Here are some notes I took on “Strategies for Launching Your Product in 2019” – part of the Women Who Create Conference by Teachable. They were having a lot of technical difficulties so it was a bit difficult to understand and take notes, to be honest. However, I believe I got some decent points and wanted to share them here. This is especially useful if you are looking to launch a course (like I am)!
Strategies for Launching Your Product in 2019 (Notes from Women Who Create Conference by Teachable)
Seminar with Suzy Ashworth, Ese Eniwumide, Kendrick Shope, Alanna Kaivalya. Notes include a mix between the four speakers. While all attempts are made to present correct information, there is a chance I’ve written notes incorrectly!
How to Use a Small E-mail List
Ese Eniwumide: She did a $30,000 launch with a 300 person list. How you position yourself: Leverage your strength and create that human touch. Jump on the phone with people to get people to convert and purchase your course.
Kendrick Shope: You cannot automate the personal touch! If you get on the phone with someone it doesn’t have to be as scary as you would think. Here are some tips for doing that call with your audience:
Tips:
- Start with a genuine “thank you”
- Set expectations
- Ask them “What prompted you to schedule this call?”
- “Thank you for sharing that with me and I understand.”
- Start selling. “That’s why I created ___ from ___ to ____”
- “This is what it means for your life and your business.”
- “What questions do you have?”
- “The investment is $x”
- Overcome objections and close the sale.
People might respond “I can’t afford this”. However when they say that, 9 times out of 10, it’s not about price. It means you haven’t shown people why they can’t live without the product. What they are really saying when they say they can’t afford it is that they can’t afford to buy your product and for it to not work.
Use tactical empathy:
“Thank you for sharing that with me. I understand what it feels like.” Ask questions to find out what’s missing from their experience, or let them off the hook and close them through follow up communication.
Rather than pounce on people or make them feel guilty, use tactical empathy.
Alanna Kaivalya: Conduct polls, figure out what people want to hear more about.
Advice to Course Creators in 2019. What is Your Approach on Selling Courses?
Ese Eniwumide: Bring it back to the human interaction. I’m human. I’m an individual. That’s what’s going to do well in 2019. Automation has a place but if you’re just starting out, nothing’s going to be better than talking to people one-on-one and personalizing experiences.
Occasionally, you can launch with 5-day challenges or webinars. In that way you make it super personal from the beginning. You can respond within groups when people have questions.
Use Loom and record something. Record videos and send them out.
When you call people, the objective of it can also be a matching process. You can let people know that the course isn’t for them if it really isn’t. It doesn’t have to just be a one-way street trying to get people to buy.
Kendrick Shope:
3 sales steps:
- Prospecting
- Engagement
- Show that you understand the problem
We don’t present a product in steps 1-3.
Teach concepts for free that you know. With prospecting – show up and answer questions. She gives some of her best sales training free online. Tell people they can get it 100% for free and never have to buy the course. Where do I show up best and how do it uncommonly well.
Give away some of your best stuff for free (but not EVERYTHING – don’t give away the entire curriculum for free).
Alanna Kaivalya: Webinars have been great for her and she gives a lot away for free. You have to give people things to resonate with.
How Do You Structure Your Webinar?
Webinars are powerful sales tools. You should showcase your product. One of her best strategies is bringing people on her webinars to show them the course. This helped build a lot of trust with clients.
On a webinar – you should show your beautiful face! Start the webinar with your face on screen, then go to your slide presentation if you have one. When you’re done with the slides, go back to your face again. They want to know you and want the personal connection.
Conclusion
I hope these strategies for launching your product in 2019 were helpful for you all! Most of the speakers emphasized adding a human touch to your interaction with your audience. I believe this makes a lot of sense as most entrepreneurs turn to automation nowadays. You want to do the thing that will help you stand out. This is going to be a bit more difficult for an introverted person like me, but I do enjoy connecting with people so I can see how this can be a good idea. At the same time I wouldn’t dismiss automation as I believe it’s a great way to scale your business.
