How to Calm the ‘Product Launch Jitters’

Recently I started mentoring a programmer-entrepreneur named Dan.

Last year Dan wrote a book about Sublime Text for the Python programming language, and he thought I might be interested in promoting it to my large email list of Sublime Text fans.

I said, I’ll go ya one better:

Let’s team up on this. Turn that book into a video course and do a full-blown launch of the new course to my audience.

I’d guide him in creating the product, writing the sales copy, putting the email course together…

Dan jumped at the chance.

So for the last couple of months we’ve been working on putting this product launch together for a mid-January launch.

Well, it’s go time now.

Last week, as the pre-launch emails started rolling out, I was Skyping with Dan.

He was telling me how jittery he was about sending out the emails he’d written.

And I told him:

It gets better.

Yeah, I get nervous too every time I do a product launch, or a Cyber Monday sale.

When I feel my stomach start to churn though, I remind myself:

This is ALL an experiment.

You do your homework, make your best educated guess as to what your audience will respond to and—

You take your best shot.

The great-granddaddy of direct marketing and author of “Scientific Advertising” Claud Hopkins spent a lifetime working 16-hour days in advertising.

You don’t get more “pro” than that.

Even with all of that experience to guide him, he said his instincts were *wrong* far more often then they were right.

No matter how much experience you have, or what anyone tells you, you never KNOW how any given email, or sales page, or product will do.

You do the best you can.

You put it out there.

The market decides.

If you hit a home run, great.

If not, well, don’t beat yourself up too much.

You’re in the company of legends.

P.S. Dan is reading “Scientific Advertising” on my recommendation. He said he feels like he needs to highlight every sentence.

This book is a must-read:

http://joshuaearl.com/scientific-advertising