The last weeks of the year are a good moment to look at your products as a business. Which ones sold, which ones stalled, which ad campaigns paid back and which didn't? In many niches January is one of the busiest months for educational products, because people start the year with new goals. Authors who plan in December can launch into that demand. Those who start planning in January often launch when the wave is already over.
Here is the checklist we go through with our authors every December:
1. Review This Year
Put every product and every launch in one table: revenue, ad spend, refunds and completion. Look at what one buyer was worth over the whole year, not only on the first purchase. Products that look weak on their own can be strong as a second step after another product. Products with many refunds need fixing before they get more traffic next year.
Also write down what you learned about your audience: the questions they asked, the objections you heard before they bought, and the topics that got the most response in emails, comments and ads.
2. Choose One Main Launch
Pick one product to launch or relaunch in the first quarter and put most of your time and budget behind it. Spreading the effort across three launches usually means none of them gets enough attention. Decide the offer, the price and the dates now, so recording, the sales page and the emails are ready by early January, before ad costs go up.
If you plan to enter a new market next year, choose it now as well. Localization takes weeks of work with native speakers, and it is easier to start with a product that has a fresh, well-documented launch behind it and numbers you trust.
3. Prepare the Warm-Up
A January launch starts in December. Collect emails with a free lesson or a short challenge, plan the content for the weeks before the launch and prepare the ad creatives in advance. Holiday weeks are quiet for production but good for building an audience, as long as the content is ready before people return to work.
Want a second pair of eyes on your plan for next year? Send us your numbers and your ideas, and we will tell you where we see the most room for growth.
