A few months ago, we closed a million-dollar launch without using any paid ads. Pretty exciting, right?
And now, in celebration of the 50th episode of the FastForwardAmy Show, I’m taking you behind the scenes to share the most important steps on how we achieved this, so you can rock your next launch or big sales round.
Let’s go.
The 6 steps include:
- Focus on brand recognition
- Be extremely transparent
- Work in 3 launch phases
- Create a scalable product
- Use the highlight effect
- Find your trigger points
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Step 1: Focus on brand recognition
Many people want to sell courses online, and when they fail, the disappointment takes over instantly.
But let’s be clear. Building a brand doesn’t happen overnight. The same goes for building trust. I’ve been working on this for several years. It’s a continuous process.
Over time, I’ve been able to establish a name that’s associated with
- Education
- Quality
- Excellence
And it’s only in the past few years the FastForwardAmy brand has been taking off for real, now being recognized as a valuable brand.
When I started my Business Freedom Mastermind™ (BFM), I began with 4 clients. Those turned into 9, then 17, and then 30. Every round, 4 people talked to other people, and so it continued.
Now, most people associate the BFM with FastForwardAmy or vice versa. Therefore, I knew I had to use this to my advantage when launching our new coaching program, the Business Freedom Elevator™ (BFE).
Because of strong brand recognition, people already knew they could trust us and count on us to provide them with the best coaching program.
Maybe you're also interested in this: Start Selling Through Instagram Stories: The Only Framework you Need.
Step 2: Be extremely transparent
A lot of secrecy typically surrounds launches of new programs or services. We took the opposite route and were extremely transparent about everything:
- Pricing
- Launch date
- Discounts
- Timing
The result of such extreme transparency was that people knew exactly what they were signing up for when they bought the program. No surprises. They had time to come to terms with the prices, the way of coaching, and so on.
But there’s more to it.
People are often so afraid to communicate clearly because they’re worried they will scare off people and potentially lose clients. The reality is that when you’re very clear and transparent, you’re going to attract the right people and scare away the wrong people.
And so, being transparent is your filter to help sort through the right clients for you.
I know it sounds terrifying, but don’t hold back. You can always go back on a decision.
Step 3: Work in 3 launch phases
Throughout the launch, we were guided by a 3-step framework based on Sabrina Philipp's Launch Life Cycle™. She was also a guest on the podcast earlier, sharing 8 principles to becoming a self-made millionaire.
The 3 launch phases went like this:
Phase 1: Excite
I engaged with the people who were already warm; in other words, the ones we knew were ready to buy immediately.
For instance, when I announced I wouldn't continue the Business Freedom Mastermind™, many people were bummed they couldn't join another program. Therefore, I used the excite phase to only communicate with this group of people through preorder.
Because most people already knew what to expect (thanks to brand recognition), we didn’t do a lot of explanation about the program but continued to talk excitedly about it.
Phase 2: Educate
We focused on sharing valuable content while educating our ‘colder' audience on what was waiting for them inside the program.
Leading up to the early bird, we hosted a 4-day roadmap to 10K months, sharing new content. It was a way for us to blow people away and show potential customers what we were capable of. If they wanted to learn more, take action on these steps, and become even more successful, the Business Freedom Elevator™ was the way to go.
Phase 3: Close
We handled and overcame the objections from potential customers. During the closing phase, we answered all the objections to convince everyone who was an ideal client.
For instance, some questioned the time they had to put in while others were concerned about the payment options. Therefore, we made sure to offer a beneficial payment plan to remove that objection from the equation.
At the same time, urgency is also essential in the close phase. Let your audience know this is the last chance they’ve got.
To recap the 3 launch phases:
- Excite and hype up your product for your warm audience
- Educate your colder audience so they trust your authority
- Close and overcome objections in the end
Step 4: Create a scalable product
Products are inherently scalable. Services are different and often more challenging.
This is typically the step where you have to kill your darlings if you want to scale and make an impact on a ton of people at the same time.
In the Business Freedom Elevator™, I work with 370 clients. I can’t sit next to all of them – though I wish I could.
In the beginning, go with what you have, sell what you offer, and sit next to your client. But if you want to impact more people, you have to dare to say goodbye to things you’re doing. This will essentially open up opportunities to create a scalable product.
It did that for me, and it can do that for you, too. I went from 120K to one-million-dollars in revenue in one launch round.
Did I know it was going to happen? No.
Did I know it was possible? Yes.
Therefore, look at your product and go from there to create the container and capacity to support scalability. You decide on what you want to do. Because remember you're always the chief of your decisions!
Step 5: Use the highlight effect
People need to hear something 8-10 times before they register it. This is what's also called the spotlight effect: we think people know what we're selling, but we only know it ourselves because we are in the middle of it ourselves.
We want to counteract the spotlight effect by my own designed ‘highlight effect‘: we keep showing up, keep talking about your launch, highlight the features, benefits, and tools. Continue to explain how your service, program, or product works, keep sharing reviews and posts until people have heard your pitch 8-10 times.
I did the same during the Business Freedom Elevator™ launch. If I kept going, sales kept going. Every time we shared a post, sent an email, or posted a video, sales followed.
Use the highlight effect to handle the objections we spoke about earlier. Though everything surrounding your offer is evident to you, this may not be the case for others. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Step 6: Find your trigger points
When you’re selling, look at what causes people to buy from you. What is it you do that triggers them to buy?
Find your trigger points, and you’ll find gold.
What we noticed was that every time I was on video, we sold. Every time we sent an email, we sold. Of course, the other things we did also contributed to sales, but video and email were the main drivers.
Remember the 80/20 rule? 20% of what you do will give you 80% of your output.
This means you have to dare to look at what works. Don’t blindly follow a plan because you think you have to stick to that plan. Look at what’s working and double down on that.
For me, it’s video and email. I’m curious to hear what’s actually moving the needle for you.
Alright, that’s it. The 6 steps we took for our million-dollar launch.
Good luck on your next launch adventure!
Watch this episode on YouTube or listen via iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and search for episode 50 of The FastForwardAmy Show.
If you are new to launching, check out my free training The Launch Blueprint: 5 Steps to Launch Your Next Big Thing to learn where and how to start planning your next or first successful launch. Register for FREE via this link: www.fastforwardamy.com/launchwebinar
Let me know what you think by tagging me in your Instagram stories @fastforwardamy.
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