“This is the year I’m gonna launch something for the first time!”

I hear some version of this statement a lot... particularly in the last quarter of a year, and even moreso in the first couple months of a new one. Comes with the Fourth Quarter / New Year’s territory, I think. We’re all so excited for the possibilities and opportunities that January 1st can bring. It’s hard not to get swept up in it sometimes!

Launching is no joke. I think it gets romanticized a lot, especially in the online space.

There are people out there — some reputable, some not — who will tell you that launching is easy. That you can launch something in 90 days or less and that it will net you 5 or 6 figures (or more!) in sales.

(I won’t say those claims aren’t true — but they’re certainly not the norm, and especially not for first-timers.)

Jillian and I have gone through a lot of launches, from high-4 figures to low-7 figures. And over time, we’ve come to recognize there are just two things you need to increase your odds of pulling off a successful launch, whether it's a low-level offer, a course, or a group program:

1. You need an idea.

It’s all fine and dandy that you wanna launch “something” — but you gotta know what that “something” is!

Is it a course? A retreat? A telesummit? A book? A coaching program? An oracle deck?

Depending on what it is you’re launching — and when you plan to launch it — you don’t necessarily need the entire thing fully fleshed out or built, but you should absolutely know the “structure” of it.

Using the course as an example, here’s what I mean by knowing the structure of your product/service:

• How long will the course be delivered for?
• How many modules and/or lessons are there?
• Will the lessons be dripped out over time, or available immediately?
• If dripped, how frequently?
• Will there be any audio, video, handouts, etc. that need to be created?
• Where will the content live? (You don’t need to have chosen your Learning Management System (LMS) just yet, but answering the questions I’m sharing in this article will definitely help you narrow down which one would be most appropriate for you)
• Will customers have lifetime access, or for a set amount of time only?

If it's not going to be fully built before you hit the GO! button on your launch, you better have a plan for how and when you're going to get it done in between making good on all your deliverables. And I don't just mean the course itself, I mean maintaining any other commitments you have in addition to it.

Also, what's the price point for this course?

This is a loaded question for many, and is an entire series of other blog posts that maybe I'll actually sit down to write one day. But here's the thing: the way you launch a $20 offer is different to the way you launch a $200 offer is different to the way you launch a $2,000 offer… you catch my drift? Knowing the pricing is a key factor in how you plan your entire launch.

On top of all that… is your idea viable? Do you have proof of concept? Have you done any market research? Have you run a beta test? (Sometimes your first launch is the beta test — that’s fine too!)

2. Your business needs to be ready.

When you plan a launch, you’re about to stretch yourself really thin for the next 90 to 120 days at least, so your business needs to already have a solid foundation in place so that it can continue to run without your clients noticing any fluctuations in the amazing level of service you provide them.

First, that usually means you’ve been in business a while. In our experience, year 3-5 of your business being your full-time gig is typically when most entrepreneurs are ready to plan and pull off a launch. However, if you’ve been in business less than that and can still check off all the items below, you’re probably ready to take the leap!

Here are the other things I recommend a business have in order to consider itself “ready” to launch:

Solid Systems

By “systems,” I mean documented processes, with the kinks worked out, for things like client care, client fulfilment, client retention, accounting, lead generation, list building… everything it takes for your business to run like a well-oiled machine the vast majority of the time. If you don’t have those systems in place yet, or you’re not sure if they could withstand a launch, we can help you figure that out.

Stable Revenue

I can’t stress this enough.

Launching is expensive to begin with, not to mention the fact that it carries its own fair share of risk. I don’t say this to deter you — I say this to be real with you. It ain’t for the faint of heart!

Jillian and I have heard so many horror stories where people have thrown the last of their savings into a launch, only for it to go sideways and they lose everything. A launch is supposed to supply your business with an additional stream of revenue, not deplete the one(s) you already have!! To be perfectly honest, we listen for certain “red flags” during our consultation calls, and we don’t take on a client who has indicated a flag of an unsteady/unstable base revenue. To do so would be out of integrity for us.

Engaged List

Notice that I didn’t say big list. I said engaged list. We’ve had clients sell out courses and programs with lists of less than 500 people. Small lists can be (and are) mighty. But you’ve got to be nurturing them consistently constantly.

Team

This isn’t a requirement so much as a nice-to-have, even if “all” you have in the way of a team is a single virtual assistant!

Launching will stretch you to beyond the limits of your capacity, so having a team that already understands your needs and how your business operates will allow things to continue running smoothly while you focus on bringing your creation out into the world.

That said, whether you have an existing team or not, I highly recommend you hire additional, short-term help for the duration of your launch. Your existing team may or may not have the necessary skills and experience to manage your launch… but more importantly, they will already have more responsibilities than usual while your focus is on your launch, rather than on your business as a whole. Make sense?

Are you planning a launch this year? If so, I hope you’ve found these tips helpful.

And if Jillian and I can be of any support, don’t hesitate to reach out for a no-obligation conversation!