108: How to Host a Profitable Webinar in Order to Impact Your Launch featuring Mara Kucirek (The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast)

The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast is brought to you by Dolly DeLong Education. This podcast is for creative business owners who want to learn tangible steps to automate their business through workflows, systems, tools, and strategies to go from scattered to streamlined with purpose because even muggles can become automated wizards!

Meet Mara Kucirek

Mara Kucirek is an online course designer, launch strategist, and host of the Create a Better Course Podcast. She’s the creator of the Launch and Rise online course and sales page template shop. Mara lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband and two dogs.

🧩Interested in getting started with Systems & Workflows For Your Own Business?

🔗Links mentioned:  ⭐️The Systems & Workflow Magic Bundle (this comes out at least once a year, and even if you miss it, you should still get on the waitlist to be notified of the next bundle!) (click here or click on the banner below) ⭐️A private podcast about the 4 different launching phases (here or click on the banner below) ⭐️A free workshop on how to get started with refining my top 5 recommended systems, workflows, and sops to impact the backend of your own creative business today! Sign up for this free 90-minute workshop and walk away with a game plan of action!

CONNECT WITH MARA

• Website: marakucirek.com
• IG: @marakucirek
• Her Podcast: Create a Better Course
• Her Free Resources: 7 Launch Mistakes Holding You Back from Your Most Profitable Launch

CONNECT WITH DOLLY 

• Website: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/
• IG: https://www.instagram.com/dollydelongeducation/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dollydelong
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dollydelong/
• The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast: https://www.systemsandworkflowmagic.com/podcast

Want to listen to the other episodes in this series? Check them out here! Start with Episode 105 ⬇️

https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/11/16/copywriting-tips-for-launching/

https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/11/25/how-to-use-tiktok-for-launching/

https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/12/03/easy-launches-during-busy-seasons/

 

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Read The Shownotes + Transcript Here

Dolly DeLong:  Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast. I am your systems and workflow BFF and guide Dolly DeLong. And today I’m so pumped to have. Who I have deemed the sweetest person ever on the podcast. I have Mara Kucerik, I just probably butchered your last name. Please forgive me on the podcast. Now, Mara is an online course designer, launch strategist, and host. Of the create a better course podcast. She’s the creator of the Launch and Rise online course and sales page template shop. Mara lives in beautiful, sunny Tampa with her husband, her sweet and perfect daughter, and her two dogs. Seriously, Mara, I know I told you this right before we hit record, but thank you so much for agreeing to be on the podcast. I know that you are having a newborn and like being a new mom. So the fact that you are here really means the world to me. 

Mara Kucerik: Absolutely. I couldn’t say no when Dolly asked and was like, I have these dates available and I was like, Oh, I’m probably going to have a newborn, which I have. She’s 20 days old today. So Dolly’s not kidding. I’m right in the thick of newborn sleep exhaustion, but I was like, it’ll be good too. Test my brain, have some business thing to look forward to among all of the diapers and exhaustion and dishes. Babies come with so many dishes, by the way. Oh, yes. It’s 

Dolly DeLong: crazy. Yes. I’m going to make you feel a little better about your brain and hopefully, you will not do this. Yesterday, I was very sleep-deprived because of my baby, and I accidentally, when I was making my coffee, put a scoop of his formula in my coffee instead of my collagen. 

Mara Kucerik: I have already, made my coffee and not put a cup underneath. Oh boy. And then there was one day I put a bowl, and I, I don’t know what I was thinking. it did catch the coffee. Yeah. I was like. Why did I put a cereal bowl there like that? 

Dolly DeLong: So funny. Oh, the things I did the right 

Mara Kucerik: motion. Yeah. Put something on the cupboard. It was not the right container though. Oh 

Dolly DeLong: man. I just appreciate you being on the podcast and again, like you don’t have to worry about having a perfect brain because we’re moms. Like we have a lot of things going on in our head and I know what you’re going to share with us on the podcast today. like the back of your hand. So you have so much knowledge about this. So, okay. Before we begin, just correct me on your pronunciation of your last name so that everybody can know.

