A guy called me once and asked:
“Jim, we want to market our new service with a huge launch event. Can you help us?”
I answered:
“I think what you want is to successfully market your new service? I can certainly help with that, but to simply build a huge launch event would be a waste of your money and my time.”
Like many business owners, he was looking for the right answer to the wrong question. He was focused on making the launch as big and attention grabbing as possible, rather than looking at how his new service could be marketed as successfully as possible. He had sidelined an amazing 60% of his annual marketing budget, for the 24 hour launch period. That’s not a wise move!
Why?
Because the success of his business will not be determined by how much money he spends on the launch day. Whilst the coverage he could buy with that money might make him feel better, as Seth Godin explained, it’s not necessary. Blowing all that money on day one is extremely unlikely to have any lasting impact on his business whatsoever; other than robbing it of essential funds during it’s toughest year.
When I explain this process to people, I often compare it to a lavish wedding!
A good lesson from a bad marriage
Think about it: Many failed marriages start off with an enormous, extravagant wedding day. However, it’s not the big day, which determines the success of the marriage or now. A marriage succeeds or fails based on what happens AFTER the confetti has been swept up and everyone has gone home. Business is just the same. It’s what happens on a day to day basis that will determine its future.
Certainly, it’s a good idea to celebrate the launch of a new project and ask people you respect if they want to join in and share the news. But to blow so much money on that one day, makes little sense.