Launch Strategies & 3 Non-Negotiables for a Successful Digital Launch

We’re getting into the real must-haves for a profitable and aligned digital launch. Whether you’re selling a course, membership, or resource—these are the three things that can’t be skipped if you want sales (and sanity). We share examples, mistakes we’ve seen, and give you a behind-the-scenes peek at Joanna’s client’s $20K pre-launch that didn’t involve a single email or Instagram post.

Join Joanna’s Waitlist: https://www.millennialmktr.com/launch-flow

Time Stamps:

00:00 – $20K Pre-Launch Without Emails or Posts

00:59 – 3 Things That Every Launch Needs

01:53 – Start with a Shared Problem

05:37 – Niche Communities & B2B Examples

14:03 – Make Your Offer Crystal Clear

25:38 – Why Your Launch Doesn’t Need to Be Complicated

29:38 – Evolving Your Offer Over Time

36:47 – Launch Strategies That Keep It Simple

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📱 Social: @themichellepualani | @joanna_atwork
📩 Michelle: hello@michellepualani.com
🌐 Joanna: millennialmktr.com

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Transcript

Episode 092: Launch Strategies

Joanna Newton: [00:00:00] I'm working with, um, someone right now who. Just sold over 20 K in her pre-launch. She hasn't sent an email, she hasn't posted anything, but she had a speaking opportunity, we helped her build a presentation that was going to be really compelling, build a pre-sales page that was gonna be super compelling and cheap.

Pitched at that event and on that first day, got $13,000 in sales, right? So you don't necessarily need to worry about having that 10 K email list or the a hundred k following.

Joanna Newton: Hello and welcome back to the Her First podcast. Today we are talking about a topic that's near and dear to my heart, you need for a successful launch. If you've been thinking about launching a digital offer, whether that's a course, a membership, a group program, or something else, but you're feeling overwhelmed or stuck with this process, then this episode is for you. I'm [00:01:00] breaking down the three non-negotiables you need in place before you launch, so your time, energy, and effort actually lead to sales. If you stick around to the end of the episode, I'll be sharing an offer that you're not going to wanna miss. Hi, my name is Joanna. I'm the co-founder of Millennial Marketer and Agency that helps creators launch their own digital online products.

Michelle Pualani: And I am Michelle Houston, founder of To Be Honest Beverage Company, a non-alcoholic functional spirit brand, and as well as coach and mentor to where personal branding meets personal development. 

Joanna Newton: And today we're talking all about launches and what you need and some of what you don't need to really get started with your launch. I feel like launches are one of those things that feel like I. Sort of a mystery. All of the gurus have their formula, their thing that they say works and all of that. But today we're gonna break it down into its most simplistic form so you can feel ready and prepared to launch. So the first thing that you have to have in order to have a successful launch is an audience [00:02:00] with a shared problem. and what I mean by that is, is you want a group of people. Who are connected with you in some way that. All have a shared problem that they're looking for a solution for. So this could look like an Instagram, following a YouTube, following email list, just a group of people who are interested in you and what you have to offer. So. You have some traditional audiences that I just mentioned, like an email list, social following podcast listeners, folks like that. We've talked a lot on this podcast about different ways to grow those channels from growing a personal brand to pitching yourself on podcasts. You can look back at some of our old episodes if you're trying to think through the process of how do I even grow an audience?

Michelle Pualani: Joanna is your absolute go-to when it comes to the strategy, the organization, and the function of launching. I feel like I have learned so much just by being adjacent to her teachings and the clients that she's worked with via this [00:03:00] podcast. clients launch in the past or set up funnels and do all those things, and let me tell you when it is.

A lot of work there. Takes a lot of intentionality there takes. Clear direct messaging and marketing. There are so many facets, and it's not just the tech side, but actually crafting and creating an offer that is going to sell, that is gonna be marketable to your audience and the person that you wanna bring into your orbit and into your programs and products.

There is the copy, there is the field, the design, there's the embodiment of what you're trying to bring to the world and have it reflect who you are, what you're talking about as a personal brand, And all things together, creating that clarity around who you're helping and how you're serving them. So this episode is for you. If you feel like you have struggled in the past with launching, if you've put a product out in the world and it's gotten zero interest or crickets, let me tell you that it is not you.

There's nothing wrong with [00:04:00] you. There's nothing wrong with your expertise how you craft or create products and programs, but there may need to be some adjustments in your marketing, your messaging, and how you're presenting that offer. So listen in today, take notes and pay attention. 

Joanna Newton: thank you for that, Michelle. And I think one of the reasons sometimes people get crickets is because they come up with their program before they have an audience. they create something for a group of people that doesn't exist. And I've done this too, so I've and launched my own digital products for this audience of people that I'm like, it would be cool to have those people, but I don't have those people's attention yet. So. Focusing on creating something for the people in your audience is what makes sense. So you can grow a traditional audience, like on Instagram, on Facebook, through a podcast and all of that, and that's a fantastic place to start. But you can also open your eyes to some more non-traditional audiences that can help you grow.