Mara Kucerik: Oh, it is so hard, by the way. No one ever gets it right. It’s Kucerik. You can thank my husband for giving me the most challenging last name. It took me three years to change it after we got married. I was like, no one will know how to pronounce this. I can never be successful in business. You can. Tons of people have crazy last names, I’ve realized. but I was scared to death that like, no, no one would know. And it’s worked out for me. Cause Google SEO is amazing when no one else is Mara Kucerik. Yeah. And even if you misspell it, I still come up correctly, so that’s awesome. 

Dolly DeLong: That’s nice. Okay, here’s the question. Where is that name 

Mara Kucerik: from? Oh, so it’s Czech. okay. Yeah, but my husband’s family is from all over the place. Gotcha. But sometimes I talk to clients in Europe and they’re like, Oh, you must be in Europe too. And I’m like, no, sorry. I’m in America. I’m in America where everyone’s last names are all over the place. Yeah. 

Dolly DeLong: I love that fact so much. Okay. Sorry. I was just very curious. I was like, Oh, that’s such a cause I know you said you just mentioned before we hit record year and your husband grew up in Nebraska. And I was like, that is not normal. Not that there is a normal Nebraskan last name, but it is not. Yeah, it’s not. 

Mara Kucerik: Nebraska. It’s not a Midwest last name, and my last name used to be Davidson, which is. Oh, yes, that’s very Midwest. Thank you. It’s very Midwest. Yeah. My grandparents were farmers. It’s easy to pronounce. And now I have a last name that I’m like, I have to explain to everyone. It doesn’t follow the I before E rule. Like it’s all over the place. 

Dolly DeLong: Oh, I love it. Well, thank you for correcting me. I, cause I was like, oh my gosh, I am butchering this and I’m keeping this on the podcast so that you all can laugh at me. but thank you for letting us know. And okay. So, Mara, you know that you are going to be well. This is a launching series. So this is the series that we’re in the middle of, we are talking about all things launching when it comes to, the prep work, what actually to do during launch, and then some things to do after the launch. And so I. And specifically, or especially excited to have you on because, you help so many business owners, online business owners with their launches, you’ve done launches yourself. And or you just know all the puzzle pieces that go in, especially all the emotions that go into launching. When we were brainstorming topics and ideas for your particular episode, you presented the topic of like how to host a profitable webinar or masterclass and, or how to get people to show up to your webinar and masterclass. And so I immediately was like, yes, we need to discuss this because these are literal things that so many business owners need help with and need. Need clarification on this. And it’s not just like you have a class and people will magically appear. Like you have to do a lot of prep work going into it and to take a step back, I wanted to add this for all the listeners and anyone who’s watching on YouTube. I want to set the stage in terms of launching a product or service, like where do the webinars and the masterclasss. Class lie, I see webinars and masterclasses as a big hype piece event before your actual cart open date for either your service or your product. In a way, it’s to boost your email list and get people amped up to learn from you, meaning amped up to buy from you, hopefully. And when the cart opens it’s definitely. I believe in the pre-launch phase where you, the business owner are taking the time to map this either webinar or masterclass out, and keep in mind, we’re going to be using these terms interchangeably. so that’s what I mean. I wanted to use both terms just in case. So, Mara, I’m going to let you take it away from here. Like how to host, let’s just talk about how to host a profitable webinar or masterclass, especially as it relates to launching. 

