OWAHL 005: How to launch a product: Launch Week!

08/04/17 • 55 min

Our Work at Home Life with Jason and Jami: Online Business | Blogging | Working from Home

On the podcast this month we've been talking all about product launches. We covered the big picture overview of how to launch a product, how to work with affiliates to help sell your product, and creating a free offer for your product launch.

If you haven't worked your way through those episodes yet, then back up and go through those. They will give you a very solid grounding before heading into this episode.

Today we are going to be covering Launch week! You've done all the prep work to launch your new product, now it's time to actually launch it! Here's everything to need to craft a successful launch week.

Launch Your Product

A typical launch period for us is 5-7 days. Anything shorter than that and it's hard to build momentum. Anything longer than that and it's hard to keep up that momentum.

If you listened to episode #4 and are creating a free opt in offer for your product, then a good option is to be in "sales" mode for one month. Spend 2-4 weeks spreading the word about your free opt in to boost engagement and get new readers, and then actually launch your product in 5-7 days.

A typical sales week:

We've played with this schedule and tweaked it a lot over the years. It will probably keep changing as we learn and grow, but here's what we typically do in a launch week.

Day #1: Cart Open

On day #1, the first thing you want to do is check all sales pages and links, a couple of times. The worst thing to happen would be people showing up to your page, unable to check out! So check, check, and double check that it's all working properly.

Then once you know it's all working, you can send out your initial CART OPEN email! This can be short and sweet and simply let people know that your new product is for sale.

I'm a fan of doing a short and sweet email for this (although you can do a longer sales email with all the info) because I think people are initially interested and will pop over to see what it is.

At this point, I would also publish a full blog post with all the details to share on Pinterest, Facebook, social media, those who follow you via RSS feed, etc.

I would also consider doing a Facebook/Instagram live video. The first day is so full of excitement that now is a good time to jump on and share that your new product is live and available!

Through your week: using evergreen content to sell

I know that not everyone on my list or in my audience will be interested in buying this thing. So while I do want to push the sale hard, I also want to acknowledge and not burn out that audience that has no intention of buying this product.

Evergreen content is simply blog posts, podcasts, and other content that is related to your product but that will still live on once this promotion is over. For example, if you are sharing a brand new cooking course, then doing some evergreen content revolving around your favorite cooking accessories, or simple meal planning tips can become great content to spread around that also includes a pitch for your product.

Bonus: It gives you a really good non-salsey excuse to reach out to your audience, share on social media, and send follow up emails! You are simply providing more good, related content!

Throw a Facebook Party

I do about 2-3 Facebook parties a year. They do a couple of things: 1) it raises awareness for my product launch 2) it helps boost my Facebook feed all week and 3) my audience LOVES it and is an amazing way to build up my community. I get requests all year asking when my next FB party will be!

Here's how to throw a Facebook party:

1) Set up a FB even on your page

Set this up and start inviting people to the party 1-2 weeks in advance. Ask them to RSVP on that event page so they get notified when the party starts. Share about the party on other social media, your blog, and via email.

2) A typical party

My typical party is usually 2 hours long. I do mine in the evenings because most moms can participate better when kids are in bed. I tend to post every 5-15 minutes through out the party.

I usually have 6 giveaways throughout the party, 3 each hour. I usually give away a few digital giveaways but I try and make them physical products as often as I can because people get more excited about physical items.

My focus in the party:

My focus throughout the party is on serving and loving my readers rather than selling. It's a time to build up commun...

If you haven't worked your way through those episodes yet, then back up and go through those. They will give you a very solid grounding before heading into this episode.

Launch Your Product

A typical launch period for us is 5-7 days. Anything shorter than that and it's hard to build momentum. Anything longer than that and it's hard to keep up that momentum.

A typical sales week:

We've played with this schedule and tweaked it a lot over the years. It will probably keep changing as we learn and grow, but here's what we typically do in a launch week.

