The Biggest Mistake I See Candidates Make
Get your launch recommendations.
Well… one of the biggest mistakes.
I see some version of this all the time.
A candidate decides to run. They pick a launch date. Maybe they write an announcement. And then...they launch, maybe they even launch before the planned date. You know who you are.
No real website. No social plan. No bank of content ready to go. No fundraising email. No press list. No decent photos. Sometimes, God help us, no logo.
And from day one, you’re behind, you’re drowning, and you’re wondering why campaigning is SO hard.
So, what to do instead: You need a pre-launch, and you need to be comfortable building in the background. Just for a little while.
Before anyone knows you're running, you should have the basics ready: your brand, website, donation infrastructure (please get a professional treasurer), social accounts, initial content, email list, launch communications, photos, fundraising plan, and a pretty good idea of what happens the morning after you announce.
That sounds like a lot, and it is. But it doesn’t have to be. At the bare minimum, you could have some content scheduled to go out automatically, maybe a fundraising email or two scheduled. None of it has to be perfect. In fact, waiting for perfect creates the other mistake I see all the time: waiting way too long to launch.
I've watched candidates sit on a campaign until filing week because they weren't “ready.” By then, they've given away months they could have spent raising money, meeting voters, building relationships, earning endorsements, and getting their name out there.
You want to launch early. You just don't want to launch half-cooked.
The goal is simple: do enough work before launch that when you hit the button, you can actually use the momentum you've created instead of spending the next three weeks desperately trying to catch up.
Because launch day should feel like go time, not uh oh, now what?
And if you're currently reading this thinking Now what?—
