Launching a new product, offer, or podcast doesn’t have to be loud, stressful, or perfectly planned. Most of us were never taught what a “launch” actually is — which is why it feels so intimidating.
In this honest, behind-the-scenes conversation, we unpack the three real ways to bring something into the world: a hard launch, a soft launch, or a reveal.
If launching has ever felt confusing, pressured, or “too much,” this episode is going to feel like an exhale.
We’re talking about:
- What a launch actually is (and why it’s simpler than you think)
- The real difference between a hard launch, a soft launch, and a reveal
- How confidence, capacity, and season shape the way we start something
- Why we chose a reveal for Smart Soulful Business
- How to choose the launch style that fits you — not the internet’s timeline
Links Mentioned:
Get Your Free Action Guide: The Launch Style Finder
Join the Smart Soulful Business Facebook Community:
www.smartbusiness.thrivecart.com/soulful-strategy-community
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Listen On:
012: Hard Launch, Soft Launch, or Reveal? How to Start Something Without the Stress
Becky Brown 0:01
If you’re a Christian woman, building a business and want it to be purposeful and profitable, we’ve got you covered. I’m Becky.
Laurie Graham 0:08
And I’m Laurie. We have both built successful businesses that we love without losing our faith, humor or our sanity. This is Smart Soulful Business.
Becky Brown 0:17
Real conversations to help your business fit your life and not the other way around. Welcome back to Smart Soulful Business. We’re Becky and Laurie, and together, we help Christian women build businesses that are soulful, strategic and sustainable.
So today’s conversation is one that is so needed. We are talking about launching, and not just the big, scary, stressful version that often we picture in our heads when we think of the term launching. But most of us were never even taught what a launch actually is, what that term means. We just hear people say, you need to launch this product or this offer, and suddenly it feels like this huge high pressure thing that we’re supposed to already know how to do.
So today, on the episode, we are going to break down the three real ways that you can bring something into the world, a hard launch, a soft launch and a reveal. And we’re going to talk about how confidence and capacity and season and even your personality shape which one you choose. So, if launching has ever felt intimidating or confusing, you are about to breathe easier. So let’s get into this conversation, and let’s start here.
A launch is simply the intentional moment that you bring an offer, a product, a new idea of yours, into the world, and you just invite people to engage with it. That’s all it is. That’s all a launch is, just here is this thing that has been in the background, and I’m putting it before you, in whatever way that looks like. So most of the stress comes from thinking that a launch has to be loud or flawless or done a certain way, like these other entrepreneurs have done it and following their checklist, I have done a whole lot of huge, hard launches. I have done some way too quiet launches where nobody even realizes that I have a new product.
Laurie Graham 2:22
I’m glad that happened to you, because I’ve done those before. I’m like, Wait, I thought I put it out there. Did no one hear me?
Becky Brown 2:27
Right? Right? Exactly. Yeah, way too quiet. Way too quiet. Not clear enough for my audience. And I’ve done softer launches. So, there really isn’t one right way, but let’s just get the conversation started. So Laurie, when was the first time that you realized, Oh, my goodness, a launch can actually look different depending on what I need and what the offer is.
Laurie Graham 2:51
It’s so true. So it took me way too long to even understand what a launch was. Becky, I don’t even know. Do you remember how many times I asked you what a launch was? You kept giving me the same answer, and I really think it took me years before I went, Oh, that’s a launch. So when you say, you know, when did you realize it could look different? I was doing launches before I knew I was doing launches. I thought you were that is true. I know it takes me a while to kind of get it, so I’m kind of glad we’re demystifying it.
But like you said, I was seeing all these big launches, and Becky, I was seeing you do big launches, like, yeah, like, three day challenges that led to a product, that led to a membership. And it just seems so big, but I already had a membership, so I went back and went, Oh, I guess I did launch that. Like, I told people about it and sold it. And I think that’s really when I started going, Oh, like, everything’s a launch. So when you hear the word launch, for me, what clicked in my head is it’s anything you’re selling that isn’t evergreen.
So if evergreen is a new term for you, Evergreen just means it’s evergreen, like the evergreen tree, like it’s always there, which means maybe you have something on your website, or maybe you have something sitting on Amazon, you know, KDP or merch or whatever, or maybe you have something that’s in an email sequence that’s automated. Those are evergreen, but anything that isn’t evergreen, whether it’s a new product or you’re relaunching something, or you have a special deal or an offer or an online conference like I do, those are all launches. So that was, yeah, helpful to me.
Becky Brown 4:25
Well, and I also want to say you can launch evergreen stuff. You can have new promotions. And when a new, when you come up with a new evergreen product, like, yeah, launching applies to a lot. And just like Laurie, there is a chance that you are currently launching and you don’t even know your launch.
Laurie Graham 4:40
Yeah, that was, that was me for a couple years. So you have good company. Okay, so Becky, what’s one moment in your business where you felt pressure of that big launch mindset, like the version that people talk about you said you did a lot, so can you think of anything specific, like when you felt a lot of big pressure, and what did you learn from it?
