10 Lessons From My Largest Live Launch, Ever

Hey Friend!

Want to know how to do a live launch? In this post, I’m doing something different: I’m giving you a behind-the-scenes look at my live launch.

Many of you were part of the bootcamp we ran back in August. This was the largest live launch or sale that I’ve had to date, in my 14 years as a full-time entrepreneur. This one blew me away. It was extremely, extremely successful.

I want to share ten lessons I learned from my largest live launch yet. Why? Because I believe that these live launch lessons can significantly impact your future success as you move into some more advanced sales strategies like:

• A workshop,
• A two-day bootcamp
• A five-day full-fledged live launch

Grab a notebook and pen. These live launch strategies are gold!

My Live Launch Success Story

I’m excited to share this live launch success story with you about how a podcast can help grow a profitable online business. If this is for you, please do your research on joining my programs. As soon as you’ve launched your podcast, you can apply for Podcast to Profit.

I want to remind you that if you haven’t started a show, you haven’t started a podcast yet, and you’re coming to Podcast Pro University. This is my course that teaches you how to launch a podcast. Okay, let’s talk about the ten lessons I learned from my largest live launch ever.

Lesson Number One: Your First Live Launch Might Stink

Here’s live launch lesson number one. Your first live launch might stink. It’s probably going to feel clunky. You’re going to be awkward. It won’t go smoothly because it’s your first time. What I’ve learned now, I think this is my third big, audacious live launch.

Before this, I did small ones, like a couple of days. And before that, I did 45-minute live launches. The first time I ever did one, and I have shared this story before, my computer died! I was at my Mom’s house in the backyard. It died. I did not have a charger. The sun was casting a shadow on my face. I barely had any time to pitch, but I still sold some stuff.

So what I’m here to share with you is you’ve got to get it out of the way. You have to do your first one to have a great one.

Live Launch Lesson Number Two: Perfect Your Launch Content

The second live launch lesson is to perfect your launch content, rather than coming up with new content every time. We thought we should have an entirely different strategy. We should have a bootcamp specifically on this, or this, or this.

But we decided to just stick with what we knew from the last couple of launches and perfect it even more. It made a huge difference. My organic conversion went from 9% to 20%, actually over 20%, which is bonkers. I do not expect that to happen for you and your live launches right now.

For my students, we have an expectation of a 0.5 to 1% conversion rate. To show you, the power of practicing and perfecting a particular training curriculum is key.

Lesson Number Three: You Need a Strategic Live Launch Plan

Live launch lesson number three is that you have to be strategic. You can’t just decide that you’re going to do a live launch or a bootcamp. By the way, these are interchangeable words. You can have a:

• Two-day class
• Bootcamp
• Workshop

All of them are live launches where you’re launching something into the world with urgency. That’s what I mean when I say this.

But you need a strategic plan. If you just come out swinging and you’re like, “Oh, by the way, I’m going to do a class, and it’s going to be an hour, it’s going to be great, and hopefully you come.”

This Will Not Work!

Sorry, but it won’t convert. It’s not going to work. People aren’t going to show up.

• You need to have a plan.
• You need a strategy for what this live launch is going to do.
• You’ve got to lead into the launch.
• You need to know what the content is.
• What is the podcast going to talk about to prime your audience?
• How long will you lead people in signing up for this class or bootcamp?

What is your strategy for guiding them through these different steps to get them to buy in the end? So, you need a plan. This is where I think something like Podcast to Profit comes in handy. Because inside Step five of my group coaching program, we specifically go into live launching.

I will walk you through how to set one up strategically. You can get coached in my power hour spotlight time on what your live launch should be.

• What should you call it
• How it should work
• Help with your email marketing

And all of those things. So, please have a strategy before you do your first live launch.

Live Launch Lesson Number Four: Have a Comprehensive Workflow

Lesson number four is to have a comprehensive workflow to stay organized. There are so many moving pieces, especially when you scale to the level where I am right now. We had roughly 5,000 leads coming into this live launch.

That‘s a lot of human beings. We had a team of people. My whole team was all hands on deck. We had to come up with door prizes. Yours won’t be this complicated until you scale, okay? But this is where I’m at.

What I would do differently from my first couple is take the time to have a comprehensive live launch workflow. When you invest in Podcast to Profit and you buy my operating system, we give you my live launch workflow. We let you upload my workflow. That’s right.

Those of you in Podcast to Profit, but you’re not at Step six yet, surprise! Or those of you that are coming into Podcast to Profit, and you’re like, ”Wow, you said a lot of fancy things, Stef, and I don’t know how actually to implement those things, or I’m not sure what those steps were that you just mentioned.”

When you buy my operating system, boom, and upload this workflow, it’s super simple. If that’s not something that’s in the cards for you right now, you need to take the time to build out a project board.

It should include every single step, along with all the weeks leading up to your big launch or bootcamp, so you know who’s doing what on your team and when each step is due. This way, you can stay super organized.

Lesson Number Five: Get More Help Than You Think You Need

Live launch lesson number five is to get more help than you think you need. When we are live launching, it is not just my company that is on overload, but it’s my family too, because mom is working.

• I’m Doing a Launch
• I’m Working With the Team
• We’re Closing Leads
• We’re Following Up
• We’re Fixing Kinks

Things are going to go wrong. It’s a live launch. And so I get help with my kids. I have a conversation with my husband. I bring my Mom in, and she takes some of the load off us to help with the kids. Also, I get more help for our team. We bring in launch team members. We pull interns off of other things to help us.

