Product Launch Formula: Jeff Walker’s Masterclass Summary

Launch Your Online Business in Just 7 Days

Have you created the perfect product, putting all your blood, sweat, and tears into it, but have no idea how to launch it?

Or, maybe you tried launching it, but it turned into a disastrous failure with only a few, underwhelming sales?

Well, you wouldn’t be the only one.

If this is the case, you're probably looking for the secrets to the perfect product launch with guaranteed success.

Fortunately, the creator of the Product Launch Formula (PLF), Jeff Walker, just released a mini masterclass of his famous formula that will assure a triumphant product launch.

What usually takes 10-12 hours has now been condensed into one 20 minute video!

Still too long?

Don’t worry, we’ve summarised it all just for you!

Jeff Walker started in the online business industry back in 1996 when the internet was just starting to pick up.

Since then, he's found enormous success teaching other online business owners the secret to an effective product launch — The Product Launch Formula.

This formula has helped generate over a billion dollars in sales since its own launch in 2005.

Jeff Walker has also become a New York Times #1 bestselling author with his book “Launch” which takes a more detailed look at the formula itself.

According to Jeff Walker himself:

“The Product Launch Formula is a proven, step-by-step process that shows you exactly how to launch a product in precise detail. It shows you exactly what to do every step of the way, right down to which blog post to release when, and what to say in every email.”

The Product Launch Formula applies to any business — online or offline, product or service — and still checks out to this day.

Keep in mind: Most of his students are online business owners that offer a training service.

Jeff runs a Product Launch Formula (PLF) workshop which comprises four videos and includes loads of extra useful resources.

In this workshop, you’ll learn the PLF inside and out, including:

The in-depth plan that is needed to launch your business or product
How to form a deeper connection with your audience using genuine and compelling stories
The 5 different types of launches and how to combine them to build a perfect launch
How to supply maximum value to your audience
The trick to turning your market into an event that'll get your audience buzzing

Fortunately, though, Jeff has given a brief rundown of his impressive formula that, if applied correctly, can send your product launch on a trajectory toward major success.

It starts with the three main tools needed for a successful product launch:

Stories
Sequences
Triggers

So, let’s get into it!

Keep reading to learn the basics of the Product Launch Formula through an extensive overview of Jeff Walker’s remarkable method that will guarantee a victorious product launch.

1. Sell with stories

Every day, people are constantly bombarded with all sorts of marketing information, so it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.

So, how do you stand out against the rest and effectively connect with your audience?

Stories.

Stories are one of the most fundamental ways in which people communicate and connect.

Which one do you connect to more — a list of facts and statistics or a gripping original story about starting with nothing and climbing to the top?

Definitely the latter, right?

Your goal is to draw emotion, passion, and trust from your audience by telling stories to which they can relate.

If they can relate to you, they can understand you, and people trust what they understand.

You don’t have to write a Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece.

If anything, an authentic, honest, simple story will work even better.

To help you out, here's our formula for crafting the perfect story to nail every launch email:

Start with an introduction: this is where you set the scene by establishing the who, what, and why?
Present the problem: every great story has conflict, so explain the massive obstacle standing in the way
Tell us the story: take the reader through the twists and turns of finding the solution to your problem
Bring the story to a triumphant close: tell the reader exactly how the obstacle was overcome and what happened next
Drive your point home: every story has a purpose, so emphasize the message or lesson learned for your readers to take home with them

So, when building your content, remember to center it around telling great stories that people can connect to.

2. Stick to the sequences

Your marketing content is useless if it isn’t published at the right time and in the right order.

That is where the next element of the Product Launch Formula comes into play — Sequences.

This is the sequence of marketing events that takes place before your launch, as well as during it.

In the masterclass, Jeff Walker dives headfirst into an incredibly detailed schedule that tells you what and when to post from the time leading up to your launch and all the way through it.

This sequence is based on the format of a sideways sales letter, a concept Jeff himself created.

2.1. The Sideways Sales Letter

A sales letter is a piece of direct mail used to generate sales by enticing the reader to purchase a product or service.

This fits more into the idea of a long-form sales letter.

A sideways sales letter takes the concept of a traditional long-form sales letter and turns it on its head.

The long-form sales letter was the perfect format back in the day when everything was hardcopy, and it was only 4-8 pages long.

With everything transitioning to digital, long-form sales letters became extremely lengthy squeeze pages.

A long-form sales letter starts with a heading and is then subsequently followed by pages of subheadings and copy.

Only at the bottom will you find the price and pathway to purchase.

The problem arose when people would skip through all the advertising and scroll straight to the price, letting that be the determining factor of the purchase.

This is every marketer’s worst nightmare!

Jeff Walker saw this issue and decided to come up with a solution — a sideways sale letter.

Like a long-form sale letter, a sideways sale letter’s purpose is to persuade the prospect to purchase an offer.

However, the method used is very different.

A sideways sales letter consists of a series of short emails coupled with quality content over a short period.

