← The Amy Porterfield Show
The Amy Porterfield Show
Why Your Launch Feels So Hard (And What You're Missing Before Cart Open)
00:39:12
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A
Before we dive into today's episode, let's talk about money. If your revenue feels unpredictable, great one month, slow the next. You may have hit what I call the six figure slump. This is where you've built a business on grit and good instincts, creating great offers and responding to audience needs.
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But then you get a few years down the road and you realize every.
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A
Piece requires your effort. The launches, the marketing, the delivery, the results. And that means that your earning potential is capped by your capacity. If this is you, we need to.
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Take a fresh look at how your.
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A
Business is running and we need to recalibrate. I'm hosting a free live training called the Revenue Consistency Formula, where I'll show.
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You how to identify what's out of.
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Sync in your business and realign it with for consistent, predictable revenue. Not by starting over, by aligning what you've already built. This training is free and you can save your seat@amyporterfield.com training. That's amyporterfield.com training. I'll see you there. All right, let's go ahead and jump into today's episode.
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B
The last thing I want is to be convincing anybody that they should buy my product. I hate that feeling.
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C
We're in that trust recession. It's not going away. People don't want to feel that pressure, the urgency. It just, it doesn't work like it used to. But I really think of it more like a recipe for readiness. When we can create curiosity and when we can spark desire instead of making someone feel like, okay, they're pressured to buy. And when people can feel that energy, they want to buy more from you. My guest today is a dear friend of mine. One of them goes, that one over.
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B
There, she's big money.
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C
And it was my guest today. Her name is Amy Porter. Amy Porterfield, the ever amazing best selling.
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B
Author of two weeks notice.
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C
Ms. Amy Porterville.
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B
What if your next launch felt completely different? What if instead of scrambling to hit your goals in the final hours, sending those last chance emails and hoping people buy, your audience was already excited, already warmed up, already asking you, when can I sign up? I mean, that's a good feeling, right? That's what we're talking about today. Live launching built my business. It's how I grew my audience, my email list, and created the kind of momentum that changed everything for me. And even though I've moved into more of an evergreen model these days, I still teach it and vouch for it because it works when it's done right. There's nothing like it for building momentum. And growing your revenue and strengthening the relationship you have with your audience. I love live launching, but here's what I've learned both from my own launches and from watching thousands of my students do their own launches as well. It's what happens before the launch that could really make a difference in your success. And most people think they're doing the pre launch part of their launch correctly. They're talking about what's coming. They're mentioning it maybe in the PS and emails. They're sharing about it on social.
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C
Social.
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B
They're maybe putting up a wait list. They're checking all the boxes. Well, at least they think they are. And then the card opens and it still feels harder than it should. They're sending more emails than they planned. They're posting more things even though they don't really want to. They're pushing harder than they wanted to. And by the end of it, they're exhausted and wondering what went wrong. Is it the offer? Is it the audience? Is it just harder to sell right now? People don't trust me. What is it? Usually it's really none of those things. I mean, it could be some of those things, but there's something else that we're not looking at. Most people aren't looking at the pre launch. That's where the issue might be, meaning the lack of a proper pre launch. And that's what we're going to talk about today because that's the piece most people are missing and that's the piece that could really get your audience absolutely ready to buy. So when you do your webinar, they're like, I'm already in. You don't even need to keep going. I'm in. Like, that's the dream, right? Well, my guest today is Brenna McGowan. And Brenna is a launch strategist and the creator of something called Anticipation Marketing. She helps online business owners build real buzz and momentum before they ever open that cart. So by the time the doors open, the audience is already brought in. We're going to talk about what pre launch actually looks like when it's done right. The mistakes that keep people stuck in stressful launch cycles. And how to get your audience genuinely excited to buy from you without the pushy tactics that don't feel good. If you've ever finished a launch feeling exhausted, we all have, right? Or disappointed, or feel like there's gotta be a better way. This episode is going to change the way you think about it. Let's dive in. Hey there, Brenna. Welcome to the show.
