1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,520 Speaker 1: If you're finding that something a product of yours is 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:05,480 always available or service of yours is always available and 3 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,640 it's not selling. Yes, it might be that you need 4 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:10,919 to promote it more, but a lot of the time 5 00:00:11,199 --> 00:00:13,880 it's actually that you are not moving people through that 6 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:20,519 sales process. Welcome to Imperfect Action. I'm Steph Taylor. For years, 7 00:00:20,559 --> 00:00:23,239 I read all the books, downloaded all the freebies, and 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,559 did all the courses, but it wasn't until I started 9 00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:29,920 taking imperfect action that my business had its first million 10 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:35,119 dollar year. Imperfect action is about doing things before you're ready, 11 00:00:35,359 --> 00:00:40,240 prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, and moving forward even 12 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,679 when you're not sure you're doing it right. On this show, 13 00:00:43,759 --> 00:00:47,679 you can expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips and strategies 14 00:00:47,679 --> 00:00:50,960 to build a business that brings you more profit, more freedom, 15 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:55,359 and even more joy. Are you on the list to 16 00:00:55,359 --> 00:00:58,200 get my daily businesses? Every day, I'll send you a 17 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,880 bite sized prompt designed to help you grow your business 18 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,960 in a more intentional way. Sign up at Steph Taylor 19 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,000 dot Co, forward slash DBB, or at the link in 20 00:01:07,079 --> 00:01:13,519 your show notes. Hey, welcome to Imperfect Action. This is 21 00:01:13,519 --> 00:01:17,000 episode eight hundred and forty five. Today, I'm talking about 22 00:01:17,159 --> 00:01:20,439 why you don't need to live launch every single offer 23 00:01:20,719 --> 00:01:24,400 in your business. And I know that might sound really surprising, 24 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,040 given that one of the core things that I teach 25 00:01:28,079 --> 00:01:31,000 as part of my business is how to run those 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,640 live launchers. I teach it through my program launch Magic, 27 00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:37,599 twice a year, and I have seen so much success 28 00:01:37,719 --> 00:01:40,719 in my own business and in my students businesses through 29 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:45,280 live launching. But today I'm sharing why you don't always 30 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,519 need to do that with every single offer. So, first 31 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,040 of all, what do I actually mean by live launching. 32 00:01:52,519 --> 00:01:55,480 When I'm talking about live launching, I'm talking about that 33 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,000 limited time campaign where you're sharing maybe sixty to nine 34 00:02:00,359 --> 00:02:04,359 days worth of content that leads up to a limited 35 00:02:04,439 --> 00:02:08,439 time cut open period. So you might have a live webinar, 36 00:02:08,719 --> 00:02:11,800 then you might open doors, and then doors might close, 37 00:02:11,879 --> 00:02:16,159 say seven days later. Now, when people think of a launch, 38 00:02:16,719 --> 00:02:20,439 they generally think about it as something that's building hype, 39 00:02:20,479 --> 00:02:23,599 something that's building buzz. But none of this is to 40 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,400 do with building hype or buzz. The whole process of 41 00:02:27,439 --> 00:02:31,680 that live launching is designed to bring the right people 42 00:02:31,719 --> 00:02:35,080 into your audience and nurture them through to the point 43 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,599 where they are ready to buy when doors open. So 44 00:02:38,719 --> 00:02:40,520 that is what the point of that sixty to ninety 45 00:02:40,599 --> 00:02:44,280 days of content is. It's not there to generate hype 46 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,080 so that they're excited. It's there to nurture them so 47 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,879 that when you open doors, they already know that it's 48 00:02:50,879 --> 00:02:55,439 a good fit for them. So when live launching works best. Now, 49 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,840 live launching works best for most digital products. You generally 50 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,840 don't need to put in that amount of effort and 51 00:03:02,879 --> 00:03:05,360 that extent of a live launch if it's going to 52 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,199 be something lower ticket, something say under one hundred dollars, 53 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,639 but anything really over one hundred dollars. Yeah, you can 54 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,439 see absolute benefits from live launching. And I'll talk a 55 00:03:15,439 --> 00:03:17,439 bit in a minute about how it doesn't have to 56 00:03:17,479 --> 00:03:20,800 be doors open, doors closed. It works really well also 57 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,479 for memberships, and also it doesn't have to be for 58 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,520 a digital product that you have never launched before. Live 59 00:03:28,599 --> 00:03:32,319 launching works really well for courses even when you've launched 