I Repeat, Get More Help Than You Think You Need!

This goes even for your first one, even if it’s tiny. You’re like, “Stef, my audience is like forty people. I’m going to do a live launch to have fun.” In Podcast to Profit, I teach you:

• When to do a live launch
• How big should it be
• Should you do a 30-minute class?
• Should you do a three-day thing?

By the way, there are milestones based on where you and your business are. So don’t stress about that. But let’s say you have a couple of people in your audience, and you know it’s not going to be a huge thing. That’s okay.

Whether you have a virtual assistant who can help you or even some super fans from your community, get some help. Here’s what to say: “Hey, do you want to learn behind the scenes of a live launch with me and help me with a few administrative things next week?”

This is an excellent way for you to learn how to start growing and managing people who can help you with tasks that you shouldn’t be doing in your business.

Live Launch Lesson Number Six: Follow-up

Live launch lesson number six is to follow up. Follow-up is king and queen. You’ve got to follow up. The people who are live with you during your bootcamp or your training are the hottest leads you have.

Don’t get all high and mighty and think that you don’t have to get in the DMs or even make some phone calls to close people. Especially when your business is new, you do. We have an entire follow-up process for our hot leads. The team is following up. My OBM is following up. I will follow up if needed. Follow-up is key to conversion.

Lesson Number Seven: Email Marketing Makes a Huge Difference

Live launch lesson number seven is that email marketing makes a huge difference. There’s a whole strategy for creating an email marketing campaign to help nurture your leads, move them into a buying posture, and ultimately close the sale.

Inside Podcast to Profit, I give you the blueprint for what emails we send and when. I give you the structure of that email so that you don’t have to come up with this on your own. If that’s not in the cards for you, I would highly consider how you can create a beautiful experience for people, an experience where they will be consistently reminded of the offer.

You’re going to remember to sell in multiple ways. You’re going to be pointed out, and it will also create an urgency. This is coming off the table. It’s got to have a deadline. It has to have urgent offers inside it. When it comes to people deciding to buy, Email marketing makes a big difference.

Lesson Number 8: Warm Traffic Converts Better Than Cold Traffic

Here’s lesson number eight. Warm traffic converts much better than cold traffic. What is cold traffic? It means it’s people who don’t know you yet. They don’t know, like, and trust you. If I were running a bunch of Facebook ads to bring in cold traffic to this bootcamp, or if I bring people in from my podcast who already know, like, and trust me, what would the conversion look like?

Our conversion looked like about 0.95% on the cold traffic. Let me say that again, 0.95%, not even 1%. That’s a 1% conversion versus over 20%. I think it was 20.7% or something on my warm traffic.

Why am I sharing that with you? Because you guys get focused on running Facebook ads. There’s a day and a time when that will happen for you, and it’s typically over 250,000 in revenue. So put it aside if you’re not there yet.

I want you guys to focus on building your hot leads. Hot leads come from what? The podcast. So instead of wasting time and energy on other things, do more episodes on your podcast. Get more strategic, invest in Podcast to Profit, and learn to grow the thing that will make you money.

Lesson Number Nine: High Energy and Confidence Build Excitement

We’re now live for launch lesson number nine: high energy and confidence, building excitement. You have to bring the fire during the live launch week. This means you have to prep. It’s like running a marathon. So the weeks leading up to it.

• I’m eating super clean
• I’m getting a lot of sleep
• I’m working out and moving my body
• I’m having periods of rest

Because when you get into live launch, there‘s no sleep, there’s no time to pee. You’re all in. You’ve got to prepare yourself for coming into a live launch of this size. You’ve got to bring the confidence.

If you’re feeling insecure, it’s normal to feel a little anxious. You’re going to apply that excited energy and help create a transfer of belief to your listener. You need to mind your mind. Suppose you’re feeling self-conscious or like it’s not going to work. Well, friend, it won’t work.

If you keep telling yourself, no one’s going to show up. Guess what’s going to happen? No one shows up. Because the reticular activating system, RAS, inside your brain will create the reality that your thoughts are telling your brain to do, it’s literal science. You’ve got to coach yourself through it.

• I’m going to show up
• I’m going to give my all
• I’m going to transfer belief
• I’m going to pour out
• I’m going to be excited

Do some jumping jacks and get into a mindset of showing up. Dial your volume to the right.

Lesson Number 10: People Love Prizes, Bonuses, and Surprises

Last but not least, live launch lesson number 10: people love prizes, bonuses, and surprises. We ramped up the bonuses, surprises, and giveaways we had at this live launch. It had a fun impact on the buzz and culture that it created.

People were pumped. They’re like, “I want to win!” The show-up rate is directly impacted by what you’re giving away. That’s something I would implement if you want to have your biggest live launch or sale ever.

How Do I Do All of Those Things Stef?

Here are the strategies for you. How do I do all of those things you just said? Apply for my six-month group coaching mastermind program for podcasters, and I’ll show you. I will give you all the different pieces and train you on the various ways we execute a sale, a bootcamp, or a live launch. So that you can plug and play, show up, and rock it. The details for that are at Podcast to Profit. I will see you soon. Thank you for hanging out with me.

I pray this blesses you!

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