Today we have a launch specialist and mentor Katy Wood with us to fill us in on all things we need to know to have a successful launch.
Music plays...
Welcome to the Breakthrough Mastermind Show. I'm your host, Jen Argue and I facilitate masterminds for women entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses to help others and create financial independence. Hi Katy, I am so excited that you're here with us today. I'm very, very excited to be here. Thank you for having me, Jen.
Oh, you are such a great resource to so many entrepreneurs because you are a launch consultant and mentor... I am... and you... you really help people have successful launches. And we met a while back. I don't know how many years ago it was, but... yes, quite a while. I think so. Yeah. And I've seen your progression and all the things that you have been building up your, in your repertoire of being able to help people, and it's really quite impressive.
So I'm so thankful that you're here with us today. Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you for having me. It's exciting. Yeah. So first just tell me what is your interest in helping people with launches. How did that come about? So I started life as a VA, so I was supporting, um, lots of female coaches in the online space to launch their offers with Facebook challenges.
And I hit an income ceiling. I hit a time ceiling and I thought, I need to do something different. I want to do something different. So I decided to specialize in Facebook challenges, uh, and I've since built up. Um, skills around different types of launches, but Facebook challenges are kind of my signature thing.
I love them. I think they're wonderful. Um, so they really, I feel passionate about them because what they enable people to do is really get their gift out into the world really maximize and monetize their gifts. So while they're doing their hearts work, it's really important that I work with people who do heart work and actually many of those people struggle with the silliness aspect, with the marketing aspect.
So that's where I come in and give them all of the, um, the strategy and the tools so that actually they can do what they do best, show up, serve and make money from it. Oh! And that is a dream to so many entrepreneurs because going through a launch can be terrifying. And we've all heard of the launch roller coaster, which is that part emotional rollercoaster. We tend to go on, even though we try to let go of attachments to the outcomes inside of a launch, we still are human and we do. And so there's that excitement in the beginning. Then there's the devastation in the middle when nobody seems to be responding or signing up [laughs] and then the real fear at the end.
But then all of a sudden, hopefully, you know, there's that deadline, um, energy that comes around with people all sign up at once, and then you're like, Oh, I made it. I'm relieved. You know, [laughs] But to have somebody like you in their court is really like, I think would bring peace to people. This is something that I also feel passionately about.
So many I... I did, um, a survey last year, and 96% of the people who answered said that they had, um, suffered with post-launch burnouts. Mm-hmm. . And that makes me sad. We don't have to hustle in this world, you know, we are taught by many people that hustle culture is the way to go. And I disagree with that wholeheartedly.
And actually launching when you see it from... the a different perspective can often feel like hustle culture, but actually when you do it properly, um, it eradicates all of that. It helps you, um, have sustainable and predictable revenue in your business without having to work 50-hour weeks and without having to kind of run yourself into the ground and end up burnt out and overwhelmed. We don't want that. It doesn't have to be like that, you know?
So tell me what you do to help. Well, get off of that hamster wheel. So it's important, and it might feel like a long process, but I encourage everybody to go through the process first for 90 days. And in doing that, it can feel, it can feel like a long process, but trust me, when you're in a launch, it goes in no time.
Um, and if you've ever launched before doing it in three weeks, you will know that it is tiring and it burns you out, but it doesn't have to be like that. So I come in, I've got a 90-day process, and that consists of four stages. And in doing that, it means that you produce all of your assets up front, you create your plugin, and then it gives you the ability to show up in full energy during your launch and actually then give your signups an amazing experience, which are results in higher conversion rates.
So, It's five to six weeks of planning up front where you create everything, you plan it all out, and do it in such a way that you use your time and your resources efficiently by kind of grouping the different tasks. So your emails and your sales page at the same time, and you've challenge landing page and your promotional posts at the same time.
So you create all of that upfront in that five, five to six weeks and then... I encourage my clients to have five weeks of promotion. Now that can feel, again, like an elongated process, but there's a, there's a strategy behind it when you've come to promote something, I dunno if you've ever felt this way, but you go into Facebook groups and you share something and you get no engagement whatsoever and it's, Oh my God, no one wants me.