Becky Brown 5:02
Yeah, well, I’m gonna use our most recent example, which is when we started talking about launching this, Smart Soulful Business. I have a huge, long experience of hard launches. I have a huge long experience of like, six months build up plans, big plans. Good, good, intentional plans, with tons of promo graphics and tons of pre-planned emails, and building up and countdown timers and all the things, all the things, I have a huge, long experience of that. And so once you’ve been doing it that way, it’s almost like you have to stop and think, oh my gosh, is there a different way? Because that’s kind of what I’ve known to be right, quote, unquote, right for so long.
So we’re going to talk more about this actual our launch in a minute. But we were so thoughtful and intentional about our decision that we wanted Smart Soulful Business to be a soft launch. That was the first thing you and I were so on the same page from the beginning with the idea that we want, we knew this was going to be a soft launch. We didn’t want to map out.
Laurie Graham 6:05
We made it softer than a soft launch. We did. We were going to do a soft launch, and we’re like, now we’re going to do a reveal, which we’ll tell you about in a minute.
Becky Brown 6:14
Yeah, we’ll tell you more about what that actually means. But I just want you to know for now that we didn’t want to map out six months of content build-up. We didn’t want to hard sell to our current audiences. We didn’t want a 30-page task list leading up to this. We just both wanted to press the start button on this new, fun, exciting thing that we wanted to do together.
Laurie Graham 6:33
Yeah, and when we’re talking about the pressure from the big launches, I remember when you and I were first talking, you were nervous about starting something with me, because you didn’t want to do it again. You were tired of doing that, and the pressure and the stress and so there’s different ways of doing it. Okay? So if a launch is simply a moment of intention and invitation, let’s talk about three ways to actually do that. We’ve already mentioned. There is no one right way, but there is a right way for the season you’re in, and the energy that you want to put into it.
Becky Brown 7:04
Yeah, absolutely, and the personality that you have and what resonates with you and what doesn’t, right. So, you know, I was just talking about hard launches. And what I know hard launches are the ones people tend to picture in the business world. That’s what a lot of the experts are talking about is hard launches. The big date, the countdown, the timer. So Laurie, where have have you used this in this the style of a hard launch in your business before?
Laurie Graham 7:33
I use it all the time in Small Church Ministry for sure, four times a year for our online conferences, there’s a big lead up, there’s a registration period, there’s a deadline to buy the replays and all of that. So I use a hard launch with all of my online conferences. I’ve used it several times in like membership rebranding. I’ve had a membership for about five years, and we’ve changed it several times, like we opened it to this group of people, or we added this new thing to the membership, and then I’ll do a whole new promotion. Because timers help people. Timers help people make decisions. Some people push back against timers, but quite honestly, that’s why there’s a flash sale at the grocery store or at, you know, the loft outlet store. You know there’s a flash sale, because it helps us make decisions. So I’m not anti timers.
I use hard launches pretty frequently. And then the other place I use it. If I have a new product or a new bundle, it’ll like, especially when there’s like, a sale, like the Blue Christmas Service or a Children’s Ministry Foundations Pack, it’ll be on sale at the launch. So get it by this date, and then it’s gonna go up to the regular price. That’s a good example for me of a hard launch. Okay, so, oh, go ahead.
Becky Brown 8:41
Yeah, well, I was just gonna say, and you’ve done them really well. You can do hard launches really authentically, like you guys don’t even know how much work goes into a conference and promoting a conference, and the amount of emails that you write and the like you have a design day to come up with, all of the graphics you are so intentional about every step of the way, and it serves you well in the response and in your profits, and it also serves your audience well, in getting to the women who want what you’re talking about at your conferences. So, I would say you do hard launches really well and really authentically.
Laurie Graham 9:17
And as we’re talking, there’s a time and place for hard launches, but don’t like put any kind of expectation on you, because I wasn’t doing this many hard launches when I started out, you know, I mean, I have a team now. I have a lot of help, and so I’ve but I did do a hard launch my very first conference, which was my first year when I was making money, but I was only one that year, like one hard launch that year. And so they can be a lot of work. You can also make them easier. I’m sure we’ll talk about that in future episodes.
But let’s go on to our second type of launch we’re talking about in this episode, which is a soft launch, which is a little quieter, still really intentional, still a little bit deadline-based, but it’s softer. Becky, can you tell us about your experience with softer launches and when they feel like the right fit for you?
Becky Brown 10:06
Yeah, and so I’m like, honestly, I have a lot of experience with hard launches, and I just prefer soft launches. I just prefer them.
Laurie Graham 10:16
I just have to interrupt. So if you could see Becky right now, she’s in this soft little pink shirt, and her whole demeanor changed to talk about soft launches, like, you just relax. Like your whole body presence, just relax. And I’m seeing Becky in her soft little pink shirt, and I’m like, in here in a gray T-shirt, going, I love hard launches.
Becky Brown 10:38
Yeah, there’s an interesting shift, because I am totally capable of doing a hard launch. And after all these years of business of trying it on, stretching my comfort zone, doing the hard things, I just continually come back to preferring soft launches. I love being intentional. I love plans. I love the intentionality of launches, and I love less intensity.
