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Transforming Your Small Business Launches with Expert Strategies from Dolly DeLong
The Importance of Planning and Strategy
Mapping Out Your Launch Around Personal Life
Amy kicked off the discussion by emphasizing the significance of meticulous planning, especially when your personal life demands attention. For instance, planning a launch during summer when your kids are home requires careful coordination to ensure that both personal and professional responsibilities are managed efficiently. The lesson here is simple: the better you plan, the fewer surprises you’ll encounter.
Emulating the Big Box Mentality
Dolly DeLong suggested a valuable mindset shift for small business owners—adopt a "big box company" mentality. Just like Costco readies itself for seasonal changes well in advance, small business owners should create a vision for their clients and plan months ahead. This strategic foresight can make the difference between a rushed, mediocre launch and a well-executed, successful one.
Building Relationships and Nurturing Leads
Beyond the Quick Sale: Nurturing Long-Term Relationships
Amy highlighted that long-term relationship building is vital for improving conversion rates. Unlike big businesses, spontaneous sales pitches rarely work for small ventures. By nurturing relationships and building email lists over time, you lay a solid foundation for future launches. This patient approach may require more effort initially, but it pays off in higher engagement and conversion rates down the line.
Pre-Launch Strategy: Setting the Stage for Success
Showcase Expertise and Address Objections
Dolly stressed the importance of pre-launch activities, such as showcasing your expertise, sharing testimonials, answering frequently asked questions, and addressing potential objections. These steps help in building trust and setting the stage for a robust launch. Essentially, you’re warming up your audience so that when it’s time to launch, they are ready to engage and convert.
Documentation and Continuous Improvement
Streamlining the Launch Process
Both speakers underscored the necessity of documenting your launch processes. This practice not only helps in refining and improving your strategies over time but also serves as a valuable reference for future launches. Dolly recommended using project management tools like Trello, ClickUp, or Asana to keep everything organized. Trello, in particular, was praised for its user-friendly interface.
Email Marketing: The Backbone of Engagement
Consistent, Value-Driven Communication
Email marketing emerged as a pivotal topic in the discussion. Dolly and Amy both emphasized the importance of maintaining a consistent email strategy to build awareness and trust with potential customers. A weekly email can establish a reliable cadence, positioning you as an authority in your field without overwhelming your audience. As Amy pointed out, it’s crucial to avoid bombarding your clients with frequent emails, which can be counterproductive.
Mindset and Marketing
Viewing Marketing as Service
Amy highlighted the importance of viewing marketing not as a self-promotional task but as a service. By providing consistent value to your audience, you position yourself as an authority. This mindset helps prevent feelings of imposter syndrome and alleviates the pressure of comparing yourself to bigger players with large teams and budgets.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Analyzing Performance Metrics Post-Launch
Dolly emphasized the importance of post-launch processes, often neglected due to exhaustion. Analyzing performance metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates of your email campaigns can offer valuable insights for future improvements. Setting up tools like Google Analytics (GA4) to track customer journeys adds another layer of understanding to your launch performance.
Real Business Strategy
Leveraging Data for Growth
Transforming a side hustle into a real business requires leveraging data and remaining curious about performance. Small tweaks based on data analysis can significantly improve future launches. Amy underscored that understanding your business overhead, profit margins, and seasonal revenue trends helps in making more informed financial decisions.
Conclusion
Launching a product or service is an intricate dance of planning, execution, and evaluation. The insights shared by Dolly DeLong and Amy on The Motivated CEO Podcast offer a roadmap for small business owners to navigate this challenging yet rewarding journey. By planning ahead, nurturing relationships, leveraging data, and maintaining a consistent marketing strategy, you can transform your launches and drive your business towards sustained success.
Episode Links
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Transcript for Episode 378. Simplify Your Next Launch... Without the Stress
Amy [00:00:03]:
The topic of launching for many entrepreneurs can feel completely overwhelming. I'll admit, I was there once. I used to hate launching. And when I saw Today's guest, Dolly DeLong, talking all about strategically launching, I'm like, yes, we need this. Because when you have those systems and workflows in place, oh, my gosh, this whole heavy process of launching, it gets so much easier, I swear. Dolly is a workflow educator and launch strategist, and she empowers overwhelmed small business owners to launch with clarity, confidence, and strategy by streamlining their systems and workflows, ensuring sustainable success beyond their launches. Who doesn't love that? I am so excited to have you here with me, Dolly, to dive into this topic. So thanks for taking the time to be here today.