A lot of times we think, oh, I need a hundred K on Instagram to be [00:05:00] successful. There are lots of options out there, so. Some things you can start thinking about of who you could create a digital product to, or who you could launch to Think about past clients if you're a service provider, like what's something you could offer to your client list that would upgrade their experience or take them next to the next level. You could also look at, friends and colleagues who might be able to promote for you. Maybe you're, you're creating a program and you know, 10 people who know. 20 people each that might be interested in what you have to offer. You can find affiliates and friends and colleagues to promote your launch for you. Another huge option here that I think is overlooked in the digital space is looking for a business to business launch. And what I mean by that is, you know, say you have a program that's actually worked with a company that had a program that was designed to help their employees best utilize their benefits package. So you could try to get one off people into that [00:06:00] program and say, Hey, I'm gonna help you best utilize the benefits package that your company offers you. Or you could go to 10 Fortune 500 companies and get them to buy. 500 licenses each for your digital product so you can take a more sales approach and look for business contacts that you can sell your product to. another thing that I think is a really fast way to grow and find an audience is just look for niche communities that you can contribute to or you're active in. For myself, one great way, and this isn't a digital product, but one way. Great way that I've grown my brand as an agency owner is through Kajabi focused communities. I post in groups, I answer questions, I help, and then people find me and connect with me that way. So you can start to think of some more non-traditional ways that you can grow your audience in a really aligned way. But the key here is. Is having an aligned audience that wants your offer. It doesn't have to be a huge crowd, it just has to [00:07:00] be interested people. I'm working with, um, someone right now who. Just sold over 20 K in her pre-launch. She hasn't sent an email, she hasn't posted anything, but she had a speaking opportunity, so she had a speaking opportunity in front of a group of people that she knew who were her target audience. we helped her build a presentation that was going to be really compelling, build a pre-sales page that was gonna be super compelling and cheap.

Pitched at that event and on that first day, got $13,000 in sales, right? She had a room of a couple of hundred people, but just had the messaging, the offer, the audience, right? So you don't necessarily need to worry about having that 10 K email list or the a hundred k following. You just have to have a group of people with a shared problem. We'll talk about what you need next, which is a. Shared solution, but I'd love to know, know from you, Michelle, just some ideas you have around growing an audience with a shared problem.

Michelle Pualani: Well, I think this is [00:08:00] such an important thing to bring. Up because oftentimes when you are the practitioner, the coach, the expert you are creating from your internal environment and experience, and so you're saying, this is what I know that people need. This is how I know how to help them, which is. Great.

From a program perspective, usually once people start working with you, that's where they see all of the change, all of the results, the outcomes, that transformation. But we don't formulate the offer, the marketing, the messaging in the same way. And that's usually where the disconnect is the I see. With sales or getting people into products and programs.

Right. So from an audience building perspective, I think that. There are your traditional channels like we talked about, YouTube, Instagram, social media. But all of these alternative niche ways of looking at cultivating and creating an audience are so important to highlight. And there are many ways that you can get in front of people.

And if you stop and pause and [00:09:00] think about how you can leverage those avenues, you have way more access to folks than you think or even realize. I'll tell you where I went wrong with this when I was first getting started. So when I first initially launched my original, like beta course, it was called Be Better Empowerment.

At the time it was like, uh, a 28 day intensive or three month, uh, activity, but 28 day intensive that it started with. It had some coaching, some courses and like things like that. And when I initially launched it, I had about 10 to 13 people. I think a couple of people like. Didn't end up following through, but in that range.

And I just launched it to my very small Instagram following. At the time, I don't know, it was maybe like 300 ish people and Facebook, so it was my like local community. And then when I went to go Launch again, I had already kind of fatigued that audience at that time. Obviously I could have changed the messaging, changed the approach.

I didn't have the awareness. In that way at that time. So obviously I didn't do that, but I started running Facebook ads and really didn't know [00:10:00] what I was doing. So I tried to find a new audience, but it didn't really work. The point is, is that the consistency of kind of collecting, starting to gather and also build that audience over time is really, really important.

I think where a lot of people get stuck with launches, maybe they had a successful first launch, but then it completely fizzled after that is because you are. Tiring your audience with that. You need to go to new sources. Often you can come back to that audience and they can hear the same messaging sometimes 2, 3, 4 times.

But if you have 10,000 people on your email list, you market them one thing and then next month you market them the same thing. You're not gonna get the exact same results. Right? Because you've, they've already heard that and they've already been exposed to it. So thinking through where you can find these creative places to build an audience.

If I were to go back in time, I would've actually looked at a local level. So I was plugged into yoga studios, functional fitness facilities, chiropractic. I knew a lot of movement therapists, but I was so [00:11:00] focused on the digital space that I wasn't tapping into my audience that I had already and could have easily.

