Phase 1 of a Profitable Launch: Mastering Pre-Launch Magic
Let’s deal with this elephant in the room straight on…
People tend to get a little bit freaked out by the idea of launching.
But the truth is that launching is just running a business. Your business can’t even exist without it because launching is simply the transmission of your ideas into the world.
My signature process for rocking 6- and 7- figure launches for dreamboat clients boils down to four key phases. And over the coming weeks, I’m drawing back the curtain and walking you through each of them.
What is the pre-launch magic phase of launching?
Pre-launch magic is the entire process of attracting and nurturing your tribe and cultivating that know, like and trust factor with them. Meaning… they get to know you, come to like you and establish trust with you.
But pre-launching shouldn’t really be anything special.
Essentially all of your content and marketing is pre-launching.
Anytime you aren’t SELLING with your best come-hither, X-Factor sales content (more on that next week), you’re pre-launching. You’re warming up your audience to your offer and yourself as the trusted professional who’ll be delivering that offer.
Here are my top tips to maximize the benefits you get from the pre-launch phase:
Stick to a Single Theme
I believe that every single piece of content you publish should be on a single theme that relates to your paid offer or service.
But if you’re someone who offers a few different things in your business, you should, at the very minimum, stick to one theme for at least three months prior to the sales phase of your launch.
When you jump from theme to theme, from one random topic to another, you dilute the impact of your message. You confuse your audience instead of priming them to be receptive to your forthcoming sales invite. Or worse, you could attract the completely wrong audience.
Use Your Pre-Launch Content To Vet Incoming Leads
Publishing content around your offer (even before you’ve explicitly offered it) is how you’ll create a list full of high-quality leads.
The way pre-launch content works is this: By virtue of clicking, reading or signing up for your blog posts and opt-in freebies, yo.
If you’ve ensured that there’s a rock solid connection between your offer and your pre-launch content (blog posts and tribe magnet), if someone clicks, reads or signs up, they’re essentially raising their hand and telling you that they’re a good fit.
The beauty of pre-launch magic is that it nurtures your existing tribe while attracting new members.
View Your Pre-Launch Content as Market Research
Let yourself experiment and have fun with your pre-launch content because it’s a great testing ground to see what works and what doesn’t with your audience.
When you take this playful approach, your content will double as market research too.
For example, say that you put out a blog post and people go bananas over it. Lightbulb moment – that’s a hot-button topic. Maybe you should use your newfound insight to inform how you position or market your offer. And definitely create similar content in the future!
Or say you send out a newsletter and unlike normal, you get a bunch of unsubscribes and only a flutter of click-throughs. That’s a pretty good sign that something about the topic or how you’ve communicated about it isn’t resonating. Now you know!
A Real-Life Example of Pre-Launch Magic At Work: Kate Northrup with Origin
Someone who does her pre-launch magic masterfully is Kate Northrup.
Before she launched her program Origin, she was planting seeds on social media and in her blog posts. She began talking about her new direction which is covering entrepreneurship and motherhood.
It was a total rebrand for her, and because of how she rolled it intentionally and authentically, she had mega success once she shared Origin with the world.
I see people buying into the overnight success stories because from their viewpoints something was announced and immediately received rave reviews. But in reality, like with Kate, those seeds have been planted and pre-launch magic was underway several months before any announcement happened.
Beware: Pitfalls to Avoid in the Pre-Launch Phase
Being General – Get your niche down and stick to it. Be seen and become known for a single core message.
Trying to be Everywhere – Being everywhere – New entrepreneurs often make the mistake of trying to be on every social media platform, but they stretch themselves too thin to do any of them effectively. Do some research, find your tribe and stick to 1-3 solid platforms.
Not having patience – Embrace the long game. It’s not going to happen overnight – even well-established entrepreneurs like Kate Northrup spend six months or more in the pre-launch phase. You need to stay the course and not give up, even if you have a few flops. Consider every failure a learning lesson and as valuable information you can use next time.
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