{"id":3901,"date":"2014-09-24T11:49:03","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T16:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/blog\/?p=3901"},"modified":"2017-05-10T15:15:44","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T15:15:44","slug":"launch-sequence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=3901","title":{"rendered":"Launch Sequences: How to turn your e-mail subscribers into paying customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Raise your hand if you know what a launch sequence is.<\/p>\n<p>A handful of you&#8230;OK.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s back up a minute and get the rest of you up to speed.<\/p>\n<p>3 years ago I was in charge of the youth group at our church. That group of\u00a0teenagers was notorious for not&#8230;you know\u2026showing up to stuff.<\/p>\n<p>When I took over we had a total of 12 kids. However, the average attendance was 6 people\u00a0on a\u00a0Sunday and a fraction of that for our mid-week meet-up.\u00a0Even worse, 2 of the main leaders in that\u00a0group were seniors who had graduated\u00a0and were leaving\u00a0for college.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of my time as the youth group leader, the average attendance was 11 kids on Sunday and 7 at mid-week.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>50% increase.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Pasted_Image_9_24_14__9_36_AM_19D30E7E.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"472\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Pasted_Image_9_24_14__9_36_AM_19D30E7E.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"472\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">We capped off the year with a cross-country RV trip to Pine Ridge, South Dakota.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>How did we do it?<\/p>\n<p>It started out rough.\u00a0My first Sunday morning, 2 people showed up.<\/p>\n<p>Ugh.<\/p>\n<p>Preparing for 2 to 4 hours and then having 2 people show up\u00a0sucked.\u00a0I needed butts in seats.<\/p>\n<p>So, I did two things:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong>\u00a0Gave them a reason to show up<br \/>\n<strong>2.<\/strong> Reminded them to show up<\/p>\n<p>After talking with a few of the kids, a common theme emerged. They were bored.\u00a0They didn\u2019t look forward to getting together\u00a0and definitely\u00a0didn&#8217;t\u00a0make it a priority.<\/p>\n<p>So I invented a new program. Something to be excited about.<\/p>\n<p>We started a weekly TV show.<\/p>\n<p>Think <em>Saturday Night Live<\/em>\u00a0but for church. It was a HUGE hit with the kids. The show was terrible and most of the members of the church hated it, but it got the kids engaged. However, I kept having attendance problems. Sentiment was up but attendance was sluggish.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday morning is a terrible\u00a0time to ask\u00a0a bunch of 14- to 18-year-olds to wake up early and sit still for 3 hours. They had lives, friends, football games and band practices.<\/p>\n<p>The last thing on their mind on a Saturday night and Sunday morning was waking up early&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and\u00a0that is where #2 came in.<\/p>\n<p>I had to<strong> remind them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>To do that I set up three\u00a0alarms on my phone:<\/p>\n<p>Thursday @ 8 pm<br \/>\nSaturday @ 3 pm<br \/>\nSunday @ 8 am<\/p>\n<p>My alarm would go off\u00a0and I\u2019d shoot a text to the entire group with this message:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Screenshot_9_24_14__11_11_AM_19D324D1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"361\" height=\"248\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Screenshot_9_24_14__11_11_AM_19D324D1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"361\" height=\"248\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Screenshot_9_24_14__11_08_AM_19D324F6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"361\" height=\"245\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Screenshot_9_24_14__11_08_AM_19D324F6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"361\" height=\"245\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Screenshot_9_24_14__11_09_AM_19D3250B.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"347\" height=\"183\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/Screenshot_9_24_14__11_09_AM_19D3250B.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"347\" height=\"183\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These\u00a0three text messages\u00a0changed everything. The first Sunday I sent those out, one of the kids&#8211;one that never came at all&#8211;was there before\u00a0me waiting for me to\u00a0unlock\u00a0the door!<\/p>\n<p>Every single kid showed up that first Sunday. After that, we averaged over 75% attendance.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/instant-rewind-coverpic_key_19D32697.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"512\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/instant-rewind-coverpic_key_19D32697.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"512\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>Sooo\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>Why did this work?<\/p>\n<p><strong>It&#8217;s simple:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I reminded them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n***<\/p>\n<p>So, what does all of this have to do with your business?<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at this:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/_Email_Swipe_File__Launch_Series_Zippy_Course_Pre-Launch__-_bryan_manfisher_com_-_Mail_19D32823.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"169\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/_Email_Swipe_File__Launch_Series_Zippy_Course_Pre-Launch__-_bryan_manfisher_com_-_Mail_19D32823.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"169\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/_Email_Swipe_File__Launch_Series_BuildBox_Launch__-_bryan_manfisher_com_-_Mail_19D3280C.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"687\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/_Email_Swipe_File__Launch_Series_BuildBox_Launch__-_bryan_manfisher_com_-_Mail_19D3280C.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"687\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/_Email_Swipe_File__Launch_Series_Building_Profitable_Audiences__-_bryan_manfisher_com_-_Mail_19D327F9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"116\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/Skitch\/_Email_Swipe_File__Launch_Series_Building_Profitable_Audiences__-_bryan_manfisher_com_-_Mail_19D327F9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"116\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>Just like the sequence of text messages I sent to those kids every week, these are the email\u00a0messages\u00a0sent by Derek Halpern,\u00a0Nathan\u00a0Barry and Trey Smith\u00a0when they\u00a0launched their latest product.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This is called a <strong>launch sequence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When you launch a product you need to remind your readers about three important things:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>1.<\/strong> That you have a product they need to\u00a0buy<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>2.<\/strong> What they will get when they buy it<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>3.<\/strong> Why they trust you in the first place<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A well-planned launch sequence can transform your business.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When Nathan Barry launched his very first book, <a href=\"https:\/\/nathanbarry.com\/books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">App Design Handbook,<\/a> he had an e-mail list of 852 people. By having a product his audience wanted and a properly executed launch\u00a0sequence\u00a0he was able to sell over $25,000 in the first week.<\/p>\n<p>Insane, right?<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">So, here\u2019s the deal&#8230;<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Behind the scenes at Videofruit HQ I&#8217;ve been working on a new product. One\u00a0part of it is all about the launch sequences.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And soon I&#8217;m going to open up that product for you.<\/p>\n<p>So, for the rest of this week and next week, you&#8217;re going to get a free crash course taught by some of the brightest marketing minds I know.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Friday<\/strong>, you&#8217;ll be hearing from Nathan Barry about\u00a0his recent launch that did over $15,000 in revenue (to a very small portion of his list).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuesday<\/strong>, I&#8217;m going to share an interview with Mattan about a brand new product that the guys at One Month Rails just launched.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wednesday<\/strong>, you&#8217;ll be hearing from Brandon Carter, the head of marketing for Ramit Sethi. He&#8217;ll be sharing a very interesting\u00a0spin on re-launching\u00a0that their team\u00a0put together for\u00a0Ramit Sethi.<\/p>\n<p>Towards the end of next\u00a0week I&#8217;ll share the details of my new product and show you how to get involved with it.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Question<\/strong><\/em>: Have you ever bought a product after going through someone&#8217;s launch sequence? If so, what was the part that drew you in? Share it in the comments section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raise your hand if you know what a launch sequence is. A handful of you&#8230;OK. Let\u2019s back up a minute&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}