Had at a local level. So what Joanna is highlighting here is that thinking through the ways in which you already have reach, you already have impact. That problem is core to a group of people that you may not be aware of, right in this very moment. 'cause you've just thought about like, I just need to be online.

I just need to be on Instagram. And maybe you haven't built your audience there yet, thinking through. The places in which you're already plugged in, that would be a great referral source. That would be a great way for you to get your expertise in front of. 

Joanna Newton: you need to start thinking out of the box, if you just think I'm gonna post on Instagram every day and grow I'm not saying it's not possible, but you're kind of kidding yourself, right? You have to be out there and doing the work and getting things done. I'll give you two quick examples of some clients that I've worked with and what they've done to grow an audience in less traditional ways.

One, I'm [00:12:00] actually helping someone create this and one did this before she met me, but one of my CL clients was a professor. And she grew a huge following and grew her email list by doing guest lectures. So she was getting invited to do guest lectures at other universities and other colleges ' cause she was an author.

She would get up and speak, share her presentation, and then at the end or throughout, she would give out a resources through her QR code. So she'd have a QR code on the screen giving out a free ebook or free guide or free something that would then grow her email list. So she wasn't just relying on the algorithm to get her emails.

She was out talking, speaking, and directing people into her flow. I'm working with someone right now who has an opportunity to have a bunch of their content shared with like another sort of course creation content house, they're doing live sessions and they were talking to me about the fact that like they're gonna get tons and tons of questions and they don't have the time to answer all of these [00:13:00] questions.

They know this content's gonna be shown in front of a ton of people. They're gonna get a lot of questions and need a way to. Do it most efficiently in a way that's gonna support them. So they could try to do paid sessions. But my recommendation to them, and what they're going to do is do YouTube lives. So they're gonna invite people to sign up to get notified when they go live on YouTube and actually use the momentum from this other brand promoting their content to drive traffic to their YouTube channel. So you can start to try to open your eyes and think outside of the box, who do you currently have attention with and how could you maximize that to bring more attention to you? And all of this works when we have an audience with a shared problem, and then you have a solution too often, course creators, and this is our number two on the list of things that you need for a successful course launch too often people focus on what's my course gonna be. What's my membership gonna be? What are the features? What does it include? And not [00:14:00] actually focus on the solution that they provide. So let's put aside what's included in your course for a minute and think what's the transformation that you have? What's your offer? What are you providing people? Is it specific? Is it too vague? Like what are you creating for someone? And really thinking about that transformation. as an example for me.

I talk to course creators every single day who need help on the technical side. They need help building their course, building a funnel, and that's easy for me. We can just build that. I also have this problem that people have is how do I launch, how do I get consistent sales and. I could do custom launch programs for each of them that are gonna help them get those sales, but one that's probably not sustainable budget wise for them, or sustainable budget wise for me. why not invite them into a course or membership or program that actually is gonna teach them how to launch, give them the [00:15:00] tools to launch sustainably. Regularly and all of that, right? I have a shared audience with a shared problem. How do I launch consistently and and get sales? And then I say, what's that program?

What's that solution that can happen? Not even worrying about the components yet, but what's the solution that you can offer them?

Michelle Pualani: This is a key factor that I completely missed when I first started my journey and still am working to learn today. I am like. About to deep dive into sales, psychology and positioning, because I believe it is at the crux of your success in business when you can market, when you can speak to what someone is going through, be super specific about that and speak to the transformation, the outcomes, what Joanna is highlighting, audience with a problem.

They have something that they need fixed. That's why people buy things, right? I need to wear clothes to work. I'm gonna buy clothes for work. I need to put makeup on. I need to buy makeup. everything that we purchase in the world, even in the like [00:16:00] luxury sense of things are. Fixing some type of problem or offering a solution to what that person wants, what they desire, what they think they need.

And so when you can start to understand that and formulate it from their perspective, that's when you really start to understand marketing and buyer psychology. we'll get into much more about what that looks like from like a deeper level perspective, but finding the audience. Being able to speak to what it is that they're looking for, speak to what they're going through, be relatable on that sense, and then offer them the transformation.

Now, we had a great conversation about positioning yourself as an expert on other people's podcasts. So go back, listen to that episode and hit subscribe while you're at it for her first, but allowing yourself to really keep the how. As a part of your products and programs, right? What Joanna is talking about is the who, the what, and the why.

You are speaking to those things in your marketing, your messaging, your [00:17:00] offer, your products, and your programs. Are the how, the implementation, and that's how you need to structure your business. And you need to think about this approach. So many practitioners, so many business owners get stuck in teaching the how in their content, and then they wonder why they don't get sales.

They wonder why their customers aren't coming through. They wonder why they're not able to attract new audiences. Because when you're providing that education, someone's already walking away with the solution. You're not just educating about the solution they can give you. They're walking away with the steps, and so then they move about their day and don't wonder what it would be like to work with you.

