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Sooner or later, if you launch enough products, you’ll make some or even all of these mistakes.
I know I have. It’s not the end of the world when it happens, but forewarned is forearmed. Keep this list handy for the next time you do a product launch and maybe you can avoid these:
1: Lack of market research – Failing to understand the market and the needs of your target audience can lead to a product that nobody wants to buy.
When you think you know what your product will be, do a test to see if people will buy it. If they do, then create the product. If they don’t buy, or if only a very small number of them do, thank your lucky stars that you didn’t waste your time.
Incidentally, I’ve noticed a phenomenon where your conversions will increase if I say that the product isn’t quite ready yet. People love to be in on something new. Tell them you’re developing this product and it will be ready by X date and they can preorder now. If you don’t get enough orders, refund the ones you do get and don’t create the product.
2: Overestimating demand – Assuming that your product will be a huge success without properly testing it first can lead to disappointing results.
You might have a great product for a tiny segment of the market. If this is the case, you might need to raise your price for such a specialized item just to turn a good profit. Factor in the time it will take to make the product, the size of the market and the price you will charge. Yes, there’s a lot of guesswork here. But if you realize it will take you 200 hours to create the product and you will likely only sell 200 copies at $47, you might decide it simply isn’t profitable enough to move forward.
3: Poor timing – Launching your product at the wrong time, such as during a holiday or a competing event, can negatively impact its success. Think of launching a product on Black Friday or Christmas Day. Your result could be disastrous. Launch the same product in January and you could have a home run.
This is especially true if you are relying on affiliates who will all be promoting a different launch that same day. Let’s say you’re launching your first product and you line up a half dozen affiliates. But then Big Joe Marketer launches his umpteenth fancy-dancy product with a massive affiliate contest and new cars for everyone who sells a thousands units and suddenly your affiliates have vanished. It happens. Well, except for the new cars part, that’s pretty rare.
4: Lack of promotion – “Build a better mousetrap and people will beat a path to your door.” Believe it or not that used to be a common expression, but it’s 100% false. If you don’t aggressively promote your product and get the word out, then no one will know about your product.
Yes, there is an exception. You create a new product, Suzi Q buys it and loves it and tells her audience of thousands about it for free and it goes viral and now you’re selling a million units per day and…
…that’s a great fantasy but it only happens like that in movies. And maybe a very few times per year for real. It’s not something you can or should count on, so get busy marketing and promoting.
5: Ignoring customer feedback – Not listening to your customers and incorporating their feedback can lead to product failure. When your customers are telling you there is a problem or something missing, listen to them.
I’ve seen a potentially great product fail because something crucial was left out. When the customers called it to the attention of the product creator, the product creator decided he knew better than his customers. Refunds skyrocketed, he was trashed on social media and his product was relegated to the dust bins of history.
6: Inadequate testing – Give your product to users to try and test for free. Use their feedback to fix or improve what’s needed. Give out the new version and get more feedback. Fix whatever is left to fix and then launch. If you’re on top of things, you can do this entire process in 7 to 10 days.
7: Focusing on features over benefits – Not highlighting the benefits of your product to your customers can make it difficult for them to see the value in it. What’s in it for them? How will this change their life? Why should they care? Paint a picture of how this will forever change their life for the better, or at least make them happy today.
8: Poor pricing strategy – Setting the wrong price for your product can impact its perceived value. Charge too little and people won’t see the quality. Charge too much and you might price yourself out of the market. There’s a sweet spot in there someplace, and it’s your job to find it.
Food for thought: When Dan Kennedy consulted with businesses, the first thing he did was raise prices. Sometimes he had to fight with the business owners about this to get it done because the owner was terrified that they would lose money. But in nearly every case the business became more profitable when prices were raised, despite losing a small percentage of customers who didn’t want to pay the higher price.
9: Not thoroughly testing your funnel – I’ve seen a major launch where every single upsell was available on the download page regardless of whether or not it was purchased. And I’ve seen another product launch where the price was supposed to be $299, but it was set to $1 for the first 3 hours. Ouch.
10: Lack of a solid long-term plan – Not having a well-thought-out plan can make it difficult to scale and grow your product over time. Are you going to build your business around this one product? Add other products for the same audience? Adapt the same product to new audiences? You want to have some idea of where you’re going from here so you know how to present this first product.
11: Not getting help – Trying to do too much with limited resources can lead to product launch burnout. I can tell you first hand that there is a great deal of work that goes into a product launch, not to mention the week of almost no sleep during the launch because you are answering questions from affiliates and customers non-stop. Outsource what you can and consider teaming up with someone who can handle customer service with you during the crucial launch period.
12: Being too attached to your product – This one might take you by surprise but I thought it was important enough to include. I’ve seen product creators absolutely devastated because others didn’t share their view of their product. If you think your product is the second coming of a religious figure and others look at it and yawn, it can be a tremendous blow to the ego and your sense of self-worth.
The bottom line is some products sell like gangbusters and some don’t. That’s reality. Don’t get so attached to the outcome that you can’t get out of bed for a week.
If there is a number 13 on this list, it’s this: Failing to launch. Your product will never be perfect. Your product may not sell well. Or it might be your best selling product ever.
But if you don’t let go of it and launch it, then you will never know what might have been.