our job to reinforce those messages that our ideal clients need to hear.
Let’s look at another example – if you’re planning on launching a course about social media systems for your ideal audience which includes those in the over 40 age bracket, you shouldn’t start talking about how important it is to have a blog or a podcast, just to have some content to post. Stick to the program.
If you’re talking about one main message in all of your content, you’re going to really connect with the people who need your offer. So when you do launch, you’ve got the perfect solution for the people you have attracted.
You need to be really clear who you’re talking to, in order to pull this one off.
Regardless of whether you’re selling using a live launch or an evergreen strategy, there needs to be a deadline for people to buy.
Why?
Because people are way less likely to purchase your digital product when there’s no urgency.
If you want more conversions, you need a deadline.
I talk about this often, because it’s important. Anything over $49 needs a deadline. If your offer is less than $49, then the barrier to buy is a lot lower.
Urgency is an integral part of an irresistible offer.
There’s this idea that you can just throw spaghetti at the wall and see what works. While I get that this imperfect action has its place, it can also result in some pretty lacklustre results when it comes to launching.
A successful launch is one where you show up and demonstrate the value in what you’re offering over and over again.
Even when you feel a bit off mid-launch. Even when you’d rather hide, or just call it all off mid-launch.
I do believe that you get better at launching each time you do it. It’s a muscle that needs to be strengthened. So when you commit, really commit. Go all in, right up until the doors close.
Diving into the world of digital products, it can be easy to just dip your toe in and see how it works the first time.
Often if it doesn’t go to plan, people give up and go back to trading time for dollars.
But just because a launch doesn’t go well first time around, or it didn’t hit your expectations, does not mean that your digital product is not worth pursuing.
The key is to do a really solid launch debrief once the launch is complete, learn where the areas of improvement are….and repeat the launch. Change up the offer, do what you need to do, but don’t give up.
The good news is that there is never as much work to do the second time around. That first launch can be tough to get through, but it’s worth committing to the process.
You might have gathered by now that my take on launching is very real. I won’t fill you with BS on hitting 6 figures in your very first launch with zero audience (yep, I believe this expectation exists). Instead I will show you the exact things you need in order to consistently grow a profitable business using digital products.