Launch Lessons from the 1:1 Profit Accelerator Workshop [Ep. 203]

Michelle (: 00:00

Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of The Real Truth about business. This one is truly the real truth about, I wanna dive into my most recent launch of the one-to-one profit accelerator workshop. So, let's just dive right in, all right? Because I think these type of episodes are the ones that are the most powerful because they truly are.

the truth. They may not be everybody's truth, but they are my truth. And I feel like as somebody that is in a leadership role or obviously because you're listening, right? You're listening to this podcast because you view me as an authority of some in some way, right? And so I think it's very important for me to be transparent and share with you what I experienced, what I've seen, what I went through. And then also how you could

how we could do things better, right? Because we all know that we are often our own worst client. And so there's some things here that I learned and there's some things that I would change and there's some things that I would do differently and I just want to share them and keep them and be super honest with you. So the one-to-one profit accelerator workshop was yesterday at the time of this recording. So it was probably about a week or so after, depending on when you're listening, it doesn't really matter. And I ended up

only selling, I say only, I shouldn't even, that's like a right there in itself, like just that negative self-talk, like oh I only did this. No, so I'm going to rephrase that. So I sold four tickets to it and I had two of my one-to-one clients that it was included in their package offer. So there was a total of six people that were included in this first launch. Okay. But.

which was great and the four people that purchased were actively engaged and I think that's what's most important. So a couple things when, you know, here's a couple things. Let me start from scratch. Number one, I do not enjoy being in launch mode. I just don't, it's why I don't really do it. It's why a lot of my offers are retainer offers. They're evergreen. It's, you know, aside from like a master class here or there, but I am reminded

Michelle (: 02:22

every single time I decided to launch something new like this that I do not enjoy being in launch mode. Right? Like we did, you know, I hired a copywriter to write all the launch emails and the launch posts. And I just felt like I was inundating people with content. I fell behind. We went on, we scheduled this, like we were scheduled to go on vacation during the middle of this launch. Um, and so I just feel like there's a lot of pressure around

And so I knew this going into it that I don't, that I get this energy and I immediately start to say like, I hate being in launch mode, I hate being in launch mode. So that in itself creates an energy around the launch just as it is, right? And so that is something I'm really working on, right? Like how many times are you gonna do this before you continue to say like, you don't wanna launch it? Okay, I just don't like the pressure. So.

I didn't put any goals around this. Like I didn't say I wanted to sell 10 tickets. I didn't say I wanted to, you know, sell 50 tickets. I didn't really have, I just completely let go of expectations and the only expectation I put on myself was that I was gonna fill the room, right? I was gonna fill the room with the right people. And in my opinion, I did that because I didn't know what fill the room really meant. I just knew that like the people that were in the room and the people that purchased were going to be there. And...

That's exactly what happened. All six people that purchased the workshop or, you know, as part of their package, were actively engaged in the workshop. They weren't just buying it and like, eh, I might or might not attend. Like, I've been there. I've been that person that buys something, don't, like, I don't want to show up live, then I never watch the replay or whatever. And like, that is so frustrating to the person that's actually putting on the workshop or the course, because...

you know, you put a lot of time and energy into it and you want people there that are engaged. And so I feel really, really proud and of the people that were there because they were actively engaged, right? They showed up, they were live, they had their workbooks, they had people in mind for this style of offer. Um, and they were ready. They were ready and willing and wanting to take action. They were action takers and

Michelle (: 04:37

I would much rather have four people in a room that are ready to take action than 10 or 20 or 50 people in a room that are not engaged, have no desire to take action. Don't, you know, they talk a big game and have no desire to do anything. They don't ask any questions. They sit there like bumps on a log. Like that to me is so boring. So in, in a sense, what I put out to the universe was that I was going to fill the room exactly happened, right?

Would I have loved to have more people there? Yeah, but also the more intimate space allowed me the time to take a pause, go through it, talk each one of them through their offer. And it just felt so, so good, right? Because everybody walked away, like all the people that were there live, all walked away with exactly an offer in mind. They knew exactly what they were gonna create.

