Lisa Pfister Product Launch Consultant

Posts Tagged ‘joint venture partners’

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.

Why do people with mediocre content make 10Xs more than recognized experts in 25% of the time?

Come on now that doesn’t seem fair – but fair or not, it happens ALL the time.

The biggest and best authors – the name brand, top-notch, recognized experts are making a fraction of what the upstarts are making.

Most highly coveted business authors make a comfortable living. They have risen to a certain place in their careers where they are courted by publishers and welcomed by large audiences around the world. They have achieved a certain level of success.

But if I were them I’d be really frustrated knowing that they spend years of their lives buried in their home offices cranking out book after book only to hop on plane after plane, going to city after anonymous city promoting their latest creation and selling their speaking services – while the guy without a fraction of their skills is working 3 months a year never having to leave the comfort his own home.

So why the gap? How can mediocre content providers charge way more for their content, and spend a fraction of their time marketing it with far superior results?

Established authors are playing by the old rules. They understand the traditional ways to make money. They write and speak.  They promote in traditional media, do countless radio, print, online and TV interviews.

There are two problems with the old way of doing business. Firstly, this way of making money takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. It wears on you. Secondly, it is nowhere nearly as lucrative as the methods being used by the upstarts.

To make the money you truly deserve you’ve got to change the way you do business. Conventional wisdom just doesn’t cut it. I just saw a PR firm that promotes authors advertise virtual book tours like  it’s a new idea – man, if this is something that people are buying it’s no wonder this industry is in such bad shape!

What’s really needed is a total paradigm shift. This industry – like every other industry for that matter – needs to see what is working like gangbusters and emulate that success, not just do things like promote online and call it revolutionary (that almost makes me laugh, except it’s so sad).

Take a look in the internet marketing world, see what’s catching on and spreading like wildfire to the real estate world and the personal development field. What is it? What are the grizzled veterans in these fields starting to embrace?

It’s a proven way of demonstrating the value you have to offer to your prospects and customers, building anticipation for the release of your product, getting an army of affiliates and joint venture partners to promote you, proving upfront to the people who need your knowledge that you’re the source to go to – all in a way that doesn’t make you hop from city to city on an endless gerbil wheel of interviews and book signings.

How do you do this? Learn how to launch your product. That’s what I did. I found the most effective marketing techniques being used today and adapted them to my industry. I studied under people who are marketing geniuses like Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, Frank Kern, Dr. Glenn Livingston & Jeff Walker.  It took a lot of work, and made a number of mistakes along the way but I get it now, so it’s been worth every minute of it. The results speak for themselves.

Why am I telling you all of this? It’s not because I get paid to promote any of these guys, it’s just that there’s a golden opportunity for people to use their methods in fields where they don’t have any presence. But of course time is ticking on and you need to start learning what to do to make the most of this opportunity while it’s not commonplace in your industry.

Why am I focusing on authors? Two reasons. Firstly, as an owner of a business book summary service for the past 11 years I’ve had a lot of opportunity to work with authors, understand their value and see that they’re not making the most of their tremendous assets. That drives me nuts! Secondly, high-end authors have information that, once packaged and repositioned properly, would make for a KILLER launch.

I know that this is true for high-end authors, the real experts in their category – but how about you? Do you have special knowledge that could take your industry by storm if you broke off the shackles of conventional marketing and embraced marketing strategies that have worked like gangbusters in other verticals?

Really think about his before you dismiss this idea and move on to the “next important thing” in your day.

You’ve spent your entire business life adding value, learning, teaching and credentializing yourself. Isn’t it time you cashed in?

Consider this question very carefully.

A good Product Launch Manager doesn’t come cheap. They’ll ask for a substantial upfront fee and a considerable percentage of the gross sales. Then you still have to pay for a number of other fees associated with the launch (like copywriting). Then there’s the payout for the JVs. You may be left wondering why is my percentage so small when I developed the product?

That’s a valid question.

Here’s the thing. I know you already understand this but 100% of little is not nearly as good as 35% of tremendous. A good product launch manger will make all the difference in your launch.  Actually they do a lot more than just make for a successful launch. They really bring your entire business to a whole new level. They get you the initial money produced by the launch but they also grow your prospect list so your next launch will be more impactful. They grow your customer list (which also makes you much more attractive to joint venture partners). They cement your connections in your industry. They give you the much needed perspective and connections required to make a big splash.

So the question then becomes can you manage your own launch? Do you have the time? Do you have the experience? Do you have the expertise? Do you have the connections? Would you hire yourself to do your own product launch?

If the answer to these questions are all yes, you found the right product launch manager – yourself. Congrats!

If not, and you have a product that meets this type of criteria you should seriously consider hiring a product launch manager.

• 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

What if you don’t meet that level of criteria yet? Or you don’t have the resources to get the help of a dedicated product launch manager. Then consider finding a product launch consultant who you can guide you. You still control the reigns, find the people to build out your team, and are responsible for all the nuts & bolts of the launch – but when you get stuck you can contact a seasoned pro who can point you in a new direction, who can give you perspective, who can suggest resources, who can make all the difference in the success of your launch.

Still beyond your reach? Then start building connections and create a mastermind group where everyone contributes to the success of each other. Is this the fastest route to success? No, but at least it’s a start and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

There are many ways to achieve your goals but the bottom line is take some action to move forward, whether that’s by hiring someone to manage the entire project, consulting with someone to guide you or by taking the reigns yourself. Each path can result in tremendous results. Just pick one and take action.