23 Launch Mistakes Your Business Can’t Afford
Emylee here. As a creative small business owner it can feel like we’re launching things all the time. No matter how long you’ve been in the entrepreneurial world you’ve had your hand in making launches happen (even if you didn’t know it yet). You see, businesses like ours rely on the launch to make money. We have to be the ones who are pushing our products, our presence, our services and our brand in order to grow and be profitable.
So that means we’re launching everything. From a blog to a new branded website. From an email newsletter to a coaching program. From mini-sessions to coffee mugs. Everything gets a launch (like Oprah!).
Knowing that you’ve certainly launched a thing or twelve by now you’ve probably learned a few tips and tricks that made your launch go well (or not). Today, we are covering the launching mistakes (that some you have definitely made) that are costing you big time.
So as you’re most likely gearing up for yet another launch, read through these first to make sure you’re not making these mistakes.
1. Waiting for perfection: listen, good is good enough. You don’t even have to have everything ready before you launch (really). We’ve launched courses before they were even made and websites before all the pages were finished. Just get it out there.
2. Launching in secret: if you’re the only person who knows about your launch, how do you think it’s going to go? Let the fear of what other people think (we know you’re stressing about that one friend or family member on Facebook) and tell the world. Your thing is great, babe.
3. Spending money before you know why: listen, especially if you’ve never launched this specific thing before, how do you know how much to throw at it? We’ve seen people spend thousands in Facebook ads to sell a course they didn’t even have feedback on yet. We’ve see people shell out lots of dollars for softwares and systems to help launch their thing and they realized they didn’t really ever want to launch that thing again. Do it once on a shoestring budget then you can go all out.
4. Not having launch cheerleaders: these will be your BFFs! Find some people to spread the word about what you’ve just created. It’ll not only help you get in front of more people, but their support will make you push through.
5. Only telling people once: okay so you didn’t launch in secret and you told people, good for you! Tell them again. And again. People have squirrel brains and need you to remind them.
6. Putting all your eggs in one basket: we’ve seen this happen far too many times. People will only email their list about their newest offer and not share it on social media. Or people will on put it on Instagram, but never blog about it. If you’ve got more than one channel use them all. Your people hang out in different places.
7. Assuming people knew what you are offering: this was the root cause in the not so successful launch of our friend who spent thousands in Facebook ads. No one knew or could understand what she was selling. Be very clear on what it is (especially if it’s a product or service). Just because you know it’s awesome doesn’t mean someone else will.
8. Not spending enough time on your “why”: oh, this is a good one. Why does someone need or care about your thing? Why should they read your new blog? Why should they enroll in your new course? But, really why? Figure this out and know it like the back of your hand and talk about it.
9. Staying in your bubble: this is similar to launching in secret, but it’s when you just launch to your “inner circle”. Get out there, sister. Are there Facebook groups you can hang out in and make yourself known? Are there collaborations that make sense for your recent launch? Go find them.
10. Not having a launch plan (with dates): this is super crucial. When we launch (no matter the thing) it’s always a bit bananas. It’s super easy to forget an important step so be sure to have this all mapped out first. Set dates for when you need to share about your launch, remind yourself when sales pages need to go down or change. Have this all mapped out beforehand because you will forget (speaking from experience here).
11. Only having a plan “A”: what if all the sudden your payment processor goes down? What if Instagram crashes? What if your emails don’t send? What’s your backup plan? And what’s your backup plan to the backup plan? Let’s hope you don’t have to use them, but you need to have them.
12. Not making a big enough deal: babe, you’re launching! This is huge! Treat it as such. Don’t diminish what you just created and put out into the world. It is the best.
13. Having a busy schedule: this is mostly about your personal schedule and other things you have going on in your business. Maybe don’t launch around your wedding or if you have a client that needs a lot of your attention. Give most of your attention to your launch because it’s a pretty big deal.
14. Live promotion instead of planned promotion: so this kind of ties in with not having a launch plan, but what we mean specifically here is to map out what you want your promotions to say. Like the literal, “hey here’s this thing, go buy it / read it / download it”. It’s way easier to batch write these beforehand so you can make sure you touch on multiple aspects. This also helps them come off more authentic and less “salesy” or “pushy”. Spend time doing these beforehand and you’ll thank yourself later.
15. Having an unclear path: this is specific to people who are selling products or services. What’s the path you need your customers to take to see, like and buy from you? What happens after that? Map it out now so you don’t get confused in the middle.
16. Lacking personal support: so we know to have launch cheerleaders (yay!), but what about personal cheerleaders? Depending on how big your launch is you might be spending a lot of time in the office so make sure you set up some stuff at home for the weight to be lifted.
17. Not setting intentions: doing this is nonnegotiable. What do you want out of this launch? How many new readers / customers / sales / followers? Specifically how many? Set some numbers to these things so you can get that shit affirmed.
18. Lacking positivity: if you go into a launch thinking “well, this isn’t going to get huge, but it might be okay”. What the french toast?! Don’t do that. Be realistic, but be positive, you’ve got to keep good energy flowing into your launch.
19. Not tweaking as you go: as your launch unfolds there are bound to be things that pop up that need your attention and detail. It’s okay to change things up midway. Have the flexibility to do this and the mind space to accept it and you’ll be good to go.
20. Letting the fluster take over: if you have to tweak, know that it’s okay! Be boss calm and take a look at the entire picture. Make strategic decisions on how to course correct if need be, don’t go into panic mode.
21. Not doing a mock walkthrough: especially if people are purchasing from you this one is critical. But heck, we recommend it for everyone. Have some click all the buttons on your new site, have someone “mock” checkout to see what it looks like from your customer’s end, have some sign up for all the emails so they can see how it flows. You’re bound to see some holes and it’s better to find them now then when a customer is having an issue.
22. Not being realistic: so we definitely want you to dream big (like Oprah big), but also want you to check in with where you are right now to set your goals. To go from converting 1% of your audience to 15% is a huge stretch and almost statistically impossible (according to online sales patterns). Check in with yourself.
23. Thinking this will make or break you: no matter how your launch goes this one launch will not make or break your business. Trust us. We’ve had launches go bananas well and some that left us crying on the phone asking “what the heck happened”. But we’re still here. We took a look at what worked and what didn’t and we did it again and again.
Hopefully this list can act as a check-in before you launch your next thing. We encourage you to really take a look at these and be honest with yourself if you’re letting them happen. Launching takes practice and you can only get better if you actually do it. We can’t wait to see what you come out with next!
Need help with your next launch? We’ve got the goods on generating the right buzz and planning it out so you can be super successful. The best news is that it’s totally free. Yup, you can snag your copy of our latest ebook right here.
