Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The podcast for online coaches, PT’s and gym owners who don’t want to settle for average and are consistently striving to fulfil their full potential and raise standards across body, business, brain and balance. This show is dedicated to you and you’ll learn everything you need to know about bulletproofing your body and mind, supercharging your energy, building unstoppable confidence and what it takes to become a world class leader so you can skyrocket your authority, amplify your brand message and deliver world class coaching results. Get the person thriving, the people and profit will follow. Get a pen and paper ready, let’s go.
Team team, how are we? I hope all is well. It is Easter Sunday. I've just had a morning coffee. I've just written our weekly email newsletter, and now we're about to head off to go and play volleyball with some friends for a couple of hours for a dip in the sea and then a barbecue this afternoon.
Joe Parish:One of our fondest memories of being on holiday was my 10, my parents' ten year wedding anniversary. We went to St. Lucia and Meleanne every single evening along with my little brother played volleyball on the beach with a group of strangers and it was one of the most wholesome experiences ever. And it's something that we always talk about. So when we moved to Portugal, one of our things that we always wanted to do is get a group of people together to go and play volleyball, have some fun, and I would say it was going to be friendly but knowing me I'm the world's most competitive person and the people who are also attending also are that way inclined.
Joe Parish:It's probably going to turn into the Algarve World Championships, and it's going to be a winner takes all. So very much looking forward to that. Today I want to take you into a deep dive into how you can have your most successful launch today. What are gonna be some of the common mistakes that people make? What actually is a launch?
Joe Parish:Key considerations? A framework for you to better follow? And also some of the little golden nuggets that people don't necessarily appreciate about a post launch opportunity that so many coaches and fitness professionals miss out on. So before I get underway, important to now know, unless this is actually your model and your structure, if you only get clients when you do a launch, there's a problem with your marketing, there's a problem with your messaging, and there's a problem with your ecosystem. If you're becoming reliant and dependent upon launches, well number one, they take up so much time, effort, energy.
Joe Parish:Number two, you're shortening the runway. And number three, if you have a huge level of client acquisition during certain periods of time, that's also gonna open you up for a greater degree of client churn and client attrition and clients leaving at a very, very similar time, which can also create volatility. So it's important to now be able to note that launches are absolutely phenomenal, but if you are looking at running a March Evergreen model where you're looking at acquiring clients every day, every week, every month a year, then we've got to be able to recognise that launches can be great injections, but we don't want that to be the be all and end all because you don't want to become dependent upon that because of all of the things I've just now spoken about. So there's other aspects that you now need to be able to consider if that very much is the case at this present moment in time, that you need to explore. Common mistakes that people now make when it comes to a launch.
Joe Parish:Number one, they post and hope. One announcement post is at a launch, I'm looking for five people, exclusive opportunity, their summer shape up, and you're just putting all your effort and all your energy into doing one post, it's a whisper that nobody sees. Social media is busy and people need to see a whole host of different things before they even think about buying and putting their hand in the air. So just doing one post isn't going to cut it, but this is something that I see with so many people. Number two, there's no real plan.
Joe Parish:You wouldn't wing a training block to smash a PB, whether that's a performance goal or a fatless goal, whatever it now might potentially be. So you can't do that with your business. A launch needs to have phases, it needs to have structure. If you wanna be able to make a launch as successful as possible, it's everything that happens before the launch, not necessarily the launch itself. No different from, again, a training goal that you're working towards.
Joe Parish:Number three, there's a fear of rejection. You end up half committing and not giving yourself every opportunity to win because, well, you're exposing yourself and you're saying, hey, I've got something. Do you wanna buy it? And if it's cricket, nobody puts their hand in the air and you don't really get anything back. Well, again, that's like you exposing yourself, to the world, and that can be quite difficult and quite challenging and quite demoralising as well if you're not getting, yeah, people going 'hey, yeah, I want in' and that can create quite a bit of a negative feedback loop.
Joe Parish:So it can be easy to protect yourself and it can be easy to hold yourself back. And, a great thing to Google and something that, I listen to on a podcast, was like, that's an absolute game changer for me, like Google self handicapping, which is almost like you sabotage yourself before the actual event happens to protect yourself. And so we almost don't allow ourselves to fully commit and be fully seen because it's like, actually, I don't do that, well, it's okay because if it fails or it doesn't work, well, then I always know that I've not given myself 100%. And this ties into number four as well, which is just giving up too early. Nobody's replied.
