237 - 4 steps to make your next launch feel CALM

[00:00:06] Caroline: Welcome to Growing Steady, the show where we help online creators like you build a calm business, one that's predictable, profitable, and peaceful. We're your hosts, Jason and Caroline Zook, and we run Wandering Aimfully, an Un-boring Business Coaching program, and Teachery, an online course platform for designers. Join us each week as we help you reach your business goals without sacrificing your well-being in the process. Slow and steady is the way we do things around here, baby.

[00:00:30] Jason: All right. Cinnamon rollers, that's you. Let's get into the show. Hello. Hello. Hello.

[00:00:39] Caroline: Hello. Is anybody out there?

[00:00:40] Jason: The listeners at home can't see us...

[00:00:43] Caroline: No.

[00:00:43] Jason: ...because it's just an audio podcast. Are we going to do a video podcast ever? Are we going to come back to that?

[00:00:47] Caroline: Maybe. Maybe.

[00:00:49] Jason: We are sitting on opposite ends of the couch today. Not like the same end of the couch where we sit close, because I...

[00:00:54] Caroline: Yeah. Usually, we sit where our little feetsies can touch.

[00:00:57] Jason: No, no, they, like overlap.

[00:00:58] Caroline: They overlap. You're right, you're right, you're right.

[00:00:59] Jason: Yeah, we're close. Yeah, it was like we're overlapping.

[00:01:01] Caroline: Like our legs.

[00:01:01] Jason: This is like our toes aren't even touching because I have a little... You might be able to hear. I have a little bit of a sore throat tingle.

[00:01:06] Caroline: A tickle. A tickle tingle.

[00:01:07] Jason: So I'm not moving out during that time, but I am just staying a little bit distanced. I'm trying to keep my droplets away from you. Remember, we used to have to consider droplets all the time?

[00:01:16] Caroline: I mean, I think from this point forward, we should all consider droplets.

[00:01:19] Jason: We really should. Yes. So this is just, I'm sharing that with you all because I know you like to imagine what we look like on our couch...

[00:01:26] Caroline: Oh, of course.

[00:01:26] Jason: ...and that's just very different from how we normally look.

[00:01:28] Caroline: And it just feels silly because we're used to being and talking to each other like a normal distance in a conversation. This is like when you see in movies those really long dining room tables...

[00:01:40] Jason: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It does feel like that.

[00:01:40] Caroline: ...in rich people's houses and they sit at each opposite end and you're like, well, it's like awkwardly long. That's what it feels like we're doing.

[00:01:49] Jason: All right. I have two pramble tops to bring to this.

[00:01:51] Caroline: Oh, please.

[00:01:52] Jason: Number one, I was on another podcast. We have not said yes to many interview requests, guest podcast things in a long time.

[00:02:02] Caroline: Why is that?

[00:02:04] Jason: I think just because, especially...

[00:02:04] Caroline: I know why it is actually.

[00:02:06] Jason: Okay. Go ahead.

[00:02:06] Caroline: We don't like stuff on the calendar.

[00:02:08] Jason: Yeah, we really like a clean butt calendar, which means it's like very empty. But I got this email from this podcast called How to Money, and it's been around for a long time. I think it's like one of the top, like finance podcasts, because it's just like very normal information about money. It's not like anything crazy.

[00:02:25] Caroline: Sure.

[00:02:26] Jason: And I was like, well, I like their pitch email. It was like, "Hey, we're going to do a bunch of research. We found your Wandering Aimfully business. It looks really cool. We know your IWearYourShirt story, that seems interesting and just would love to talk to you about how you live your life.

[00:02:37] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:02:38] Jason: And also, it was for both of us, but you weren't feeling up to it at the time, so I was like, yeah, I'll just do it. And so, I did the recording with them. And first of all, the pre-recording was great because the one of the hosts and I immediately bonded about ThunderCats, which just always sets you off on like a good nostalgia.

[00:02:55] Caroline: Now, I don't know that reference. Is this where our age shows?

[00:02:57] Jason: Yes. Because when I was born in 1982, probably like three years later, ThunderCats came on TV.

[00:03:04] Caroline: It was a show.

[00:03:04] Jason: It was a cartoon.

[00:03:05] Caroline: It was a cartoon.

[00:03:05] Jason: Yeah. Yeah, it was a cartoon. And for those of my listeners...

[00:03:08] Caroline: I missed it.

[00:03:09] Jason: For those of our listeners who are my age, they will be like, oh, I remember Lionel and I remember Snarf.

[00:03:14] Caroline: Snarf.

[00:03:15] Jason: And I remember just that whole thing. So we bond about that. And then we were literally about to start recording, he was like, "Hey, I got to ask you one more question." I was like, "Yeah. What's up?" He was like, "Is that a Stagg kettle behind you on the counter in your kitchen?" And I was like, "Yes." He was like, "Are you a coffee nerd as well?" I was like, "Yes." He was like, "Are we brothers from another mother?" It was like that moment in Step Brothers.

[00:03:34] Caroline: ThunderCats and coffee nerds. That is cute.

[00:03:37] Jason: It was cute. But anyway, I will link up the episode in the show notes of our show because I actually listened to it on my walk this morning and I don't normally ever listen to...

[00:03:46] Caroline: You listen to yourself. You're giving yourself a shoutout.

[00:03:47] Jason: ...ourselves on things. But I just was curious because I knew they were going to cut up the show. I knew they were going to do...

[00:03:51] Caroline: Yeah, of course.

[00:03:51] Jason: ...like some production to it. It's not like our show where there's zero production. We just record and then that's it.

[00:03:56] Caroline: What do you mean there's an intro.

[00:03:58] Jason: For sure. He had the intro. But yeah, I thought they asked great questions. I actually thought I was like...

[00:04:04] Caroline: Give people an idea of what the episode is about, like some of the things you talked about.

[00:04:07] Jason: Yeah. They really steered in the direction of what are your stories of starting weird and unique businesses?

[00:04:13] Caroline: Uh-huh.

[00:04:13] Jason: And then how do you think about starting businesses nowadays? What has changed?

