Bit of trivia for you…

The Ancient Greeks had TWO words for time.

One was ‘chronos’.

It referred to the chronological time – ie. the sequence in which something happens. You can measure it in seconds, minutes, hours and years.

The other was ‘kairos’.

This referred to the ‘right’ time to do something – ie. the most opportune moment to take an action. It’s a lot less easy to measure, because it’s more like a feeling, based on lots of interacting factors.

For instance, let’s say you want to ask your boss for a pay rise.

You might wait for the most appropriate time to ask them.

And deciding the right moment takes a bit of thought, consideration and intuition.

You wouldn’t do it first thing in the morning when they arrive all bleary-eyed at the office…

You wouldn’t ask in the middle of a meeting in front of everyone else…

You wouldn’t ask them if they were in the middle of a work crisis and looked visibly stressed or upset.

You wouldn’t ask them if you’d had a bad week and made a load of mistakes, or turned up late.

Maybe you’d wait until you’d achieved something positive in your job… then you’d find a quiet time of the week, when they’re usually in a good mood, to arrange a meeting or ask them out for a coffee.

That would be the opportune time to lay out your case for a pay rise.

And that’s what the Ancient Greeks knew as ‘kairos’.

This is something that’s really important when it comes to launching your first course.

How to Harness the Power of Kairos

As you can imagine, I’ve overseen many live product launches in my 7-figure online business, so I’ve got a lot of experience in this area, both good and bad.

One of the questions I’m often asked is: “When is the best time of the year to launch?”

I wish I could hand over a calendar with the best months shaded in red, so you could simply schedule your launch date into one of those slots.

But that’s not how it works in reality. Because that’s Chronos, not Kairos.

As the saying goes, “To everything there is a season”, and this is true of course launches.

Potentially any time of year could work – but it all depends on multiple factors that you need to consider.

The main ones are…

• Who your course customers are…

You will have a specific target customer in mind for your course, and it’s important to understand what will be a good time for them.

To give you an example, in many of my niches, August is not a great time to launch.

That’s because everyone is in holiday mode – they’re dealing with kids being off school, or they’re jetting abroad, or busy organising social events with friends.

Conversely, September is often a great time for me – customers are refreshed from their break and feel ready to start something new.

• What your course is about…

If your course is tied in some way to the seasons, then it could affect your decision.

An example might be a vegetable-growing course – perhaps you’d want to time that for a month or two before the growing season when people are thinking about plans for their allotment or garden that year.

Or perhaps you have a course about Amazon that would best be launched so your students had plenty of time to be ready for Black Friday and Christmas when big profits can be made.

Sometimes courses related to self-improvement, health and fitness are ideal for January, when everyone’s making resolutions.

• What’s happening in the world…

There are external events to consider too, from natural disasters and political upheavals to sports events and royal weddings.

For example, remember how I’ve just said that September was a great time to launch for me?

Well, that’s not necessarily always the case…

I had two major launches planned for this September but after the death of Queen Elizabeth II we decided to put them on hold for a few weeks.

People were in mourning and too distracted by the news surrounding the event and it just didn’t seem right.

I’ve also found the run-up to elections and referendums can be a bad time to run promotions.

Again, people are too distracted.

So it’s worth keeping an eye on what’s going on in the wider world.

• What’s happening in your life

Live launches need your energy and time. There’s no getting around that. So make sure you factor in your own life commitments too.

For example, avoid scheduling a launch when the kids are off school, or when you have an important date coming up like a wedding, or when there are lots of work events.

Also, there might be times of the year when you feel more sparky and positive, or when your physical health tends to be better.

Factor these things in!

By considering all these elements, you’ll have a much clearer idea of when the best time is (for you) to launch your course.

I hope that these tips help you get that timing right!

I’ve also recorded a video about timings here – so I’d love to know your thoughts and insights and I hope this has been helpful.

There are some other ways you can launch your course (or any other service for that matter) that don’t depend so heavily on timing factors but I’ll be back in touch about those soon.