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192 | Launching vs Evergreen: How to Get Coaching Clients Consistently · Women in The Coaching Arena

• 0:00
  More than 100 people signed up to my first five-day challenge.
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  I showed up every day live for over an hour, kept my energy going, and finished the week absolutely exhausted.
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  And after all of that, one person bought my program.
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  Then fortunately for me, I got my second buyer, which should have made the whole thing better, except she hadn't attended the challenge at all.
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  But she had found me on LinkedIn, so I was really lucky that I managed to start my group program with those two people.
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  But it's really easy to confuse that attention and busyness with buying intent, and I had built an exhausting launch machine around the wrong signal.
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  Launches can work, but I didn't want my income depending on me manufacturing a huge event every few months when, in all honesty, I'm mainly exhausted by the school run, the clubs, and all of the things that we need
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  to do much of the time.
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  Around that time, which was in around 2020, five-day challenges were everywhere.
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  I guess we were all sitting at home with loads of time to watch long trainings.
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  You created a Facebook group, you sent what felt like hundreds of emails, you went live every day, and you tried to maintain the excitement until the doors opened.
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  That was how online programs were sold, and it was a real boom at that time.
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  So I joined in and did it, too.
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  I've run two five-day challenges.
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  Both were completely exhausting, nearly killed me, and crazily enough, delivered less results than an average month.
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  More than 100 registrations looked brilliant, and I was sure it was gonna do really well, but the panic when you finally share your offer is excruciating.
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  I don't say this to mock launches, because some people do really well in that energy and can really keep up the momentum, send all those emails, and really, really go for it.
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  But All I want to say is everything you do in your business is never wasted, because I'm so grateful for the experience of doing that five-day challenge.
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  I'm also grateful for the one client that came from it, hi, Lorraine Eivers, if you are listening, because she became my first and much-loved Business of Coaching client and has championed me and my business ever since, just as
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  I have for her.
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  But what I realized long term was that I was treating that registration as evidence of demand, but it was evidence of interest in my topic, but not demand in purchasing something.
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  People register for free events for all sorts of reasons.
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  Maybe the title catches them and they think it might do really well.
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  But now I don't really do so many free challenges or webinars.
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  I now do workshops which do have a price tag, but it attracts really serious buyers who are going to show up, like my show-up rate is probably 95%, and they actually are prepared to pay to solve that problem,
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  trust your approach and understand your offer, even if it's just for the workshop, and show intent and readiness to act.
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  A large audience can contain very little buying intent, even though it may look impressive on Instagram or whatever platform you are dealing with.
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  Once I stopped asking how to make the next launch bigger, I could ask a much better question, 'How do I make getting clients less exhausting?'
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  I started with two people inside the business of coaching, and over the last five years, it has now grown to over 200 people who have been through that program over the last few years, mainly using the evergreen model.
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  I think I did that launch once, and then pretty much switched straight to evergreen.
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  So I've run that as an evergreen program for five years now, so people no longer have to wait for me to create noise in the terms of a webinar or showing up really loudly.
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  They can join whenever the problem matters enough to them and that the timing is right for them.
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  That suits most buyers, and it also suits me and my nervous system.
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  I have never wanted a model where one huge week decides whether your next quarter is successful and all of the anxiety that goes with it.
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  I want a steady business that I can actually manage without feeling anxious or stressed most of the time.
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  Evergreen selling still requires marketing, so if you are selling one-to-one, you are pretty much doing evergreen selling because people can join at any point.
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  It really requires, though, even better marketing all year round, just as the title evergreen indicates.
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  People need that consistent way to discover you.
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  They need to understand what you help with and need examples that make the result possible for them as well as that next simple step outlined easily.
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  So you distribute that intense launch period across the whole year instead of into one frantic week.
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  My evergreen path is not a really clever funnel hidden behind the scenes.
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  It's a collection of ordinary things working solidly together.
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  So maybe someone finds a podcast episode or an article, they maybe hear a useful answer rather than a teaser that doesn't actually tell you anything.
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  They then maybe download the relevant guide, then emails continue the conversation, then they maybe see real case studies from named people and can watch videos.
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  Maybe there is a low-cost or a free workshop that they get to attend so they can step forward towards you and learn more about you.
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  And when the timing is right for them, they can look at the details and decide.
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  So no single part of your business needs to perform a miracle, and this is important because often you can think one little system is gonna really transform your business, and most of the times it's all of these different
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  things that work together.
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  So your podcast or article might create trust.