[00:04:17] Caroline: Oh, I thought it was going to be much more money focused, but it's like business focused.

[00:04:19] Jason: No, it's really not. It wasn't. It was very much like... Because that's what they kind of wanted to talk about.

[00:04:21] Caroline: Well, see. That's why I asked.

[00:04:23] Jason: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they did ask about what's like a splurge thing that we spend money on. And so, I'll let people go and listen to the episode for that.

[00:04:31] Caroline: What a tease.

[00:04:32] Jason: I know. I know. You know because we talk about our finances very clearly. But...

[00:04:37] Caroline: Is that what you said?

[00:04:39] Jason: Whoa, what are you doing? You're doing something weird with your... Yeah. Oh, it's something. I don't know. Maybe.

[00:04:42] Caroline: Is that what you said? Buddy, is that what you said?

[00:04:45] Jason: Sure. Yeah. No, that's not it.

[00:04:47] Caroline: That's not it?

[00:04:47] Jason: That's something else. Anyway, I'll link that up. I had a lot of fun doing it. And maybe we'll start doing some more interview stuff because we've just been super quiet and not done anything.

[00:04:57] Caroline: Invisible business.

[00:04:58] Jason: That was my first pramble top.

[00:04:59] Caroline: Oh.

[00:05:00] Jason: My second pramble top was I made a batch of cookies.

[00:05:06] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:05:06] Jason: The other day for our friends. And then I forgot that their child has an allergy to a certain nut.

[00:05:08] Caroline: Yes. Has a literal allergy to... Thank goodness. Before we left, I was like...

[00:05:13] Jason: You thought about it.

[00:05:14] Caroline: I was like, "Hey, remember last time..." And they were like, "Oh, thank goodness you use pecans instead of walnuts because he's allergic to walnuts." And we were like, "Whew." And then I was like, "You use pecans and walnuts this time, didn't you?" And you're like, "Yeah. And I was like, "Ooh."

[00:05:28] Jason: Totally forgot. That being said, we basically got the batch to ourselves.

[00:05:31] Caroline: Yes.

[00:05:31] Jason: And so, I've just been enjoying these cookies. These cookies are so good. The reason I'm bringing it up is because I remembered, I actually took my recipe, and I put it into a link. So it's not just in my notes. My Apple notes, which is where it lived for years. So I'm going to...

[00:05:44] Caroline: You're sharing this recipe?

[00:05:45] Jason: Yeah, yeah. I'm going to link it in the show notes. I would love for you all to make this recipe. There's no crazy ingredients in it. The weirdest ingredient is coconut sugar, which is very easy to find.

[00:05:54] Caroline: Sure.

[00:05:55] Jason: And then I use raw honey, which is like the honey that still has some honeycomb in it, not just regular pourable honey. So you'll see those things if you go to the link in the show notes and make my batch cookies.

[00:06:04] Caroline: I'm telling you, you can say this because you are that confident, but as someone who's not the person who makes them, they're the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.

[00:06:13] Jason: I really, I...

[00:06:13] Caroline: They're the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.

[00:06:15] Jason: I know we're bias.

[00:06:15] Caroline: And we hear that consistently from everyone who tries them.

[00:06:18] Jason: And I've made like 20 batches of cookies, like different recipes.

[00:06:20] Caroline: They're just the perfect like...

[00:06:22] Jason: These are just so good.

[00:06:23] Caroline: ...balance of everything.

[00:06:23] Jason: They're so good. Okay. Those are the pramble tops. Let's get into this episode because we want to help people with launching, and we want to help people maybe remove a little bit of fear around launching and get a little bit more confidence. And maybe if you've had a bad launch before, maybe this episode will help shift the way that you think about your next launch and maybe get excited for it.

[00:06:44] Caroline: Well, and also, I think that a lot of entrepreneurs who sell digital products are holding themselves back by not launching more. And I think the reason they don't launch more is because they have this built up in their heads that launches have to be this crunch time hustle mode, super stressful. And I think it's because a lot of the big cat entrepreneurs that you see, they give off that vibe, right? They're like, oh, we have this like intense team and they're answering DMs at all hours of the day and we're doing a three-day live webinar challenge, da, da, da, da, da. And it's just like the blueprint that I feel like the big, most visible online businesspeople are showing is this vision of launching that is very intensive. And those of you who have been listening will know that last year we created a program that's like our most raved about program, Calm Launch Formula. And it's because we just do it differently. We have a different vibe. When I actually tell you this, the two weeks of launching is actually like the least stressful time in our business because we know exactly what we're doing every day, and we've already prepped. It's the thing that we prep the most for. And so, launching is actually quite stressless for us. And that is the information that I want to share with people. And we realized we had never done a podcast episode that was strictly like what are some quick ways that you can create a calmer launch? How do you make your launches feel less chaotic? And so, that's what we're going to share with you today.

[00:08:10] Jason: I think the thing that Calm Launch Formula does, number one, is help you give bigger launches with less stress. That's the number one thing. You will absolutely have a bigger launch than you've ever had before if you follow this formula because it works. We've proven it. It's not just selling one thing, it's like how we've sold everything for years. The second thing that it will do, and I love this as a side benefit, which is exactly what you just mentioned, during your launch, you will be bored.

[00:08:35] Caroline: You'd be like, I should be doing something.

[00:08:36] Jason: Exactly. And I think this is almost top tier thing that we could position Calm Launch Formula to do for you. I wish you all could understand the feeling of launch day happens and you're looking around your office or your wherever, and you're just like, well, literally everything's ready.

[00:08:55] Caroline: Should I take a walk?

[00:08:57] Jason: So I guess I'll just play with my kids and live my life and my emails will go out.

[00:09:02] Caroline: It's the best feeling.

[00:09:03] Jason: And I will get sales. So that's what we want for you. We want those things for you. We want your launches to be bigger with less stress. And like Caroline said, this doesn't mean that you have to do seven figure launches with a team of 30 people. Listen, if that's your business, that's fine. I think everybody listen to this podcast. That is not you. You are people who run your own things. You're probably just a solopreneur doing everything yourself. So we really hope that these takeaways can get you from the struggle bus of launching because you start way too late, which we're going to talk about some data that we have on that that reinforces that that is definitely a problem for most people and that you try to do too much stuff.

