Hello, everyone. Tracie here, your resident business, rebel, and your listening to digital Hello, everyone. Tracie here, your resident business, rebel, and your listening to Digital Business Your Way podcast. The show that lets true stories and insider secrets of online entrepreneur life unfold. Our business world is growing and as an online business coach and digital product creator, I believe you didn't become an entrepreneur to grin and bear your way through business. So I'll be your guide. As we drop in on coaching calls, have intimate sit downs with online personalities. You love. And discuss ideas, opportunities and strategies circulating our online world. So pop in your earbuds, tap, follow, and join me as I demystify. This thing called business. Hello, hello and welcome back to Digital Business Your Way. I am Tracie, and today's episode is once again, a little bit different. I'm pulling back the curtain on a live coaching call. This is one that I hosted last week inside of Launch Without Limits, the event that is the opener to your launch style program. So you're going to hear real time riffing and coaching from me on some of the most common things that came up while we were all together and people were asking about, their, their launch confusion, right? And, and what to do when they're trying to juggle the entire back end and market all at the same time. 'cause it doesn't matter how long you've done this and how much revenue comes in. The root of it, we still struggle with the same things. Right. And we need to normalize that because there, there's no shame in in any of it. And we don't need to feel guilty about it because things are gonna happen, stuff's gonna come up and we can just talk it out together. Right? And we can give ourselves permission. I. So this is one of those, um, you know, you don't have to do it all. You don't have to have the biggest team. You don't have to follow all the rules exactly as they're written out by somebody else in order to have everything work, kind of pressure reiterations. Instead, it's like, let's talk it out in your exact scenario, right? Let's customize this situation. Let's see what's really going on, and let's listen to what each other has because we can pull our own truths from it. And we can grow together. So if you ever thought, I just need a better system, or I can't keep up, or how do I repeat this success yet again? Or can I even put myself through that again? Well, this one is for you, so let's get into it. one of this is spending all my time setting up ads, tech emails, no time. Is left then for driving awareness through my own channels, which inevitably impacts registration numbers, and then conversion is low. Right. And, and that is a, a classic piece. Whenever we feel this, this tension of I'm on my own, or I have very limited outside team support, like delegation because my revenue's not at the point where I feel safe enough to pay other people, I. But I'm trying to have a big revenue spike through a launch so I can have enough to call in team support to help with all this. Right. And there's that bit of here, it's like, if I could just have somebody do this, then I know I would have better success, but I need better success in order to have people come in. Yeah. You know, and, and that, that's that kind of thing of like. Do I have the ability to either create the investment through, you know, debt savings partners, et cetera to do it? Or is this the kind of thing where I'm gonna have to keep bootstrapping? And when you have to do that, that's whenever you have to like, let go of those timelines, right? And it can't be a case of like following a plan that makes you feel shame for picking a date on a calendar. And if you don't hit it, I. Then you've, you know, failed, right? Because it, there's not a failure. There's just progress whenever you have to spend your time, you're not, you're not just doing something right. It's not that it took you longer to get dressed today, it's that you had to learn how to get dressed. You had to learn how to figure out what clothes are. How to put them together, how to put them on, how to walk in them, how to function in them, how to stay in them all day, and then how to take them off again. All right, so I, I mean, I really wanna make sure that people are reframing these kinds of things because when you say things like setting up ads, setting up tech. Emails, et cetera. It's not the kind of thing that, you know, we have done at this point in our lives that we've been doing since we were single digits, right? So just as awkward as you were, or if you have kids that you've watched your kids be when they're figuring out this is what clothes are, this is how you put them on. Know your head does not go through your shirt sleeve, right? No, your pants are on backwards. Those kinds of things. That is the same way that you are figuring out what an ad is and the 15 different kinds of ads there can be, and the testing and the tweaking and the money spend and the time that it takes to get those working and the tech you need this kind of tech? No. That kind of tech. No, this works together. Okay. Now we actually have to set it up. Now we have to put everything into it. It. It's not a simple situation. You are learning an entire new skill. You're learning what the skill is. You're learning an entire new skill. Then you're actually implementing the skill, okay? So if you don't get that done in a 30 day, in a one week and in a six month thing, give yourself the grace for that. Right, because you are not doing this in a vacuum. Yeah. You have not abandoned your life just to figure this out. Even if you were able to like, you know, isolate and have blocks of time or an entire week or a whatever in some sort of, you know, magical isolated place to get this done, or a VIP time with an expert to get these things done. You still have other things going on in your mind. You still have to live. You still have