Whether you’re doing your first product launch, or your 100th, it pays to have a checklist.
Pilots have a checklist for safety, and they don’t take off until they have gone over every single point on their list.
Hospitals now use checklists, and they are preventing mistakes and saving lives because of it.
And your product launch deserves to have a checklist, too, so that you can minimize problems and maximize sales and profits.
For ease and simplification, I’m going to divide this checklist into sections. But that doesn’t mean you necessarily start at the top and work your way through.
Read through the entire list before you get started, and decide what order makes the most sense for you.
In many cases you will be working on several things at once.
For example, you might be finishing your OTO product while also building pages and waiting to hear back from JV’s.
Please don’t be daunted by the length of this list. If you’ve already launched a product, then you’ve likely already done most of these things.
But by following this list, you won’t forget anything this time, and your sales and profits should increase accordingly.
Website Domain
__ Purchase your .com domain name (Don’t agonize over this. Just find something that works for your product. You might even find the domain first, and then name your product, since that is sometimes easier.)
__ Set up domain on your hosting service (If you don’t already have a hosting service, you’ll need to find one with great support and 99.9% uptime.)
__ Point name servers to host (This is super simple, and if you don’t know how to do it, use Google or YouTube.)
__ Install WordPress (or use your preferred website building program, or outsource the building of your website.)
Front End Product – this is your MAIN product
__ Create your product. (This might be a product you create yourself, or you hire someone to create it, or you purchase rights to sell it.)
__ Test your product. (Is it software? Get a beta group to test it for you. Is it an information product? Hand it off to a few people to get feedback. You want to know if it makes sense, if there are any major typos or problems, and if it’s user friendly.)
__ Add support links. (Guaranteed, some of your customers will need support.)
__ Training and tutorials. (This is how you cut down on support requests. Create any necessary training and tutorials if your product is software, a service or anything else that warrants additional training beyond what is found in the product itself.)
__ Test download links. (When you’ve got your download page finished, add the download links and TEST THEM. Then send those links to a few friends and have them test the links, too. The last thing you want on launch day is non-functioning download links – believe me.)
Upsell Product(s) – these are the product(s) you offer after a purchase is made. They could cost more than or less than the main product, and they are sometimes only available at this price at this time, in which case they are a one-time offer.
See “front end product” for explanations on the following:
__ Create or find your upsell product(s)
__ Test your product(s)
__ Add support links
__ Training and tutorials
__ Test download links
Affiliates
__ Affiliate page. (Create a page for affiliates that tells them about the product, as well as dates of the launch and promotion, commissions, contests, prizes, swipe ads and swipe emails, a review copy link, etc.)
__ Review copy link. (Create the link and place it on the affiliate page. This it the link where potential affiliates can download your product and review it. It’s much easier for affiliates to promote a product with which they’re familiar. And some affiliates won’t promote anything they haven’t tested themselves.
__ Banners. (Create website banners promoting your launch and your product.)
__ Swipe emails. (These are the emails that affiliates send out to their lists. You’ll want emails to build up to the launch, emails for launch day, and emails that progress through the promotion period to the end. Place these or a download link to these on the affiliate page.)
__ List in launch directories. (There are online directories of products that are going to launch. Affiliates use these to find products to add to their promotion calendar, so you’ll want to sign up on these.) 4 to consider:
__ Overview video. (Make a video for affiliates that explain the product, the launch, commissions, contest and so forth. Post in on your affiliate page.)
__ Bonus page. (Make a page for your affiliates that shows the bonuses, as well as giving them the download links in case they want to check them out.)
__ Affiliate list. (This is your own private list of affiliates that you will be personally contacting, to ask them to promote your launch.)
Advertising
__ JVZoo ads and email blast purchased for dates (If using JVZoo, otherwise, appropriate ads and advertising on an alternate platform)
__ Emails to your list ready to go, selling the product (Timed to the launch)
__ Broadcast emails to your JVs ready to go (These should be timed to your launch)
__ JV ads ready to go (Use on Facebook any other place you want to advertise your JV)
__ Retargeting campaign set up and ads loaded (If you are doing retargeting – you’re losing money if you don’t)
Building Your Pages
__ Sales copy for main product
__ Sales copy for each upsell
__ Sales page
__ Upsell page(s)
__ Thank you and product registration page
__ Thank you and product download page (Thank them every chance you get)
__ Graphics for each page
__ Buy buttons for sales page and each upsell page
__ No thanks link for each upsell page
Delivery
__ Autoresponder follow-up sequence in place to send to customers welcoming them aboard and pointing out how to get the most out of the product.
__ Member area in place (if appropriate)
__ Special offer inside the membership area (Optional and only if appropriate – people who just joined are in a buying mood, so you might take advantage of that)
__ Product access tested (Again)
__ Affiliate request on download page (Suggest they make money by sharing their own affiliate link to the product they just purchased)
Support
__ Set up support link
__ Add support link to thank you / registration page and the download page
__ Add support link to the first 1-3 follow up emails you send out
__ Clearly state either hours support is available, or estimated time it will take to get back to them. Be generous in your estimate. If you think it will take one hour, say one day, just in case.
__ Ensure that someone will be available to handle support requests
Finally
__ Test your entire funnel system
__ Ask someone else to test your entire funnel
__ Call your merchant account and alert them that sales are about to increase
__ Call your hosting and alert them of the big influx of traffic you’re about to get
__ If you have a support team, assistants, etc., let them know to be available as much as humanly possible during the launch
