How to launch worse, much worse, than expected (a cautionary tale…)

I’m working with a coach in a niche I know extremely well.

We teamed up with a another well-known coach in the same space who gave us his list, his brand, his assets, and more… basically a “borrow my entire business” package for the foreseeable future.

On paper, it was a no-brainer.

I’ve gotten great results with his list before. The email content is killer. Open rates are huge (even though this metric fundamentally flawed). Click rates, also huge, which is a much better indicator. And people reply with stuff like:

“If I was a [person in this niche], I’d be so in!!”

Which is flattering… but the people who presumably belong to the niche aren’t moving past the “click” stage. They’ll click on over to the book a call page. They’ll click on over to the case study. They’ll click on over to the program overview.

But only 1/1000 people booked a call. Meanwhile, the one person who did book, became a client.

But that’s not nearly what we expected, wanted, or needed, to make it all worthwhile.

So what’s really going on underneath the hood here?

Well, I believe I ignored some of what should have been obvious early on.

For one, the list is stale. They haven’t heard from the owner in almost a year. No new content is being created. The existing marketing assets are just what’s been laying around in the pile for the past 18 months.

And there’s just no new energy entering the system at all.

Just me, a lonely copywriter, trying to breathe life into a brand that hasn’t spoken to it’s audience in almost a year. So one thing I’m starting to realize is that most coaching brands are really only as viable as the name that’s attached to them (and the recency factor).

And that, I suppose, is the reason why so many “acquired” education businesses fade into obscurity after the first few years.

People aren’t buying the content.

They’re buying the founder’s voice.

They’re buying their worldview, their personality, their reputation and relationships, as well as their real world wisdom surrounding the topic at hand. If they’re not truly in the field, servicing the industry, getting results inside, then showing up regularly and proving it…

The brand falls apart and the message falls on deaf ears.

The founder of this list in this case, has all the other things lined up except the “showing up regularly and proving it” part. This is what speaks to the, “what have you accomplished recently that I can point to and say, ‘yes, this will work for me too!’” part of the brain.

In fact, I just had this convo with another client the other day.

About how the copy, the writing part, is important, but it’s really only 3rd on the list of what’s most important when it comes to selling your offer online.

First comes your list, the recency of it, the people on it, where they’re at, and where their relationship level is at with you. If you’re not currently feeding that relationship, it’s dying. It’s like the blob, you create this thing, then you starve it, and it turns on you.

And then after that you’ve got your offer.

Which almost must be growing in order survive. Just like everything else on earth it must evolve in order to survive. Just because an offer worked 18 months ago using a certain ad campaign, doesn’t mean it’s going to work now. People who’ve been exposed to it already might start to think, “How relevant is this now?”

“Is there blood pumping through it? Is it ALIVE?”

And that’s one of the reasons I write and publish daily.

Both here in these emails, and on Threads. And why I suggest others pick their platforms, and their publishing plan, and do the same. Stick to it, and never go cold. Because it helps you keep your voice fresh in the industry.

It helps you eliminate any doubt in people’s mind about, “Oh yeah, well what have you accomplished lately?”

And it clearly demonstrates, “Is this thing alive? Is their blood running through it’s veins?”

If you’re publishing regularly, the answer is yes.

If people see you plugging away, they’ll play away alongside you.

But if you only show up once in a while when you want something… they’ll turn on you.

Anyway… if you want to keep the blood running through the veins of your online education business with the ease and effortlessness of drawing in and out your breath… then I recommend grabbing a copy of my original Legendary Writing Guide now before I release the update and the price goes up.

If you buy now, you get the update free…

Plus my entire threads organic traffic strategy and an over-the-shoulder look at how I’m using content, email, and in the near future, paid ads to grow the online education business that I never plan to sell.

Here’s the link:

https://kevinhood.me/legendary

Best,

Kevin Hood