So I think it's such an important and key thing in this entire process. Launching marketing messaging. It's all a part of it. 

Joanna Newton: a couple of really good things you, you brought up is that. That's the key to the messaging problem solution. And there is a time and a place for like really, really specific copywriting and really in depth analysis and all of that. But as you're getting started, when you're doing your first [00:18:00] launch, if you focus on. The audience's problem and the solution you provide and think about framing that solution, not in the way that makes sense to you, but with them at the center, you are going to do times better than bringing in a random copywriter to write for you because there's a reality that. You are likely, and you should know your audience better than anyone. And if you can really, really speak to that person in a simple problem, solution way, you're going to have really great success. And one of the things that I do. With my clients is I actually coach them through writing their copy. them frameworks. I give them structures. I give them the way the page needs to go or what needs to be included in the email flow, but I ask them to answer the questions that we're talking about and fill that out first.

I review and provide feedback and all of those things, but I give it to them because they're so close. They know their people, they know [00:19:00] their solution. And if I can help them think about it in the right framework, they knock it out of the park like all of the time. I'm normally just making minor changes to help clarify things and they, everyone does a really good job when you have that framework to work from. now in our process, you have your audience in mind. You know where they are, who they are, what their shared problem is. You've thought about what, the solution is, and what you need now you need to package it into a program. So now you're going to think about. How to actually package it, what it should include and what that should look like. And something to think about in this process is sometimes because we're so close to what we do, we don't realize the power of a simple solution for someone. Because we go so in depth, we know so much. I was on a discovery call the other day and I met with someone and they had a problem, and I told them to click two buttons in Kajabi.

It solved their problem and it [00:20:00] made his day. He was like, I was trying to fix that. I was googling, searching, I couldn't figure out how to fix it. and he even says to me, in three clicks, you solved all of my problems. Like, you are so valuable. To me, those three clicks felt like nothing. But the truth is I knew how to do those three clicks and he didn't know how to do those three clicks. So he experienced a transformation on that call. So I think sometimes when, especially when we're creating our first, um, our first offers we're like, I have to teach everything. I need to give all of the solutions. But one, your audience might not be ready for all of it. And two. You probably can provide so much value with one piece of the puzzle. So one example we've actually used on this, on this podcast a lot, it's like a fallback that I use ' cause I used to do this, is how to grow your first thousand followers on Instagram, right?

Like something simple like that. You might be in social media management and content creation and you say, I'm gonna build a course about like how to sell a hundred k on [00:21:00] social media. You don't have to necessarily start there. You can start with a first level transformation. Maybe all of your followers are new to wanting to start businesses new to social media.

So you see I'm gonna create a program that's gonna help you get your first thousand followers on Instagram. That is a clear transformation. That is gonna be something that is probably easy for you to create, but gonna wow the people who end up purchasing that program.

Michelle Pualani: I also think that if you're doing a low product offer, that's such a great way to focus it so that you bring people into your orbit. You can have an ascension model, you can have tier to what you do Now, don't create all of those tiers at one time. Don't get ahead of yourself. Start with the small start with the niche.

I did the exact same thing. I felt like I had to fix everything about someone's health and wellbeing with one program, and in doing so, it made my messaging, it made the offer very murky because it was like, you know, create and formulate healthy habits, but what does that really mean? Get healthy from the inside out.

Okay, great, but [00:22:00] what does that really mean? Establish wellness in your life. All of those sound really nice, but they're not clear enough that someone can see themselves. Yes, that's what I'm dealing with. That's what my struggle, that's what my problem is, and yes, that's what I want. That's the solution.

That's transformation. That's the outcome. the reason we're like leaning into this so hard is because so often coaches, practitioners, experts, anyone who gets into the online space and then tries to market their expertise or develop digital products, programs, coaches, memberships, et cetera.

Get stuck in exactly what Joanna is saying. Their own expertise, their own mentality. I know everything, so I'm gonna speak to everything. It's why your content isn't converting. It's why no one really knows what you do because you may be all over the place. I was the exact same way I wanted to talk about fitness, and I wanted to talk about exercise.

Specifically, and then I wanted to talk about nutrition and habits, and then I wanted to talk about sleep, and then I wanted to talk. And it just, it's all over the place. And eventually, once [00:23:00] you grow your brand to be more well recognized and you have a lot more clarity upfront, you can start to incorporate more things later on and then build the.

Through line of how they all connect. But when you're first getting started, that niche of what is the simple issue? What is the simple solution, and how can I do that in the easiest, clearest, most efficient way possible so that people really understand and then they really get the experience of that change, that transformation, that piece of growth.

And then that's gonna become your best testimonials, your best case studies, so you're able to sell even. Better into your products, program, services, offers. ' cause you have all of these people shouting your name from the rooftops because you helped them accomplish something. So very clear.

So don't get lost in the magnitude of what it is that you can do. You'll be able to offer those things over time, and once someone actually gets into your products, programs, and offers, just imagine all of the surprise and delight, the going above and [00:24:00] beyond the extraordinary service and offering that you'll be able to give them.