No one wants my thing. It's terrible. And that's, that can have then detrimental impact on your mindset, but actually, the first two weeks of that five-week period is solely for building authority, increasing engagement, getting people interacting with your posts so that when you come to promote your challenge, you're not starting from scratch.
You've already warmed up that algorithm. You've created connections in those or the Facebook groups, and then you've got three weeks of kind of direct promo for your challenge where you've warmed those people up already, so you're on the front. And doing it in stages like this, when you've come to your new challenge, you're filled with energy, you're able to show up and do exactly what you love doing.
You're able to serve those people and give them an, an amazing experience because challenges particularly are quite energetic. There's a lot that we give out in that week and we don't want to feel depleted before we've even begun. So, um, in order to have higher conversion, maintaining your energy throughout the entire process means you show up, you have an amazing time, your sign-ups love it, and then you've got that continued energy.
And the final stage, which is probably the most important because this is where all the conversions happen. It's when you can't open. So you don't just have to maintain your energy for your challenge. It's important to maintain your en energy for why your car is open because the fortune is in the follow-up.
So having those conversions come from conversations and connections. So the cart open phase is crucial, and that's where you will make all your sales, but you've got to maintain that energy and not burn out before you reach the end goal, you know? Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Yes, that's so important because I think everybody's audience is looking to the person who's leading the launch to be able to help them have that transformation that they're promising.
And it's felt sometimes more than it's heard, you know, through the words that they're saying. Sometimes it's more felt through the energy. Absolutely, and the experience that they get. You know, if you are tired, your signups will pick up on that. When you're not enjoying yourself, your signups will pick up on that.
And you know, the whole point of having a launch, it's not just to make money and get clients, it's to actually enjoy what you do in your business. It's so much fun, you know? So, um, people will pick up on that. Yeah. Yes. Yes, they do. And so you work with people to help them develop this whole system, and you do it in a way that is very smart by batching all the assignments and then piecing it together, and then they have this repeatable program.
After that. Exactly! So you do this once and then you can, so the first process with me is 90 days, but then all of your future launches you can shorten to five or six weeks, six weeks really because you want to do, um, your four weeks promotion, you, you can use your pre-launch time to warm that algorithm up and then your three weeks promotion, you challenge and you can't open.
So it just gives you everything. And the good thing about doing it this way is it makes your business more profitable because what it gives you is your time back and it enables you then to launch more frequently and hone your launches each time with the information that you gather during your previous challenges that you can then plug in and you know, scale.
Yes. Yes. Okay. So what would you recommend as a launch specialist? What would you recommend to somebody who is thinking about launching right now? What is something that could help them? Um, I would think about, first of all, the outcomes of your program. So, we want the launch method to be a perfect prior step to your program, so always lead with the outcomes, map out your outcomes, and figure out what it is you're gonna be giving them in their program.
You also want to be able to identify the perfect point A of your program. So you'll have some prerequisites at there for your signups to get the best possible outcome from your paid program. And your challenge needs to kind of bridge the gap between that point A and where they are right now. And we do want to be giving our signups a tangible transformation or mini outcome through attending our challenge.
So in order to do that, it's about creating the most magnetic topic and title of your challenge that aligns perfectly with your program, but also attracts them where they are now and gets them ready. So it attracts pre-qualified leads in that point as well because when you lead with your outcomes, you end up attracting people who are solution-focused, who are willing to invest in the outcomes.
So, There's many things, um, the marketing aspect of it is don’t… don't agitate pain points either. So when you are advertising your challenge, yes, get the topic and the title right, because that will be attractive to your dream clients, but it's how you market that as well. So don't agitate pain, lead with outcomes, solutions, and transformations.
Mm... can you give an example of that? I can, uh, an example of, um, creating an outcome-based piece of content to advertise your challenge. So I'll give you an example of one of mine. An outcome, um, of my program, the Women's Launch Society, is that you'll be able to plan and execute your launch with ease and clarity without overwhelm or burnout.
So that is an outcome and what you wanna then think about is... a situation in which your ideal client might find themselves in right now, where the answer to their problem is that outcome. And this will help you to create pieces of content that are solution-focused, outcome-focused, that will, um, fill your challenge with pre-qualified dream leads.
