This article was originally written a few weeks after our huge $750k launch in 2016, and we used the time to reflect on some of the big, unexpected lessons we’ve learned that ANY stage of business can learn from.

In today’s article, I’m sharing some exact stats, real results and wins plus the details of the blueprint we used to generate the results.  

Don’t think that launches are suddenly easy peasy once you’ve hit a certain amount of success. I still face a massive amount of resistance, fear and procrastination every time I launch! It’s normal!

This launch was one of the easier ones we’ve ever done (and the most successful), thanks to Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula (more on that at the end). If you’re launching right now, or planning to in the future, I really highly recommend it (here’s my review.)

Ok, let’s get into it!

First up here’s one of the downsides to a big launch:

Unsubscribes.

Massive amount of unsubscribes….

Actually - no. Just normal amounts of unsubscribes. 

The truth is - every time you send an email, you’ll get people leaving your newsletter list. And although you’ll want to grab hold of their ankles as they walk away and scream...

WHY ARE YOU LEAVING MEEEEEEEEEE……..?

The best thing for you (and your dignity) is to let them go. It’s not personal. 

There are many reasons why someone unsubscribes during a launch…

They are annoyed at the number of emails you’re sending

They don’t want what you’re buying

They are SHOCKED, DISAPPOINTED and even ANGRY that you’re selling them something

They’re just not that into you. 

Either way, it’s not really your business. It’s totally okay for someone to decide that they’re not a fit for you anymore and declutter your emails out of their inbox. 

But for some reason, for many female entrepreneurs, this unsubscribe feels like the worst kind of break up. Like a personal rejection. 

Unsubscribes are an unavoidable and inevitable part of doing business (unless you never send any emails ever), and they’ll follow a pretty predictable pattern. Usually, every time I send an email or a normal non-launch newsletter, I’ll lose around 1% of my newsletter list. 

Knowledge is power when it comes to average statistics. 

If you have 1,000 people on your list, you’ll get on average 10 unsubscribes each and every time you send an email. Even if you’ve giving something away for free. Even if it’s the most giving, unselfish email ever. And it feels unfair, but it’s just the way of doing business. 

During a launch when we’re sending LOTS of emails, the unsubscribe percentage could go up to around 3%. Ours was around 2.7%.

Again, if you have 1,000 on your list, you might lose 30 people for each “salesy” email you send. 
Does that mean you should never send sales emails? NO! Just know it’s going to happen and that’s okay. What you’re selling might not be a fit, and that’s okay. 

Our unsubscribe stats. 

For the 5 week launch period, we added 10,114 new contacts, taking the list past the 60k mark. During the launch we had 1,427 unsubscribes. That hurts right? 

Not really. I know what’s normal and as long as we’re staying around those averages, I honestly don’t pay too much attention anymore. It’s gonna happen regardless!

Here’s some Denise-style truth. If you can’t handle one unsubscribe, then you’re probably not going to be able to build a big list. If you’re too scared to send emails in case someone unsubscribes (spoiler alert - they WILL), then you won’t have the opportunity to serve the much bigger proportion of people who WANT to hear from you. 

That’s not to say that unsubscribes are FUN. I’m not like “bye bitch” everytime someone leaves my newsletter list. First of all - I don’t punish myself by following it too closely (because I know it will follow a statistically pattern, so why focus on it?), and secondly, I try and be compassionate. I unsubscribe from things all the time to declutter my inbox and it’s not personal. 

Turn OFF the unsubscribe notifications. What you focus on grows in importance. Why track something that is out of your control and statistically predictable? Get notifications on sales or new prospects, NOT the amount of people who are (for whatever reason) leaving your list. 

Next up… 

You need a BIG GOAL

You’re probably getting the picture now that during a launch you will get pangs of doubt, fear and frustration… Launches are exhilarating but if you’re an introvert like me, at times they can SUCK.

Honestly, the most important thing is… mindset, mindset, mindset! All of my blocks came up BIG TIME during the launch and the main reason we were able to keep going and believe the results would come was because we had a MASSIVE goal we were manifesting.