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C
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
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B
I'm thrilled you're here. And my listeners are going to love this episode because many who are listening, they launch courses and memberships and coaching programs and masterminds. So the concept of pre launching is going to be very, very valuable. And as I said in the intro, you really have a different concept than I even do and it's even better than mine. So I'm excited to get. So are you ready to go for it?
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C
Yes. I love this subject and I feel like it's so timely right now. So I'm really excited to chat with you about it.
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B
It is timely based on the research I did on how you talk about it. So I do really like that. So to kick us off, can you help us understand in your world what pre launch actually means? Because I think when some people hear about pre launch, they think, oh, yeah, I'm going to get started early. I'm going to send out a few emails to warm my audience up. I might do a few things on social just to get them ready for my launch. But you have a very different view of that. So can you kind of walk us through that?
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C
Yes. So when I think about pre launch, I think about it a little bit like baking a cake. Okay. You think about, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna bake a cake. And so first thing I gotta do, I'm getting ready for a party. I gotta throw the oven on, right? I gotta preheat the oven. Yeah. Well, actually, the way I think about it is more about what you do before you bake that cake. Right. Like what you, you know, what type of recipe are you doing? Is it chocolate or is it vanilla? My daughter has celiacs. Are we doing gluten free? You know, we're about all of the different aspects of doing the cake. And that's how I see pre launch. Pre launch is not just warming people up, although that's part of it, but I really think of it more like a recipe for readiness. Are these people that are in our audience, our prospects, are they ready to buy? And so when I go through, and I'm helping my students, my clients think about this recipe for readiness. What we go through and think is, okay, are these people ready to solve the problem that they have right now or get the desired transformation that they want? And even more importantly, do they think that I am the person to help them do that? Yes.
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B
Okay. That is very valuable because for my listeners. Can you imagine if you did your first webinar in your launch and you did the recipe right, how much easier it would be to convert because you know you have the right people on, on that webinar and not a bunch of looky loos or people looking for free stuff. So I'm loving this already. Now, the way you look at pre launching, is that what you call anticipation marketing? Because I know you talk about anticipation marketing and it's more than just urgency and countdown timer tactics and a lot of things we all use. So can you walk us through what it is and why it works so well? And is it the same as pre launching? Is it connected to it? Talk to me about that.
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C
I would say when I look, when I think about anticipation marketing, it's almost the thing that is like, covers pre launch, right? It's all, it's all part of it. But when I think about anticipation marketing in general, you know, I agree with you that right now, especially when I really started to talk about this all the time was 2022 and I had already, like, seen the writing on the wall, but even more so at the beginning of 2026, which is, you're correct. Like, people don't want to feel that pressure, the urgency. It just, it doesn' work like it used to and it actually doesn't serve us as business owners. And I'll tell you why in a moment. So if we think about it with anticipation, like the opposite of that, and what we've seen a lot of is like urgency and pressure. And it doesn't work because part of it is our brains are kind of wired to resist being sold to. It goes back to that old saying, we love to buy, but we hate to be sold to. And that's because we want to have a lot of autonomy in our buying decisions. And I think in the past, a little bit of that autonomy was taken away by feeling like, oh my gosh, I have to do this, or feeling a little shame if I didn't take action. And then the other reason, and I know you've talked about this at length, which is we're in that trust recession. It's not going away. You know, people have been burned before. They have bought courses, programs, done masterminds. Things haven't worked out the way that they wanted them to, and they're nervous to take action, more so than ever. So what I decided and when I started to see, I actually started off as a social media manager and I became a copywriter. And that's kind of where I fell into this launch world and as a social Media manager, we're really concerned with, like, the content side, you know, nurture and engagement. And then on the flip side, as a conversion copywriter, I was like, okay, what can we do to get clicks in sales? And what I noticed is there's this time period that's missing, and I call it the consideration period, which is what. Where we're building up this anticipation. And so what we can do is if we can take a step back and look at anticipation, and I'll get nerdy for a moment here, but anticipation that the definition of it