MBA1040 Q&A Wednesday: What do you include on a pre-launch product page if you don’t have product creatives or app screenshots?

Hey O welcome to the $100 RMBA show. Because business doesn't stop so neither do we with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar MBA, a complete business training and community online over at 100 MBA Net and today's episode is a Q and episode on our Q and A Wednesday episodes. I answer a question from you, one of our listeners. If you have a question you want to ask, just email me over at omar100mba net I would love to answer it right here on the show. Today's question is from Kyan and Kyan asks what do you include in a pre launch page for a product if you don't have any product creatives or screenshots? Great question because its answer is going to help you create a better product and a better sales page and website for your business when it actually launches. Putting up a pre launch page is so important to gain interest and create buzz for your soon to be launched product. You don't want to be hindered or delayed by the fact that you might not have any mock ups or screenshots of your actual product. So what do you put on this page if you don't have any imagery? That's what you'll learn in today's episode. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Today's episode of the $100 MBA show is supported by Earth ClassMail. If you run a business, you need a business address, but it doesn't mean you need to open up a business office. You can work from Home and Earth ClassMail can hook you up with a business address and scan all your mail and upload it to your account in the cloud so you can check all your physical mail anytime, anywhere. I love it. I love it, I love it. And we use EarthClassMail because we love it so much and Earth ClassMail wants to hook you up with a free month to get started. Just go to earthclassmail.com mbamonth again it's earthclassmail.com mbamanth use coupon code mbamonth. So Kyan asks what do you include in a pre launch page for a product when you don't have any product screenshots, when you don't have a demo or any mockups that you can show, this is actually a good thing. This is going to force you to be simple and to the point on your actual pre launch page. Ideally, you want your pre launch page to have no scroll. That means just enough content to be above the fold. So what do you include on this pre launch page? If you have no images, no mockups, what do you do? Well, first of all, you definitely need an opt in. That's an essential thing. You need a way for people to submit their name and email address so they can get on the waiting list, so they can express their interest in your soon to be released product or get on, you know, the beta launch or get early access. And that leads me to the next thing you should have on this page. What's the incentive for signing up for the pre launch page? What will they get? Will they get a discount? Will they get first access? Will they get a behind the scenes demo? When it's possible, when you do have some mockups in one line, in one sentence, you need to tell people why they should sign up, why they should sign up for pre launch. What's the incentive? What's in it for them? Now, what else should you have on this page? Well, you need words and words are the best descriptor. Yes, images are great and it shows people what they're getting. But when you're forced to write about your product, it forces you to really hone in what problem you're solving and how you're solving it. And that's a great place to start. On your pre launch page, what problem are you solving and how are you solving it? Literally write the answers to that on your pre launch page. So if you have a new app that trains puppies, so the problem you're solving is are you having trouble training your new puppy? That's a headline, that's the problem you're solving now, how you're solving it. With this new app, whatever it's called, you'll be able to train your new puppy three times faster than you normally would without this app. We do this with this special technology that we have embedded into the dog's collar, whatever it is, maybe the collar gives the dog a little massage every time they do something good. I don't know. I didn't create this app. But the point is, is that you explain how you solve the problem uniquely with your solution. Now, just because you don't have a demo or a beta or a way to show your product with screenshots, you still can describe what you're going to be doing with this app, how you're building it, the journey, and get people excited about what you're about to launch. And the simplest way to do this is with a video yeah, that means just you getting on camera, talking about what problem you're solving, how you're solving it, what excites you about this product, why they should sign up for early access right on the page or sign up for the pre launch and what they should expect in the coming days, weeks, months. This could be a very short one to two minute video. And videos are a great way to convey great amounts of information in a short period of time. And by you being in front of the camera, it's authentic, it's real, and you're telling your founder story of why you're starting this company, this business, this product, and it gets people on board to sign up for pre launch. Again, that's the whole point of this page, is to get them to sign up. You're trying to convince them of the reasons why they should do that. And a very convincing way to do that is by getting in front of the camera as the founder of the company. They get to know the story behind all of this. And hey, you could be transparent on the video and say, hey, at this point we don't have mockups or a beta version of the software or the app, but hey, sign up for pre launch and you'll get exclusive access, you know, behind the scenes access to what we're building. Now you got me intrigued. Now I want to sign up, right? So having a video really, really helps. Now even if you don't have a video or you don't have a video on your pre launch page, you