Day 12: Preparing to Launch

The one thing I know for a fact I have got to nail down before I can make any real progress forward in my business is to secure our hosting. I cannot have this monthly uncertainty of whether or not my clients are going to be able to reach me.  It's not good for business. It speaks volumes - and what it says is that I am unreliable and unlikely to be there if they need me. That has to change.  There are many things in my life that will have to change, but this is one key element of that.

Having said that, here is how he breaks down the launch sequence:
1. Pre-Launch: Lasts between 7-21 days, depending on your plan
2. Launch: Lasts 1-7 days, depending on what you do
3. Post-Launch: Indefinite

Pre-Launch

Early

During early stage pre-launch, your goal is to get people talking about the problems your product is intended to solve. You want to put out content tidbits that warm them up. Audio, video, pdf's, easy-to-consume materials that "give so much value you think you've gone too far, then give more". You do not mention the product itself at this point.  The point of this phase is to see how the audience responds to your content so that you can make any necessary changes before release day.

Late

Late in the pre-launch, a few days before you launch, you mention your product, what problems it solves, and where your audience can find it. You encourage them to sign up for launch-day notice and give them a reason to share the information with people they know it will help. You may host a contest or give-away around your product.

Day 11: Planning Your Product

This chapter was all about planning the product you would create. Since I've already created two products for my target audience (The Write Time: How to find all the time you need to write a book and How to Write an eBook in 40 Days (or less)), I didn't have a lot of work to do on this. I spent my day, instead, on creating the white paper I will use to attract my target audience and develop my email list.

I called it Building a Business with a Book.  It covers how to create 10 additional products from the book that you eventually write, generating additional revenue streams with only a moderate level of additional work required to get there. I'm hoping this offering will be appealing to my target audience of people considering building a work-from-home business with very little start-up capital as it shows them how writing one book can be the basis of so much more.

I really like the product I created, but I must confess I'm not utterly sold on how it wraps up. It seems lame. I may go ahead and do some research into recommendations for ending a white paper in a way that makes it a truly effective sales tool.  The next item I plan to work on finishing up is the rewrite of my How to Write an eBook in 40 Days or less so that I can have it out and available for sale in time. I have it set for release on October 1st, but given all the changes that I'm making on my business model, I think I may just delay it a few more months and time it for release on December 12th, the 2nd anniversary of its first release.  That will put it square in the center of the Christmas buying season and give me plenty of time to market it.

It will also give me 90 days to build the writer's platform to support it, as recommended by the other book that I'm reading. I hate to push it back on its publication date yet again, but I do have a method to the madness and it's important that I get this done but done right. As the other book told me, it's important not to rush your book to market but to make sure it is the best it can be. I want time to test the contents on many victims (cough), I mean subjects, so that I can be sure it works and works well.