I think soft launches often feel like a more gentle approach, instead of an in your face, intense showing up again and again and again approach. So, you know, I used a soft launch for my 30-Day Weight Loss Devotional years ago, and it has sold well and continuously ever since.
So it was an evergreen product that I put in front of my audience, and there was a response. It wasn’t huge. It wasn’t like an overnight success, and it’s done great, and that feels so good that that kind of launch, that style of a launch, there were promo graphics, there were planned emails. It just is. It just feels more fitting for my personality.
Laurie Graham 11:52
Yeah, yeah, I love it. You know, we’re going to talk a little bit about reveals next. Now, there’s no you’re not going to be able to Google this and find this. This is like, Becky and my, like hybrid, our next level thing that we did, because this is where we were at a reveal, is we’re going to define it is even more gentle than a soft launch. It’s more like what’s behind the curtain. Do you ever see a movie when there’s like, a beautiful painting, and it has like a fabric over it, and then they unveil it, like, that’s what we’re talking that’s the reveal. And no one out there that I know of, I Googled it, talks about this at all.
Literally, it’s something Becky and I are teaching right now, because we like it. Gosh, we like it, and it’s working. And why wouldn’t it work? Because we’re unveiling something that’s on our heart to a group of people. So Becky, how do you know? Let’s just go over this. How do we know which launch style is right for us? How do we choose it for us? Right now, where we’re at, and then we’ll go into some more details about what that reveal looked like for us.
Becky Brown 13:02
Yeah, so we are absolutely here to help you figure out what that looks like for you. And we talk a lot about what’s resonating with you. I’ve talked about my personality so far in this episode, and things like your confidence, your capacity, your experience, your specific business goals, all of those play into the decision of what type of launch you would like to choose. So Laurie, what are some things that you might tell somebody who might need a hard launch right now in their business.
Laurie Graham 13:33
I think you want to do a hard launch when you have real number goals, when you need the money, when you have number goals for people or products, finances, revenue, I know that’s all the same thing, but like it all goes together, right? When you are really looking at hitting good goals, bigger goals, harder goals, like number goals, right? It may be time for a hard launch. Another thing though, that I think is just as important as you have to be courageous and ready to take a risk.
Any launch, hard, soft or reveal, can go bad, you know, but when you go hard into a launch, it’s a bigger public failure, even if you were only in front of 20 people. So Becky and I have all, we both had launches that have failed or not been as successful as we thought. And so it is a risk, like you kind of have to go into it saying, This is my plan, and it might go bad, you know?
Becky Brown 14:27
Oh yeah, yeah, I had a totally hard launch. So intentionally planned, I had a hard launch, and it got me 0 sign ups, $0. Hard launch, long time, product investment, building intentional, totally flopped.
Laurie Graham 14:42
Yep. I can’t wait to hear more of that story. You had some emotion behind that one but, but it’s true. And the other time you’re ready for a hard launch is, you have to have a system set up. So don’t do a hard launch if you’re not going to put the time into having a system, the tech, the support in place, because you’re going to have people buy or not buy, like all the people are there. People return, customer service, the emails that go around the launch, a timer, you know, whatever that would be that you need. It’s not just, Oh, I’m going to do a hard launch today, like you need to be able to invest some time in the setup. And I also want to say, this doesn’t have to be big, a hard launch.
When I was talking about number goals, a hard launch could be, I need to make $50 this weekend. It doesn’t have to be 5000, it doesn’t have to be 500. Like a hard launch just means you have some numbers that you want to reach. You’re ready to take a risk and you’re willing to invest the time in setting up the system that supports the sales and returns and customer service issues, and the follow through on whatever you’re delivering.
So was that clear enough? Number goals, courageous system, and also it doesn’t have to be big, so that’s what I would say. Would be the times when you should consider a hard launch. So Becky, how about for you, when do you see a soft launch as being a smarter path, especially, let’s say for beginners, or maybe entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed or something.
Becky Brown 16:13
Yeah. And so if you are a beginner or overwhelmed, I want to give you permission that you never have to do a hard launch if you don’t want to. I did it, and I’m glad I did it. It’s good experience to have, because sometimes you really don’t know if you’re going to like it or not, unless you do it. And so I’m glad I did it, and I’m glad I know now, gosh, I probably won’t be doing many, if any, hard launches in the future, and that’s okay. They’ve never felt quite right for me, but I would say so a soft launch, not only can it be the only style of launch you ever do in your business, it can also just be practiced to even get you to the hard launch level, right?
So we talked about earlier how a soft launch still has the intentionality. It still has promo graphics, it still has emails that are intentionally laid out leading up to this thing that you’re going to offer the world. So it still has the potential to stretch your comfort zone. It’s trying on new strategies. And so it can still be valuable, like a hard launch, but it just, it softens it. It softens it. It’s exactly what it says it is. It’s a softer launch than a hard launch.
Laurie Graham 17:21
And I’d say it’s less scary.
Becky Brown 17:23
I would agree with that, yeah. Well, yes, yes. And one of the questions that Laurie and I continue to evaluate when we’re talking about launching and products and steps forward in our business is, am I making this decision out of fear? So, I believe that I have come to the place where I just feel like personality-wise, it just feels better to me. But if you’re not hard launching, just because you’re scared of hard launching, that’s a whole different thing to work through that I’m sure we’ll talk about more on future episodes.
