Launching online is not as glamorous as it may seem. Actually, most days, it’s really hard.
Sure, it seems awesome to the person watching me work poolside.
“It must be nice,” they say, “to take your work outside. To work in such a beautiful location and be able to travel.”
I smile and make a friendly comment back. The reality is, they’re right. Today it is nice to be working outdoors next to a pool and enjoying the sun while others are inside at their desks. Today it is beautiful! It’s exactly the type of day most online entrepreneurs live for and it’s why I love being able to work while traveling full-time.
Launching Online Means Working Uncommon Hours
What the pleasant person next to me at the pool doesn’t see, however, are all of the other days when I was at my desk until midnight writing email autoresponders after making sure my client work was done and the laundry had been folded. They don’t see the moments of frustration I used to have when an opt-in form wasn’t delivering my freebie and adding people to my email list.
Being an online entrepreneur requires mental toughness uncommon in the business world.
The reality is, working online for yourself can be one of the hardest jobs you will ever have. The uncertainty of whether the money is ever going to come in; testing ideas and not knowing if they will work; and being the only person to blame if something goes wrong are all definite downsides to the seemingly carefree life we enjoy.
For every day I was thrilled to be able to work in casual clothes and not have a commute, there were three days when I wish I had someone else to hand the reins to, someone else to share the stress, the uncertainty, the blame. Because working online can be a very lonely and difficult place. It’s hard not to take things personally when you know all of decisions start and end with you. If your product hits it out of the park, you get to celebrate all of the success as your own, but if it fails, the fault lays with you as well.
Wish YOU had someone to talk to about YOUR launch? Let’s schedule a chat.
Launching Online Means Putting Up a Fight
If you want to launch a product online, you have to be ready to fight. You will doubt yourself every single step of the way.
- Have you chosen the right email service provider?
- Does your opt-in headline offer enough transformation to pique your target client’s interest?
- Is the freebie you’re offering what your client wants?
- Did you choose the right colors for your page? Your logo? Your fonts?
- Should your course be 3 modules or 4?
- What is the best way to deliver content?
- Which social media platforms should you be really targeting to make sure it gets the most visibility?
And beyond the choices there are the tasks that are so subjective:
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- How many emails should you send the day your cart opens?
- What is the best way to warm your list?
- Should you use a video series to unveil your product or is a webinar better?
- Is it most cost/time effective to hire someone to edit your videos and slides or should you buy the equipment and programs to do it yourself?
- Does your perfect client respond better to promises to relieve their pain or the promise of a brighter future?
And then there are the technology concerns:
- Why isn’t your opt-in form adding people to the proper email list?
- Why isn’t your landing page converting?
- Which email service provider has the best deliverability rates?
- How do you integrate your systems so that everything works together?
Are any of these frustrations I’ve listed hitting really close to home? Congratulations! That’s a good sign that you’re thinking about the tough parts in your launch. Successful online launches are seldom done quickly, easily or without stress.
Launching Online Means Feeling Like You Can Take On the World
The good news each, every time you launch, the steps get a little easier and you doubt yourself a little bit less. And when your launch is successful, you feel like you hit the lottery. All of your hard work is forgotten as you bask in the glory of finally having figured out “the game.”
And then there’s those days when you can work by the pool… 🙂
I’d love to help you if you’re stuck or second guessing your decision. Wondering what to do next? Schedule a quick chat and we’ll get you sorted out!