Amy [00:01:00]:
Today, of course.
Dolly DeLong [00:01:01]:
And again, like I was saying before we hit record, it is an honor to be here, and I'm very honored you reached out to me. Thank you.
Amy [00:01:08]:
Absolutely. So let's talk about the whole topic of launching. Why do you think for so many entrepreneurs, it feels so heavy, it feels so exhausting. It feels like after we're done with the launch, like, oh, my gosh, I just need to go into troll mode for a week and hibernate.
Dolly DeLong [00:01:27]:
Yeah, I think it's, like, very layered and, like, I think through this a lot since this is my world. And it's also. It's something that sometimes I struggle with too. And it's imposter syndrome. And I will. I will explain why I said imposter syndrome. It's because we, as small business owners, when we look at launching, we instantly, or at least I do instantly start comparing ourselves to the bigger companies, to the big box companies, or at least the, like, the celebrity entrepreneurs who have the bigger teams. And we compare ourselves, and then we instantly either, like, go down the rabbit trail of, like, we feel like failures instantly, or we just start telling ourselves, like, we can't do that.
Dolly DeLong [00:02:19]:
We. I can't be at that level. I like, it's a myriad of things. And then also the comparison game, it's. It just is so damaging. And I want to encourage small business owners. Like, first of all, I'm coming at this conversation as a small business owner myself. I do not have a giant team working for me.
Dolly DeLong [00:02:41]:
I'm not saying that as a badge. I'm not at all. If I had the overhead, I would be hiring people out. But at this moment, it's just me and two or three contractors, and that's it. But yet I have seen the power of, like, of systems and workflows. And using them strategically to launch. And I'm also, I want to lay a disclaimer here. I'm not saying I launch six, seven, eight figure launches.
Dolly DeLong [00:03:11]:
Like these are very still like launches that impact my overhead in a positive way. But it's under six figures y'all. And I'm okay, like I'm still a successful business owner. So I am talking at, at this at an angle of like a smaller business still should look at launching. And still the only word I can think of is partake in launching. Like still like put, put your, like get your gear head on and like still like move ahead with launching and okay, where was. So sorry. I like lost my train of thought.
Dolly DeLong [00:03:52]:
But it's coming back. It's coming back.
Amy [00:03:54]:
Okay. The power of editing.
Dolly DeLong [00:03:56]:
Oh, thank you so much. Thank God for editing. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Like one, one of the ways. So one of the ways we get in our own way is we, we could start comparison. Okay, so that's like very obvious. Another reason we overcomplicate launching is because we're not really good as business owners, especially as solo business owners.
Dolly DeLong [00:04:24]:
And then especially as creative minded business owners, we're not really good at planning ahead and like doing a promotional campaign, like promoting ourselves consistently. Because a lot of small business owners fall into this trap and I don't want to make a blanket statement. So don't come at me listeners if you're like, I don't fit that cat. I'm just saying I've just noticed a trend that in the creative space, especially like, oh, if I'm not inspired, I'm not going to do that. I have to be inspired in the moment and then I will promote it. And I just, I'm like, okay, that's great. There's a, there's a good time in place to be inspired and to work based off inspiration. But if you're a small business owner and you, you want to build a sustainable business, I'm not talking about a six, seven, eight figure business.
Dolly DeLong [00:05:18]:
I'm talking about what would be needed to sustain you. To pay your overhead cost, to pay yourself, then you need to have like merge launching and think of it as merging with a marketing and promotional period. So look at, know what your services are, know what your money makers are and then see how you can like make a marketing plan for yourself. For if looking at the next year ahead is overwhelming, then look at the next six months ahead. Like how, what, how many clients are you going to need to like bring in every Month. How many products are you going to need to sell in order to make your overhead, like, worth it for yourself or financial goals for yourself? And then essentially it's. For me, I look at it as working backwards and then knowing, okay, this is how much I'm going to need to make every month, okay, this is what I'm going to need to do to promote myself. This is what, like, essentially I.
Dolly DeLong [00:06:22]:
I look at launching in phases, and one of the phases is working backwards to better promote. Promote myself. Does that make sense?
