So you’ve tested and validated your idea and you’re ready to get your course, membership, or mastermind out into the world! You’re ready to ride that wave of steady stripe notifications to the glorious land of one-to-many income. But you’re still new, and the budget’s not *quite* there for the launch copywriter of your dreams to wave their magic wand and handle all the writing for you. And you also don’t want to spend the next six weeks of your life chained to your desk writing, either...
I get it.
There’s a TON of writing to be done.
And a lot of it IS time-consuming.
But the good news is, once you get past these first couple of launches, it all gets easier.
And some parts of what you write you’ll be able to use over again next time. You’ll have the data on what resonates and what doesn’t — which means your launch will improve every single time you do it.
And just to be clear — you should *definitely* try your hand at launching even if you can’t afford to hire a launch copywriter. If this crazy year has taught us anything, it’s that you should totally not put off living the life of your dreams. And online commerce is booming. HubSpot estimates e-commerce sales will reach $4.5 trillion next year...and you should totally get in on some of that action.
To guide you through your early-stage launches, I’ve put together an easy to follow guide so you can crush your launch goals, even if you can’t hire a launch copywriter.
Here are my bestest tips. May they bring you peace and loads of profit.
The Best Launch Copy Involves Research. Lots of Research.
Copywriters don’t just magically pull the *perfect* words out of thin air.
We get them from your clients.
Ok, Ame, what exactly does that mean?
The best launch copywriters (any who are worth their fees) actually spend more time researching than they do writing.
They talk to your past clients.
Ask them thoughtful questions.
See what *really* makes them tick. Find out their deepest hopes, dreams, desires.
Copywriting is a process of understanding the psychology behind *why* people buy what they do. Yes, it’s quite a bit of writing and being able to string words together is an essential part of the process. But words alone can’t convince people to pull out their wallets.
The best words to use are the ones that your customers already have floating around in their heads.
Us launch copywriter nerds call this “entering the conversation in your prospect’s mind.”
But, but, but...I’m a total introvert/don’t like talking to people/don’t feel comfortable asking my clients for this info.
Look, I get it.
I love people but also thought that quarantine wasn’t realllly all that bad of a lifestyle. So I’m with you on the introversion.
But to get the juiciest data, you’ve got to muster up the courage and have a few conversations.
Or.
You can survey your audience in your insta-stories
Ask for email replies in your broadcasts
Dig through your Facebook group for common threads, themes, and thoughts
Look up similar topics on Reddit or Answer the Public
I’ll always advocate for the conversation, but if you’re in a pinch, some of the other methods can work pretty darn well too.
Build Anticipation With The Pre Launch
There’s more writing here, but you can make it fun if you remember that this is your chance to really connect with your audience and build that deeper trust factor.
In the weeks leading up to the launch, your content should focus on giving your prospects a taste of what’s to come from your full product.
Make them wonder, “if she’s this good with her content, I can’t wait to see what she’s offering to purchase!”
Focus your blogs, lives, stories, and posts around *why* that thing you’re offering is so important.
And end everything with a call to action to join you for the challenge, webinar, or other event you’ve chosen as your launch kick-off. Even if you feel a little uncomfortable or salesy, do it anyway. Without inviting people into your offer, you can’t help them. Remember, this will become more comfortable the more you do it. Eventually, you’ll even be able to dare I say enjoy the process of selling...it gets more flowy and fun and effortless the more you do it. I promise.
Nail Your Launch Trigger
This one’s critical. You’ve got to give a strong presentation with a pitch at the end.
You’ll want to write out and practice what you’re going to say ahead of time.
Sign up for a few masterclasses from some of the biggies if you can — think Amy Porterfield or Julie Solomon, anyone that resonates with you. You can draw a ton of inspiration and see how they’re able to share information (without sharing too much) and then explain how they can get a shortcut to the results they want with a kind and competent guide — that’s you!
And just to back up for a sec — it’s important to focus on the RESULTS you can get for your clients throughout all of your messaging. I’ll talk about this more in the next section on sales copy, but it’s so important to repeat it again and again. It’s a theme that a lot of the entrepreneurs I work with struggle with. They focus on the VALUE and the FEATURES of their product...rather than the BENEFITS aka the RESULTS. This is where your messaging gold lies. Always, always, always, focus on the benefits.
For your first time doing a webinar or masterclass, you probably don’t need much more than a Facebook live to pull it off. Don’t get too bogged down in technical stuff if you can avoid it. It will just make things more stressful. And we’re trying to get rid of stress in your life, K?
I think it’s worth mentioning that some people suggest that the webinar is dead...but I’d argue that the *boring* webinar is dead.
As long as you make things fun and interesting, people will absolutely sign up for free training.
