We are getting into some mindset MAGIC! We are talking all about launching and your mindset around the launch process. We are diving into my recent launch and some major takeaways I had that I think will help you with whatever it is you’re launching. The launch was a huge win! I hit my mid-level goal, it was a multiple five-figure launch, and I even had a five-figure day on the first day everything went live.
It was fun, exciting, and I had been anticipating the launch week for MONTHS! If you have launched something in your business, you KNOW it can be exhausting. It can be extremely emotional, and there’s a lot more that goes into it than people think. Today I want to just dive into 6 things I learned about launching from this launch and, even my first template launch, that all relate to your mindset!
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Let’s go back to that first launch… I only sold two. YEP, TWO sales. And neither of those two sales were when I launched, they were both months after my “launch week”. At the time (and still now), it didn't feel detrimental. I recognized that I was learning and growing. And I knew that even this seeming "failure" would teach me how to successfully launch a digital product when the time came again.
When I first launched my template shop in 2018, I KNEW I was creating something people wanted and needed, I had a plan for how to create it, market it and sell it, and I made 5-figures in sales in the first week. Last month, I launched four NEW templates after the others had been for sale all year. This time the launch was about twice as big as the first time I launched the templates.
1. You need to understand what it’s like to make an important investment in your business before you ask other people to do the same.
When we are asking people to buy from us, we will do a better job and come from a place with more compassion and empathy when we also understand what it’s like to take a big leap! When you don’t know what it’s like to invest in your business, be on the fence about a product, or make (what feels like) a huge decision, you’ll have a harder time selling. It especially helps when you’ve invested in yourself recently so it’s fresh on your mind when you launch or when you’re selling to people in general.
The investment you make in yourself doesn’t have to be the same price as what you sell or anything like that. You just need to know what it’s like to be sold to and to buy. If you haven’t ever done this or it’s been a while since you have, it’s harder to understand what your clients are feeling and going through in the decision making.
I had invested in my business a significant amount a month before my most recent launch. This allowed it to be super fresh on my mind and the feeling of what it’s like to be on the fence, what it’s like to read sales emails, watch people go live on Instagram, to chat with support people, and to ultimately nervously hit the “buy” button with my credit card info.
It was fresh for me, so I could sell better because I literally understood what it felt like in a different way than if I never invested in myself but was asking people to buy my stuff.
Regardless of what you sell, also be willing to invest in YOUR business. You’ll not only benefit from your investment if it’s a good one, but you’ll also learn so much about selling.
2. You have to put your sanity first during your launch period.
Even stress-free launches require a lot of attention and can feel draining. This felt especially true for me during my recent launch! I was super excited and it actually WAS very stress-free. But, I still got drained. My introverted self got tired of talking to so many people, all the promoting, and all the time spent on the computer. I had to work to maintain my energy and enthusiasm for all of those days!
During a launch period, you need to do what it takes to clear your calendar, except for things you really want to do. Make sure you’re exercising, getting enough sleep, getting good food, and overall staying high energy! That doesn’t just happen. You have to plan it! For me, this meant saying no to some things.
For example, my dad and sister wanted to take a last-minute trip on my dad’s boat to the river the day before my launch. I could have done it, I didn’t have anything big planned for that Sunday. But, I said no. They didn’t understand why I couldn’t go. My sister even said, “You’ll be home by 4, it’ll be fine.” I had to understand that they had not been in this position before and did not understand the preparation and anticipation I felt. I needed to say no to being out of town for an entire day in the sun the day before. I needed that Sunday to be filled with some last-minute preparations and relaxing as my introverted self likes to relax.
As far as social life during launch week, I also focused on only doing things that I thought would fuel me and I planned very few things. Tune into the podcast version of this episode to hear EXACTLY what my evenings were like during launch week! I give you a recap of the week on the podcast because hopefully, that gives you some insight into what’s actually happening behind the scenes during stuff like this! But also to say, you’ve got to do what YOU NEED to maintain sanity, to stay high energy, and to have fun. Identify what’s going to drain you and what’s going to give you great energy for your launch!
3. Launching can be emotional, and you might experience yourself hitting an upper limit.
Launching can be an emotional roller coaster. Both of my template launches have been. That might sound crazy or fake because obviously when I’m on Instagram stories or emailing, I don’t seem emotional! I’m trying to bring great energy to the launch, remember? But regardless of how you’re able to show up, it can be emotional! And it’s a lot of GREAT emotions, hopefully!
I have actually not been disappointed by either of my template launches. During my first launch, I set a stupidly low goal for sales and hit that goal and passed it on the first day. This year, I set much higher goals and met the middle goal level. (I talk more about goal setting later in this post!)
Just because you hit your goals doesn’t mean it’s not emotional.
I had a moment during this recent launch where I got upset and cried! Yep, I cried about the launch. This is gonna sound funny, but I got upset during a conversation with my husband about what we were going to do with the money I had made so far. We were having a date night and it turned into a little bit of financial talk. Which we usually like to only have those conversations during planned financial talk times. But, there we were on a date, planning our finances. I was super excited about how much money I was making during my launch month. It was more than I had ever made in a single month. And again, this sounds funny, but I got upset with my husband because I felt like he wanted to put it all in retirement savings and I wanted to do something with it all now. And, I have to clarify — he didn’t even say that’s what he thought we should do, but I was placing that belief on him because he kept talking about retirement, haha. I got stressed out and upset. Which, I cry super easily, so that part wasn’t actually what was strange or difficult about it.