is excitement. Waiting eagerly for something to happen. Yeah. And when we anticipate something, we feel this little hit of dopamine. You might not even realize it even this morning. My husband and I are planning a trip to Lake Tahoe this summer. And I was like, okay, I'm already excited. I'm already thinking about, like, what we're going to do, when I'm going to wear things like that. Well, that's because we look forward to things. And when we can. When we look forward to things, there's some science around this. We actually feel the same amount of pleasure from the thing, from the anticipation, as we do from actually getting whatever it is on the other side. And so when we can build in this anticipation, when we can create and build excitement, when we can create curiosity, and when we can spark desire, instead of making someone feel like, okay, they're pressured to buy, instead we kind of flip that script. And what my goal is is that people are coming to me, people are leaning in, people are excited, and we're doing all of this before the offer is even available. And when I've had students and clients. I just had a student who finished the program recently. I was looking at her testimonial this week, and she talked about how with the kind of content that we're going to be talking about today, she had insane engagement. People were asking her when they were going to buy, when they were going to be able to buy. Yeah.
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B
Yes.
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C
And that is the difference. I kind of think of it the difference between proactive and reactive marketing. I think a little bit of that pressure, sales urgency. You know, I feel like it's a little bit more reactive where I instead want to be proactive. I want to set the seen for my best clients and students to join me on whatever that is.
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B
Okay, so let's get into it then. So let's say that someone has a launch coming up in a few months, whether it's a course, a membership, a coaching program, whatever it might be and they want to get the best conversions they possibly can. So what does a solid pre launch timeline look like? How far out should you start and what is she actually focusing on during a pre launch?
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C
Yeah, this is a great question. It's probably the number one question I get which is how long should my pre launch be? And I'm typically, I say somewhere between four to six to eight weeks. I always think the longer that you can go, the better. And what you're really focusing in on this time is what, what we have to tap into is like what does someone have to know, see or believe to buy from me? So when we're thinking about, okay, how long should this be? The first thing I want to say is a lot of people think, oh, if it's longer or I'm sorry, if it's more expensive, I need to have a longer timeline. And I don't necessarily agree or disagree with that because if you think about it, and I know you might be able to speak to this since you wrote a book, which is, you know, if you think about it, authors are pre launching their book. Four, six. Yeah, right. It's so, so much far ahead of time and that's to sell a $20 book. So it's not as much as how much something is, but more about like where is the art my audience at in terms of being ready to buy.
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B
Okay, so I'd love to hear what this looks like in real life. So can you give us some examples of the kind of content or the kind of messaging that builds genuine anticipation? Like what should someone actually be saying or doing or sharing? Like can you give us real life examples of what this looks like?
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C
Yes, absolutely. And one thing I really want to talk about and going back to our previous point, which is, you know, what are the thing, what are we doing during this pre launch period? And the first thing I want to say is that you really want to think about that you're selling. I say this all the time during a prelaunch. You're selling your process and not your program. So when you're thinking about what you need to focus on, I you always want to think about like what is the thing, the method behind my offer, what is the, the frameworks that I'm using that someone has to believe before they're ready to buy from me. So let me explain that.
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B
Yeah, give me an example of that because I'm not sure if I get it yet.
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C
Yes. So I'll just use myself as an example. I have the pre launch plan program and with the pre launch plan program, I. The thing that I'm selling my offer is that you're going to increase sales, that you are going to launches that have a lot less stress for pressure. And when that happens, what I have to do is I have to tap into. Okay, that's what I'm selling my program. But what someone has to believe before they're ready to buy from me is that a pre launch is a way to do those things. They have to first believe that a pre launch is a way to have increase revenue on their launches, to go ahead and be able to increase their conversions. So we really want to tap into. You have to think about that. Because what we're focusing on in a pre launch, and this sometimes confuses people and even my students, is that we're not selling that program during those four, six, eight weeks before our launch. We're really trying to get people to tap into that belief of what is behind the program.