Mara Kucerik: Yes, and I’m so excited about this topic too. I think the week Dolly was pitching me for the upcoming bundle, I had just done two client webinars. And I, so I was in the thick of like, how do you get people to show up? How do you get them to watch the replay? what do you even make your masterclass about? I love that you touched on a masterclass, webinar, and free training. It’s all the same thing. Some people are really scared of the word webinar, and so they’ll say masterclass because it can sound a little fancier and a little less or 

Dolly DeLong: like a workshop or something 

Mara Kucerik: like that. I was just going to say workshop or free training, I see a lot, or like free class. it’s all the same thing, but we’re talking about where you teach something to your audience, and I highly recommend you teach something. Don’t make it like, a timeshare pitch where you don’t provide any value. Some people do that. And I think we all have had experiences where we attended a masterclass thinking we were gonna learn something and then we were just sold. That’s not what we’re talking about on this podcast episode. We’re talking about something that teaches something in your business, whatever your topic is, gives them quick wins, and then at the end, you let them know, hey, I hope this helped you. If you want to work together further, I have this course or this coaching session or whatever. So there should be value there and it should help boost your sales during the launch because people know You’re an educator now, they can get to know your personality, and it really can help with sales, when people see you and get to learn from you. So the first thing we should talk about is, how you know if you should have a masterclass. Should you even do it in your launch? And, the answer isn’t always yes. As Dolly said, it can be a huge thing to grow your email list, and then also re-engage your current email list. Because sometimes people stop listening. If you start sending launch emails, they might not open it. But if you have a free class, and you get them to sign up for that, it does re-engage your audience. So, if you have time… I am a big fan of trying out some sort of free training. You can also repurpose it later and use it as an evergreen lead magnet, where you just record your class. You can have people opt in and that can be a huge asset to your business. So I’m. I’m usually pro-free training, but if it’s going to stress you out, or it’s going to cause you not to launch, you can skip it, that’s okay, and you can incorporate it in the next launch, there’s no golden rule that you have to launch and have a webinar, you’re not going to get in trouble, but it is effective at engaging your list, getting more people on your list, and then you’ve got this amazing asset that you can use in the future, and continue to grow your list, or reuse it for future launches, Yeah, 

Dolly DeLong: you know what? I was just thinking. I know this wasn’t in the notes, but I was just thinking if you record a masterclass webinar, you could also repurpose it as private audio training and repurpose it as a, What’s it called? A private podcast. I’m all about private pop, private pop-up podcasts. There we go. Getting a little tongue-tied, but that is another way to boost your email list on Evergreen. If you want, to grow your email list with private audio training. 

Mara Kucerik: Yes, and I’m a big believer in private podcasts as well, and anything you can do, if people didn’t attend the original webinar, maybe they have a newborn baby and they can’t attend, so you need to make it more accessible, or you can even chop it up and you can make YouTube videos, or I’ve seen some people record their masterclass and they make it a paid product down the road. Yeah. Cool. And then makes your audience feel like, whoa, that was a ton of value. If now she’s charging for it, your masterclass should be so good that you would feel comfortable charging something for it. 

Dolly DeLong: Yeah. I know this wasn’t, part of it. I’m so sorry if I’m throwing you like by a loop and you’re like, Dolly, I have newborn mom brain. Please don’t throw new questions at me. But this was just something that I thought of. So let’s say a. Business owner is listening to this podcast and they’re like, okay, I want to create a masterclass webinar. How much time should I, A lot for myself in this phase to have a quote-unquote successful. I’m using air quotes because success is different for everyone. masterclass, like what is a good period to prep for this? 

Mara Kucerik: I love this question because what most people do is come up with their idea and schedule a date that’s like a week away, and then it’s chaos of trying to figure out how to prep for everything. So I would say give yourself at least a month, and masterclasses Or webinars in general are pretty easy to create the content for because you need some sort of slides, but you’re teaching live So you don’t have to record yourself separately You don’t have to do a bunch of stuff The biggest setup is creating a signup page Making your slides and maybe doing like a practice run through with someone just to make sure everything works But I think a month gives you time to think through the content and you should be spending most of that time on What do I want to talk about? What do I want to teach people? And then cut out half of it because it’s really easy to make it go too long. And you do, you want to keep it effective. I usually tell people to try to teach for about 20 minutes. And if you aim for 20, you’ll probably go over because people will ask questions, you’ll elaborate because you’re, you love your business and that’s just what you want to do. And so maybe you’ll go over to 30 or 40 minutes. but some people have an hour-and-a-half-long masterclass and then people leave because they got to go eat dinner, they got to go pick up their kids. And you usually do want to leave time at the end for like Q& A, troubleshooting with people, and then also to talk about your offer. that’s the important part at the very end to let people know how they can continue to work with you. Thank you. 

