“Your business is built on a series of launches. The strategies and tools that we use to fill digital courses doesn’t only apply to digital courses. I’ve helped clients fill up live retreats and year long programs, in-person programs.” - Destinee Berman
You’ve heard the word “launch” before but are you curious how it can be applied in your yoga business?
I received questions about this once I documented one of my launches here on the podcast - check out episodes 9, 11, 12 & 13. - and in this episode we’re digging into how the launching process can apply to your yoga business.
I interviewed launching expert, Destinee Berman, and had so much fun talking with her about her signature process: The Skinny Launch Method™.
So often a launch of a new offering can feel overwhelming and complicated but Destinee breaks it down and makes it simple. I love it! And I know you will too. Let’s dig in!
What is a “launch”?
“In the software space, a product launch or even a book launch, it’s a one-time thing. What’s funny is that in the digital course space, a launch is repeated.” - Destinee Berman
In the digital world, we often hear about a “launch” as something that happens for a digital product: a course or digital files delivered. But this can also apply to an in-person offering or a specialty workshop you’re hosting on a quarterly basis.
The key is to think about when registration is open for your yoga offering as a “launch” and this can happen many times, not just once. You can have multiple launches of the same program/product/offering several times in a year.
“We think a launch is a one-time event but it really can be repeatable and scalable and leveraged.” - Destinee Berman
Destinee further defines a launch into two parts:
Pre Launch Period - before someone can register for the offering
Enrollment Period - when registration is open
The other term you might hear thrown around when it comes to launches is the idea of an “evergreen launch”.
An evergreen launch means that you can enroll people in that particular offering 24/7. There isn’t an open and close date. It’s always open.
Launching Different Yoga Offers
“Your business is built on a series of launches. The strategies and tools that we use to fill digital courses doesn’t only apply to digital courses. I’ve helped clients fill up live retreats and year long programs, in-person programs.” - Destinee Berman
I really enjoyed when Destinee referred to your business being built on a series of launches. It helps put this into perspective because that’s truly what will happen for you.
If you offer a specialty workshop a few times a year, some group classes and private sessions, these are all “launched” and focused on at different times and that helps you build your yoga business.
Look back at the past year in your business and identify the different times you launched something new in your business. Even if you didn’t consider it a launch when you were going through it, that’s exactly what it was.
Systemizing Your Launch
“What I find that’s beautiful about this process is you get to leverage the assets you produce for each launch and typically you’ll use 70-80% of the emails and sales page that you made so you don’t have to redo everything.” - Destinee Berman
There are ways to automate things to make it easier and easier each time around and we highly recommend that you use this process. Simply writing your emails in a Google Document so you can easily copy and paste it into your email service the next time you’re launching that workshop or class will save you time.
Same thing with social media posts! When you capture these in a digital file (like a Google Document or Spreadsheet) you can easily reuse that content so you aren’t starting over each time. This saves you time and energy plus as you learn more about your audience you can find what words work better and use more of those posts each time.
“When people look at the ROI of one launch, personally, I think that’s a mistake. It’s really at least two launches in terms of what you’re investing when you’re looking at ROI, that’s really where the magic starts to happen.” - Destinee Berman
Please keep this in mind! Repeat the launch of an offering so you can learn and make more money the second time around. This will help you get better at offering that particular offering and each time will be more successful!
The Skinny Launch Method™
Destinee’s signature launch method is based on the ideas of the Minimum Viable Product and The Lean Startup Methods. If you aren’t familiar with these methods you can read more about them but the idea is to keep things simple.
“We try to overcomplicate things.” - Destinee Berman
We can all fall into this trap of trying to overcomplicate things because there are a lot of options we have. With all the tech possibilities and all the things we see other people doing, it’s easy to fall into this.
Destinee breaks down launching into 2 phases in her Skinny Launch Method™:
Phase 1: The Pre-Launch Phase
Get Clear On Your Offer and Your Audience
You have to know who you’re speaking to and really understanding how much you’ve nurtured your audience up until this point is critical too.
