Sold-out launch debrief
I’m proud to say that 3 years after my first-ever attempt at this launching thing, this round of Intuitive Brand Kits was my first-ever sold out launch!
Even though I "closed" the launch early because I got really busy with client work / quotes and panicked (oops), I continued posting completed kits and talking about them casually... until the final two sold anyway 😎
To those of you who shared, commented, replied, and otherwise participated, THANK YOU so much! I couldn’t have done it without you. Word of mouth really moved this one along, to the point that I’m considering how to implement a referral program of some kind for the next round. (Cash, or discount toward your next service, around $25/referral? What would you be into?)
Since we're all online business owners here, I think it’s only fair to share what I learned and observed over the course of this month. Here’s what moved the needle for me this summer, in no particular order:
Posting my work (and tagging clients). I started posting more of my work than ever, and made a MASSIVE difference. Seems obvious, but it’s tricky to know how to present branding in a digestible post — in the past, a logo on black has never done well, so I leaned into more ~thought leadership~ style content. This time around, the key was tagging and involving my clients. Then they shared with their friends, who shared with their friends, and so on.
Quick offer = more (and easier) to post. I didn't forsee this advantage to having such a quick and compact offer. A kit only takes me a day to fulfill, which means having much more work to post than waiting for a weeks-long rebrand to conclude. Its small size easily translates into digestible reels that are quick to make. They make sharing my work fun, which fuels the above cycle.
Fun offer = excitement to sell. Brand kits are so low-stakes compared to larger client projects, and it’s gratifying to help people that previously couldn’t afford to work with me. It’s a win-win (with strong boundaries). This led me back to the JOY and excitement of signing new clients again, instead of dreading how “busy” I was about to be.
Letting myself go FAST and HARD. I went into this launch knowing it would be Hard, and I committed to doing it anyway. I started with a detailed plan, and then let myself improvise as needed. I chose to post daily content — and to skip a few days. I chose to work evenings. I chose to stop when it felt shitty. Challenging myself to accept the busy-ness and risk of burnout, which I have spent years avoiding, is what allowed me to accomplish this. Having a trip scheduled this month, which ensured I'd have time to recover, didn’t hurt either.
Focusing where people are actually engaging. For me, that meant IG and *then* Threads, and not spending hours writing launch emails that no one clicks on. In the past, I have made the most launch sales through DMs, and very few from emails. I decided not to include a workshop/“event” for the same reason. Instead, I stuck to simple opening and closing emails, and spent the rest of the launch where my people ARE, hanging out and astro-shitposting in stories and threads. Less for me to do + much more fun 🫱🏻🫲🏽
Most people bought in the evening (ET), and this is the second year that July and August are my highest-grossing months. Is it because people are more relaxed? Because I’m more relaxed? Are there significantly more west coast people in my audience? Not sure what the cause was, but these were definite trends. Write in with your theories!
Just showing up. I HATE being told to “just show up,” but here we are. When I stopped showing up where I thought I “had” to show up, when I stopped directly selling and started responding to people’s content, when I joined irrelevant conversations in new spaces and trusted that people would click through and see my work if they were interested… that was when people paid attention.
Switching from “creating” mode to “sharing” mode. You’ve probably noticed a pause in my long-form writing. That’s because I had to move from processing/contemplating/gestating mode — where writing is natural for me — into sharing/dialoguing/responding mode to talk to people and sell things. Creating and sharing require very different mindsets, and I’ve realized that I don’t easily jump between them. I wrote more about this, and it became its own beast, so stay tuned.
I’d love to hear if these ring true for you and your recent sales cycles as well. If you have questions, BE NOSY — I'd love to debrief with you. Let me know!
