Go Big or Go Home: Why Your First Move Should Be Your Strongest.

If you're preparing to launch a new product or service, listen up. You must anchor your efforts in freedom, because it won’t just fall into your lap.

I'm talking agility. Agility is crucial for maintaining momentum in any new(ish) business because adapting to market demands is what will keep your business alive when things get rough. And what will give your small business the maximum amount of agility? An exceptional launch.

To truly prioritize freedom, your launch has to be decisive and strong, i.e.:

• Based on a well thought-out approach that is guaranteed to resonate with consumers.
• Well-prepared, with common objections or points of friction already accounted for.
• Born out of solid, water-proof objectives that are obvious to anyone you come into contact with.

When you launch extremely successfully, you give yourself the maximum amount of leverage with every future move you make. Think about strategic board games, like chess, where the first move can be the difference between you winning or losing. It's the same in business. Someone could come along and see your first (poorly thought out) move and overtake you right away, leaving you in the dust. If you value freedom as much as you say you do, you cannot let that happen.

This analogy is true in so many different scenarios:

• Formula 1 drivers who race ahead right away can more easily take calculated risks without losing the top spot, as they're ahead of their opponents and can see very clearly what's ahead.
• First-time authors with a best-selling book can take their pick on subsequent book deals, with a much higher payoff because they've already proven themselves and are in high demand.
• New artists whose first single goes straight to number one in the charts will be inundated with record deals and can more easily get booked into the biggest and best stadiums, locally.

The data you can collect after a really successful launch is absolutely invaluable in helping your business stabilize, pivot, and grow, simultaneously, which—let's face it—is what we're all trying to accomplish as entrepreneurs.

The other option? Random, mis-matched or misplaced feedback that doesn't help you pivot or improve your offer in any way. You'll have one guy who says "I wish you'd done X instead of Y" (which is completely out of scope), another saying "I didn't find this valuable at all" (who isn't even your ideal client), and a third requesting something totally left field that has no relation to your brand whatsoever. And that, my friend, is what we call a dead end.

I've got two recent, personal examples that I'd love to share with y'all of how taking a "go big or go home" approach to a launch is the ultimate road to entrepreneurial freedom:

1. The first cohort of our elective course with a leading university.
2. The first full-day virtual conference we hosted last week.

Our elective course was born out of a brainstorming session with the Dean, last summer. Not only would this individual be funnelling pharmacy students into our course, she'd also be taking the pilot program herself, so we had to make a great impression.

But it wasn't enough to get the Dean's approval; we also got input from a pharmacist (the target audience) who was:

a) an Adjunct Professor with experience creating curricula and teaching pharmacy students, and

b) a graduate of our signature business coaching program who had had fantastic results themselves.

In finalizing the curriculum, we capitalized on all of the strongest aspects of our signature program, while adapting everything to suit the new audience (pharmacy undergrads in the U.S.).

By the time we ran the first cohort in Jan, we had a bullet-proof plan that could not fail. The launch was a huge success, but it was the extensive feedback we received in May that was the real game-changer.

Some parts of the course that we thought would be a huge hit were, and others weren't. But because our students had had a fantastic experience overall, they were more than willing to go into great detail as to all of the ways in which we could improve the course in future iterations to make it even more successful.

Had they had a subpar experience, we would likely not have received such valuable, first-hand insights, nor been invited back to re-teach the course in future semesters.

We were able to easily see patterns in the data, make slight modifications to the content and delivery of the material, and turn a great course into a FABULOUS course that will stand the test of time.

A week later, we hosted our first ever full-day medical writing conference at Prospology. The lead up to that launch was equally well thought out, so there was next-to-no chance that it wouldn't succeed.

We chose topics that both full-time and freelance medical writers would find interesting and helpful, put all of our best speakers in the limelight, and gave ourselves plenty of time to promote the event and fill up spots in advance.

We created more than enough branded graphics, with varying headlines and designs, that would speak to different types of attendees in different ways. We distributed these to all 14 of our speakers, encouraging them to share and promote the event in their own network. We offered Early Bird and student pricing to incentivize registrants who love a good bargain and to plan ahead. We even invested in a new tech platform to give us the maximum amount of flexibility without compromising on professionalism.

The event was an enormous success. In fact, I've never seen or heard such positive feedback about a conference before, and I've been around the block a few times! Here are some of the highlights:

• 72% of attendees said their overall experience was fantastic,
• 72% said they felt more inspired in their medical writing career after the conference than before,
• 89% said the quality of the speakers and content that were presented was excellent,
• 83% loved the virtual platform, saying it was easy to navigate,
• 78% said they think we should run medical writing conferences on a regular basis, and
• 94% said they thought it was fairly priced.

And this was only the good stuff! We got constructive criticism, too that was highly targeted, relevant, and extremely helpful.

So, not only do we have a whole host of happy former attendees who will likely recommend upcoming conferences to those in their network and attend again themselves; we also have a very solid idea of how to adapt the conference to make it even more successful for many years to come.

If the launch had been a flop, word would have spread that we didn't know what we were doing and should "stay in our realm" of providing personalized coaching to aspiring freelance medical writers.

But we knew we were capable of helping a lot more people and making a much bigger impact, so we did. Now, the ball is well and truly in our court and we're ready to make a MAJOR swing with our next virtual event! ????♀?

Whatever it takes, make your launch count. It's the only way you'll be able to gather clear and actionable insights to pivot or hit a home run with future iterations, and stay ahead of the curve in your industry. Even if it means delaying the launch until everything is bullet-proof, it's well worth it in my opinion.

If you've got imposter syndrome or keep sabotaging your own entrepreneurial efforts, get support. I wouldn't be where I am today without expert coaching and industry-specific mentorship. Find your equivalent of that and GET. IT. RIGHT. By starting strong, you'll steer your business towards success in no time, maximizing your own autonomy and freedom along the way.

Want support with an important launch? I offer strategic consulting for first-time entrepreneurs at $300/hr. Hit me up on LinkedIn if this offer speaks to you ??.

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