I had the pleasure to attend a webinar last night titled, “Unlocking the Product Launch Formula Part I – The Pre-Launch” hosted by Craig Cannings of VAclassroom.com. Note, the Part I   and as always I was rapidly capturing snapshots of the key information right here in my WordPress admin panel.

(I heard that Part II will be hosted around the end of March and will focus on the product launch and after the product launch).

I learned early on in my webinar days that manually taking notes not only is ineffective but makes it really hard to share the main valuable points with my clients and colleagues who perhaps were not able to attend. So here you are folks…

How To Outsource A Successful Product Pre-Launch: Which In Fact Is A Hot, In Demand Niche Skill.

The whole mission of a Product Pre-Launch is to build as much buzz as you possibly can to get people eager and excited for your actual product launch.  Think of it like a primer – getting the crowd excited enough to not only sign up to receive your ongoing communications but also to get them talking, blogging, and perhaps tweeting about it too.

Craig explained in detail, his expert insights on how he has implemented Social Media Strategies effectively to promote buzz and build hype around may successful Product  Pre-Launches.

Let’s look at the main benefits of a successful Product Pre-Launch:

• Builds momentum and buzz.
• Ignites web exposure -  kickstarts your Google juice.
• Captures targeted leads.
• Connects you with the right audience.

Now, let’s go over 4 Services you can Outsource in your Product Pre-Launch Development Stage:

1. Squeeze Page/Lead Capture Page Development.  Your main goal of your squeeze page is to capture emails, and gain subscribers. Now keep in mind the importance of getting this done effectively, according to MarketingSherpa 60% of visitors will leave your site within 8 seconds.

So here is what you can do:

• Hire a Squeeze Page Project Manager To:
  • Create a Compelling Headline  that answers the infamous question “what is in it for me”?
  • Ensure that the page does not have any distracting links; you want visitors to get to the end goal and sign up – capture that lead! Keep them focused on that compelling headline.
  • Incorporate your Audio and/or Video into the page to capture their interest. This video could be of you talking, a screencast demo or something creative. It’s a good idea to keep it short (2 Mins or under).
  • Research appropriate images of other people to place on the page. People like to look at other people.
  • Bullet and bold the features and benefits; (what’s in it for me…).
  • Bold freebies; great incentives or bonuses.
  • Produce a high quality product for the bonus.
  • Enlist a focus group to review your bonuses, products, etc.. Gain testimonials.
  • Ensure the sign up forum is visible easy to access.
  • Create keyword rich content – related to the product/services.

2. Create a Great Autoresponder Series. A great autoresponder series will help you to build credibility, gain momentum. It will enable you to add value, provide the bonuses and show quality of your product.

• Setup new autoresponder account or create a new list within your existing account.
• Ensure proper signup code is placed within the squeeze page.
• Create the autoresponder schedule. Usually keeping within the range of 3 messages/week during the initial 3 week pre-launch stage.
• Tracking key statistics about conversion rates, sign up rates, etc.
• Create compelling messages that comprise the entire autoresponder series.
• Get creative on where you to promote sign up code aside from squeeze page.

3. Develop and Optimize a WordPress Pre-Launch Blog. This is important. A WordPress blog is the perfect way to continue the momentum of your campaign and ultimately gain higher Google rankings. Plus, the blog will double as an ongoing communication portal for your product, business, and future initiatives.  It will enable you to build relations with your visitors, be indexed by Google faster, and provide valuable free content to your visitors.

• Setup WordPress within your existing domain name for the product and/or your company. Keep the domain for the pre-lauch as part of your main domain. You don’t want to be driving traffic to a temporary url.
• Choose appropriate WordPress theme, tweak theme as necessary.
• Create custom graphics.
• Add in appropriate plugins, analytics tools, SEO, etc.
• Submit blog to appropreiate blog submission channels.
• Link pertinent social networking links to blog.
• Burn and optimize feed through feedburner.

4. Implement Traffic Driving Techniques:

• Online press releases creation and syndication – using same domain for pre/product launches within the body or author box.
• Blog marketing – join pertinent conversations within your industry.
• Blog carnivals – seek out and join carnivals related to your product. Entice others to release blog posts about your product.
• Get new product reviews either through joint venture partners, industry guru’s, or paid reviews such as sponsoredreviews.com.
• Secure joint venture partners.
• Create PR plan to promote the affiliate program.
• Perhaps create a Viral PDF guide – and allow that guide to be co-branded and distributed by others.
• Social Media Marketing through social network sites, product launch facebook business page, Facebook profile html application (advertise your sign up code on your Facebook profile). Twitter campaign. Social bookmarking related information and articles.
• Create and submit a series of 2 minute video clips and optimize and submit through tubemogal, on blog, etc.
• Purchase paid ads on Facebook, Yahoo, etc.
• Run related events in conjunction with the product launch. Maybe host teleseminars giving valuable information away, invite industry guru’s to share information, etc..

So, as you can see the possiblities are almost endless for outsourcing your Product Pre-Launch development. I want to thank VAclassroom.com, and Craig Cannings for hosting this amazing 1 hour webinar – you guys rock as always…