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B
Okay. I love that you brought this up because I teach pre launch or I used to teach pre launch in an older program of mine. And I often have to say we are not talking about our course during the pre launch. So I had Digital Course Academy. I would never mention Digital Course Academy during my pre launch. But tell me if this is a good example of what you're referring to. For me, if people did not believe they had a course in them, if they did not have any course idea, when I start to pitch Digital Course Academy, they are very resistant. They are not ready. So one thing I do in my pre launch is I usually do a quiz or some kind of assessment to help them come up with an idea for their first digital course. Because without an idea, they're not even coming on the journey with me. Would that be an example? Yes.
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C
Okay. I would go one step further than that. I would say not only do they have to believe that they have a course in them, but that they can be successful selling a course.
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B
Yes. Okay. I like that, that this is actually doable for them. And I'll tell you real fast, I. I really, really got into bootcamps over the last few years. I do a bootcamp and then I sell Digital Course Academy. And in the bootcamp, one of the things we do is talk about how this is doable, what this big picture would look like and what it could do for their business. And I can usually convert around 10 to 12% on a webinar and a bootcamp is 25% or sometimes even higher. But I think it's exactly what you're saying I'm helping them understand that they can do this, that they are capable of it and they have an idea and I kickstart them a little bit. So I think bootcamps are a great pre launch strategy, but you might disagree. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
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C
Yeah, I think it depends on your audience and I don't think that there's like one strategy. I always say everything works and nothing works. Meaning I think every online strategy can work in the right environment with the right audience. It's more about tapping into exactly what you said. Okay, where are these people when they're coming in? Are they a little bit colder? Are they not ready to do a course yet? How much do we need to warm them up and warm them up to that belief so that by the time that you do put DCA in front of them, they're like, oh, yeah, not only do I have a course idea, I believe that I can do the course. And so when that happens, your conversions become a lot easier. And that is where I think in the past sometimes we had relied more on like that pressure, those timers as you got to get in. Now people are a little bit more resistant to it, but what they're less resistant to is when they decide for themselves, okay, I want to do this, I want to take action. I'm ready to solve this problem right now. I'm ready to create a course in, in your scenario. And that's really what this is about. This is not so much about like what we're stepping away from is feeling like we're trying to convince people or be salesy and really step into someone self selecting and being ready to take action because they're internally motivated.
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B
Okay. That's the thing I love most about a pre launch and why sometimes a 8 week pre launch is the best idea. Because the last thing I want is to be convincing anybody they should buy my product. I hate that feeling. And so if I could do the work up front and they come already kind of excited to figure out how to do it and I end up being the person that gets to teach them. That's my dream. So for you, when you were talking about, you need to first help them understand that a pre launch is a really valuable part of a launch and will get you more sales. Is that what you said? Essentially, yes.
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C
So for me, for my program, that's what I need someone to believe. Because if they're not convinced, a pre launch is the thing. Especially if I'm looking at someone I'M looking at my ideal client. They're going, oh, do I need to work on my challenge or my webinar? Should I be investing in a copywriter? Right. They're looking at all of these different options to solve the problem. I want to have better launches. My launches aren't going as well as they used to. So I have to come in and create the content around the belief that, yes, a pre launch is the way that you're going to get that desired transformation that you want.
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B
Now I, I hear you when you said everything works and nothing works. Yeah, that's such a great slogan for online marketing right now. But I would love some examples of either your students or your launches of how that content looks out in the world. Like how what are your vehicles that you're using once you have your messaging? Right. I'm going to show them that pre launches can help them make more money in their launches. Then what does it actually look like?