to take care of yourself. You still have to eat and function and all these other things. Okay, so thinking about having to do that entire backend and learning how to do that entire backend while also having to do the front end, which is the driving the awareness. When the whole reason why you wanted to do this is because you're the creator. You're the one who had an idea that you wanted to turn into an offer that you wanted to bring into the world. Right. You know? And how many times have you been like, if I could just show up, do my thing and leave, I would be golden. Right? Those are the words I've said to myself. So, so maybe you felt that too. It it's that kind of thing where it's like, I just wish I walked in my office door, I did my thing, I walked out and then fairy dust took care of the rest. I don't need to know. I don't need to care. I'm done. Yeah. So it, it's, you know, whenever you have switched over to then driving awareness and the time that takes, that's that marketing piece. Which is actually a long haul. That's that marathon. So whenever you hear that classic, you know, little three words. The know, like, trust, yeah, that's know. And like people have to know who you are. That's building brand awareness, which does not stop. And then they have to like what you're saying, enough to pay attention and to be excited about it. Right. Whenever you kick over into trust, that's that sales part, which is more of the sprint versus the marathon. Yeah. Which is why we have those little short term burst of promotions like launches, like sales, you know, like flash sales, um, seasonal sales, like Black Friday, like all those little things. Right? Because that's whenever people's like, oh, I'm so excited. I want in on this. I trust that you're the person who can help me get whatever I'm after. I'm in. Okay. That's how those things actually work together. So you're back here setting up the entire backstage progress with the curtain going behind you, and then you're also expected to work front of house, changing to a theater metaphor here where you are passing out the playbills and you're ushering people to their seats and you're getting them excited. But you're also the one who's standing out there telling people to even come in and this is where to park and, oh yeah, we have a show going on and, and Oh yeah, you need to know about this play. And oh yeah, these, these kind of things are going on and, and we're on tour right now, right? They're very different skill sets. They're very different operations and they have very different timelines. So the driving awareness part, it actually starts before the ads, the tech, the emails, the et cetera. All right, now the ads can support the driving awareness. The emails can support the driving awareness for people who are already in your audience. Yeah, but the ads can actually help to bring people into your audience. And then of course the text, the backend of both of those. Plus, plus plus. Yeah. But it's kind of a case of like, if I have this feeling of I'm not driving awareness, where are these other people supporting that? So that's a bit of a, a reframe for yourself. But then it's also a case of what kind of timeframes do I need to let go of, and what do I need to realize that my order of operations is kind of switched. Okay. And just using this as a learning point of progress now, so that way in the future you can do it a bit different. All right. That's again, why in the program I've set it up the way I have, and I've created the AI assistance and the launch swaps and the coaching calls and all these things to help set you up so you're not sitting there doing it by yourself. So we can actually create a plan, like a timeframe plan. I. That doesn't just look at your offer and I wanna do a challenge. Okay, great. Here's a six week plan. Execute it. But it also takes into consideration what do you have going on in your life? Where are your humans? What is the actual context of what you're doing? Because if you are helping fellow business owners, that looks very different than if you're helping people work through a divorce. Yeah, it looks very different than if you're helping people with anxiety versus if you're helping people train a puppy. Okay, so the your type of audience and what it is that you're actually helping them do, it really informs your timeframe. It really informs the awareness. It really informs how quickly people need to get ahold of things. Right. So we have to consider all of that stuff and then how new you are, how new your concept is. Are you one of many or are you an outlier? Are you somewhere in between? Because that really affects awareness, all right? And how much noise you're breaking through, which again affects timelines. And again, it affects, do you need to. Rely on things like social medias and um, ads and more emails and referrals and affiliates and all the other things that we can play with in the marketing frame in order to get this kind of, um, word out there. All right. So you have a lot of options to play with. It does not have to be finished in six weeks, a lot of it actually compounds on itself. Right. So like the part that you say at the end through my own channels where your channels take time to build. Yeah. And this is when you also wanna lean into collabs, like collaborating with other people who have similar audiences, so that way you guys can compound together, right. And build on each other. And how you're saying like it impacts the registration numbers and then the conversion is low. Yes and no. Because a, a rule of thumb in conversion copywriting, if you want better conversion, have a better audience. Okay? So you don't have to go with a large volume and hope and pray for the one to 2% that is more like that Walmart model of high volume, low return. Instead, it's more like, it can be that boutique style. It can be more that high-end luck style of, you know, I may only have 10 to 15 people