Looking back, I was upset about so much more than that conversation. Looking back at that conversation even just the next day, I realized I was hitting an upper limit with my earnings. I had never made as much money in one week as I had during my launch week. It’s a strange feeling. It made me anxious thinking “What do I do with it all now? Do I deserve this?” I had so many limiting beliefs come up that were causing me to get upset. I was hitting an upper limit with money. The numbers I was hitting combining the launch income with my normal income for the month was MORE than I thought I should make. I didn’t even realize that belief was there.
I was hitting some limiting beliefs that I needed to work through (and continue to work through!). It wasn’t that I was ungrateful for the money — I want to emphasize that. I was feeling confused about it. I think everyone has different upper limits and obviously your limiting beliefs change as you change and grow. But, I think this is something to pay attention to in a launch because you’re PUSHING yourself to be better, to do something HUGE, and that can be scary and emotional.
4. You need to be able to energetically hold space for your potential buyers.
I think the way we show up for our launches energy-wise is insanely important. When I say energy, I mean how you feel, how you act, and the vibes you’re giving to those around you. If you feel beat down, exhausted from all the prep you did for the launch and you are scared that no one will buy, you’ll bring that energy to the launch. And people don’t want to buy from that energy. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You never want to carry desperate or scared energy. This goes for selling in general, whether it’s on a call with a potential 1:1 client or the way you show up on Instagram, the way you send emails. ALL of it! It matters!
I think launches can feel energetically draining — this is especially true of me as an introvert. It’s a lot of front-facing time in your business. You’re doing live videos, possibly webinars, and overall a lot of chatting with potential customers. So, when you show up for your day, every day, during your launch show up ready to THRIVE, ready to help, and ready to HOLD SPACE for people who aren’t sure if they want to buy from you yet.
I feel like I did a lot of holding space for people during my recent launch. And that might sound like a weird concept to some of you. Back when I taught yoga, this was something we were taught — to hold space for our students. To hold energy for them to practice yoga and to practice meditation. I remember as a yoga teacher, after doing all of that energy holding, I was oftentimes energetically exhausted (which is much different than physical exhaustion!).
I think those same yoga principles apply here to your launch. You’ve got to hold space. You’ve got to bring positive energy, and you have to bring an invitation to buy with confidence. I also think it’s important how your relationship with selling is during your launch. I like to see selling as an invitation. “I have something I know could help you. I want to invite you to buy, I want to help you make a decision that’s right for you. And I want to listen and support you in making the decision.”
But, sometimes it can be tempting when you’re selling from fear and scarcity to sell with the message of “Please buy from me. I really need to make sells. I’m afraid you’ll back out. Please, please, please say yes!” This is not how we want to present (or think about) ourselves when selling!
5. Make prayer a big part of your launch strategy.
During my launch, I talked to God a lot! My launch week looked super different from a normal week for me though. Quiet time was different. I’m currently reading the Bible through in a year right now, and I did that less of that during launch week. But, one thing that didn’t change was talking to God and asking him to be the leader of the launch, of my business, of where my heart was. Your routine will likely change up with your launch, but your conversations and time with Jesus need to be a priority. Not because you’ll “be more successful if you do” or anything like that. But because God cares about your launch. And, I think it’s important to be careful to always give the glory to God, to give the praise and credit to him.
At least for me, the times when this feels hardest is when I’m crushing it during a launch. Because I’m like “Woohoo! Look at me go!” and I want to be reminded of “Wow, look what God is doing through my business this week. Look at the blessings he is pouring out.” So, pray about your launch. Talk to God through the whole thing. Another thing I would encourage you to do is pray for people as they buy and after they buy.
So what I did with this launch is I put everyone’s name on a sticky note on the inside of my office door. I put their name up as their purchase came through. This is great because it helps you visually see sales and who is buying what and when. But, I also loved it because, with every name that went on the wall, I was able to pray over them, to pray over their business and to thank God for the work they are doing in the world.
So, if you’re a template buyer - at any point, not just during my launch, know that I have prayed over you by name. And I think the ability to do this is a gift God gives us as business owners.
6. Have 3 goal levels, and actually write them down.
Often times we want to just have the goal in our head for our launch. I encourage you to write them down. Writing down your goals is powerful. Also, it can be easy to forget what the goal was if you do not write it down! For this launch, I had a “Good Better Best” goal method. Which means you have 3 levels of goals. What you consider “good,'' what's “better”, and what’s the best outcome. Some people might also call these stretch goals.
In my first template launch, I was so afraid of failing, that I had a super low goal that I passed on the first day, but it was the goal for the whole launch. And with that launch, I really wish I would have done 3 levels to stretch it more. With this launch, I hit my middle-level goal almost exactly. But I didn’t hit my stretch goal.
If all I had written was that super-stretch goal (which by the way, I knew was a stretch) I would have ended the launch possibly disappointment. Even though it was amazing, I could have been in the mindset of “well, I didn’t reach the goal.”
But instead, I finished it feeling proud of myself for hitting one of my goals and being very close to hitting my big stretch goal! So, I highly recommend having 3 goals that get progressively higher. Write it down, don’t try to just remember it. I would also recommend picking one main way to measure the goal. For example, this could be either the financial goal or the number of sales. This allows you to keep the accounting of the goal easier to manage and see.
Those are my big tips for your mindset when launching something new in your business! And, I hope you implement some of these things into your next launch.
Want more on this topic?!
Remember, there is a podcast episode with every blog post where I dive deeper into everything you’re reading here! Click here to tune in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
October 15, 2019
Thanks for posting this wonderful blog.