Once they've taken that step. So they need simple, they need easy, they need digestible, and then you can kind of start to layer on, layer on, layer on. And I will highlight this point just as, because I come from the practitioner world, I've worked with a ton of functional. Doctors, nutritionists. I've worked with physical fitness folks, teachers, instructors, like all over the board.

And one thing that I really found and noticed is the client or student success will be determined by your ability to guide them through the process. And so frequently, from a course product perspective, we just wanna overwhelm. We're like, Hey, here's everything that I know, and if you know it too, then you're gonna feel great.

But we forget that behavior, change and psychology of people is to take things step by step to be able to digest over time. And so instead of overwhelming them, you can break things down. So you wanna do that in your content. You wanna do that in [00:25:00] your messaging. You wanna do that in your offer when you're presenting it, but you should also be doing it your products and programs so that people can move through it successfully so that people don't get stuck or feel overwhelmed in the process.

Joanna Newton: So we've got our audience, our audience, with a shared problem. We've thought of the solution and. a solution to probably just one of their problems, not a hundred of their problems. Now we need to figure out how we're gonna deliver it. wanna talk through just some common ways that people set up their digital products to be effective.

One thing I will warn you against is don't try to. Put all of these in one product. Again, I think that same with all of the knowledge. You wanna get all of your knowledge out there. You're gonna say, I want a community and I want a course. I want group coaching and one-on-one coaching, and all of these things all of those things.

The more complex your product is, the harder it is to launch and the higher barriers you have to launch. The likelihood you don't. Launch, and I hate to say [00:26:00] this, but I've worked with people that overcomplicate what they're creating and then it takes 10 times longer than they want it to, to get out in the world.

And if you wanna get started, you should get started with something. You can always grow, adapt, change over time. So some common formats to think about. Um, the first is group coaching. Group coaching is maybe you're a one-on-one coach and you just wanna start scaling your time a little bit more. So you start doing group coaching cohorts.

this is if what the solution you provide needs to be very customized, very high touch. Every case is gonna be a little bit different. Group coaching is, is really good for this. A benefit of group coaching is you don't have to pre-create. Tons of content and resources. If you have a framework you already follow for your one-on-one coach, you can redo it one to many. The sort of downside of this is if you want people all starting and ending on the same spot, you're gonna have to have a very set in stone launch date where you're [00:27:00] like. Promoting for a cohort. So you're gonna be pushing CO one cohort at a time and kind of growing that way, which adds a little complexity to your marketing.

It can't be as like evergreen and automated as you're gonna be adjusting for those start and end dates of your cohorts, but can be really good if you won. Don't wanna start creating content already. Have a coaching framework that you like to use and are ready to go. Memberships are a great option as well. And when you think of a membership, it's something that, one, you're gonna be growing over time, so adding content, adding insights, and really being interactive with folks over time. is great for something where. The, the needs and the solutions are kind of ever evolving. So something like a marketing membership is a really good way to think about it because marketing is always evolving.

What's working to grow an audience today and what's working to grow an audience three months from now? I. Changes, especially in, our world, you know, tiktoks getting banned. It's not [00:28:00] getting banned. It is getting banned. The algorithm changes. We're gonna do shorts, we're gonna do carousels. We're always sort of changing.

So memberships are really good when, when the solution isn't so stagnant. If you're doing something like test for a test that has been the same forever, and membership is a little less relevant because that could be truly evergreen. So community offerings are really great when you want to have accountability.

You want peer-to-peer support, you want group interaction. You wanna provide a forum that people can come into and engage with each other. I. You also have courses, you know, a traditional course. This is really good for that step-by-step process. Something that remains the same really over time, isn't constantly evolving for changing.

This is the like test prep example. The SAT does change occasionally, but is essentially the same exam for many, many, many years where the same test prep course is gonna apply over and over and over again. You can also do one-on-one programs so you [00:29:00] can find ways to sort of digitize a one-on-one program with one-on-one group coaching that has some asynchronous content pieces.

That might be a great way for you if you're really just starting to dip your toes into moving from one-on-one to a more digital offering by seeing what pieces of your process you can digitize to save. time and therefore your money. Those are just some really great common formats to think about, but always again, remember to think with the solution first, what's the solution?

And then pick the modality that's gonna be right and fit for that particular solution.

Michelle Pualani: And knowing that this can change over time. So frequently we start something and think that, oh, for the next 10 years, this is what I have to do. No, you don't. You can start, you can stop, you can change, you can evolve, you can grow. You could have, you know, a series of these things that stack on top of one another.

