Behind the scenes of our recent Digiteachers Biz Academy launch

Welcome to the empowered Edupreneur podcast. My name is Michelle Smit, and I am an ex-teacher turned online business coach for edupreneurs, the owner of Digiteach and a six-figure entrepreneur. I am in love with empowering educators, just like you to create freedom filled online businesses and lives they love.

If you are looking to uplevel your skills, your finances, your mindset, and change the trajectory of your life as an educator. And business, then you are in the right place. Think of this podcast as your weekly dose of business and mindset development to help unlock the infinite potential within you to play bigger with your life and go after your dreams.

We are going to have so much fun together. So thank you so much for pushing play today. Now let's dive in.

Hello. Hello. Welcome back to my podcast. I'm super happy to be chatting to you again today. So if you listened to my last episode, I was telling you about how me and Mike are going to pick up our kittens, these kittens that we've waited for like a year for. And so we have picked them up. We picked up Nola and Baloo on Saturday.

It's now Tuesday. It's been three days and we are in our absolute heaven. All we're doing at the moment is just staring at our kittens and loving them. And cuddling them. And honestly, I cannot even explain to you how much joy it's bringing us to have these fur babies in our lives.

 I'm sure if any of you are listening right now, you maybe have a fur baby or animals of some sort. And you just literally can't even imagine life without them like that's what it's feeling now for us and Yeah, we're just really basking in the joy of that those early days, right? Like the magical moments in the beginning where everything is new and everything is exciting and everything's a moment. It's such a special time.

It's almost like when you have a baby in those early moments with that baby is just like magic. I haven't had a baby before, but I imagine it to be a million times more than what I'm feeling now, which is crazy. So yeah, it's actually been really hard for us to focus on work, because why work when you can cuddle kittens, right?

So yeah, we've been sort of distracted, but we're trying to get back on the working bandwagon. And basically time it so when they're napping we can get some decent stuff done. So right now I'm recording this podcast episode and the kittens are not napping. So if you hear any meowing or any noise, scratching in the background.

We're not going to bother with editing it out. This is our life now. These are our babies and there will be some potential meowing slash noises in the back. Hopefully this mic cancels it out mostly. But now you know, we have kittens and that's what's happening and If you can't handle a kitten's meow, then, then something can't be right. That's my view on it. All right. 

So today in this episode, as I was mentioning last week, after I gave you that very hectic data driven episode on launch metrics, I said I was going to talk to you about the behind the scenes of our recent launch, our DBA launch. And so that is what I'm bringing you today.

I am going to be diving into the behind the scenes of our recent DBA launch, the pros and cons of the launch. So what worked, what can be improved next time, and also how there is actually so much more to a launch than just the monetary goals of it. And that how important it is to actually focus on other types of things in your launches, besides just the monetary stuff, because that's where the real joy can be pulled out of. Like, if you just focus on the money stuff, then you kind of just lose the point of a lot of it.

So yeah, if you are planning or if you're learning to launch, if you're planning to launch, if you have launched before and you want to learn a bit more and you want to hear about my perspective on all this stuff. This is the episode for you. Okay. So the behind the scenes of our recent DBA launch, I'm going to go into numbers, but I feel like I don't want to jam too hard on the numbers and the metrics because I think people will just be super bored by that. 

Even though it's so interesting for me, I don't want to bore people. So I'm just going to give you the general overview. So the entire launch looked like this. We first launched the Educators Income Booster Bootcamp and we promoted that bootcamp for three weeks.

And so in those three weeks, all our energy and effort was focused on getting people signed up for our bootcamp, which is our 37 euro training week, it is 10 days of live training, Q&A, bonuses, implementation, guest speaker, all sorts of stuff. All with the goal of helping educators map out a strong scalable offer like a course or group program that they can sell so they can stop trading all they're time for money.