Day #1: Cart Open

Then once you know it's all working, you can send out your initial CART OPEN email! This can be short and sweet and simply let people know that your new product is for sale.

I'm a fan of doing a short and sweet email for this (although you can do a longer sales email with all the info) because I think people are initially interested and will pop over to see what it is.

At this point, I would also publish a full blog post with all the details to share on Pinterest, Facebook, social media, those who follow you via RSS feed, etc.

I would also consider doing a Facebook/Instagram live video. The first day is so full of excitement that now is a good time to jump on and share that your new product is live and available!

Through your week: using evergreen content to sell

Bonus: It gives you a really good non-salsey excuse to reach out to your audience, share on social media, and send follow up emails! You are simply providing more good, related content!

Throw a Facebook Party

Here's how to throw a Facebook party:

1) Set up a FB even on your page

2) A typical party

My typical party is usually 2 hours long. I do mine in the evenings because most moms can participate better when kids are in bed. I tend to post every 5-15 minutes through out the party.

My focus in the party:

My focus throughout the party is on serving and loving my readers rather than selling. It's a time to build up commun...

Previous Episode

OWAHL 004: Creating a Free Offer for Your Product

On the podcast this month we've been talking all about product launches. We covered the big picture overview of how to launch a product and how to work with affiliates to help sell your product.

Today is my favorite episode yet. We are going to be talking about how to create a free opt-in offer that leads to the sale of your product. So let's jump in!

What is a free opt-in offer?

This comes under many names - a freebie, freemium, lead magnet, opt-in offer, etc. But they are all essentially the same thing. It's an awesome piece of content that you giveaway for free. Your readers sign up for it with their email address.

It's an amazing way to grow your audience but it also provides incredible value for your readers. My readers are always thanking me for the awesome free content I give away!

Benefits of creating an opt-in offer

Grows your email list

This one is obvious. This is usually the #1 reason why people giveaway an opt-in in offer. They want to build up and grow their email list. This is great, but if you combine it with an email sequence and a product in mind, it can really push the needle!

Nurtures cold subscribers before selling to them

A free opt-in gets people onto your email list. And it also nurtures them from cold subscribers into raving fans. Throughout your free opt-in offer and a subsequent email sequence, these new readers really get to know you and build that trust.

Great to share on guest posts

A free opt-in offer gives you something extremely valuable to share on other people's blogs as guest posts. You COULD be a guest poster on someone's blog and share your product. But you probably won't get very many sales.

Those readers don't know you from Adam, they don't trust you, they don't yet love you. But GIVE them something awesome for FREE and they get to know you.

Affiliates can share very easily

This is usually my #1 reason for creating a free opt-in. My own readers know me pretty well by now and know if they want a product I come out with. But my affiliates audiences don't know me. Creating an awesome free offer that is easy for your affiliates to share, helps you gain a new audience to sell to AND your affiliates can sell more easily.

Easy to push really hard and then do the actual selling over email

It's so easy to push a free offer insanely!! You can share it on your blog, Facebook live, all over Instagram, in your emails, guest posts, etc. No one gets tired of hearing about a great free product!

So you can push this really hard without feeling like you are selling! And then you can nurture them through an email sequence where you sell hard.

Examples of our freebies:

Finding Joy in Your Home Free eCourse

This is by far our most popular free offer. It's a mini-eCourse called Finding Joy in Your Home. This has become my main free offer for my blog and eventually leads to a sell of our academy, My Homemaking Mentor.

This works well because MHM is our most expensive item. So giving them a full course as a FREEBIE works well. Plus, the academy is video based. So giving them a free PDF wouldn't be nearly as effective as a free video series so they can get used to me on video and how I teach.

14 Days of Praying for Your Husband & Marriage

This is a freebie that we launched at the beginning of this year. It's a card set that is designed to be used over 14 days. It has a scripture and a prayer topic on each card. These were super popular!

They lead to a marriage bundle of resources and are the perfect lead in to more printable products!

