Launching a Product Using Trello
Episode 124: Show Notes
We get asked so many questions all the time about our launches and how on earth we manage to do so many while keeping it all organized, keeping communication going with our community and just how we get it all done!? There are so many tiny steps that go into launching just about anything. You end up feeling so anxious about it all. Well, babes, we are here to tell you there’s an easier way to launch! We can tell you how to schedule it all and keep on top of what, when and how you are doing the launch.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
On today’s episode, we are here to give you an overview of every single step starting at the very beginning. Specifically, we will be talking about what we do before we launch a program so you can adjust this for your own business to make it work for you. We are going to walk you through how we do it and of course, we can’t do it without our little magic tool, our favorite platform - Trello. So make sure you are listening intently to this one as we are about to help you help your business!
Step 1: Turning An Idea Into A Launch
For us, usually, one of us comes up with an idea for a launch and that idea gets discussed over a cup of coffee. We make sure it’s in line with the goals we’ve set for the year and we lay out the foundation for it to make sure it gets done. We run down everything idea in our heads, talk and brainstorm ideas around it. We’ve got our laptops, notebooks, pens and pencils. Coffee gets consumed until we’ve straightened out all the kinks surrounding the program and we’ve hashed out all the negatives and possible problems. For outlining a course, we’d have a Google doc open and start typing in ideas for lessons, potential modules, etc. in no particular order. For this particular program, we were doing a re-launch so it was more about tweaking and editing already existing ideas, lessons and modules as opposed to creating anything from scratch. We then start breaking it all down into tasks, we go through every single module and lesson to see what needs to be edited and done. We have an outline of what it’ll look like when it’s all done and start with the end result in mind. Another helpful thing is printing off blank calendar sheets to see our timeline in front of us. We work backward from cart close to ensure we have time for all our promotions, webinars, ads, posts and emails etc. We end up breaking it up even further when we put all that stuff into Trello.
Step 2: Being Intentional with Your Planning
Life is busy and in between arranging a program launch, everything else continues. We still have meetings and other things going on, so one thing we had to be 100% sure of was being very intentional with our planning to ensure everything would be done in time. We added all the major things to our Google Calendar. It literally blocks out those times to make sure we don’t have things overlapping. Truly it’s important so we know on certain days that these crucial things need to happen. We put things into Google Calendar but before we did that, we set up a Zap on Zapier so every time we add a new event to the calendar, it automatically creates a card on Trello and the due date is the day we assign with the time in the calendar. All these things get turned into cards in a specific checklist so we can see whether cards need to be moved into Strategy Academy, the Podcast or where the time allocated was needed. We assign labels in Trello into different colors so we know what mode we need to be in when we’re doing certain tasks.
Step 3: The Process of Micro Tasks
Now that we have everything planned and laid out, we need to focus on the micro tasks and we’ve developed a process for launching. This includes a set of checks in a checklist. It’s all the nitty-gritty things that need to happen. So every single little tiny thing you need to do ends up in this checklist and it’s something we can replicate overtime when we have a new launch. We’d convert all those items into cards and assign them due dates according to the plan we’d already mapped out. We found it easier to set up our high-level items first instead of writing every little nitty-gritty detail out on paper and missing things. Don’t waste your time in your brainstorming session writing down all those little details. Move those high-level things into Trello. Turn your calendar view on and see what needs to be done before each high-level task. Make that a process. Whatever all those things are, they get bumped into cards inside the particular list for a particular product. Then, you won’t end up missing stuff. When you see the bigger picture, you’ll be able to stay on track and make things happen in the way you want them to.
Step 4: Communicating Using Trello
Following our micro tasks set out on Trello and having our high-level items blocked out in our calendars, we need to sort out who needs to do what throughout this process since we are obviously partners. We discuss who’s working on what and if we need to communicate anything with our team, we tag them in the card and give them some brief instructions about what needs to happen and when. We can also upload a screenshot, slides or an email if one of us needs to do the final approval or if we need to pass the baton off to someone else. This is where we make that happen. We found if we communicate these things via email or anywhere else it gets lost along with the files, docs and images. Trello helps us keep everything together in one place and keep it organized so nothing gets lost in the process. It might sound really simple but it took us over a year to figure out.
Step 5: Visibility and Focus
When you’re launching something super important to you and your business, during the launch you cannot assign yourself anything else except things related to it. You might think you can juggle everything all at once. Babe, stop the bus. You can’t. You need to be 100% focused on what you’re doing. It’s all about customer service and showing up for your people. You need to be visible throughout your launch and engage with your community through Facebook lives, webinars, comments and messages. You need to give yourself some breathing room to be able to put out any fires that come your way. We’ve tried doing it all at once but we were so frazzled and things slipped through the cracks. It’s not worth it. Maintain your focus on what you’re doing. Show up for the people, be engaged and make sure it runs smoothly. Free up your schedule once the promotion and the launch starts. Give yourself breathing room to do that. Be mindful of communicating with your clients about your launch and how you might be a little delayed in your responses or whatever it may be. Schedule an auto-reply if need be. Communication is key.
Step 6: Recap and Recount
One of the biggest things that helped our launches was having a launch recap within twenty-four hours of closing the doors to your launch. While it’s all still fresh in your memory and your inbox, go through the good and bad, the ups and downs, what worked and didn’t, what you could do better next time. Discuss all of those things. Be sure to block off your calendar the day after the launch ended so you can do the run down and have all your stats. This fresh recap is crucial for your launches moving forward. Write it all down so you can go back to it. We also created a checklist on Trello during the week so we could add in things as they were happening. Though we couldn’t change it or fix it for that specific launch, we made a note of it for the next launch. Tracking your analytics throughout the launch is also very helpful when doing future planning and for recapping on the success of the launch. That is also another way we can grow our community and reach out to more people.
Quote This
It’s really when you see the bigger picture that you’ll be able to stay on track and make things happen.
Highlights
First, we’re talking about step one, how an idea is born and where to go from there. [0:04:00.0]
Second, it’s all about being intentional with your planning to ensure everything gets done on time. [0:11:35.0]
Next, you’re focusing on the micro-tasks once everything is planned. [0:15:00.0]
Then, we focus on communicating using Trello to ensure everything stays in one place, regardless of who’s involved. [0:21:17.0]
The importance of ensuring you’re visible throughout your launch and 100% focused on the launch. [0:23:00.0]
Finally, it’s going in and taking account of what happened during the launch and recapping on the whole process and seeing what needs to be edited. [0:26:45.0]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Turning An Idea Into A Launch, Being Intentional with Your Planning, The Process of Micro Tasks, Communicating Using Trello, Visibility and Focus, Recap and Recount
