You’ve more than likely heard the term “pre-launch”, which is when product developers begin to create buzz around their upcoming launch. This period is crucial to every successful launch strategy because it’s where you focus on building anticipation around your launch, and get people excited and ready to purchase when it goes live.

But there is another part of every pre-launch that not everyone talks about, and that’s what some of us call the “Foundation Launch”. 

In reality, it’s not really a launch at all, but more of a relationship builder because this is the time in which you begin to identify leaders and authority figures in your market and strategically place yourself in their line of sight.

These key players are usually established businesses, bloggers or marketers in your niche that can help you successfully launch your product.  And of course, this is also the time in which you begin to recruit affiliates and build your sales army. 

It’s important that you don’t overlook the importance of spending time working on the foundation of your launch long before you move ahead with phase 2, when you begin to generate buzz and get people excited about your product.  Many new developers and product creators jump the gun, putting most of their attention and energy on the launch day itself, but it’s in the pre-launch and foundation building level where the real magic happens.

In fact, the more effort you put into your foundation building phase, the more successful your launch will be because not only do you have a solid team of promoters in place, but you’ve established yourself as a leader in your market, or at the very least, a credible source for high quality information and resources.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can create a launch strategy that includes a foundation launch that will catapult your sales on your big day!

It is an old saying but it's true, you can see farther and get farther on the shoulders of the people who know the process. That means you need to connect with those in the know.

In order to connect with the leaders and top affiliates in your market who will really push your product to the front line on your launch day, you need to first identify key players in your industry. 

Who are these people who have the means to drive targeted traffic to your website on launch day?

Identifying authorities and key players in your market isn’t all that difficult to do, especially if you’ve been keeping a pulse on your industry already, and have done any sort of research prior to creating your product. By now you should be able to name at least 2-3 powerhouses in your market. Can you do that? If not, you should spend a bit more time researching your market and better understanding your niche.

BLOGGERS:
Bloggers are usually the easiest to identify and find, and quite often, the easiest to connect with.  

Not only are you given the opportunity to get to know them through their writing, and the type of content they provide, but you easily reach out to them and get on their radar just by responding to posts, providing useful information to those who have already left comments, and by reaching out directly.  

Don’t spam their blog posts with links to your website or product. The idea is to provide value by helping their readers in some way. Answer questions, thank them for their post, provide additional insight and be consistently active on their blog.  This is a great way to get on their radar without being pushy or intrusive.

Pro Tip: Study a few of the leading blogs in your niche to determine the type of products and services they promote. This will give you an idea as to whether they are likely going to be interested in promoting your product so you’re not wasting your time creating relationships with bloggers whose audience doesn’t match your target market.

EXISTING AFFILIATES:
You might be able to locate top affiliate marketers in your industry just by looking through affiliate marketplaces.  

Depending on how you plan to offer affiliates the opportunity to make money promoting your product, you might be able to locate top affiliate marketers in your industry just by looking through affiliate marketplaces like JVZoo.com or other launch systems that reveal their top affiliates.

Tip: One way that I’ve kept a pulse on my market is by subscribing to the newsletters of established marketers.  Not only am I able to keep an eye on what kind of products they tend to promote, but by responding to some of the emails, I am able to build rapport with these affiliates and marketers so that they recognize me later when I ask them to promote my launch.  

YOUR LIST:
Use your existing resources

If you have a mailing list, or an existing customer base of any kind, this is one of the first places you should go when developing your affiliate army.

Send out an email to your subscribers letting them know about your upcoming launch and offer them early-bird access to review the product as well as higher commission levels to those who can push your product out to a larger audience.  

SURVEYS:
Create a especially designed survey

You could pretty easily create a survey that is designed to collect feedback and information regarding what affiliates are looking for and most interested in.

I’ve used tools like www.SurveyGizmo.com to create surveys in a matter of minutes. The data you collect from direct feedback from your subscriber base is invaluable. Not only will it help direct you in creating future products, but it will help you design a product launch around what is more likely going to attract key players and top affiliates.0

BETA TESTERS:
'a.k.a. early birds'

You can also send out a survey to potential customers as well, asking them what their burning questions are, how you can better help them, and if you want to take things a step further – offer them access to your product before public launch as “beta testers” (either free, or at a reduced price).

These people will help you find bugs, provide feedback on the product itself and even provide ideas as to how you can create a backend system that includes additional money-making funnels through upsell offers!

You could even set up a private Facebook beta-access group and open up discussion about your product so that users can interact and you can gain insight into what potential customers like most as well as key areas that could use improvement. People love being part of limited, private groups as it makes them feel as though they are gaining access to something that isn’t available to everyone else.  You can send out an invitation link to your Facebook group early on, and begin to interact with your audience is a more personal, engaging way.

And finally, because we are ProductDyno - you need to implement a system that automates the delivery of your product while streamlining the entire process so that you are free to focus on maximizing your traffic.

One of the easiest ways to set up a content delivery system while automating the entire process is by using our service ProductDyno, at http://www.ProductDyno.com

ProductDyno works for all digital product formats including plugins, license software and of course, eBooks and it’s just one of the easiest ways to get set up with minimal cost and effort.

You can also use ProductDyno to create membership based websites where your content is securely protected until a subscriber has paid to access it.  It’s hands down one of the most simplified solutions online.  Be sure to check it out.