Even if you love launching, you can’t launch all the time. It would not only exhaust you, but also your email list. So how can you sell between launches?
In this episode, I’m sharing 9 simple promotion strategies you can apply to sell between launches.
“You should always be seeding – as soon as you finish one launch, you should prepare for the next one.” - Sigrun
If you’re more of a reader, scroll down to read my 9 promotion strategies that sell.
What you will get out of this episode:
- Why you need to launch in the first place (1:45)
- Having a program that people can buy anytime (5:07)
- The P.S. promo (7:30)
- The video promo (9:18)
- Social selling (10:33)
- The 9 word email (13:14)
- Mini launch (15:31)
- Affiliate marketing (18:05)
- Offer on your freebie thank you page (19:46)
- Automated webinar funnel (21:50)
- Pocket product funnel (23:01)
9 Promotion Strategies That Sell Between Launches
#1 The P.S. Promo
For every newsletter you send out, add a “P.S.” at the bottom and list the ways people can work with you, free and paid.
Here’s an example from a “P.S” I use in my emails:
P.S. When you’re ready to grow your online business, here are two ways I can help you…
- Follow me on Instagram and DM me your biggest business challenge and I’ll give you a tip on what to do – Click here.
- Step up and scale your online business to $10K-$20K months inside our SOMBA Momentum program – Book a free call here.
It doesn’t cost anything to add a P.S and let people know – start trying it out in your own emails and see the results it can bring.
#2 The Video Promo
Create a short video around a pressing problem that you know your audience is struggling with and send the video out to your email list. Only those who click to watch the video get an offer.
Here’s an example for a video promo:
I create a video on how to sell between launches. I email my list that I have created this new video and I tag those who click on the link to watch the video. The next day I follow up with an offer that shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who watched the video, for example an online course for $297 on how to sell between launches with all the templates and scripts.
The promo lasts 3-4 days and the rest of the email list does not get any emails and there is no social media about the promo.
#3 Social Selling
Post on your personal profile and your business profile and invite the right people to send you a direct message. This is one of the best ways to promote without launching.
Here’s an example for social selling:
I want to offer a 6 day retreat in Iceland and before I go off and create the sales page and book everything, I write a post on social media. The post is 200-300 words long, contains a nice image and highlights all the feelings about this magical retreat (but not too many facts!). At the end, I ask people who are interested to PM me.
Those who PM me are my “launch list” and I can follow up with them and possibly sell the retreat even without a sales page if I did a good job on the social media post.
#4 The 9 word email
The 9-word email was developed by Dean Jackson, a successful real estate entrepreneur and online marketer, in an effort to re-engage lost prospects. Jackson’s claim was that a subject line displaying the recipient’s name only, and a body with a one-line (originally 9-word) question is all you need to engage.
Here’s an example of a 9-word email:
Email subject line: Sigrun
Email body: Are you still looking to grow your online business?
Be cautious when applying this strategy. It’s meant to re-engage those who have already shown interest, and not to sell to a new person who has no idea what you’re talking about
#5 Mini Launch
Instead of going into a full launch, my team and I sometimes offer a paid workshop where only the people who join the workshop are presented with an offer. This promotion has all the elements of a launch, but it’s much shorter and easier to do.
Here’s an example of a mini-launch:
In March and May 2020, we held the weekend workshop Create Your Recession Proof Offer for $97. Only those who joined the workshop received an offer for the Online Turnaround/SOMBA Accelerator program. The cart was open for 7 days but can also be shorter in a mini launch.
#6 Affiliate Marketing
One of the best ways to sell between launches is to be an affiliate and either do a small promotion or a proper launch. Even if you decide to go with a full launch, the effort will still be smaller compared to when you do your own launch, because you’re concentrating on the marketing and not on all the other aspects of a launch.
Here’s an example of being an affiliate:
I’m an affiliate for Selena Soo and her PR & Media program Impacting Millions. The first time I participated it was more work because my team and I had to create all our assets, but now that they’ve been created and can be reused it’s less work. The launch plan comes from Selena’s team, so we can pick and choose what we want to do to achieve our goals.
#7 Offer on your freebie thank you page
If you have an amazing freebie people are signing up for, add an offer to your thank you page for a free discovery call.
Here’s an example of an offer on your thank you page:
Apply now for a free ”90 Day Profit Planning Session”
Thank you so much for requesting my Profit Planning Checklist! You’ll be receiving an email in the next 5 to 10 minutes that has a link to download your checklist.
While you’re waiting, I have something very special to share with you: Book your complimentary call now, available for a limited time.
#8 Automated webinar funnel
If you have an online course you have launched successfully multiple times, automate it with a webinar funnel. To hit a sweet spot, your online course should ideally be around $1000. It needs to be evergreen – people need to be able to join anytime. In Momentum, we help our clients set up such automated funnels.
#9 Pocket Product Funnel
Instead of a freebie or a free webinar, you first sell a small product for $37 or $47. In your follow up email sequence, you move on to selling another program. The second program can be anything from an automated online course to a high end group coaching program.
The tiny offer strategy is very popular at the moment. I recently did an interview with Allie Bjerk, who is an expert in setting up tiny offers.