“This is 70-80% of the launch method. People think that the launch itself is the enrollment and sales part but that’s really 20%. If you set up the pre-launch phase correctly, that’s what’s going to set you up for success.” - Destinee Berman
Is your offer clear?
Is your offer needed?
Is the audience with whom you’re speaking to clear?
How actively are you building and nurturing?
Phase 2: The Launch Phase
Sales and Enrollment
You can also have upsells and downsells during this time as well but you don’t need to start here, you can add this later.
What Is A Successful Launch?
“It starts with little bite-sized successes. You don’t need to have a 6-figure launch for it to mean anything.” - Destinee Berman
It’s so easy to see what others are sharing online and feel like we need to make X amount of money in order to be successful. But success is relative and you need to know what success looks like for your yoga businesses specifically. If 5 people in a workshop is enough for you the first time around, that’s success!
“What are the true expenses? What have you invested in a team and advertising so you understand the ROI of this launch and then if you look at the over two launches, does that change your goals and your numbers.” - Destinee Berman
If you don’t have a lot of overhead expenses (team costs, paid advertising, etc.) then I suggest you come up with your success number by knowing what your hourly rate is and calculating what you need to make in order to make it worth your time.
Example:
If you’re teaching a 2-hour workshop and your hourly rate is $100 per hour, that means I want you to make a minimum of $200 for the workshop.
If you price the workshop at $50, you will need a minimum of 4 students in the workshop.
“Then look at the emotional aspect of it. Why am I telling myself that I absolutely need this number? Am I trying to force an outcome? Am I trying to create false security? Am I trying to create false control over the situation?” - Destinee Berman
Set your expectations
“For some people, having 5 people in your first launch is a massive success. And for some people if you were going for 50 people in that first launch and you ended up with 5, I can understand why that would be a roller coaster and why it would feel extremely disappointing.” - Destinee Berman
You need to be honest with yourself about where you and your business are in this moment so you can set realistic expectations for yourself. Review your audience size AND engagement to help you set your goals because the quality and engagement of your audience matters.
“A 500 person email list that’s built off advertising versus a 500 person list built organically from people who’ve attended your past workshops and retreats have a different weight.” - Destinee Berman
The Launch Stat You Want To Know
“The industry standard is what you want to aim for and that’s 1% of your list size.” - Destinee Berman
While this can definitely vary based on the size and engagement of your audience, this is the benchmark you can use to set goals before you have more experience with this.
Example:
If your email list is 100 people, plus 300 on social media, that’s a total of 400 people
1% of 400 is 4 people.
If you need 4 people in your workshop to have it “filled” then you’re on track but if you need more students, it’s important to focus on growing your audience.
“Understanding how your list was built, who is on that list, and how that list fits with the offer that you’re launching will be key to know how many people end up enrolling. And of course how clear you’re putting that offer out there.” - Destinee Berman
Your next step
Decide what you want to launch in the next 3 months in your yoga business and make a plan to make it happen! Follow Destinee’s advice to keep it simple and finish strong.
Until next time give yourself permission to launch and grace along the way! I’ll talk to you soon!
About Destinee
Destinee Berman is a modern marketer, host of Own Your Calling Summit, and a seven figure launch strategist for experts and educators. With 15 years of marketing experience in Silicon Valley with clients like Twitter, HP and Microsoft -- she left to step into her calling in 2014. She has since launched dozens of digital schools in the personal growth and spiritual self-help markets, generating 15M in revenue the last 5 years. Her passion is helping experts multiply their impact and income through the power and scale of digital courses.
Destinee's Links:
Website - www.destineeberman.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/desberman/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/destineeberman/
Which Mistake Is Stopping You?
After working with hundreds of yoga teachers, I've found 3 common mistakes that keep you from filling your yoga offerings -- no matter what the offering is. Which mistake are you making? Take the quiz to find out!