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  Maybe your lead magnet or guide creates action and intent.
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  The case study may create belief that they can do it, too.
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  And your program may create a decision or your program sales page or discovery call no matter what you're doing.
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  So give each part a job and if you are listening to this thinking, yes, but how do I get clients?
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  I do hear you.
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  I have a way more in-depth free training called How to Secure More Coaching Clients that will take you way more into the step-by-step, and you will find that video in the show notes or the description below.
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  So there are times when a launch does make sense, and for example, webinars are brilliant, as are Telegram groups.
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  Lots of people use these days which create maybe short audios each day so people can get to know you.
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  Private podcasts are working really well at the moment as well to help people to really hear you, especially if you don't want to take on the responsibility of recording every single week in a ongoing podcast like this one.
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  So sometimes you do need that push and that fixed date with a launch, especially if you are starting a group program.
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  So despite me loving running live workshops or events, I don't always do them as often as I would like because I know how much energy needs to go into that promotion.
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  So if you are intending to run webinars or low-cost trainings, just be prepared to promote it every single day with a lot, a lot of energy, emailing your list multiple times to get enough people there to make it
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  worth your while.
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  And by worth your while, I don't mean you have to have hundreds of people there, but I just mean you need to have some people there and that can take a lot more energy than you think.
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  So if you love launches, that's amazing and they are an amazing way of bringing a community together and creating a memory that will live with you forever.
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  So the question isn't whether or not launches still work, the question is whether launching is the right operating model for you.
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  I would test five things to find out.
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  One, does your buyer naturally make decisions during a short launch window?
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  Two, can your energy and team support the work without everything else falling apart?
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  Three, does the offer need a shared start date?
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  So especially if it's a group program, that's usually a yes, therefore you may need to launch.
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  Four, are registrations leading to conversations and sales or simply producing a reassuring number of sign-ups to make you feel more secure?
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  And five, would you happily repeat the same model several times a year?
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  Because that is genuinely what it takes if you are going to do a stop-start group program.
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  So that last question is really important because a tactic you cannot bear to repeat is not gonna be a stable system that you can build your life or business around.
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  I would add one more measurement from my experience, which is what happens after the event?
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  If 100 people register and only one person buys, as was my experience, the other 99 people have not necessarily disappeared.
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  Some may join your email list.
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  That is the benefit of doing a launch, of growing your email list, and I would just say be open to them buying later.
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  I do know that several people who joined that five-day challenge years ago have gone on to buy my service, sometimes even years later.
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  So even if you're launching, be in it for the long game, and this is how I now do everything in my business because I know that the long game really counts, and your results really do compound.
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  So measure sales conversions and email engagement, but also be open to knowing that the nurture process is real, and for some people, it's just not the right time for them to buy yet.
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  So this message is probably primarily for you if you are thinking of launching a group program.
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  If you are doing one-on-one coaching, then the evergreen model is essentially what you're doing.
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  Even if it's not an evergreen group program, you do need to have consistent, brilliant marketing all year round in order to sign clients consistently.
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  So if you don't intend to launch at any point soon, then do think about other ways of essentially building that buzz and allowing people to step towards you.
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  So that might be you inviting them to a discovery call so they can actually get to know you.
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  It might be you running a webinar or something to help them to get to know you.
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  So there is that balance with everything we do in business of having that opportunity for people to step towards you whilst also not pinning all your hopes on it that this has to work and this has to convert
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  now.
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  The evergreen model will give you so many more opportunities to learn without that date becoming such an anxiety-producing time.
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  This calmer relationship-based selling has helped me to make way better decisions and build a way more sustainable business.
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  So with anything in business, it's about finding the right way that works for you.
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  So really do ask yourself, like, what do you love doing?
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  Where do your strengths lie?
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  If it is creating deeper content or showing up live, then do that.
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  Just hold it lightly and know that in the long term, your results will compound.
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  And a message for you, if you have launched a group program recently or in the past and only a few people signed up, that doesn't mean your next launch won't work.
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  It doesn't mean you can't turn the thing evergreen.
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  Like I say, I had two people sign up to my group program, which has now served hundreds of clients and generated me over 500,000 in revenue over the last few years from that one program alone.
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  So you don't need to be perfect when you start.
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  You just need to start and learn from there.
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  So I hope this was motivating, whether you are thinking about launching a group program or just as a reminder, if you are doing one-on-one coaching, that you need to create consistent, good marketing all year round.
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  And like I always say, trust yourself, believe in yourself, and be the wise gardener who keeps on watering the seed.