Lisa Pfister Product Launch Consultant

Just a super quick note to let the world know that www.LaunchAnswersNow.com is now LIVE.

Come ask your product launch questions and get answers FAST for FREE from 8 top flight Product Launch Managers.

Can’t get a better deal than that!

See you there

Hi Folks,

It’s been awhile since we’ve last talked about product launches.  Being busy is no excuse, but it’s the one I’m using anyway.

One of the projects I’ve been working on is Launch Answers Now. It’s pretty exciting and we’re almost ready to go live so I thought I’d share it with you.

As you may already know, last summer, 45 people came together to be trained as Product Launch Managers by the Product Launch Guru, Jeff Walker.  We were all doing very well in our own businesses, and had many successful product launches, but all of us wanted to learn that extra special something so we made a sizable investment in our professional development to get personal training from the master himself.

Since we returned home many people have approached us to do a product launch for them. The problem is that very few are qualified prospects. They don’t have the resources (money, list, proven product, JV connections etc) to make it possible to do a product launch with them.

It’s been frustrating all around. We can’t serve people who have a need and people who have a need can’t get to the point of being served by us because they don’t have an option of reasonably priced resources to get them to a level where Product Launch Management is feasible.

So this is what we did. 8 Product Launch Managers from around the globe decided to form a team of experts to help take you on a journey.

We decided to set up a site where you could get your product launch questions answered by a group of top notch product launch experts so you could finally take action with confidence. To make it even nicer we’ll be doing this for free. We’ll answer your questions, give you perspective on your plan of action, give you a starting point or just get you unstuck.

What’s in it for us? First of all, we’ll help you get to a place where you qualify for Product Launch Management.  And secondly, we’ll be of service to you.  That means something. We hate just saying “sorry, we can’t help” without providing some way to assist you.

So there you have it. We hope to go live in the next week or two.  If you have thoughts on the project let me know or if you have questions hold on a bit and then keep the questions coming to www.LaunchAnswersNow.com

Product Launch Management

It’s been a big year of transition going from managing my own business & launching my own products to helping others launch their products and take their businesses to new heights.

It’s been a real honor to be invited into other people’s businesses, seeing how they operate and what is working for them and what isn’t.

The most surprising thing I’ve encountered on this journey is how complicated it really is to launch a product, create a winning and sustainable marketing system and then systemize your business so you can predict results and plan appropriately for the future.

The most interesting thing about this journey is seeing how many businesses are run “by the seat of their pants.” This isn’t a judgement, it’s a fact. Many of these businesses even make a fair bit of cash. So you can have a successful business without systems – but you’re doing it with one hand tied behind your back. The other problem with not creating, testing, improving and implementing powerful marketing systems is that life is no fun. It’s not predictable and the inevitable fires you need to put out in a launch almost become unmanageable because you’re already spinning too many plates.

So my gift to you this Holiday season is the gift of reflection. Take some time this year to see what’s working for you, see how you can systemize, outsource, automate and simplify those tasks so you can start to free up time to create the space for creative thought. After all, your success in business is a reflection of that creative thought. It will be the best time you even spent.

Good luck and best wishes for continued success and happiness in the New Year!

What’s your biggest product launch question? What’s your biggest marketing question? What’s your biggest concern moving forward? Is it the product itself? Your offer? Your team (or lack thereof)?  The technical side of things – like setting up a shopping cart, integrating systems, server crashes?

There are so many moving parts in a product launch. It really SEEMS to make sense to have someone manage it for you – but that’s the kicker – it SEEMS that way.

Now you’re probably thinking what the #@!! She’s a Product Launch Manager, doesn’t she want me to buy her services? Well the short answer is: probably not. In the vast majority of circumstances it makes sense for you to start on your own, build your assets (prove up your product, build your list, put together some Joint Venture relationships) and talk to your customers and prospects so you really know what they want not what you THINK that they want.

There are two big reasons for this.

Firstly, after you do these things you’ll be either ready to do the big money, list build, megacompany win launch (or you’ll close down the shop and move onto something that excites you more).  Either way you‘ll have got critical information.

And secondly, you’ll be in a position to hire a Product Launch Manger that will put in the extra ingredients to make your launch the success it could be.