60 00:03:32,319 --> 00:03:35,879 them before, memberships even when you've launched them before. For example, 61 00:03:36,599 --> 00:03:39,479 I run launch Magic twice a year every year. For 62 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,240 about ninety days before I open doors to launch Magic, 63 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,560 I am already in that launch. I'm already sharing that 64 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,400 content so that when I do open doors, people already 65 00:03:50,479 --> 00:03:52,439 know me, they like me, they trust me, they know 66 00:03:52,599 --> 00:03:55,000 everything they need to know to be ready to sign 67 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,400 up for launch Magic, and I do that over and 68 00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:01,560 over every year. You don't need to live launch. On 69 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,479 the other hand, when you are launching services most of 70 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:09,159 the time, okay, services, generally you can go without live 71 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,759 launching them. You can, of course do the whole live 72 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,039 launch campaign, but you generally don't need to as much 73 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,439 as you would with a digital product. You also generally 74 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,600 don't need to live launch if you are launching something 75 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,399 that is quite capped in the amount of people that 76 00:04:25,439 --> 00:04:28,279 you can take on. So, for example, if you're launching 77 00:04:28,319 --> 00:04:30,920 a group program where you can take five people maximum, 78 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,560 you probably don't need to do a huge launch. Unless 79 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,399 you really don't have anybody in your audience and you're 80 00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:40,319 starting from absolute scratch, then I would suggest doing a 81 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,839 live launch. But if you already have an audience, you 82 00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:46,879 already have people who are engaged, then you don't really 83 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,839 need to do a big live launch to fill five spots. 84 00:04:50,319 --> 00:04:53,199 So three things that you can do instead of live 85 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,399 launching to ensure that your offers, your products, your services 86 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:02,399 are still selling. Option one always open, so the product 87 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,319 is always available to buy at any point in time. 88 00:05:05,439 --> 00:05:08,920 And this is best for services that you offer ongoing 89 00:05:10,439 --> 00:05:13,279 as in they're always available to buy, and it's also 90 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,120 best for digital products that solve a very specific, painful 91 00:05:18,199 --> 00:05:21,360 problem that somebody wants to solve at a very specific 92 00:05:21,439 --> 00:05:24,319 point in time. And a great example that I can 93 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,600 think of for this is one of my good biz friends, 94 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,120 Riz from found Legal. She has a digital product called 95 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,759 the Copycat Kit, and it's a kit of basically what 96 00:05:35,879 --> 00:05:39,839 to do when somebody has ripped off your content or 97 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,399 ripped off your brand, copied anything in your business. Now, 98 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,639 if she were to do a live launch, then only 99 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,600 really people who have that specific problem that only people 100 00:05:49,639 --> 00:05:53,360 who have a copycat at the moment are going to 101 00:05:53,879 --> 00:05:57,480 buy that. Whereas if it's always available, somebody has a 102 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,079 painful problem at that specific point in time when they 103 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,639 have a copycat, they want to solve it now. So 104 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,920 these kinds of always open products, they are available all 105 00:06:06,959 --> 00:06:09,639 the time, but you do have to promote it. You 106 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:11,639 can't just put it on your website. You can't just 107 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,079 say well, I'm creating an online shop and it's available 108 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,560 all the time. You have to actively promote them, and 109 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,800 that means creating some kind of promo plan, some kind 110 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,040 of promotional rhythm to ensure that you're actually telling your 111 00:06:25,079 --> 00:06:29,839 audience about it. Now, the caveat here is that promotion 112 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:34,839 might not necessarily be enough. So much of a live 113 00:06:34,959 --> 00:06:38,120 launch is sharing content that moves somebody to be ready 114 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,480 to buy from you, so that when you open doors, 115 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,079 they are ready to buy. This is really all a 116 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,199 sales process, and that means that even if doors are 117 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,639 