The Good, The Bad, The Surprising

In the online business space, you hear a LOT about launches. But what you hear less often is just how much goes into these wildly successful (or failed) productions. It’s the lessons from launching that are super insightful.

I recently did a Live Out Your Brand Values mini-intensive over 5 days to lead up to the official launch of my new Make Your Mark in 90 Days program. No one has bought (yet!), but thinking through the big picture and tiny details, then putting everything in place was still a really useful exercise. Here’s why.

Key Takeaways

  1. I got practice setting up an automated drip campaign (in MailerLite*) to share daily worksheets and video lessons. (Which I recorded back in December, literally hours before going into labor, after procrastinating for weeks. Talk about perfect timing.)
  2. I created a lot of thought leadership for this mini-intensive, which I’ve already been able to repurpose in articles (like this post for Create & Cultivate) and for social posts.
  3. It was so validating and energizing to see people’s responses. A few people replied back to the emails I sent and 3 people showed up to the live session that wrapped up the mini-intensive. It’s always such a privilege to get a peek behind the scenes of founders’ businesses—which is essentially a glimpse into their head and heart.
  4. Honestly, it was nerve-wracking showing up in people’s inbox THAT much. It also required pre-writing tons of copy. These are both muscles that always benefit from being flexed.
  5. Another muscle that gets flexed during a launch is systems and logistics—figuring out how all the moving pieces fit together, what purpose they each serve, and how they push your audience toward the next step. How many of us sit thinking about that most days?
  6. As nuts-and-bolts as a launch is, it’s also a creative experience. My wheels are already turning for how I can convert the content from this 5-day mostly-email-based mini-intensive to an evergreen course, a paid workshop (with joint venture potential), a group coaching offering, or a VIP Day. Or some combo? [***EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: This framework now exists as a Live Out Your Brand Values Self-Reflection Workbook AND as a done-with-you half-day intensive. So cool to see the iterations over time!]

I probably learned other things, but these are the initial lessons that come to mind. Hopefully someone who went through the launch mini-intensive will want to work with me via a VIP Day or the full 90-day program, but I’m happy I did the launch regardless.

 

I’d love to know: have you ever “launched”? If so, what were some of your takeaways? If not, what’s been holding you back?


Toward purpose and progress,

Ashlee

 

This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.

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