Again, that ascension model to draw people into what you do. You could offer a course and [00:30:00] then. Within that course, you have so much demand for the next level of support that then you start a three or six month group program that only happens after the course. So know that you can continue to change, evolve, grow these offerings over time, and they can adjust to meet your needs Also, in terms of your desire. One thing that I hear really common in my business groups, masterminds and with other business owners in the digital space, is they feel like they need to. So they launch this membership and it's going great. It's thriving. They're in the six or seven figures. There are people coming into it. They love the community, but they just don't feel inspired by it anymore, and they don't wanna create content.

Now, of course, you can always. Figure out a way to reengage that spark or transform or change it. But you can also close the membership and transform into something different. Maybe now you're ready for like group coaching at a high level mastermind and you can say, make that same amount of money by doing one cohort [00:31:00] for.

A six month time or for the entire year, that fuels you more and now you're working with just 12 people as opposed to 12,000 people or whatever the case is. So a lot of times people get themselves. Into this place where they feel stuck with the modality of what they're offering they feel like they have to continue to deliver at that level.

But I have been watching people in the online space for 10, 15 years, and let me tell you, it's okay to change. It's okay to transform. It's okay to shut things down. It's okay to move stuff over. It's okay to rearrange. It's okay to just let it evolve with you what your desire is. As you grow, you may want to run a group coaching program right now, but then you wanna transform it into a membership.

You can do that. Just recognize that it's your business. You have the freedom. You have the ability to do these things. Know that you're not gonna get stuck in one modality and just allow and give yourself that permission. Because I think people get paralyzed in choosing, and [00:32:00] oftentimes that's why they put it off.

So what Joanna's pointing out is like, don't let the packaging get in the way of your messaging and offer. Don't also let it stop you from taking action. So a lot of people will sit on the fence and over the course of three months, they'll be like, oh, should it be a membership? Should it be a group coaching program?

Should I make a course? Should I do this thing? And then they're stuck in that kind of analysis paralysis of. Pushing back the action of launching anything at all because they're worried about the modality of what that's gonna look like. So I would always say focus on the offer, focus on the MVP, the minimum viable product.

Like Joanna's saying, you don't have to have everything created upfront. If you have a program that's over a three month delivery, get the first week done and then once people actually get into it. Because you've sold it so well, because you focus 90% of your energy and time on the marketing and the sales side, that after you've done that, you can then actually focus on the content.

You'll also be able to create better content. 'cause you're gonna understand why people are in that product or program. You'll also be able to hear and listen and [00:33:00] receive feedback as you. Go. So know that that's okay too. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be exactly what it's always gonna be meant to be.

I think Marie Forleo every single year she redoes or revamps B-School. I've seen it done with James Wedmore in business by design. Not an annual basis, but they take the core content and they reprogram it in order to be relevant, of course, based on the times, and also to meet the needs of the people who are moving through the group, which can change and can evolve.

So I. Know that you have that flexibility, that freedom. And then I'll point out one more thing is that we get so attached to what it is that we create. I have created so many products and programs and for a long time I was stuck in like, oh, well, I invested all this time, energy, care, and thought into this thing.

I can't let it go. I can't not sell it. I can't move on to something new because I invested so much time and energy into it. You can always create a new, if anything that AI has actually taught me, which I will point out here, is that you can always create from scratch. You can [00:34:00] always create a new, you still have that experience, that knowledge within you.

You can deliver something better, something improved. You can do better tech, you can do better video over time. You don't have to be so attached to that thing that you created or the time, energy investment like. The sunken cost fallacy is like you got the experience by doing it. Beyonce, when preparing for a show, a two minute performance, she will prepare for months in advance and she will rehearse over and over and over and over again.

Do you think any of those rehearsals were a waste of time? Absolutely not. So allow yourself to do more rehearsals, more practice, more, getting in the reps, and know that you can always move forward. You can create a new, and you don't have to be so attached or clinging so heavily to that content that you've already created.

Joanna Newton: and too many people, your sub right Michelle, get stuck in that decision making process. They get stuck in what's the right price point? What's the right modality? What's the thing? What's that? When I do think you should take time to really analyze your problem and solution. [00:35:00] Not too much time, sometime come up with that product and offering and get it out in the world. If it fails, it fails. If you don't get any students, you don't get any students, you've learned something. And I think more people get to successful in a successful course launch by launching than not launching. Like if you just never launch, I. And then you're like, I've never sold any courses. Well, that's a shame. But if you try launching things and it doesn't work, you've learned something, you try again, likely eventually have a successful course launch because you've gotten it right, because sometimes it's the modality, sometimes it's the offer. Sometimes it's the price point. Sometimes it's the messaging.

Sometimes you can relaunch the same program with different problem and solution messaging, and not get out of the park. Right. One thing that we have found for our business is that lot of times when Brandon and I have been making content for our business, we were focused on this client avatar that we don't have because so much, you know, content about creating digital products is that like client [00:36:00] avatar who wants to work two hours a day and make all of this money passively.

So then we make. We make content for that person, but our people wanna teach the people who connect with us. They want to have a bigger impact. They want to be able to scale their time better. To move from one-on-one to one to many, they. hate working. They like working, they like what they do, they just dunno how to have a bigger impact.

