Before diving in, it's crucial, to begin with the 5-Step Planning Process, so you have a clear picture of the entire map! Remember! There are just 5 easy steps: Dream it, Map it, Book it, Chunk it & Do it!
If you haven't learned WHAT our "5 Step Launch Planning Process" is, you can visit it HERE.
Dream it. Step #1 is always about creating some goals. But if this is the first time you've ever "launched," I recommend keeping your goals as light and fun as possible. In fact, one of the things that makes this process so powerful, is that you can actually LIMIT the number of people you "accept" as Founding Members.
So, we'll start there! How many Founding Members will you allow into your "Beta Program?" Between 5 and 20 is a good number to start with.
Then, once you have your TARGET NUMBER of Founding Members, we'll need to identify two additional numbers: The Price for Founding Members (usually discounted) and the amount of people that will need to see your offer in order to hit your target number.
Please identify those three numbers now in the DREAM IT Phase:
1. The # of Founding Members You'll Accept: __________________________
2. The Founding Member Price Point
(roughly 50% discount of future price): __________________________________
3. The # People Needed in Your Launch List
(Answer #1 x 10) ex: 5 Founding Members x 10 = 50: __________________________
In this Step, you'll "Map Out" all the moving pieces in your "Monetize Before You Make it" Launch Plan. Below is a sample MAP that shows you how I would run this promotion.
Notice there TWO Phases here. Phase #1 is to build momentum of your course by "teasing" your audience and sending them to a Product Wait List Page. You can do this through your emails, content, and social media posts.
Phase #2 is the Phase of actually announcing your Beta Program and opening up a limited amount of seats. This is most traditionally and effectively done via a webinar, but can also be done simply through email or video.
In order to put this on the promotional calendar, I recommend spending at LEAST 2 weeks sending traffic to your "Waitlist Page." THEN, you can host a webinar or announce your Beta Program to your waitlist.
The calendar below is a sample of Phase #2 using a webinar to give free content with a pitch to your Beta Program. It also includes the use of Facebook Ads in this strategy.
The "Chunked" Projects For Your Monetize Before You Make It (PDF Version / Excel Sheet Version):
Well... now it's time to do it! Follow the process below to execute on all the necessary steps! You freakin' got this!
Create an "Early-Interest" List Opt-In Page with your Landing Page Builder (we recommend Instapage)
Here you'll want to create your "Official Early-Interest Waitlist Page" for Your Future Program. There is NO need to offer anything for free here (no giveaway, pdf, etc) this is simply a place where people can "raise their hand" by submitting their email to be notified when something is coming.
NOTE: if you DO decide to give away something for free... you are having people join for the wrong reasons, and won't have a TRUE segmented list of interest buyers.
To execute on the Waitlist Page, simply follow the "Waitlist Creation" Process.
To create more engagement and conversation around your course "topic," you can ALSO create a FB Group.
After someone joins your waitlist, you can direct them to a FB group to keep them engaged.
Answer questions, do Facebook Live, and overall just engage with everyone leading up to the announcement of your Pre-Release Offer.
In this section, you can create a series of SIMPLE (key word there) of emails spread out over time in an "email autoresponder' campaign that keeps people engaged.
We have included a list of sample suggestions for email topics in this section
In this email you simply want to offer the following:
In this email, you have an opportunity to start telling a bit of YOUR story... your ORIGIN STORY of how you came to do what you do. You can follow a very simple structure:
**The more specific the story the better 🙂
In this email, you want to appease to any logic that shows people that what you are teaching is IMPORTANT.
Any specific client case study stories you can share in email is gong to be fantastic.
"what if I don't have any case studies?"
Well... use a "big name" industry as an example. It does NOT have to be YOUR client in order for you to show proof that what you teach is important.
ex: I use to show off how big companies were using YouTube all the time! They weren't my clients... but I figured, "if IBM was using YT, others should as well, right?!"
Now it's time to "tease" your "Early-Interest" List. Explore your Options for Promotion: Your Podcast, Being a Guest on Other Podcasts, a Popular Blog, or other platforms you can leverage.