could start with that one and then add it later. Here's a great example of a pre launch page for an app without any video. That's small, that's short, has no product images, no demos. But at the same time I signed up for it because I thought, hey, this looks like a very interesting piece of software. I want to learn more. And that site is rewardful. Their link is getrewardful.com they have no idea that I'm giving them a shout out here. I think they've done a great job with their pre launch page. It's very simple and they follow the steps that I recommend, which is, you know, having an opt in, giving them a reason to opt in. Their reason is you're going to get a discount for life. When they launch the beta, they clearly state what they do, what problem they solve and how they solve it. And it's all within the fold. There's no scrolling, there's no pages on this landing page, no navigation. It's simple, it's clean, it's beautiful and it's a great example for you to follow. Now another thing that this site does that I recommend is putting some way to communicate with your audience so they can ask questions. It's okay if you don't have all the information, but if you allow a way for them to ask questions, you can provide information as you see fit. They use an app called Intercom. We use this in Webinar Ninja as well. It's a little like messenger app, a chat app. But there's all these other ways you could do this. You can use Sumo, you can use Drift, all these other tools. But Intercom is a good solution and is a great way to have a conversation with potential customers to find out what their real needs are, what they're looking for. And you can start adding those things or refining your product based on that information. That's priceless. So adding a way to communicate with your audience right on your pre launch page is a great addition. I got more on today's Q and A, Wednesday's episode answering Kyan's question. What do I put on my prelaunch page if I have no images or screenshots? We covered a lot, but we got a bit more. But before that, let me give love to today's sponsor. Are you struggling to get to sleep? If so, the fine people at Mattress Firm want to help. Mattress Firm is here for you when you're looking for ways to improve your sleep. These are mattress experts here people. And they're not just mattress experts. 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Sometimes just changing your headline will change your Conversion rates. But how do you test that? How do you know that for sure? Well, it's called split testing or AB testing. And there's certain software you can use, there's certain landing page software that has this built in, things like leadpages. But something like Unbounce will do this for you as well. And these products basically display visitors a version of your page. You'll have version A and version B. Sometimes people will see version A, sometimes people will see version B. If somebody doesn't convert on version A, the next time they go to your website, they're probably going to show you version B. The point here is, is that it's going to split test. It's going to test both versions and see which one converts better. Now, why is split testing really a good idea to do with your pre launch page? Well, of course you want as many signups as possible, but it's a really good place to start. There's not a lot you can adjust with a actual landing page or a pre launch page because it's so small, the content is small versus your sales page or your homepage of your website. There's so much information, there's images, there's all bunch of stuff. But a good place to start learning about split testing and getting into the practice of doing it is with your pre launch page. Because it's simple. You're dealing with words, you're dealing with copy and you can find out or you can learn about the art of split testing with a small example. And at the same time you're optimizing your chances of attracting the right people and converting them. Lastly, believe it or not, any rough images, sketches, mockups that you have created with a paper and pen may be useful on your pre launch page. I know it's not perfect, I know it's not really a good representation of what you're going to be presenting in your app, but it shows people what you're thinking and that you're building and it gives them a glimpse of, you know, the process of you coming up with this idea. I remember reading the book, Anyone can do it. It's the story of Coffee Republic, a huge coffee chain in the uk. The founders wrote the book and told their story and I thought it was so cool how they inserted in the book images of the mockups of their logo. And these mockups were on napkins, the first version of the logo for their coffee company. And it's really inspiring and it really gets you on board. So even little doodles and sketches might be fun. And helpful, you may want to consider it. And of course, when you do get mockups, when you do get screenshots, when you do have a demo available and you're doing a screen capture video, you can add it to the page later. All right, that wraps up today's lesson. Kyan, I hope that answers your question and it was helpful. If any of you listening have a question you want to ask, I'll be happy to answer it. Just email me over at omar@100mba.net we'll plug it into our log of questions and make sure we answer it here on Q and A Wednesdays. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. I love this question from Kyan because it means that she really wants to launch her product but she's hesitant about what to put on that pre launch page. And instead of just saying oh, I'll just wait until I have mockups, she asks a question because she's determined to get some pre launch buzz and also get some people signing up before the product's for sale. Building that audience before it's for sale, learning from her audience before it's for sale. So good on you, Cayenne. And that's the right attitude to have. Alright, I'll check you guys in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care. Of.