But, Laurie, for the reveal, which is even softer than the soft launch, tell them more about how we came to that, for why did we choose that for Smart Soulful Business.
Laurie Graham 18:06
Okay, so if you’re listening to this episode live, you are at the beginning, part of a up hockey stick curve, I would say, of our business, right? Like you’re at the very beginning, and we have chosen to do a reveal, not hit the hard, hit the ground running hard, we didn’t do we both have pretty big email lists. We did very little promotion to our other outside lists.
But the reason we did this is Becky and I wanted to do a thing together, and we wanted to take our experience. We wanted to take what we know, what people are already asking us to do, and start a business. So we started Smart Soulful Business. We also did not need immediate cash flow, like, we know we want this to be revenue-producing and profit-making, but we didn’t need an immediate cash flow. So there wasn’t a big pressure. Also, season in life, both of our capacities were pretty full, like, we don’t have a lot of, we have enough time and energy, right? But we didn’t want to put our time and energy into something like a big launch and all the pressure. We also wanted this to be fun, like we both said, we’re just, we’re not doing if it’s not gonna be fun, right? And we’re at a point where Becky and I can build a system pretty well, right?
And I think one of the biggest reasons we did the reveal, though, which was super intentional for us, is we want to see who comes to the table. Becky and I talked about it ahead of time, and we knew we could help women starting from nothing. We could help women who had an idea but not the momentum. We could help women who started but maybe they’re stumbling or feeling overwhelmed. We also knew we could help women who’ve already built five and six figure businesses, because we’ve done that, and take it to the multiple six figure business and beyond. Like we knew we could help women at every step of the game, but we want to see who needs us, who we resonate with, who loves our voice, who wants to learn from us.
We have that flexibility because where we are right now. And so when Becky talked in the last episode about emails, and listening, and being able to build connection and and, you know, just hearing what people wanted like, I am so excited. We did the reveal, because we’re still learning. We’re 10, 11, 12 episodes into a podcast. We have systems up and running, we have a membership, and it’s starting super, super slow, and it’s exactly what we planned. Like it’s perfect. We’re having fun. It is low pressure, and we are learning who’s coming to the table. So that is the reveal, like Becky, fo you want to add anything else to that? Because this is not like the way somebody would say, you got to do your launch. You got to build your business. You got to have this and that in place. Do you want to add anything else to that?
Becky Brown 20:48
Yeah, well, and I kind of want to say, you know, the reason we’re starting this is because people were asking, and Laurie and I would come to each other and say, Oh, my goodness, this person just asked me, How do I make a KDP book? How do I get it out there? And both, we would say we know how to do that. We wish we had a course on that, that we could just say, Here’s the link, here’s everything you need to know. And you’ve had people come to you for podcasting. And how do I do this? And what platforms do I choose? And we just, it’s almost like we wanted a place to house all this experience and knowledge, and like that we have, that we want to share with people, but we just had to get it out there in the world somehow. And we didn’t want it to be like this big ruckus party. We just wanted to open the door to the house and be like, here we are.
Laurie Graham 21:32
Okay, I have a metaphor that just popped in my head. I think a metaphor, or a picture. Well, I don’t know what a metaphor is, so we’ll just say a picture. So, a hard launch is going to the swimming pool and climbing the ladder and going off the high dive. And a soft launch is standing at the side of the pool and, like, jumping and doing a cannonball. And a reveal is just putting your arms out like a T shape, and just falling back into the water. You know what I mean, just like, letting it all happen. Like, isn’t that pretty? So we get to pick, you know, when we have a product, when we have an offer, do you want to go up high and do the high dive and take the risk and see the splash, you know? Do you want to do the little cannonball off the side and still a risk, but you’re not going from the high dive.
Becky Brown 22:19
So true. And yeah, so we want to help you figure out your next step on where you are and where to respond, like, what offer do you have, and how are you going to share it with the world? So with every podcast, we create an Action Guide, because we believe in the model of learn, and then do. We don’t want you just taking all this information and walking around and doing nothing with it. We want you to respond to what we’re talking about for your business with whatever product or offer you have stirring in you right now. So yeah, Laurie, tell us about today’s action guide.
Laurie Graham 22:55
All right, this week’s Action Guide is called the Launch Style Finder. It is super simple, five to ten minute worksheet that’s going to walk you through signs that you’re ready for, whichever launch style. And I love it. It talks about capacity. It talks about where you’re at in your business. Quick questions, just to help you assess, and a one step, one step, next move. You can do it today. You can do it in five easy minutes. The best part is you can use it over and over again. This is actually designed that every time you have an offer, a new product, something coming up, just look at the worksheet. It becomes automatic after a while, which launch do I want? And this takes the decision fatigue out of the way, because it’s easy. So get the free PDF. It’s in the link in the show notes.
Becky Brown 23:39
Yeah. Well, and if we haven’t said it enough in this in this episode, your seasons change, and the next time you launch a product, you could be in a totally different place and plan a totally different launch.