So that is the bootcamp, right? And for this launch, the goal was to just get in as many people into that bootcamp because that is where the magic happens. So we ran Facebook ads and we promoted the bootcamp event organically through my Instagram, podcast and email list. And we had 217 people join the bootcamp, which was awesome. 

And then we ran the bootcamp and the bootcamp consisted of a pre party and then five actual training days and then four bonus days and Q&A and implementation and some guest training and all sorts of stuff like that. So what happened is we had this really great turn out to each live session.

So that was really amazing is that people showed up to the live sessions a very high percentage of people showed up and the engagement was really high. So this is an amazing thing. Typically about a low ticket paid event. Say a paid launch, the engagement is nuts. So people really show up and do the work because they've paid a little bit.

And that holds them accountable. And I hold them accountable with a little tough love as well. So that's when you see the bigger breakthroughs, the real aha moments. And people really get results. They have this sort of mini transformations that happen in the bootcamp. Yeah, I would call it a mini transformation basically. 

Because they show up and they take action and they move forward, that momentum helps them build and create some clarity. And it's almost like the fog decreases and lessens and then they can start to see the road a bit clearer ahead of them and that's when real clarity hits and they're just like, this is amazing. And it was just so amazing to see that happen in that capacity, right. 

And so a little bit of the numbers. We ended up spending about 9,500 euros on ads. We spent this on the front-end to promote the bootcamp and because the bootcamp is actually so cheap, it's only 37 euros. We actually don't make any profit from it. So the bootcamp goal is not for profits.

It's actually just to get as many people in as we can. And yeah, it's quite common that we spend 10,000 euros on ads. So it was nothing different really. And you may wonder, okay, well, why on earth are you spending so much on ads? And it's just a loss. Like that doesn't make any business sense if we're not making profit, right. 

And so I just want to mention that with the strategy we're using, this is part of the overall strategy. We have a low ticket front-end offer. And that is to sort of get people in and have an amazing experience and get as many people in as possible. And then we have a back-end offer, which is our higher ticket offer.

And that is for a smaller percentage of people. And so what happens is the bootcamp brings in a lot of people. They have an incredible experience. They get a taste of how I can help them, how I teach. Everything that I can do for them, with them, all of that. They get a lot of clarity, they have transformations.

And then I say, okay, well, if you want to continue working with me, you can join DBA and then a percentage of them will join DBA. And the idea is that we make the profit on DBA, of course. And that's it. This is called a paid launch strategy and we really love it because of the high engagement, the small quality groups that come into the bootcamp that I can serve.

And then because the bootcamps are so amazing, the conversion into DBA is high and it's around 10% or so. The 10% of the Bootcampers tend to join DBA and continue working with me. So it's an amazing way for brand awareness for people to see what I'm about how I can help them and give them really concrete results. Because that's the goal of the bootcamp is to get them really moving forward. And then if they want to continue, they can continue with DBA.

And so this launch now we had 18 amazing humans join us. And so the total backend revenue was 30,000 euros. So we spent about 9,500, and then we made 30,000. And so we had a three times return on ad spend overall. And that is really ultimately the goal. You want to try have 3x ROI, if you can have more than definitely, that's amazing, but really, ideally, you want to be hitting that 3x ROI.

And this is exactly why doing this launch actually makes business sense for us, because even though we lose on the front. We end up making three X or more on the back end. So if you knew you could put 1 into advertising and get 3 out within a month, then you have a really great winning formula. It's like one of the fastest investments ever.

I don't think any investment actually could make such a quick return. So yeah, it's a winning formula. Okay. So for this bootcamp, we honestly had such an amazing bunch join. They were wonderful. And these paid bootcamps, another reason why I do them is because they bring in such amazing students.

And I'm always very blessed with people that come into my world and come on my email list. And I just always meet so many amazing people and every bootcamp has its own energy. They are always different in their energy. But it's always high vibe. It's like drinking a Red Bull and like going hardcore.

