The $97 Offer That Flopped
In early 2021, I had slightly different ambitions for my business.
As well as being a launch copywriter —
I wanted to coach new and aspiring freelancers because:
1) It was the audience I could relate to the most at the time.
2) I thought it’d be the fastest way for me to get paid for my brains, not just my hands.
So I whipped up a quick email offering a beta 1 hour coaching sesh for $97.
Then I kicked back and gleefully waited for the enquiries and email replies to roll in.
…
…
…
*crickets*
I was devastated.
In hindsight, that offer was *never* supposed to take off.
I was nowhere near ready to offer coaching services since I’d only been in business for *checks notes* a minute.
And while I had grown to a point where I was steadily growing my revenue and signing on bigger projects…
I didn’t have the experience to tackle some of the hairier questions new freelancers would have thrown at me (like the ones I consistently lob to *my* coaches).
(so thanks, Universe!)
But that rationale didn’t stop me from experiencing tsunami waves of crippling self-doubt, anguish, and constant thoughts of:
No one is going to buy anything from me everrrrr.
If I could go back in time knowing what I know now about launching & selling…
I’d swaddle young-Ash in a giant hug and tell her how proud of her I am for daring to give it a red hot go.
And once the tears dried up and she was ready for me to review her “strategy,” here’s what I’d say to her:
1) You marketed it to the wrong audience
Sure, you had an email list and an audience (yay).
But at that point, it was filled with other copywriters who were at the same stage of business as you.
They didn’t have a need for your offer, and definitely not from you — someone barely one step ahead of them. So it’s only natural you didn’t get any takers.
Next time, get ridiculously clear on who your perfect-fit customer is for your offer(s) and where they’re hanging out. Then, make sure you’re actually attracting that person to your email list and socials — not just anyone.
2) You didn’t nurture or prime your audience beforehand
Before your “launch,” you only emailed sporadically at best about all sorts of topics.
While other creators can seemingly get away with randomly dropping an offer and seeing sales…it’s because they’d already done the work to build trust between them and their audience.
But as someone who hadn’t built the trust and consistency yet, it would have been better if you’d created content:
- Priming your audience to think about starting/growing their freelancing business, and the challenges in their way.
- Talking about your experience and why you’d be the best guide for them.
- Acknowledging their fears and hesitations in investing in solutions (like coaching) when they weren’t making a large income yet.
Even sending one email about that beforehand would have helped you set the stage and unveil your offer to a warm audience.
(But don’t sweat, my love. In about 3 months from this flop, you pinpoint this exact problem for one of your clients. And it kickstarts a series of events that leads to you developing your signature pre-launch POWER framework. So lesson well learnt!)
3) You didn’t talk about it more than once
Even if your coaching offer had been a good idea, sending ONE email is not enough.
Especially if you didn’t do number 2^.
Our inboxes have never been busier. Prospects need to be reminded you have a solution and how it’ll help them. And people have valid objections and fears that need to be acknowledged before they can feel emotionally ready to pull the trigger.
Meaning, you need a sequence of emails/social posts that move ‘em through the emotional process of deciding whether to buy.
So don’t be afraid of sending multiple emails and talking about your offer repeatedly on your socials.
Remember, if you genuinely believe you have a solution that’ll help your audience — it’s your responsibility to do everything in your power to get it in their hands.
More importantly?
I’d tell young-Ash to not let this ONE flop define her and her biz’s potential.
Those “mistakes” ended up becoming a valuable source of insight when she helped her clients refine their messaging and map out their launch strategy.
And in the words of Gen-Z:
You can’t have a slay era without a flop era.
Would love to know: what would you tell your younger biz self if you could?
Ash x
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