Unfortunately, if you’re a service provider launching a digital offer — courses, memberships, you name it — you’re very likely going to have at least one launch that, well, kind of fails.

(Note: I don’t love saying that a launch all-the-way fails, because we LEARN from these… and that’s a win in itself.)

I’ve experienced a kind-of fail, and so have my clients — even the ones who make 7 figures and have made millions in revenue from launches before or since. 

But, as we allll know, it doesn’t really hurt any less, regardless of how many people have been in your shoes. A “failed” launch isn’t fun — and it often makes you feel like the time and money you invested were all for nothing.

Here’s the thing, though: I’m a massive believer that a “failed” launch never has to happen to you again — and an even bigger believer that you can pinpoint what went wrong with 5 simple questions to reflect on (and fix later).

So, if you’re dealing with the repercussions of a “failed” launch, I want you to wipe your tears (after you give yourself a minute… you don’t need to pop up immediately), read this blog post, and ask yourself these questions. Then, I want you to get up and I want you to try again.

Kapeesh?! 

5 questions to ask after a “failed” launch

1. Was your timing off?
   Timing is… everything. Everything. And, guess what? Sometimes we can’t really control it, either. So, coming off a launch “fail,” I want you to dig into this: Was your timing off? Did you feel like you were rushing it (or behind the times)? Did you feel like the offer wasn’t quite right for the season or for events going on in the world?

When you dig into this, you can figure out when to best launch again — and you can also see if you should pivot pieces of the offer in general to make the most of ANY time.

2. Was the pricing too high?

I am a big fan of charging more than you feel comfortable with — however, too high of pricing can often cause a launch to “fail,” especially if your audience isn’t completely bought in to its value. I always recommend surveying your audience (bonus points if you can highly target this; ex: email people who opened all of your sales emails but didn’t purchase) to ask if it was a “not right now” or a “too much.”

3. Was your messaging strong enough?

Messaging MATTERS, especially when you’re asking people to invest in something that’s likely decently expensive. I really encourage you to diagnose your messaging throughout your entire sales funnel and see if there was every a place where it went awry or got weakened — and then you can go back in and fix it before your next launch! 

(Wondering how to do this? Go through your funnel from the eyes of your client. If there are any spots where you feel a little confused or in search of answers, your client likely was, too.)

4. What does the data say?

I LIVE FOR a good analytics deep dive for a myriad of reasons, but especially because of the lessons it creates… especially after a launch (“failed” or successful). So, what is your data saying? Do you see a point where there was a big drop-off? What are your clickthrough rates, cost-per-click, and conversion rates telling you? Odds are, they’re pointing to a specific diagnosis right in front of you.

5. How did it FEEL?
   This might sound a little woo-woo, but trust me here… did your launch FEEL right? Or did it FEEL off? Chances are, you know in your gut whether it felt right or felt off. Really, I can almost guarantee it. Take a look back at your launch process and then ask yourself: did I have a gut feeling at the start? Did something hold me back during? Then, write down those flags and identify what they might have been. I can almost promise that the answer is right in front of you.

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More than anything, my friend, I want you to know that a “failed” launch does NOT mean a failure on your part — it means a lesson. Every. Time. Remember that, okay? Cling to that, ask — and answer questions — and try again.