The momentum is very intense, but people love it for that. But because of the different people, that's always a different energy. And there's a big co creation that happens live where the audience actually co creates the experience as well, or the people that are in the bootcamp co create the bootcamp experience.

And so every time we do it live, it's always a different experience. And this is why people keep coming back and doing more bootcamps. So we have a very high percentage of people, we call them the alumni. 

We have a very high percentage of alumni that actually come back and rejoin our Bootcamp. Because it's always different energetically and there's always something different to walk away with. And so because of the progress they make and the momentum they have, people just keep coming, keep coming back. And for me, that is really, really a good sign. So that's why I keep doing them, even though they're very intense for me energetically to hold space for that long, for 10 days at that kind of level.

Because really, I dedicate those 10 days fully to these people, right? I can't do it all the time, but I love doing it because of just how amazing they are. So I don't know how much longer I will be doing them for. But until I really want to stop, I'm just going to keep doing them. So let's go into a bit of the pros and cons of the launch.

There's so things that worked, things that can be improved. So, let's look at the things that worked. So we actually had our highest sales page conversion for the bootcamp, it was 1.9%. Normally we sit at 1.4%, so I actually got a copywriter to retweak the copy and it improved by 0.5%, so this is really great.

It might seem little, but actually 0.5% is actually amazing. So that means 0.5% more of the people who landed on that page actually bought a ticket to the bootcamp. Which is wonderful. You really want to increase your conversions as much as you can. Now the cost per acquisition of how much we spend to acquire someone into the bootcamp dropped significantly.

Now this was one of the biggest wins of this bootcamp overall. So what this means is that the amount we spend to an acquire bootcamp customer basically halved. So our ad spend dropped a lot. So we got more customers from less ad spend. And this is one of the most important metrics. You always want to make sure that you are trying to keep your ad spend as low as possible while still maintaining quality and that means you're going to have more profitability, a bigger ROI.

And that is the ultimate thing. We know we do these launches for profitability. That is the main goal. So just for a bit of context, our cost per acquisition for our fourth bootcamp, which was not this one we just had now that I'm talking about, but the one before. It was $149 to acquire someone into the bootcamp, which was extremely high.

And it ate away at our profits. And so this recent bootcamp, our cost per acquisition was $98. So that is $50 cheaper basically per customer. So we're spending $50 less per customer. So overall, when you look at all the customers, it was at least $5,000 less. But we had the same number of customers, so that's just pure profit at that point.

So that was probably the biggest win of this launch. Is our cost per acquisition dropped a lot. And I mean, I won't go into details as to why it happened. We know why it happened. And it's because we had a lot more European people join rather than American and US people join and by nature cost for ads in Europe are generally cheaper than America.

So I think that is the main reason why it happened. But as I mentioned, I'm not going to go into too much data as people will be like, what on earth are you talking about? It's going to probably go over people's heads. So let's just keep it general. Another win, very high engagement. People love the training.

Our VIP conversion. So we have people who join VIP mastermind as well in the bootcamp. And this is where we, we do actual coaching calls with them. And so that was amazing because that increased. So we had more people joining our VIP and that's always something we want and wonderful. And yeah, the clarity that I would say from everyone was also incredible.

So a lot of good feedback, a lot of transformations the raving reviews are always a good sign. And yeah, I mean people have such big transformations within just 10 days. So for me, that's a massive win. In terms of what didn't do as well, to be honest, overall, this launch was one of our greater ones in the last while.

I think I was in a better space overall last year because I had a really, really intense death in my family. My father died. My ability to show up was just a lot less. My capacity was just almost non existent for like six months. So I actually launched in a space where I was not actually good at all in my spirit and in my soul.

And so that made all the numbers dropped as a result of that, because if your energy is not there. You know, no amount of strategies can help you if you just aren't there. So this is the difference. Now I'm in a much better state. I'm much lighter in my spirit. I've got a lot more actual natural energy and drive and ambition.

