Launching digital products like e-courses, programs, e-books, etc. is all the rage, but if you’re feeling like an outsider looking in, you’re not alone.

I’m a big, big fan of creating a diverse array of products and services. As my mentor Natalie MacNeil always says, “7-figure businesses need 7 streams of income”. (And if you’re wondering, six-figure businesses need five streams of income.)

The idea is that you want to create a business model that has options for customers at all levels. Some people will just want an e-book. Others will want to enroll in your e-course. And still others will want to pay the big bucks to work with you one-to-one.

Have you come to that point in your business where it’s time to launch an online program?

If so, pay close attention to the video below. In it, I’m letting you know the FIVE big launching mistakes that I see first-time launchers making:

 

Here’s the post where I go over my exact revenue numbers for the first “Yay for Clients!” launch: https://courtneychaal.com/behindthescenes-yfc/

 

Mistake #1 – Living in fantasyland

I get really nervous when I speak with potential clients who are banking on launching an e-course and then riding on a unicorn for the rest of their lives.

A really good rule of thumb is that at any given time, you can expect a conversion rate of 1%.

This means that if you take your current list size and multiply it by 0.01 the result will be the number of people you can expect to enroll in your program.

Here’s the formula:

list size x 0.01 = # of enrollees

Want to know how much money you can expect to make? Here’s the formula for that:

(list size x 0.01) x price of offer = expected revenue

Not happy with the number? You need to grow your audience, darlin’! Get out there and hustle your buns off to share your best content for free on webinars, social media, etc.

 

Mistake #2 – Overcomplicating the strategy

The first time you launch you need to keep your strategy as simple as possible.

Thinking about hosting 3 webinars? Just do one.

Thinking about implementing some ultra-complex audience segmenting strategy? Don’t.

Thinking about paying to get an entire membership site designed and developed? Try delivering via email or a pre-built site like Teachable first. (For my most recent program, Yay for Clients, I hosted all of the classes live on WebinarJam and sent all of the materials out via Facebook).

Shoot for the minimum viable product on the first round. As someone once told me, “If you’re not embarrassed by your first product, you launched too late.”

 

Mistake #3 – Taking results personally

It’s business, not personal.

The fact that your launch didn’t go as planned says NOTHING about your worth as an entrepreneur or human being. Please don’t crawl into a hole of depression. (If you’re already there, I hope that by hearing you’re not alone it will help you to emerge so you can continue doing the work that you NEED to be doing.)

What you need to do is look at the data and diagnose the problem.

In my case, here are some problems that occur during my launches:

• We sometimes send out the wrong emails because of a miscommunication on the team (the problem is the communication, not the business as a whole).
• We once had lower than expected enrollments due to 1) not enough time for preparation of marketing materials on my end and 2) only taking payments via PayPal and not credit card!
• When I do things at the last minute, I wind up sending the wrong links and pissing people off (oops!). I fix this by hiring more people to make sure I’m not the one in charge of sending emails.

And that brings me to…

 

Mistake #4 – Doing everything at the last minute

Been there, done that! You will always have some things to do at the last minute. Launches are WILD and STRESSFUL.

Please, for the love of Justin Timberlake do not write your email launch sequence as you are sending it out. Write and schedule those emails in advance! Some kind of tech glitch will happen that you’ll need to deal with, and if you’re already stressed out writing emails, it will become a bigger problem than it needs to be.

 

Mistake #5 – Not testing and rehearsing

Hosting a webinar? Rehearse it at least 3 times before you go live.

Sending out an email sequence? Test every single one of the emails at least 3 times (4 if you’re extra anxious).

Tech problems WILL happen, but many of them are avoidable with a little advanced prep. Please get your hands dirty in your technology before you actually need to use it!

 

Got any good launch horror stories? Share them in a comment at the bottom of this post!

 

 

Working on a sales page for your launch? You need the 14-part sales page framework, my friend!

Come on over and register for my free class: Outline Your Sales Page and get a copy of the 14-part Sales Page Framework when you sign up!

 

At this free sales page masterclass, you’ll learn:

• The 14 must-have sections to include on every sales page you create
• The details that you need to share about your offer in order to make it impossible for the right people to say “no”
• The one element you MUST have on your sales page to get people to buy now instead of later
• How to talk about the price without batting an eye (or turning people off)