Joe Parish:It doesn't mean that people aren't watching. People buy when they're ready, not when you post. There's a whole host of things that people need to do, see, hear, and read in order for them to be able to make an informed decision, and you never know when somebody's gonna be ready to buy. So you now posting and then doing a direct launch and putting out like, hey, I've got an opportunity, do you wanna work with me? Are you interested?
Joe Parish:And nobody replying doesn't now mean that you should just give up because that's it. Think about the last time that you bought. What did you do, see, hear, and read? What made you make the decision? And our goal is to be able to build an orchard, is to be able to build as many opportunities as possible to be able to pluck apples from the tree.
Joe Parish:And the more regularly you walk down the orchard, the more opportunity, the more the more apples, aka the more value you've been adding, again, you're just increasing that level of probability. This also ties quite nicely into the five stages of awareness that I did on a podcast two weeks ago that I highly recommend you go back and you check out. It was podcast episode 101. It might actually even be potentially last week that I'd highly recommend that you go and watch, which will also give you a whole host of insight into actually, like, what are the key considerations that you need to make in terms of your content marketing outside of now doing a launch. So what actually even is a launch?
Joe Parish:In my opinion, at its core, a launch is just telling people, hey, I've got something that can actually help you, and here's how you can get it. It's giving people the clarity, it's giving people a level of consistency of how you're showing up, and giving people clear communication to be able to make a decision. And that's all that this really is. And important to now be able to know is that you don't just have one shot. There's a whole host of different opportunities, and the launch is gonna be dependent upon seasonality, time of the year, what it is that you're offering, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Joe Parish:And it's now being able to recognize and appreciate that it's not just, like I said, what you do in that moment, but everything that happens before and everything that now happens after. So let's look at some key core considerations before you even think about doing a launch. Number one, what's the actual goal? Is it for more clients? Is it you testing a new offer?
Joe Parish:Is it you now shifting your messaging ever so slightly? How many new clients can you actually handle? Like, so knowing your capacity, which is also a lot to do with managing your expectations. Like, we've had times where, I'm gonna share later on, like we've just had somebody who's just done a launch and they've been able to acquire two fifty clients. We've also had launches where we've had people who have acquired five or six or seven clients, and they're Oh, we've only acquired five, six or seven clients.
Joe Parish:It's like, But what was your expectation? Well, five, six or seven clients is now eight, five, six, seven lives that you're now going be able to impact, transform, change. They're going to be five people you're now going to be able work intimately alongside that have now trusted you to go on that journey, and not only that, if they get a great result, then they're going to tell other people, we're to tell other people, and also off the back of that, what does that actually also do for your revenue? So, it's recognising and realising like, what is my expectation? How many clients can you actually handle that feels good, that allows you to deliver the service you now want to?
Joe Parish:Because if you're now doing a launch, it takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of energy, not only that, you've then also got the conversations, the onboarding, the delivery, you've got to be able to take into account if you don't have a team, which is also going to take up even more of your time. So that's got to be a real key core consideration we've got to be able to make, you've got to be able to look at your calendar, and you've got to be able to look at your bandwidth because yeah, it's not just creating the content and having the conversations, it's everything that comes along with then having to onboard new clients, which is great, but we need to make sure your energy is in the right place. Number three, what is your offer? People often think that our offer is like a discount or a guarantee or some type of bonus, and whilst they can obviously really stack, obviously, the offer and make it even more lucrative, an offer is simply a clear solution to a problem that your market are currently struggling with. And now your offer is gonna be seasonal, your offer is gonna be dependent upon the time of the year, your offer is gonna be dependent upon understanding your prospects' problems.
Joe Parish:So again, perfect time, and the reason that I'm recording this podcast right now is that we're coming into better weather, longer days, people are thinking about their summer holiday. So we wanna be able to think about, alright, what is the specific problem that my market are currently bumping up against? What have they tried before? How are they feeling right now? And then what is your specific solution to that problem, and what is your disruptive idea?
Joe Parish:How can you now help them get there in an easier, faster, smoother, more enjoyable way? What's the story behind it? And how are you creating a better and a brighter future for somebody? And the better your solution, the better the offer, which is why your product is always gonna be your very best marketing, but then it's being able to communicate and convey that. So don't think there often needs to be this weird and wonderful sexy thing.