So that’s why we want you to have this resource, because it will change. You will change. Your business will change. And we want you to continuously remember that it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to sound like this big, daunting, overwhelming thing. You get to choose the approach that fits your season and your energy, and you get to change it as your business grows. So if this episode helped you to just breathe a little easier today, we would love for you to share it with a friend who is also starting something new or continuously to continuing to build their own business. And don’t forget to grab the Launch Style Finder PDF in the show notes, and we will see you next time.
So go build the business that you actually want to be living. Go team.
Becky Brown 0:01
If you’re a Christian woman, building a business and want it to be purposeful and profitable, we’ve got you covered. I’m Becky.
Laurie Graham 0:08
And I’m Laurie. We have both built successful businesses that we love without losing our faith, humor or our sanity. This is Smart Soulful Business.
Becky Brown 0:17
Real conversations to help your business fit your life and not the other way around. Welcome back to Smart Soulful Business. We’re Becky and Laurie, and together, we help Christian women build businesses that are soulful, strategic and sustainable.
So today’s conversation is one that is so needed. We are talking about launching, and not just the big, scary, stressful version that often we picture in our heads when we think of the term launching. But most of us were never even taught what a launch actually is, what that term means. We just hear people say, you need to launch this product or this offer, and suddenly it feels like this huge high pressure thing that we’re supposed to already know how to do.
So today, on the episode, we are going to break down the three real ways that you can bring something into the world, a hard launch, a soft launch and a reveal. And we’re going to talk about how confidence and capacity and season and even your personality shape which one you choose. So, if launching has ever felt intimidating or confusing, you are about to breathe easier. So let’s get into this conversation, and let’s start here.
A launch is simply the intentional moment that you bring an offer, a product, a new idea of yours, into the world, and you just invite people to engage with it. That’s all it is. That’s all a launch is, just here is this thing that has been in the background, and I’m putting it before you, in whatever way that looks like. So most of the stress comes from thinking that a launch has to be loud or flawless or done a certain way, like these other entrepreneurs have done it and following their checklist, I have done a whole lot of huge, hard launches. I have done some way too quiet launches where nobody even realizes that I have a new product.
Laurie Graham 2:22
I’m glad that happened to you, because I’ve done those before. I’m like, Wait, I thought I put it out there. Did no one hear me?
Becky Brown 2:27
Right? Right? Exactly. Yeah, way too quiet. Way too quiet. Not clear enough for my audience. And I’ve done softer launches. So, there really isn’t one right way, but let’s just get the conversation started. So Laurie, when was the first time that you realized, Oh, my goodness, a launch can actually look different depending on what I need and what the offer is.
Laurie Graham 2:51
It’s so true. So it took me way too long to even understand what a launch was. Becky, I don’t even know. Do you remember how many times I asked you what a launch was? You kept giving me the same answer, and I really think it took me years before I went, Oh, that’s a launch. So when you say, you know, when did you realize it could look different? I was doing launches before I knew I was doing launches. I thought you were that is true. I know it takes me a while to kind of get it, so I’m kind of glad we’re demystifying it.
But like you said, I was seeing all these big launches, and Becky, I was seeing you do big launches, like, yeah, like, three day challenges that led to a product, that led to a membership. And it just seems so big, but I already had a membership, so I went back and went, Oh, I guess I did launch that. Like, I told people about it and sold it. And I think that’s really when I started going, Oh, like, everything’s a launch. So when you hear the word launch, for me, what clicked in my head is it’s anything you’re selling that isn’t evergreen.
So if evergreen is a new term for you, Evergreen just means it’s evergreen, like the evergreen tree, like it’s always there, which means maybe you have something on your website, or maybe you have something sitting on Amazon, you know, KDP or merch or whatever, or maybe you have something that’s in an email sequence that’s automated. Those are evergreen, but anything that isn’t evergreen, whether it’s a new product or you’re relaunching something, or you have a special deal or an offer or an online conference like I do, those are all launches. So that was, yeah, helpful to me.
Becky Brown 4:25
Well, and I also want to say you can launch evergreen stuff. You can have new promotions. And when a new, when you come up with a new evergreen product, like, yeah, launching applies to a lot. And just like Laurie, there is a chance that you are currently launching and you don’t even know your launch.
Laurie Graham 4:40
Yeah, that was, that was me for a couple years. So you have good company. Okay, so Becky, what’s one moment in your business where you felt pressure of that big launch mindset, like the version that people talk about you said you did a lot, so can you think of anything specific, like when you felt a lot of big pressure, and what did you learn from it?
Becky Brown 5:02
Yeah, well, I’m gonna use our most recent example, which is when we started talking about launching this, Smart Soulful Business. I have a huge, long experience of hard launches. I have a huge long experience of like, six months build up plans, big plans. Good, good, intentional plans, with tons of promo graphics and tons of pre-planned emails, and building up and countdown timers and all the things, all the things, I have a huge, long experience of that. And so once you’ve been doing it that way, it’s almost like you have to stop and think, oh my gosh, is there a different way? Because that’s kind of what I’ve known to be right, quote, unquote, right for so long.
