Too many people jump to the “course creation” stage too quickly and they end up spending weeks, months, even years – and thousands, sometimes tens-of-thousands of dollars – creating a course that ultimately doesn’t sell.
The key to avoiding this situation is what we call a Micro-Launch.
What is a Micro-Launch?
A Micro-Launch is the step before you create your course and it’s the fastest way to generate revenue quickly.
At it’s core, a Micro-Launch is a focus group that helps you work out all the kinks in your product before you launch your product.
Micro-Launches are typically only includes a small, exclusive group of people; typically 25-100 people depending on the size and stage of your business. Micro-Launches are usually conducted live, over the phone, via webinar or webcast. It’s common to charge anywhere between $37 to $197 for people to participate in a Micro-Launch. They are essentially getting everything you teach in your online course directly from you, live, for a fraction of the cost of the online program that they are ultimately helping you create.
We’ve put together a free 30-day training on the Micro-Launch concept, if you want a deep dive into how to implement a Micro-Launch, click here to register for Course Accelerator.
What is the purpose of a Micro-Launch?
The main purpose of a Micro-Launch is to gather feedback and testimonials from the small group of people who are involved in the Micro-Launch from the customer side. The feedback you get from the Micro-Launch will be invaluable information and it will help you refine and put the polish on your product.
There are several benefits to executing Micro-Launch. On one hand, it’s an opportunity to practice teaching and training in order to discover any sticking points or areas of the training that need more attention. Sometimes the gaps in your course content can’t be seen until the information is being consumed by your customers.
A Micro-Launch allows you to fill in the gaps and iron out the bumps in your content without risking your reputation, losing sales, ruining affiliate relationships, etc.
Another great benefit to a Micro-Launch is that it can give you a jump-start on building your email list. The more hype you create around your Micro-Launch the more growth you will see in your list. Keep in mind that there’s nothing wrong with keeping your Micro-Launch on the down-low, but if you already have a large database, you can use a Micro-Launch to test your funnel and product with a specific segment of your list.
How is a Micro-Launch different from a Product Launch.
The Micro-Launch is used to help get the product ready for the actual Product launch. The Product Launch is the big event that takes place once the product is ready to be made available to the masses.
A Micro-Launch is the equivalent to a focus group for a new household product, a pilot show for a new TV series, or a Beta release of a new software product.
These concepts aren’t new in the business world, but for some reason they haven’t transferred over to the online marketing space. An online course is not a one-and-done type of thing. It’s an iterative process. When creating your online course you want to create the opportunity for you to make those iterative improvements. You want to fail small, fail quickly and make constant improvements to your content; a Micro-launch allows you to do all of those things!
If you’re interested in a deep dive into how to conduct a Micro-Launch, we’ve put together a free 30-day training called Course Accelerator that walks you step-by-step through the entire process and gives you scripts, checklists, worksheets and tools that you’ll need to create your course the right way and get paid while you do it!
Click here for more information on our Course Accelerator training.