So the messaging was wrong. It was a mismatch because we were thinking we were writing to one person when really we should be connecting with the people that already are naturally connecting with us. So you don't always know that unless you launch and fail, and you don't always know that if you don't, if you don't try, um, in the process. So we've talked a lot about. Having a shared audience a shared problem, what that solution could look like, knowing what that solution and transformation is, some ways you can package, and we haven't even talked about launching yet, so now [00:37:00] we're gonna talk about a launch process and something that I hear all of the time is. People want very complicated launch funnels. I think that there's so many gurus in our space, like Brendan Bouchard and Amy Porterfield, who have these very well-known capstone launch formulas that are complicated. they're that for a reason, they can be very, very successful, but I think it overwhelms people. So I want to break down the idea of a launch for you in just a few steps. Just a few steps. So the first thing I want you to focus on in your launch is a pre-launch strategy. And what I mean by a pre-launch strategy is something that is going to get people excited and deliver value, and it has to have an a specific date in mind. So you have a pre-launch where you're going to drive excitement for some sort of event, and I'm putting event in quotes. That's going to be a date and time that gets people excited. Look, evergreen funnels are great. An evergreen funnel where someone gets a [00:38:00] freebie, gets into a sales funnel, gets sold A course is something you should have for your program, but there's something about a date and time that I think gets you excited as the course creator and your followers excited.

That just makes a huge difference, and I've seen this time and again working with folks so. One example of this could be a premiere of a new YouTube video on your YouTube channel. Doesn't have to be a live event. And this is actually a launch strategy that I've used, um, with my clients before. So say you decide you're gonna premiere a YouTube video with a of a new training on your YouTube channel on June 1st. You're gonna get everyone really excited about that. You're gonna invite everybody to come. Say you're gonna be live in the chat, answering questions, send out emails to your people. Do social posts, get people to register so you can send them notifications when they go live. Or maybe you're gonna give them a bonus, like they get a download accompanying download if they register and just.

[00:39:00] Push to that June 1st date of getting as many people involved as possible. what that does is I think it gets you excited. It gets you on social media, it gets you talking to people. You are promoting this amazing free thing that you're offering your audience, and you're getting them to show up live. So that's what I'd call a pre-launch period, getting people to attend and look forward to something that's free and high value and gets them involved. Then at that free thing, in that moment when you have all of that attention, you're gonna share your new product, your new program. Maybe it's a special discount and it's not a brand new thing.

You're just relaunching a new program going to right when you get their attention. Share what your special offer is. They're gonna get a discount or bonuses or something for signing up, but you're gonna present them your solution to their problem. In that moment that you've created, that really exciting moment that you've created, and that's your launch event.

A place where you're really getting that attention, your sharing your offer, and you're [00:40:00] talking to your people. That can be live, that can be in a chat, that can even be a. I'm gonna share you a one off video training through to your email. You can be really creative with what that launch event can be, and then here's the real money maker.

You have to have follow up if you get everyone to show up, and you get everyone to that event and you pitch a program. And then it's crickets. You're only gonna sell so much. So you need follow up emails and an end deadline for that offer to really bring it home. And I know what I just shared. Sounds so simple. It does not sound like rocket science, it sounds like. Okay. Of course, get people excited about a free thing, then do the free thing, then pitch your program, then follow up with people. sounds so simple that you think that can't possibly work, but it does. Um. I worked with a client on a launch flow that was focused, like I mentioned, on a YouTube premiere. had about 10,000 people on their email list. Only 700 subscribers on YouTube [00:41:00] and in a simple strategy like that sold $27,000 of their new course. They got 254 new students a simple launch strategy like that and the big. Huge selling point of all of this is, the sales number is great. I love that sales number.

It's, they were happy. They were excited. But what also happens here is you also along the way, nurtured your audience. So the people who didn't buy. Some great free training from you. They got great free emails. They got all of this value, and so even if they don't buy this time, the next time around, they're gonna be primed and ready because they're gonna start to kind of get, get your flow and how you offer things and how you provide solutions to problems.

Michelle Pualani: This is one thing that took me way too long to learn is that truly business is so simple. Like the principles and the practices are so simple. We over complicate it. We limit it. We make it something that it's not. But all you're essentially doing is you are finding people who want what you're selling and you're [00:42:00] selling it to them.

Like you're just, you're driving traffic, you're presenting an offer, and then you're delivering on that offer. Business is so, so simple when you break it down that way. And then of course we get into the deeper understandings of sales psychology and marketing messaging and positioning the offer and all those things that we talk about that do take a little bit of finesse and expertise.

Only because oftentimes people who don't get that right just aren't coming at it from the right. Experience lens or knowledge lens, right? This is a world that Joanna and I have been in for so long that it's easier for us to be able to see, perceive change, write structure, things with that in mind. You have a certain level of expertise and awareness, right? Usually as a practitioner, and if you're listening as a coach, as a creator, whatever it is that you do, you've had a skillset that you've built, you've had experiences, you've dealt with clients, you have customers, you've got case studies under your belt, you're gonna approach.