This is your chance to get the word out about your brand new upcoming program.
The Following is a Simple "Copy Formula" to get people excited to join your Waitlist in anticipation for your program's release!
The Problem Context: Identify a problem others have, that you've been able to solve
The Big Idea: Your Big Idea is about putting together something that can help people
The Pull: It's going to be an intimate, small "beta" group
The Call to Action: Tell them what to do next
EXAMPLE:
"After five years of running our own successful podcast, and seeing so many entrepreneurs struggle with theirs, I realized the big disconnect is in HOW you to put content together in away that doesn't just get attention and provide value, but also turns a casual listener into a lifetime loyal customer.
I've decided to teach our exact process for Podcast Growth so more people with important messages like yourself can get out to more people.
This is going to be a small, intimate group that we'll be launching in a few weeks. Probably limited to just 20 members.
To get on the interest list, so you are notified as soon as we open this open, click the link below."
In this step, you'll get clear on WHAT you're selling and what's included!
When following Monetize Before You Make It, you have the opportunity to launch a course or program before you create any of the content. *BUT* that does not mean you don't know what you're selling!!! You must get clear on your OFFER first. You can do that by following the Offer Creation Process inside of Module 3.
Once you have gained clarity on your OFFER, it's time to create a general Outline of the content deliverables. My advice here is to create a timeline for the delivery of your course (2-8 weeks) and have ONE TOPIC delivered per week.
For more information and clarity, follow the Program Design process inside of BBD
In this step, you'll need to set up a way for people to PAY YOU and a way to deliver ACCESS to your Beta Program.
Creating your Sales Page is optional here. (Think Minimum Viable Promotion!) Your webinar and the scarcity will do the selling. But if you would like to create a sales page for this, you can follow our Sales Page Creation Process.
You will need to create a Checkout Page in order to collect payment. I am a BIG FAN of Samcart, and KAJABI, but use whatever works! ("If it ain't broke, why fix it?!")
Please refer to out Checkout Page Process, to create your Checkout Page.
In this step, you'll need to CONNECT your Checkout Page to your COURSE ACCESS. Don't overthink this! I've had Members start their Beta Group with nothing but emails and a Private Facebook Group! Start with what you've got, and grow from there.
My Team is using Kajabi for all our course and member management needs.
Before you host any webinars, send an email or two to your "Early-Interest" List. Inform them of the Pre-Release Offer (and how many spots are available), and give them 48 hours to "skip to the front of the line" and join now.
There are two things that make this work:
#1. They raised their hand to be the first one notified when this program would become available! (So... notify them! They gave you permission!)
and #2. The scarcity of limited seats.
Note: My first one-on-one client followed this process, and sold 34 out of his 60 seats... with one email!
Using your Facebook Group, Facebook Ads, and your email list (Waitlist!), invite everyone to a Webinar (or 2... or 3) on this specific topic and offer your BETA PROGRAM at the end.
You can follow our entire Webinar Creation and Promotion Process.
Deliver 45 minutes of HIGH-VALUE CONTENT and make a direct invite selling spots into your Founding Members Group. Direct them straight to the Checkout Page or Sales Page.
Mention the remaining spots. Mention how the price will go up for everyone else.
Note: My first one-on-one client sent people straight from the webinar to a Checkout Page. No payment plans, just one option to pay $297.
Create a 4- to 7-Day DEADLINE in which you will Follow-Up with emails.
Either the TOTAL spots fill up, or you hit deadline. But the promotion ends when one of those two things happen.
Send a 4-Day Follow-Up Email Series where you emphasize when the group will be closing.
Give a deadline and/or let your spots fill up - whichever comes first!
For more clarity on how to execute on your Follow-Up Sequence, you can follow The Ultimate Follow-Up Process.
If all spots still aren't filled, that's okay!
Close your group by your announced deadline and get started on making your product go public.
I had a student who filled their 60 spots at 5pm on the day of closing!
Now that doors are closed and you have celebrated your launch, it is time to complete a launch debrief!
Follow the steps for The Launch Debrief Process to understand the full scope of your launch's performance and identify areas to replicate or improve for your next launch.
