Oct 31, 2023
In Part 2 of our conversation with Jeff Walker, we discuss what it means to be a brand with longevity in a competitive online market…and the best and worst business advice he has ever received.
Jeff Walker is the original online marketing business Coach, a podcaster, and the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller LAUNCH. He has been coaching people how to launch online courses, products, services, and brands online for over 30 years. Jeff started his first online business in 1996 from his child’s nursery. His "Product Launch Formula” transformed the online marketing world from the day it was released in 2005 and Jeff–and PLF–have never slowed down. Now, years later, the Product Launch Formula brand is the gold standard in the online entrepreneurial training market. Jeff’s students and clients have done over a billion dollars in launches in hundreds of niches and markets and dozens of countries around the world! Whether you are a new entrepreneur or you’ve been in business for years, it’s time to launch (or re-launch) your business.
A flexible mindset leads the industry
Jeff has been creating online courses for decades. But he’ll tell you himself – flexibility is even more important than experience.
While Jeff and his team thought they had perfected the art of selling courses and launching programs, they noticed a significant decrease in sales and attendance at live broadcast events in the past few years. The online market is competitive, it’s saturated, and it almost seems impossible sometimes. But instead of giving up or getting frustrated, they remained flexible. They asked themselves an important question – what would make it easier for consumers to get what they need, and how should the content be delivered?
They decided to experiment. Instead of requiring participants to attend a live broadcast, they released the content in “seasons” or “limited releases,” just like Netflix. They batched the content and sent it out with hype each time new “episodes” were released, and saw an immediate uptick in watches.
This experimentation was essential to the success of their company, and it was a reminder that innovation never stops. Sustaining a flexible and curious mindset leads the industry, no matter how much experience you have.
The best (and worst) business advice
In his three decades in online business, Jeff has heard great advice, and terrible advice. In this episode, he shares what he’s learned and why it’s important.
Laughing, Jeff confesses that his business reached a million dollars in sales before he hired a single employee, and four million dollars in sales before he had a team of four. He had taken some bad business advice: Someone had told him that hiring was too complicated, and it made life too hard. Looking back, Jeff wishes that he had hired sooner because despite the complication, hiring made his life–and his business–function more smoothly than ever.
In his early years as an entrepreneur, he observed a lot of marketers using formal and corporate speech when addressing their clients. People told him that he needed to craft a persona for his online business - but his intuition told him that it was a bad call. Even in his early emails in 1996, Jeff talked to his clients in his own voice as if he was their best friend. Now, it has paid off. His clients rave about his casual, friendly, and warm way of interacting with them. It is the reason Product Launch Formula has remained so successful.
Jeff’s lessons are a vital reminder to us that entrepreneurship is about trusting yourself, staying flexible, and taking measured risks. Enjoy Part 2 of this conversation with Jeff Walker…
Quotes
“I started this business from the baby’s changing room. For the first eight years, there wasn’t even a picture of me online. I never imagined that I’d be on camera, or doing live broadcasts.”
“One of the things that is somewhat unique about our affiliate partners is that nearly all of them came up through our program first. They used Product Launch Formula to launch and grow their businesses and brands, and then they were excited to tell the world about it.”
“Getting caught up in the process stuff…it literally made my stomach hurt. Mary took over that stuff. We were at a million dollars in sales before we hired anyone.”
“One of the bad pieces of advice I heard from a ‘business guru’ back in the day was to not hire anyone, and that it makes your life a living hell. It might make your life more complicated, but it does make your life better.”
“I think I am an extraordinary leader for our clients, and in the industry…but leading the team has been a learning experience for me. It didn’t come naturally and I wasn’t good at it. But I’ve gotten a lot better!”
“It was very clear even with the first few emails that I sent in 1996 that I needed to use my own voice. People were using a lot of corporate speak and it was so clear to me that that was a mistake. I think people like my warm, friendly conversational tone. I see that as a big piece of my personal brand.”
“People know what to expect from me. I’ve been very consistent over time. We kept getting results for our clients, and people talk about you when you get results.”
“Everything is changing, all the time. We just rolled out two new programs. For us, it’s about getting better at serving the people we already have, and exploring small mastermind events.”
Links mentioned in this episode:
Check out Jeff Walker’s website at https://jeffwalker.com/
Enter your best email address to get Launch Quickstart – Jeff Walker’s FREE training for building a business you love: https://productlaunchformula.com/
Buy Jeff’s #1 New York Times bestselling book, LAUNCH: https://jeffwalker.com/programs/book-launch/
“Is it possible to launch a ___?” Check out this page for amazing marketing case studies. Learn about the power of launching: https://jeffwalker.com/blog/launch/launching-a/