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happened. Karol sat looking in anticipation at the stats in Austin while Adam
was biting his nails in Indianapolis. Was something wrong? Fortunately not … It
turned out they were just ten minutes early. All of a sudden, a trickle of visitors
became a stream, then a flood, as more and more people heard about the offer
and came by to purchase. Wham! The server was hit hard, and Karol’s Gmail
account reported “Notification of payment received” over and over.

The flood continued for the rest of the day, slowed down a bit on the second
day, and then picked back up at the end of the third and final day. When the
smoke cleared, Karol and Adam added up the results. Total sales: $185,755 in
three sleep-deprived days. Such was the power of a well-crafted product launch.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Because a planned launch campaign can provide far better results than simply
putting something out there and saying, “Hey, here you go,” you’ll want to think
carefully about how to structure it. The campaign usually unfolds in a series of
messages you send to your audience, and you should keep the Hollywood
analogy in mind: The worst thing you could do for a launch is to open your
movie without letting anyone know. A much better thing is to tell a story. The
story unfolds like this …

An early look at the future. In the first mention of your upcoming launch, you
don’t want to give all the details away; it’s usually better to start with a simple
heads-up. You want to say something like this: “Hey, I’m working on something
interesting. It’s going to be a big deal when it’s finished, but for now I’m just
letting you know that it’s coming down the line.” The goal is to slowly build
anticipation for what eventually will be available for purchase.

Why this project will matter. The most important early message about the
launch (and one that has to be reinforced continually) is why your prospects and
customers should care. In the blitz of communication that we all process every
day, why should anyone stop and pay attention to this project? The message you
want to communicate is: “This is why this project will be a game changer, here’s
how people will benefit, and here’s why you should care.”

The plan for the big debut. The previous two messages, as well as any others,
have been about the project itself, not the actual launch. Here’s where you roll
out some of the details for the launch itself. When will it be? How will it work?
Will there be some kind of bonus for early buyers? Most important, what do