They knew exactly who they were going to sell it to. They felt good on how they were going to position it. They were working on their pricing, like in all the details, and they just felt good about it. And so to me, that right there is a win, all right? So, but I also have to keep in mind, like this is, and I also felt really good about it. I was like, wow, that workshop was so good. I just was on a call with somebody that was there and I was like, give me your feedback. Tell me what you love. Tell me what, you know, you would have loved to see different. And one of the things is that,

It was positioned as a workshop and she's like, Michelle, that was on a workshop. That was like a live course. That was like a group coaching program. And it just happened to be done in a two hour setting versus over the course of four days, right? So instead of doing four, you know, I could have done it as like a four day mini course and done 30 minutes at a time and get people back every single day. But instead I just decided to bang it out in two hours because I knew that I could get through everything and we can move quickly, but

Positioned as a workshop people view it as like a master class. They're not sure what so there's some positioning there, right? so it's very I Always find that very interesting because to me a workshop is hands-on like I'm gonna go I'm gonna do this workshop and at the end Of it, I'm gonna know what I'm doing. So to me the word workshop made sense But I see we're in the online space because again the online space is completely diluted all of these business terms to mean essentially nothing

Michelle (: 07:00

You know what I mean? I could have called this a mastermind and it probably would have sold better. I could have called it a course and it probably would have sold better. You know, it just doesn't matter. It's it's just crazy to me that there's all of this dilution in the online space, but whatever. We have to work with it. Right. And so the word workshop, I guess, people view as low ticket. And this was not a low ticket item. I think the lowest ticket was like $2.99. So it was not a low ticket.

a low ticket item. And so at that price point, workshop wasn't necessarily the right positioning. So keeping that in mind. So that's like key takeaway number one for you is like thinking about after you've done something, was it positioned in a way that made people feel like or question what they were going to gain or what they were going to get from it. Right? So that's one thing that you can think about. All right. The other thing is, is that

people don't always buy on the first round, right? Like they see all the promotion, they're interested, they're working on other things, they've got all these excuses. People like to see social proof, okay? They like to see like, oh, what is this? This is something new she's doing. You know, you're also selling for the future. And I knew going into this, that this was going to be something that was going to become a signature part of my offers. And it was gonna become one of my core offers. And so,

I knew that maybe I have 24 people that were interested in the workshop that clicked like, yes, I'm interested or whatever that did not purchase. So to me, again, now I've got 24 people that are ready and waiting and watching for the next round. I have social proof, you know what I mean? And so that's the one thing, if you listen to the episode I did on why you're not getting sales, one of the reasons, the three reasons about not getting sales was giving up too soon.

I could very easily take this workshop and say, I only had four people sign up. That was a flop. I'm not doing this again. No, there's so many factors involved. It was September or just coming off of summer. People are just getting back into the swing of business. They're trying to figure out what they want to do for the end of the year. You know what I mean? Like I don't really care because to me, I knew that I was going to offer this again. And

Michelle (: 09:18

that's what matters is that I was using this as much, this first round for me was as much market research and beta testing for me as it was for everybody else, right? Like, so I see that people are watching. I get it, I'm that person. I've also been that person who's like, I'm not gonna buy this yet. But then when you see it again and again and again and again, you start to gain more interest. You're starting to see these testimonials, starting to see people talk about it. You're starting to get referrals from it.

Right? And so you can't give up on something the first time. First time launches for the most part. If you talk to a lot of people, I mean, go talk to even some of these big people. I mean, even I think, uh, Catherine Zankina and James Wedmore, they all talk about this. Like a lot of times the first launch is quote unquote a flop, right? But it's used and you learn from it. It's not a flop. It's a learning experience. And so 90% of the time the second round is better because you learn new things. Right? So I'm going to change it from workshop to course.

which also then turns into one of the other changes is that I'm just going to make this an evergreen offer. It's going to be available as an on-demand because I don't enjoy being in launch mode, but I love teaching live, right? And so I needed to find a balance between the two. And so for me, the balance between the two is this is going to become an on-demand, which is something I can promote all the time, right? So it's not...

any part of a launch or anything. So when I'm in coffee chats, when I'm in rooms and I'm explaining like, hey, I have this done for you. I have this business in a box offer. It's an on-demand style course where you can just purchase it. But every other month, I'm going to teach it live. And everybody that purchases it on demand can then attend one of the lives. And so...

That is to me the best of both worlds because people can buy it, they can go at it at their own pace, they can use it and go through it and they can implement it, they can figure it out on their own and then they can also attend live. So if they're trying to refine their offer, if they have questions, if they buy it and like never watch the replays or never go through it and then buy it with the intention of coming to the live, right? Like my goal is to set the live dates.