Joe Parish:It's simply a solution to a problem, and it's then how you communicate and then how you convey that and the level of intricacy and depth and specificity you have. What platforms are you using? Are you simply just using Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, or have you now got a whole host of different platforms? Can we now diversify? So again, for example, if I was to now do a launch, we've obviously got our Instagram platform, we've got the podcast, we've got the YouTube, we've also got LinkedIn, we've got collaborations, partnerships that we can also now go and apply, and we can now go and use.
Joe Parish:Again, it's just recognising what are my opportunities right now and not just limiting yourself. Yes, you want to be able to apply the effort and the energy into one main platform, I believe, otherwise you end up diversifying and your energy then becomes sparse and you can't give it your 100%, but recognizing that different platforms can do different things and can benefit you in different ways. Are you building a waitlist? And again, this also ties back into the email marketing aspect. It's like, are you now driving people to a waitlist?
Joe Parish:Is that the strategy? Is that the structure and then releasing and potentially offering an early bird or even only selling to people on that waitlist? Are you using a waitlist just to test the market? And actually, is this something that people now want? With the coaches we work alongside, there's some people that we use a waitlist that's been incredibly successful.
Joe Parish:There's other people we don't use a waitlist whatsoever. And it's about just knowing and understanding of, okay, again, what is the plan? What is the structure? What is the strategy? But waitlist can be fantastic for you to be able to test the marketplace and also for you to be able to drive a whole host of people who are interested into obviously a platform that you can then communicate and you can now sell to and you can give an opportunity to, and then you can also use the final piece here, urgency, scarcity, limited spaces, doors closing, one time only, like, what is it actually?
Joe Parish:Are you now looking to apply those things, and if so, how are you doing that, and how can we also make sure that there's a greater degree of like, I wanna use the word authenticity, I don't think that's the right word, but how are we making sure that it's ethical? And, again, like, if you're using those types of things all the time, it's like, yeah, mate, you were looking for five people two weeks ago. Why? As an example. So we've gotta be key we've gotta be considerate in terms of what it is that we're doing, and then also sticking to our word as well, which is also really, really important.
Joe Parish:So are you using urgency and scarcity with numbers of spaces, one time only, maybe discount or benefits for the first x amount of people to sign up, etcetera? It's about getting clear around what that now looks like. And I think as well, really important to note, like why are you doing a launch? Is it potentially because it's the seasonality and there's an opportunity? Is it maybe because it's the X anniversary of your business?
Joe Parish:Or then there's a whole host of different reasons that you can now look at a launch, but again, it's understanding the message and the story behind that most importantly. And again, if we zoom out, let's look at the year, understand, well, okay, you now know that you're gonna be selling evergreen three, five days, what are gonna be the months where you wanna be able to really create, like, that injection and have that real level of direction behind going, well, okay. Do know what? It's gonna be in these months that I'm gonna release these offers, and we're now gonna launch in a more direct way to the marketplace, that's and going to potentially bolster, improve, and allow us to maximize the position that your people are currently in, and when's obviously going to be best for you in your business, and the problems that your market are currently experiencing and how you can create a solution to those. So how to launch like a pro?
Joe Parish:Now there's no right or wrong with this. There's one individual that we worked alongside and we basically had like a four month runway and campaign that we were basically building. There's others who we just do a two week. There's others we do a four week. But it's really important to note that the people who have the most successful launches aren't the ones who are just now building a great prelaunch or a great launch.
Joe Parish:They have a really, really strong message. They're really, really clear on who they're speaking to. They turn up consistently. They've got a great energy. They're able to actually build connections and build rapport and build relationships, and they're constantly now building this, I'll use the word ecosystem all of the time.
Joe Parish:And it's not just, like I said, a prelaunch or a launch that they're incredibly consistent. They're able to now add value to the marketplace, and they're having a powerful and a positive impact, they've got a really, really strong message that they're putting out three six five days of the year. It's not just thinking about this small period of time, it's looking at like the entirety of your structure over the course of fifty two weeks of the year, and then understanding like what is the runway that I now want to be able to have. But if we were to look at like a really, really simple four week structure that you could now go and follow going into this summer, it could be week one. You just now release a whole host of value based content where you educate, you entertain, you you solve some small problems, you give away potentially some lead magnets that solve a specific problem that your market are currently struggling with at this time of year, which will give people the opportunity to put their hand in the air, also allows you to test what they're currently responding to.