walk into um, Gucci today, but I know that nine of them are gonna buy something and their average ticket's gonna be a lot higher. So you don't need the droves of people. You need the right people coming in. So we have to attract the right people. They have to know what's going on, and it has to match them and speak to them at the right desire level. Yeah, so it, it's, it's that different kind of business strategy. Has to match. So yes, there is an awareness level, but it's, that's not the, the sole enforcement of numbers and conversion and all of those good kinds of things. Okay. There's more to it than, than just that none of this sits in isolation. Yeah. Well, I hope that you got some little tidbits out of that last one as we move into one of the other questions that came up. Because you are not behind. You're not doing it wrong. You've just been fed timelines and expectations that don't always reflect your real life, right? They're made to compartmentalize you instead of flex and build around you. But let's shift that. Let's shift what launching can actually look like when it supports you, instead of asking you to cram into it. Let's listen in. Getting things ready on time and, um, figuring out the tech, because there, there's so many different moving pieces, and the hardest part is finding the people and hitting deadlines and knowing what to do in ideal audiences. Um, so that, that's really the, Kind of core that I'm seeing in a lot of this. And that also really influenced a lot of the different tools and the different things that, that I've built into this whole concept. Because a, a lot of it is that when, when you're trying to do a traditional, you know, 30 day launch, complete a webinar, a challenge, a three day event, whether it is recorded or live, you know, you're, you are forcing people into your timeline and then you, yourself are forcing into a timeline. Right. and it sounds good from a creator point to have that kind of momentum and that excitement and, and doing all the things right and, and having that energy, especially if you can have the energy going and, you know, and, and being on camera isn't an issue for you. 'cause it is for some and not for others and, and all the spectrum in between. But there's that, the behind what the people don't see. There's all the emails, there's the calendar links, there's the reminders. There is the, the different segments that go into it. The people who do register versus the people who don't. Then out of those who do register, who shows up versus who doesn't, and then there's the, this link for the, that link and then there's the, these reminders then versus there's the, these other types and there's all these little webs of things that that come around. And that's the part that starts piling up on people. Right, and, that's what, a lot of the, these questions are. It's like I'm trying to reach these people, but then I'm trying to get the right messages to them, and I'm having a hard time reaching my launch date while struggling with my outside issues. That also require time. There's the last minute details. There's the documents, there's the videos. And it's guilty. I'm feeling so guilty, and then someone else is like, I'm it. It's relentless. And at the same time, if I don't do this well, and if I don't get a good return on it, then what was the point in doing any of it at all? I. So we carry so much weight on it because we are our business and we have these stakeholders, and we have this sense of ourselves in it where we want to show what we're doing and that, that's really like at the heart of those, those four elements of looking at well. Yes, your offers, right? Yes. How do you wanna sell? Yes. How do you wanna market and where are you gonna show up? So the people are receptive and so your message is actually elevated, right? Those two like very foundational business pieces, but also I. How do you like to collaborate? How do you like to actually engage with your community? So it doesn't just feel like you're using a marketing platform because you have to, but it's because it's where you actually have a back and forth with people. So you're building loyalty, you're building that en engagement piece, and people are really. Sighted and they, they like hearing you and it's not a drag on you because it is a, an essence for you. You're enjoying it versus like ticking that box. Right. And so it actually does feel like an extension. It does feel like a community. And then of course your self, your personal energy, because we go through seasons. It's not always the same. There's not always the, these kinds of things that are asking of us, whether you have kids at home and they're going through their, their school seasons, whether you are a caregiver of someone else, whether, um, you are also going through corporate while you're building another job. Whether you have a huge client base right now and then you don't. Like there, there's all these different things that can create these different, pressures on us and these different like time requirements of our capacity and we need something that flexes with us instead of us having to be what flexes. Right? And that is why there's so many different ways to launch. That's why we create a structure that supports us overall and like reflects our ideologies and our values and how we wanna show up as a business. But then we get to pick and choose the options because sometimes, you know, having 25 emails and 15 reminders and showing up this way doesn't fit what we have to do to take care of the other people that are in our lives or ourselves. And then other times we can rock that, you know, we've got it, we have team members, or we have successful emails that we've used before, or we just have the capacity right now where we can sit down and we can make all those, and we've got it. Right. We, you know, all of these things are allowed to be true. We don't have to pick just because we are