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C
Yeah, this is a great question. So you know, it doesn't matter the medium. So you have to look at like when I help my students or clients, we're looking at, okay, what, first of all, what type of content are you creating? Is it, are you doing emails, are you doing podcasts, are you doing video content? Like, so any medium will work. So that's the first thing. But then secondly, we go through a longer sequence that I show people. But today what I really want to focus on is that there's four types of content that I believe you need to be creating during a pre launch. Now the first thing I want to say, and this goes back to beliefs and I feel like, you know, we keep coming back to that, which is there's three beliefs that someone has to have overall before they're going to buy from you. Which is, first of all, they have to believe that you are the person that is going to help them get the results that they want. They have to believe that your methods, your frameworks. So that goes back to what we were just talking about. My person has to believe a pre launch is a way to help them get the results. Not going out and investing in, you know, a done for you copywriter, let's say I'm just like making that up. So they have to believe in the methods, the framework behind it, and they have to believe in themselves. And I think this is a really strong point that we need to go back to. Because of this trust recession that we're in, people have lost some self trust. Not only have they lost trust in, you know, the course Creators or the membership owners or whatever it is. We've lost some self trust because we've done things before. We haven't gotten the results. So thinking about how can we instill these beliefs in our pre launch is going to be really important. And then I like to do something that's called pace. So like you could the, the acronym of it is P A C E and the first P or that the first one, but the P stands for personality. So how can you infuse some personality into your content? This is going to build know like and trust. So I think about you Amy, and you know, your husband was a firefighter. My husband is a firefighter. Right. So all of a sudden I have this little like identity, like we're both from California, so like there's things that I'm thinking about. So how can you think have these little touches of your personality throughout your content. How can you share some of your values and especially in the trust your session that we're in, it really goes a long way for people to see you and understand are as just a human being. The A in PACE is authority. And this is where you really step into your expertise of whatever industry that you're in. This is where you are making bold statements. This is where you could bring in a little bit of us versus then or common enemy type of, you know, talk. So I'll use myself as an example. Right. My common enemy when it comes to launching is that a lot of launch strategists just teach the launch and they're skipping over the most important part of their launch, which is the pre launch. So I'm going to be using authority type content in my pre launch to help build around this. The C in PACE is credibility. So this is once again in a trust recession, so important. But this is how can you tie in, you know, your testimonials, your case studies, how you're talking about people, how the type of results that your students have gotten. Right. So the credibility is what backs up your authority. So it's, it's easy to come out and you know, say okay, I'm the best at what I do. But it's that credibility that backs up your authority. And the E in in PACE is empathy, which is how can our clients and customers feel really seen, heard and understood? Because that also takes the edge off of the authority piece when right now we want to feel like we are being how was he taking care of. But if you think about it, you know, have you ever had a situation where you were a little embarrassed about something that was going on. And then finally you go and you share it with a friend and they're like, oh, my gosh, this happens to me too. All the time.
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B
Yep, yep.
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C
Yeah. I think about my sister, you know, sometimes, you know, I'm in the paramedic perimenopause, and I'll be like, oh, my gosh, like, is this normal? What's going on with my.
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B
What are these, night sweats? Yeah.
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C
Yes, exactly. And. And once people are like, oh, yeah, this happens to me too. I'm like, oh, I feel a little bit more relaxed. Yeah, right. Exactly.
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A
Hey, before we continue, we need to talk about something. So you've got offers that convert an audience that trusts you and proof that what you do works. Then why does growth still feel so hard? That's what we're talking about this Tuesday during my live training for six figure female founders. It's called the revenue consistency formula.
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B
I know you're busy, so in just.
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A
An hour, we'll talk about why your revenue stays inconsistent no matter how many launches you do, which three marketing systems drive 90% of your growth, and why scattered tactics will never get you there. The answer? Something you already have just misaligned. So save your spot for this Tuesday by going to amyporterfield.com training. That's amyporterfield.com training. All right, let's jump back into the episode.