A problem, right? Let's just say someone needs to lose weight as an easy example. You're gonna approach it through the [00:43:00] lens of all of your experiences, your entire skillset, and everything that you've been able to do successfully up to this point. So that in your mind you're like, it's so simple. We just do this, this, and this.

That's all we need to do. But for the person that's coming to you, it's gonna feel complicated and stressful because they've never done it before. Right? Joanna's presenting a very similar process to the launch strategy, which she knows and she embodies because she's had experience after experience and customer after customer, and successful launch after successful launch.

That wasn't always the case. It takes that time, it takes that experimentation. And so for you, you could go through that trial and error on your own, or you could invest in someone who has done it time and time again in order to do it successfully. Because of that lens, it doesn't mean that you're not gonna have that lens.

At some point. If you are interested, you can learn it. You can read the books, you can do the workshops, you can get the customers, you can trial it on your own. You can go through the many failed launches. You can go through that process, but ultimately, the. It's very, very simple when you break it [00:44:00] down to the basics of that structure of that simple launch strategy that Joanna laid out.

You'll just tend to over complicate it, and then you'll get in the weeds of like, oh, well what about the pages and what do I say in the emails? And then how do I set that up and is it gonna be automated? And how do I get people to sign up for my webinar and how do I work a webinar and how do I do all those things?

Sometimes just finding the support for the tech on that side can be really helpful with people who have done it over and over and over again. But don't let yourself get into the weeds. Keep that kind of high vision, that broad strategy in mind, and then you can start to kind of tick things off little by little, one by one as you go. 

Joanna Newton: and once you have a simple strategy that works, you may need something different when you are ready to scale but when you are selling your first programs, I would say if you are even in the to 50 KA month range of core sales, a simple launch strategy is still going to work for you. actually run, like for corporate companies like. Million dollar launches with simple, [00:45:00] simple principles. When people get all in the weeds of like, what button color should we use? Or like, how are we gonna segment this list? I find the simpler the better, and there can be a time and place for those much more complicated strategies, but until your consistently selling, it's not the time and place when you're consisting it. Consistently selling, then you AB test, then you add more triggers, then you add those things. really when it comes down to it, the launch process, like we've said, really you need three things. You need an audience with a shared problem. A solution and a simple launch system. And one of those things I'm going to make super easy for you. So I am starting a program called Launch Flow. And Launch Flow is designed to help people like you launch your products and in the easiest way possible. See, I've taken. All of the design templates, all of the text templates, all of the email templates that I use with my clients, and [00:46:00] I'm gonna give them to you in this program.

So you'll have the frameworks, the structures and everything you need to launch your programs. And then on top of that, you'll get to attend weekly calls where we talk about all kinds of things like. Lead generation, how to run your pre-launch, how to sell. Also, just get technical support, and ask questions.

So if you're building your pages that we provided for you and you are using our frameworks and a button isn't working, or you're having a three click problem that my client the other day had, you can get on a call with us and we'll be able to help you manage those little technical idiosyncrasies that are stopping you from launching. Even on top of that, we'll have a community forum where you can ask questions, get feedback on your work and all of those things. So that sounds interesting to you if you want access to the resources that Millennial marketer uses with our clients, then you have to check out Launch Flow. I have a link in the show notes for you to join the wait list. I'm [00:47:00] gonna tell you right here, and now that the price, I'll be launching this to my wait list people. Is outrageous. Like, I'm not gonna share what it is. 'cause you have to join the wait list to find out what it will cost you, but it will basically be nothing because I just want people to be in this program. Like I will lose money when I launch this course for the work that I put into. But I want as many people as possible to get access to these resources because selfishly, I want you to use them.

Tell me how much you love them, all of your great success stories so that I can then. Continue to sell this program and get more and more people involved. So please sign up for the wait list and then when we are ready to launch, you'll be the first to know. 

Michelle Pualani: If you don't yet have support or you've gotten support in the past, whether coaching mastermind groups, courses you've purchased, but felt like, ah, this just isn't it. I'm still searching for that thing, or, that didn't really meet my need, I. Get on the wait list for Joanna's upcoming membership. [00:48:00] I have seen the demonstrated success of her work over and over and over again.

Like I said, you can try to go through it on your own, which valiant effort. I have totally been there. Or you can work with a company millennial marketer that has done this time and time again successfully, and I would highly advise you, especially at the incredible cost and investment that Joanna is offering this for.

Just get in and check it out. It nothing can hurt by seeing what it is, but you may. In fact experience that like next level of growth and ease that you have been absolutely completely waiting for. So find the link in show notes to sign up for the wait list. Check out the membership, get on that, and we'll see you in the next episode of her First. Thanks for tuning in.