[00:09:32] Caroline: Yup.

[00:09:32] Jason: And if we can just help you remove some things but also prioritize the most important thing, which I think is going to maybe surprise some people of what we say that is, I think this is going to help your next launch be awesome. Even if you don't join WAIM, even if you don't join Calm Launch Formula, we want you to do those things. If you want the help and you want the AI prompts, if you want us to do the work for you. Yes, we can do that. However, just listening to this episode, I think you can walk away, go, okay, my next launch, it is not going to be so stressful. I know what I need to focus on. Let me put these things into practice and move forward.

[00:10:01] Caroline: Yeah. So we go into a lot of in-depth tactics and things inside our program Calm Launch Formula, which you get with WAIM Unlimited. However, we just plucked out like four simple things so that you could execute on these things regardless of needing to use that program. So let's just dive into it, Jace.

[00:10:19] Jason: Starting with number one, and this is you need to plan way earlier than you think.

[00:10:23] Caroline: This sounds so simple. And when I tell you I need you... If you're walking, if you're doing laundry, if you're doing the dishes, like listen to the words that I'm saying. If there is one transformative thing that you take away from this podcast episode, it is this. Plan your launches earlier.

[00:10:41] Jason: We sent out some survey data when people buy Calm Launch Formula, and we asked them how early do they start their launch, like what's the timeframe for when they start planning their launch? The highest rated answers are four weeks or less. It is over 75% of people respond and say, "I start planning a launch four weeks or less before the launch date." This is not enough time.

[00:11:02] Caroline: That is not enough time.

[00:11:03] Jason: This is why you are scrambling at the end because there are too many things to do. Like a launch just takes doing things. And for a lot of you listening to this, you're probably still building the product.

[00:11:13] Caroline: Yeah. And by the way, at four weeks out from your launch, that's when you should be sharing your pre-launch content.

[00:11:19] Jason: Yes.

[00:11:19] Caroline: And it's very hard to confidently share pre-launch content to get people warmed up about your offer when you're still in the midst of setting up your automations, making sure the sales emails are plugged in. Like when you're in the midst of doing all of that work, it's hard to communicate from a place of preparedness and confidence. And so, I think it's this domino effect, right? So it's like you're not planning early enough. So then you're probably skipping over pre-launch content altogether because you're still scrambling to do all the tactics. You're feeling like, what am I doing every day? Everything feels like it's on sticky notes and it's in my brain. And we're going to touch on all those different things. But I think it all begins with planning earlier. And truly I think that the mark of you have like leveled up in your creator, your calm creator business is when you can start to at the top of every year, plan out your launches. So you pick your launch windows and start to plan your launch literally at the top of every year. Q1, you're planning your launches even for... We're planning our Fall launch even at the top of the year.

[00:12:27] Jason: Yeah. So the number one thing we recommend here is at a minimum eight weeks, but more like 12 or 16 weeks before your launch to start going through your launch things or to-dos.

[00:12:40] Caroline: And if you're listening to this and you're like, "Oh, no, I was going to plan to do like an April launch." That's okay. Like that's okay, it's just start sooner. So it's like if you can only do a five week out launch now, five weeks out is better than four weeks out. Okay. So start there and then ask yourself while you're planning your launch that's coming up in five weeks, just go ahead and plan for that next one at the same time, say okay, now, okay, if I need to set up these tasks that I'm going to do in April, let me set up those tasks that I need to do in August.

[00:13:09] Jason: Yeah. So we look at this as breaking it into phases. So you have your planning phase, you have your pre-launch phase, you have your open cart phase which is when the launch is going, and then you have your follow-up and tying everything together.

[00:13:21] Caroline: You're welcoming new members, you're doing all that. Yeah.

[00:13:23] Jason: Yes. If you're curious, inside Calm Launch Formula, we have exact AI prompts that can help you set your dates, get your full schedule planned out, get your premarketing content ideas going, get your sales emails written. Like literally all this can be done in two hours. I've timed it, I've done it with a brand-new business that I just made up. I was like, I just want to sell a coffee making course. And so, I just went through the prompts step by step. I didn't have anything done. And by the end, I had all the sales emails, the sales copy...

[00:13:48] Caroline: You're like, "Should I start this business?"

[00:13:49] Jason: Yeah, exactly. And I was like, no, don't need another business to start right now. But yeah, I think that there is a lot of overcomplication in what people think needs to be done and there's not enough time given to do those things. And so, you can simplify the things you need to do, but you need to give yourself more time. And to your point, if you're listening to this right now and it's March and you're like, "But I was going to do an April launch." That's fine. But reset your expectations.

[00:14:12] Caroline: Yeah. Exactly.

[00:14:13] Jason: So know that you might be overwhelmed, you might be a little bit stressed out. You might not get as many sales because you haven't done enough premarketing. You don't have time to do premarketing. That's all fine. You can still do the launch, but reset expectations, which I'll touch on in a second.

[00:14:26] Caroline: Which, by the way, we've done plenty of times. There have been times where we have been distracted with like trying to build other projects. Even us, that has like a very seamless launch protocol that, it's very repeatable formula for us, sometimes we're working on other things and we're like, okay, we haven't devoted enough time to premarketing as we normally would. And so, all we do is we go, okay, great. This launch isn't going to do as well. We're not the type of business owners that are looking for the hockey stick growth of bigger and better launches every time. Like we always set the expectation against what's going on in our lives. Where are we at with our businesses? Are we trying to pivot? Are we trying to do things? So you really need to be honest with yourself. Like Jason said, it's totally fine to maybe do a launch that's only half calm this time.

[00:15:13] Jason: Yeah.

[00:15:14] Caroline: With the expectation that maybe in the future you're going to be more prepared. And I will say that there is a very, very clear correlation in our historical launch data between the more time we give ourselves and the higher the sales.