trying to chase a success, but then in other times when that's not true, then we can swap out that tactic for another one. Still supports what we're after. It still supports our revenue goals. It still supports our business and it still reflects our values, but it allows for that seasonal shift that we're in. It allows us to be able to try something different, whether it's because we wanna play with a new offer, or whether we just don't have capacity to think at all. So what instead we're gonna talk about is something that we know people love and we're just gonna. Run with that. And we, and instead of like trying to pull out something new, we're just gonna actually create a whole promotional launch campaign around an old favorite. And we're just gonna kind of set that on autopilot and let that go. Right? We get to play with all of those different aspects and then we know how that's gonna affect our revenue. We know what's going to, Like how that's gonna trickle down for us and where we need to delegate, where we need to call out support. Right. And then we have those biohacking tools now that are broke down yesterday about how to make sure that we're feeling safe and that we're able to break it down and handle all of these things with micro actions. Yeah. So like whenever all of these submitted questions that came in, it's like I'm trying to hit these dates, I'm trying to e all these people. I'm trying to figure out how to do all of these assets. This is how we're able to do it. It's like if, if you want to do it the way you're currently doing it, look at all these things and be like, how do I break these parts down? Where can I think instead of doing it this way, let me swap this out and do something else. Yeah, if you wanna do it inside the program with me, then that's actually why I've built the AI model. 'cause with the AI model, you go in and you say, Hey, I'm building this kind of structure. And I originally thought I was going to do this kind of tactic, but I can't do that now. I need to do something else, but I still wanna hit this revenue goal, or I'm still trying to bring in this kind of audience. What are my other options? What else can I play with? What else can I do? This is my time constraint, this is my team constraint, this is my whatever. And then you play with what comes out. And then anything else that you're unsure about, you bring to coaching calls, right? You, you talk about in the community, you look for affiliates, you look for collaboration partners, and we're all there to support you. And I'm there to answer questions. Yeah. And, and then you get to keep and use those resources past our coaching time together. Right. So you have all of these things that you can call on, so you're not. Struggling with these outside issues. So you're not trying to get your ads, your tech, your emails, your time awareness, all of these moving parts together that I'm seeing like over and over in these. And these questions are all done by individual people, and yet it's, it's like this, this common theme that, it's getting it all ready in time and selling and then having the fear of it just being to cricket. You know, the, I mean, it, it's, it's so true and it's so common, and that's why we're there to honor all the pieces and to be there for, for each other through it. Right. As we listen into this last one, it gets, a little bit vulnerable for the asker who was there live. So there's some parts that have been edited out for anonymity, but it raised some questions for them about when were they following advice and when were they not realizing some parts that weren't quite ready yet. Yeah. So we're gonna get a little deep. And I'm going to ask you as you listen, what if a part of what was currently burning you out wasn't the actual launch itself, but it was more in the delivery portion, the need to control how people are engaging with your work. Let's talk about that as we listen in. I'm trying to balance a degree of scarcity as a motivator. Yeah. To buy with honesty and allowing people to consume when they want. We run courses that could be online on demand for people to buy and take whenever they want. We sold very few, then we packaged them as drip courses on a set schedule with basically four quarterly launches. We sell far more now, but get negative feedback from a significant net. Um, okay. Yeah. Who wanna take it on? Yeah. On their schedule. Yeah. I'm. I don't like drip. I'm somebody, like, if somebody has a drip schedule, I actually wait until there's enough there that I'm like, okay, now I'll go do it. And that, that's a completely a personality base, which, um, well, there's some of it that you can account for by how you talk about the product and the audience that you want. And there's other things that you can't always control. 'cause you know, humans are just humans. Right. let's see. Okay. Where were they when Yeah, when it was available that way. Right. And, and that's the thing. So, um, there, there is that, that ebb and flow. So it's, it's double checking your messaging. Is it clear? Is it clear that, cause it, honestly, it's, it's like you have, you, you've swapped it so before. You were running them, where the drip was accessibility, like when people could actually access it. That was the drip. Them being able to get a hold of it, but then they got a hold of it, the whole thing. Now you have flipped it where they can get a hold of it whenever they want, but they can't get a hold of the individual lessons until you say, so you're still playing with elements of control. This is a reflective part that you need to ask yourself why? What is it that has you feeling like you need to control consumption before you were controlling their buying consumption? Now you're controlling their doing consumption. I. Is this something of how you have the guarantee in place? Like where they get a refund within a certain amount of time? Is it, um, something to do with the materials