How to Launch Anything in 3 Simple Steps

I’m sure you’ve heard the terms “digital strategy”, “digital marketing plan”, “sales funnel”, “launch plan”, or another similarly intimidating phrase.

It would be hard to be around the online business space without coming across some version of this, and an article about why you need to launch in *exactly this way* or your whole business is doomed. 

The tricky part as an entrepreneur is how to know which of these things you actually need, and what components go into a successful launch, when it feels like your business never quite fits the cookie cutter examples that you see.  

Well I have excellent news for you.

If you’re getting people on the internet to give you money in exchange for a product or service, then you have already launched… your strategy just might not be allowing your sales to reach their full potential!  And that’s what we’re going to talk about today!

What is your launch strategy, and how can you start actually meeting those revenue goals you know you could be crushing if you just knew where the heck to start?

First things first… what is a “launch strategy” anyway??

Put simply, your launch strategy (or marketing plan, launch plan, sales funnel, etc) is just a plan for how you are going to attract the attention of the right people, educate them about what you do and why you’re great at it, and then encourage them to give you money to do it for them… all in a way that makes sense for you and for the people you’re pulling in to your world.  

There are three basic components to launching a product or service:

1. Attract Attention
2. Nurture + Educate
3. Convert

An outline of how exactly you are going to accomplish each of these things is your launch strategy… and putting some thought into each step to ensure it perfectly reflects you and communicates the right information to your perfect ideal clients is what sets yours apart!

Now that we know what we’re dealing with here, let’s talk about your current plan!

Sit down and just take note of how customers currently find out about your offer. When you book a client for coaching, or sell a product, how are those people finding you and how are you moving them from “curious” to “paid in full?”

Do you connect on social media?  Through friends and family?  Through referrals from another professional or an organization you belong to?  Internet search?  How are they currently finding you?

Then, once they reach out to connect, what happens next?  Do you get on a phone call?  Send a couple emails back and forth?  Meet in person?  How do you decide if they’re the right fit for what you offer, and if you can help them with what they need?

And finally, once you’ve both decided it’s the right time and fit, how do you ask them to give you money?  Have you mastered a perfect sales pitch?  Do they ask YOU how to pay and where to sign? Is it sort of an awkward fumble where they tell you they’d like to think about it, and a few end up coming back (while others just disappear)?

Once you’ve taken a look at what’s currently happening, go back and make note of what seems to be working, and what could use some improvement, as well as what you actually enjoy.  Do you love connecting 1:1 with each new prospect, or does that make you want to hide under a rock? Could you spend hours happily creating gorgeous graphics in Canva, or do you feel the frustration and overwhelm building just thinking about trying to put together something barely passable?

All the things in your business that are already working and that you looooove to do are the basis for your new and improved launch strategy!  

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?  

And didn’t we all get into this work because we wanted to love what we do??

Now the goal, and what I always suggest to my 1:1 clients, is to work on building and capitalizing on those things that are working.

Great strategy is NOT about adding more bells and whistles.  Anyone who tells you you must do x, y, and z while writing weekly blog posts, emailing your list every three days, creating a comprehensive social media advertising campaign, engaging in 63 Facebook groups and keeping a perfectly curated Instagram feed in order to make money online is NOT a good strategist.  

Great strategy is about editing AWAY the distractions and things that aren’t working, and pushing more of your energy and focus towards the things that are actually working and moving you forwards.  

Contrary to the overwhelm you might be feeling when you think about creating a comprehensive “digital marketing plan,” a great launch strategy should actually feel like less work than what you’re currently doing. 

Truly great strategy feels… boring.

My most successful clients end up saying things like, “Wait, shouldn’t I be busier and more stressed?  What’s happening here?” and “That almost felt TOO easy…”

So, what’s next!?

Once you’ve got a feel for what you love and what is working, then you need to know where there may be gaps to fill.

If you get lots of inquiries, and you love to talk to people on the phone, but you don’t have a good way of closing the sale with them, your strategy isn’t going to succeed.  Same goes if you’re actually great at converting clients on calls, but you’re only booking one call a month.  

The easiest way to do this is a bit of reverse engineering.

In order to really understand why your strategy might be failing, you need to put your “scientist” hat on, and do some digging around in your numbers.  

Remember, there are three different components to your launch strategy:  Attracting attention, Nurturing and Educating, and Converting.

So, there are also three areas there could be gaps.  Either you aren’t getting enough new leads, you aren’t giving them enough information or building enough trust, or you aren’t closing the sale.

Those gaps are the reason you aren’t making as much money in your online business as you know you could be.  And now that you’ve taken a good hard look at your numbers and your strengths, you know what to focus on to get you moving forward, instead of spinning your wheels where you are!

All it takes to create a cash-generating launch strategy is to plug the gaps in your current strategy with things you’re good at and love to do!​

Need more hands-on help figuring out how to turn your skills and passions into an effective strategy?  Come join us on Facebook in Creative Marketing 101 and let’s take a look together!!