[00:15:27] Jason: Absolutely. And I think the problem is because, and we'll get to this in part two in a moment, is that the thing that always gets dropped when you're getting prepared for a launch is the marketing. It's always the thing that gets dropped because you're working on the technical logistics, setting everything up. You're working on the product itself, you're working on the sales emails...

[00:15:43] Caroline: You're perfecting the sales pitch.

[00:15:45] Jason: ...the sales page, all that stuff. And what gets left behind is literally the most important thing.

[00:15:48] Caroline: Talking to your audience.

[00:15:49] Jason: So yeah, I think they're said enough here. You need to make your launch day further out. Eight to 12 weeks is your minimum to set that plan. So the next time you're going to plan a launch, again, like Caroline said, look later on in the year, when's your launch date? Great. What's your planning start date? And that's going to be 12... Or 8 to 12 weeks, if not a little bit longer.

[00:16:08] Caroline: I do just want to acknowledge because I think of this a lot like I was a terrible procrastinator in high school. Like I would wait until the night before to write papers. And I had to really dig into like why is that? I know I'm a capable person. Why would I put all of this pressure on myself to sit down at a blank page the night before my papers due and sit down and write it? And it's because a lot of us, especially those of us who might have dealt with perfectionism, I think you're so overwhelmed by all of the decisions that need to be made, and you want your launch to be perfect, and so you just sort of put it off because your brain is telling you that it's so scary to sit down and have to make those decisions. But the price that you pay for that procrastination is that you almost sabotage yourself, right?

[00:16:57] Jason: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:57] Caroline: And you sabotage yourself and then you put all this pressure so that it is a week before your open cart date, and you are scrambling. And you find yourself and you're like, why am I doing this again?

[00:17:07] Jason: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:07] Caroline: And I just think if that's you listening to this, it's okay. Understand why your brain is doing that to you. It's not because you just are somehow broken. It's just because you want to do your best and you are putting it off because it's scary to sit down at a blank page. And use this moment as a moment of resolution that that's not going to be your story anymore. All you need to do is break that blank page syndrome earlier. So set the bar really low for yourself. Like say, okay, I don't need to make all the decisions about my sales emails right now. All I'm going to do is set 30 minutes on my calendar and start writing out my task list for my next launch. That's it. 30 minutes. And once you get that little pebble rolling, your brain is going to feel so much relief that you've started so that you're not caught the night before the term papers due trying to write the whole thing.

[00:18:00] Jason: Yeah. The last thing in part one here. So planning way earlier than you think. And then the other thing, I couldn't believe this. Over 75% of people in this survey do not set goals for their launch. Or they set one goal that's based off of nothing. So they're just like, I want this launch to make $10,000.

[00:18:16] Caroline: Right.

[00:18:16] Jason: I'm like, "Okay. How many people on your email list?" "Oh, like 500." "Okay. And how much is the product?" "Oh, $79." Okay. So you would need like 120 sales and you have 500 people, so like 30% of your... Or like 25 or 50% of your email list would have to buy. That's not possible, my friend. I'm not trying to tell you that you can't reach your goals. I'm just trying to tell you have to be realistic about the goals you set. So our advice is always to set low and high goals. So your low goal is basically what we call like the rule of 1%. So this does differ if you have a very small focus, like waitlist email list, but for our email list, let's just say it's 10,000 people, we would expect 1%. So that's 100 people to buy.

[00:18:58] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:18:58] Jason: That's our low goal. We just set that every time because it's just the law of averages over the years. That is what has worked out to be our low goal. And again, it depends on what you're selling. It depends on how you're selling, the price and all that.

[00:19:07] Caroline: Yeah. Because that has changed as the prices go up, et cetera.

[00:19:09] Jason: Exactly. But I will say that that rule of 1% does tend to hold true for setting a low goal. So if you don't have any idea how to set goals, use that as your goal.

[00:19:16] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:19:16] Jason: Then for your high goal, it's a stretch goal. It's not an impossible goal. So this isn't to say like, okay, again, I want to make $20,000 with this launch, but you have an email list of 50 people. That is not possible. People are not going to appear out of thin air. So you have to go, okay, well, maybe my 1% launches, I'm going to get 20 sales and I would be super happy if I just doubled that to 40. I'm not going to go 20 to 200 because that's not realistic.

[00:19:38] Caroline: Yeah. Right.

[00:19:40] Jason: So a good rule for that is just whatever your low goal is, just double it to be your high goal. These are your goals going into it.

[00:19:46] Caroline: Yeah. And then at every launch...

[00:19:48] Jason: Exactly.

[00:19:48] Caroline: ...you will start to hone on what those more realistic numbers are. But like Jason said, at least if you're just getting started with a new offer or something, it's to some degree it's all guesswork, but it's not arbitrary guesswork.

[00:20:00] Jason: And I have seen this happen with multiple of our way members who I do coaching with, or I chat with in Slack. And this is one of the things I love doing when people join WAIM Unlimited is like having direct interaction with them. But I see this all the time, which is they'll do a launch and like halfway through they're like, "Oh, the launch is failing."

[00:20:15] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:20:15] Jason: And I'm like, "Okay. Did you set low and high goals before you started?" They're like, "Well, no. I was hoping I would get like 100 sales." I'm like, "Okay. Cool. How many sales you have?" They're like, "Well, 85." And I'm like, "Okay. So we're pretty close to the goal quotes that you say. Why are you not feeling good?" "Well, I actually hoped I was going to get 200."

[00:20:31] Caroline: Yup.

[00:20:31] Jason: Okay. So you set yourself up for failure because you didn't even define these things, but now that you're defining them midway, it's like saying like I'm going to go and I'm going to exercise. And halfway through the workout, it's like, well, I thought I could lift 500 pounds. It's like, why? You have no reason to do that. There's no data that says that's possible for you to do. So I just think these are super important things that may seem simple, but most people don't do them. And we have the data that shows us that people plan too late, and they don't set goals, and these things set you behind. So let's move on to...

[00:21:01] Caroline: Yeah. And so that's a recipe for stress.

[00:21:03] Jason: Exactly. So let's move on to part two.