So we’re going to talk more about this actual our launch in a minute. But we were so thoughtful and intentional about our decision that we wanted Smart Soulful Business to be a soft launch. That was the first thing you and I were so on the same page from the beginning with the idea that we want, we knew this was going to be a soft launch. We didn’t want to map out.
Laurie Graham 6:05
We made it softer than a soft launch. We did. We were going to do a soft launch, and we’re like, now we’re going to do a reveal, which we’ll tell you about in a minute.
Becky Brown 6:14
Yeah, we’ll tell you more about what that actually means. But I just want you to know for now that we didn’t want to map out six months of content build-up. We didn’t want to hard sell to our current audiences. We didn’t want a 30-page task list leading up to this. We just both wanted to press the start button on this new, fun, exciting thing that we wanted to do together.
Laurie Graham 6:33
Yeah, and when we’re talking about the pressure from the big launches, I remember when you and I were first talking, you were nervous about starting something with me, because you didn’t want to do it again. You were tired of doing that, and the pressure and the stress and so there’s different ways of doing it. Okay? So if a launch is simply a moment of intention and invitation, let’s talk about three ways to actually do that. We’ve already mentioned. There is no one right way, but there is a right way for the season you’re in, and the energy that you want to put into it.
Becky Brown 7:04
Yeah, absolutely, and the personality that you have and what resonates with you and what doesn’t, right. So, you know, I was just talking about hard launches. And what I know hard launches are the ones people tend to picture in the business world. That’s what a lot of the experts are talking about is hard launches. The big date, the countdown, the timer. So Laurie, where have have you used this in this the style of a hard launch in your business before?
Laurie Graham 7:33
I use it all the time in Small Church Ministry for sure, four times a year for our online conferences, there’s a big lead up, there’s a registration period, there’s a deadline to buy the replays and all of that. So I use a hard launch with all of my online conferences. I’ve used it several times in like membership rebranding. I’ve had a membership for about five years, and we’ve changed it several times, like we opened it to this group of people, or we added this new thing to the membership, and then I’ll do a whole new promotion. Because timers help people. Timers help people make decisions. Some people push back against timers, but quite honestly, that’s why there’s a flash sale at the grocery store or at, you know, the loft outlet store. You know there’s a flash sale, because it helps us make decisions. So I’m not anti timers.
I use hard launches pretty frequently. And then the other place I use it. If I have a new product or a new bundle, it’ll like, especially when there’s like, a sale, like the Blue Christmas Service or a Children’s Ministry Foundations Pack, it’ll be on sale at the launch. So get it by this date, and then it’s gonna go up to the regular price. That’s a good example for me of a hard launch. Okay, so, oh, go ahead.
Becky Brown 8:41
Yeah, well, I was just gonna say, and you’ve done them really well. You can do hard launches really authentically, like you guys don’t even know how much work goes into a conference and promoting a conference, and the amount of emails that you write and the like you have a design day to come up with, all of the graphics you are so intentional about every step of the way, and it serves you well in the response and in your profits, and it also serves your audience well, in getting to the women who want what you’re talking about at your conferences. So, I would say you do hard launches really well and really authentically.
Laurie Graham 9:17
And as we’re talking, there’s a time and place for hard launches, but don’t like put any kind of expectation on you, because I wasn’t doing this many hard launches when I started out, you know, I mean, I have a team now. I have a lot of help, and so I’ve but I did do a hard launch my very first conference, which was my first year when I was making money, but I was only one that year, like one hard launch that year. And so they can be a lot of work. You can also make them easier. I’m sure we’ll talk about that in future episodes.
But let’s go on to our second type of launch we’re talking about in this episode, which is a soft launch, which is a little quieter, still really intentional, still a little bit deadline-based, but it’s softer. Becky, can you tell us about your experience with softer launches and when they feel like the right fit for you?
Becky Brown 10:06
Yeah, and so I’m like, honestly, I have a lot of experience with hard launches, and I just prefer soft launches. I just prefer them.
Laurie Graham 10:16
I just have to interrupt. So if you could see Becky right now, she’s in this soft little pink shirt, and her whole demeanor changed to talk about soft launches, like, you just relax. Like your whole body presence, just relax. And I’m seeing Becky in her soft little pink shirt, and I’m like, in here in a gray T-shirt, going, I love hard launches.
Becky Brown 10:38
Yeah, there’s an interesting shift, because I am totally capable of doing a hard launch. And after all these years of business of trying it on, stretching my comfort zone, doing the hard things, I just continually come back to preferring soft launches. I love being intentional. I love plans. I love the intentionality of launches, and I love less intensity.
I think soft launches often feel like a more gentle approach, instead of an in your face, intense showing up again and again and again approach. So, you know, I used a soft launch for my 30-Day Weight Loss Devotional years ago, and it has sold well and continuously ever since.
So it was an evergreen product that I put in front of my audience, and there was a response. It wasn’t huge. It wasn’t like an overnight success, and it’s done great, and that feels so good that that kind of launch, that style of a launch, there were promo graphics, there were planned emails. It just is. It just feels more fitting for my personality.
