Business Launching 101: Announcements, Websites & More
When I say, “It’s time to launch your business,” what do you picture?
If you’re envisioning a formal gala where you have to wear a fancy outfit, cater food, make a speech, and cut a red ribbon with oversized scissors, scream from the rooftops and bang pots and pans, let me stop you right there.
While that kind of pomp and circumstance is nice (and if that’s your celebration style, have at it!), launching your business is actually a lot more manageable. It involves three key elements that I can walk you through right now in one breezy sweep—speech-writing, schmoozing, or hand-shaking totally optional.
I promise you can do it and revel in it, and it will set you up for some serious dream business success.
Take a look.
The Launch Announcement:
In the spirit of keeping this simple, here is the entire purpose of a business launch announcement: making sure people know that you are now a business owner. That’s it. No secret agenda. No hidden games.
Announcing your launch is a key, fundamental, non-negotiable step to bringing your dream business to life. The only way you will have clients, customers, and sales is if folks know about you and your offers – and 99% of my clients get *their* first dollar through the people who already know them! The first step is sounding the proverbial horn to let everyone know you’re out here and ready to solve their (or their friends’!) problems and cater to their (or their people’s!) needs.
Announcing your launch should include but is not limited to:
Spreading the word on social media.
Updating your profile on social media (including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and/or Twitter) to Owner/CEO/Founder of [Insert your business name here!]
Throwing the kind of celebration you enjoy
Many of my clients describe feeling uncomfortable around launch announcements because they confuse it for “bragging” or “talking about themselves too much.” What I want all dream business bosses out there to understand is that the Haters you *think* are waiting in the wings to knock you down simply *aren’t*. Instead, I promise you will find so much more encouragement, enthusiasm, support, and even potential clients than you can imagine! Most of my clients compare this day to Christmas and their birthday rolled into one.
[cue “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”]
So sound that horn, let the love in, and celebrate yourself.
Looking for examples of fab business launch announcements? Click the links below to see just that on Instagram and Facebook, from former 90 Day Business Launchers!
Suset Laboy – Founder of A Little Awareness
Erica Ando – Founder of The Empowered Artist
Angela Kadin – Founder of Nourished Results
Leigh Morlock - Founder of Strategic Leigh
Jacqualyn Jackson - Founder of Investment Inspectors
Your New Business Website:
If you remember nothing else about making your new business website, remember this: Strive for “good and done” to avoid the trap of “perfect and incomplete.”
Your business website truly only needs a few elements to serve its purpose of showcasing you and your offers. At the bare minimum, it must include:
A Home Page
An About Page — Your story, bio, and any/all experience
A Work with Me or Shop page— where visitors can learn more about your offers and services
A Contact Page — So people can get in touch with you
Worry about frills like testimonials, a blog or articles page, a professional photoshoot, dazzling graphics, and fancy media later. If you can get to it before your launch date, hooray! But, not having an animated logo that plays music when you open up your website will not make or break your ability to launch. (Actually, now that I think about it, never have an animated logo that plays music. It is not 2005, thankfully.)
To get up and running, I recommend using the website building platform Squarespace*. It offers professional-looking templates, a user-friendly dashboard, and is fairly intuitive for even the most technologically-illiterate among us. This site is even built on it!
*Not an ad. Just a fan.
The Aftermath
Trust me on this one, you’ll want to clear your schedule the day(s) after you launch. There will be an emotional, professional, and energetic hangover, and that’s totally normal.
Launching your dream business calls on all parts of you, including your love, brainpower, finances, “me time,” resources, creativity, and more. While some may say launching your business is like giving birth, here, at least you have the autonomy to take some time for yourself once the final push is over before diving into the “real work” of nurturing your business to its full potential.
Keep your first handful of workdays to a few hours maximum, making room to rest and recharge. Replenishing the energy spent on your launch will prove to be super helpful when the work starts to flow in, and you will be thankful you gave yourself the TLC necessary to kick business-butt now that your dream work is out in the world and the clients are a-knockin’.
To help you keep your first work days post-launch light and easy, make sending these three launch emails the only things on your To Do list. <– That link will send ya straight to drafted email templates and help you continue to spread the word without the extra dose of mental, emotional, and organizational effort.
Overall, try to temper the excitement and momentous achievement of your business launch with the understanding this is just the first step to a productive and thriving business. You have everything you need inside of you to make it a huge success, plus me as your resource, cheerleader, confidante, and guide!