It's come back. And so by nature, our numbers are doing better and that's how it goes, right? So that's why you have to look at this as holistically, you know. You as a human being and where you are in your life is going to play a part in how you show up and how your launches go. So really the one of the most important things is actually looking after your energy and really cultivating your energy around launches.

And that should be really sacred because it makes such a difference. But yeah. Based on this launch, the one thing that didn't increase was our DBA sales conversion actually dropped, which means that the people who joined the bootcamp, the percentage of them that joined DBA actually was less than the previous one.

Now, various variables play a part in this, so I'm not reading too much into it. We did quite a few things differently. But what obviously the goal is to make sure that number is increasing and essentially what we want to do is just try get it back up next round. And so I didn't make it mean anything.

I didn't make a big deal out of it. It was something that I was like, okay, interesting. Let's dissect this. Let's see why this is the case. And, I think we do have a little bit of an understanding of why this is the case. I won't go into why particularly, but we are doing a very detailed launch debrief now. 

We're looking at our numbers very, very, very closely based on countries and percentages and all sorts of different things. So we can really dissect what happened in comparison to our last launch. But yeah, to be honest. It's not something I'm too concerned about. We still had a very good launch overall, but that was the only number that actually dropped.

So out of all of our metrics, everything typically went up. That was the only thing that didn't go up. It actually dropped. And so that's the only piece that I would say didn't work as well. And there are so many variables that could have affected that. And knowing this, we can try optimize and make sure that the next time we can do better.

And this is why these launch debriefs are so important because you always want to learn. You don't want to take it personally. I'm not going to go and make a big hoo ha about the fact that less people join DBA in general. That's not how we do it, right. We look at the numbers, we look at what we did differently.

We look at what worked, we look at what didn't. And yeah, that's what we're doing now. And so, overall I really felt this was a great launch. And the other thing that I want to talk about now is there's actually so much more to launches than just monetary goals. Because everyone just makes monetary goals and launches and they're just focused on the money in it. 

And I know how easy it is because obviously this is your moneymaker. This is the thing that keeps you in business. This is the thing that obviously you need the money to actually live and continue and grow your business. I know this and I know how important profitability is.

I don't ever want to take away that importance, but what really helps is when you aren't completely obsessive about the money stuff, where you become so attached to the result and the numbers. And when the numbers aren't showing what you want them to show that you become really anxious and you obsess over things and you create lots of stories about it and you go into your masculine energy of like, Oh my gosh, what must I do?

And you burning out, you're frizzling out, right? That's not where you want to be in. That's not the space you want to be in, in a launch. Because that is just scarcity and panic and fear and all of that. And That's where you really need to show up in your launch and take control because if you go down that route in your launch, you're going to self sabotage your launch.

It's not going to go as well as you want for various reasons. So what other things can we look at besides just money goals? Okay. So what you can look at is also impact goals. You can think about, okay, how many people do I want to come into my launch event? That is an impact goal. It's like, I want to impact more people.

I want to have a hundred people in my launch event signed up. I want to make sure that I have big transformations. I want to have really raving reviews. I want to have people really having clarity moments, aha moments, feeling a lot of momentum in their life, feeling inspiration. Those are impact goals.

And you get that from how people are reacting to your stuff. And making sure that what you're delivering is really just helping people, helping your target audience really well. So that's really, really fulfilling. Because when you are leading with impact and service, a byproduct of that will be money.

So don't focus on the money, focus on the impact and service. And as a result of really being focused on that and making sure you deliver on that, you will make money. Okay? The other one that you can think of is being goals instead of doing goals. So we always have these, I want to get this number of people in the event.

I want to have this sales conversion. I want to do this. They're all doing goals. They're all action based goals. But I want you to think about who you are being instead of what you are doing, because your being is incredibly important. Your being is the energy that you are moving with and bringing to your launch that comprise that is made up of your identity, your beliefs, your thoughts the stories you're telling in your head. 