The problem I see in the marketplace is that lots of people who come to me have a number of things cooking but they aren’t at the place to knock it out of the park. They haven’t done the groundwork. Most people think that once the product is done, the hard work is behind them. Unfortunately this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

A Product Launch Manager needs certain assets to work with:

• Ready to sell product (helpful if something like it has been successful in the past)
• Be trusted and liked by your customer base
• Provide high margin, high ticket products (information products are ideal)
• Have a large responsive list of customers and prospects
• Enjoy relationships with companies who will promote for you

Now you may be thinking how do I get all of this without having the expertise of a product launch manager to guide me? Well one way to start is by asking one question at a time. What are you having problems with? What’s your biggest issue? Is it where to start? Is it how do I get unstuck?

Let me know and maybe I can help get you, get ready, to hire me

There are 33,000 product launches each year and over 24,500 of them fail. There are a number of reasons for this.

First of all most people don’t have the assets they need to have a successful product launch. A great proven product, a substantial warm list, strong JV relationships, and a willingness to make a substantial investment in marketing are all vital to the success of a product launch.

Business owners all too often believe in their product and get the value of what they created so they aren’t willing to fully invest in marketing efforts that can demonstrate that value to their prospects. (Just because it’s obvious to you, don’t think the benefit you provide is obvious to the prospect.) After the product is created is when the real work starts. Thousands of great products never go anywhere because no one knows about them and those who do learn about them don’t have a compelling case made to take action now.

On top of this there are also a ton of moving parts to crafting a successful product launch.

• Create a really compelling launch story
• Identify the market’s hot buttons
• Identify and overcome objections
• Create pre-launch content
• Create bonuses
• Craft emails for each piece of launch content
• Learn new skills like how to effectively use the social psychology triggers
• Survey the list
• Recruit JV partners
• Create a JV website and support system
• Set up e-commerce
• Train customer service people
• Plus tons of other jobs like — creating a high-converting website, a squeeze page, thank you pages, a blog, a sales letter etc, etc, etc!!!

Please get some help with this stuff. If you’re just starting out you probably can’t afford to hire someone to manage your launch but at least pay for some advice to keep you on track.  If that’s still out of you budget invest in marketing programs that will at least give you a head start.

The last thing people don’t have is a true understanding of where they are today. They see a product launch as an opportunity to make a ton of cash now and don’t see beyond that. Now there’s nothing wrong with a ton of cash. Personally, I’m a big fan of cash. :)  However, maybe the biggest value you get from your first few launches isn’t cash. Maybe it’s a list build so you start to create a community of rabid fans. Maybe it’s an opportunity to demonstrate your value to the marketplace so partners come on board and learn to trust and value you. Maybe it’s getting the kinks out of your system, really learning what your people want (not just what you think they want).

These are all precursors to the big product launch with the big cash grab. Don’t devalue these steps or you’ll just be one of the 24,500 business owners licking their wounds after a battle lost.

The trouble with people is that we are, well, Humans. We do not always behave rationally, we take short cuts in our decision-making, we don’t always do what is best for us even when we know it (smoking or over-eating for example), and we are subconsciously influenced by what is going on around us (such as “following the crowd”). We wear ties because others do and eat more when we’re with others than when we’re alone.

We are homo sapiens but we would like to think of ourselves as homo economicus, economic man, or Econs — people who think and choose unfailingly well. Econs are really no more than a theoretical concept, a model of how perfectly rational people — like Star Trek’s Mr Spock — might behave.

The reason we are Humans rather than Econs is explained by the way our brains work. We have two systems — one that is intuitive and automatic and another that is reflective. We use the automatic system when we duck without thinking if something is thrown at us (think George W Bush at his infamous Iraq press conference in late 2008) and the reflective system when we are asked, for example, to multiply 411 by 37, which route to take on a trip or which college to apply for.

The trouble is that, unlike Mr Spock, we do not use our reflective, reasoning powers to the full. We use other approaches:

• Rules of thumb. For example, we tend to assess the risk of certain things happening by how readily similar incidents come to mind. People are more likely to take out earthquake insurance after an earthquake, for instance, although the actual likelihood of one has not changed. And we see patterns in behaviors and incidents when they are not really there.
• Optimism and over-confidence. A survey of students’ performance expectations showed only 5% thought they would be below the median level, when, by definition, 50% would be. Similarly, more people over-estimate their immunity from harm, such as the likelihood of having cancer or getting divorced.
• Loss aversion. We hate losing roughly twice as much as we love winning, which leads to inertia, avoiding change even when it might be in our interest, for fear that something will go wrong.
• Status quo bias. We simply can’t be bothered. For example, we fail to cancel magazine subscriptions even though we never read them, or we stick with whatever TV channel we happen to be watching. Publishers and broadcasters know this and use it to their advantage.
• Framing. We allow ourselves to be influenced by the way information is presented. We are far less likely to opt for surgery if we are told “10 out of every 100 people who have this die”, than if the message is “the success rate is 90%.”