and you think that people can't do it all or they don't have the capacity for it? Is there some layer where you have like a fear or a worry that, I mean, honestly, maybe you didn't even realize was there until I just said it, you know, uh, you know, what, what is it about it that makes you feel like you have to have your control on the dials of people being able to just buy it when they want and complete it when they want. Yeah. do you have any backend support built into this? I. Is it completely DIY? So even if it is a email us or join this broad community, and if so, what are the ropes that you have built around this? So what are those kinds of parameters that you have built in? Okay, so the messaging. About who you're calling in into the actual material. Yeah, so like for mine, mine is very particular that it's for people who have done this before. So it's not about a revenue number because if, if it hasn't worked, then revenue doesn't count. Right. It's more like you've tried different offers, you've tried different launching styles, and you were so I, I don't know what's gonna work. I don't know what's gonna happen and I can't keep doing this anymore. I'm looking for an alternative and I'm looking for something that's actually going to look like me and work for me. Right? So for yours, is it, you wanna buy this when you want, but you still need to, um. I'm just gonna keep using the word consume, but fill in the appropriate word, but consume the material in a pacing that will allow me to understand it and implement it before moving on to the next topic. Okay, so if the reason for that control is because they need to completely. absorb it and actually action it before they move into the next part, then, then that needs to be set up in the expectations of the people who are buying it and in the onboarding of what to expect as they're going from one to one. Yeah, that it's not a case of listen to it at two x and just tick a box that this is no. You have specific exercises to complete. You're supposed to take this into your daily life and have it completed, and then you get to unlock the next part. Okay. So that, that's the messaging part, both for the buyer and for the user. All right, so where are you at with that? And then the other part is checking in with yourself. What is it about it that makes it feel like you need to control these measures? And doing like a, a real personal audit for yourself and, and seeing where you're at with that. Yeah, so you can still, reframe the word, Launching is just the, the fancy word for promotion. Okay, so a launch and a funnel are two different things, right? Even though the word funneling has a dual purpose in our industry, but the word launching is a way to actually sell market and create lead generation for an offer, right? So it, it is a time for you to, yes, talk to people currently on your list, but also to let everybody else and their mother know about it. Right. It's an opportunity to like, let a, a very wide audience, cast a wide net and bring them in. Yeah. So it's very much a lead generation machine as well as it is a marketing machine and a sales machine for your business and for the particular offer that you are promoting. Okay. Whereas a funnel is, is moving people already in your world through a specific, like offer to offer. Sequence. Okay. So whenever you say quarterly launches, reframe that to just, you have decided to, promote this offer on a quarterly basis. All right. So you can have it available in like a shop type thing, right? Where it's like, just like a lead magnet. It's always available if people wanna hunt for it, if they wanna see it in, um, a blog on a social media, on your homepage, on a, um, like a, a menu banner at the top. They can hunt for it, they can click for it, they can SEO for it anytime they want. But once a quarter, you have it in your marketing calendar to do a intentional promotion for the program. All right? Where you are going to, um, intentionally attract a new audience as well as reengage your existing audience and do a hardcore focus just on this offer. And whenever you, you think about it like that, then it's not that you are necessarily, um, locking the doors on the, the course itself, like you don't have to. Then it's just that you're pushing it into the spotlight. All right? And that is a way that you can kind of reframe and think about it. That might help if the audience you have now is actually who you want to work with. So I hope those three brought up some good things for you and some reflections and some things to take away and really implement. And if this episode hit home, let me know. But it's also a personal invitation to join us in your launch style. The program where we create a launch structure. That reflects your energy, your capacity, your business model, and your life. No templates, no one size fits all sort of nonsense. Just you, me and a launch that feels like it was made for you because it actually was. the doors are open right now, come check it out@Traciepatterson.com slash yls. And as always, the link is in the show notes. And if there's anything in today's episode that made you go oof, that is me or I so feel that, please let me know by leaving a review and tell me what resonated. Because I do love hearing from you and knowing what lights you up about these episodes and what sort of content really brings it home for you and makes your businesses soar. So until next time, be well and have some fun. Thank you for Thank you for joining me here on Digital Business Your Way. Be sure to check out the show notes for all the links mentioned today. And while you're there, I'd love for you to rate and review the show. And if you have a topic or question you want me to answer, I want to hear it. Head to Tracie Patterson dot com slash AMA and ask me anything about business. If I don't know it, I'm bringing up with one of my guests. And until next week, be well and have some fun.