This period is broken into two parts:

Prelaunch content: the period before the launch where you build up anticipation
Open Cart: the launch period where you continue the hype until the last possible second

The approach to each type of sales letter is also different.

The long-form sales letter approach is: problem → agitate → solve(PAS).

In sum, you present a problem, make the reader stress about the problem, and then solve it, usually with an offer.

The approach of a sideways sales letter is slightly more complex: problem → solution → problem (PSP) that goes hand-in-hand with your content.

Created by Jeff, it's known as the PS path.

This approach is based on the fact that every solution holds the seeds to the next problem.

By solving that next problem you can lead your customer further down the rabbit hole where your offer patiently waits at the bottom.

The sideways sales letter may sound a lot more complicated and confusing, but it makes up for it by being infinitely more effective.

Below you'll find a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to setting up a sideways sales letter, which will feel like a breeze!

2.1.1. Prelaunch content

Jeff Walker often compares a product launch to the release of a Hollywood movie.

In the months before a movie is released, there's plenty of content published to build up the hype so that when the premiere arrives, the doors are overflowing.

According to Jeff, the same applies to a product launch.

You need to secure your customers before you launch so that come launch day, you can hit the ball rolling.

Spread out over 7 - 10 days, the prelaunch content consists of three videos or live streams which can be up to 3 hours each.

Each one has a unique purpose and perspective.

Your content must add significant value to your audience’s life.

You need the audience to get more and more invested leading up to your launch so that there's a higher chance of them purchasing your offer.

The 3 pieces of content presented in your prelaunch period are:

Opportunity

This video or live stream has the purpose of introducing your product or service, answering the question, “What?”

The perspective of this content is to show the prospect the opportunities this offer may bring to their life.

Use your storytelling to express how your offer will change their life for the better.

You can either give them pleasure or take away their pain.

Within your content, you use the PSP (problem → solution →problem) structure:

Define a problem
Solve the problem
Reveal another problem that stems from the solution and allude that the problem will be addressed in your next video
Allude that the next solution will be found in your next video

Leaving your audience on a cliffhanger is essential to getting them to come back for more.

Transformation

The purpose of this video or live stream is to hook your viewers in further, answering the question, “Why?”

The angle for this content is to show the viewer how your offer has changed someone else’s life.

This is achieved through case studies and examples.

Bring in all the success stories for this one.

Your viewers will now start to wonder how this can apply to their own lives.

Remember to follow the PSP structure:

Redefine the problem you mentioned at the end of your last video
Supply the solution
Draw from your solution to suggest another problem, noting that the new solution will be discussed in your next video

Ownership

Where the previous videos were more conceptual, this one turns your offer into a reality for the viewer, answering the question, “How?”

Your goal is for the viewer to take ownership of the offer.

They need to believe it's theirs already.

The last leg of the PSP structure relies on the “PS” part:

Reemphasize the last problem you suggested
Provide the ultimate and final solution — your offer

With your audience salivating and anxious to begin, it's now time to launch your product or service!

2.1.2. Open cart

Your offer is officially on the shelves and sales should be booming.

Your launch can last anywhere between 4-7 days.

You can now hit your audience with the final installment of your content series.

Enrollment

This is where the journey you took your customer on becomes real.

Here you go into great detail and flesh out how your offer will be the final solution to all their problems.

It's also essential to emphasize a definitive end to your launch.

The customer needs to feel its looming presence — that there's a limited supply or negative consequences if they don’t take action.

This plays with the scarcity trigger, which often causes 50% of your sales to take place on the last day.

2.1.3. Email Marketing Strategy

Though this series of content is extremely effective at preparing your audience for your launch, it needs to go hand in hand with an email marketing strategy.

Though Jeff is a big fan of email, social media could also be used as a substitute.

Even if you decide to go the email route, don’t throw social media completely to the side!

Keep the social media going, as well as make use of the warm and cold paid traffic.

Thanks to Jeff’s love for email, he's presented a beautiful example of an email marketing strategy to perfectly complement your prelaunch and open cart content.

Example of email marketing strategy:

Prelaunch: 10 days

Day 1 (release of 1st video) — 1 email: Did you see this amazing video?

Day 2-3 — 1 email: Did you miss this useful information in the previous video?

Day 4 (release of 2nd video) — 1 email: Here is the 2nd video in a series of 4!

Day 5-6 — 1 email: Here is some great advice if you missed the 2nd video.

Day 7 (release of 3rd video) — 1 email: Don’t miss the next video!

Day 8-10 — 1 email: The final video is coming and you will finally be able to enroll in our program!

Open cart: 5 days

Day 1 - 2 Emails

Our offer has launched!
It is flying off the shelf!

Day 2 - 1 Email

Case study

Day 3 - 1 Email

Our launch is going to close down tomorrow, you need to get it today!
We’ve added in a bonus live stream

Day 5 - 3 Emails

Act while the offer is still available!
Let me tell you a great success story
Only a few hours left, you have to act now!

This very brief email marketing strategy should give you a better idea of an effective method of combining your content and email marketing to create a winning sequence to sustain you throughout your launch.

