10 Lessons from My First Million-Dollar Launch

10 Lessons from My First Million-Dollar Launch

Reader Comments (60)

  1. Sean:

    This is good stuff and very helpful to me. I’m in dialogues with a London connection, about some joint venture product promotions. The ROI is good for me – 50% profit after expenses, and the other person picks up the cost tab. Developing an affiliate network is crucial for our success.

    I like the first point about “looking customer objections in the eye”. Entrepreneur, marketer and copywriter Joe Sugarman covers this well, in his books.

    While I’m mostly familiar with Jeff Walker and his million dollar product launches, I’m happy you have joined the club. Good stuff today.

    Randy

    • Thanks Randy. I’m about 36 light years from Walker, but I couldn’t be more pleased with the first big launch.

  2. I like to study successful product launches. I copy the text of their sales pages, make screen shots, and study everything afterward. The clues to a great launch are right there.

    Write more of these, Sean.

    • Hey Shane, I sure will. Would actually love to write about some of the stuff I picked up last week in Austin.

  3. You rock!

    Being highly adaptable is huge. I’d also say that knowing how to be a team player is so, so important. You have to make sure everyone feels valued and heard and understands that YOU understand how vital their role is. It pays dividends down the line when you find that you have dozens of people who are willing and eager to work with you again.

    • One of the most important things about being a team player, is knowing when to fade into the background. Even if you know your ideas are spot on, sometimes it’s best to let other voices gather their strength for the benefit of everyone. When the TEAM is operating as one, there’s nothing they can’t do.

    • It’s soooo not about the money. I’ve seen the filthy floors of the churn and burn business, and it’s not pretty.

  4. Congratulations! And thanks for all great articles that have helped me gain a better understanding of the blogging world.

  5. The structured approach is very impressive but I guess you need it that way with so much at stake. I’ve seen a few Internet marketers who have taken an undisciplined approach to their launches and watched them have a mini meltdown on launch day.

    Great stuff Sean!

    • I just got a flow sheet for an upcoming launch that is crazy specific. What’s cool about it is that A) It tries to detail every eventuality, and B) This launch is still six months away, so we’re leaving ourselves a ton of time to do it right.

  6. Thanks

    Having a strong network is very important. Your blog is as strong as your network

  7. Hey Sean,

    Blog World, 2 years ago, sitting in a restaurant in Vegas, talking about this kind of stuff.

    All I’ve got to say is…

    High Five!! o/

    Eric

    • Ha, I always knew it could be done, though I may have underestimated how long it would take to do it. 🙂

      Big high-five back atcha, buddy!

      • High five to both of you!! 🙂
        Great article Sean ! I am taking these lessons in as I launch my app platform !

        • Hey Maya, nice to see you! Good luck on the launch, you should be a natural. Let me know if I can help in any way!

  8. Sean, great post. I loved your use of “lagniappe.” That’s been one of my favorite words since I lived in Jennings, La. Every marketer should be aware of the benefit of providing a little lagniappe.

    p.s. As far as I know, the every day use is, “Everything else is lagniappe.” Do you know if it’s technically supposed to be “a lagniappe”? I remember hearing it the first way. : )

    • Hey Glen!

      A decent amount, but not nearly enough. We have enough to data to improve the next launch, though. I would’ve loved to have split tested the actual close. The speaker strayed slightly off script at the end. It would’ve been interesting to see the two side by side.

      It was rev share, so I’m happy. 🙂

  9. I totally adored reading this story, remembering when Sean was all hard work and drive, and learning like crazy. It’s just really neat to see someone work his tail off, keep learning and growing, and see the payoff.

    My hat is off to you, friend. 🙂

    • Thanks so much Sonia. Copyblogger’s definitely been a part of the opportunities that have come my way. I’m nowhere near finished, learning or growing, and I’ve more drive then ever, but the true payoff is momentum. Sometimes all us creative entrepreneurs need is a full tank of gas. 🙂

  10. Be Honest when you promote your product. Because if your product has something avg. to offer & you promote with so much fakeness, then in future you’ll face problems. So Honesty is a must. Liked this post. Thanks for sharing it.

    • I don’t know if there’s anything more important. Betray your audience even once and you’re finished.

  11. Great article about how to work with credibility and efficiency. I misread the title, however, and was wondering how one goes about getting a million dollar “lunch”!!!

  12. Some very helpful and great points here, for those of us doing launches.

    I do strongly agree with point #7. Customer service can be the difference between getting positive and negative reviews.

  13. Point #2 is very timely reinforces a marketing principle I was reading in a book at Barnes and Noble last night. Tie the product/service to an emotion and a desired outcome vs. just a generalized notion that it will do some good.

