Your email notification dings that someone you subscribe to just shared some new content. Yay! You love reading their stuff and make a point to check it out during your afternoon coffee. A few minutes later, another notification. “Oops! Wrong link!” Cheesy attempt to get you to click or legit error? Since this thought has crossed all of our minds more than once, I’m sharing the easiest ways to avoid major launch mistakes so you don’t have to send out those “My bad!” emails again.
Prefer to watch a video of this content instead? Click the link below:
4 Ways to Avoid Major Launch Mistakes
Don’t misunderstand, I have actually received these emails. A few weeks ago, someone I follow was relaunching a program and I got three emails within an hour of each other. It was the email service provider that accidentally sent them out. Then, there was another email apologizing and asking for a do-over.
While honest mistakes do happen, I’d like to help you avoid them as much as possible. There are six key elements for a successful course launch, and I’m sharing four tips organizing them so you can avoid major launch mistakes. You want your launch to run smoothly.
1. Start with a List
I’m a total list writer. I love to write lists just so I can cross things off. But brainstorming things into a list can be an excellent way to get a visual of how many moving parts are going to be involved in your launch. Will you be doing a webinar? Holding a challenge? How many days are you going to launch? How many emails are you going to need?
You need to create that list either with pen and paper or digitally in a Google doc so you can edit, move text around, and expand where needed.
2. Assign Tasks
After you’ve created a list, each piece needs to be assigned a date and a person. Who is going to be doing it, and when will it be needed?
Take time to consider who is on your team, what their skill set includes, and what their bandwidth is for the work you need completed. First-time launchers are usually solopreneurs and will end up doing a lot, if not all, of the work themselves.
Will you need to bring in a subcontractor or two to help you with anything on your list? Tech implementation? Copywriting? Add vetting those people to your list and assign a date to onboard them.
3. Give Yourself Enough Time
I have had clients reach out to me, panicked, asking, “Can I launch in two weeks?” My answer is a firm, “Heck no!” This is especially not happening if it’s your first launch.
After you’ve created your list it should be no surprise there is a LOT to do! Avoid major launch mistakes by giving yourself ample time to complete – and review – each item on your list. I recommend first-time launchers who are doing a lot of the work themselves need to build in that extra time.
Mistakes happen when we are rushed. Weave in that breathing room to re-read your copy, have a team member review it, double-check your links, create a test account, and actually walk through your process of enrollment and deliverability.
4. Hire Help (if you can)
I started as a bootstrapper in my business, so I know firsthand how long it can take to figure things out on your own AND keep yourself accountable.
If you find yourself in a time crunch, you might consider hiring someone to help you out. You might want to consider a Virtual Assistant on a per-project basis.
Going back to #3, make sure you give yourself enough time to find this person, onboard them, and avoid overwhelming them by dumping a few hundred things to be completed at the last minute.
The best thing you can do is test your VA in advance: give them a project, maybe something like scheduling out social media. If they are graphics inclined, you could give them the templates, ask for the graphics creation, review them, and ask her to schedule them.
Over time, you’ll be more confident in their work, develop a working rapport. I know my current VA and I have been together well over a year. I know when I give her something to complete, it will be done well. She’s very communicative, anticipates my needs, and I know it will be done. When you’re trying out a new VA and especially when it’s a launch, you want everything to go smoothly, check what she’s done.
BONUS TIP: Keep Everything in One Place
I recommend keeping everything together in one place, not in random places on your hard drive. This is great if you outsource anything to team members like a VA or subcontractor, because you can simply share access to the folders, they can upload and edit everything within the platform. And it’s all accessible by your team.
If you need help getting started organizing yourself for your launch, I have made this easier for you by creating a downloadable, interactive (panic-free) launch planner. It contains a really thorough list of tasks that need to be completed whether you are running a challenge or webinar. Simply adjust it for the length of your launch so you know what to do on different days whether your cart is open 5, 7, or ten days (though 10 days is a long time to maintain your launch momentum and I don’t usually recommend it!)
The panic-free launch planner also includes a video showing you how it can be customized for your launch and also a copy of my folder hierarchy. This can all be copied into your Google Drive to keep everything organized.