Joe Parish:It helps you build attention and also gain even more trust. Week two is connection. Share stories. Help people shift beliefs around what it is that they currently believe to be true, which can also be done through storytelling, and share more personal insights, build that connection, build that resonance to you, and help them have that level of understanding in head and heart into why it is that you now do what you do. Number three, consideration.
Joe Parish:Inside this week, we wanna tackle objections, we wanna be able to share proof, we wanna be able to think about what is it people need to do, see, hear, and read in order for them to be able to overcome, potential barriers that are currently stopping them from being able to take that next step? What is it they need to see? And how are you inviting curiosity? And then in week four, this is where we can be even more direct. This is where we can be bold, we can be clear, we can just say, hey, listen, we've got this opportunity.
Joe Parish:Do you basically want to know how we can help you? Do you want to take the next step? Of course, you can obviously stack this with urgency, you can stack this with scarcity, we want to be able to use a whole host of social proof, we want to be able to ask clients to be able to now comment, we want clients to be able to share, we want to be able to turn up and we want to be ever, we want to be omnipresent and we want to now be everywhere. We want to lower the barrier to entry and make it as simple and as easy as possible for people to be able to put their hand up. People are skeptical, people are hesitant, people are scared, they lack confidence.
Joe Parish:They don't know, like how to ask for help. So for us, it's about how can we remove as much friction and how can we make it as easy as possible for them to be able to put their hand in the air to be able to start a conversation with you or for them to be able to take that next step. I think sometimes what we, fail to do is make it as easy as possible for people to reach out, and we have to get them to jump through too many hoops. And there's already a whole host of resistance anyway. So it's for us to now be able to be open and for us to be able to go to them instead of waiting for them to now be able to come to us, which will increase the probability and the opportunity, and everything starts and ends with a conversation or just giving people the chance to be able to put their hand up.
Joe Parish:Stickers, polls can be really simple and easy ways for you to have to do that. Driving people to a place where they can go and fill in some information, again, can also be great. But this is where we need to be absolutely in. And if you feel repetitive, if you feel as though that you're basically just annoying people, good. That repetition is recognition, and recognition equals action.
Joe Parish:People, like I said previously, think about I I use myself as I have such a short attention span, and I'm not going on social media to buy. I have to see a a whole host of things. And also, I might see someone and go, oh, that looks great, but I'm out walking the dog, or I'm sat on the toilet, whatever it now might potentially be. So it's realizing that you're not being annoying, you're simply presenting an opportunity just for people to go, yeah, I'm ready, that's me. And like I said earlier, you never know when somebody's gonna be ready.
Joe Parish:That's a really, really simple structure and framework. If you want me to send you over a four week launch plan in terms of post, content, what to do, how to do it, drop me a message on Instagram with the word launch, and I will send you over a Google Doc with a structure and a framework that you can go and follow. Like I said, a launch could be six months, three months, seven days, two weeks. It really depends on you, what you're doing, where you are right now, what it is that you're putting up to the marketplace. And I always think about like a supermarkets.
Joe Parish:It's Easter right now. Supermarkets will have planned their Easter campaigns last year and they start talking about Easter, I don't know, probably just after Christmas, when Christmas has been and gone. And then you think about, well, what's the next campaign after Easter? Well, they're already gonna be starting to do that there and then, and they're starting to now it's like, oh god, it's like, you know, it'll be August and they've got their Christmas they've got they've got stuff up about Christmas, and it's like, bloody hell, Christmas isn't for another four or five months. But again, it's having a plan, having a structure, it's it's it's about the pre release, and then it's building people obviously into that.
Joe Parish:Everything needs to have a flow, and everything needs to have a cycle, it can't just be done there and then, and it's then understanding what is the data that we're now currently using that's now gonna allow us to maximise that launch, that offer to increase our probability. Pre launch checklist for you to be able to go through. Number one, you want to be able to clarify objections and look at the barriers that your current market are currently struggling with, and how can we now shift and change and lower those as much as possible. Number two, gather your very best social proof and results. This now doesn't need to be like all of your before and afters, but might even be John who's four weeks into the programme, Sarah who's two weeks into the programme, Dave who literally just joined yesterday and he sent you a message that said, 'hey this is the best thing I've ever done.
Joe Parish:I'm so glad that made the decision. I've never felt more warm and more welcome and more this and more that. I know it's the best decision that I've made for myself. So you're looking at different people at different stages, different phases. And again, different people respond to different things.
