So here’s the thing, not all launches are a roaring success. But less-than-great launches can teach you a LOT. Hint - one of my secrets to success is PERSISTENCE, especially when things fail. 

September is my “launch month” where I’m sharing all my launch experience, resources and tips - and yes, even my crappy launches. 

I am a born marketer (I started my first business at 9) but even I had to actually learn how to do launches. Too many people try and reinvent the wheel - but luckily, I was smart enough to invest in learning how to do this.  

There’s someone I want to introduce you to -  my launch mentor Jeff Walker. His Product Launch Formula taught me everything I know about launching and it’s a system we use for every marketing campaign in my business.

We’ve shared lots of articles about our big launches, including this one about our first $1m launch, but today I’ve got something different. 

I’m going to walk you through our WORST-ever launch and three big mistakes we made along the way, so you can avoid these potholes. 

Launch Results

Normally I’m known for my Money Bootcamp but two years ago, I created a course that combined business, marketing and personality profiles. 

The first launch results: 300 people join the course and $345,000 revenue. 

Goal for second launch: at least 200+ sales and $250k revenue. Yes, a lower target but we were experimenting with no affiliates and lower ad spend. 

We’ll dig into the reasons soon, but let’s just say things didn’t go to plan. 

We didn’t even hit half of our target - 89 people joined and $90,000 revenue. 

Now I don’t want to sound like a douche here, a $90k launch is incredible and that’s a significant amount of money. 

But this launch under-performed. For our list size, our results should have been way closer to our target. 

Our conversion rate fell by over 60% compared to the previous launch to only 0.37% - yep, that meant 1 sale for every 300 leads - not great. 

Mistake 1 - Unclear promise / Messaging

This is one of the most important aspects of a launch and how you market your product. 

Whatever you’re selling must have a clear promise - an easy to understand benefit, that the customer can achieve with your help. 

I LOVED this course. LOVED the material. And it’s the exact type of thing I would have loved to buy myself. Marketing, business AND personality profiling is right up my alley. 

But the promise wasn’t clear enough. It was too vague and not exciting enough to understand why it was important. 

A confused mind says no. 

We needed to work harder to differentiate the product from our existing programs and add more business-focused content (which we did in later launches to good success). 

The pre-launch content was focused on a quiz (which again I LOVE) but there were so many questions, and then a ton of value afterwards that people felt they didn’t need to take the next step and join the course. 

The complex message also meant we had to spend a good chunk of money getting people back to the sales page and working hard to sell the course. 

We spent over $30,000 on ads for this launch which would have been ok for a $200k+ launch but at $90k it massively impacted profitability. 

Where can you simplify your message and have a crystal clear compelling promise? 

Mistake 2 - Overcomplicated pricing 

On top of an unclear “why” message we also overcomplicated the pricing of the course and multiple deadlines. 

We had a webinar price with a midnight deadline. Then an early bird price with another deadline. Then the final full price with yet another deadline. CONFUSING!! 

Almost no one joined at full price. The three different deadline promotions and price points confused people. On top of this there were also multiple payment plan options. 

A confused mind says no. 

Mark went to a mastermind with Jeff Walker at his secret headquarters in Colorado after this launch to review why it bombed - so many learnings. 

We now launch with one price, one clear close cart deadline and maybe a webinar or fast action bonus to kick things off well at the start. 

Could confusing pricing be creating a barrier for your customers? 

Mistake 3 - Promoting two things at once

The final big mistake during this launch was that we had a split focus. We had two overlapping promotions too close together.

Every launch needs air to breathe. You need to give, give, give in between launches so your audience feels like you’re not just selling all the time. 

So we had our launch and we were also promoting someone else’s as an affiliate partner. 

The promotions were just too close - that meant too many promotional emails, and our team was busy trying to run ads, answer questions and build pages for both launches. 

We now have a simple rule of one thing at a time and where possible, one thing per month. We literally plan out our year with the big rocks - like booking out September to support Jeff’s Product Launch Formula. 

Make sure you factor in time before and after a launch - you, your team and your list need time to warm up for a launch and decompress afterwards. 

I hate failing

Yes, it sucked that a program I cared so much about failed. It was disappointing - mostly because I loved teaching it. 

But looking back, it was so obvious. We needed a clear message, simple pricing and space to breathe. 

One thing I know about launching is that you have to dust yourself off and do it again! Get back on that bike! 

xx Denise

Product Launch Formula 2025

Once a year my launch mentor Jeff Walker opens enrollment for his game-changing Product Launch Formula program and the doors will open again in September 2025.

I have personally implemented PLF in my business to generate almost $8m in revenue over the last 5 years. I've ran 15 six-figure+ launches using the Product Launch Formula including my biggest ever launch this year.

I partner with Jeff to promote PLF because I've seen the incredible impact of this system in my business and I highly recommend it to my community, customers and business contacts.  I also offer an exclusive "PLF Bonus" for anyone that joins the 2025 PLF Coaching Program through my affiliate link.

Sign up here to be on my notification list for the 2025 launch.