Michelle (: 11:39

like six to 12 months in advance, so there's no question. Like here's when, here's your offer and here's when I'm gonna be live, show up when you want. And to me, that takes the pressure off of being in launch mode. It's just something I can talk about on a regular, right? I can talk about this, I've got this rapid fire, whatever, yada, yada. So that's something that I am going to do to take that pressure off of being in launch mode, because again, it's just.

not me. I don't enjoy it. I don't want to. I don't like having to be, you know, I don't like seeing all the unsubscribes because people are just inundating you with emails. Now I'm pretty conscious of my email list. I don't feel like we sent a ton of emails like during launch mode. We sent more than normal, but I don't feel like we over

did it, like we included it in the regular newsletter, but I still saw an uptick in unsubscribes, right? I actually got an unsubscribe from somebody who on the phone told me they were interested in purchasing the workshop, right? And then the newsletter came out and they unsubscribed, which is always so interesting to me. But I have another conversation about the unsubscribes. I saw a post by Amy Floyo. She put a post out.

about how she unsubscribes and sometimes even to people that she really likes and that she does business with because she feels like she knows them and she knows how to refer them and she just needs to clean up her inbox and she doesn't mean it negatively but and she lets them know like hey I love you I know how to deal I know how to find you and I know how to send people your way but I'm just trying to clean up my inbox right like so I thought that was kind of a nice way to say that too. So anyways unsubscribes are normal but again

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being in launch mode. People sometimes love it, but you've got to understand that there is a completely different energy that you have to bring to the table and the energy is that of very much of that hustle. Um, yes, you can detach from the outcome, right? Like you can do it kind of in a soft way, but it's definitely a different energy, right? Because there's a specific start date.

Michelle (: 13:51

and you got to get people in and people have to purchase because it's live and they've got to do these things and like it may not fit into their schedule, but this is what I'm doing it and this is why you've got to buy, right? And so it's just in general, like a different energy. Let's just be honest what it is, like being in the launch mode and running something on a specific date like that versus some type of on-demand or evergreen requires a different energy. And if that energy is not for you, then really rethink being in launch mode. But.

Also understand that doing an initial launch of such like this sets you up for future and better launches moving forward. It sets you up. It gives you a lot of data and there is, you know, I'm a huge fan of understanding your data. There is a ton of data to be gained by doing an initial launch like this. And then you can decide, do you want to continue to do launches? Do you want to continue to do the open cart style?

Do you like that or do you want to move it to something more of an evergreen? Right. So now it's very, it's easy. It's something easy that I can put people into. And I might even, you know, I can, if I read, I'm going to just make it evergreen. I'm going to make some small changes to it because from an evergreen standpoint, you do have to give a little bit more information because they don't have that live component. They don't have the ability to ask questions. You can ask questions like in the

comments and stuff, but you just have to change it up just a little bit, which is not a bad thing. I think that's really, really powerful. So a couple of other things that I would do differently now is if this is something like if you're thinking about it, and as I'm thinking about it, this is something that's going to become part of my core offers. I would really work with some referral partners, my collaborators, my JVs, my affiliates and get a solid affiliate program put together for it.

with a really solid payout so that people feel good about sharing it with others. Because there's a lot of other people in my world that could really benefit from sharing this. Their clients could benefit. It's not something they're offering. It's very complementary to what they're offering. And it's also too, as an evergreen, it makes that easier for affiliates, right? Because they can just kind of promote it whenever if they're having a conversation with somebody.

Michelle (: 16:14

They can say, oh, hey, I think this would be a great program for you. I'm going to, I can send you the link, right? Versus, oh, let me see the next time she runs it. I'll have to remember. Let me, I'll make sure to tag you when I see if she's in launch mode again or whatever. You know, it just makes it easier from that. So if you do want to bring on collaborators or do anything of that sort, having an evergreen is a little bit better. So overall, I paid a copywriter. So let's talk numbers.

