The failure of my launch taught me my most valuable lesson | Lessons learned from a failed launch | Part 1
My first ever launch was the introduction of my retreat, Gather & Grow, back in Dec 2018… talk about going in at the deep end ey! Since then there’s been another 12 and it’s safe to say each one has taught me something valuable.
Now I won’t bore you with the full run down but I thought you might find it interesting and hopefully helpful to hear about my 3 biggest learning curves and the launches they came from…
LESSON #1 - THE RIGHT LAUNCH STARTS WITH THE RIGHT IDEA
You can have the shiniest launch plan in the world but if what you’re selling isn’t right, no amount of marketing will help. This is one I learned early on, with the launch (and subsequent flop) of my online shop back in Spring 2019. The concept was simple - a selection of digital products to help people with their online presence. A more accessible version of my coaching - surely it would fly?
Well, it didn’t. And whilst at the time I thought that was down to my poor launch skills, when I reflected back I realised - it wasn’t the right idea.
For me, the right idea means three things...
It’s something that excites you (as in, truly makes you desperate to share it with the world)
It has a clear value to your audience and is delivered HOW they want that value
It fits in with your offerings and brings something unique to the table
The Shop was 50% #2 and definitely #3 (it was accessible and somewhat passive) but the excitement on my end and the way the value was being delivered was off. As a result, I didn’t market it with energy and people didn’t buy in.
That ‘failure’ provided a huge learning curve for me and it meant that 6 months later I was able to land on the right idea - Selling When You’re Service Based, my signature group programme which absolutely ticks all of those boxes and has had 2 successful launches.
Since learning the importance of the ‘right’ idea I’ve built a habit of asking myself three questions before taking any idea to the launch phase...
Does it excite me?
Does it offer clear value in the way my audience wants it?
Does it fit in with my offerings and bring something new to the table?
Sometimes an idea passes with flying colours and sometimes (let’s be honest, more often than not) there’s an area that needs a little work.
If it’s not exciting me, why? What would need to change for it to?
If it’s not delivering the right value and format, how can I get a better understanding of what my audience wants?
And if it isn’t fitting in to your offerings, why is that? Can it be shifted to ensure it brings something new (eg - passive income, mid-price range etc) to the table?
Each time you have an idea, whether that’s as you’re reading this or next week whilst on your daily walk, I’d encourage you, before taking it straight to action - to question it. Is this the right idea? If not, what needs to change?
I promise your future self will thank you, as the next steps of marketing and action are made far easier by the foundation of the right idea.
Lesson #1 took up a little more of the word count than I was planning… so let’s split this email into 3. I’ll be back next week to share the next lesson which is around the marketing of a launch and why you don’t need £5000 of FB ads, 24 funnels and 20K followers to sell successfully.
I'll be back next week with lesson #2 but until then, I'm cheering you on!
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