How to Create a Profit Windfall When Launching a New Product
by Yanik Silver
I thought today was an especially appropriate time to
release this article (if you don't know why you will before
the end of this article).
Now unless you lived in a cave this Summer, you saw a bit
of Harry Potter mania strike all over the world. In fact, I
eagerly awaited the new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince book release. (Yes, I'm a Harry Potter fan and
devoured the new book in less than a day.) More
interesting, from a business point of view - I was stunned
when I saw the figures from the book's release - 6.9M
copies sold in 24 hours. Wow!
Actually, I had my own "big" release just a few days before
the boy wizard - it was for the tapes of my "Underground
Online Seminar" (these are no longer available but you can
get on the 'wait list' in case a set is returned):
www.UndergroundOnlineSecrets.com/surveillance
However, I have to admit I didn't fare anywhere near the multi-million dollar
pay-day J.K. Rowling had but it still wasn't too shabby. I raked in over six
figures (actually $193,380.00 to be exact) in the first 24 hours of my release.
So what do these two releases have in common? One
word...anticipation.
Whether it's for the next blockbuster Summer movie (think
Star Wars) or for Harry Potter or even your product - if
you really want a big, monster payday you've got to create
an event. I'm going to let you step behind the curtain a
little bit so you can use some of these same strategies I
used.
First of all, I need to give credit where credit is due. My
friend, Jeff Walker, helped me formulate the plan for this
release. Jeff was one of my featured speakers during the
same "Underground Online Seminar" and his topic was on
exactly this same point - 'how to create six-figures in
less than 7 days with a product release'.
-------
Side Note: I said this article is especially timely because
Jeff is doing his own release today for a product called
"The Product Launch Formula". I actually got an early
review copy and must say the information is truly rock-
solid. Of course I'm biased because of the great results
Jeff has helped me achieve. So I know this stuff works like
crazy. If you want to launch a product, re-launch an
existing one or even want to promote something as an
affiliate - I'd strongly recommend you check it out today
here: http://www.SixinSeven.com/productlaunch.html
Or just from a marketing point-of-view I'd head over to the
site and see how many elements from this article you
identify and how many more Jeff uses that even I don't
know. Personally, I've been carefully watching him roll out
his launch and I've been 'swiping' every single piece. ;)
----
So let's dive right in...
Secret #1: Create Anticipation -
We've already talked about this, but let's give it a few
more specifics. I started an "early-bird" list from my
subscribers and customers. I got people to raise their
hands and say "Yes, I want to know first when you'll be
releasing these DVDs".
Then once people were on this list we started 'dripping' on
them. We used a blog to post everything from "spy photos"
of the product (which came in a very cool individually
numbered suitcase) to actual video clips from the event.
Each communication whet the person's appetitive more and
more for the upcoming release. Please keep in mind, these
updates were planned out before the start of the promotion
so it wasn't just thrown together by the seat of our pants.
Secret #2: Secure Associates Participation -
Over the years I've built up a network of friends and
business associates. I don't "hit" up my Internet friends
and associates too often to promote products so most of
them were eager to help with this promotion. This is the
same thing you can be doing in your own marketplace.
Instead of thinking of competitors - you should consider
them potential "Joint Venture" associates. Also start
"digging your well before you are thirsty". That means
building relationships and networking with people in your
industry and marketplace who have influence and carry
weight.
Secret #3: Promotion Tools -
Everybody has too much to do and too little time to do it
so the more you can "spoon-feed" your associates the
better. Yes, some people will take the extra effort to do
their own promotions but most people would rather have a
pre-done "cut and paste" email or letter to send. That's
why I provided my guys with "content" in the form of
unique video clips from the seminar which they could
release to their list. This put more people on the early-
bird list which were "glued" to the particular associate.
Cater to everyone's laziness and make it "fill-in-the-
blank" or turn-key simple.
Secret #4: Get People Buying -
I wanted to make sure people were really excited about the
release so we'd remind them the day before and also 1 hour
before the release time. Plus, I even added a special time-
limited bonus that expired after 4pm on the first day of
the launch. That gave people one more incentive to order
right away. You can't stop with one notice about a launch -
you've got to remind them multiple times when everything is
happening.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are
lots of little details and psychological hot buttons that
go into a real successful launch. That's another reason why
I recommend Jeff's course earlier - but something else I
suggest you take a look at (and it's a freebie) is a
transcript from a call I did along with Frank Kern, John
Reese, Jim Edwards and Jason Potash on Social Proof. It was
2 1/2 hours of pure content.
Productlaunchformula.com/productlaunch/report.html
Now go out there and roll out a winning product!
Copyright 2005 - Yanik Silver
Just 32-years old, Yanik Silver is recognized as the
leading expert on creating automatic, moneymaking web
sites...and he still doesn't know how to put up his own
website.
He is the author, co-author or publisher of several best-selling online
marketing books and tools, which can be
found at www.SurefireMarketing.com
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