It’s time for a launch recap! Woot woot! And, the title says it all… I’m recapping my Booked Out Designer course launch that sold out in an hour. I love these kinds of episodes, and I’ve done a few for template launches, but this is my first course EVER! So it’s fun to talk about launching from a different angle and for a product that is a cart open/cart close model.
I’m sharing the nitty gritty details of this launch including what I did leading up to it, what worked, what didn’t go so well, what I’ll change next time, and what the results have been. I’m so obsessed with this course and my amazing students. And even as I record this a month after the launch, I’m still blown away by how cool this whole experience was!
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Let’s dive into the launch recap and talk all things what I launched, what worked, what didn’t work, what happened during the launch week, and what’s happening now!
What I launched:
To start this launch recap, let me tell you what I launched (in case you missed it). I’m a website designer by trade and have built a successful, six-figure-a-year business by working with clients and building a template shop. Those have been my main things for a while now.
But I’ve always desired to help other designers figure out how to run a design business. There are some things I figured out along the way, and as you probably know, I love sharing and teaching what I know and am currently learning.
I’ve desired to do a course for a while now. It took me forever to pull the trigger on it, [hear more about that on episode #110].
The course is called Booked Out Designer. This is not a “how to design” course, although we do talk about that a little. It’s a BUSINESS course for designers on how to get booked out, charge premium prices, and become in demand as a designer.
This course covers all things from marketing, networking, discovery calls, running client projects, finances, pricing and so much more.
At the time this episode is going live, I am about halfway finished with the course. I beta launched it before it was done and am dripping the content to the founding members as it’s created.
What I did leading up to the launch:
I made this a really low maintenance launch. There were no webinars, Facebook ads, live videos, challenges to go through first. I just put the offer out there and people bought. It was a really low cost and FAST launch.
I did do some good marketing leading up to the launch of building a waitlist and creating anticipation and answering questions ahead of time.
Leading up to the launch, I talked about it constantly on Instagram and had 2 weeks on the podcast where the content was aimed at designers. I emphasized the importance of getting on the waitlist if you wanted information because that would be the only way to see the sales page.
I stuck to this promise, and actually never shared the sales page or offer outside of that waitlist group. I openly shared the price, what the payment plan options were, and answered any questions people had.
So I was saying “get on the waitlist” if you want in but was not holding captive decision-making information, like the price or what’s included. It wasn’t “join the waitlist to know about the offer”, it was “you know about the offer, now get on the waitlist if you think there’s a chance you’ll want it.
The Launch Itself:
I made a pretty sweet sales page if I do say so myself. I worked with my copywriter, Emily, to write 5 emails that would go out during the 5 day cart open period.
I had all the bells and whistles ready to rock. Instagram posts ready to go for the week about the launch and a podcast episode for the second day of the launch that would heavily promote it.
Everything was well planned and prepped! The day before launch day was super chill for me, and I was just excited. I honestly haven’t had a lower stress launch than this one.
The launch started on Monday with an email that went out to just the waitlist at 8 am CST. I was limiting the course to 30 spots because of the nature of it being a beta group.
I DID anticipate that the course would sell out within that 5 day period, and I hoped it would sell out halfway through. However, what ACTUALLY HAPPENED blew my mind!!
What happened?
You might have figured this out already by the title, but tune in to the full episode to hear this part of the launch recap story!
What didn’t go well:
The ONLY thing I would change about the way this was executed is that I sent the launch email at 8 am CST. When I picked the time it was because someone asked me, and then someone else asked me, and people were wanting to set alarms and put it on their calendar and all! I picked 8 am not thinking it through too much.
The details:
I ended up with a 39 member group. I did offer payment plans - which I’m so glad I did! For this launch recap it is worth noting that I wasn’t going to offer this at first, just to keep it simple. But it was almost exactly half for who chose a payment plan and who paid in full, so I know now that it was an important feature of the offer for people!
This was a multiple 5-figure launch. It wasn’t the biggest launch I’ve had, (I’ve had bigger template launches and sales), but it was FOR SURE the most money I’ve brought in in a single day and certainly in an hour.
And the students are absolutely amazing. I was very prayerful that the right people would end up as founding members. I wanted to get people who the course was right for, and who understood the offer.
I was a little worried that people might think the course was completely finished and they were buying it DONE so I tried to communicate (probably over communicated) that it was NOT done. It was important to me that the beta group knew that and understood that they got a discount because of this and that they were getting some extra perks too for being founding members!!
I really do feel like the perfect group is in there. We have a lot of people who are super eager to learn and are actively taking the course, participating in the Facebook group, and coming to coaching calls. It’s just incredible.
For the next time:
So what will be different about the next launch?!
I am opening the doors to the course again this summer, likely in June.
This time it will be a “normal launch” not a beta launch. However, I do still think I’ll “keep it simple!” And I am so excited about that.
Here are some of the things I might change for the next launch:
- Doing a webinar
- Instagram live (I had planned one for this launch)
- Run ads
I will make an emphasis again on joining the waitlist. That helps with gauging interest!
So I’m really excited to share this program with more designers. The feedback I’ve gotten on the modules released so far has been amazing! I’ve been getting comments left and right about a single module they took being worth the whole cost in terms of value.
I’m already seeing the students sharing wins like successfully raising prices, booking more, becoming more confident to sell, refining their packages, and so much more.
CLICK HERE to get on the waitlist!
April 20, 2021
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