Top 10 ‘No BS’ Tips to Creating & Launching Your First Virtual Business! (Part 2)

I recently published the first part of this two-part series, and was pleasantly surprised with the feedback, emails, comments and social interaction that it got. Thanks to everyone who commented or tweeted, shared, etc, etc.

In the first post we went over the initial set-up of getting ready to create and launch your first virtual business. We discussed simple, but highly required things like setting up a blog to find your own voice; the importance of building a personal brand so people can relate to you easier; engaging your growing community or tribe, as I like to call it, to make them feel welcome and appreciated, as well as asking your audience what they genuinely want to hear about from you.

I wrapped the first post up mentioning the importance of getting to work on your product / service offering sooner rather than later, with the view of tweaking it, if need be. So, today, we’ll pick up from this point and start focusing on the actual LAUNCH of that virtual business!

Let’s get going…

6. Get Your Marketing Plan Finalized

Relax. Breathe! Some people shiver at the thought of having to put something like this together. It comes easier to some, than others, I appreciate that. But, it MUST be done, people. Your marketing plan will differ from business to business. So, for the sake of this post we will zoom in on the idea of launching either an eBook, or a video course. Here’s a simple run down of a marketing plan you could follow in the weeks leading up to your launch:

  • Create a post on your blog talking about a subject related to your product (engage with audience on comments).
  • Offer, produce and record a free webinar on the subject surrounding your product (then provide a link to your list of the recording, so they can download and devour it all over again, and catch up, in case they missed it live).
  • Create another post where you follow up on the feedback you got from your webinar (engage more!).
  • Produce a video trailer for your product. These are all the rage right now, I love ’em. Check out this one from Jonathan Fields for his book ‘Uncertainty’ – easily one of the best I’ve seen.
  • Post a free chapter from your eBook, or a selection of clips from your video course to give people a taste of whats ‘inside’.
  • Launch!

See! Didn’t hurt too much, did it…!? 🙂

7. Put a Launch ‘Check List’ in Place

There is going to be a lot involved in launching your first virtual, or online business. Regardless of how great your eBook or video course is (remember, these are just examples, peeps!), there is some stuff ‘under the hood’ you’ll need to focus on, too, if you want the launch to be a successful one.

  • Get your shopping cart and payment processor sorted out (examples are e-Junkie, Digital App Delivery and Paypal).
  • Create the sales copy you will need on your landing page to be able to ‘sell’ your customers on why they should put their hands in their virtual pockets (or paypal accounts!) and part with their hard earned cash!
  • Design your landing page, or mini-site (this is where you’ll make your sales!) and test the ‘buy now’ links.
  • Be sure that follow-up emails are sent to customers with instructions on how to either download, or gain access to areas of your site that might be password protected to hide your product from the online ‘general public’.

These are just a few things. Again, based on your business model, product or service, these could change or you might have to add a few more in there, too!

8. It’s all about Customer Service

Everyone wants to be made a fuss out of, right? This is especially true when you are giving money to someone. Regardless of how much they want, or need your product or service… Your customers still deserve the absolute best customer service experience from you.

Think about it – there are lots of online products that they can purchase – but, they’re buying yours! Respect that. Embrace it. It’s the responsibility or every virtual entrepreneur to take care of their customers properly, not only so that they remain happy and content, but also to make sure that they sing from the rafters about how fantastic you AND your eBook or video course is. In the world of the social web, this couldn’t be any more important than it is right now!

9. The Launch

This is it, baby! You’ve worked hard to get to this position. You’ve created your blog, embraced your tribe, maybe even become good friends with some of them like I have here at the VBL. You’ve worked your ass off to create a killer eBook or video course, and stuck your blood, sweat and tears into the sales page to make sure it converts as much as possible.

Breathe. Hit the ‘publish’ button on that launch post, email your list, tweet and share links on your social networks and then… Sit back and relax.

10. Manage Real Time Marketing

You can’t relax for long, sorry!!!

Your launch day is THE day on your products calendar. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Social media plays a huge part in any product launch online nowadays. The importance of ‘being there’ is just as huge as your fantastic product or service itself. In fact, the importance of real time marketing has become such a big issue that David Meerman Scott recently brought a book on the subject!

Monitoring Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for people talking about your launch and product is massively important. Get involved and as always, embrace your tribe (regardless of what they are saying!), helping them, inspiring them and motivating them to buy what you are now offering. But, remember… Just because they don’t buy today, doesn’t mean that they won’t buy tomorrow. Or next week. Or next month. So, be nice! 🙂

Conclusion

So, that wraps up this two-part post series. If you’re in the process of launching, or thinking of launching a virtual business, online product, etc., then I hope the content here helped you out a little bit, and perhaps even acted as a bit of a guiding light, so to speak.

The fact of the matter is, however, as long as you create something that a) people need, and b) is of massively high value, then you should be alright. Remember, there is only one YOU. This means your experiences and your opinions count to the people who have decided to follow you online. That personal branding is starting to pay off, isn’t it…!

I told you so… 🙂

Have you recently launched an online product for the first time? How did it go? Any lessons learned? Any tips to share? Please be kind and comment for the rest of the VBL Tribe below…

Why? Because you guys ROCK!

Top 10 ‘No BS’ Tips to Creating & Launching Your First Virtual Business! (Part 1)

Starting a Virtual Business - Part 1

I’m in the process of editing my first ever VBL-related product, and I have to say, its been a massive learning experience for me.

