If you are a heart-centered entrepreneur there is a good chance you are driven by your mission to make an impact – to share what you know and help others. Which is fantastic, I’m here for impact too! BUT… the reality is that sales are the vehicle that allows you to stay in business to make that impact. New clients are the lifeblood and they come through being visible, and talking about what you do. Eventually, you fish your pond and you will need to grow.
I know you have a webinar, course, program or offer that will make a difference. So let’s talk about launch strategies, in flow, that allow you to tackle those big projects without burnout and without harming your cycle.
In 2022 I launched a successful Kickstarter and created the Period Coaching Summit AT THE SAME TIME all in flow and while our personal life included buying a house and transitioning from the digital nomad lifestyle. There were a LOT of moving parts and accomplishing this doesn’t start a week before launch.
Let’s break it down, shall we?
LAUNCH STRATEGY
The core strategy is to plan your business around your menstrual cycle so you maintain flow. This means you can work with your peak energy and best problem-solving stages to maximize productivity and avoid burnout. There is nothing worse than cramming tech detail work in during your Deep Luteal phase or trying to present high-energy, high-impact training on Day 1 of your Menstrual phase.
A successful launch strategy is the long game. One that flows is easier and far more fun! You did get into business to enjoy your life right? You aren’t just looking at how many weeks – you are looking at how many days of that on-the-ball work you have each month.
2 points to achieve this are 1) start the planning phase well in advance and 2) start charting!
Tools and tech for launch success
- Project management tool such as Asana, Trello, or Clickup
- Team communication tool like Slack or WhatsApp
- Somewhere to layout data and lists like Google Sheets, Excel, or Airtable
- Journals and past notes too
- Your menstrual cycle charts
- Any launch plan notes
- Toggl time tracking reports
Your Support Network
My support network was a massive factor in the success of these launches and I think it is essential that you have your own support network. If your partner, friends or family are not supportive please find a business group. You can of course join mine, or someone like Tash Corbin’s and/or find a coach or mentor to cheer you on.
My network included my partner who not only physically and emotionally supports me but was also actively involved in the Kickstarter. It also included friends who helped us while searching for a house.
On the business front, the network included my business coach Tash Corbin because coaches need coaches! Anita who is brilliant with EFT for nervous system regulation, Julie who built the summit website and 2 VA’s who each managed different aspects of business, marketing, and the launches.
Now – can you pull off a successful launch without a team? Yes. I’ve done it a number of times when I was first starting. I also coach my clients through it when they are first starting. You MUST apply a healthy launch strategy with a solid plan and plenty of rest. Whether you need a team or not depends completely on where you are at in business, your budget, the scale of your project and your own time commitments.
Stage 1: Planning
Time to rock and roll! Planning stage is the time to start picking out which building blocks you are going to use and how to fit them together. Look at the big picture and make sure this launch is going to be SOLID! Give yourself time for planning – it is not a 1 hour process! I started planning 12 months before my simultaneous launches and we used the entire timeline.
Follicular
Write your plan!
What are you launching? When?
What does your funnel look like (ie will you do a webinar and lead into a course? Free challenge into a membership? Summit into coaching?) What is the end goal and how are you getting people there?)
What are the tasks that need to happen (ie build the landing page, write the copy, make the graphics etc) and what timeline do they need to happen on?
Don’t forget to take note of holidays, travel, period dates and any events so you can plan for rest and big obligations.
Set up your project management tool with each milestone task and general due dates.
Start working on the ‘thing’ that you are launching.
Ovulation
Now is the time to reach out for collaborations! Organizing a summit? Great – reach out!
Reach out to JV’s and affiliates.
Plan to include guest podcasts, blogs, lives or articles as part of your pre-launch marketing? Start communicating with those people. This is also a great time if you want to talk to guest speakers within your new course/membership etc too.
Luteal
Look at the numbers, conversion, and sign-up rates from past launches.
Note anything that can be improved in that space.
Deep Luteal
This is your reflective stage and a great time to journal on the launch. Will you need help? Does it all feel aligned or does something feel off? Are you clear on who you are serving and how?
Menstrual
List why this is important & the benefits for your ideal clients.
List why it’s important to you & your business.
Stage 2: Action
It is action time baby! There is still likely planning and tweaking happening but now we are moving into doing the work. Remember that this is happening over multiple cycles. In each phase work on the tasks that best match your strengths in that phase and build on your work throughout each cycle.
Follicular
Data analysis. Start looking at your budget, how many sign-ups you need and what your estimated conversion rate will be. If you are bringing on help or using new software what expenses are involved in your launch? Also take note of your existing stats including newsletter size, open rate, sales conversions, monthly profit, etc so you have a baseline.
Use follicular to build things like webpages, email automations, graphics, guides, etc.
Ovulation
Note your peak language/verbal skills are here and you will tend to feel the most confident.
Record any audio of visual content here including podcast interviews, Reels/TikToks/Youtube videos.
Get branding/promo photos done.
Write copy including landing pages, emails, speaker files, social media captions, course/membership/book content, etc.
Batch create social media content.
Finish any tech bits that might have been tripping you up.
Luteal
Grab all the copy, videos, and graphics you have created because now it is time to schedule!
Schedule interviews.
Schedule email marketing campaigns.
Schedule social media content.
Review your progress. What’s working? What’s not? What could be better? Remember the strength in this phase is asking ‘what’ questions.
Deep Luteal
Go deeper on your reflections. If something is feeling too hard or you feel stuck, ask why. What could you change? Journal what’s working and what’s not so far, this is important info for the next launch.
This is also a good time to batch some meals. Launches can be busy! Make sure you are eating well!
Menstrual
Review why this launch is important for you and your clients.
BIG focus on rest and self-love!
Make a list of the things that feel soothing, nourishing or healing to you.
Stage 3: Launch Phase!
Ready? This is the exciting bit! This is the stage you are SHOWING UP! Start your launch, do the events/challenge etc and ask for the sales. All your hard work should be in place by now with your marketing ticking away and your pre-promotion should have people primed for what comes next.
Follicular
Launch the thing! Time the start of your launch with follicular so you can step in with energy. So hit publish!
Good time for problem solving too should anything go wonky.
Ovulation
Put your LIVE events here. If you are doing a webinar, live challenge, Q+A, etc put them here.
Go heavy on your promotion here (ethically – with consent and heart centered ethos). This is the peak of your launch.
Luteal
Keep journaling. What is working well? How are you feeling?
Review the numbers so far, and make adjustments as needed.
Schedule your post-launch content to give you some space.
Menstrual
After all that energy, be extra gentle with yourself. Schedule some downtime here where you don’t have to show up. Go chill under a blanket with Netflix – you deserve it!
You did it!
All your hard work has got you here. And by using Period Coaching launch strategies hopefully you are here without burnout after a fantastic launch. Working in flow is the magic that changes everything. Gone are the days of staring at a screen trying for 3 hrs to work out how to make something work. This is working in FLOW and working with your own strengths. Regardless of if you hit your goal figures or not please be sure to celebrate your effort. I am proud of you.
