Launching a new program can look like a variety of things. For me, in this blog post – I’m talking about launching a 12-week group coaching program during Coronavirus in April of 2020.

What is Launching?

If you are new to the online coaching space or an online service provider space, launching is the introduction of a new offer. This could be:

• Group Coaching
• 1 x 1 or private mentorship
• Membership
• Retainer services
• Audits
• and anything else.

What was the new program I was launching?

Flourish + Thrive was a 12-week group coaching program focusing on teaching the basics in your business. Think of topics like:

• Ideal client
• Content Creation
• How to conduct market research
• How to sell on Sales calls
• and so much more

This is not to make you compare or brag – I want to show you that you CAN launch a high-ticket program or service during this time, regardless of what others might say or think. And you can pivot during a launch too.

Here are some quick facts about the launch, so you understand what was going on:

• The expectation was to generate 38-40k from this launch. I didn’t create the expectation, but was able to still generate $27k in the middle of a global pandemic.
  
• This launch was planned over 3 months ago, built around a previous program I wanted to create.
  
• I have a background in sales.
  
• There was a VIP option and a regular option. I modeled this after multiple group programs.
  
• There was a 10-day cart open/cart close. Most of this happened on Instagram, There was an additional promotion with emails and other avenues.
  
• I had a particular person in mind with specific problems in their business that this was aimed toward. 
  
• I used countdown timers, polls, and a waitlist as a part of my strategy.

Now let’s dive into what I did, how I did it, and some tips for you to implement when launching a coaching program in the future:

Be Flexible With Your Payment Plans when you launch a new program

Three days into the launch, I had to pivot to offering payment plans with flexible deposits. Instead of the original $1200 payment plan, I created an extended payment plan that only required a $100 deposit upfront to secure their spot. Then, it broke down to $720 per month for five months. This helped get people in the door knowing they wouldn’t have to make quite as large of an investment. 

This contributed to most of the success of my launch with such a new program

You, too may have to be open to the idea of adjusting payment plans to allow people to invest when they otherwise wouldn’t right now if they had to pay in full. 

I created an exit clause for clients as well if they were unable to make payments. I wasn’t going to hold people to contracts during a time when money is tight for a lot of people. 

Sell in the DMs during your Launch of your New Program

Flourish + Thrive spots were filled by my selling exclusively in the DMs. That’s right – I didn’t have to hop on a single sales call. This wouldn’t have been the case if I was not consistently posting on Instagram. I positioned my content on Instagram to talk heavily about the program and this launch so it was visible to my audience. It wasn’t something that just came out of the blue. This made it easy to start conversations in the DMs and get people on board.

Outsource Where You Can When You Are Launching a New Progarm!

In the middle of launching this program, I brought in an OBM who helped me execute this launch successfully. I also had a graphic designer who did everything for me on the sales page and every graphic you saw related to the Flourish + Thrive launch.

My coaches were behind-the-scenes with me as well, checking everything I was posting and helped with planning. 

I could not have done it without any of their help. Period.

Warming Up Your Audience for the Launch of your New Program

Before even launching the program, I warmed my audience to the program for two whole weeks. Within that, I banked on story takeovers.

How I set this up: I had a folder, my slides ready with captions, and I told them when to post them. I also banked on the fact that I have been doing a lot of community building so I could get crazy visible during the launch.

Some social proof for you that this works: Before the launch, I was averaging around 600-800 views on my profile. During the launch, I began to consistently sit around 11,000 profile views. 

 Another factor that plays a massive role in warming your audience is building and promoting your landing page like crazy. This is how you collect emails and funnel them into the community. I redirected my landing page to the private Facebook group after they signed up. 

The last factor in warming – and the most common mistake people make during this time – is showing up CONSISTENTLY. I talked about this offer 5x a day for 10 days. 

Be Aware of the Mid-Launch Slump

What the public didn’t see was my meltdown. Was I crying, telling my coaches I didn’t know if I could do this? Yes. 

But here’s the thing: My coaches came in with solutions and support. This is why I tell people to have a coach during a launch, because you WILL have a mid-launch slump. This is my third launch, and melting down isn’t a part of my personality. But launching in the middle of a pandemic was new to me. 

I could have quietly exited my launch and forget the whole thing. Instead, I decided to look for solutions that would tip people into committing to Flourish + Thrive. It is a make or break moment in your launch and business. 

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and you’ll be unsure at times. Ask for help!

Launch a Program that Will Stand the Test of Time

Stop launching a program that you don’t love just to fill seats and make money. Flourish + Thrive will be an offer that I won’t remove.  

Simple as that, but super important. 

Am I happy that I finished this launch? Absolutely.

Is it a pride thing? Absolutely. 

I could go on and on with more tips, but these are some of the most important and non-negotiable keys to launching successfully – pandemic or not. 

Further Reading: Scale to $5k Launch, creating a product suite that will scale, My mastermind launch Failed here’s what you need to know

What questions do you have about launching? What struggles are you running into with launching right now? Leave them in the comments!