Small Business Saturday 3 Lessons Learned From Launching

Small Business Saturday 3 Lessons Learned From Launching Are you preparing to launch your new business or a new offering, like a book, blog or some other product or service? These are three key things you can do to make your launch more successful. A launch requires serious planning and I wanted to share some of the lessons I learned from the recent launch of Social Networking for Business Success.  There are certainly more than three take-aways, but three seemed like a manageable number to start with. 3. Begin creating a buzz long before you plan to launch Set your launch date far enough in advance! It kind of like planning a wedding. There are a lot of details to consider and you want to have enough time to line up the best!  You know who is doing all this stuff well? Gary Vaynerchuk, Derek Halperin, Guy Kawasaki, Dan Schawbel, just to name a few. Go see how they launch their new offerings! 8-12 weeks in advance: Get testimonials from anyone who can vouch for your product or service. 6-8 weeks in advance: Invite big name folks to help spread the news your launch. By big name I mean people who are well-known in the area/industry you are launching, media outlets, reporters, or anyone else you can think of with an established presence. Dont be intimidated to reach out! Make it easy for them to share the news by providing pre-written sample status updates, and  attach images or links you want them to share. You may also want to provide them with an article they can edit for their own site or a well-crafted press release.     You should include big name folks you know well, the ones you kind of know, and those you dont know at all. Not everyone will respond, but who do you think is most likely to come through? And while Im telling you to focus on the big names, dont dismiss the smaller folks. If you come across others who you think may be interested or willing to help, ask- and follow all the same advice for making it simple for them! 2. Tap Into Your Friends and Family These are your greatest fans and best source of word-of-mouth PR! Just like you did with the big name folks, make it easy for your friends and family to share your good news. Make a list of everyone you want to tell, and dont hold back! You have to specifically tell  (or ask)  them what to do. If you send them an email and you want them to share your news, tell them who they should share it with, when they should share it, and what you want them to share. Do you want them to share a link to your new site? Do you want them to forward the email you sent them to their contacts and friends? Do you want them to share a social networking status update? Particularly on Facebook, you want them to do more than just like the update, you want them to share it, so you will need to tell them to like and SHARE your update in their own status update! Dont hold back, tell all your friends and family! Tell all your connections on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ or wherever you hang out on line. And FYI, email is fine too! 1. Send Reminders Your launch date is engraved in your brain, but it is not a top priority for others. Send regular reminders as the launch date nears. But craft these reminders to build excitement and anticipation. Entice them, heck, bribe them (with freebies) to take action on the big day! Obviously, it takes a lot of effort and there are a lot of components to a successful launch. I didnt mention video, infographics, contests, newsletter sign ups or many other creative elements that can make your launch successful. But    Guy Kawasakis Mashable post  is a good source of ideas and examples for this. This is one  helpful resource I consulted before launching, they may help you too! The next time I do a launch, I might even consider making it a week-long (or maybe just a two-day) event. Yes, that would be more work, but, it is a larger window of time to gain more exposure.