The Launch Mistakes To Avoid On Your Next Promotion
I've helped over a dozen course creators and service providers have their first six-figure launch. I've been part of several seven-figure launches. So when I tell you I'm watching some of my friends and clients make the same fixable mistakes over and over right now, I mean I neeeeed you to pay attention and avoid these tiny mistakes that are crushing your launch goals.
Don’t be a seasoned business owner making rookie mistakes. Got it? Good. Let’s get started.
I'm breaking this down into three phases: pre-launch, active launch, and post-launch. Pick a couple of these to focus on in your next launch, and you'll feel the difference.
Your Launch Starts Weeks Before Cart Opens
People come to me asking, "What launch emails do I need?" And they mean the sales emails. Those matter, but your launch starts 4 to 6 weeks before cart opens.
By the way: I have a list of every launch email you need!
Use code PODCAST to get it for $1
Here's what you should be doing in that window:
1. Build your list first.
Get your freebie out there. Show up in front of your ideal audience, whether that's guest teaching, stories, reels, or TikTok. If you're launching primarily off your email list, you need a serious lead generation push during this window, not after.
In my most successful launch, 70 percent of buyers had been on my list for less than six weeks. Of that group, 20 percent had been on the list for less than a week before they bought. You don't need a huge runway. You need consistent visibility.
List swaps and joint bundles work especially well here because they build brand recognition with your future affiliates, which means more authority by association once they start promoting you.
2. Build Authority, Not Just an Audience
Building your list gets people in the door. Building authority gets them to trust you enough to buy. A few ways to do this:
Compare yourself to the obvious alternative (it shows you know the landscape)
Talk about design or strategy specifics inside your topic, not just the topic itself
Tell client success stories (people trust social proof more than claims)
Bust common myths in your space
Talk openly about your philosophy and what makes you different
Just don't give away what belongs behind your paywall.
3. Start talking in multiple places
If you're only showing up on email or social media, you're missing people. Only about 40 percent of your list opens any given email, and a single social post might only reach a couple hundred people unless the algorithm is feeling generous.
The fix is repetition across platforms. Say the same thing on email and Instagram and wherever else your audience lives. You'll feel like a broken record. That's the point.
Bonus points: show your face
The "eight touches before someone buys" rule I learned in marketing school doesn't hold up anymore. We're more cluttered and more skeptical than that model accounted for. Plan for more touches, and making them as high-quality as possible.
4. Give People Face Time Before They Buy
This is the mistake I'm seeing most right now: people building a list, then never showing up live in front of it.
That means showing your face on Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn. It also means giving people a webinar or workshop before you ask them to buy. I'm seeing people with successful webinar launch histories ditch their webinars because they assume their audience already knows them.
That assumption doesn't hold. Lists grow. People forget. People change. Trust gets rebuilt every launch, not banked from the last one.
NOTE: If building out a full pre-launch webinar or workshop strategy feels like a lot to take on solo, this is exactly the kind of strategy work I help clients map out before copy gets written. Reach out here if you want a second set of eyes.
5. Send More Reminder Emails to Your Launch Event
If your launch event is a webinar, workshop, or mixer, one confirmation email isn't enough. Send at least four emails leading up to it. People (especially us millennials) love a canceled plan and a "I'll catch the replay" mentality. More touches means more people showing up live, which means more people you get to pitch to.
Grab the Webinar Show-Up Email Templates & increase your show-up rate!
During Open Cart: Send More Emails Than Feels Comfortable
Send at least three emails on day one, two a day during the rest of open cart, and four on the last day. For a typical week-long cart, that's around 20 emails total.
Yes, that sounds like a lot. No, your unsubscribe rate won't spike the way you think. People who don't want your emails will leave. The people who stay are your buyers.
And remember, you can always grab my outlines of those emails here (use code PODCAST to get it for $1).
Every sales email also needs a clear, clickable button. Not just a link buried in text. People need to see exactly where to click.
This is what I mean by in-text link
Push Through the Pit of Despair
If your cart is open Monday through Friday, expect the slowest sales day to land mid-week. That's normal. Most of my clients see the bulk of their sales on day one and the final day, no matter how big the launch is.
In fact, this is how the sales looked in my last launch:
The mistake is panicking on that middle day and pulling back. Keep pitching. Keep showing up live, doing Q&As, sharing social proof, and giving people face time. The dip is part of the curve, not a sign to stop.
Don't Disappear After Cart Closes
The worst thing you can do post-launch is go dark. People who were warm but didn't buy will read your silence as "they only cared about the sale."
Instead:
Upsell your new buyers (VIP add-ons, one-on-one offers)
Downsell to people who didn't buy (payment plans, a scaled-down version)
Remind your audience of your other offers
Consider a launch debrief email. People are nosy, and this kind of transparency builds genuine connection
Roll out the red carpet for your new clients with a strong onboarding sequence
Key Takeaways
Launches don't fail because of one big mistake. They fail because of small, fixable gaps at every stage. Build your list and authority early. Show up in more than one place. Give people genuine face time. Send more emails than feels comfortable. Push through the quiet middle days. And don't vanish the second cart closes.
If you want help building out the emails, sales page, or overall strategy for your next launch, grab the Forgotten Launch Emails checklist for $1 with code PODCAST:
And if your CTAs aren't converting, the Clickable AF CTAs swipe file is a good place to start:
Listen to the full episode at the links above for more on each of these, and let me know on Instagram which mistake you're fixing first.
Helpful Resources:
Forgotten Launch Emails checklist (use code PODCAST): https://nomadcopyagency.thrivecart.com/launch-emails-checklist
Webinar Show-Up Email Templates: https://nomadcopyagency.thrivecart.com/webinar-show-up-emails-template/
Clickable AF CTAs swipe file: https://nomadcopyagency.thrivecart.com/clickable-af-ctas/
Work with Sam: https://nomadcopyagency.com/contact
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomad.copy
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