Hi, Ashlyn here.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not good at a lot of things in life.

I’m 28 years old and don’t know how to whistle, use a straightener, change a tire, and when my photographer friends hand me a DSLR camera my heart races until they take it out of my hands again. Sometimes I prefer books to phone calls to friends but I’m working on it. I won Most Improved at tennis camp in 4th grade and haven’t improved since.

But people pay me a lot of money to write copy for their launches, and I’ve thrown my heart into studying it.

If you’ve got schemes and dreams to launch a course, conference, product, service, or heck, just a business, you’re going to need to buddy up with your keyboard and WRITE a chunk. Just nature of the beast.

If you’ve launched something in the past, I know you’ve cobbled together something from looking at someone else’s sales funnel or launch emails, and that’s ok.

I used to do it, too.

But here’s the thing: you don’t know what’s behind the scenes of a launch. After helping write copy for huge launches like Hilary Rushford’s B-School affiliate launch and Jenna Kutcher’s The Instagram Lab, I can honestly tell you what pops in your inbox is the prick of a pin point.

You don’t know what splitter campaigns are being run, what email YOU are getting because we’ve tagged you for a certain interest 5 emails back, you don’t know if you’re an A/B tester or getting the “winning” email of the test.

Copying someone’s launch email campaign won’t deliver the best results, but I certainly understand that not everyone can afford a launch copywriter.

So today, I’m bringing you 6 pitfalls I want ya to look out for as you gear up for your launch.

Consider this your 1-on-1 coaching sesh with me and my overflowing file cabinet of course notes. Grab your coffee cup, m’dear, and grab my swipe file of emotional trigger points to hit while you’re at it!

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1. You don’t split up your email list.

This is why I went with ConvertKit when it came to building an email list.

There’s a few schools of thought, but it’s certainly okay to let your whole tribe know you’ve got a bun in the business oven and a new offering up your sleeve.

But after that, use your tagging process.

Here’s a little sneaky-peek at how I tag my email list. In a nut-shell, I’m obsessed with getting to know my readers. What they like, what they don’t like, etc.

Start tagging early and often, and when it comes time to launch, you can tailor emails up a smidge bit to talk to your different audiences.

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2. You hosted a webinar on a Friday.

Or Saturday. Or Sunday (but you knew that, you smart cookie, you).

Midweek tends to be the best for conversions, statistically. According to me, no Friday afternoon is complete without a little mind-wandering/’net surfing, and Mondays I’m hunkered down being a boss. You too, right?

Studies show yes, so aim for mid-week.

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3. You didn’t use any video.

Fine, fine. You don’t want to host a webinar.

Butttttt video’s gonna speed up the know-like-trust factor WAY faster than anything else: you’ll NEED that if you’re going to make a sell.

I’m preaching to the choir here, because the only video I used in my last launch was teaching live webinars, but I click with Amy Porterfield on the whole adjusting-to-video-hate-myself-on-camera thing.

Make sure your pre-pre-launch, pre-launch, and launch is littered with video if you’re launching in 2017!

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4. You didn’t serve your list for 6 months before you launched to them.

This was a learning from my guardian angel Jenna, who trusted that a girl who helped launch SkyMiles programs could find her way outta a creative course launch paper bag.

And ewwwww, this one hurt my heart at first!

But trust me, you’ll see dividends in return if you love your people and serve them for 6 months up front. Give, give, get. Jab, jab, right-hook.

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5. You didn’t have a copywriter’s help on your email funnel (and sales page).

Shameless plug: Unless you studied conversion marketing and psychology, it’s probably best to hire out this, if you can afford it! It’s an art and science, and I CERTAINLY understand it’s expensive Just know that it makes a difference.

No matter what, transition your mind to see your email funnel as an extension of your sales page.

And know it’s okay to write long emails.

They just can’t be boring. ????

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6. You didn’t run Facebook ads for cold traffic.

I know, I know. But here’s the thing: FB ads are as cheap as we’re ever gonna get ’em. Here’s another time where I’ll tell ya to bring on an expert, but I ran them myself for my first launch, and by spending $1,000, my launch brought in more than $16K. Hashtag they’re worth it.

There are some great Facebook ad courses out there — click here to read about a good one I recommend from my friend Sarah.

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Picking my 6 favorite launch tips is like picking my favorite German Shepherd puppy, but I hope this was helpful!

Bottom line, some people have an estranged relationship with sales copy, and I live to write it. So bring on the questions.

Need to know something else that isn’t answered in this cute little section? Comment below and ask me, or you can find me on Instagram at @AshlynSCarter, Facebook at Ashlyn Writes, and Twitter at @AshlynSCarter.

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