How to Launch When You’re Not Really Here

I’m not really here.

In June my 5 year old daughter Gracie’s symptoms hit their worst point, we finally got her diagnosed and hospitalized on July 1st, surgery on July 3rd. My life (and business) was temporarily halted so I could concentrate on what’s most important. Of course.

And, to be honest, it’s two months later, and I’m still not back 100%.

Gracie’s doing great! She’s (finally) healthy, recovering most of her motor skills already, and I found her a wonderfully creative part-time pre-K program that will start in a few weeks.

I’m getting my personal act together. Sold my car, not only simplifying my life (I only drove it 2x a month & was paying $200 to park, much less other auto expenses), but generating a ton of cash from the sale. Am back on track with working out with a trainer 3x a week and pole dancing every Saturday. Spending time with amazing people. Moving the last few things into my apartment. Forcing myself to take time to incorporate the stress of Gracie’s illness into myself, taking time to recover and rest (my body gave me a sinus infection to force that one).

And I’m starting back into business. Yesterday I finally got through 2 months of email. I’ve been contacting coaching clients to set up their calls. Delivering more content to Build Your Tribe. Writing new blog posts and making videos. Finishing up an ebook & putting it on sale.

And finally, next week (Aug 31 – Sept 2) I’m launching something – Live Your Truth on Video. (Because dude, this isn’t a non-profit.)

But since I don’t have the time or capacity to do the big huge launch, I’m having to be a bit more strategic about this one.

Here’s what I’m doing differently about the launch of Live Your Truth on Video:

1. Launch something I’ve already created.

Live Your Truth on Video consists of three different programs – the Quickstart, the 4 Weeks to Video program, and the advanced modules. The Quickstart and 4 Weeks to Video already exist – so not only do I not need to create those programs, but they already have buzz and testimonials. Much easier than starting from scratch.

2. Leverage a few people to help promote.

I’ve asked a few people to host guest posts on their sites. Only a *few* people, because I don’t have the capacity to write tons of blog posts, and because most affiliate sales come from a handful of the most well-matched affiliates – so it’s better to concentrate my energy on what is most likely to work.

3. Compressing the timeline.

Yes, I have started hinting about this launch, with a few blog posts, emails, and tweets/facebook posts. But the big push will be in the 3 days of the launch itself. This is partially because people are more forgiving & pay more attention if you push really hard for just a short time – but also because I got started late.

4. Scarcity based on bonuses instead of numbers, price, or closing the program.

People need a reason to buy today or they will procrastinate – it’s kind and helpful to give them an excuse to make a decision today. So I usually motivate them by having the price go up at a certain day/time, or closing the program after the deadline. But here I want to keep these programs open both so I can continue to sell them, and because some of my affiliates can’t promote next week (so I want to do some specials for them later on).

So instead I will be giving the first 10 people to buy a free screen capture critique of their first video, and everyone who buys by Thursday at 9 PM Pac gets to be on a Q/A livestream to answer their video questions (and I’ll probably teach some bonus content there too). It makes sense for these bonuses to be limited because they both require my time (as opposed to the giant set of bonus random ebooks and audios that you see all the time – that’s just lame).

5. Rolling out the copy.

I don’t have the marketing copy / videos finished yet. But I don’t want to wait to put up the copy until the day it goes on sale, because I want to give people a chance to think about the program so they are ready to buy on launch day. So I’m dribbling out the copy as it’s created. Gives me more reasons to tweet & email the first dibs list as I add more information to the site, and I get feedback as I’m creating.

6. Livestream class instead of long content-based videos.

In a perfect world I’d have a bunch of content rich videos to drive traffic & interest about this program & deal with objections. But I have not had time to make such videos. So, I’m hosting a free livestream class – “Get Over Yourself on Video” – on the middle day of launch (Wednesday at 5 PM Pac) – not only does this give another reason to promote & provide great content, but I’m dealing with one of the big objections (“video is too hard & scary & is not for me”).

7. Use content from the program to market it.

I will be stealing a bit of the content from the programs to use as examples in the marketing campaign. Not only does this stuff exist already (makes it easy for me!) but it gives people a real inside into the program to make it easier for them to buy. This is especially important since I don’t offer guarantees.

** Make sure you’re on the list so you don’t miss out on the bonuses, the livestream class, or just following along with the launch for your own research purposes – get on the First Dibs list at http://LiveYourTruthOnVideo.com **

So how would you change marketing of your programs, products, or services if you didn’t have time? If you were busy with personal situations?

Related posts:

1. Behind the Launch of Build Your Tribe
2. EPW Live Ep2: Launch Strategies & Lessons Learned
3. The Live Your Truth Project Behind the Launch pt 2: What’s Different
4. The Live Your Truth Project: Behind the Launch pt 1 – Inspiration
5. And the LYT Show Goes On, Even From the Hospital Room