This article will walk you through the recommended steps you should take before launching a product that is currently available for pre-order.
Preparing your product for launch is an important step before publishing your pre-sell product. Before publishing your pre-order product, you'll want to make sure you've considered all of the options available to you for each product, and how your finished product will look once it is published.
From the sections below, select your product type and expand the dropdowns to read more about what you should consider before publishing your pre-sell product.
The Pre-Order option is not available for bundles, memberships, digital downloads, and Coaching & Webinars products.
Preparing a Course for Launch
Before launching your pre-sell course, look through the following list to make sure you've completed all of the recommended steps.
Step 1: Create your launch content
When your course is in a pre-order publish state, you can work on your content without worrying about students seeing it!
Learn how to create your course content here: Creating a Course
Step 2: Customize your student content
You can customize the look of your Course Player and video player appearance within your course to match your brand!
Customize Your Course Player (apply global customizations for all courses)
Individual Course Player Appearance Customization (apply customizations per course)
Step 3: Preview your course
Before launching your course, make sure to preview your course as a student to ensure you are happy with all of your content!
Step 4: Add a drip schedule
If you would like your lessons to be released on a specific schedule, you can consider adding a Drip Schedule to your course!
We recommend using one of the following Drip options:
- Set a Drip Schedule by Course Start Date - Drip Schedule will start when a student accesses your course for the first time after launch!
- Set a Drip Schedule by Calendar Date - Drip Schedule is based on a specific calendar date
Step 5: Launch your course!
You are finally ready to launch, congrats! On launch day, make sure to:
- Make sure your lessons are not set to draft
- Update your course or bundle product page if needed
- Update your course pricing if you previously offered early-bird pricing
- Update your course welcome email if needed
- Publish your pre-order course
- Reach out to your students to let them know the course is available!
And that's it! Your students will now have access to all of your content.
Preparing a Community for Launch
Before launching your pre-order community, look through the following list to make sure you've completed all of the recommended steps.
Step 1: Create your launch content
When your community is in a pre-order publish state, you can work on your content without worrying about students seeing it!
Learn how to customize your community content and settings here: The Thinkific Community Builder
Step 2: Preview your community
Before launching your community, make sure to preview your community to ensure you are happy with all of your settings!
Step 3: Launch your community!
- Update your community or bundle product page if needed
- Update your community pricing if you previously offered early-bird pricing
- Add a post to get the conversation going, and welcome your students to the community
- Reach out to your students to let them know your new community is ready!