Amy [00:06:30]:
Oh, my gosh. Everything you're saying, like, preach it, sister. Seriously. Because, yes, it is so easy in the online space, especially to start comparing ourselves.
Dolly DeLong [00:06:42]:
Yes.
Amy [00:06:43]:
And that's where it makes it really, really, really tempting to want to give up. Because we are. We're seeing all of these massive wins in the online space. Like, oh, I just had $100,000 launch. Okay, well, great. That's awesome for you. But what's the context behind it? Because if this is only your first or second or third time launching a product or a service, that's not realistic to have that expectation. When you're right, many, many times they have these massive teams in place.
Amy [00:07:14]:
They are pumping tons of money into different paid advertising channels, and it is possible to achieve those results, but your overhead is going to be so much higher, and you have to consider the profit margin. And so often these wins that we're seeing online are being taken out of context. And then we start to compare our chapter one with their chapter 20. But what we forget is they've launched this thing 20 times before and have continued to refine it, test it, grow it, do more things. So as business owners, having that awareness of, you know, the reality is most business owners aren't making six figures right out of the gate. That's not reality. So I appreciate you saying that, But a lot of times it comes back to really having that clear definition of what does success look like to you?
Dolly DeLong [00:08:08]:
Yeah.
Amy [00:08:09]:
Because, yes, you can be pulling in tons of money, but if you're overhead, you're spending all of that money that you've brought in. What's the point? What is the point to it? So thank you. Thank you so much for just lifting that burden off of so many entrepreneurs that are listening to this episode, their shoulders. Because it is so easy to get sucked into that cycle and think that we're less than if we're not there yet. And that's okay. And it's okay if you don't want to be there, too. I think that's important. To know that you don't need a huge team, you don't need to be making six figures a year to be successful.
Amy [00:08:47]:
It's about what you want.
Dolly DeLong [00:08:48]:
Yeah, I love that. Preach it. Yeah. Snaps to you for saying that. Yeah.
Amy [00:08:53]:
We could go on all day with this. Right?
Dolly DeLong [00:08:55]:
Exactly. I will say like several systems that come to mind that I really believe business owners foundationally should know are like having a good clear financial foundation for their business. So knowing what your like business basic business operation costs are yearly and monthly and quarterly. Like knowing what you're spending, knowing what it costs to run your business, that's so, so, so important. Like you don't have to hire out a bookkeeper to know like what your costs are. If you are telling yourself that excuse like well I can't afford a bookkeeper and I can't afford like that you can get build a spreadsheet out like use a Google spreadsheet and compare expenses and income. Okay, but so building out a good financial awareness like system number one to know for yourself. System number two is knowing like what all of your money makers are.
Dolly DeLong [00:09:55]:
I know I said this before but knowing like when, like if you are a service based business owner, I'll use myself as an example because I have two sides of my business. I don't know if you know this but I am a photographer but and I also am a systems and workflow educator. Those are two very different types of businesses. And it took me a while to figure out this is so like I can't believe I'm admitting this. And people might be like wow, she's dumb. But I was like oh, it will be the same type of marketing strategy and it will be the same type of everything for both sides of my business. No, it's so different like so for my photography side of my business I have to market it very differently. I have to look at my overhead very differently.
Dolly DeLong [00:10:47]:
I have to know my numbers very differently versus the systems workflow launching education side of my business. So two very different models. And when I started getting my head wrapped around that I was like oh okay, I now need to know like I now know like okay, this is the amount I can make from photography and I know predictably based off of data in the past this is when my highest revenue months will be for photography and I can compare it to with education systems workload education. Okay, these are the months that I will be making like X amount of dollars based off of data based on my launching periods. And I have, I have more like more definite reoccurring like I know I can now consistently pay myself. I now know what the overhead of both businesses. Like, it came down to me finally doing the work, the unsexy work of knowing my numbers, knowing what it costs to run the numbers. That's a system.
Dolly DeLong [00:11:59]:
And then knowing how I make money. Because it sounds so simple, but yet we overcomplicate it so much. And I don't know if you have ever overcomplicated something like that, but I certainly have.