Dolly DeLong: That’s some of the better workshops and masterclasses that I’ve attended. I’ve always appreciated when the business owner does the introduction and then lets the people know who are watching like, by the way, like I do have something to offer, but it’s going to be at the very end. And, but this whole thing is not going to be me pitching, but I just wanted you to be fully aware of what to expect. 

Mara Kucerik: Yes, I love this as well because it just is so authentic and genuine and then when you do go into The air quotes pitch your pitch doesn’t have to be sleazy or gross Sometimes people think like you have to be a used car salesman on your webinar. You don’t have to be at all You can just be like hey, I hope this was helpful Here’s how you can continue to work with me But I do find people appreciate it when you tell them hey I’m so happy you’re here. At the very end of this, there is going to be a pitch about my new thing. If you want to pop off then, no hard feelings, but the first 40 minutes are all going to be like educational content, and I’m not going to send you to a sales page yet. Like people appreciate that, and I find, then they stick around for the pitch because they’re like, oh. I’m curious. Yeah, they’re curious. And a lot of people don’t do that. especially bigger business owners don’t always do that. So it catches people with a breath of fresh air when you are just open and honest about, Hey, I’m going to offer you something at the end. And there’s no hard feelings if you don’t buy it. Yeah. 

Dolly DeLong: I’ve been noticing that too, about several, several business centers have done that. And it made me trust them. A little bit more or even more. Whatever term. I don’t even know what term to use. But it made me trust them and like them even more. okay. So you were saying earlier, before I went off on the tangent. Sorry. like webinars are a great way to show you, show your list. And your people that you are a great teacher or that you can teach on a certain topic. And it’s a great way to grow your list during a launch period. And then you mentioned that you can repurpose this as an evergreen content. do you mind touching based on several ways a person can look at this as evergreen? I know the answer to this, but help my listeners understand They don’t just have to create an evergreen product for paid purposes. This can also be 

Mara Kucerik: a lead magnet. Yeah, so basically what Dolly said is you can turn it into a lead magnet and there are several different ways you can do this where you have people opt-in and you can usually use the same signup page that you made for the webinar. Just take off the date and say it’s on-demand or let people know that it’s pre-recorded. Don’t trick them because that can feel weird when you think you’re signing up for something live and then you realize it’s pre-recorded. yes. But you can have them sign up and then have a replay page with the whole video. You could also chop it up into maybe a series of four videos so that it’s a little shorter, and maybe you take out some of the parts where you’re talking to the Zoom chat since that is not always relevant to someone who’s watching it as a replay. You could also create blog posts out of different parts of it because usually, you’re teaching one core topic in your masterclass. So like, say, You have a course about how to write a book. Maybe your master class is about how to pitch yourself to potential editors. And you could turn that into, a blog post about, like, how to write a query letter, how to find editors to pitch, and, come up with a series of five to ten blog posts. And then, at the very end, do you want to see the full class and learn the next step? opt-in here. That’s cool. And you’ll get it. Yeah, there’s a lot of different ways. Dolly also mentioned the private podcast, which can be powerful. People can listen to it on the go. And you can leave your pitch at the end in there as well. That’s what most people do. And so it’s not just a lead magnet. It also becomes this evergreen sales funnel where people are watching it. You link to the checkout page at the very end, and you start seeing sales pop up in your inbox when you’re sleeping or doing something, which is so fun when that happens.

Dolly DeLong: Yeah. okay, again, I know this wasn’t in the notes, so please forgive me, Mara. can you talk about some, easy, tech stacks that a business owner can utilize? easy meaning, Approachable, or that might already be in their arsenal. 

