So You Want to Launch a Product?

Launching a product can be one of the most lucrative and successful moves that any entrepreneur can make. It can also be one on the most confusing, overwhelming, and stressful projects that you ever complete. The number and series of tasks that are part of a successful product launch can certainly cause paralysis in any of us which is why it is important to do your research and learn how to launch a product successfully.

This article provides an overview of the steps involved in a successful product launch. There are many ways that one can go about launching a product and there really isn't one specific formula to apply. In fact, the way you go about launching your product depends on your industry, your target audience, and the type of product that you have. In order for your launch to be successful you really need to plan out your launch and not skip or overlook any important steps.

A product launch consists of 5 major areas of activity:

Product Feasibility Assessment - Do you have a quality product? Are providing a real solution or something of true value? What is the market demand for your product? How about the competition? Is someone else out there offering a similar product? If so, how are they marketing it? Are you a leader in your industry or at least perceived as one? These are all very important questions that need to be considered as they can very well influence whether or not your launch will be successful. Strategy Development and Preparation - This is the stage when you plan out all of the activities and sequence of events that will make up your product launch. You will literally map out the next 3 stages of your launch. What needs to happen before, during, and after the pre-launch, the launch, and the follow-up stages? This is a very important step that involves a lot of organizing, research, and skill. This is the stage when you build your team as you will more than likely need to outsource several activities. Pre-Launch - Do you have a squeeze page set up? Are you actively building your list? Do you know how to build a list? Have you set up all of your social media marketing activities? Do you have articles and press releases ready? Are you blogging consistently? Have you researched a list of potential joint venture partners? Launch (The Main Event) - Is your shopping cart set up properly? Are your auto-responders set up? Do you have a compelling sales page? Have you created an event for your launch day? How about an affiliate program, is it ready to go? Have you considered other advertising methods such as pay per click ads? Post-Launch - Are you tracking your stats properly? Do you have ongoing communication activities in place? Are you listening to your customers and their feedback? Are you continuing with your blogging and social media activities?

As you can imagine there are countless areas of activities each requiring research, strategy development, and implementation. Launching a product is not an overnight task but with the right team members and tools, it can come together within a month or two, that is if your product is ready to go. If you are interested in learning more or want to become a Certified Product Launch Support Specialist, I highly recommend VA Classroom's Product Launch Support Specialist Program. Their program has really helped me put the pieces of the puzzle together nicely so that I can offer quality service to my own clients.