Joe Parish:Some people wanna watch videos, some people wanna see before and after, some people wanna see data. So it's just being able to collect as much as possible. List old leads, old clients, warm connections, go and reach out to them, let them know what you're launching, let them know what you're doing. Give them the opportunity before you tell everybody else to now be able to go and join, or do they know somebody else that they think would be interested? Plan your content weeks in advance and put the time, effort, and energy into that.
Joe Parish:And again, a lot of this is gonna be fucked about and find out. People are like, do I do a carousel? Should I do a reel? It's like, we do a combination of everything, which is increasing that opportunity and start documenting what it is that you're building. I think was Troy that talks quite regularly about when you look at films, they'll do trailers and little mini releases weeks, months, maybe even potentially a year in advance of actually the film now coming out.
Joe Parish:Being able to document what you're building and what you're creating takes people on a journey, and people do this incredibly well now on, like, building the brand through YouTube, etcetera. But giving people behind the scenes helps people make them feel like they're a part of it, they've been a part of the the evolution. And they're able to see, like, the ingredients, and it's just building more awareness. So again, thinking about like, not just what am I doing when I go into a launch, but all the other key ingredients that we need to consider. And then finally, post launch.
Joe Parish:This is where so many people drop off, but one of the biggest things that I've realised from doing this for years and also for so many other coaches, seeing this as well is that there is usually a huge spike in, uptake after a launch has been and gone. Usually one, two, three weeks later, there's usually an increase of people putting their hand in the air but this is where most people drop off. Don't go dark, keep the momentum going, show the results, share the feedback, document how people are currently getting on. So many people just put all their effort and all their energy into a launch, and then they basically stop. Whereas what we actually want to be able to do is just keep that documentation, go back into value mode, go back into relationship building mode, go back into just showing the journey mode, and you will probably need a little bit of a reset because it takes up a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of energy, but being able to document that, and there's a whole host of opportunity that comes post launch as well.
Joe Parish:So don't just think it's been and gone, that's it. There's always going to be people who I I think the lead indicator is almost you put out the launch. The lag indicator often actually is people putting their hand in the air slightly later down slightly later down the line. And the great thing about this is it's all just feedback. Some launches are gonna bang, some launches are gonna bomb.
Joe Parish:Some offers are gonna do really well, some offers might potentially not. And there's a whole host of different reasons behind that, but it's not attaching yourself to that and going, oh, well, that's it. Well, it's not worked or it has worked. That's amazing. It's just being able to see it and look at this through the lens of a scientist, experiment, be appropriately curious, and realize that every day you have an opportunity to be able to connect, build relationships, add value, and bring people into your world to just enjoy playing that game instead of thinking that it's gotta be like life or death because there's so much opportunity, and different launches are going and different, offers are going to work at different times, and sometimes there will be a really clear direct reason as to why, other times they won't.
Joe Parish:But it's just taking that feedback, being able to iterate, evolve, and then go again, exactly the same as you would with any type of body shape health performance goal. So next steps, pick a launch date. Also map out the remainder of your year, so you also now know like what it is that you're gonna be doing going into the 2025. So you've got a little bit of a runway that also ties into your lifestyle as well, because like I said, it's gonna take up quite a lot of your time, your effort, and your energy. So if you're going on holiday, you've got the kids or whatever's going on, we need to be able to plan this appropriately and also accordingly.
Joe Parish:Reverse engineer your runway today. It doesn't need to be four weeks. It could be two, it can be three, it can whatever. Right? It's about having clarity on what's now gonna work for you and what do you want the outcome to be.
Joe Parish:And if you want that four week content structure and framework for you to never to go and follow that you can apply going into this summer, drop me a message of the word launch, and I'll fire that over to you, and hopefully, will give you some key ingredients and, hopefully, something that means that you're not starting from, like, a white piece of paper, and we'll give you a structure that you can go and follow and a framework that's going to help you. So I hope that you've been able to find this podcast episode valuable, insightful, useful. It's given you a couple of moments that you can go and apply. If this has been valuable, I'd love for you to be able to share this with another coach and somebody that you, know is committed to raising and elevating the standards of the fitness industry and doing things the right way. And until next time, have an amazing morning, afternoon, evening, whatever you're up to, and I shall speak to you soon.
Joe Parish:Take care.