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C
And that is the type of content when you can create this well rounded content, which is when we can create that personality content that gets people to feel like they know, like, and trust us. They see you as the authority, as someone that they can trust. They believe that you can get the results that you promise and that you. They feel like you see them and who they are all of a sudden, you know, that's when the real trust and the anticipation, when people start to lean in and go, okay, this could be the person that could help me solve this problem right now.
- [25:43]
B
Absolutely. Okay, so I love this. So you're saying, you know, the platform doesn't necessarily matter. Use the one where your audience is spending time and where you're comfortable. Podcast, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, whatever it might be, or, you know, a combination of a few. But it's more the types of content. So the pace, personality, authority, credibility, and empathy. Did I get those right? Okay, great. That's fantastic. So for my listeners, when you hear that, I want you to think, where am I showing my personality? And I love that. You know, anytime I talk about Hobie or Scout, my dog, I get way more Clicks than if I talk about anything related to marketing, it makes me so mad. And Hobie loves it, so. Yeah. So that I totally get. And I love when you talked about authority in terms of the enemy. I don't do that a lot, but I should because I like it when other people are talking about a certain topic and they kind of show the contrast. And I'm like, oh yeah, I see that. I can get behind that. So these are some really, really great points. And I'm thinking, you know, if you do it for four, I think you said four to eight weeks, the longer the better. Even if the like my product was $2,000, but we've done definitely an eight week pre launch and it does feel long. But if you get organized early on and you know what you're doing and you've got, you know these, the pace, if you're using something like that, you can get organized earlier. But I know my listeners, some of them are thinking, this sounds amazing. I really should do a better job at my pre launch. But I'm stretched so thin. So how do you help someone see that this isn't about adding way more to your plate? Because it kind of sounds like it is, but actually making the launch feel easier. What is that about?
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C
Yeah, and this is a big objection I get all the time, like I don't have time to do eight weeks. This feels like a lot more work. I first want to acknowledge that launching and selling online is work. Right. I don't want to diminish that.
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B
Amen.
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C
Yeah. It takes a fair amount of time and thought and strategy. So if you feel like it's been a lot of work, like it's not you, it's all of us. Right. It is work. But there's two ways I want to reframe that. The way that you're thinking, which is number one, you're already creating content. Right. It's not like you're going into a launch and if you're not creating any content before launch, that's a whole different discussion. Right. But you're already creating content. This is more about just being a little bit more intentional about the content that you are creating. And secondly, and really importantly, when you understand your messaging, when you understand what needs to be said during this pre launch period, when you understand the content, when you understand your ideal client, all of a sudden your launches and become, or I should say your pre launching and content creation becomes easier because you're not scrolling, you're not looking around trying to figure out what should I be saying? You're not sitting in front of a Google Doc thinking, oh, what am I supposed to email today? Like, I have my clients and students say, oh my gosh, this becomes so easy because it becomes like second nature. And I know exactly what to say and do before I launch. So over time, at first, if you're trying to do a little bit of what I'm saying, I always think there's. One of my favorite quotes is everything is hard before it's easy. So, yeah, it might seem hard for a moment because it's a new skill, it's a new muscle. But once you can tap into what we're talking about today, it actually becomes a much easier process and you start getting great results. And when you start getting great results, oh my gosh, the confidence that comes through. And when you can feel that confidence, when you know that you're saying, when you get people responding, engaging with you, suddenly everything feels easier. Because one of the hardest things to do is to be in a launch and be like, or a pre launch and feel like, oh my gosh, no one's talking like, what's going on? Am I going to be able to sell this thing? When you get out of that. And I always talk about there's this like cyclical thing that happens with pre launch, which is when you can get people excited, when you get people leaning in, when you get people asking questions, it builds up your confidence. When you build up your confidence, you show up differently. People can feel that energy. And when people can feel, feel that energy, they want to buy more from you. When they want to buy more from you, you're more confident and you start getting into this really beautiful effect where your sales become easier.