[00:21:05] Caroline: Okay. So part two. Part two of helping to make your launches more calm is prioritizing pre-launch content. We are going to talk about pre-launch content and shout it from the rooftops until we're blue in the face. Because this, to me is the single point of leverage for a successful launch or a launch that falls short. And we have this from experience from real data, because there have been times when we do less pre-launch content and our...

[00:21:32] Jason: Or none.

[00:21:32] Caroline: Or none.

[00:21:33] Jason: Yeah.

[00:21:33] Caroline: And our sales suffer. And there's just, that's just the reality of it. So if you are not prioritizing warming up your audience for when your live launch starts, this needs to be at the top of your list for your next launch. Because if your audience is warm before your launch, you don't have to fight for every sale. You don't have to work so hard to like swim upstream. You've already warmed people up. You've already got them in the consideration mindset, those people who are at that moment in time where they're experiencing the pain point that your offer helps alleviate. And so, you're going to feel more confident during your launch.

[00:22:09] Jason: Yeah. So the way we like to structure pre-launch content is four weeks of lead up content.

[00:22:14] Caroline: Right.

[00:22:14] Jason: So before your launch day you're just delivering four pieces of value. And what we're talking about here is just a launch through an email list. So you could do this also via social content. But like through this example, like we're literally saying like send an email per week for four weeks. So one of the things you can send an email about and you could just literally carve these out as different emails is... And all of your pre-launch content needs to lead with value. So it can't just be like, my course is coming up. Here's the lessons that are in get ready to buy.

[00:22:39] Caroline: Right. That's a piece of it. So these three things, these aren't like your themes for every week, but these are like overall big picture what is your like pre-launch content trying to do. It's trying to do these three basic things.

[00:22:52] Jason: Yeah.

[00:22:52] Caroline: It's going to educate people and understand why they need your offer, right? So it's going to touch on the big problem that your offer solves. It's going to talk about what your unique solution is to that problem. And at this point you're like, you're trying to be specific to the problem, but you're kind of being a little bit vague about the solution, right? So you're not sharing like your frameworks and your processes. Like leave all of that to really getting into the nitty gritty of your offer. But pre-launch you just want to like remind people that they have this pain point. You are also going to try to shift some beliefs because there are going to be people out there who go like, for example, I'll just use if we were talking about launching with Calm Launch Formula. There are going to be people out there who are like, oh, live launches are way too stressful. Like I'd rather do evergreen sales or whatever. And so, it's our job to shift that belief in the pre-launch warmup to be like, live launches do not have to be stressful. And here are the reasons why. You don't have to follow the big blueprint. Kind of like what we talked about at the top of this episode. And that's important because you want to soften some of those like hard walls that people have put up around why they don't need your offer. There's a large group of people who could be open to your offer, but they just sort of have like a different perspective or limiting belief around why something has to be a certain way. And it's your job to show them, oh, no, there's a different way.

[00:24:12] Jason: Yeah. And I think even another example besides just like, because I think when I listen to podcasts, I really get bored when people are like, here's how I tell you how I marketed my thing to give you an example for my thing.

[00:24:23] Caroline: Sure.

[00:24:23] Jason: So if we sold a Notion template, like our Notion starter pack, which is a template, but we don't sell it. It's only available within WAIM. But if we sold it, what we would do is one of our emails would be like, "Hey, is your Notion just a complete disaster and everything is just like a mess? We have figured out how to clean up Notion and have it work for us and be super productive. And every day it basically tells us what to do. And it's because we've set up things ahead of time." I'm just giving an example of how it works.

[00:24:48] Caroline: No, I think that's... But I think that's a good example of educate. An example of shifting beliefs.

[00:24:51] Jason: Yeah. 100%. Yeah.

[00:24:53] Caroline: Would be like, do you think Notions too complicated?

[00:24:55] Jason: Exactly.

[00:24:56] Caroline: Do you think it's overwhelming? Because here's how it doesn't have to be.

[00:24:59] Jason: The point that I'm trying to make is just showing you as the listener, whatever your offer is, it's plucking out the things that it does. It's the benefits that it provides. Not the, "I've recorded 12 videos, and it's going to walk you through how to understand Notion databases." And it's like, everybody already knows that they might need to know that, but that's not going to convince them that they buy from you. They're going to see that you're coming up with a way that educates them and inspires them, that shows that you have a unique way of doing something that they're like, "Okay. Yes, I need this thing."

[00:25:27] Caroline: And then, of course, the third piece of it is you are ultimately building anticipation for this launch that's about to open. So there is a little bit of hype, a little bit of...

[00:25:36] Jason: Yeah, for sure.

[00:25:37] Caroline: ...oh, my gosh two more weeks until this opens. That it's just a little bit of logistics of there's so many things that are pulling at people's attention nowadays that you have to be very clear about when the time window is.

[00:25:49] Jason: Yeah. I mean, it's that Swiss Miss quote that we come back to all the time that I could never get perfectly right. But she tweeted this, and years ago it was like, selling is just a transfer of your enthusiasm about your offer. Like that's the core of the message. And I think one of the things that a lot of people, I'm just... This is just like me cutting through all the garbage. If you don't love the thing that you sell, people will be able to hear it in your words that you write.

[00:26:16] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:26:17] Jason: And if it just doesn't feel like you're excited about it, it's 2025, y'all. We're attuned to these sales messages. We can read through the lines. Like people can tell when you're not genuinely loving what you're doing.

[00:26:28] Caroline: True.

[00:26:28] Jason: They're not going to want to buy. And so, that's on you to figure out. It's a hard look at knowing am I doing the right thing in my business that I truly am excited about helping people with? Because if you're not, then you need to pivot. And that's just a part of running a business.

[00:26:40] Caroline: Totally. I think it's a big part of running a business, especially the kind of business that we talk about, which is a creator business, where you are such an integral part of that business, and your authenticity and enthusiasm is really important.

[00:26:52] Jason: Yeah. I think the other thing that pre-launch content does, just to put a bow on why this matters so much, is you're sharing this lead up messaging and you're getting people excited for it. And it's not like a... I'm just going to use this metaphor, but it's not like a slap in the face of like, hey, my thing is for sale, out of nowhere, like people are hearing about this for a month and they're deciding. And it just takes time for people to make buying decisions.