The fact is that I could have released this thing months ago. But, I have changed things around, procrastinated a certain amount, and quite frankly, put it on the back-burner a lot because of other, more pressing business opportunities and commitments. However, I now have a goal in place to launch this sucker by the time I fly to LA to speak at BlogWorld at the beginning of November.

So, today I’d like follow on from last weeks fantastic discussion on this subject – and present the first part, in a two-part post series with my quick fire tips to getting a virtual business up and running, from scratch, possibly even, for the first time ever…

Lets start…

1. Start a Blog

If you haven’t already got a blog up and running, start one. People like to do business (and spend money) with people. Not businesses, or websites – as far as I’m concerned, anyway. Since starting this blog, my business empire has grown and grown, and even my core business, the Live2Sell Group has expanded – I’ve even had new clients come to me from this blog, who now have 10-15 full-time employees sitting under my company’s roof. Love it!

2. Build Your Brand

Get onto YouTube – now. Again, the personal branding side of doing business virtually, or online, comes into play again. Talking into your webcam is all you need to start off with. Keep your videos short and sweet, provide value, stay on target and include a call to action, such as ‘visit my blog for more free info’, for example.

3. Engage Your Tribe

As the weeks and months go by you’ll start to build a following. FACT – your following online doesnt have to be huge to make good money. I know some marketers online with lists as small as 800-1,000 subscribers who are making $5,000+ each month. Engage your tribe and make them feel welcome. Thank them for commenting on your posts and retweeting your links. Doing things proves you’re real, appreciative and most of all starts conversation – conversation leads to relationships. And relationships are EVERYTHING in business.

4. Ask Your Audience

Before you start putting ideas in place to create a product or service, ask your audience what they need help with. Solving a problem for someone is the oldest sales shooting-star in the book! People will pay good money for things that solve a problem, or make their life easier, or help acheive their dreams… You get where I’m coming from, right? Collating information from the people that follow you will enable you to create a product or service that will knock ’em off their feet and put their hand in their pocket!

5. Start Planning Your Offering

Whether you are anticipating putting together a product (either downloadable, or physical), or a service related offering, start planning sooner, rather than later. The worst case scenario is that you have to change a few things in the future, before launching. I have been planning my upcoming eCourse ‘Virtual Business for Virgins!’ for over a year. I have tweaked its message several times, but the overall ‘guts’ of the product have remained the same – show people how to create and launch a virtual business in 30 days or less!

Having a solid marketing plan in place is also extremely important when planning and launching a new business – whether it be virtual, or not. In the second part of this two-part series, I will go over how you should ‘think in the now’ when producing a solid marketing and launch plan, instead of copying what people were doing years ago – just because it worked for them.

Real time marketing is upon us, ladies and gents. Jump on board, or be left behind. Plain and simple.

Anyone got any comments, insights, feedback and ideas on these first five points? Please jot them down below so we can ALL benefit from them – plus, feel free to include ideas for the second part of this series, too!

UPDATE: Part Two of this series is now LIVE and available HERE! 

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#NewBusiness Chit-Chat: If you started a Business tomorrow, what would it be?

start-openIn the last year I have started two virtual businesses. I’ve been heavily involved with both of them for a certain period of time, and then, once things seem to level out, and starting running on their own (and after I’ve hired people to run the businesses for me!), I step away, manage from a distance, and move on to the next project / start-up.

I love doing this…!

The First

The first was Virtual Staff Finder. This is a service that I started up purely to fill a gap that I saw in the outsourcing market, where my team of qualified sourcing experts match busy entrepreneurs with experienced, home-based virtual assistants here in the Philippines.

When I start it, I said I’d be happy with servicing 10 clients a month. We are currently serving an average of four times that amount, and it continues to become more and more popular!

The Second

This one has been in beta mode for around 4 months now. I am literally 4-6 weeks away from a full-blown launch of this new company, that I feel will revolutionize the way people outsource project-based work. I mean, its gonna be in a class of its own.

We’ve been testing our products and services with existing clients and a few newbies, and so far everyone has nothing but awesome things to say about the quality of the work, the speed at which its completed and the service in general.

More info on this soon, peeps.

What IS a Virtual Business?

This might differ from one person to another. However, my definition of a virtual business is that of a business entity that does not require YOU, as the owner of the business, to be present on a regular basis at any one location, in order for the business to function properly and ultimately make you money.

It doesn’t need to be ‘online’ (ie. an e-commerce store). It can even require office facilities. However, if as the head-honcho you have the freedom to come and go as you please, work from anywhere you want and fundamentally run the business at an arms length – THAT’S a virtual business.

Coming Soon: Virtual Business for Virgins!

I’m around a month or so away from finishing my first ‘real’ online product. I had actually wanted to get this out months ago, but, as you can tell from the first few paragraphs of this post – I’ve been busy building my virtual business empire!

This is going to be an eBook, Audio and Video content based product, and will talk you through how I’ve set-up my virtual businesses, and the steps you need to complete to be able to do it easily, and quickly (under 30 days, actually!) for yourself.

To help me finish things off and come up with a couple of hypothetical case studies to include, I’d like to ask you this question today, and engage in another one of our, always-popular, VBL Discussions.

If you were to start-up, or even just start PLANNING the start-up of a virtual business tomorrow, what would it be?

Over to you…