Laurie Graham 11:52
Yeah, yeah, I love it. You know, we’re going to talk a little bit about reveals next. Now, there’s no you’re not going to be able to Google this and find this. This is like, Becky and my, like hybrid, our next level thing that we did, because this is where we were at a reveal, is we’re going to define it is even more gentle than a soft launch. It’s more like what’s behind the curtain. Do you ever see a movie when there’s like, a beautiful painting, and it has like a fabric over it, and then they unveil it, like, that’s what we’re talking that’s the reveal. And no one out there that I know of, I Googled it, talks about this at all.
Literally, it’s something Becky and I are teaching right now, because we like it. Gosh, we like it, and it’s working. And why wouldn’t it work? Because we’re unveiling something that’s on our heart to a group of people. So Becky, how do you know? Let’s just go over this. How do we know which launch style is right for us? How do we choose it for us? Right now, where we’re at, and then we’ll go into some more details about what that reveal looked like for us.
Becky Brown 13:02
Yeah, so we are absolutely here to help you figure out what that looks like for you. And we talk a lot about what’s resonating with you. I’ve talked about my personality so far in this episode, and things like your confidence, your capacity, your experience, your specific business goals, all of those play into the decision of what type of launch you would like to choose. So Laurie, what are some things that you might tell somebody who might need a hard launch right now in their business.
Laurie Graham 13:33
I think you want to do a hard launch when you have real number goals, when you need the money, when you have number goals for people or products, finances, revenue, I know that’s all the same thing, but like it all goes together, right? When you are really looking at hitting good goals, bigger goals, harder goals, like number goals, right? It may be time for a hard launch. Another thing though, that I think is just as important as you have to be courageous and ready to take a risk.
Any launch, hard, soft or reveal, can go bad, you know, but when you go hard into a launch, it’s a bigger public failure, even if you were only in front of 20 people. So Becky and I have all, we both had launches that have failed or not been as successful as we thought. And so it is a risk, like you kind of have to go into it saying, This is my plan, and it might go bad, you know?
Becky Brown 14:27
Oh yeah, yeah, I had a totally hard launch. So intentionally planned, I had a hard launch, and it got me 0 sign ups, $0. Hard launch, long time, product investment, building intentional, totally flopped.
Laurie Graham 14:42
Yep. I can’t wait to hear more of that story. You had some emotion behind that one but, but it’s true. And the other time you’re ready for a hard launch is, you have to have a system set up. So don’t do a hard launch if you’re not going to put the time into having a system, the tech, the support in place, because you’re going to have people buy or not buy, like all the people are there. People return, customer service, the emails that go around the launch, a timer, you know, whatever that would be that you need. It’s not just, Oh, I’m going to do a hard launch today, like you need to be able to invest some time in the setup. And I also want to say, this doesn’t have to be big, a hard launch.
When I was talking about number goals, a hard launch could be, I need to make $50 this weekend. It doesn’t have to be 5000, it doesn’t have to be 500. Like a hard launch just means you have some numbers that you want to reach. You’re ready to take a risk and you’re willing to invest the time in setting up the system that supports the sales and returns and customer service issues, and the follow through on whatever you’re delivering.
So was that clear enough? Number goals, courageous system, and also it doesn’t have to be big, so that’s what I would say. Would be the times when you should consider a hard launch. So Becky, how about for you, when do you see a soft launch as being a smarter path, especially, let’s say for beginners, or maybe entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed or something.
Becky Brown 16:13
Yeah. And so if you are a beginner or overwhelmed, I want to give you permission that you never have to do a hard launch if you don’t want to. I did it, and I’m glad I did it. It’s good experience to have, because sometimes you really don’t know if you’re going to like it or not, unless you do it. And so I’m glad I did it, and I’m glad I know now, gosh, I probably won’t be doing many, if any, hard launches in the future, and that’s okay. They’ve never felt quite right for me, but I would say so a soft launch, not only can it be the only style of launch you ever do in your business, it can also just be practiced to even get you to the hard launch level, right?
So we talked about earlier how a soft launch still has the intentionality. It still has promo graphics, it still has emails that are intentionally laid out leading up to this thing that you’re going to offer the world. So it still has the potential to stretch your comfort zone. It’s trying on new strategies. And so it can still be valuable, like a hard launch, but it just, it softens it. It softens it. It’s exactly what it says it is. It’s a softer launch than a hard launch.
Laurie Graham 17:21
And I’d say it’s less scary.
Becky Brown 17:23
I would agree with that, yeah. Well, yes, yes. And one of the questions that Laurie and I continue to evaluate when we’re talking about launching and products and steps forward in our business is, am I making this decision out of fear? So, I believe that I have come to the place where I just feel like personality-wise, it just feels better to me. But if you’re not hard launching, just because you’re scared of hard launching, that’s a whole different thing to work through that I’m sure we’ll talk about more on future episodes.
But, Laurie, for the reveal, which is even softer than the soft launch, tell them more about how we came to that, for why did we choose that for Smart Soulful Business.
Laurie Graham 18:06
Okay, so if you’re listening to this episode live, you are at the beginning, part of a up hockey stick curve, I would say, of our business, right? Like you’re at the very beginning, and we have chosen to do a reveal, not hit the hard, hit the ground running hard, we didn’t do we both have pretty big email lists. We did very little promotion to our other outside lists.