So a situation relating to my outcome, um, is that one of my clients has been a one-woman show for a while. She's experienced burnout before she will do anything in her power. Not to have burnout again, not to feel burnt out. And actually what this is doing is it's preventing her from doing a launch because she's so scared.
That's she's gonna get overwhelmed. So she's keeping herself small. So that is a situation. It's a bit of a long-winded situation, but that's a situation that my ideal clients will find themselves in, where they really, really need to have a clear plan in place, step-by-step instructions that will enable them to launch and scale their business work less hours without any burnout, without any confusion.
So the next part of that process, To create a piece of content to advertise my Facebook challenge would be, it's thinking about a hook. So a hook is this first piece, uh, this first sentence in your piece of content to grab the attention of those people who are perfect for your program. So my hook is when you've experienced burnout before, you do everything in your power not to let that happen again.
Sometimes at the expense of achieving the level of success, you long for. So that's the beginning stage of the piece of content that will grab the attention of my dream client, who I know needs my program. And then I would go on, or you would go on to explain a little bit more, tell a story and demonstrate where yourself or your client has been on a journey and lead it down to the outcome of your challenge.
And that is the answer. They will get to what they need by attending your, your launch. And actually, this can then be applied to the outcomes of your program. where you can create then sales content and you can add, um, share this as a, uh, post in your challenge group or as an email, and actually all links back to your offer, providing the outcome and the solution to the situation that you find themselves in.
Mm-hmm. , everything needs to be so purposeful. It does it aligned and Yes, aligned. So, out of curiosity, what did you call your challenge? My challenge was called "Get Five Figure Launch Ready. Perfect. So it's teaching it, it taught people how to create a repeatable launch strategy to achieve five-figure launches without burnout, without, um, confusion or over one.
Yes. Yes. Okay. So that was super helpful for the person who is thinking about launching and needs. You know, plan out, uh, or think ahead just how they're gonna do that. What about the person who's listening right now who is actually in a launch? What would you recommend for them?
Lots of things. There's so many, [laughs] so many tips I can tell you, um, but I guess when you are doing a Facebook challenge, always connect with those people who've signed up with you. So in your opt-in form, you might be past this point, but if you are not, add a section where people can, um, input their social media handle. That will then enable you to connect with them on their preferred social media, um, platform.
And then you can send them welcome DMs. Now not everybody opens emails. Not everybody sees notifications, but you know, you do manage to see all of your DMs really, don't you? So you know that if you have a conversation with somebody, welcome them personally to the challenge and a tip for you to make converting that person to a client far easier is ask them.
What situation they're in right now? So what are they looking to get out of the challenge? Is there anything, in particular, they want you to teach on? And what this does is it shows that you are really given value. They feel heard, they feel seen, they feel valued, and it gives them a really personalized, bespoke experience.
What you can then do as well is gather that data and use it to... plan in how you can respond to those points during your challenge as they come up. And you can also add these on your sales page if it's not too much if it's not too much hassle. So thinking about these things that these people are telling you could be, um, if you are a life coach, it you could ask somebody what is it that you are looking for.
And they could say, I just need more confidence to be visible. So, you know, you can then make a note of that and then have a think about how your offer responds to that point. And in doing that, you then link it back to that personalized point. You can then re... um, speak that back to them later on in the DMs when you send a further DM about the sales page.
Or you can, um, include it in your teaching without being too kind of explicit. So it's making sure that you're gathering this information along the way so you can repeat it back to people and make sure that you know how your offer responds to that particular point. And that will then enable you to be prepared for all your future launches as well, because as you actively listen to those people in your audience and consciously think about how your offer responds.
You can put that into your sales page next time into your sales email sequence. You can build it into your challenge training. Um, and another tip for you as well. A couple of tips, I guess. If engagement is dropping halfway through your challenge, a really good way of bringing up engagement is getting people to talk about themselves.
So if your engagement is dropping midway, do a share your Instagram post. People love to share their Instagrams, and this applies to all niches. So if your a business to client, or if you're a business to business, people still love sharing their Instagram. So that's a really good engagement booster halfway through.
