These are the steps I’ve used over and over again since 2008 to launch products of all kinds.

Whether it was launching IWearYourShirt, starting a non-profit, selling online courses, creating an app, etc, there’s been some semblance of a system I use that I wanted to share.

While these steps may not fit perfectly for every business, product, or idea, I think they’re a good foundation and will get you a lot further than just throwing something out on the Internet and crossing your fingers and toes.

For this video (and full article linked below), we’re going to pretend you’re starting a beer flavored popsicle website (obviously known as BeerSicles) that’s launching in three months.

Step one: A product launch needs a goal!

Come up with your goal or goals, write them down, and keep yourself/your company accountable to them.

Step two: Social media can help launch a product, but is NOT absolutely necessary.

I’d recommend skipping social media altogether in the beginning – WHAT!? Yep. Skip it. Grab the handles/URLs for your product on these sites (@beersicles, et al) and just park them. Then, go to step #3 and do that first.

Step three: Building an email list is crucial

I always use email marketing as my first launching point. You’re most likely having a website built (or building one). Put up a simple landing page that directs people to sign up for your email list and tells them when your site should be launching (general timeframe is fine). Keep this simple and don’t waste too much time on it!

Step four: People love behind the scenes photos, so take and share some photos!

Take photos of the things you’re doing and create some buzz. Maybe you picked a particularly weird beer you love? Share a photo of it. Maybe you’re trying out eco-friendly popsicle sticks? Share a photo of al the popsicle stick research you’ve done. Get my drift here?

Step five: How to launch a product and have other people help do the dirty work

Find people who write about whatever you’re doing. Since you love beer, you probably follow some people on Twitter/Instagram or read beer blogs from people who love beer as much as you do. Reach out to them and ask them if you can email them some inside info on a new cool beer idea you’re launching. When you email them, don’t pitch them, just share the idea, ask for feedback, and ask if they’re interested in trying your product before anyone else. Offer to send them some of your delicious Beersicles before anyone else.

Step six: A good product launch gets talked about

Speaking of press, reach out to local press outlets. Most people ignore local press because they want the big dogs like The Today Show, Good Morning America, etc. What you don’t realize is there’s an entire network behind the scenes that’s owned by a lot of the same people. Maybe you don’t know local press folks in your area, but you can watch the news and see if they’re on Twitter or visit their website and see if they have places to submit news/ideas. Local news wants to talk about cool stories in their area.

Step seven: Starting talking and promoting!

Listen, you love your Beersicles business, right? You’re excited about it? You’ve invested a ton of hours? Don’t be ashamed to promote it!

Start some serious marketing ONE week prior to launch. Give people an exact time to look forward to. I personally like 10-11am, but you can choose something that works well for you. Make sure you share that launch time with all your networks, email list(s), etc. At this time, you should have a landing page or something simple up on your website that tells people the time of launch.

Step eight: Use this product launch formula and launch…

Launch that sucker! Make your website live, send out your email to your list(s), contact your influencer list, Tweet it, Facebook it, Instagram it, make sure local news knows today is the day, yell out your window really loudly, et al.

Undoubtedly something will break or not work, be honest about it with your audience and update them accordingly. Be ready all day launch day to answer questions, fix orders that get placed wrong, walk someone through a simple process that a 4-year old could do, etc etc. Then, keep the ball rolling. Keep updating people, keep sharing content, keep working hard and don’t give up if you don’t make ,000,000 in your first week.

Read the full product launch article, and bookmark it for future reference: https://jasondoesstuff.com/product-launch/

Video by: Ilya Poltavets

Like this video? Let me know in the comments!

Have questions about launching a product? Ask away!