10 quick tips for launching anything!
A question that I got asked a lot about in the last year was launching. I feel like make-up artists are expanding their horizons and their realms of what they offer and I love to see it. So a lot of the educational questions that I have been getting have surrounded launching and introducing new products. Launching is something that I don't think I'm an expert at (yet) but I have done a few times. I've launched a podcast. I have launched a signature program six times. I've launched a membership site. And with every single launch that I have done, I've always learnt something new or I have always looked back and thought “gosh I could've done something a lot differently.” So today I wanna give you my 10 quickest tips for if you are looking to launch… well just about anything.
You guys know that it wouldn't be Kayleigh teaching if I didn't talk about ideal client. I know I can hear the groans from here and I hate to sound like a broken record, but truly you cannot launch anything. If you do not know WHO you are launching to. Your who is the single most important thing in your business, and if you can understand them, then you can sell to them. And not only sell, but you can also create a product FOR them. So much comes from your who. For myself and By Kayleigh, it's been pretty easy for me because I have been the make-up artist that hasn't been booked and I have been the struggling artist and I've been all of those things. So for By Kayleigh, I have just created what baby Kayleigh needed many moons ago. Some of you may not be in a position where you have been your ideal client so really dig deep. Seek to understand their pain points. Seek to understand if they really need the product it is that you want to launch? The better that you understand this person and what their needs are, then you are able to craft a product and a service for them. Sometimes people create products, and we all know that those products don't sell. So much of this comes down to marketing, but a lot of this also comes down from creating a product that sometimes people simply don't need. This comes from a lack of understanding their audience. If you're thinking of launching a course, or perhaps a new service in your library, then really look at whether this is needed, whether your ideal Client actually wants this. It all begins, by understanding your IC!
Nobody talks about the pre-launch. Here's the thing guys, most of the work is in the pre-launch stage. For my mentorship program I am actually launching that for a full month before doors close. My launch phase is 4 weeks. If you're looking for a successful launch I would recommend really investing in that pre-launch stage. You're gonna need materials, you're gonna need marketing, you’re gonna need copy, you're gonna need so many things that you simply cannot create on the day when you're in the moment. When you're in the launch, your best bet is to be totally present for those people who are looking to book in to your programs or services. It is a recipe for stress if you are in your launch but also creating the materials for your launch. This ain't big business energy guys.
Too often, I see a lot of my students think of something that really excites their bones and then launch it a week later. Now I know that feeling - in fact I've actually done that with the podcast and that works quite well. But I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking to launch a course or a service without a warmed up pre-existing audience. If you want a successful launch that sells do you need to be planning that at least a year in advance. Every single January I sit down and I plan every single thing that I would like to launch in the next year. I plot these out on the calendar, and then I plot out when I need to start the pre-launch stage. Sort out everything, pre-launch, launch and post launch into your calendar. Business energy is not deciding on something and then launching it a week later and getting no results for. Big business energy is looking at your year in advance and plotting out exactly what you want to do and when. This is going to give you strategy, deadlines and most importantly, organisation - when it comes to your launch.
My biggest and best advice when it comes to pretty much anything in business, but especially launches is - it always take double the amount of time that you think as well as probably cost twice the amount. This is a general business rule for me that has worked extremely well. If for example, you are thinking of launching a course and you in your head think doors should be open for one week maybe reconsider them being open for two weeks. If you think that it will take you maybe one day to schedule content for your launch maybe double that to 2 days. A general great rule of thumb is to just double everything especially when you are plotting all of this out in your calendar. Just give yourself double the amount of time and double the amount of budget. You might not need that double, but having that double in your calendar, it gives you a lot of flexibility.