And if your sales aren't going that well, when your car, it's open, think about introducing a mic drop bonus, which is something that you present about 48 hours before car closes and this will help people to on the fence, to jump in. It must relate to your program. It must be just some kind of add-on that doesn't really make any sense, but that's a good way of getting those people off the fence. Remembering though, that any anyone who signed up prior to that still gets that mic drop bonus as well.
Oh, those are great tips. I hope whoever is listening is just writing all these things down because these tips are gold. Thank you so much for sharing it. Oh, thank you, Jen. And... Yes, so tell us a little bit about if somebody wanted to work with you, how they can do that, and what you do for them.
Absolutely! So I have a group program called the "Loomis Launch Society." This is specifically for creating a repeatable Facebook challenge launch strategy. So it goes through all of the things I've spoken about today. You get all the tools, the templates, Trello boards, launch plan, everything that you can possibly... not even think of because there's just so much.
So it's all laid out there for you get all the, um, fill-in-the-blank emails. Um, I also have a copywriter co-coach that comes in and she gives you a launch copy toolkit, which is gold. It really, it is worth its weight in gold. It's so, so good. She is responsible for six and seven-figure sales pages.
So she's a really good person to be connected to. She does copy clinics so you, she gives you personalized feedback on all your copy as well as helping you create your sales page. Mindset is another thing that people really struggle with in a launch, and that's why I've identified a need and brought in a specialist launch mindset coach who does six weeks of training to create a launch vision board and care plan for you.
That you can then use every time. And then you get, um, four months of strategy calls and hot seat coaching with me. So that's the group program, the "Loomis Launch Society." We actually start very soon at the beginning of November, and the next round of that will be starting in February. But I also do work one to one with clients on their launches as well. So we can go through that process. Um, one-to-one or I also offer launch strategy calls, um, and packages and things like that, which are more bespoke and tailored to the individual. So very.
That is wonderful, so if somebody wanted to get into your universe and hang out with you, where would you recommend they go?
You can, um, join my Facebook group, which is the Launch Lounge for successful female coaches. You can, um, connect with them on Facebook. I love adding new people as friends and expanding my network of heart-centered, purpose-driven women. You can find me on Instagram, @katywood111 that's k-a-t-y-wood111
Wonderful! Thank you so much Katy for joining us today. It was an absolute delight to have you here. Thank you for having me. Thank you!
I hope you enjoyed our time today with Katy, I have enjoyed getting to know her so much. She has been a speaker, an expert speaker in my mastermind, and she delivers gold wherever she goes.
So I hope you took lots of notes, all of the things that she mentioned as far as her website and anything else, her programs. You can find the links to in the show notes or in the comments, wherever you're listening or watching this. So definitely go check her out. She also has a freebie, which is a checklist to your Facebook challenge launch, and the checklist is very handy and also has a very detailed way to prepare for a launch. Definitely go check it out.
Something else that is happening this week that I am super excited about is I am taking my mastermind on a retreat to Sedona, and we are going to be spending a week in the beautiful Red Rocks masterminding our businesses. And the exciting thing about that is not only done these powerhouse women get to come together to mastermind their businesses and have time to pick each other's brains because they're in a mastermind together, and you can do that. I am also going to be giving talks on what it is to be a CEO. And it might not be what you think it is, but I will also be sharing about what it is to be a CEO in my free private Facebook group.
Now, I don't know about you, but I spent a lot of time on Facebook and then I migrated over to Instagram and my Facebook group, uh, got a little deactivated, let's say. But I realize I am still getting people who are asking to be in that group, and I am a connector and I want to stay connected. So I'm re-reactivating my private Facebook group, and I am launching that by giving my CEO talks November 14th through the 16th.
So wherever you're watching or listening to this, go check out the link will be there to get into that group. And I hope to see you there. It's going to be a place for like-minded people to get together to mastermind their businesses inside this Facebook group and support each other. It's an ultra-supportive place to be, and I'm excited to reactivate it and start it off with this fresh new energy and to see you there, hopefully.
If you are realizing with 2023 right around the corner that you could use some extra support and accountability with your shiny object syndrome if you have that, like most entrepreneurs. I invite you to apply to my Mastermind so you also can catch the link for that wherever you're watching or listening, and I hope to talk with you soon.
Check it out! @jenargue.com