[00:27:17] Caroline: Totally. Especially now. Yeah.

[00:27:17] Jason: Especially nowadays, like there's so much stuff you have to be discerning about it. And so, I think what this really helps you do is after these four weeks, people who've been on your email list, they really come to the decision before your card is even open. They're like, oh, I'm going to buy. This is for me. I know. As opposed to if you start your launch and then your launch window's only open for like a week or maybe two weeks. Literally by the end of the launch, someone hasn't even fully decided yet. The only reason they're possibly going to buy is because they're like, well, it's closing. And I know I think I want this thing. As opposed to having all that lead up time ahead of time, boom, the decision's made, they're ready. Like your list just needs the reminders at that point to know like, okay, why am I buying this right now? Okay. It's because I'm joining a cohort or whatever. I'm excited. I'm going to join.

[00:27:58] Caroline: Definitely. And I think just to wrap up this number two point here, I think it's helpful to identify why people so often skip over the pre-launch step because I think if you can identify that, you can help come up with solutions so that you don't do that in the future. But I think it goes back to number one which is just like you're not planning early enough. So you're doing all your launch stuff during the time when you should be sharing pre-launch content.

[00:28:22] Jason: Exactly. And you have no time.

[00:28:24] Caroline: And you have no time.

[00:28:24] Jason: This is what we've heard from everybody who has filled out the Calm Launch Formula survey. Because they start within four weeks, they have to do all the logistics, they have to make the sales, they have to do the things. The thing that gets dropped is being excited and sharing why someone should want to buy this thing for four weeks.

[00:28:36] Caroline: And the thing that is being dropped is the thing that is going to contribute the most to you having a successful launch.

[00:28:42] Jason: Yeah. Setting up your Zapier automation, no one gives a shit about that.

[00:28:45] Caroline: Right.

[00:28:45] Jason: So it's like no one can see that. No one cares about that. That doesn't do anything for anybody. Yes, you need to do it.

[00:28:50] Caroline: It's necessary, but it's not going to move the needle.

[00:28:52] Jason: Exactly.

[00:28:53] Caroline: Yeah. And then I think the other thing is that, and you brought up a really good point which is that people are so afraid to give away their info for free.

[00:29:02] Jason: I definitely hear this, because again, I talk more directly with a lot of our WAIM members. They're like, "Well, I don't want to give away a bunch of the things that I do and then no one's going to buy." And it's like, people aren't going to get four emails from you and decide like, "I figured it all out. I don't need this thing anymore."

[00:29:19] Caroline: 100%.

[00:29:20] Jason: Because if the thing you're selling is solvable in those four emails, then it probably doesn't need a launch. It's probably a low-priced offer that could just like be put in a free email series that's like sold at the end.

[00:29:30] Caroline: Totally.

[00:29:31] Jason: So I think that be willing to... My rule of thumb is like give away 50% of whatever the thing is that you sell in the four-week lead up. Like be willing to share the behind the scenes, a couple of the templates, a couple of the prompts, whatever the thing is. Because what you want someone to do is go, this 50% that I got was so awesome.

[00:29:49] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:29:49] Jason: I am so happy to buy because like I just want the other 50%, but also, I know this helped me, so like I'm happy to contribute.

[00:29:54] Caroline: And hopefully, you designed your curriculum in your offer in such a way that you put the most essential stuff in there. So yes, they have 50%, but they don't have that integral of the other 50% and they need that other 50% to achieve the outcome that you're promising them. So yeah, be mindful about... Be a little bit strategic about maybe keeping your most technical, most like zesty, enticing parts to yourself. But you need to let someone know that that stuff is inside your offer in order for them to be excited about it. So yeah, if people don't even have a chance to get excited about some of the things that you've come up with to help them reach their solution, then they're not going to buy from you, so.

[00:30:39] Jason: All right. Let's move on to part three of this. So part one was starting way earlier than you think and setting your goals. Part two was getting your pre-launch content window going that four week lead up. Part three is your checklists and your systems will prevent panic.

[00:30:53] Caroline: If you can't plan your launch early, if you are still overwhelmed by pre-launch content, this to me, number three is the low hanging fruit which is just processsize... What's the word that I'm trying to...

[00:31:07] Jason: Yeah, systematize.

[00:31:08] Caroline: Systematize a few things in your launch and it will make your life so much easier. I'm embarrassed to say, I mean, it's been years now, but there were many years that we did WAIM launches, and I didn't even have a list of tasks. I was just like reinventing the wheel every time.

[00:31:23] Jason: Yeah. Yeah. And any of you who watch The Bear, I think you'll appreciate this if you watch the most recent season and like, spoiler alert, they start the restaurant, The Bear, and they're redoing the menu every day.

[00:31:36] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:31:36] Jason: And it drives everybody nuts. And it's like this is you driving yourself nuts when you don't have any systems or processes. And we were guilty of this, and we are no longer guilty of this. And I give you a lot of credit because you use Notion to create templates and like, you just literally press a button, and it has a template that pops up for our next launch and then we fill out all the things we need to fill out. So I think this is incredibly helpful. And it's one of those things that like, you do not have to overthink systematizing and processing. You don't have to go buy someone's specific template for doing a launch.

[00:32:06] Caroline: You don't even have to use Notion if it doesn't work for you.

[00:32:09] Jason: Yeah, it's about figuring out what are the repeatable tasks that you do every single launch and just making some sort of template that you can just duplicate. If it's a Google Doc and then you just make a copy of a new one every time. If it's an Apple Note and you just literally copy and paste into another one. The key is to write it all down in one place and organize it so that the next time you go to do a launch, you're not spinning and just trying to figure out all the things you have to do. You can look and go, oh, I did all this stuff before. Let me just repeat these things and not reinvent the menu every single night and drive my entire staff down.