3. Target the triggers

In business, a trigger is something that sits at the back of your mind, influencing your decisions, depending on whether or not the trigger is hit.

According to Jeff, you can subconsciously tug your audience in the direction of your offer by subtly pulling on the different mental triggers.

That’s why triggers are important to consider when creating and marketing your content.

If you use them correctly, you could trigger anyone into acting on your offer.

The main mental triggers are:

Authority
Reciprocity
Trust
Anticipation
Likeability
Event/rituals
Community
Scarcity
Social Proof

These all play a necessary role in a customer’s decision-making process.

We are going to focus on the 4 most important triggers, but you can learn more about the 9 mental triggers here.

3.1. Authority

When you perceive someone to be in a position of authority, you pay more attention to them.

By listening to authority, you hand over the decision-making to the expert.

This is very useful in business because if you gain authority, you also gain leverage in your customer’s decision-making to benefit you.

If you provide your audience with real value and expertise using your content, you start to establish authority.

3.2. Reciprocity

When you give something to someone, they feel the need to give back to you.

This stems from basic human nature and established the foundation of the trading industry.

You build reciprocity by giving your audience valuable, quality content.

This is crucial during your prelaunch period, where you're supplying content for free and not explicitly asking for something in return.

Once enough reciprocity has been built up, you reach your open cart period.

And what’s the best way a customer can give back to you?

That's right! By buying your offer.

3.3. Social proof

If you see a lot of people doing something, you'll feel influenced to do it as well.

This comes from our deep desire as humans to be accepted by society.

So, you need to turn your offer into a determining factor of fitting in.

To do this, you need to build up some proof:

Reviews are an extremely effective way of showing your audience your offer’s social celebration, so throw your good reviews into your content to show your audience that other people love it too
The comments section in your video or live stream is also super helpful at conveying user participation where your customers can see the volume of people paying attention to your offer

These are great ways to help build a community in your prelaunch period where your audience can feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves and feel the social pressure to participate.

3.4. Scarcity

When there's a limited amount of something, you tend to want it more.

Why else are diamonds so expensive?

Because they're rare.

In business, the key is in the perception of scarcity.

You never want to actually be running out of stock, but you want your audience to think that your stock is limited.

Your audience must act quickly, or else you allow time for them to change their decision.

As we mentioned earlier, the scarcity trigger comes heavily into play in the open cart period.

To keep the momentum of your initial sales and to boost your sales even higher towards the end, you need to capitalize on the fear of missing out.

Phrases like:

Must act now!
One-time offer!
Limited stock is available!

Are common examples of how to pull on that scarcity trigger.

This'll prevent your sales from plateauing after the first day and will ensure they sprint past the finish line of your first launch.

4. Systeme.io: Your Best Ally for a Successful Product Launch

Systeme.io logo

To navigate the complexities of product launches effectively, it's crucial to have a reliable and comprehensive platform that can support your efforts.

In this section, we explore how Systeme.io can be your best ally when it comes to executing Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula.

4.1 Seamless Funnel Creation and Management

Systeme.io provides a user-friendly interface that enables you to effortlessly build and manage your sales funnels.

You can create highly optimized funnels that align with the strategic phases of your launch.

Systeme.io's drag-and-drop editor empowers you to design engaging landing pages, lead capture forms, and thank-you pages, allowing you to capture and nurture leads effectively.

4.2 Email Marketing Automation

A key aspect of Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula is effective email marketing.

Systeme.io offers robust email marketing automation features that integrate seamlessly with your sales funnels.

With its intuitive automation builder, you can craft personalized email sequences that deliver targeted content to your subscribers at each stage of the launch.

4.3 Sales Tracking and Analytics

Tracking the performance of your product launch is crucial for making informed decisions and optimizing your strategies.

Systeme.io equips you with comprehensive sales tracking and analytics tools.

By monitoring key metrics such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and revenue generated, you gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

4.4 Systeme.io's pricing

Systeme.io offers a range of pricing plans to cater to different business sizes and needs.

Whether you're just starting out or already have an established online presence, there's a plan that can support your product launch journey.

5. Conclusion

Launching your product can be a scary and uncertain time.

Without some guidance, it can often lead to an anti-climatic start to your product’s journey.

Fortunately, there are people like Jeff Walker in the world that have your back and are willing to guide you through the step-by-step process of initiating a successful launch no matter your business or offer.

With this summary of Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula, you can jump into your launch with a newfound confidence in your marketing strategy.

But, if you still want to dive deeper into the Product Launch Formula, you can join Jeff Walker’s waiting list so that as soon as the next PLF doors open, you will be first in line.

For now, don’t forget to:

Connect with your audience through gripping and genuine stories
Follow the proven sequence of a sideways sales letter to carry your audience from the start of your prelaunch to beyond your end launch
Use the mental triggers of your audience to your advantage by keeping them in mind through every step of the process

For more invaluable information on product launches and online businesses check out Jeff Walker and the countless resources and expertise he shares on his website — https://jeffwalker.com