3 Biggest Mistakes Coaches Make When Launching a New Offer

As a launch strategist and marketing coach, I have helped countless coaches and course creators plan for and execute on launching a new offer.? It’s a time filled with anticipation, uncertainty and excitement.? These coaches and course creators have had an idea brewing in their minds for quite some time and they have finally built the courage to bring it to the world.? Whether it’s a 4-week self study course, a business mastermind or an 8-week group coaching program, they are eager to sell it to their audience, generate income and create a transformation for their ideal clients.

But here’s the honest truth.? Unless you are experienced with launching offers, you don’t know what you don’t know.? One client I am currently working with offers a 7-day chakra juice cleanse.? She has been doing these cleanses for years and has even written a book about it.? However, this is the first time she is bringing this offer online and she has almost zero knowledge of how to market and launch.? This is not uncommon and it’s totally expected.? There is a learning curve when launching a new offer.

Instead of giving you a step-by-step process for launching a new offer, which is entirely too complicated for one blog, I thought it would be helpful to highlight the three most common and biggest mistakes coaches make when launching:

Mistake #1 When Launching a New Offer:? Failure to Research, Get Clarity, and Plan

One of the most important elements of launching a new offer is researching and getting complete clarity on your audience, your offer, and your competition, or unique selling proposition.? I remember a previous client of mine was launching a group coaching course on anxiety.? Her audience, in her mind, was professional women.? In her therapy practice, she saw a lot of professional women who were experiencing anxiety and she naturally thought that these women would be interested in a group program that helped them with their anxiety.? Through trial and error, we discovered this offer was not resonating with her ideal target audience.

There is so much that goes into researching a new offer and whether or not there is market demand for what you want to teach.? It can be a complicated and frustrating process to uncover the correct messaging, the right audience, and the ideal offer that will resonate and convert your business.? That is why we offer all our launch clients an extensive offer questionnaire that helps them dive deeply into all of these important questions.

Once you have all your research done and you are crystal clear on what you are offering, the next step is to carefully and strategically plan your launch.? The strategy you will use, timing, and team members have to be decided so that you can lay out a complete plan with all of the elements of launching in a project management tool:? passive and active lead building, nurturing your audience, sales, and marketing processes, etc.? Rather than just throwing up a sales page, sending out a few emails, posting on social media, and hoping for the best, there is a very clear and detailed launch process you should follow.? This will ensure organization, efficiency, less stress, and the best chances for success.

Mistake #2 When Launching a New Offer:? Having Unrealistic Expectations

One client I worked with in the Spring wanted to launch a brand new offer to a brand new audience.? Even though I warned her that this was a beta launch and we had no guarantees this would work (for various reasons), she insisted on forging ahead and launching anyway.? Her launch did not yield the results she wanted and she was extremely unhappy.? Her expectation was this launch would be a wild success and it would provide her with all the summer income she needed.? Unrealistic expectations breed disappointment and resentment.

Launching a new offer is ALWAYS a beta launch.? And you cannot have unrealistic expectations with a beta launch.? It’s the first time to launch an offer and with it comes a playground for learning.

• Is your list of potential clients growing?
• Is your message landing with your ideal audience?
• Are you experiencing strong open rates with your emails?
• Is your webinar converting and creating excitement?
• Are you getting questions from people about your offer?
• Are people clicking through to your sales page?
• Do you have any sales?

There are so many metrics we are measuring during a launch - metrics that are answering important questions about the launch.? If you go into launching a new offer with unrealistic expectations, you don’t allow your mind to learn and grow from the experience.? Instead, you are too caught up in the emotions of the launch and it clouds your judgment. Talk to a launch strategist before you launch and make sure you understand what is realistic and what is not.? Remember, launches build on one another.? A lack-luster result with your first launch does not mean you failed.? It simply means you need to refine and build on what you’ve already created.

Mistake #3 When Launching a New Offer:? Inconsistent List Building and Nurturing Your Audience

There are two actions I tell all my clients they need to take year round.

1. Marketing and growing your email list
2. Nurturing your audience through social media and email campaigns

A recent client came to me because she realized she had exhausted her email list, meaning no one was buying from her anymore.? The first thing I told her was you need to grow your email list so you have more and new people to market to.? Growing your email list should be an ongoing activity for any coach or course creator.? Using an effective lead magnet, you should use both organic and paid strategies to increase your list size.? Not just when you decide to launch a new offer, but year round.

And the second most important thing for you to do as you grow this list of new prospects is to nurture them with value added content.? As you can imagine, it is no fun receiving a bunch of sales emails during a launch when they haven’t heard from you in months.? Normally this results in people unsubscribing from your list.? The purpose of nurturing your prospects is to build a relationship and increase that know, like, and trust factor with you.

Depending on your style and what you enjoy, you can use social media, emails, blogs, podcasts, videos, or monthly webinars to help your audience receive a micro transformation from you.? Showcase your expertise by providing them with lots of valuable tips they can learn from.? Let them know that you understand their problems and desires, and you have the solution. That way when you do launch a new offer, they will be eager to invest to learn even more from you.?

Launching a new offer is exciting and a great opportunity to learn so much about yourself, your business, and your audience.? Before you plan your next launch, make sure you do your research, get clarity, set realistic expectations, and nurture a growing audience year round.

If you have plans to launch in the near future, Amazing OBM has a full launch team ready to help you strategize, plan and execute your launch.? Your audience is just waiting for the transformation you can provide!