[DAY 104 OF THE DEEP END PROJECT]
If you are in the “I love launching. I can do it all the time” camp, you can stop reading now. But bookmark it for later, because you may have to come back to it.
Launching Sucks.
There, I said it.
It’s one of those secret things that’s only talked about in peer groups because none of your coaches wants you to know this – that they effin’ hate launching.
Why does Launching suck so much?
Because traditionally launches are supposed to put you in a pressure cooker, a timed one, on high heat.
You are “supposed” to generate a big chunk of your revenue in a very short amount of time. 3 days to maximum 3 weeks.
On top of it, there is a pressure to “perform” for a webinar or a masterclass because the numbers (people you enroll and revenue) are all hanging by a thread on that “performance”
And then there’s the societal pressure of a “6-figure launch”
Actually it used to be 6 figures, now it’s 7-figures!
If your launch hasn’t generated 6 or 7 figures, did it even matter?
If you do a group program (vs click to buy), then there’s another added stress of doing sales calls.
Typically your launch activities include:
- Writing copy for your sales page
- Writing copy for your sales emails
- Preparing for webinar, masterclass etc.
- Social Media posts
- Conducting the webinar, masterclass etc.
- Managing all the tech
- Post launch activities like fb lives, getting people to buy
- Damage control (there’s always damage control – emails didn’t go, tech didn’t work etc.)
- Admin work for onboarding clients etc (if you don’t have a team)
- Doing sales calls
This list is by no means exhaustive, but can you feel the exhaustion already? I’m not even talking about the actual delivery of the program.
It’s no surprise that people get absolutely burnt out after their launch. Been there, done that!
Everyone who’s launched, will tell you that there is something called “Launch Trauma”
I believe launch trauma is a combination of external efforts + an internal war.
External effort are all the things you have to do in order to launch 🚀
Internal war is an actual war happening between your ego and your higher self.
Your ego has to get 15 people in the program, if not you are worthless.
Your ego will drive you to push and hustle to the brink of exhaustion.
Your ego will freak out if the launch isn’t going as planned or wasn’t all that “successful”
Your higher self is super chill. She knows that all this pushing and grinding isn’t what’s needed for your ultimate success.
She knows that the “external effort” and the results have nothing to do with your worthiness.
She has a much better plan for you, even if on the outside it doesn’t look like a “success’
But without having done the most important work of life, which is; dismantling your ego and letting your higher self drive the bus – – your ego always wins.
Therefore, Launch Trauma!
Could there be a better way? A much easier way to launch?
Yes there is!
I call it the (Un)Launch. I’ve done it now for 2 years and let’s just say every launch has been a lesson on how I can make the process better.
This is how I launch or shall I say (Un)launch:
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- Sell it First. Market it Second. Brand it Third – I didn’t come up with this swanky name, but I’ve been doing this since 2018. In short it means, before you create a single piece of launch asset, before you write a word of your sales page and before you put your logos and fonts on the fancy PDF’s, sell a few spots.
The first time I launched my High Ticket Group Program (Hook ‘Em & Book ‘Em), I filled it up without a sales page or a launch. It was a $15k launch.
I did the same last month with the *secret* launch of my membership, Activate. I launched it with a 2 page google doc, a bomb bomb video and 2 emails. We enrolled 15 people (5 more than my goal).
Pre-enrolling or pre-selling spots before you launch will take off the pressure you feel during the launch.
There’s a very specific way that I do this (aligned to my Human Design). I teach this in my group program (more on this in a bit!) - Hire it Out – I understand not everyone has a full team to support them in a launch, but even if you can hire a temp VA to let’s say schedule your emails or create graphics – – it’s going to save you a ton of energy and time.
My recommendation would be to hire out stuff you hate doing or takes the most time. For me, it’s copywriting and setting up tech. I’ve done all of it on my own in the past, now I know that my time saved = money earned. - Schedule Time-Outs for Self Care & other stuff – Launching sucks (have I said this before?) and it’s bloody exhausting. The first thing entrepreneurs do when they launch is they block their time for webinars and other launch activities. When the launch is underway and the kids are pounding on the door for lunch, you are like “Oh shit! I forgot I’m the mommy!”
I once read that a very famous entrepreneur was so busy with her launch that she forgot to pick her daughter from school. That was her “wake up” moment to realise that launching sucks!! But not only this, you are the golden goose and a launch is a big deal on your nervous system. What are the things you do to take care of yourself? When I create my launch calendar, some of the first things I put there are the personal stuff that I’d need during launch. My list includes:
– Meals. Who will take care of the meals? Do we need to order? Pre-cook ?
– Arrangements for School pick ups or drop offs
– Weekly massages for diluting any stress
– Energy healing appointments
– Access to my coaches
– Time blocked on my calendar for meditation, breathwork, grounding
– Mid-day naps or/and netflix binge to unwind.
– A power support system of my team to hold me up if I falter - Ongoing Energetic Practices – This is where all the masculine activities of launching meet the feminine side of being and intuiting. Bringing in energetic practices keeps my ego in check. When my higher self is in control, when she is driving the bus – – I’m in flow, I surrender, I don’t push or control. This is ongoing work. I won’t say I’ve mastered it, but I’m a 1000 times better than, say, last year.
- Leaving Room For Magic – This. Is. My. Favorite! Whenever I’ve tried to control and push my way through a launch, things haven’t gone too well. But the moment I surrender, I leave room for the Goddess to step in and do her work, I’m amazed by how fast things flow for me. This again, is a practice and it’s taken me years to get to a place where I completely trust that everything is happening for me.
When you reach that state, there’s no external or internal pressure. You are then not influenced by the “6-figure or 7-figure” launch club. You welcome the unknown with your arms open.
- Sell it First. Market it Second. Brand it Third – I didn’t come up with this swanky name, but I’ve been doing this since 2018. In short it means, before you create a single piece of launch asset, before you write a word of your sales page and before you put your logos and fonts on the fancy PDF’s, sell a few spots.
Before I close, let me just make one thing crystal clear. I’m not against launching. Launches can be great. It’s the way they’ve been taught – – making it a high pressure situation – – that is what I don’t stand for anymore.
Do I still launch? Yes!! But now I’m very conscious of how I spend my energy during a launch.
By uniting strategy that’s best for me with all the energy work I’ve learned through the years, I’m able to retain my sanity and love for my business.
This is the basis of my work. This is what I do, this is what I teach.
What about you? What has your experience been with launching?