Planning Out The Copywriting Elements Of Your Launch
Now we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty.
You’ve done a lot of launch copywriting up to this point, I know — but here’s where the stakes become the highest.
Once people have watched your webinar or completed your challenge, you’ve got to start selling anyone who didn’t sign up live.
First, plan out what emails you’ll send to what segments of your list.
You probably sent a few emails to get folks to show up for your webinar...and if you’re able to segment them based on their attendance in your email client, great. If not, don’t sweat it at this point. You’ve got plenty of time to figure out segmentation and automation later.
A basic launch sequence goes like this:
If you’re using paid traffic (which you’re probably not at this point, but I’m including here just in case) you’d need a few options for ads, which take your prospects to a landing page where they get added to your email list in exchange for the free thing you’re offering them
A show-up sequence — here’s where you send a few emails to your list inviting them to your launch trigger event
The webinar/challenge/masterclass — your big event, your chance to shine and make your pitch to the world
The sales email sequence — you send about an email every day that the cart is open, with a few extra toward the end (since people often love to wait until the very last minute to buy). Basic emails to include:
The product is ready to purchase!
Offer a solid fast action bonus if you can
Social proof — here’s what others who have worked with me in the past or purchased this product in the past have to say about how awesome I am
Build common ground with your prospect — show them what they get inside the program, and be sure to feature the benefits and transformation
Paint a picture of how great things will be for them when they join you — showcase a quick viable win if you can. Launch copywriter nerds call this future pacing.
FAQ’s — address allll the objections you’ve got here. Do NOT hesitate to bring up objections. They will reassure, not scare off buyers. I promise.
Last chance — send a couple of “last chance” emails to make sure everyone who wants to join has the opportunity
The sales page — the ultimate end of the buying journey, the place where prospects land and think “wow, she really *gets* me” and they have all of their objections answered and they click the glorious BUY button
In launch copywriting, we always like to begin with the end in mind.
Which is why most of the time, launch copywriters will start with writing your sales page first.
Once this piece of art is complete, you can use it to guide your email sequence as well.
As I said earlier, the key guiding principle here is to make sure you focus on the benefits first and foremost.
When you’re writing your headline, showcase how your prospect’s life will improve when they purchase your product.
When you’re listing the features of your program, follow them up with a benefit.
Always, always, always focus on the benefits and transformation first.
Some of the elements you’ll want to include in your sales page:
Heading (remember, showcasing transformation)
Subheading — this is a great place to follow up with “even if you don’t have the thing you think you’ll need” or “without doing that thing you hate”
The results the prospect will likely achieve from purchasing
What life will look like if they don’t purchase
Why this solution is perfect and better than others they’ve tried
Introduce yourself and mention your qualifications
Detailed features (followed with a benefit for each) of the product
Any bonuses you’re offering
Social proof and testimonials if you’ve got them
FAQ’s
Case studies showing struggle, how the product helps, challenges they’ve overcome, and a description of the success they’re enjoying now
Value of the components vs. the price you’re charging
Any guarantees or refund possibilities (make these easy for the most powerful impact)
Who is this for?
Who is this not for?
Overcoming objections
Why your prospect should buy now
You may not include ALL of these elements, and that’s OK. But the more expensive your product, the more you’ll want to consider adding to your sales page.
Even if you think it’s too long, it’s probably not. As long as your copy is engaging and reminding your client along the way of the amazing transformation they’ll experience by working with you, you’d be surprised at how much copy someone is willing to read before they make a decision to purchase.
It’s the same with webinars...some people will try to say long-form sales pages are dead...but it’s really just the boring ones that no one wanted to read in the first place.
Don’t Forget The Follow Up
With any luck, after following this formula, you’ve signed some people up for your program. YAY!
>> If you did use this guide to help guide your launch, won’t you reach out and let me know? Pop over to my Instagram so I can celebrate with you!
But while we’re fist-pumping and high-fiving, the work’s not quiiite done yet.
I’d recommend sending a short questionnaire to your clients after your work together is done and ask them for feedback.
This is where you get a ton of juicy data that you can use to inform your results for the next time.
You can gather wins (that you can use in your marketing copy for the next go-’round), see ways to tweak the offer so you can get even more sign-ups, etc. It’s a great practice to get into.
And that’s it!
All of the elements of a successful first launch without paying a dime for a launch copywriter.
Still not feeling confident? Let me look over what you’ve written.
If you’ve spent hours and hours going over your copy but you still don’t feel *certain* that it’s likely to yield results, don’t fear!
You can send me your sales page (arguably the most critical piece of the launch puzzle) and I’ll polish it up until it positively shines with conversion capability.
Fill out my quick app here and I’ll be in touch pronto.