5 Keys to Planning a Successful Day

The meat of this freebie was an in depth PDF that I put together that was essentially a mini training manual. I wanted to include a video component however, so I took that training and turned it into a video. So the reader has the choice of reading it or listening to it. It also includes a few bonus printables. This was our free opt-in for the 2016 homemaking conference.

Here are some other freebie ideas

If you are a photographer: Create a checklist of essential newborn shots to get

Next Episode

OWAHL 006: Thinking of going full time with your business? Here are some things to think about!

Question: "My husband and I would love to entertain the idea of entrepreneurship. While his job is sufficient in providing for us financially, it leaves much to be desired in regard to family life. However, we feel completely stuck at the moment. In addition to a dependable salary, his job also provides excellent insurance coverage for all five of us (dental, medical, and vision). He has a 401k and retirement account that has been funded since he began with the company over ten years ago.

There is a lot to fund financially, and these are all just the basics! How is this done while pursuing entrepreneurship? Are people (entrepreneurs) able to get on top of all these in ways we've yet to discover beyond dependency on a corporate job? Or, are people just going without the future being funded?

Furthermore, how do you fully learn about the local, state and federal regulations and requirements? Registrations and taxes are required of a business.

These are the kind of entrepreneurship questions that are generally not addressed. Having started and managed several successful businesses yourself, what has been your experience in these areas? Have you found any resources that have been particularly helpful? Again, please don't feel obligated to answering anything that may be too personal since these questions do pertain to finances. I appreciate your time in reading and responding to this message."

Getting Started

All this little stuff IS the overwhelming stuff. It's what holds you back. It feels huge and impossible and so scary. And a lot of it we are still figuring out along the way!

If your husband (or you) works a corporate job with a good income, it can be really really difficult to leave. We gave us all of those things when we took the plunge to be self-employed.

Years ago, the security of a corporate job made us feel safe. We needed that. Now we've embraced the freedom in being self-employed AND we've started to view our life as a lot more secure, since our business is up to US, and not a huge company or bosses that could change our fate with a pink slip.

It's a slow process. We built things up on the side first. Jason didn't quit his job on day 1 and then day 2 we tried to figure out an income stream. We tested things out, we built up side income, we knew that with more time and attention dedicated to the business, we could make more money.

So yes, there is a LOT to consider and a lot of different pots that money needs to be funneled into, but those things are simply coming from a different income source. At your job, medical, dental, retirement, etc all comes out of your paycheck. It's just all done for you, BEFORE you see the money and somehow that feels a lot less painful.

So these are all things to keep in mind when considering the jump! But it is doable. Millions of people are self-employed and figure it all out :)

Taxes & Regulations

Personally, I think this was the biggest headache trying to figure out. We had to figure out taxes, what kind of company we needed, did we need a business license, what forms need to be filed, etc.

LegalZoom.com was a huge help to us in the beginning! Because every state (and country) is so different on taxes, regulations, and companies, it's impossible for me to give any advice on how to get started with this.

They have sections that explain all the different companies you can form from an LLC, to a partnership, to a sole proprietorship and more. We landed on needing to form an LLC and then we were able to file the paperwork with LegalZoom! They help you to file the correct file for your state and everything!

Our next negotiable suggestion:

Hire a CPA in your state. We have an amazing CPA who specializes in small business and we don't know WHERE we would be without him. When we get a tax form, or want to try something new, we run it all past him and he tells us what to do.

For what we do, we need someone who is very familiar with online business and our forms of revenue. Our CPA is amazing he helps us with all of that. Yes, it costs a little bit to have him handle all of our taxes but it is WELL worth it. He has walked us through everything.

Medical, Dental, and Vision

Yes, this is another headache. And again, this depends on what state you live in.

We ended up with a sharing company. Medishare.

Dental and vision not worth it. So we pay out of pocket.

Savings & Retirement Accounts

These are all totally doable, but you just need to do a little work to get them set up. We are actually in the middle of setting up these accounts. But again, a good CPA can help with that!