Want to launch a group coaching program, but you're worried about not having enough money for marketing? Good news! YOU DON'T NEED ANY!

I am all for investing in my business. Whether its coaching, courses, or marketing, I'm all in. But, I really wanted to prove something to myself and to all of my clients. And that was, you don't have to spend any money on ads to sell out a group coaching program.

The reason why I decided make such a big point was because I was tired of hearing really great launch success stories and then only finding out, in the end of course, that their ad budget was thousands and thousands of dollars. That just discouraged me and it was a bit intimidating. It made me feel like it didn't matter if I did everything right pre and post launch or if I had a really great program to sell and all that mattered was my ad budget. #kindofabummer

My audience is primary new coaches and I don't know about you, but when I first started coaching, I didn't have $5K to drop on ads alone. I knew this was something that had to be done and I had to come up with a winning strategy that I could implement, perfect, repeat, and teach.

My goal was to inspire any and everyone into starting their own online business or course without feeling intimated with ad spend. If your main goal is to serve and provide value, people will will be loyal to you and your products. I can guarantee it.

I totally get it. I know you need to have strategic marketing, especially in a launch, but I wanted to try doing it a little bit differently and a bit against the grain. And guess what? I sold out my course.

The course I launched was SOCA (Stand Out Coaching Academy). I set a small goal of $5,000. I am very involved with the students in this program. They each have the upgraded VIP plan where they get a set of 7 one-on-one sessions, we have a weekly group call, and I do my best to answer their questions as they come in my inbox or through our Facebook group during office hours. I knew that 5 clients, for this particular course, was all I could handle at this capacity.

When I decided I wasn't going to run any ads, I had to come up with some key strategies that would really help me build my list and keep them really warm, so they're ready to buy. I focused on 3 key factors;

LIST BUILDING:

Freebies: I created multiple freebies that pertained to what my ideal student would need. Once they signed up for my freebie I would tag them as a lead. 

Webinars: I ran 3 different different webinars. The first one I did was pitch free and offered a ton of value. This was just an additional list building strategy I had up my sleeve. The next two that I did had sales pitches in them. I had really great conversion rates on my webinar landing pages, they averaged around 80%. The live attendance rate was industry standard, about 30%.

I made a note for my next launch and that was run the same webinar multiple times. That way I can fit into more calendars and not have to create so many presentations.

5 Day Challenge: I also ran a challenge group that lasted 5 days. I delivered high quality content all week by going LIVE in the Facebook group every single day. I taught on a different topic every single day. I made sure to teach something that would lead my challengers into being interested in the upcoming webinar. I also created an amazing workbook for the challenge and emailed the challengers daily as well. 

The challenge went so well. I didn't run ads to this either. We were a small and intimate group and every single student in SOCA was, in fact, in the challenge. #valueisking

SOCIAL MEDIA: 

Instagram: Normally I post once per day, but for three weeks leading up to the launch I scheduled out 4, yes 4, posts per day. Like I said, I wasn't running ads, so I had to be really intentional with how I was showing up daily. So, I made sure I was showing up multiple times in their feed and I also created Insta Stories that pertained to my freebie, webinars, and/or sales page.

FACEBOOK: I housed my challenge group in Facebook and it worked really well. I used Zoom.us to go live inside the challenge group when I wanted to share my screen as well. No glitches whatsoever. I've been using Zoom for years and I absolutely trust and love it.

I also shared all of my Instagram posts to my business page and to Twitter. To do this, really simply, just use an Instagram scheduler like Later.  

PINTEREST: I created pins for my freebies, the five day challenge, and my webinars. I pinned them to my board, the board groups I belong to, and all of the Tailwind Tribes I'm apart of. 

EMAIL MARKETING

I was really meticulous with my email strategy. I wrote about 40 emails for the entire launch. Some of these emails went to my whole list and some only went to the warm leads.

I kept track of all of my emails in a spreadsheet and I also used my giant white board calendar as well...because you have to use it during a launch! And don't forget all of the bright colored post-its, they're a must during a launch too! 

I kept track of my emails a couple of different ways because I wanted to be sure I had the strategy saved somewhere (spreadsheets) and I also wanted to be able to walk over to my desk and look at my white board and know which email is going out which day and when. 

I gave my all for this launch because I had a point to prove and I was so happy when I finally did it! I even had more marketing strategies up my sleeve once the doors were shut (you know they never really shut right?), but I didn't have to use them because I was maxed out! Such a good feeling!

I've launched small and I've launched big. I know what that what I do, works. And there are definitely some things that I did during my last launch that I will not be doing again any time soon. #onlydowhatworks

It's funny, because the things that I really enjoyed doing, like the challenge and the webinars, worked the absolute best! And the strategies I didn't totally love, didn't work as well. The Universe is on my side!

I know it can be really difficult to wrap your head around all the things you need to do, so be sure you give yourself plenty of time, schedule out your days so you know what needs to be done, and stick to it. I like to give myself about 45-60 days to prep thoroughly for a launch. 

My goal is to always have everything done way in advance, so all I have to do is focus on selling during my webinars and giving my all during my 5 day challenges. It takes a lot of energy to do these things and you don't want to waste it by frantically writing emails or planning our social media posts. 

Keep in mind I do work a full time job and have three kids, so if I can pull thi

So, what's holding you back from launching your group coaching program? I'd love it if you would download my brand new freebie, the Love to Launch Toolkit. I'm sharing all of my favorite tips so you're next launch will take you by surprise in a good way!