When Jeff Walker created and popularised the Product Launch Formula, he turned Internet marketing on its head.
Here is a video of Joe Polish interviewing Jeff. It’s over 80 minutes long.
It’s easy to get a bit too cynical about the product launch process if you’ve experienced it plenty of times in the Internet marketing “make money online” niche.
It can get very hyped up when there are hundreds or perhaps even thousands of affiliates promoting the product launch and everyone’s email inbox is being saturated with news of the launch.
The process of building up expectation and excitement before the product is released and then removed from the market isn’t too much different from the way films are promoted.
First there is the cinema launch, then its released on DVD and then makes its way to paid for cable and then free TV. Each time squeezing more money out of the market.
Even as company as wholesome as Disney release a DVD to a great fanfare and then withdraw it from the market, ready to go through a big launch again sometime in the future.
Jeff talks about the effect of the launch as the equivalent of a sideways sales letter. Instead of receiving the entire sales pitch in one go, you get it sliced into more palatable segments.
You also share valuable content to give people a chance to buy into the ideas. Perhaps to even get results in advance.
This is a great example of pre-selling a product or service and building up desire before it can be purchased.
The Product Launch Formula gains a lot from the ideas of influence and persuasion developed and popularised by Robert Cialdini.