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B
Yes, I love that. I love when that happens. Now one thing I've noticed over the years is that when a launch doesn't go well and it happens to all of us, a lot of people start to blame the offer or the timing or the audience. Like I didn't direct attract the right audience, which could be true, or the offer was too robust or confusing or anything like that. But when you look at someone's launch that didn't go well, you look somewhere else first. Are you looking at the pre launch? Is that what you're looking at? Or when someone's launch doesn't go well, what are you looking at?
- [30:36]
C
Right. Well, I absolutely. What you said we always want to look at offer, audience, right? If you don't have an audience, you're not making sales, you don't have a great offer. It's Going to be a lot harder to sell. But more often than not, I have people that are great business owners. They have a great offer. What they're missing usually falls into one of three categories. The first one being they're not doing a pre launch at all. They're skipping completely over it. Secondly, they are doing a pre launch, but it's kind of haphazard. They're kind of just like throwing out content, maybe just doing a couple of weeks of emails like you mentioned or the third thing is in this is probably the thing I see. Well, I should say I see. I see both. But what I see a lot of times is that people, their messaging is not dialed in and it's scale. And let me give you an example of this because we hear messaging all the time. It's probably not the first time anyone any of us have heard this. But I want to think about it in a different respect. So there was my husband and I, we've been married almost 28 years, which makes me feel really old as I say that out loud. And we've been together almost 30, almost three decades. Yeah. And it's been, it's been a while. And so him and my daughter were talking about going skydiving a few weeks back and my husband said something like, oh, the first time I went skydiving and I was like, wait, you've gone skydiving? Like when did you go skydiving? I mean, we got married pretty young and we've never talked about this in three decades. And it was just this reminder that this person who I would assume I know better than anyone in the world. Right. I still have something to learn about them. And this is what I see with in online business a lot of times with my course course creators and people have memberships and all of the things is that they are making some assumptions that they know their person very well. They are really assuming that they have already done the messaging work. They've done the voice of customer research, they've done the market research, they've done the ideal client, but they haven't done it recently. And even if they have done it somewhat recently, they're not looking at it through the fresh eyes of someone who, of being someone who's like one or two steps removed in their audience and really thinking, what do I need to say? What do I need to do? What do I need this person to believe? Before we can, they'll buy from me. And it's very nuanced. And when we can really tap into this, going back to my Husband. I have a lot of husband stories today, but he's a small plane pilot and we talk about, and this always amazes me when, when we don't have a plane right now, but when we used to, we'd get in the plane and he'd put in the coordinates of where we were going to. And if you're just one or two degrees off when you're flying in those coordinates of your destination, you can end up miles and miles away from where you wanted to go. And that is how I see messaging is that people think that they really are dialed in and they're really just a couple of degrees off and it's just throwing everything off in their, in their pre launch. So when we can come back to that, when we can really tap into the messaging work. And I just had a client just this week, she closed her launch, she almost doubled conversions, exceeded her goals. And it was because we did this messaging work where we really dialed in who we were talking to. And all of the content that we've talked about today, it makes a huge difference.
- [33:55]
B
It really does. I love that you said that because we are really honing in on one ideal avatar right now. And I have like a 10 page guide all about her. And when I first created it, I had to make some educated guesses. I think I know her and I made the effort to put it together. But as I do webinars and we do polls and when I get email responses, that document is almost always open on my computer as a tab. I go in, I refresh it based on the knowledge and the information in the moment. Because you're right that my audience two years ago is dramatically different today. How they think, how they feel. After Covid, everyone feels different. So keeping it updated I think is so important. And yes, you're right, the wrong messaging boom can sync a launch. So I love that you said there's different factors, but that's one really important one to look at. Okay, so I have a question that I've once heard you say that launching is just a promotion, meaning you compare it to like what Target or Nike has done for like back to school. So what is this all about? But I think it kind of could make people feel like, ah, okay, so tell me about this one.