    • Yeah, we had to get super specific on what it did. We originally had a huge bucket of STUFF, but it was so overwhelming we could see people tuning out because, like everyone, they don’t have the time. By shrinking our pitch, we made it easy for buyers to see themselves using the product. When they got inside the members area and saw the extras, they were bonuses, not barriers to entry, and that blew them away.

  14. If you have never done a launch before, how much do you think is enough to charge for your product or service and what would be too little?

    I realize that making your product to small may not generate any interest, but making it too big and being unknown wont be good either.

    • There is no too little. You can sell a coaching coarse for 2K or a PDF that gives a buyer a single, vital piece of information for $7. Or $97. You can sell an E-Book for .99 – Amanda Hocking sold 450,000 of them last month.

      Decide what you’re good at and what people will pay for. Then build that. Whatever you charge, give your buyer more than they pay for; make it easy to give them more than they pay for again.

      • Thank you for the quick response. I think I am going to focus on a small but valuable piece of information. The price will be small. It’s time to take action and get results. I can build from there.

  15. Great article. It will be very helpful for me in implementing the strategies that you have outlined. How long did it take for you to be successful on your blog?

    Thanks in advance!

    Matt

  16. Totally depends how you define success. The first year I had plenty of attention, but no income. The second year balanced income and attention, but neither were nearly enough. It’s been two and a half years, and the dream is only now paying on its promise. Fortunately, I expect it to pay with compound interest.

  17. Just invested in Walkers PLF so this was a cool article to read, thanks Sean. My goal is to do 6 figures in launches this year… will report back Dec 31st 😛

  18. Congrats, Sean! I know all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes and applaud this milestone. You’re a true inspiration and one of the good guys I’m proud to call friend.

  19. Wonderful article, Sean. Networking is very important as it will help you in every aspects of your life. Another master piece.

    P.S.: I am looking forward for my first product launch, wish me to make some dollars out of it.

  20. You summed up the ingredients of successful product launch beautifully, Sean.

    If there’s one thing I would add is that if you know influential people, give them your product as a gift and they will spread the word about it on your behalf. One tweet of a popular “Tiwtterer” could go viral in no time and you will reap the rewards.

    I particularly love your tip regarding NOT being offended by the simple fact that whole wide world will not welcome your product with open arms! That’s a very important point to grasp.
    Also, doing what you do best and hiring other “Qualified” candidates to do the rest is critical as it will help you follow through your business commitments without getting bored or overwhlemed along the way . The know-it-all, do-it-all mentality is the fastest recipe for business failure.

    I hope your future product launches will be even more rewarding and profitable,Sean. All the best 🙂

    • I know a guy who does some amazing business, and his entire pitch is convincing his buyers not to buy. He actively tells them that his product doesn’t work for most people because most people will never be willing to do the work. What makes it work is that he 100% believes it. He doesn’t want people to buy it if they’re going to be wasting their money, and his delivery is passionate. And his conversions are RIDICULOUS.

  21. I realize that making your product to small may not generate any interest, but making it too big and being unknown wont be good eithe

  22. Excellent and so timely Sean as I’m launching next week to my community and the week after to the `rest of the world’. I’m glad to see I have the majority of this in place but I’m totally expecting a lot of zig zagging from what I’ve planned ahead of time.

    For me it’s not about the money but all about reaching as many people as poss that I think will benefit from my eBook and from that end I have been building a strong network who I want to work with to help me spread the word. I’m doing making this a personalized individualized approach as I believe that works best.

    I’d be interested to know beyond your affiliates how you reached a wider community to enlist support in the launch and how receptive they were to you

    Congrats!

    Natalie

    • We didn’t for the most part. The main product had a decent sized community to pull from, and we relied on affiliates to bulk up our numbers. Well before the campaign, we ran some PPC campaigns for testing and to build a separate list (potential buyers who weren’t actively using another of our products or weren’t familiar with the face of the company already).

      We were the “new guy” in the space so getting affiliates was harder than it will be for the next launch from this company. What really helped was that we had someone mail for us, who rarely mails for anyone. We were able to carry that social cache down the line to a few other affiliates.

  23. Just go to show how powerful this internet really is. Thank you. Glad I found you and connected.

  24. Having been part of several Big JV Launches in the past, I want to compliment you on your post. Product launches are unlike anything else in our industry. You almost have to be adrenaline junkie. What I learned and learned well is if you make that customer happy they will buy from you time and time again.

    The other thing I learned the hard way is being very consisitent, reliable and providing good support not only to your customers but to your affiliates is key to a succesful launch. I took so much from this post, and thank you for your wisdom. You blog is a daily part of my day.

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