[00:32:40] Caroline: Exactly. Let me tell you a few ways that our launch project template that we just spin up every time really helps us it, like what are some tactical things that we use that project for. So in every project we have, of course, our sales emails. That's where we write them, because we change them up slightly every launch. And what we're also doing is tracking sales by day in that dashboard. And then we're matching those up to the sales emails. So I can go back in any launch since 2020 and I can see which days did we have the highest sales and what emails did we send those days. And so, that's really helpful when you go, okay, you're trying to tweak your email sequence every time. You know what messaging really moved the needle and what didn't really. And so, that's really helpful. We also track our bonuses. So you may have heard us talk about this idea of JICLI bonuses on the podcast before. It stands for Just In Case Launch Idea. The way that we treat bonuses is we don't do them if we don't need to. And if we feel like we haven't hit that high goal for our sales or even our low goal, then we'll throw in some more bonuses. And so, we have a dashboard where we track all of those bonuses and how many sales were moved through each of those things so that we can look back and go, okay, these were the things that were really enticing to people. These were the things that were less enticing. And we can reuse the most compelling ones. We keep an ongoing list of tasks for each launch so that all we have to do is just add them every time to our calendar. Change the dates.

[00:34:10] Jason: But it really helps with all the little things that you lose track of.

[00:34:13] Caroline: The little things.

[00:34:13] Jason: So it's like, again, like the Zapier automations and the tagging for things and like the checkout.

[00:34:20] Caroline: The opt out links.

[00:34:21] Jason: All this stuff that you... Sales emails and you're like, I got a sale, but why didn't that person get access to the thing? Oh, it's because I changed the name of it. So then that was Zapier's automation is broken. Oh, no. Like all my tech...

[00:34:32] Caroline: Yup.

[00:34:33] Jason: You have all this stuff written out so you can just quickly go through them, boom, boom, boom. Okay. This day was like fixing all my automations and I'm good to go.

[00:34:38] Caroline: Exactly. And you don't have to keep that in your brain. And then we also just have like simple things, like a checklist for what needs to happen when we open the cart and close it. There's like some things that you have to do on the website, close the cart, et cetera.

[00:34:51] Jason: Yeah.

[00:34:52] Caroline: And so, all of that would drive me absolutely crazy if I had to do it from scratch every time. And I don't have to do that. I can just follow the process, check off the items and it's amazing. So again, if there's like a takeaway from this, you don't have to have this complex system right out of the gate. The takeaway from this should not be, if you're someone who has not had a system, shouldn't be like, ah, oh, no, I need to sit down and come up with the most elaborate system ever. Just focus on one checklist for yourself. Or like I said, during your next launch, create a document where you're writing down all your tasks and have that be the beginning of your template checklist.

[00:35:32] Jason: And I will say that if you're thinking about joining WAIM Unlimited or buying Calm Launch Formula by itself, we have quite a workbook that helps you categorize all this stuff, so you can use it as a hub for everything you need to do. And then you can adapt it to build your own checklist for how you work. Because like for me, I wouldn't use Notion to track things, but it would be so helpful because I would go through the workbook and I would go, okay, here's all the things I need to do and guess where it's going to go.

[00:35:57] Caroline: Apple Notes.

[00:35:57] Jason: Right into Apple Notes.

[00:35:58] Caroline: He loves an Apple Notes.

[00:35:59] Jason: And Caroline's going to hate it, but it's great for me and it's how my brain works.

[00:36:01] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:36:02] Jason: So it's perfect. So I will literally use that workbook as a guide to go, okay, great. I need to do my automations, I need to write my pre-launch copy, I need to get my JICLI set up, I need to get my sales page, my sales emails, my launch checklist, like all of that. And then I'm going to move it to Apple Notes, which is because that's how I work.

[00:36:15] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:36:15] Jason: And then for you all listening to this, if you were to buy like you can create your own Notion template for your business on how you can spin that up for a launch. I know you might be able to hear a faint laundry beep in the background, but maybe not because these mics are good. Okay. That was part three.

[00:36:28] Caroline: Let's move on to number four.

[00:36:30] Jason: Number four, you don't have to use every tactic. And listen...

[00:36:33] Caroline: Yup. This is like a mindset tip.

[00:36:35] Jason: It really is. I think that a lot of people early on, you want to launch to do well, you want to make money in your business, you want to prove that this idea is something that can help you leave your 9 to 5 job or supplement your income and have you stopped working for clients and be your own thing. But the problem is when you set yourself up for failure by doing all of the things, so you're like, I'm going to do webinars, I'm going to do sales calls, I'm going to do a challenge, I'm going to do paid ads, I'm going to have a cohort, I'm going to do all... And you try everything under the sun. But like it's your first launch and so the offer itself isn't even that validated. You then start to see launches as a whole that they don't work.

[00:37:12] Caroline: And they feel impossible.

[00:37:13] Jason: And they feel like they're so stressful and they feel like there's too many things that have to go on. And I can tell you from our experience for the past three years, almost four years now, not a single launch has felt overstuffed with things to do. If anything, I can recount the last three launches. We've literally gone to ourselves, should we do like a live something? Like we have the time, like our schedule is cleared during these launch. But then we don't because we're like, no, because that will make us feel a little bit of stress that we don't need during this launch.

[00:37:42] Caroline: Yeah.

[00:37:42] Jason: So I think the huge reality check here is that you can have super successful launches and you don't have to do sales webinars, you don't have to do paid ads, you don't have to do a cohort, you don't have to do any of the tactics you're hearing anybody talk about. It's about figuring out what works best for you, choosing a strategy that fits your style and your energy and be okay with that. And again, this goes back to the low and high goals.

[00:38:08] Caroline: Yes.

[00:38:08] Jason: Because if you know that your business can only support or your email list can only support getting 100 sales in a launch or 50 sales in a launch, what's the point of doing all of the tactics if you can't even reach that many people anyway? So why do so many tactics that you have no free time whatsoever when just a couple of tactics are going to be enough because you only have such a small audience size anyway?

[00:38:28] Caroline: Yeah. And I'm such a big fan of like throttling your effort based on the results that you're looking for.

[00:38:33] Jason: We always say this about you. You're an effort throttler. That's how people describe you.

[00:38:36] Caroline: I'm an effort throttler. Yeah.

