My clients call me the launch queen. I love launching, and I love teaching my clients how to launch.    In January 2021, I finally achieved my launch goal of $1M, and in this episode, I want to share with you what I did and specifically what I did differently from the other launches that I’ve done in the past seven years, which have made me over $8M in revenue.    “A small plane needs a short runway, a big plane a long runway – if you want your launches to grow and become bigger, you need to have a longer runway.” - Sigrun   If you’re more of a reader, scroll down to read my 12 launch lessons from a 7 figure launch.    In this Episode of The Sigrun Show: Launching: A mix between art and science (2:22) My first launches (4:00) The 7 figure launch that didn’t happen (9:40)  Having a long launch runway (11:59)  Having a VIP notification list (13:42) Creating a desire for another program (15:11) Social selling (16:44) Mixing free and paid offers (19:17) Getting your leads in early (20:42) Getting people to sign up twice (22:19) The importance of FB ads (23:29) Sending lots of emails (25:07) Using Facebook groups (26:26) Offering sales calls (28:26) Working with affiliate partners (30:06)   12 Launch Lessons from a 7 Figure Launch   #1 A long launch runway A small plane needs a short runway, a big plane a long runway. If you want your launches to grow and become bigger, you need to have a longer runway. This means having more time with your ideal client and creating multiple touchpoints. These can be free content (podcast episodes, blog posts), free training where you might not sell anything or sell something different, or paid training. Having people sign up with you again and again or click through to valuable content creates a bigger connection to you.    During your runway, you’ll be talking about your program, but you’re not selling it – you’re seeding it, creating a desire for it, so that when you open cart, your ideal clients are ready and want to buy it.    #2 Having a VIP notification list Instead of calling your waitlist “waitlist”, give it an exciting name. I called it “VIP notification list”. “Waitlist” sounds like you’re waiting for something and then you have to buy it. People aren’t very eager to sign up for it. But if you call it a VIP list and tell them that by signing up they’ll be the first to know when you open up the program, plus they’ll get a bonus, it’s much more exciting for them.    #3 Selling multiple offers during your launch runway You can sell multiple offers during your launch runway – as long as you’re not selling the offer you eventually want to sell during open cart. When someone isn’t interested in the program you’re launching, they might be interested in another program you’re offering.    #4 Social selling Social selling is building a 1-1 relationship and being a valued partner when the doors open to your program. A lot of people have experienced a sleazy way of social selling – a friend request on Facebook or LinkedIn perhaps, that is immediately followed by a message with a link to sign up or buy something. That’s not what you should do. I’m talking about asking the participants in your launch training to send you a message. If they do that, they have essentially opened up the door and you can start to have a conversation. If people no longer respond to your messages, you just stop. It’s about creating back-and-forth interaction.    # 5 Mixing free and paid offers By offering free and paid training, you create more opportunities for your ideal client to experience how it is to work with you, and to express their interest in what you can offer. You will get closer to your ideal client, and they can get ready to buy once you open up the door to your program.    # 6 Get your leads in early You typically grow your leads during your launch runway and you’ll have most of your email addresses at the end, relatively close to your open cart. But remember: The more time you have with people, the higher your conversion, the bigger your launch. If you’ve been launching and getting your leads very late, consider flipping it around and getting your leads way ahead of time. It will give you more time with your ideal client.    #7 Get people to sign up twice A lot of people focus only on getting people to sign up for their launch training. If you have enough time, offer something else first. Create a freebie that is connected to your launch training but is still separate. This could be a PDF, an ebook, a checklist, or webinar. Then have a live webinar for the actual open cart. Having people sign up twice makes them more likely to buy.    #8 Facebook Ads Facebook ads are still the best way to get a lot of leads in little time. They’re not easy to handle and get more and more challenging. You need to understand them and once you do, you can have an ads team running them. If you’re looking to make a multiple six figure or seven figure launch, you should definitely have a FB ads expert on your side.    #9 Send a lot of emails Emails are still the winner when it comes to selling in a launch. Be willing to send a lot of them. With over 12’000 people on my launch list and sending lots of emails (5 alone on closed-cart day), I only received one complaint. People typically just unsubscribe, and if they do, that’s great. These are people who didn’t want to buy from you anyways. If they’re interested in something else, they’ll follow you on social media. The emails are for people who are interested in your product.     #10 Use a Facebook group for your launches Most of the people who end up buying my programs have been in my launch Facebook group. I use the same free group and it’s mostly active during launches. That’s why I warm it up well before a launch, offering something that they can sign up for during the launch runway, about one month before the actual launch training. Then I invite them into the Facebook group and make sure there’s activity there.    #11 Offer sales calls In the past, I made the mistake of offering sales calls too early. A lot of people who didn’t need a call ended up booking one just to chat. They had already decided to buy the program, but wanted the call just because it was offered. Now, I started offering sales calls only during the last two days of open cart. Basically, it’s offering a call to the fence-sitters and helping them evaluate if the program is a fit for them or not.    #12 Work with affiliates Affiliate partners are typically current or previous students and it’s through their success stories that people are inclined to sign up for a launch training and eventually buy a program. But because I mainly work with students, they usually don’t have big email lists yet and therefore I can’t expect too many sales from each partner. That’s why it’s important to have more partners, but again also not to many, because running an affiliate program is a big task and you need to have time for it. For this launch, I used direct messaging to each individual partner, and the affiliate who made the most sales won a retreat with me. Having exciting prices for your partners can make them do a lot more and have more sales than you would think is possible.    What was your key take-away from this episode? Send me a DM on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you!   12 Days of Masterclasses for FREE! Ho ho ho! I have a gift for you! Not just one but 12 gifts for the 12 Days of Christmas. I’m inviting you to join our annual tradition, 12 Days of Masterclasses for free. The masterclasses are on a variety of topics in online business everything from mindset to marketing and sales and how to scale your online business to 6 and 7 figures. Now go ahead and grab your gifts by going to www.sigrun.com/12gifts