I paid a copywriter and then I sold four tickets. So I essentially broke even on it. I can't say that I profited on it at all. I don't think. I'd have to really look at the numbers. I may have come out on top. You know, I did. I did come out on top a little bit because I had one person buy a power hour. So again, that's another thing to keep in mind. One of the things that I did this time.

was I had multiple different checkout options. And one of them was a bundled option to do a power hour with me so that we could strategize, put like a strategy sales plan in play for once this offer was created and how to implement it. And they could use that whenever. And I did have one person purchase that. And so that to me was a really great thing. I would absolutely always do that. I think having the option.

to do something from a group setting and then adding on the one-on-one right at checkout was really, really helpful. So that's something I would definitely continue to do. So between that and other purchases, I definitely came out in the profit, but not by a lot, especially if I add in all my time that I spent in the launches and the time I spent creating the workbooks and the PowerPoint and all of those things. But again,

You can't look at it as a one-time loss. You've got to look at it as setting yourself up for the future. That's the thing with anything that is quote unquote passive. If we use that word when you're talking passive offers, because if I turn this evergreen, somebody with, you know, evergreen, people think immediately that it's going to be passive. It's not passive in the sense, because they still have to sell it. Not like people are going to magically come find it. They're not going to just know it exists because all of a sudden I made it and on demand, right? So,

Michelle (: 18:34

But I also now I don't have to rehire the copywriter. There's probably some other things I would, I'm going to invest into that are going to cut back into the profits to make it evergreen and to make it flow easier because running it live versus doing it evergreen, they flow a little bit differently. So there are some things I'm still going to have to invest in, but overall the foundation and the structure is done. And so that's where the profit comes in.

Right? That's where the potential for scaling is. That's where the potential is for increased profits is in the second launch. So biggest take I would say would be that number one, understand that when you are launching that you are launching for now and the future, right? And you've got to go into it with the expectation and the understanding that every time you do it, it's going to get better.

Right, you're going to get better and better and better results every time you do it. And so there are some other things that I could have also done. I didn't really wanna do a master class that lead, that led into that, but I could have potentially done like some LinkedIn Lives. I could have done a master class and I may like a free master class to get interest and really talk about the Biz Model and why and how and what it looks like.

And so that would definitely be something I would probably do on the off months, right? If I'm gonna move forward is like do the masterclass on one month, do the live presentation the next month, masterclass live, becomes very easy. And so again, it just becomes something, because remember people need to see these things seven to 12 times before they're purchasing. Look at like, if you follow Manifestation Babe, Catherine Zangkina, she runs MBA Academy, Manifestation Babe Academy every single year.

James Wedmore runs Business by Design every single year. It's always the same, it doesn't change. They may change how they run it, there's a lot of structure behind it, but nothing's changed. Like they run it over and over and over. Denise Duffield Thomas runs Money Bootcamp. It's over and over and over and over and over. So yeah, they've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people in there, but they've also been running these same exact programs for years. So,

Michelle (: 20:58

We as solopreneurs and entrepreneurs and small business owners, whatever you, however you title yourself, we tend to look at like the initial one time, oh my God, this was a flop. I didn't do well. I can't believe I only sold four tickets. I should have sold at least 10 other people sell 10 tickets. Other people sell 50 tickets. They fill the room. Again, looking at what makes most sense for you and understanding that you can't, if you're going to put a program out there,

this. You have to keep running it. You cannot just run it once and then say oops, it didn't work. Right? You have to keep doing it over and over and over and over. And that's when the momentum builds. That's when other people start talking about it. That's when they're having coffee chats and they're like, Oh, where

How did you hear about this model? Oh, I took Michelle's course on da da. Oh, hey, how did you hear about this? Oh, I've been seeing that. Hey, yeah, isn't Michelle the one that does rapid fire? She's always talking about rapid fire, right? Like people start to see it and they need to see that branding. They need to see it over and over. And they just thrive on like, on that, the social proof. It just is who we are as human beings. And so,

Don't be afraid to ask for that social proof. That's another key takeaway is that if you're going to do a launch, okay, get some social proof that you can use from these people, from the people that attended, get it. Um, I've got another really key point here that I want you to understand is that all but one of the people that purchased have been in my world for at least six months to a year. So I have built massive trust with them. They understand me.