I honestly believe that setting a money target is not enough in a launch, the money needs to represent something that is life changing, empowering or even just a reward you would love.

You could set a $1,000, $10,000 or $1m cash target and it will fire you up but during the scary times of the launch, your goal will feel SO big and distant.

This is why you need a big, visible goal to focus on and a huge amount of trust that the universe will find the path for you to manifest the dream. For us, the goal was a house we want to buy in our dream location across the road from a beach, park and playground - it’s a major investment and our launch helped a big chunk of the deposit we needed. 

We met with our finance team at the start of the month about the house and they said “Ok, you have $X and you need another $Y”. Basically, a huge gap. 

Mark and I looked at each other and said “Great, we will see you in a month”... and we got to work. 

Every day we talked about the location, our lifestyle living there and what it will mean for our family and our legacy. This made rolling our sleeves up and getting to work on the launch easier even when sales were slow. 

YOU GOTTA GET A DREAM. 

A launch can be a mindset battle, so your big goal is your armor to protect you, and help you to feel brave. 

Giving back

One of the very best things we did for this launch was to set a “giving back goal”. This gave us an emotional anchor way beyond the “selfish” goal of buying a new house. 

Honestly, it also kept me going through some of the most resistant periods. 

My big goal was to build a school in a developing country. I’ve been quietly fundraising for Pencils of Promise for the past year with some of my mastermind buddies to build a school in Ghana, and I was determined to build a Lucky Bee school myself. 

Most of the profits from my joint ventures and affiliate fees has been going towards “my” school this year, and during this launch we donated an additional $13,000 to finalize the cost of a school in Laos (it costs $25k to build a school, going up to $35k in 2017)

I alllllmost didn’t even talk about this one. I like to give anonymously and not make it a “thing”. Which is weird, because I passionately believe in giving back and I should have been publicly role modelling it. 

Even in my first very small launches, I always set a giving goal even if it was just a couple of hundred dollars. Giving makes you feel abundant and it honestly starts things flowing in the right direction. Any time you’re in doubt, start giving! 

And this is how it starts. You give outside of your comfort zone, and grow as your income grows. I’d like to build a new school every year, but for me, it started with those first few donations to celebrate and anchor in the success of every launch. 

Jeff Walker has been a huge role model and inspiration here for me. Seeing him give back and use his success to help others has fired me up to step into the role of a philanthropist myself. 

Build success, and you can create ripples of positivity throughout the world. I’m so excited that students in Laos will benefit from overcoming my resistance. It’s so worth it. 

Imagine being able to easily give hundreds, thousands, even millions back to causes you care about? For me, this feels so much more fun than buying a new handbag as a reward! 

Would I do it again?

So - now we’re on the other side of the launch, I’m like OF COURSE, LAUNCHING IS SO MUCH FUN!

But when I’m in it… haha, that’s a different story.

The truth is though that this launch was our easiest one ever. Two things were really different this time. The first was that my hubby Mark was on board behind the scenes (you might have even spoken to him in the live customer chat). And the second thing is that we actually followed Jeff’s Product Launch Formula process.

I actually bought it last year and didn’t do a single thing with it. Didn’t attend the live Q&A calls. Didn’t watch a single video… nada. 

But earlier this year, I dug it out and used some of the lessons for a mini-launch in January and had a great result. So, when Mark came on board, knowing how much he likes process and structure, we followed it about 80% (it doesn’t have to be perfect!), achieved an amazing result, and it made everything a hundred times easier. 

I have even put together a LOONG review on what PLF is, what’s included and how it might help you business, read it at http://denisedt.com/plf-review/

Product Launch Formula

Jeff Walker will next run his annual Live Launch Masterclass and open enrolment for the Product Launch Formula coaching program in August 2024. As a proud alumni and affiliate partner I offer an exclusive bonus if you join PLF through my partner link. Join the waitlist here