Just who you are being in your mind, in your body, in your spirit, during your launch. It's really about your mindset and your attitude and how you're managing your energy. So in a launch, if you can go through a launch. And optimize your energy and not spiral and really catch yourself before you spiral and be able to manage your own mind and not rely on other people to help you manage that.

So you to have the self awareness to see, okay, I'm spiralling right now. I'm going all sorts of crazy in my head. I'm creating all sorts of stories. I'm feeling all sorts of feelings. I'm really rattled. What do I need to do right now to pull myself back to equilibrium? Do I need to go for a walk? Do I need to just detach?

Do I need to go have a massage? Should I just go pamper myself? Should I go have a long bath? How can I bring myself back to equilibrium, to a state of balance. If you can be in more balance during your launch and manage the roller coaster, you have won your launch because that's the hardest part about a launch is the roller coaster.

It's the internal turmoil that one feels when you are vulnerably selling something online. That turmoil brings everything up to the surface, all your insecurities. All the stories, everything comes up and you create this monster inside. And that monster inside means that you are not going to be your best self.

You're not going to show up as your best self. You're not going to enjoy the launch as much. You're going to be frizzling out all the time. Your nervous system is going to be out of whack all the time. And so, energetically that is not the place where you are able to be your best, deliver your best and manifest the results that you want.

So, who do I have to be in order to hit that goal that I want? If it's a monetary goal. And it's really about, what are my thoughts that I'm thinking? How can I reframe this? How can I redirect those thoughts? How can I make sure that I'm detaching from the outcome? So how can I be driven, but not completely attached to the results?

So even if the result is different, how can I still maintain balance and still come out on top? Your beingness Is absolutely essential. Your energy is absolutely essential. That should be your goal. That is one of the biggest goals. If you can go through your launch and manage your mind, really be in a clean energy of detachment.

Like drive. To make this launch amazing and hit goals, but detached, meaning that you don't make it mean anything about you. If you don't hit your goals, it doesn't mean you're a bad person or that no one cares about you and everyone hates you and your product sucks. It doesn't mean any of that. 

That's your mind creating stories that are just based in emotion and not data. And it's just what we do. So, if you can master the beingness over your launch, you will have won your launch. That is the ultimate goal. And as a result of mastering your energy and your beingness during your launch. Your results will reflect that. You will make more money, guaranteed.

You'll make more money, because you are not in a state of scarcity, panic and fear. You are in a state of balance, nervous system regulation, joy, pleasure, abundance, all of those amazing feelings and frequencies that you want to be in. In your launch you want to cultivate that and you want to consciously, consciously cultivate it.

Whatever you can do to cultivate joy, gratitude, pleasure and just all of those emotions and frequencies. If you can bring that into your beingness, then you are winning a hundred percent winning. Okay. That's one thing. Leadership goals. If you have a team by any chance, and you are working with people over your launch, you can basically just really goal for being a great leader.

Like how am I leading my team? How am I leading myself? How am I showing up for myself in this launch? Am I looking after my sleep? Am I looking after my eating? Am I making sure my basic needs are met? Am I Self caring and doing all the things. Why am I spending a gazillion hours at the computer and not showering or eating?

How are you leading yourself in your launch? That is a goal in more that you can lead yourself and love yourself in your launch. That is amazing. The better that you can lead your team and love your team and cultivate that really ambitious, but nurturing kind of space in your team. You want them to be okay.

You want them to be looked after. You want them to be at their optimal prime state so that whatever they do, the work that they do in your launch is at its best. That's leadership. So if you have a team, how can I be a better leader is a question you want to ask is something you want to really goal for in your launch.

And as a result of your leadership for yourself and your team, you will get better launch results. So instead of focusing just on the money and the results. Focus on all these other things that if you do focus on them, it will bring more money. The byproduct of all of these things is more money overall.