open all the time, you still need to be nurturing 118 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,639 through them through the sales process. And one way to 119 00:06:54,639 --> 00:06:57,839 do this is through your free content. Now, if you're 120 00:06:57,879 --> 00:07:00,959 finding that something a product of yours is always available 121 00:07:01,079 --> 00:07:05,240 or service of yours is always available and it's not selling, yes, 122 00:07:05,319 --> 00:07:06,920 it might be that you need to promote it more, 123 00:07:07,439 --> 00:07:09,680 but a lot of the time it's actually that you 124 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,800 are not moving people through that sales process. Now, I 125 00:07:13,839 --> 00:07:17,920 always talk about how launch magic is. Yes, it's part marketing, 126 00:07:18,319 --> 00:07:21,319 but it's also a huge part sales. Because you can 127 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,160 have awesome marketing, you can bring loads of people into 128 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:25,720 your business, you can get it all in front of 129 00:07:25,759 --> 00:07:29,279 loads of people. But if your sales messaging, if your 130 00:07:29,279 --> 00:07:34,040 sales content. If all of that is not there, then 131 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,240 it's going to fall flat. These people aren't going to buy. 132 00:07:38,319 --> 00:07:43,519 So yeah, it absolutely can be worth live launching these 133 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,160 always open product at least once. And like I said before, 134 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,920 you don't have to necessarily have doors open, doors closed 135 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,319 to be able to live launch it. You can have 136 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,519 a product that is available all of the time, and 137 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,319 then you can still run them those limited time launch 138 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,720 campaigns a couple of times a year where potentially you 139 00:08:04,759 --> 00:08:07,079 are adding a bonus, so if somebody signs up during 140 00:08:07,079 --> 00:08:09,480 that seven days, they get twelve months of Q and 141 00:08:09,519 --> 00:08:13,680 A calls with you, for example, And that limited time 142 00:08:13,759 --> 00:08:17,680 launch campaign is really moving people through that sales process 143 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:23,680 in a really strategic way. Now, a more advanced option 144 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,120 is automated funnels. This is something I actually do with 145 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,839 the podcast launch plan. Where as long as I am 146 00:08:30,879 --> 00:08:33,200 bringing people in at the top of the funnel, I 147 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,720 have marketing automations and sales automations set up to move 148 00:08:37,759 --> 00:08:40,679 people through that process, to nurture them through that sales process. 149 00:08:40,799 --> 00:08:43,519 And it's not something I can teach for free in 150 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,639 a podcast episode. It's definitely not something to set up 151 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,080 or even think about setting up until you already have 152 00:08:51,279 --> 00:08:55,279 offers that are converting. And unfortunately too many people think, well, 153 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:56,759 I just don't want to sell this, so I'm going 154 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,559 to set up this automation and it's going to sell, 155 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,039 and then they don't look at the numbers, they don't 156 00:09:01,039 --> 00:09:03,799 make any tweaks, they just leave it there and it 157 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,440 doesn't sell. But you need to actually live launch it. 158 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:09,240 You need to make sure it's converting first before you 159 00:09:09,279 --> 00:09:12,799 can automate this. Okay. The second way that you can 160 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:17,360 do this without live launching is by doing a limited launch. 161 00:09:17,879 --> 00:09:20,639 This is best for something where it's a really small 162 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,039 group or a really high ticket offer, or maybe it's 163 00:09:24,039 --> 00:09:27,879 a limited time service or a limited availability service, and 164 00:09:27,919 --> 00:09:30,240 it's really good in times when you need a quick 165 00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:32,399 cash injection and you don't have time to do a 166 00:09:32,399 --> 00:09:35,320 full launch. It works really well if you have a 167 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,879 small and highly engaged audience. For example, I did this 168 00:09:40,919 --> 00:09:43,679 with a small group intensive that I ran previously. It 169 00:09:43,759 --> 00:09:46,200 was a small group. I kept it at I think 170 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,600 eight students, where it was weekly calls for four weeks 171 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,080 and accountability and support, and all I did was I 172 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,639 put it out to my Instagram Stories audience. I said, 173 00:09:56,759 --> 00:09:59,639 is this something you'd be interested in. Everyone who said yes, 174 00:09:59,799 --> 00:10:02,240 I I DM them the information, I sent them a 175 00:10:02,279 --> 00:10:04,600 link to sign up. I sent a few emails to 176 00:10:04,639 --> 00:10:07,559 my list, but maybe only a handful of them, and 177 00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:10,480 we filled the spots really