Pre-prelaunch: ask for help
Lesson 17 of 31 in the course “Million Dollar Sales Course”. Free, with animations and a quiz.
Pre-prelaunch: attention without selling
In lesson 16 you put your list in order. Now it’s ready for the main event: a launch. Remember the four stages from lesson 1? We start with the first one, the pre-prelaunch. Jeff Walker calls it the “shot across the bow,” the way sailors got another ship’s attention without attacking. The pre-prelaunch has the same job: let people know something cool is coming, and sell nothing. Why not go straight to “Course coming, discount for early birds”? Walker explains: the moment people sense a pitch, it’s “shields up,” they trust less and doubt more. Asking for help opens a conversation instead. Along the way, the pre-prelaunch tests demand before you’ve invested, surfaces people’s doubts and tells you how to shape the offer.
The “quick announcement and a favor” email
Walker’s favorite move, which he says works 95% of the time. In 2005 he emailed his list fewer than 80 words with the subject “Quick announcement and a favor.” The gist: “We’re almost done with our long-awaited course, out in January. But first we need your help, answer a couple of questions at the link.” The link led to a short page describing the course and one question: “What are your two top questions about this topic that we absolutely need to answer?” That’s it. No price, no “buy.” Misha does the same: “Finishing my Shorts editing course, launching in March. Answer one question: which two questions must I cover?” An honesty note: Walker called the course “long-awaited” because people had been asking for it for ages. If nobody asked, don’t write that. Instead of an email, you can use a story poll or a post.
People support what they help create
Why does a favor beat an announcement? Walker cites a rule: people support what they help create. When someone answers your question and then sees a lesson about their problem in the course, it’s partly their course now. They go from onlooker to cheerleader: they wait for the launch, share it with friends, defend you in the comments. The second effect is subtler. Subscribers see the author as an expert. When the expert asks their opinion, he’s giving them attention, and a gift makes people want to give back. That’s reciprocity from lesson 1, triggered by a question instead of a gift. So a few days later Walker sends another email: he thanks people for their answers and shares what he took from them. People see they were heard.
People’s questions are their doubts
Walker doesn’t ask “What are your objections?”, because nobody thinks in those terms. He asks for their top questions, and people reveal what’s holding them back. In his experience, 2–4 recurring themes always show up in the answers, and those are the market’s main doubts. Picture Misha’s answers (illustrative numbers). 38% write “I only have a phone, no computer.” 27%: “No time to learn.” 21%: “What if I can’t do it?” 14%: “Where do I get music without getting banned?” Now Misha knows what to answer during the prelaunch, while there’s still time. Most creators only learn about doubts after a flop, when it’s too late to fix. Walker says find out early, and that’s the main value of the survey.
Use your customer’s words
The survey gives you one more thing: exact words. Walker advises mixing two types of questions. More people answer multiple choice, since clicking is easier than typing. That tells you how many and who. Fewer people answer open questions, but they use their own words, and you see how they think. Walker admits he often copies phrases from answers straight into his content. Direct marketing has an old rule: “enter the conversation already going on in the customer’s head.” Survey answers are a direct way into that conversation. Example: a subscriber writes “I edit for hours and people watch 2 seconds.” That’s a ready-made title for the first prelaunch video, better than anything invented, because people recognize themselves in it. Remember lesson 11: clarity sells, and nothing is clearer than the reader’s own words.
The survey shapes the offer
Walker says a successful launch needs a “crushing offer,” one that’s hard to refuse, like in lesson 3. And people themselves tell you what it is. After his survey, Walker added live Q&A calls to his course: they cost him almost nothing and gave buyers a strong reason to buy. Misha looks at his themes. A third say “phone only”: so the course needs a “phone editing” module, or those people definitely won’t buy. “What if I can’t do it”: add a bonus live review of students’ videos, since fear fades when you know someone will correct you. “Where do I get music”: a list of free music, done in one evening. Notice the difference: a bonus that answers a real fear works better than a random “plus 100 presets.”
Case: $110,000 in a bathrobe
How did it work for Walker himself? That same 2005 launch, a trading course. The email and survey took him about an hour, he says. The answers gave him buyers’ main doubts and even exact phrases for the whole launch. He opened sales at home at the kitchen table, in a bathrobe, and his wife snapped a photo. The first order came in under 4 minutes, the first hour brought over $27,000, and the week over $110,000. No partners, distributors or ads: just a list of subscribers and a simple website. Walker is honest that it wasn’t only the pre-prelaunch: a prelaunch and a planned open cart followed, which are the next lessons. But it all started with an 80-word email that sold nothing.
Do it yourself: a pre-prelaunch in one evening
Take the product you picked in lesson 1. Write a favor email under 80 words: what you’re making, roughly when it’s out, and a request to answer one question. Don’t mention the price. Build a survey: 1–2 multiple choice questions (like “What do you edit on?”) and one open one: “Which two questions must I cover?” Send it to your list or post a story poll. After 2–3 days, group the answers into 3–4 themes and write down the most vivid phrases. On day four, send “thanks, here’s what you asked and what I’ll add.” The result: topics for three prelaunch pieces and a list of bonuses. That’s exactly what we’ll turn into three videos in lesson 18.
Check yourself
- Which message should go out first?
Correct answer: “Finishing the course. Which 2 questions should I cover?”. A request for help signals something is coming but sells nothing. People answer, become co-creators, and Misha learns their doubts. - What should he do with this?
Correct answer: Answer it in the prelaunch and add a phone module. It’s the market’s main doubt, and it surfaced in time. That’s Walker’s advice: find out early, answer it in the prelaunch, and refine the offer. - Why does a favor beat an announcement?
Correct answer: People support what they help create. A respondent sees their question in the course and becomes a cheerleader. Plus, an expert’s question is attention, and attention makes people want to give back. - How can he improve the survey?
Correct answer: Add 1–2 multiple choice, keep one open question. More people answer multiple choice because clicking is easier than typing. And one open question still gives you their real words.