Amy [00:12:14]:
You were talking to the master over complicator right here. The story of my life. But I'm loving everything that you're saying. And it goes back to something you said a little bit ago. It's, you know, so often in the online space, we're like, oh, just go with your intuition, go with the flow. Okay, yeah, that's great. But at the end of the day, you're running a business. If you want to achieve business like results, you have to treat your business like a business.
Amy [00:12:43]:
So it involves doing exactly as you said, the not so glamorous side. Knowing your numbers, knowing your data. And it doesn't have to be complicated. Dolly. I still use Google sheets. I have used Google sheets to build and scale every one of my businesses because it works for me. I know exactly what's happening when I know what the overhead is. I know what my profit margins are.
Amy [00:13:07]:
And that's what we need to be taking the time to do as entrepreneurs, because this is truly the key to success is looking at the big picture, zooming out. And that's what the data allows us to do in order to make informed decisions. And it allows us to then fill those gaps in, for example, with you, you know, with your photography business and then running the systems and workflow. Okay, you can see where. Where do I dip naturally? How can I use the other to offset it? And that's what you can do in your business, too. So I would love to shift gears a little bit and go into the launch itself and really getting strategic about it. Because oftentimes in the online space, we get an idea and we're like, okay, I'm going to put an offer out there and people are going to buy it. That's what we're made to think.
Amy [00:13:55]:
But the reality is there's some planning that really needs to happen before you even announce to the world that you have something for sale. What does your launch Runway look like? What are you doing ahead of time before you're even going live with the launch?
Dolly DeLong [00:14:12]:
Yeah. So way ahead of time, like going back to those foundations of knowing what my services are, knowing when my I'm making my money, I then that helps me lay out a forecast for the next year. So right now while we're recording this, it's November. I'm already planning ahead for 2025. Like my whole marketing calendar now is it set in stone? No, it will be very flexible. But I do know based off of again that my I am going to be generating a lot of feast. It's going to be like a lot of income from August to November because of my photography side of my business. All right.
Dolly DeLong [00:14:57]:
But then the lower months are normally January to March and then December. And so I know I'm going to need either to, I'm not going to be launching because that would kind of be like, oh, I need to like make money. And it will be desperate. It will feel desperate will feel, I hate using this word but it's true inauthentic. Like people will feel that. So I then know, okay, when, when can I actually serve my one to one clients? I'm getting to your question, I promise. But this is, I'm taking the long road, I promise. I'm getting there, getting to the answer.
Dolly DeLong [00:15:36]:
So then I know during my slower months I can definitely offer more one to one launch support to my one to one clients. So I am therefore then I look at my calendar after, like I fill in it in with my paid clients with my photography work. Okay, these are the best times that I am going to relaunch a program or relaunch a digital product. Like a lot of what I do is launch digital product or group programs. And again I have to do the groundwork of laying out my marketing calendar. So I set that up. That was long winded. I'm so sorry, Amy.
Dolly DeLong [00:16:21]:
Okay, all right. So how I do that after I do all of that work I then look at okay, when do I want my open cart? Because I like working backwards. So let's say I want to launch something in March of 2025. This is just an example. I am not just going to focus in on the open cart stage, as sexy as that is because that's the money making stage, that's the exciting stage. I am working backwards by 8 to 10 weeks. The 8 to 10 weeks I'm looking at, those are going to be my pre launch or promotional like the pre launch of my of going into my cart open phase. Because I want to be not only drawing in more interest to what I'm leading to, I also want to be very mindful of Growing out my email list during this time.
Dolly DeLong [00:17:20]:
I also want to be very mindful of still serving my clients at this time. And then before that I'm going to also be looking at what can I do to better plan out for the eight to ten weeks leading up. I'm looking at the two to even upwards of four weeks before that. And that is when I'm sitting down and I'm mapping out the pre launch and all the content and the like. My email marketing strategy, my content marketing strategy, my podcasting and YouTube strategy and how that all plays together. Because I do not think it's wise to create content on the fly every week of your pre launch. That's why I'm a big proponent of four phases of launching. The pre pre launch phase, the like that's like where you're planning everything out for the pre launch and then the launch phase.
Dolly DeLong [00:18:21]:
This is the third phase is your open cart and then the post launch is the fourth phase. I hope you are picking up when I'm putting down because I am just like word vomiting all over you.