Not unnaturally, these behaviors can lead us astray. The picture that emerges is one of busy people trying to cope in a complex world, in which they cannot afford to think deeply about every choice they have to make. We need help. Instead, things are made worse by another human fallibility — temptation: the tendency to do things we know we shouldn’t.

It’s as if there are two parts of our brains at war with each other, and they are seen not only in temptation but in broader areas of self-control. These are labelled Planners (the part that knows how we should behave) and Doers (the part responsible for what we actually do). For example, our Planner may buy and set an alarm clock to get us up in time for work, but our Doer hits the “snooze” button and defeats it!

A further influence on our behaviors is the herd instinct. Econs, say Thaler and Sunstein, are not followers of fashion — they may communicate with and learn from others if it’s to their advantage but then they go their own way. Humans, by contrast, imitate others in general. We smile when others smile, we avoid visible differences, we support the majority view because it’s the majority, and we believe what others believe.

These and other many interesting aspects of homan decision-making behavoiors are discussed in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. Don’t make the mistake of assuming we’re rational beings when all evidence is to the contrary.

When buying, selling & marketing examine how understanding these behaviors can work for and against you – so you are no longer a victim of your tendencies but rather a victor by seeing, rising above and utilizing the powers they hold.

Hi Folks,

As some of you know I’ve been working like a madwoman lately systematizing product launches.

This, along with my other obligations (like actual product launches!) it’s taking up a lot of time right now but I know it’s not only worth it, but it’s vital to my success and future happiness.

If I don’t have a systemized business I have a brutally tough job with the worst and most demanding unreasonable boss ever (me!)

In case you don’t know the value of systematizing, read Michael E. Gerber’s book, The E Myth. If you don’t have time for that right now listen to the audio below and start your business on this amazing path.

http://www.thebusinesssource.com/audiotracks/cd5emyth96.mp3

Let me know if this helps

People often ask me: What do you look for in a client? Why did you choose to manage this product launch and not that one?

There are five basic categories I cover off in client selection.

The first thing a person needs to have is a great product. Now everyone thinks they have this. Few do. The first step in determining if a person really has a great product is to see if they have proof. Proof can be in the form of case studies, testimonials, before and afters, product demonstrations etc. But the bottom line is: no proof, no launch – at least, no launch with me. J

Step two is checking on the actual person I’m dealing with. Does this person have a track record of success? What have they accomplished? They don’t have to be successful in this new venture – it may be way too early to make this type of judgment – but what have they done before to make me take a risk on investing my time and resources in them?

Step three is the size, composition and warmth of their list. Ideally they have a large list of customers they contact frequently – not a small list of prospects they haven’t contacted in ages. (This may be obvious but if you’re even contemplating a launch consider how you can build and warm your list. It’ll pay huge dividends.)

Step four is determining the value of the relationships they have. Can they get people to promote their product? If not, the launch is extremely limited. The JV component of the launch is supposed to be the easy part. You’ve got a successful product and process, now you just need to introduce it to more people through your contacts. No contacts, no easy button.

The final thing I need to consider is can we work together? Business relationships are no different than any other relationships. Sometimes the chemistry just isn’t right. No matter how big the opportunity, if two people can’t work together with mutual respect for their different areas of expertise, the project is doomed from the outset. Granted this criteria isn’t quite as concrete, but you know when you’ve got issues and you have to trust your gut with this one.

There are two main reasons client selection is so important to me. One big reason, of course, is about the cash. If I don’t feel I have the assets I need to work with, I can’t make the money I want for the investment I make with my time and expertise. It’s just as much – if not more – work to launch a losing product as it to launch a winner, so I want to stack the deck in my favor.

The second thing is life’s way too short to try to make something work that probably won’t. I want to work on fun things, winning is fun. Putting lipstick on a pig and crossing your fingers nobody takes a good look at it just sucks. I want to add value to everybody, the business owner, their customers and my company.  That’s why I take so much time with this process.

If you’re hiring a product launch manager, or just doing a launch on your own, start thinking in terms of this criteria. See how you measure up and start tackling the areas that need work. This will make all the difference in your launch. You don’t have to be perfect, but if you can identify and act on the areas that you know need attention, your chances of success will dramatically improve and the big payday you envision may indeed become a reality.

There are so many things that can go wrong in a product launch so I’m going to briefly go over the areas you need to address well before you hit the launch button.

I’ll be going over everything you need to address in this and subsequent posts so stayed tuned…

The first thing you need to have, of course, is a great product. So what does a great product look like?