- [35:09]
C
Yeah, I think in the online world we've been taught like, oh, we need to make a launch is such a big deal. Like we put more pressure on it. When we think about Nike, Target, Lego, like they just simply are doing promotions and they're doing promotions all the Time they're just thinking about where are we directing our energy in our business right now to one specific call to action. And that's how I think about launches, is that it doesn't have to be a launch. Could literally be a very, a one week quick promotion that you've done. But instead of thinking of it as this huge undertaking, how can you create smaller launches, different types of launches, maybe have a bigger launch, but instead of making it this huge task that needs, you know, 42 videos and 82 emails. No, it's just a simple promotion where you're drawing attention to one of your offers. Offers.
- [36:00]
B
I mean, it does take the weight off it because, and I probably was part of the problem because I teach people how to launch and so and it is a lot of work. But also I do believe if you really dial in your messaging, if you really know who your audience is and you do a proper pre launch, I think that it could really change the game. I think it comes down to just being very intentional from the get go. So I love that we talked about this before we wrap up. For everyone listening who wants to do this differently next time. I know a lot of my listeners have a launch coming up, let's say in the next two, three, four months from now. What's her first step? Like, what do you want her to do? If she really wants to embrace a proper pre launch, where does she start? So she sets herself up for a win.
- [36:50]
C
Yeah, well, first of all, I think it's planning and planning ahead of time.
- [36:53]
B
Amen.
- [36:54]
C
Yeah. And I, I see it all the time with my, my students and clients where they're like, they feel like they've planned, but they haven't really sat down and made a plan of when we're starting the pre launch, when is our webinar going to be, when is our challenge going to start? When is the launch, you know, all of those things. Are we having affiliates this time? The planning alone. And I am not a like super planner, so I want to like put that out there. Right. I always joke, yeah, you, you are. And I wish I was a little bit better. I am getting better over time. But I do see such a huge difference in like what a relief it is when I actually set out a plan. So that's the first thing. The second thing is to go back to those three things that we talked about earlier, which is, okay, are you someone who hasn't done a pre launch yet? Then now is the time to really think about it because I can't stress enough how Important it is in this year and I think to come in having and being able to warm people up. The second thing is, do you, have you been doing a pre launch? But it's kind of half, half hazard. You're not really doing it all the way. Okay. This might be the, your next launch might be the time to actually dial it in. And then thirdly, going back to, is my messaging a little stale? Have I been making some assumptions? Am I not really staying in tune with my current client and customer to make sure that I am where I need to be in my messaging? And if you can go back and look at those, those three things, it will make a tremendous difference. Because if you have a plan and you're talking to people early and you're working on this belief shifting that we're talking about and your messaging is dialed in, your sales will go up.
- [38:28]
B
Yeah. Yes, they will. I back that a hundred percent. Brenna, thank you so very much. I love how detailed you were and I love episodes where we can give people strategies and tactics that they can go and apply to their next promotion. So this was exactly that. Where can people find out more about you?
- [38:46]
C
Yeah, you can come to my website at BrennanMcGowan co. Or I'd love for you to come say hi to me on Instagram. I'm there at Brenna McGowan Co as well. Easy.
- [38:55]
B
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much, my friend. I really appreciate your time.
- [38:59]
C
Thank you so much.
- [39:01]
B
Thank you so much for joining me for this conversation with Brenna. I hope it helped you see how a strong pre launch can come completely change the way your next launch feels. My favorite part was that she said it doesn't matter. The vehicle, podcasting, YouTube, social media. So is it LinkedIn or is it Instagram? She doesn't say you have to do anything specifically, but do what feels natural to you and where your audience is spending time. But pay more attention to the content. And really don't forget pace, personality, authority, credibility, empathy. I will tell you, those are four elements that we focus on in my business when we're creating content. And they have worked for us again and again. So if you're watching on YouTube, make sure you subscribe to the channel so you don't miss what's coming up. Or if you're listening to this podcast on your favorite podcast player, make sure that you follow along.