THE FUTURE MARKETACADEMY
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School of Marketing

Launch Basics: plan a simple launch

Step 4 of 7 in Marketing Studio

Next in your path: 3.12 Marketing Analytics: read your numbers

Next step after this course: Launch Marketing: Hype, Waitlists, Drops (course 3.13). This course needs no earlier course.

What you'll be able to do
  • Say in plain words what a launch is and choose a small, doable first launch.
  • Describe the one group of people your launch is for.
  • Write a one-sentence promise that is clear and true.
  • Pick a launch date and work backward to a dated checklist.
  • Choose a few places to tell people, and collect names with a simple form.
  • Run launch day and look back to learn from it.

Education only, not legal advice.

Words in this course 35Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

What a launch is, and picking a small first one

In simple words

A launch is like opening a lemonade stand on a certain day and telling your neighbours it is open. You pick the day, you tell people, and you are ready when they come.

Key facts
  • A launch is a planned moment when you tell a chosen group of people that something new is ready (a product, a class, an event, a service).
  • A launch has three parts: before (get ready and tell people it is coming), on the day (open the doors), and after (deliver and learn). Course 3.13 goes deeper on these.
  • Things you can launch: a product, an online course, a tennis clinic, a community event, a small service.
  • A small first launch is a good plan. It is easier to do well for 10 to 20 people than for hundreds.
  • Every launch needs four things: who it is for, what you promise, when it opens, and how people say yes.
Step by step
  1. Write down one thing you want to launch, in one line.
  2. Write the four needs as four headings: Who, What, When, How.
  3. Write a goal as a small number, for example "10 people sign up".
  4. Check: you have one line, four headings and one number on one page.
Watch on YouTube
Get ready to go to market with the product launch checklistGo-To-Market Alliance · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01What a launch is, and picking a small first one
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00
Read the video script
[Host] "A launch is a day you choose to say: it's ready, come and get it."
[Text on screen: Before. Day. After.] "Three parts: get ready, open the doors, then deliver and learn."
[Text on screen: Who. What. When. How.] "Every launch needs four answers: who it is for, what you promise, when it opens, and how people say yes."
[Host] "Start small. Ten happy people beat a hundred confused ones."
Try it now

Pick one thing to launch. Fill in Who, What, When, How and one small goal number on a single page.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Launch Basics: plan a simple launch" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "What a launch is, and picking a small first one".

What the lesson teaches:
- A launch is a planned moment when you tell a chosen group of people that something new is ready (a product, a class, an event, a service).
- A launch has three parts: before (get ready and tell people it is coming), on the day (open the doors), and after (deliver and learn). Course 3.13 goes deeper on these.
- Things you can launch: a product, an online course, a tennis clinic, a community event, a small service.
- A small first launch is a good plan. It is easier to do well for 10 to 20 people than for hundreds.
- Every launch needs four things: who it is for, what you promise, when it opens, and how people say yes.

The exercise I'm working on:
Pick one thing to launch. Fill in Who, What, When, How and one small goal number on a single page.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "What a launch is, and picking a small first one" from the course "Launch Basics: plan a simple launch".

Here's what the lesson says:
A launch is like opening a lemonade stand on a certain day and telling your neighbours it is open. You pick the day, you tell people, and you are ready when they come.

The activity:
Pick one thing to launch. Fill in Who, What, When, How and one small goal number on a single page.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
  • Concepts in this lesson are standard marketing definitions; see course 3.13 for the three phases.
My notes
02

Know who it is for

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

03

Write one clear, honest promise

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

04

Pick a date and work backward

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

05

Tell people and collect names (simple, and fair)

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

06

Launch day, and looking back

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

++

Final project

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

??

Quiz

  1. What four things does every launch need?

  2. Why start with a small first launch?

  3. What is an audience sentence?

  4. Can you say "only 20 spots" if you have 40?

  5. What do you do first when planning dates?

  6. Why add the time zone to an announced time?

  7. What should a sign-up form tell people under most anti-spam rules?

  8. 6 yes from a list of 40: what is the rate?

  9. What are the three lists in a look-back?

EX

Final exam

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

CE

Certificate

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.