Guest Post: Before the Thunder Rolls

Today’s guest post is written by veteran consultant, Rebel Brown of People Who Know. This is her 3rd post in an exciting series all about doing proper Market Launches. Rebel has just released her most recent Ebook called “Rolling Thunder” and it’s available for FREE download for you! Details at the end of this post, enjoy!
>> Read Rebel’s full bio here

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been discussing how to get the Thunder rolling for you consulting launch or market entry. First we chatted about why we need to think differently about launches, and a few weeks back we chatted about the overall Rolling Thunder process.

Today, we’re going to talk about how we get started in a Rolling Thunder approach.

The Gathering
There are two key aspects at this stage; creating the Rolling Thunder plan and defining your positioning story. I’m covering the plan here – for positioning strategies read my eBook It’s Not About You Anymore, Positioning Strategies That Work!

To create a great plan, paint the picture of your IDEAL ultimate success – including evidence, supporting quotes, headlines, customer examples – and then plan backwards to get just that result. Your plan is a simple roadmap for collecting the evidence and support you need to bring that ideal picture of success to life.

• Start by identifying clients, social media and other supporters who can and will share great stories about how your services helped them to move to the next level in business, solve a problem or just plain think differently.
• Then prioritize these supporters into three groups –a few of your closest, most trusted fans who will offer valuable feedback and support (the Whisper club), a larger group of folks who can and will offer evidence and advice once the story is ‘set’ (The Buzz Group), and then the final segment which should be your largest (Momentum Builders).
• Once you segment your supporters – identify specific evidence and support you want from each group – from a series of success case studies to quantitative results evidence to supporting quotes and more. Have a focus for what you want to gather from them before you address them.
• Once you know who you’re going to include in the Thunder, and the evidence you hope they’ll contribute along the way – you have the foundation of your plan.
• Now add your positioning story as the content for all. Test it along the way, evolve it and watch it get better and better.
• Add in the actions you’ll take for the launch and following the launch – materials you’ll need, website and email plans, ongoing contact campaigns to continue sharing your news. Have the blueprint for your launch day in your back pocket. You’ll fill it in as you work with your segment audience to build the momentum.

One point to note, NO plan is set in stone. Every Rolling Thunder launch I’ve executed has changed along the way based on the evidence I collect, the feedback I receive and the doors that open (or close). Uptake happens faster or more slowly, new opportunities emerge, doors close, stories need to change. So plan for everything to change, and be ready to respond constantly to improve your original plan.

The Whisper
The fastest way to get someone’s attention isn’t to yell – it’s to whisper. Try it – yelling gets lost in the noise, but if you whisper, people get quiet to listen.

Whispering is a great opportunity to gather early support and market test your message. So whisper your ‘news’. To a few highly select clients, partners, and perhaps very trusted social media friends. Share your news, ask for their feedback and listen. Get them involved and get their skin in the game. Use the feedback to learn and tune. Also, including a bit of someone’s feedback in your story usually buys their support in the future. So do just that!

Once you’ve whispered, ask them to share your story and their excitement with their very trusted friends. They’ll expand on your whisper with a few more friends – and the momentum will begin. Make sure they are selective in their friends – but do let them share what they’ve learned about your exciting news. I’ve even gotten new clients from the whispering stage – wow. Now that’s proof of a great story!

One point about whispering – less is more. The idea is NOT to whisper to everyone. That’s not a whisper –even if it is spoken softly. A whisper is ONLY for very trusted, early stage audience members who you trust implicitly. It’s not for the whole world. So whisper selectively for the best results!

If you’d like to learn more about how to create and execute a Rolling Thunder market launch, read Rebel’s eBook, Available for FREE download here. Rolling Thunder Powering Momentous Market Launches

You’ll learn:

• The key phases of a Rolling Thunder launch and how to maximize each for your launch.
• The power of a whisper – and how to grow that whisper into a roar.
• Tips ‘n tricks for powering new levels of launch success – measured in revenue!