But the reason we did this is Becky and I wanted to do a thing together, and we wanted to take our experience. We wanted to take what we know, what people are already asking us to do, and start a business. So we started Smart Soulful Business. We also did not need immediate cash flow, like, we know we want this to be revenue-producing and profit-making, but we didn’t need an immediate cash flow. So there wasn’t a big pressure. Also, season in life, both of our capacities were pretty full, like, we don’t have a lot of, we have enough time and energy, right? But we didn’t want to put our time and energy into something like a big launch and all the pressure. We also wanted this to be fun, like we both said, we’re just, we’re not doing if it’s not gonna be fun, right? And we’re at a point where Becky and I can build a system pretty well, right?
And I think one of the biggest reasons we did the reveal, though, which was super intentional for us, is we want to see who comes to the table. Becky and I talked about it ahead of time, and we knew we could help women starting from nothing. We could help women who had an idea but not the momentum. We could help women who started but maybe they’re stumbling or feeling overwhelmed. We also knew we could help women who’ve already built five and six figure businesses, because we’ve done that, and take it to the multiple six figure business and beyond. Like we knew we could help women at every step of the game, but we want to see who needs us, who we resonate with, who loves our voice, who wants to learn from us.
We have that flexibility because where we are right now. And so when Becky talked in the last episode about emails, and listening, and being able to build connection and and, you know, just hearing what people wanted like, I am so excited. We did the reveal, because we’re still learning. We’re 10, 11, 12 episodes into a podcast. We have systems up and running, we have a membership, and it’s starting super, super slow, and it’s exactly what we planned. Like it’s perfect. We’re having fun. It is low pressure, and we are learning who’s coming to the table. So that is the reveal, like Becky, fo you want to add anything else to that? Because this is not like the way somebody would say, you got to do your launch. You got to build your business. You got to have this and that in place. Do you want to add anything else to that?
Becky Brown 20:48
Yeah, well, and I kind of want to say, you know, the reason we’re starting this is because people were asking, and Laurie and I would come to each other and say, Oh, my goodness, this person just asked me, How do I make a KDP book? How do I get it out there? And both, we would say we know how to do that. We wish we had a course on that, that we could just say, Here’s the link, here’s everything you need to know. And you’ve had people come to you for podcasting. And how do I do this? And what platforms do I choose? And we just, it’s almost like we wanted a place to house all this experience and knowledge, and like that we have, that we want to share with people, but we just had to get it out there in the world somehow. And we didn’t want it to be like this big ruckus party. We just wanted to open the door to the house and be like, here we are.
Laurie Graham 21:32
Okay, I have a metaphor that just popped in my head. I think a metaphor, or a picture. Well, I don’t know what a metaphor is, so we’ll just say a picture. So, a hard launch is going to the swimming pool and climbing the ladder and going off the high dive. And a soft launch is standing at the side of the pool and, like, jumping and doing a cannonball. And a reveal is just putting your arms out like a T shape, and just falling back into the water. You know what I mean, just like, letting it all happen. Like, isn’t that pretty? So we get to pick, you know, when we have a product, when we have an offer, do you want to go up high and do the high dive and take the risk and see the splash, you know? Do you want to do the little cannonball off the side and still a risk, but you’re not going from the high dive.
Becky Brown 22:19
So true. And yeah, so we want to help you figure out your next step on where you are and where to respond, like, what offer do you have, and how are you going to share it with the world? So with every podcast, we create an Action Guide, because we believe in the model of learn, and then do. We don’t want you just taking all this information and walking around and doing nothing with it. We want you to respond to what we’re talking about for your business with whatever product or offer you have stirring in you right now. So yeah, Laurie, tell us about today’s action guide.
Laurie Graham 22:55
All right, this week’s Action Guide is called the Launch Style Finder. It is super simple, five to ten minute worksheet that’s going to walk you through signs that you’re ready for, whichever launch style. And I love it. It talks about capacity. It talks about where you’re at in your business. Quick questions, just to help you assess, and a one step, one step, next move. You can do it today. You can do it in five easy minutes. The best part is you can use it over and over again. This is actually designed that every time you have an offer, a new product, something coming up, just look at the worksheet. It becomes automatic after a while, which launch do I want? And this takes the decision fatigue out of the way, because it’s easy. So get the free PDF. It’s in the link in the show notes.
Becky Brown 23:39
Yeah. Well, and if we haven’t said it enough in this in this episode, your seasons change, and the next time you launch a product, you could be in a totally different place and plan a totally different launch.
So that’s why we want you to have this resource, because it will change. You will change. Your business will change. And we want you to continuously remember that it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to sound like this big, daunting, overwhelming thing. You get to choose the approach that fits your season and your energy, and you get to change it as your business grows. So if this episode helped you to just breathe a little easier today, we would love for you to share it with a friend who is also starting something new or continuously to continuing to build their own business. And don’t forget to grab the Launch Style Finder PDF in the show notes, and we will see you next time.
So go build the business that you actually want to be living. Go team.