Amy [00:18:32]:
But I love what you're putting down. Seriously, because this is important. There's so much planning and strategy that goes into it and something that I found too that really helps me is I just map it all out anytime I'm doing a new launch and I'm at the point now I launched the same things over and over again and I plan it around my life because I do not run my group program at all, my hybrid program during the summer months when my kids are home. It's exhausting. Like yes, if they're home with me, yes, my kids are getting older but still it, there's some days it's like a war zone and I'm like what is happening here? Like I don't have the mental capacity for it. So summertime, I'm very intentional. But you have to have that zoomed out approach exactly as you're saying so that you can create this successful launch. It all comes back to that reverse engineering knowing okay well when is that ideal open cart rate? And then again how can we work backwards in the pre pre launch? And I think a lot of people forget about that because it's like oh, I'm just going to put it out.
Amy [00:19:37]:
I want to make money. Selling is fun. And we forget, we forget that people buy from people, that now sales cycles are longer and we just have to adjust to that. We have to nurture those relationships. We have to work on building our lists. Those are the things that are going to help improve our conversions. We can't just show up on Instagram one day and be like, buy my thing. It doesn't work that way.
Amy [00:20:02]:
That'd be cool if it did, but I've never had it.
Dolly DeLong [00:20:05]:
Oh yeah, neither have I. And like, it's very rare to let, let, let that be the case for someone. And I use this example, I feel like on all podcast interviews and like, if somebody's listening to this and they're like, I've heard you say this before. I'm sorry. Sue me, somebody. I'm sorry, but I. So I'm glad you have kids. So whenever.
Dolly DeLong [00:20:27]:
I don't know if you have a Costco membership or a Sam's Club membership, but we're a big Costco family here with the Delongs. We love Costco. So every, like, every time I take my sons to Costco, it's, they're already, as a big box company, they are two or three months ahead of the game. Like, like helping you. They're helping you paint a picture of what to imagine your life as. Like when you step into their store. Like, they're helping you think ahead. So example, back to school shopping.
Dolly DeLong [00:21:01]:
When I took my son back to school shopping or prepare for kindergarten this year, it was mid July and I was thinking when we were going to walk into Costco, we're going to see summer stuff. We're going to be reminded of all the cool summer things to do. No, I was instantly reminded about, you need to start planning for Halloween and you need to buy everything now because, like, it's in your face. And do we get mad at the big box companies that do that? Like, they're unapologetic about it because they have, they have a company to run, they have overhead, they're wanting to market well so that you can buy everything out. And they do that so well. So why can't we as small business owners act like we're a big box? Like, we have to have the big box company mentality and help paint a picture ahead of time so that our clients can be like, oh, I, I need. You're not manipulating them, you're just like helping them see. Like, you're gonna either need this or you can refer this to somebody who will need this in a couple of months.
Dolly DeLong [00:22:10]:
And that's what you do during your pre launch stage. Like, you're essentially and like showcasing your expertise. You're showcasing testimonials, you're showcasing frequently asked questions. You're showcasing their objections before you actually tell them. This is My, this is what I have to sell. Um, so if you're wondering, if you're listening in, how do I create eight weeks of content without telling them, hey, I'm going to sell this? Like you are painting a visual picture leading up to your actual launch. And that's kind of like what the big box companies do in July for Halloween. And now like literally Halloween was last week and now they, they're not thinking about Thanksgiving, they're, they're show casing Christmas.
Dolly DeLong [00:23:01]:
So now all my boys talk about is Christmas. I'm like, great. Like now I need to worry about that. But big we need to have that. If I believe with our marketing we should have that big box company mentality of really like helping cast a vision for the next quarter, for the next two quarters, very intentionally.
Amy [00:23:23]:
Yeah. It is all about being intentional, about taking that pause to really assess what is that bigger picture. Because it's easy to get wrapped up in the day to day. It's easy to be like, I don't feel inspired today. Like you said earlier, it happens. But you know when you're in your 9 to 5, you can't just go, you know, I'm just not feeling it today. I'm not going to show up and do any work. No, you have to keep putting in the work to get the results.
Amy [00:23:47]:
And that's what launching comes down to. It's just being proactive and planning and a lot of this, once you've done it once, twice, three times, you keep documenting as you go and you make those small little tweaks. Are there any systems that you like to use on the back end? Because I use Google Sheets a lot. I use Monday when I'm collaborating with different people. What do you like to use? What's in your toolbox?
