I’ve seen a lot of debate about whether launching in uncertain times is a good idea, or if it can hurt your business reputation.

The short answer:

As long as you have a product or course that can help someone, it’s 100% okay to launch at any time.

But, the long answer includes a few caveats like making sure not to blindly ignore current crises, or to use pre-scheduled emails without looking at them.

After watching six different launches that took place in March and April this year, here’s 10 do’s and don’ts for you to consider as you move forward with any launch.

Because times will likely be uncertain for many months to come!

Pre-Launch Content Do’s and Don’ts for Launching In Uncertain Times

 

When it comes to kicking off your launch, your pre-launch content helps set the tone for who will end up buying.

So it’s just as important to make sure to use the most of your warm up time with your audience, during uncertain times.

DO Keep Attention While You Have It

I’ve noticed just with general FB ads and emails that attention is up, but engagement is down. So when I saw Selena Soo having people opt in for her free video series – AND – saving their seat for the webinar at the same time,  I thought that was brilliant.

DO Talk About What’s Happening

I definitely saw most people using live pre-launch content, whether it was a live webinar or a live video series.

Because the worst thing you could do is ignore and pretend nothing more important than your launch is happening.

But if you use these opportunities to ask how your audience is doing, and frame your pitch at the very beginning, you’ll be set up for success.

One of the best ways I saw this done was on the Clockwork Accelerator webinar, where they dove right in with their first few slides to genuinely ask how their audience was doing. And then proceeded to share why times like now made their program matter more than ever.

DON’T get distracted and forget the little things

While the audience attention is hard to gain, your attention while launching is pulled in hundreds of directions. But it’s super important that you keep the little things front and center.

Like updating your landing page for webinar and video series dates. This screenshot of the Authentic Selling video series was taken on March 27, 10 days after the release of Video 1. It should have been a quick tweak to say “get instant access to the first lesson when you sign up below!”.

Or how the Clockwork Accelerator sales page footer was a year behind…

It may seem nit-picky, but these small details really matter as to what people think the quality of your course will be like, and how much attention to detail they’ll get on the other side.

Sales Page Do’s and Don’ts For Launching In Uncertain Times

 

One of the most time consuming places to update your launch in uncertain times would be the sales page.

If you’re like many of my clients and mentors, it’s usually 90% the same sales page with some tweaks.

But during uncertain times, this is one of the most important pieces to update so you can clearly communicate why your launch still matters, despite what else might be going on in the world.

DON’T Forget To Update Your FAQs

In all the launches I was studying, not a single one had any updated FAQs to address the current situation.

I felt this was really a missed opportunity, since it’s one of the fastest parts of a sales page to edit.

No sales page I’ve looked at so far addressed COVID-19 in FAQS. seems like a quick and easy place to add it!

DON’T Forget To Check Your Tone

One place that the Clockwork Accelerator program really missed out was on their tone. The opening image of their sales page was about going on vacation, during the height of the pandemic where that would be impossible.

Another place I saw this was on the Authentic Selling page with an “Imagine If” day description. Of course everyone wants this ideal day, but it was March 27th and NO ONE’s day looked like this in the middle of the self-quarantine.

DO Create a “Chat” Or Bonus Page

Copyhackers took a direct approach and made a landing page you had to hit before checking out the full sales page for Copy School, and used this link for all their emails.

This helped them put you through a filter of how they were helping you right now, opening the page with “New bonuses in special response to the economic impact of COVID-19:”, before you ever read the sales page.

And they brilliantly called it a “chat” page, so that popped up automatically as well. 

But they used this link for ALL their emails, so you had to come here first before seeing the sales page.

Pricing Do’s and Don’ts For Launching In Uncertain Times

 

We all get tripped up about how to price our courses, but trying to figure it out amid a global pandemic only adds more doubts to the fire about what people can afford.

So what can you do to make sure your launch is still successful at any price?

DO Extend Your Payment Options

If there was one place I saw every launch double down, it was on creating scalable payment plans for their programs.

Copyhackers did the best job with their payment options during this uncertain launch, emphasizing the 12 pay above pay in full. And they also included an option for a team – what a benefit when maybe they have more learning time since projects aren’t in full swing.

And took it one step further by creating a Google template you could copy and paste to send to corporate, to ask that they buy Copy School for you!

Stu McClaren’s TRIBE program has been famously expense, and last year the minimum down payment to get started was $797 (for three payments).

This year, they opened up a 6-part payment plan for the firs time, so you could join for just $397 down.

And didn’t emphasize the pay in full at all!

Clockwork Accelerator also added an extended payment plan mid launch. At first, their minimum investment was 6 payments of $794, and then they added a 12-part payment plan as well.

Jamie Varon offered special pricing to her email list for Live With Intention, so they got an even better discount than the original early bird, which made it very affordable for anyone who was interested in joining.

Authentic Selling offered several payment plans, without assuming people wouldn’t have money for the full investment or the minimum payment.

Don’t Forget To Change Your Bonuses

If you’ve ever watched one of Stu’s launches before, you know that a huge bonus you get with TRIBE is a ticket to join him at TRIBE Live.

But with the future of live events unknown, he quickly switched it up to including a ticket, but in a place and time to be determined, saying “Real quick about TRIBE Live. The health and safety of our customers is the most important thing. Given the situation around COVID-19, we will not be hosting TRIBE Live this year. Your ticket will be valid for the next TRIBE Live event. We will send more details when dates are confirmed.”

Unlike during Selena Soo’s launch where she was offering a New York City giveaway, right when the Big Apple was the heart of the pandemic outbreak.

And it probably didn’t drive much desire to buy or participate.

DO Offer Extra Support For Joining Decisions

There are always going to be questions and objections after people read your sales page. But when you’re launching in uncertain times? Those questions are probably going to quadruple!

So be ready to make an investment in getting those questions answered!

On Selena Soo’s sales page, she had a pop up after you’d been on the page a little while to prompt you to reach out.

For Jamie Varon’s Live With Intention program, she offered anyone the opportunity to email her at the bottom of the sales page. (Plus, told them when they’d hear back!)

For Stu’s launch, he set up a phone number and text line that he used as one of his final emails to the list.

Using Downsells When Launching In Uncertain Times

 

The biggest “Do” I’ll leave you with is to use a downsell offer with your launch.

This is a go-to recommendation for all my launch clients, but almost every single launch I had my eye on used this tactic.

Why? Because it helps capitalize on the “I want it but can’t afford” it objection they were likely hearing.

Copyhackers Copy School gives you access to ALL their programs. So as a super smart downsell they let you choose just one of the programs for $97 (reg. $297).

Authentic Selling University is a large time investment program as run, running for X weeks. So as a downsell you could get access to the most popular lesson of the program as a workshop.

Your Turn

If you’ve seen anyone launching so far in 2020, what is something you’ve liked that they have done, and what’s something you wish they would have changed?

Share any other do’s and don’ts for launching in uncertain times with us below!