I even had one person who purchased off of a day raise. So her and I did a day, a rapid fire day, which I love those. If you wanna do a rapid fire day, please let's do it. They're only $197. You get access to me for the whole day. There's so much we can bang out in a day, it's crazy. But anyways, she did the rapid fire day and then she sent me a message and she said, knowing she wasn't gonna be able to attend live, she purchased the workshop anyways, and she said to me,

Michelle (: 23:11

after working with you for just one day, I know this is a solid investment to make. And so trust plays a massive role here too, right? I didn't sell any tickets really to a cold audience. And the one person that I felt like purchased that I didn't really know, we are in a group together. We are in another paid group together where

We have had multiple conversations. We've been on multiple chats together. We've had a coffee chat, right? And so there is a mutual trust there because of the mutual trust we have for the person that's running the other program. And so that already, again, there's rapport. It's relationship building. This is why I'm so, so.

Oh, just, I can't talk about it enough about the power of relationship building and how coffee chats lead to clients, right? That coffee chat that I had with her led to her becoming a client by purchasing this workshop. So don't tell me it doesn't work. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, go get the lead gen bundle, because I teach all of it in that, right? That's a, that's an easy one. That one's $49. Okay. But, um, that's the power of coffee chats, right? It's all about building trust. It's all about.

that no like trust factor we talked about it, but it's really about the trust. It's about really being able to present yourself as an authority and as an expert and in a way that allows you to stand in integrity so that people trust you. So they know that when they're putting their money into you, they know they're going to get 110%. That comment of that, when that woman sent me that message saying, I know that after working with you for one day, this is a good investment.

There is nothing, that is the biggest compliment I think I've ever received, right? Because there is nothing that speaks about trust more than that. And so when you're thinking about launch mode or any of your other programs or anything like that, trust plays a massive role in your ticket purchases, okay? This is getting a little longer, but I keep thinking of other things. Like this is again, my rapid fire brain at its best. One other thing.

Michelle (: 25:31

is don't be afraid to follow up. Don't be afraid to look and act like a stalker. So we were sending emails out, right? We're sending launch emails. I looked every single day to see who was clicking on the link and who was interested. And the people that I knew, that I knew personally, that I'd had conversations with, I reached out to. I reached out to and I sent messages. And one of those people was a ticket purchaser. And she said to me, you know what? Thank you so much for following up.

I'm dealing with a lot of personal stuff right now, but I've been really interested. You're right. I am interested. I had another person say to me, Hey, I appreciate you following up. I'm just, I know I can't attend live and I'm terrible at replays, but the next time I'm super interested. Another person, same thing. Hey Michelle, I am very interested. I definitely want to take this, but I've got this, and this, this going up. Okay. So again, selling for the future. They are hot leads for the evergreen. They are also hot leads for the next live round.

Again, don't be afraid to be that creepy stalker that again, we all think is what is happening. Like it's not stalkerish. Like do not be afraid to be that stalker that says, Hey, I see you've been checking out the workshop. I see you keep clicking on the link. Is there something that you don't have an answer to? Is there a question? Are you wondering if this is a good fit for you? Follow up, take initiative. You want to sell tickets, take initiative and go ask for the damn sale.

Ask people, why have you clicked on this link 10 times and not purchased? Like they're clearly interested, right? Which also tells you they're stalking you. They're watching, they're waiting. They're waiting to see the results. They're waiting to see what comes of it. They're not sure how this fits into their business. But again, ask them then use that to create content around it. If they have the objection, somebody else has it too. So use that and create content around it.

So those are kind of my launch debriefs. I want to keep this under 30 minutes and I'm at 27. So I'm going to let you go on that. But understanding that everything, as I always, always say, everything is a learning experience. And when you can take every experience in your business with the intention of learning from it and gaining something from it, then nothing becomes a disappointment, right? Because...

Michelle (: 27:53

you're learning and you're gaining and you're growing. And I feel so good about this because I am so energized now to make this on demand and to run this live. Like I feel so good about this. And I have so many ideas and ways that I could just continue to improve upon this and continue to serve the people that trusted me to purchase from the beginning that I wouldn't have wanted to do it any other way. So yes, I hate being in launch mode, but I am so appreciative.

of the information and the knowledge that I just gained from it that I could not have done if I wouldn't have put myself in this position. So set yourself up to learn and that's what you have to go into. Business is a constant state of learning and growing and this is just one piece of it, right? So anyway, as always, if you have any questions, if you want more information, hit me in the DMs, send me an email. I'm happy to answer any questions.

And if you want the on-demand, I can absolutely hook you up with that too. It may or may not be in the show notes. Just saying. All right. I'll talk to you later.