easily. This is a really 178 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,679 easy way to test a new offer, to see whether 179 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,120 people want them, to see whether they work, without having 180 00:10:17,159 --> 00:10:19,759 to put in all of the work that goes into 181 00:10:19,759 --> 00:10:22,679 a full launch. Now it works really well when it's 182 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,000 a capped group, so when you only have space for 183 00:10:26,159 --> 00:10:28,000 five people in that group, or if you only have 184 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,440 capacity to work with five people, this is a really 185 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,039 great way to do it. And this is actually a 186 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,080 process that I teach in offer Less Sell More, where 187 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,279 we are intentionally designing and refining your office suite so 188 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,200 you can make more sales more consistently. You can sign 189 00:10:44,279 --> 00:10:47,159 up for that at Steph taylor dot co slash Offers. Okay, 190 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,039 the third way you can sell without launching is like 191 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,440 a next step offer. That's the best name I can 192 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,240 call it next step offer, and this is best for 193 00:10:55,279 --> 00:11:00,000 your existing clients and students. When somebody finishes working with you, 194 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,519 I mean giving them that next step that they can 195 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,279 keep on working with you and offering it to them only. 196 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,120 It's only it's only available to people who have already 197 00:11:10,159 --> 00:11:12,320 worked with you. You can also use this as a 198 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,559 way to re engage past clients. Maybe somebody finished working 199 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:18,080 with you six months ago and you have a new 200 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,600 offer that you think would be perfect for where they 201 00:11:20,639 --> 00:11:24,120 are at now. A really great way to do this 202 00:11:24,279 --> 00:11:27,720 is direct reach out. You're sending them an email or 203 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,440 a DM or a voice note, and you're checking in 204 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,799 and letting them know, hey, this is how you can 205 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,240 keep working with me if you want to keep working together. 206 00:11:37,879 --> 00:11:41,000 For example, maybe somebody finished six months of coaching with you, 207 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,960 and now the next step is joining a community with 208 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,360 your past clients where they get access to monthly coaching calls. 209 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,840 Or another example, maybe somebody has come through your online course, 210 00:11:53,159 --> 00:11:56,240 they've finished it, and now the next step might be 211 00:11:56,399 --> 00:11:59,159 a one on one ninety minute session where they can 212 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,600 identify their next steps, identify their strategy to keep moving forward. Now, 213 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,600 these are really limited size offers. You're not taking a 214 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,600 lot of people. They would probably be a higher price point, 215 00:12:10,639 --> 00:12:14,360 they wouldn't be a low price point because it's a 216 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,879 small group of people and you're offering them a high 217 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,360 level of support. These people already know you, they like you, 218 00:12:20,399 --> 00:12:22,360 they trust you, They've worked with you before, so they 219 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,279 know how much value you can deliver, so they don't 220 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,559 need you to convince them of that. They really just 221 00:12:28,639 --> 00:12:31,440 need you to preempt what they are currently struggling with 222 00:12:31,759 --> 00:12:34,960 and give them the solution to that so they have it. 223 00:12:35,039 --> 00:12:39,039 Three ways that you can sell without live launching. You 224 00:12:39,039 --> 00:12:41,240 can have a product that is always open as long 225 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,000 as you're promoting it and moving people through that sales process. 226 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,240 You can run a limited launch if you're running something 227 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,000 that is capped in size, and you can do a 228 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:54,879 next step offer to existing or past clients and students. 229 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,080 That is it for today's episode. Thank you so much 230 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,279 for listening. If you haven't already, hit subscribe or follow. 231 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,799 Hit the plus button in Apple or the follow button 232 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,480 in Spotify and you will get brand new episodes delivered 233 00:13:06,519 --> 00:13:10,440 to your podcast app every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That's 234 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,000 it for today. Catch you next time.