[00:38:37] Jason: You're like artist/effort throttler.

[00:38:38] Caroline: Effort throttler. Truly. Because I only have so much energy and resources to give. And so, I'm not a give 150% every time person, I will burn out. I have to give the percentage that I can, to reach the goals that I have. And so, this is like perfect example of what you were talking about with the webinars. It's like, okay, and this is also going back to like the bigger conversation about having an enough mindset, right? So it's like if you and I wanted to have bigger and better launches every time, we would be out here doing every tactic under the sun to try and get those sales. But because we have decided what enough money looks like for us, what an enough lifestyle feels like for us, which by the way, it's not like some minimalistic, pared down eating beans out of a can lifestyle, it is...

[00:39:32] Jason: That we grew.

[00:39:33] Caroline: Beans?

[00:39:34] Jason: We grew our own beans, and then we can't...

[00:39:35] Caroline: Yeah. Exactly. No.

[00:39:35] Jason: ...and it's like our entire life is around these beans.

[00:39:36] Caroline: No. We are very unapologetic about we live a very comfortable and beautiful and wonderful lifestyle because we've designed it that way. But at the same time, we're not on a constant search for more, more, more. And when you give yourself permission to not be on a search for more, more, more, you can make decisions to not have to push it and throttle it so much. And that being said, now if you're doing a launch and you see that your last two launches you didn't even reach your low goal, that's when you can throttle. That's when you can say, okay, you know what? I do actually, I want more financial security for my family. I want a more comfortable lifestyle. And so, I am willing to put in that extra effort to do the live webinar or do try out the paid ads or whatever. But you get to make that decision out of like an empowered place and not out of a expected place, I just think that I should hustle and that's just what I'm supposed to do as an entrepreneur.

[00:40:33] Jason: Yeah. And if you're the type of person who like, you love being on Instagram or TikTok or whatever and you love being in the one-on-one DM conversations with people, that's great. Do that.

[00:40:43] Caroline: Do that.

[00:40:43] Jason: Embrace that and use that as like your leverage during a launch to be like, I'm going to be available on this platform to answer questions from people, and you're always going to tell people to ask questions. But if you're like us and you don't want to spend your time there, then don't do it. And I think that that is all about being a smart business owner. But it also comes back to when you plan your launch far enough in advance, then you don't have to scramble at the last moment to figure out like, well, sales aren't coming in because I didn't do pre-launch content, so now I'm going to hop in the DMs on Instagram and I'm going to do all this. And you get to this place of just franticness and then sales aren't happening because again, you didn't do the most important thing, which is pre-launch content. And so, then you're just like, again, launches are failures. They don't work for me. And it's like, no, it's all of the puzzle pieces that you are not putting together properly. Like you're just jamming the round hole one into the side corner one. You're like, that doesn't fit. That's not how that's going to work. So instead, we just want you to give yourself more time. Pick the things that feel really good to you and then you can change every launch after that. We used to do live webinars during launches, but we haven't done one in years. And that's not to say that they don't work anymore. It's just we kind of grew out of doing that and we didn't want to do it. And so...

[00:41:53] Caroline: And it's not to say we won't ever do them in the future.

[00:41:55] Jason: Exactly. And so, I think for you, it's choosing the tactics that feel best to you. Again, it goes back to the idea of like what are you excited about? What would you really love to do during a launch that would really make you happy? If it's getting on like 15-minute calls to make sure that people would be a good fit to buy from you, if you're that extroverted and you want to do that, do that, because there are not a lot of people who offer that type of support during a launch. But if you're not that type of person, and maybe you love Voxer or whatever, and you want to do like voice messages with people, then do that.

[00:42:24] Caroline: Yup.

[00:42:25] Jason: Just figure out whatever these tactics are for you and plan them far enough in advance so that you carve out the time on your calendar. So again, you're not scrambling, you're not feeling stressed out.

[00:42:32] Caroline: Yup. So those are just like quick four tips. If you were looking for like the four things that are not super tactical and not intensive and require learning a whole bunch of new stuff, and they're just your quick takeaways of how to make your launches feel calmer, less frantic, they are to start planning earlier and to make sure that you set those low and high goals based on your email list size, to focus on pre-launch content and be okay with giving away 50% of what you teach inside of your offer to make sure that you're creating checklists and systems, and just creating repeatable processes so you don't reinvent the wheel every time and stay organized. And then number four is to just only use the launch tactics that feel good for you and not try to do everything under the sun.

[00:43:19] Jason: And if you do want a little shameless plug here and you want a proven framework that we have used time and time again and we have taught to many WAIMers, you can join WAIM Unlimited, which will help you have calmer launches, repeatable processes. All of the AI prompts that come in our Calm Launch formula program to literally set up your entire launch within two hours. The doors are open right now...

[00:43:40] Caroline: It's magic.

[00:43:41] Jason: ...until March 11th. You can join us at wanderingaimfully.com/join. You get access to Calm Launch Formula in WAIM Unlimited. People are so excited about those AI prompts because...

[00:43:51] Caroline: And we are, too.

[00:43:52] Jason: ...they are changing the game for how you write sales emails and sales copy and come up with pre-launch content ideas, like you might be listening to this episode, and you're like, but I still don't know what to do pre-launch content about. There's an AI prompt that will literally give you based on your business and your offer, exact things that you should write about. And it'll do the work for you. And then all you have to do is just rewrite it in your own voice and put it in your email provider and hit send. That's it.

[00:44:12] Caroline: Love it.

[00:44:12] Jason: So if you want to check that out Wandering Aimfully unlimited, go to wanderingaimfully.com/join, check out Calm Launch Formula. And we definitely want to make you have your next launch be less stressful, bigger. And we want you to have that secondary thing that I talked about is the twiddling your thumbs.

[00:44:29] Caroline: Mm-hmm.

[00:44:29] Jason: Almost being bored when your launch starts.

[00:44:30] Caroline: Email us when you have the twiddle your thumbs moment.

[00:44:33] Jason: That's what we want for you. All right. That's it for us. We'll be back next week.

[00:44:36] Caroline: Thanks for listening. Bye.