Imagine going into your product launch with complete clarity…

How great would that feel to make decisions and prepare for your upcoming launch more quickly?

Believe it or not – there’s actually 1 step in the product launch process that almost all successful online business owners absolutely never skip (no matter what their system is)…

And the side effect is – you guessed it – clarity.

Every launch should begin with a conversation.

It may be with a coach. It might be inside your journal. Maybe a friend.

But you need to have this conversation.

It’s the step most systems, calls, programs, courses don’t really talk about.

But – if done with the right person – can give you complete clarity before you start working with a team or spending money.

Instead of waffling over decisions about affiliates, webinars, and hiring a VA, you’ll have a map that gives you all you need to move forward quickly.

Where Product Launches Normally Start

There’s a checklist of things that starts somewhere between knowing who your audience is (important) and what they want to buy from you (uber important).

We go through a checklist or a cheat sheet and somehow forget to let others into the plan…instead of thinking through the plan, our offer, and getting feedback.

So, this is our chance to have the mother of all kick-off calls. The kick-off before the team gets hired and before the partners get contacted…before any launch leak happens or a webinar is announced.

…I like to think of this conversation as more of a confessional…where you lay out your hopes, dreams, fears, and plans (if you’ve got them already) for the product launch and why you’re doing it.

Don’t worry – it’s not a loosey-goosey conversation…

Before we get into the specifics, something you should know–

It’s important who you talk to first.

Your launch convo must be had with someone who knows you and your business well. Coach, mastermind partner, business bestie. Someone who you can trust to let you share without the fear of judgment of any kind.

Because it’s a mix of specifics and elements that aren’t completely defined, it’s important someone can ask you the right questions and let you share whatever comes out.

I. Part one of the conversation will be talking, answering, getting clear on some of the more surface questions:

1. What are you launching?
2. Is it for your current audience?
3. How did you discover they want this? What proof do you have they want this?
4. When do you want to launch?
5. Hmm, is that similar to any other product out there? Who are your direct competitors?
6. Cool, good to know…how do you plan to be different from them?

II. Part two of the conversation you’ll probably start working on some deeper details together – and you’ll either be writing it out as you talk or putting sticky notes on your calendar.

Grab the 10 steps you should go through in the Launch Workbook.

We’re still not all the way deep yet, though.

III. Part three is probably more important than everything you talk about.

Lots of people talk about the launch story or the launch narrative…but not really telling you how to create it.

So, it’s no wonder you kind of guess what the words launch story even means in the first place!

I’ll go into depth on creating your launch story in an upcoming post, but for now, here’s how to create in the easiest, straightforward sense.

1. Define all the marketing activities of the product launch – video series? Blog series? Challenge? Webinar?
2. Whether you’re using multiple channels, activities to lead to the open sales window, or just one, consider your main theme – it’s how you’ll decide what content gets shared, what recurring promise or thread you’ll keep coming back to and it’ll really connect all the pieces.
3. Another way to get to this theme – is to think of your overall vision and goal – the reason you have created this thing for other people. Your main belief behind it.

For example, Fearless Launching isn’t so much about being scared to launch but being prepared, curious, and willing to revise in order TO launch… those things allow you to be Fearless. And so – I like to bring in these little touches throughout the launch–in emails….

Think to yourself – what does this thing I’ve created all come back to > what’s the narrative, the reason, the underlying belief, and mission….how you got here or where you are now and why you’re doing this.

3 Ingredients To A Powerful Launch Story

There are three critical parts to a launch story….actually, they’re more like layers really.

And I see them over and over and over again in my most successful client/student launches.

Pick the Visible Angle

This is the visible reason you are launching or something that will be easy to see and talk about every single time – you write a blog post or send out an email.

1. Date/Time event-related
2. Personal life event-related
3. Theme related to the product
4. Change in the industry

Pretty much anything you can think about as the “why you’re so pushed to do this product launch right now” is okay. There is no wrong answer…you just have to keep it very clear as to why.

Let me give you a few specific current examples.

Fearless Launching has done special what I call “Closing Cuz We’re Upgrading” launches whenever we’ve made big updates over the years.

I close the doors in order to finish building out our new home and all the new content for the program.

Instead of holding off until everything’s ready, I give people a chance to join the program – at the current pricing, get your upgrades for free, plus watch the before & after in progress. That’s the story.

Describe Your Big Why

In addition to the surface reason you’re doing the launch – the more visible obvious reason…there’s usually at least one more narrative at play when you launch anything….

And this seeming sub or lesser story is really the undercurrent which gets up close to the real reason your product even exists.

It gives your launch depth and meaning.

Simon Sinek talks about your why in his famous book “Start With Why” for a reason.

If your launch was an Iceberg – above the water would be the visible reason for the event…and below the water…well, we know that’s actually what anchors the iceberg…

If your time of the year is the surface reason for launching, your deeper why is that you know the time of year might trigger a certain emotion that you’re hoping to help people through….

This is the case if your product is business or personal related. We are emotional beings and it’s critical to understand that as humans we are emotional no matter what we do.

Don’t Break The Thread

The final ingredient in this whole story is understanding when to talk about the surface or the emotional part… when to lay it on thick and when to pull back.

Striking a balance between emotions, logistics, and practical reasons for someone to pay attention to what you’re offering is definitely something you get better at over time…and you never stop aiming to get better doing.

Understanding your audience is key to understanding when the thread is strong or weak or simply non-existent.

We go into this in more depth inside Fearless Launching, if you know you need help creating your story.

In the meantime, start today by doing the following.:

1. Schedule time with a trusted person who knows your business & you. Ideally, this person can give you feedback but mostly – they are there to ask you questions.
2. Have part one of the conversation as described above.
3. Download the Launch Workbook to start thinking about your launch
4. Have part two of the conversation as described above.
5. Brainstorm a surface reason and a deeper reason that you might want to launch!

Make sure to check out Fearless Launching, if you want to learn more about the work we do in the program and the next time we open the doors!