If the word “launch” makes your shoulders creep up towards your ears, you’re definitely not alone.

When most of us picture a launch, we picture webinars, challenges, countdown timers, an inbox full of emails and weeks of being chained to the laptop. For a lot of highly sensitive and heart centred coaches, that picture alone is enough to make us decide launching just isn’t for us.
I get it, because that’s exactly how I used to feel. I also had this belief that launches were for the big, shiny coaches making loads of money, and I couldn’t see how one could possibly help my business.

Then I started putting launches into practice (back in 2016, when I was working as a health coach) and honestly, it was one of the key things that shifted my business into a whole new place. It supported my income, it increased the number of people I worked with, and it changed how I showed up. Running launches in a professional, strategic way helped me see my business as something really legit.

Launching might still not be for you by the end of this post, and that’s completely fine. But I’d love to dispel a few myths first, because I think a lot of coaches are put off for reasons that just don’t need to be true.

Listen to this episode on The Wholehearted Business Show Podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts / Listen on Spotify

Why do highly sensitive coaches dislike launching?

There are a few reasons launching can feel uncomfortable when you’re sensitive:

• The picture in our heads. We imagine the big, high-pressure version of a launch and assume that’s the only way.
• Past burnout. Maybe you’ve tried a launch before and it left you exhausted, or the results didn’t feel worth the bother. Maybe it felt like you did too little, or way too much.
• The extra visibility. Launching usually means showing up more, which can feel like a lot.
• Sending more emails. Being “more in people’s faces” can feel deeply uncomfortable.
• Our relationship with selling. Launching is really an extension of sales, and lots of us carry plenty of stuff around how we feel about selling.

Not every launch is going to be amazing, and that’s okay. You refine the way you launch by actually doing it.

But here’s the thing. When we avoid launching altogether, it creates a different problem. Selling can start to feel random and uncontained. If you feel like you’re having to actively sell all of the time, that can actually be more taxing on your nervous system than a launch would be.

Sometimes we need containers, defined windows of time where we show up and sell actively, and then step back into more passive selling. Launching can play really beautifully into that.

What is a launch, really?

Let’s strip it right back. A launch is simply:

A defined period of time where you make a specific invitation to people.

That’s it. Literally, that’s all a launch is.

When I start planning any launch, I ask myself two questions: What’s the window of time? And what’s the specific invitation I’m making?

If selling makes you a bit antsy, it can help to remember that all you’re doing is saying, “Hey, I’ve got this thing. Do you want it? Come and get it.”

Most launches tend to have three parts:

• A warm-up phase (this one’s optional)
• A cart open phase, or open window
• The close

What’s completely optional are things like webinars, challenges and live events. These conversion events can add to the success of a launch, but you don’t need them to have success. If you’re not in a season with extra capacity, you can leave them out entirely.

Launches also don’t have to go on for weeks on end. One, two or three weeks max is plenty, and you can even launch within a single week if you want to.

How to plan a chill launch, step by step

1. Find a window when you have capacity

Before anything else, look at your calendar and what’s going on in your life. You don’t need loads of extra capacity (we’ll tailor the launch to what you’ve got), but you will need some. School holidays might not be the best time, for example (although I have done it, because I prepped everything beforehand). Choose your window.

2. Choose one offer

Get really focused on the single offer you’re going to sell. Some people try to sell several things in one launch, but to keep it simple and chill, stick to one.

3. Use the content you already create

Your launch content can tap straight into your existing marketing. I create episodes of the show around the theme of whatever I’m launching (and yes, this episode ties into a launch I’m in the middle of right now). Think about the content you already make and how you can angle it towards the themes of the thing you’re selling.

4. Write your emails

You’ll want some kind of email list, though it doesn’t need to be big. If you’re short on time, you can launch with just three emails. Tailor it to the time you have, and if you’ve got more time, you can do more. You don’t have to.

5. Have somewhere to send people

A sales page, a booking link, somewhere people can actually say yes to your invitation.

6. Decide whether you want a conversion event

A webinar, live training, or a three or five day challenge are all options. I’ve done all of these at some point and learnt lots about what works for me. But they’re a choice, not a requirement.

7. Make your end date a real end date

Use urgency appropriately. Choose your end date and stick to it rather than moving it around.

8. Plan your recovery in advance

If you know a bigger launch will have some impact on your nervous system (and that’s okay, it’s fine to be stretched outside our comfort zone sometimes), plan your recovery before you start. Book a spa day. Book something lovely for the end. You’re allowed!
So essentially: choose your window, plan what you’ll create, create it, schedule it, send it, done. You can even create all your launch content in a single day.

What launching looks like in my business

My most recent launch for Wholehearted Business® was a bigger one, around four weeks including the warm-up content, the webinar, cart open and cart close. And it was genuinely chill.

One day in the middle of it, I went hiking for the whole day. On another, I sat on the tattoo table for three hours getting my new tattoo. At no point did I feel under pressure or stressed out, because I’ve learnt how to launch in a way that works for me.
You also don’t need a group programme or a course to launch. You can absolutely launch a coaching offer.

I’m not going to promise you a launch with zero discomfort. If launching makes you go “ugh”, you’ll probably feel a little bit of that. But there are so many time effective, efficient ways to launch, and with the right plan and strategy underneath it, launching can actually be a lot of fun. I genuinely love it.

Thinking about launching for January?

For health and life coaches, there’s a seasonal uptick going into January, which makes right now a great time to plan a launch. I’ve got something coming very soon to help you do exactly that (I’m going to make you wait for the details!). If you want first dibs, just drop me a message on Instagram or join my email list and I’ll make sure you hear about it first.

And if you’re interested in how launching and sales fit into the bigger picture of your whole business, come and check out Wholehearted Business® and pop yourself on the waitlist. That’s where we put all of these pieces together, holistically.

I hope this has shown you that launching can be so much chiller than you might believe. 💖

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