Anyone else hate prelaunches?

[Garland Coulson]

Maybe it is just me but I find prelaunches annoying when prospective partners approach me to promote them.

When I am choosing to promote a product to my list, I am analyzing it in ways like these:
1. Is the product unique?
2. Is it a good offer?
3. Does it fit my audience?
4. Is the sales letter likely to convert well?

Most prelaunch pages just hint at some amazing system and don't tell me what the product will be about.
BEFORE I decide, I want to see the actual sales letter or at least a draft about it so that I know what I will be selling.

How else can I tell the quality of the offer and sales page and even if the product is of interest to my list?

[Rob Toth]

I hear ya but the actual PROBLEM you're referencing isn't about "pre-launches"...

If a vendor is properly setup, the sales page is indeed already done AND should even have a few hundred dollars of PPC traffic and/or a couple of small scale private email promos ... a general feel for conversions and the necessary tweaks should be done too.

AND, in an ideal launch, the affiliate should be given a package (ie: a PDF) with bullets of how the subscriber/customer wins, how the affiliate wins, how the merchant wins. How the product/service works. Where the money is (through the various pages of their sales funnel). Etc.

The "problem" is that most get really behind on their launch schedule and the deadline (that they've already pushed up 2-3 times) is fast approaching so they start this last minute attempt at recruiting and soliciting without all the pieces even being live.

Don't get me wrong... I'm no hero. Sad to say I've done that in a few instances in the past. But it's never something I strive for and with each launch, I get better at estimating the schedule to avoid such problems.

So do you hate pre-launches or do you hate unprepared merchants who try to sell you on pitching a product/funnel that isn't even fully live?

[Andrew Maule]

I was just recently thinking about how this could be a problem with a product I'm launching soon. I'll definitely have to keep this in mind. Luckily I already know how it converts and so forth but I agree generally speaking it's either hit or miss with this type of stuff.

[Rob Toth]

It doesn't need to be.

"Grand opening" for a new store or restaurant doesn't happen on day 1. They have a "soft opening" and are in business for weeks or even months so they can have operating systems in place, all quirks (or many) ironed out, etc...

Ideally, a product being launched probably should be done through a sales funnel and sales page that is already proven with dozens of sales and hundreds of visitors (at least).

Of course, that's the ideal world. It rarely pans out like that.

[noxit]

You are right Garland and also add conversion stats to your list. They should have some kind a proof of sale.

[Garland Coulson]

Good points, Rob.

It is likely that the person doing the launch has been running behind and hasn't completed everything as quickly as they had hoped.

In a way it is better to get everything done first and then launch instead of trying to adhere to an unrealistic deadline.

So a well run prelaunch may not be a target for hate, I guess it is just disorganized ones.

If I can't see the sales letter and review the product, I have no idea if the launch is of sufficient quality to promote the launch, let alone promote the prelaunch.

[Nick Bayley]

I just completed an internal launch and I didn't have the sales letter written until 2 days before the launch. When you go through a launch process the sales letter is not a critical element of the success. All the content you give before hand should do the selling.

However, now that I'm doing a big JV launch I have the sales letter but I don't promote it on my partner page. Maybe I should but I didn't think seeing a sales letter would clinch a deal for me.

-Nick

[mjbacch]

It surprises me that someone would take a chance and do a launch without first testing the conversion rates never mind not having all of the sales material ready.
I believe it's critical to have everything in place especially if you are bringing on new JV partners.
There should be a launch checklist and if not all of the steps are complete then the launch should not even be announced.
1.) Product itself is complete and has been tested.
2.) All pre-sale material has been created for the pre-launch.
3.) Sales letter or final landing page has been created.
4.) All affiliate and JV material has been created and uploaded to the affiliate resource section and tested.
5.) X number of prospects should have gone through the sales process to get a good idea of the conversion numbers both on the opt-in and on the final sales page.

What would you say a good number of prospects would be to get a good idea of conversion rate?

In my experience I think about 200-300 raw subscriber, i.e. adwords traffic etc. it doesn't really seem to change past that, what are your thoughts?

It's critical to test everything - even test email addresses to make sure they work as well.
There will be some unexpected bumps in the road but at least you make sure you did everything in your power testing what you could and being prepared.

[Martin R Butler]

If you are launching a product into the internet marketing, make money niche, the pro's nearly always produce all the required elements for their JV partners in the way of autoresponder emails, graphics, sales letter copy etc'

If you operate in smaller niches, (non IM) the requirement for all the extras is less important as you are not normally dealing with fellow internet marketers.

All in all, creating a stir before you launch a product totally depends on the niche and the people in that niche. Not all people like the "get it before the price goes up" sales message.

[David Sigouin]

I think your right by saying you want to see at least the actual sales letter..

I make the sales letter available for my next launch in several weeks..

[TonyShepherd]

Surely pre-launches give us affiliates another angle to come from when promoting a product?

I look at the overall launch schedule, the type of product and the 'fit' with my list.

Sometimes I heavily promote the pre-launch then go a little lighter on the main one, or the other way round.

Sometimes I won't go near a pre-launch because it feels like it's been 'tacked on' as an afterthought.

Personally I think all launches are different and you have to go at them from different angles, ALWAYS with your list in mind. What suits my subscribers might not suit another persons list and the pre-launch gives me thaht extra angle to come from when promoting.

Love em! ;D

Tony

[Kunj K]

Yes, the salesletter should be done far in advance and should be available for partners to take a look at.

But pre-launches are still great!