Dolly DeLong [00:24:14]:
Yeah. So definitely Trello is my go to project management tool of choice. First, like, first of all, it's free for the first ten boards are free. So if you are a small business owner listening in and you're wanting to get started with a project management tool, try Trello. I think ClickUp offers a free base as well. Asana is free, but Trello is my go to because I can make the board visually really pretty and then hand it off to my clients so that they know like every phase broken down. And I love it. And I always start like what you were saying.
Dolly DeLong [00:24:51]:
It's really important to document everything because you think that you're going to remember every single emotion and everything that happened during this past launch. You're not going to, you like, it's so important to have that documentation so that you can look back and see, okay, what went well, what didn't go well, what could I tweak? What, what should I repeat? And if you're wondering, will people notice? No, nobody's gonna notice. Like, except your super fans. And your super fans will, like, cheer you on. They're not gonna question you and be like, well, Amy, you already did that.
Amy [00:25:31]:
Yep.
Dolly DeLong [00:25:32]:
How dare you try that again. They're gonna be like, oh, my gosh, I'm so excited she's doing this.
Amy [00:25:37]:
Right?
Dolly DeLong [00:25:38]:
Yeah, exactly.
Amy [00:25:39]:
Nobody's paying attention.
Dolly DeLong [00:25:41]:
Nobody's paying attention. And I just. So I encourage business owners to start documenting their processes through a project management tool and process. There are so many different processes within your business. There's a financial process, there's lead gen process, there is a marketing process. So think of this process as your launching process. So what is your launching workflow going to look like? So that start there and then another system I strongly encourage you to dive into is like, we hinted at this earlier. We talk about, we talked about this, but your email marketing process, like, I am a big proponent of growing out your email list year round and being very mindful of who you're talking to, who you're serving, like, how consistent you are.
Dolly DeLong [00:26:32]:
Do I think you should be emailing your list every day? Like, if you want to, go for it, but I think a really good pulse is once a week. That's a good cadence. And then, because when you launch, you're going to have to pick up that cadence. I mean, you don't have to. But as a launch strategist, I recommend, I highly recommend that. And then, and you need your audience to already be used to seeing your name on a weekly basis on the cadence. And if you're like, I don't want to annoy them, I like, again, again, you have to, you're going to have to overcome that mindset because your name needs to be associated with that area of expertise. You need to be seen as that go to reference in a trusted resource.
Dolly DeLong [00:27:22]:
And if you're just popping in just to sell, that's going to feel ick. But if you're popping in every week with a cadence with like, serve and to help and like, yes, you can sell too. Like, it's going to, it's going to feel more natural versus just popping in to sell.
Amy [00:27:41]:
Yeah, it takes the ick out of it because you're serving, you're providing value, and that's what's positioning you as the authority in your space. And you're absolutely right. It's a whole mindset thing about I don't want to be a bother. I think, yes, you can go overboard. I will not. I always talk about the time that I was looking at my emails. I bought something from the children's place and I looked at my emails and I'm like, they're emailing me a lot. Yes, a lot.
Amy [00:28:09]:
And I looked, I got 10 emails in one day. I was like, okay, you're done. Unsubscribe. Like, but that's the thing. People can opt out. If they're annoyed, then they can opt out. And that's okay. It means nothing about you or the value you provide or you're worth.
Amy [00:28:27]:
But again, it's just information. It's data that you can use. So I think once a week is a perfect cadence to start with because you're right during launch, then you will have to ramp that up because we do need to remain top of mind. We have to be loud and it's okay to do that. And so thank you so much for that. Now, before we wrap up, the one thing I want to talk about is you talked about the post launch and I think this is the most forgotten yet, one of the most crucial parts to the launch. And you alluded to some of the things that you do. But I would love for you to dive in a little bit deeper as to what does your post launch process look like.
Amy [00:29:08]:
Because it's a goal mine of information that often we're just leaving on the table.
Dolly DeLong [00:29:14]:
Oh yeah, we're leaving on the table. Sometimes we're so exhausted after launching emotionally, sometimes even physically because we've been on for depending upon how long our cart open. Let's say it was like eight days. We're on for eight days on social media and physically and like our body is just now crashing and we're like, I don't even want to think about anything. And even if it was a good launch versus like a not so not, I'm saying this in quotes, didn't get go as successful. But this is, the post launch is something that so many business owners neglect. And it's something I'm guilty of in the past because I've been like so emotionally drained that I'm like, I don't even want to face, like I don't want to face any of these questions. So I, I.