1. There’s a proven demand for your product
2. People have gotten strong measurable results from using it
3. It’s easy to get results from using it
4. It’s a high priced high margin product (information products are ideal)
5. It’s a no-brainer tailor-made solution to a problem voiced by your niche

Hopefully you checked off most, if not all of those bullet points. If not, instead of carrying on and hoping for the best see how you can improve your product before you launch.

Let’s take these one at a time. There’s no proven demand. That’s a biggie. If you didn’t create something that your target market told you they wanted (through surveying and conversing via blogs etc) then you may be fighting an uphill battle. If you still want to proceed with this product you can always test it out on a small subset of your list. Give it to them for free, have them try it out and share their results.

If it works for them you get great case studies for your marketing materials (checking item #2 off your list). If it doesn’t work you can find out why – what needs to be added or subtracted from the package to make it something your niche cannot do without? Retest with another subset until you have a killer product.

So we touched briefly on item #2 above. If you don’t already have strong measurable results get  some by having people test out your product, if you do then make sure that people don’t just get results from a big effort – try to see how people can benefit from your product in the easiest simplest way possible. Think of it this way. Most of us want to lose weight. And everybody knows this goal can be accomplished by diet and exercise – but how many of us want to take that route? We want a magic pill or an easy button. If your product looks like too much work it ain’t gunna sell. It’s just that simple.

Now on to #4. You want your product to have a high price and good margins for two reasons. There’s the obvious one – more money. The less obvious one is that it will be extremely difficult to get large numbers of high quality Joint Venture partners on board if your product doesn’t have this make up. So what do you do if this isn’t the case? Here’s one suggestion. Make an information product to accompany it. You can write it yourself if you’re the expert. You can interview experts if you’re not. If you add some powerful special value in this way you can overcome this problem.

Finally let’s cover #5 – a tailor-made solution which makes it a no brainer for your niche. It’s got to be special for a very select group of people. You have to speak to them directly in their language and address their specific problems with your precise solution. How do you do this? The only way to do this is by having a very defined sub sub sub niche. When you try to sell to everybody you end up by selling to nobody. Your only chance of true success is addressing the needs of a minute niche and becoming the “go to guy” for that category. If you can do this you can conquer the market and own the category. Any future competition has to position themselves against you – the one who defines the category. That’s why this is so important.

So those are a few of my thoughts about what constitutes a great product, what you can do to prove it up, what you can do to improve it and what you can do to make it saleable before you push the launch button.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what else you think is critical in a product. Please comment below.

What is the role of a product launch manager? That’s a question I’ve been delving deep into over the few days.

The simple answer is this. A product launch manager makes lots of money for the client by marrying their great product with her great strategy. She  takes the assets of the client, create a killer marketing strategy, add the tactical elements recommended by marketing gurus like Jeff Walker, Frank Kern & Rich Schefren and voila – instant success!

While this is definitely an aspect of what a product launch manager does it is by no means the ONLY thing that she does.

Since I’ve returned from Jeff Walker’s event in Los Angeles I’ve really been ramping up my business. I’ve been entertaining larger and larger projects and this has given me pause for thought. Since the projects that I’m undertaking now are much bigger I’ve really begun to dissect the process and map it out so the margin of error in my product launches is reduced substantially.

I’ve also been prompted to look at my business very closely because I have had the opportunity to partner with people like Jared Rose, not only a highly skilled project launch manager – but also a highly skilled project manager.  He initiated a project where he is breaking down each element and systematizing it. I and a number of other product launch managers are contributing to this task so we get everybody’s expertise and varied perspectives.

Here are just a few of the roles we have come up with so far, that a product launch manager must either do or hire out and manage.

Launch Strategist, Launch Coordinator, Copywriter, Graphic Designer, Web Developer, Tech Support, JV Manager, Customer Support, Admin Support & Product Champion. Then each of these roles has umpteen responsibilities associated with it.

Daunting isn’t it?

There are a lot of balls to keep in the air. I guess that’s why over 24,500 product launches failed last year. You need to get it ALL right or you put yourself at a great disadvantage.

I’ve given you this list not to scare you, but to prepare you. If you have a good solid team behind you with the experience you need to pull this off that’s fantastic. Just make sure that you have people in these roles, define what they are responsible for, who they report to, who they manage and define their level of decision making authority. If you don’t have people for these roles start by defining their general responsibilities and then decide what knowledge and experience is required for each position. If you do this well in advance of your launch your chances of success will increase exponentially. Get your ducks in a row now -  it’s too late after you push the button.

Hope this helps!