I didn't start out thinking it would be a course.

When I first sat down at our kitchen island six years ago with my Bible and a stack of marketing books, my research was just to satisfy my curiosity: Can we find Jesus using any marketing strategies in the Bible?

And once I realized I had to share what I was finding, I just jotted down notes in a notebook, then eventually a Google doc starting in October 2022.

(Three years later, that Google doc is almost 41 pages and counting.)

My first thought was that it would be a book. I am...verbose...with words, in case you didn't know, so that seemed like the natural fit.

But somewhere along the way, the dream turned into a course.

But not just a static course where I was just talking at the screen...I wanted relationship too. Because my all-time favorite thing is consulting and working with people 1:1. So it had to have a community too.

So I sat on it.

I kept adding to the Google doc.

I researched platforms.

I came up with the name.

I worked with mentors and business coaches to work towards it and other big business goals strategically, taking small steps as time allowed among working with clients.

For years.

The problem was, the ducks weren't all in a row. And I told myself I needed to read more marketing books and do more research until I finally knew everything.

Then, about two months ago, I realized two things:

1. The ducks were never all going to be in a row.
2. I was never going to know every single thing about marketing because it changes every day — but I could always update the course with new things I learned.

And with baby #3 on the way, I could either wait until the time and research was "perfect" and possibly never do it at all, or I could just do it.

And so, I did it. I launched it.

(With prayer and discernment, obviously. And for once, there were no roadblocks.)

From the outset, I told the Lord that my biggest goal was to give Him glory, even if it was "just" for me.

Of course, I had marketing goals too though. I looked at the data and had a "this is break even" goal, a "this is what I should reasonably be able to convert" goal and a "but this would be really awesome if you want to go crazy, Lord" somewhat stretch goal.

And since I ended up just two participants shy of the "but this would be really awesome" stretch goal, I'd say it was successful!

So now, with an incredible cohort of Catholic businesses and ministries inside, I wanted to share what I learned from a marketing perspective when launching my dream project for the first time.

Getting pre-feedback was huge.

Two months ago, I sent out a short email asking for feedback on the course idea. The feedback was SO HELPFUL. It gave me validation to pursue it, ideas of what to include and the format, and even some brainstorming for how to market it well.

People who responded plus others who indicated interest went on a waitlist to join a week early + a 10% off coupon as a thank you.

About 25% of those on the pre-order waitlist ended up joining. And since those on the waitlist didn't know the price or timing until launch, that was a really good conversion rate.

Then, I sent those who didn't buy from the waitlist group a survey asking for feedback why they didn't, and that was also supremely helpful to be able to tweak some things for the full launch.

Lesson: Get feedback early! No need for guesswork when you can just ask people what they want.

Developing it in progress took all the desperation out.

The course content is being dripped out over several months, so prior to the launch, I'd only filmed about 10% of the content, even though I knew the whole outline of what I'd teach.

That way, because I hadn't sunk tons of time or money into it yet, I didn't feel desperate in my marketing. I could actually feel confident and help people discern if it was actually right for them, because if the idea didn't pan out, there was no real loss.

Lesson: If you can, try to get proof and buy-in before you sink tons of time and money into what you're launching so that your marketing feels more natural and less desperate that you "have" to meet a certain number.

Don't be afraid to send the emails (or post the posts or whatever).

In total, I went from my weekly email to sending 16 in 2.5 weeks. (Because of segmentation, most of you only got about 5-7 of those, but still a significant increase in frequency.)

I lost zero subscribers from the waitlist segment (people who had signed up specifically to receive pre-order information) and anywhere from 0-2 unsubscribes on each of the emails to the full list, which is my average even for this weekly newsletter.

More importantly? I made at least one sale from every single sales email I sent.

I'll be honest, I was nervous that with such a dramatic increase in frequency that I'd see a higher rate of unsubscribes.

But in the end, I got way less unsubscribes than I'd feared and way more sales from each email, so the results were 100% worth it.

Lesson: I've said it before and I'll say it until the Second Coming — you aren't talking about your stuff enough. Don't be afraid that you are over-marketing; if you are worried about that, you probably aren't doing it enough.

People wait until the last minute.

We all do it, myself included — we wait until the last minute to act. Case in point: Almost 40% of my total sign-ups were on the last day of the launch (and nearly all of those were from the "last chance, only a few hours left" email).

But, before you think, oh so just send a last-chance email, most of those people had already read and clicked on all of the other emails I'd already sent. All of those marketing touchpoints added up; it was just the "last chance" that finally prompted action.

Lesson: Don't freak out or pull the plug too early. Just keep reminding yourself, people wait until the last minute. Every single marketing effort counts.

What I'd do differently

• I wish I could have had more time to lead up to the launch, especially on social media. Most of the emails were being written the day before they were sent out, and I didn't get to really promote it on social media until the week of the launch, which was way too late.
• I would have asked slightly different questions on the initial interest survey email, and then prequalified those on the waitlist a bit more with more information about pricing, timing, etc. as I knew it, as I think it would have given me more accurate feedback and data to base goals off of.
• The biggest feedback I got was that the timing wasn't right for people to participate live. And I totally get that! Summer can either be a great or terrible time to do something like this depending on your schedule. Unfortunately (fortunately) with the baby due in the fall, this was the only time I could offer it until...who knows. But if I did it again in the future, I'd consider a different, less busy time of year to see if that timing was better.

Oh, and two final pieces of advice to apply to your own launches:

• Make sure you do a summary afterwards of what you learned (like you saw me just write out here, thanks for letting me talk this out!) so you can adjust and improve for the next time!
• The Lord's timing is always, always perfect. Every time.

For His greater glory,

Emily

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