How I pivoted my latest product launch

Recently, I ended another product launch – the launch of my A-Z Podcast Launch Plan. But… That’s not the launch that it started out as! In this blog, I’m sharing why and how I pivoted my latest product launch.

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How to pivot a launch

So I have ended another launch – the launch for my A-Z Podcast Launch Plan.

But, that’s not the launch it started out as…

I wanted to share with you why and how I pivoted my launch, in the space of a few days.

 

 

What inspired the launch

Firstly, I am part of James Wedmore group coaching program, of which there are 400 other students. I was selected for a hot seat session in late September in front of these 400 students (just as terrifying as it sounds), and the whole session came down to the decision that my next program should be based on how to launch a new podcast. But the kicker came after I had finished the session – looking back through the chatbox from all the student comments, and reading how so many people were interested in learning how to launch a podcast. There were a LOT.

I figured 8 weeks was doable for a launch program. One small problem though. I wanted it to be finished for everyone by Christmas – because who wants to be mid-launch through the Christmas holidays, right?

So this timeline meant it had to start mid-October by the latest. However, being late September already, that meant I had THREE weeks to prepare the launch. So I scrambled to piece it together. It was a tight launch and I know I could’ve done a LOT better had I prepared a lot further in advance. But I will say this though, when I am inspired and motivated by a tight deadline, I can move quickly.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone else prepare so quickly for a launch. But I’ve done this many times before so I’m comfortable with it, and I've come to realise that imperfectly complete is usually always better than perfectly incomplete. 

 

Lead creation

First I created and ran a quiz – “Should I start a podcast”. I promoted this through social media ads, to my existing audience. I didn't have time to warm up a cold audience to the idea of a high ticket group coaching program, so this was my best chance at creating leads. Given the short period of time I had, I didn't use a big budget for the ads, and I knew that this wasn't going to create a large number of leads, but I was comfortable with that, given the restrictions I had.

Surprisingly, only around 50% of people who took the quiz were actually ready to start a podcast. It was an interesting result but demonstrated that the quiz was working to disqualify those that weren't ready to launch a podcast in 2019.

Those who got a “yes” on the quiz then were delivered my 3-part video series on launching a podcast.

 

At the end of the video series

At the end of the video series, I opened doors to my program, Launch and Monetise Your Podcast in 60 Days. It was a high ticket offer, around $US1300. So I knew it was going to take quite a bit of addressing objections, even though it was a high-touch coaching program (lots of contact time with me personally for coaching through the eight weeks). There was a sense of urgency created through the fact there were only 10 spots available, 2 of which were already taken.

Surprisingly though, I had very little interest from anyone else. And it took me a bit of time to figure out why.

I knew that to successfully pivot the launch, I had to ask why they weren’t buying, what were their objections. I reached out to a few people who had expressed interest, but hadn't signed up.

• Travel was the most common – because we’re going into summer and schools close for the year in December. 
• People couldn’t/didn’t want to commit to launching their podcast in 8 weeks. They couldn’t commit to group sessions. Busiest time of the year, duh.

What I figured out from this

They wanted to DIY – not do it with me.

So I decided to separate the launch plan component of the group program, and sell that separately. 

I knew I wanted this product to be evergreen – which means that it's always going to be available. So in order to create some urgency, I created an early bird discount and promoted it pretty hard for 4 days.

This also gave me a few days to put the finishing touches on the launch plan as well. 

 

And, it sold like hotcakes!

I set myself a good, better, best goal for the launch plan – and I smashed my good goal on day 2, and ended up hitting my “better goal” (fell just short of my “best” goal, but I was stoked with this outcome! 

 

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