When launching something new in your business — whether it’s a podcast, course, or membership program — your existing community can be your greatest asset. But there’s an art to involving them effectively without keeping everything under wraps until the “big reveal.”

As someone who has designed and managed online communities since 2007, I’ve learned that launches with a splashy “big reveal” approach rarely serves small business owners well. While major corporations like Coca-Cola might benefit from secretive product launches, entrepreneurs need to ensure their offerings resonate with their audience before investing significant time and resources.

The best way to do that? Bring your community along for the journey.

The Reality of Two-Way Communication

While podcasts, emails, websites and books create mostly one-way communication streams, true community thrives on reciprocal interaction. When you already have an engaged community, you have a built-in advantage: established trust and two-way dialogue. This foundation makes your community the perfect testing ground and launch pad for new initiatives.

When you test in your own community, you also filter through feedback more effectively. You know who is a current client or former client, who is brand-new, and who has been in your ecosystem for a long time but never made a purchase.

Let’s take the example of surveying the group about pricing tiers for an upcoming offer.

If several members respond that a potential price is too high, you might second-guess your plan. However, if upon deeper exploration, you realize those individuals have never paid for any of your products or services, you apply different context to their feedback. Your price may be too high, or it could be that they aren’t the target market for the offer.

For an example from an author’s perspective, check out this short from Elisabeth Wheatley. Note: if you try crowdsourcing ideas and feedback from your community but feel like the responses aren’t useful, you might need to ask your questions differently. It takes some practice, but it’s worth figuring out how to ask questions in a way that drives responses you can use and apply.

Start with Small Tests

Before going all-in on a new project, look for ways to test key elements. When my client wanted to launch a podcast with a potential co-host, we first ran a six-episode livestream series. This allowed us to evaluate their on-camera chemistry, test topic resonance, and understand the time investment required – all before spending money on podcast production.

This test proved invaluable.

While viewership grew from 40 to over 100 viewers across six episodes, we discovered our original name “BizOpsExposed” attracted operations professionals rather than our target audience of business owners needing support with operational challenges. We also discovered that while my client enjoyed live on-camera discussion, she felt trapped by the requirements of making herself available at the same time each week for a livestream broadcast. Better to learn this through a limited test than after a full launch.

The Art of Progressive Feedback

Instead of keeping everything under wraps until it’s “company ready,” involve your community throughout the development process. While your ideal timeline will vary according to your schedule, community, and the timeliness of your offer, here is one approach:

6+ Months Out

• Ask broad, exploratory questions like “If I were to launch a podcast/course/membership, what would you want to learn?”
• Share early concepts and ideas through polls and discussions
• Gather initial reactions and input about potential formats or approaches
• Post twice-monthly updates about your progress and learnings

3-5 Months Out:

• Present limited choices (start with 4 options, narrow to 2)
• Test specific elements like names or branding
• Begin building anticipation through weekly updates
• Share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your development process

Final 6 Weeks:

• Share detailed behind-the-scenes content
• Provide specific ways to help
• Communicate 2-3 times weekly about the launch
• Create opportunities for early access or special involvement

Keep in mind that while this timeline includes aspects that are critical to the development of your offer, the time it takes to actually create the offer and set up fulfillment is separate. The purpose of this timeline is to show you what it looks like to socialize an offer throughout the ideation and creation process so that when it launches, your community is already hungry for it.

Listen Between the Lines

Sometimes the most valuable feedback isn’t explicitly stated. These indirect insights often prove more valuable than direct answers to our questions.

When exploring a potential group training program in my own business, one-on-one conversations with interested community members revealed that while they preferred individual coaching, they were considering group programs purely for budget reasons. This insight helped me realize the timing wasn’t right for the program I had envisioned.

In another instance, podcast listener feedback revealed that they valued my community-focused perspective on general business topics more than pure community management content. 

Make Sharing Simple

Never assume people know how to help promote your initiative. Even my podcast co-host initially didn’t realize our press kit was meant for her use, too! Create a comprehensive resource that includes:

• Sample social media posts
• Email templates with clear subject lines
• Key talking points and show description
• Visual assets in multiple formats
• Direct links to all platforms
• Specific instructions for reviews or ratings
• Multiple levels of promotional activities to fit different comfort zones
• Clear explanation of how to use the resources

When launching The Business You Really Want, providing these resources led to features in five newsletters, coverage in a trade publication, and multiple podcast interview opportunities — all because I told supporters how to be most helpful and made it easy for them to take action.

Maintain the Momentum

Interestingly, our podcast’s fourth week saw higher engagement than launch week. Why? Because initial supporters had time to share with their networks, creating a second wave of interest. Keep the energy going in your launch by:

• Sharing milestone celebrations
• Highlighting community member contributions
• Creating new ways for people to participate
• Maintaining consistent communication
• Being transparent about what’s working and what you’re learning

Don’t let your own launch fatigue stop you from continuing to promote. While you might feel tired of talking about your initiative, remember that your audience isn’t hanging on your every word. They need multiple touchpoints to stay engaged.

And even if your offer is closed, continuing to talk about it while you’re delivering adds on another layer of marketing to pique the interest of community members who didn’t buy. This can bolster results if you decide to offer it again.

The Power of Closing the Loop

When community members provide input, show them how it has influenced your decisions. This demonstrates that their participation matters and strengthens their connection to both you and the initiative. Even if you don’t use their specific suggestion, explaining your thought process keeps them invested in the outcome.

For example, when community members give feedback on logo options, don’t just announce the winner — explain the factors that influenced the final choice.

Let them know which design was your favorite going in and whether you were surprised by the results. Tell them how the votes stacked up. Was there a clear winner or was the difference in votes between Option A and B close?

This level of transparency builds trust and encourages future participation.

Remember: your community will only be as excited as you are.

Generating buzz is important when launching anything, but that’s not where the true power of leveraging your community comes from. It’s the partnership of co-creation. When you bring your community along for the journey, they become invested in its success because they helped shape it. That’s the kind of authentic support no marketing budget can buy.