If you sell (or want to sell) ANYTHING online this is one of the most valuable emails I’ve ever written…

Between being involved with launches for affiliates, partnerships, copywriting clients, and products/services of my own creation, I’ve had my hand in well over a dozen product launches during the past 16-18 months alone.

As one does when you keep lining up for another kick at the can, you glean valuable insights from your successes, and your failures.

With repetition comes experience and insight.

With experience and insight comes success…

Today, I want to share some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned—these lessons being a large part of the reason why each launch does better than the last.

So, if you want your next product launch to be successful you NEED…


1. A relationship with your list

Before I officially cut the chord with my fitness business, I wanted to launch an 8-week female fat loss program/challenge, and I wanted to see if I could make it a replicable, repeatable process.

Meaning, I built the list with paid traffic, outsourced the actual coaching of the group, and if it worked, I’d run the same (or similar) ads every 8 weeks, and put them through the same email sequence. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

After running ads for a couple weeks I ended up with 80-odd people who I thought were genuinely interested in the program, but when launch came…crickets.

Trouble was, there was a gap of 2-3 weeks between when most signed up, and the launch. In that time I made zero effort to build a relationship with these leads…and that showed in the zero sales I made.

No relationship, no trust. No trust, no sales.

Goes to show, even if you have a solid offer (I’d sold out the same offer to a much warmer audience a few months prior) and solid copy, it doesn’t matter if the relationship isn’t there.


2. An offer people actually want

The greatest copy in the world can’t sell an offer people don’t want. Which is why so many marketers—myself included—harp on about the importance of knowing your market, and selling what they want, rather than what you want to sell them.


3. To be the most excited person on the planet for your launch

This didn’t really click for me until I released Email Imagery back in April.

When I’d do launches for fitness coaching, I was never “all in” on them. Sure, I wanted to make sales because income, freedom, and all that. But I couldn’t get PUMPED for what I was selling because it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. And the lack of interest shone through in my less-than-stellar marketing.

Contrast this with Email Imagery and the Sorcerers Guild newsletter where I was so excited to release both that I spent 3-4 months yammering on about them before launching them to the world.

This was done in part to build hype…but there’s no way I’d have been able to do so if I wasn’t genuinely excited to bring these ideas to fruition.

To be fair, 3-4 months of promotion for something that doesn’t exist might be overkill…but there’s no denying the results.


4. A proper incentive for people to buy during the launch

A launch is simply a whack of unwarranted and unwanted emails without incentive for your subscribers to buy now…and it’s YOUR responsibility to create that urgent desire.

When I launched my group coaching fitness offer, Mullan’s Meatheads, I knocked $15 off the monthly price for anyone who joined during the launch.

With Email Imagery I shaved $150 off the price, and threw in a bonus sales letter critique.

And for the Sorcerers Guild…ya’ll had the chance to join and save $25 off the monthly subscription for as long as you’re a member.

All these incentives were ONLY available during the 4-day launch period, giving people an express reason to join.

Note: an introductory launch price isn’t the only way to do this, but people sure as hell like saving money, especially if it’s on something they’re interested in.


5. A LOT of emails

Even if your leads are interested, most people need persistent reminders and “nudges” to buy, especially during a launch when you can legitimately tap into the natural human FOMO (fear of missing out).

Aside from allowing my own excitement to shine through, this is why I send out a minimum of 10 emails over 4 days during launches for clients, and my own offers.

Yes, it means more prep work, but it pays off…


6. To EXPECT and be prepared for an abject failure

This is something I picked up from my study of Stoic philosophy. Much better to anticipate (and be prepared for) complete failure and disappointment than to expect the opposite…and have the rug pulled out from under you.

This doesn’t mean to dwell in negativity or assume that what you’re doing won’t work—but to be prepared for the worst, and know what you’re going to do.

Then, any success you have is just that…success for you to enjoy.


7. A delusional amount of self-belief in what you’re bringing into the world, that it can help your audience, and that you will hit your targets

While somewhat in contrast to the lesson above, you MUST believe that you’ve got the goods, and people want what you’ve got.

In the world of small online business, and in life really, you and you alone are responsible for believing in yourself.

Nobody else will do this for you. Not your mentor, mother, or significant other. Sure, it’s GREAT if they do, but you can’t expect that.

Once again, this is your responsibility.


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Alright, that should be enough for you to chew on…

This is by far one of the most emails I’ve ever written, and is jam-packed with the most valuable, important lessons I’ve learned in 13+ product launches.

If you liked what I’m putting down here, you’ll LOVE what’s coming in Volume 2 of the Sorcerers Guild paper and ink newsletter.

To ensure you’ve got a seat in the Sorcerers Guild before we dive into the nitty gritty “how to” of learning the sales and marketing principles that will help drive your business (or business idea) forward, subscribe here:

http://sorcerersguildnewsletter.com/

Your headmaster,

Alexander Mullan