When you were in the middle of a launch, it can be all consuming. One of the biggest things that helped me was really implementing that pre-launch stage and having everything scheduled and going out on autopilot. As I've said this has enabled me to be really present in the launch stage, but it also has enabled me to not get burnt out in the launch stage. You're probably going to be asked a ton of questions or you might be going live a ton of times or you might just be showing up a little bit more than you normally do. This can be tiring. That's why I always recommend doubling the amount of time for everything because this also includes your launch. I'm a big fan of long launches - you might notice that doors are open for my mentorship for about a month. The reason I do this and this goes against a lot of “gurus” advice, but for me I have a month of launching and it means that I don't have to be so ON it. For example I don't need to cram it all into one week I can really take my time and do a slow launch and for me that really works. I know, I don't particularly work well with extremely short deadlines and I also don't think my audience like that either. I might change this up in the future but for me a long launch works best so it's always worth checking in with yourself and seeing what you would like to do as well.
Remember I said to double everything. This also goes for your budget. Now I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that you need to spend a ton of money if you're launching. Usually for me when I'm launching, I actually only have a very modest amount of money that I spend on ads, and sometimes I don't even bother with them. I always think for any launch though, it's good to have some kind of pocket money stored that you can spend on whatever you will be needing at the time. For example, you might decide to launch a year ago in April. But it might turn out that April looks really busy and you booked in a bunch of things that maybe you shouldn't have. Don't worry, it happens to all of us! The main thing is to have a budget allocated that you can spend in anyway you like. In this way, you might invest in a VA for a couple of months, or even a Facebook ads manager to help you manage the marketing side of things. It might be that Instagram is not having a particularly great time algorithmically, so having a little bit of budget to spend on ads always goes a long way. Just having something will help you with whatever you need at the time.
Cold audiences don't buy. Now I'm particularly lucky now I've been working on By Kayleigh for almost for three years. I'm constantly nurturing my audience with my reels, content, my newsletter, my podcast and it's very much a community now rather than followers. If this is your first launch, you might be launching to quite a cold audience, one that doesn't know you yet or one that hasn't even heard from you yet. This is okay, we all start with a cold audience myself included. I would recommend putting into your calendar at some nurturing content that can really help you interact with your audience and let them get to know you. Things like freebies, free masterclasses, free mini courses, free PDFs, free workbooks. All of these things can go a really long way to help your audience get to know you. Even if you don't have the time or resources to create something like a freebie, just showing up on your Instagram and showing your heart, showing your mission and serving is good enough to get a warm audience. I guess what I'm trying to say is you can't pop on your stories one day with an offer and expect people to buy. Especially if your audience is connection focused. I would recommend looking at your calendar and when you want to launch and then starting to filter some really bloody good content to them. Allow them to get to know you, allow them to fall in love with who you ARE and your content and what you have to offer. And please, talk about your launch, before it launches.
Following on from my last point when it comes to launching, I have always found that going in with a sales attitude will never result in happy audiences. Of course we have to sell what we're offering and selling can be service. But if you make service and serving a pivotal pillar of your business, and if you just dedicate yourself to showing up every single day in service of your community, you will be creating amazing content regardless AND giving your community results. Really looking at your business and assessing what your core values are and your mission. This can give you clarity on how best to show up and serve. If you come in with an attitude of service and not sales, if you go in with an attitude of creating community over, just trying to hit the numbers, I promise you you will sell. You will sell without even meaning to sell.
Here’s a hard truth, sometimes launches can fail. When I first launched the level up club I had in my head that I would have hundreds of members in it. Now this wasn’t a failed launch wasn't available by any means, but it didn't give me the results that I had in my head straight off the bat. I was going into the membership realm and I didn't know much about that yet. This was my first membership after all. If this is your first launch things may not go to plan and you need to be prepared for that. You might need to be prepared for the fact that there might be silence for a few days, or you might need to be prepared for the fact that you might not hit the numbers that you want to be hitting. This is okay and remember that we learn from every experience, do not let this discourage you from launching again.
One thing that I like to do is to dissect every single launch that I do. I looked back at the level up club launch and I had decided to launch in December and January slap bang in the middle of Christmas and New Year. Probably not the best time to do a launch but that was what I had planned for. With every launch you do you will become better and better you will learn new things and you will adapt your launching process. My first launch doors were only open for two weeks and I was the most stressed out person I've ever been. Now a few launches later my doors stay open for four weeks and my launches are pretty stressfree now. I guess what I'm trying to say is your first launch might not go to plan, but don't let your first launch be your last launch.