Okay. And the other one for me, in launches. I would go through these launches in the beginning days. And this is normal when you begin to start launching, if you are new to launching. You are going to feel wrecked in the beginning. Okay. Because the first couple of launches, they are heavy. You're building the product, you're learning all this stuff.

It's a crazy learning curve. You're going to be wrecked. What you need to try do is, once you get into becoming more of a seasoned launcher and you just do it more often. You really want to go for ease, joy, fun. Like the spirit of ease, joy, fun. This is the intention that I go into my bootcamps with.

Ease, joy and fun. I did it right now with this new launch and I really wanted to end this launch feeling that I wasn't depleted. I wasn't empty, that I wasn't running on fumes, that I wasn't really depleting myself. I really wanted to lean into this launch with ease, joy and fun.

And I really held that in my mind and my heart and my soul for the whole period. And I held onto it and it completely was ease, joy, and fun. At no point was I, I mean, obviously I was tired because it's exhausting to show up and hold space for so many people, but the essence of it was light.

The energy of this launch was light. And that for me is the biggest win. And my beingness and how I showed up and led myself and my energy and how I remain detached from the results at the end of that launch was the biggest one I have really never, as gracefully moved through a launch as I did this recent one. 

My spirit was light, I was content, I was at peace, I wasn't creating a million stories about people. On day one, when we opened DBA, we didn't have as many people join as I wanted, I was fine, I just detached and I knew the people are coming, the people who deserve to be in my world and in my container are coming.

I know they're coming, whether they come on day one or day five, it does not matter. The people that are meant to be in my world, indeed they are coming with certainty. I carry that energy of certainty and wavering in my vision and the transformation that I was going to offer people and showing up in that energy and that is what happened.

People came in right at the end. A lot of people joined us and I knew that was going to happen. And that's where the trust and the surrender and the peace and the contentment. And even if people didn't all join on the last day. Not to make it mean anything bad about you as a person and as your program, all of that stuff, like if you can manage that, then you are going to smash it in business.

Because one of the biggest challenges. Is the internal turmoil. That's the biggest hurdle for people. That's where people cannot manage and then they sabotage and it just tanks. So do you see how there's just so much more into a launch that is so important rather than, okay, what is my sales conversion and what is my profit?

Like I want just X number of people and I want this number of profit. There's so many things that you can really intend on and expand on as a human being. To optimize your launches and to really make sure that you're enjoying them as well. And, and that is really important just for you to enjoy your business is so important because you're not going to keep launching if you hate it.

So how can you make it better? How can you make it more peaceful, joyful, fun? Exciting for you. How can it make you feel alive? How can it fill up your cup? Not deplete your cup. If you can look at ways of doing that, you are going to be winning. 

All right. So that is it. That's what I've got for you today. I hope this resonated with you. Those of you who are launching have launched, want to launch. I think there's some golden information, some lessons to take away from this episode. I hope you loved it as much as I love chatting about it. And I guess I'm going to see you again next week. Send me a message or post this on Instagram or email me if you love this episode or if you're loving this podcast.

As always, if you're loving it. Go drop a review on Spotify or Apple (iTunes). Basically that just makes me the happiest person in the world and it does wonders because then my podcast can grow and reach more human beings, which is awesome. So I hope you have a beautiful day and I will chat to you next week.

Bye. 

Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If you are a teaching business owner, freelance teacher, or online teacher, and you are interested in creating a digital course or group program to scale your income and impact without teaching more hours, then I have. Just the thing for you. 

Grab my free Scalable Digital Course Roadmap, and it will walk you through the six steps of turning your one on one classes into a scalable offer that frees you from the teacher burnout trap, creating scalable courses and programs have allowed me to 10X my hourly rate hit six figures in my business and impact hundreds and hundreds of people around the world without having to be actively teaching all day. If this is what you desire. Grab my guide in the show notes and let me help you. 

I appreciate you so much. And I can't wait to connect with you in the next episode. In the meantime, go create a business and life you love.