Dolly DeLong [00:30:03]:
And it's different for Black Friday too. I will say. Black Friday is coming up and I sent out a post launch document to my clients and to my students and I'm like, this will take you 10 minutes to do after your Black Friday sale. That's it. So I'll go through them really fast. So for a Black Friday launch, for example, I encourage if to look through all of the emails that you sent out. Like even like your purposeful pre launch emails that were Black Friday intended. Go through them, see what the click through rate was, see what your open rate was, see if like your unsubscribe rate was.
Dolly DeLong [00:30:42]:
See what your subject lines are and like map it out in a spreadsheet. Super free. It's free. Free 99 right there. This will take you literally 10 to 15 minutes tops. After you see all that then you can go down a list of questions like what was my number one opened email for the Black Friday like this Black Friday promotional period? It might have been due to the subject line. So that you're putting on your investigative like you're getting out your magnifying glass and you're really taking a look. Okay, this, this timing worked really well.
Dolly DeLong [00:31:19]:
Or this subject line worked very well. Or this email was very popular. File that away for 2024 and then that way when you start making your promotional period for Black Friday for next year you can like look back and say okay, this didn't work but this worked and I'm going to retweak it anyways. Another thing is what day did people buy the most? Write that down. Did you make your good better invest goal? Like which, which goal did you make? How do you feel? Like how do you feel after all this? Write it all out and then next year it will impact the way you show up for your launch. To take it a step further, for all of your launches I would recommend you set up your Google. They always Change their name. GA4 tracking early on in the pre launch planning phase on all of the important pages that are involved in like from like lead gen all the way to the CART checkout page.
Dolly DeLong [00:32:25]:
Because that's going to tell a story to you if you don't know how to do it. Google, let's say you have Showit as your website host. How to set up Google Analytics tracking on Showit? It's all there on YouTube. It's just up to you to how you're going to like when you're going to implement it. Implement the data collection early on because you cannot retroactively collect data. I will say that. So make sure that's set up. So make sure that you're seeing okay, how many people landed on my landing page versus how many converted over to that lead magnet.
Dolly DeLong [00:33:05]:
And then from that lead magnet, how many people, like, stayed on my nurture sequence that led into my launch? And what did the. Like, you're literally looking at the client journey from start to finish and all the data, all the pages, and that sounds really overwhelming. So you can just start off with, like, how many people landed on your sales page and then how many people bought. What was the conversion rate in that? And then you can make tweaks to your copy. You can make tweaks to small tweaks to the visuals. You can make small tweaks to, like, by implementing hotjar on the back end of your sales page to see, like, the user experience. Like, it's really cool. Like, to track where people clicked.
Dolly DeLong [00:33:56]:
You can make tweaks to the call to action buttons. But this, these are, like, small tweaks that you adjust over time. So that's why a lot of people don't do it, because it takes time. And yeah, like, the. This is all, like, data analysis and feeling analysis. And that's why people just glaze over the post launch, because it's more fun to just go jump into the next shiny object in the next promotional period versus taking a day and, like, assessing what went well and what didn't go well.
Amy [00:34:31]:
Yeah, absolutely. And that's what separates a true business from just a side hustle that you're running on a whim. Like, this is how you build a business. You strategically leverage that data. And I think curiosity as a business owner is one of the most undervalued assets that we have. And this data is allowing us to get curious and, like you said, make those small little adjustments. And that's going to help us make our next launch even bigger because we're finding the gaps, we're identifying, we're able to make those small tweaks in real time. And that's what's going to lead us to the results that we want.
Amy [00:35:14]:
Dolly, I could talk to you about this all day long. You have been amazing. Thank you so much for being here. Make sure you guys check out the show notes. We have an awesome freebie linked up from Dolly down there. And get into her world. She is just a guru at what she does. So thank you, Dolly, for being here today.
Dolly DeLong [00:35:36]:
Thank you. And you are also. Right back at you. All the positive words back tattoo, a thank you.
Amy [00:35:43]:
All right, until next time. Cheers to making the money you want so you can create the impact you desire.
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