Mara Kucerik: Yeah, and you probably don’t need to buy a ton of extra software unless you’re this huge business owner and you’re going to have thousands and thousands of people show up, which if that’s you, congratulations. That is not most of us. Even larger business owners that have an email list of 30, 000 people. They still might only have, 50 to 100 people show up for the Masterclass, and it is fine to have a Masterclass and 15 people show up, 20 people. I’ve been on plenty where five people show up, and all five of those people bought, and then a bunch of people watch the replay. but the simplest way and the thing I always tell people, is just to have a Zoom meeting, you do not even need to have a Zoom webinar, which Zoom will try to charge you a bunch of money for the webinar features, and let people raise their hand. And there are a couple of other features. You don’t need it. Most workshops are honestly just technically Zoom meetings that people made a title for. And then, they didn’t let the participants, have their video on. So I always recommend Zoom. It’s super simple. We all know how to use it, which is huge. There’s a bunch of webinar software out there, which, as your business grows, there are things like Demio and WebinarJam. They’re all great. They all work. But I recommend starting with Zoom because most people know how to use it. It’s simple. You’re probably already paying for it. You probably want the paid plan so that you can make sure you record it. Record it to the cloud or your computer, and save it because it is heartbreaking to not record your webinar. It’s the worst. And if you can, have a friend or your VA be on your webinar and be your hype person. This is what I do for a lot of people. I’ll be on their webinar and make sure that they check that you’re recording. And then if people are not recording, they blow up your phone, or they even type it in the chat, because I’ve had to do that to multiple people. After all, sometimes you do your whole spiel, and you realize you’re so in the zone, you never hit record, which I’m a big fan of the just-auto record, and chop off the embarrassing beginning part where you were fixing It’s so easy to edit that part out, guys. you can delete the part where you were fixing your hair and drinking water. And then you can start it right at the cute intro, but then that way you don’t forget to hit record. Just tell Zoom to do it automatically. 

Dolly DeLong: I love that. That’s such a good reminder. I might like, I was like, I’m going to have you do that for me, but I’m like, no, I want you just to snuggle your baby. So I’ll ask, ’cause I have like my first ever, masterclass and I’m leading next week. And I’m like, that is such a good idea. I need to have a friend just be in the chat just to remind me about, 

Mara Kucerik: yeah. And it’s also helpful if You can give them a list of five to ten links that people might ask because people you’ll start talking and then people will be like, wait, Dolly, what’s your podcast? What’s your website? What’s the sales page? So if you like, if you have a VA, that’s great. They can do it. We don’t all have VA. So I do this all the time for people just helping them out, or I’ll do it for clients. Dropping links in the chat or if someone says, I can’t see anything, it’s not working, helping them troubleshoot, which almost always the answer is on their end, it’s not, people are like, I can’t see anything. And it’s it’s probably your computer. If everyone else can see it, like 

Dolly DeLong: having your video on,

Mara Kucerik: yeah, or just being like, okay, log out of Zoom and come back in. That is often solved, but having someone who can help you facilitate that, is helpful because when you’re teaching it’s hard to answer everything in the chat, troubleshoot things for people, and drop every link they ask for.

Dolly DeLong: yeah, because then your train of thought is I guess like shot because then you’re like, Oh, I need to do this. And then you’re like, What was I talking about? Thank you for letting us go on that little tech-side tangent. like again, like listeners, don’t overcomplicate the tech setup. And like Mara was saying, and I remember I had, Stephanie Kase on the podcast talking about webinars as well. And she also mentioned like don’t overcomplicate the tech setup. This is brand new for you. Okay. So let’s talk about what the theme of your masterclass or workshop should be about.

Mara Kucerik: Yes. So it should be something related to your launch. So whatever you’re launching, I like to tell people to think of what would be like the very first step that people would need to get started. And if you’re stuck on what that is, you can pull your audience and say something like. I teach about systems. What do you need to know about that? Or I would love to create a free class about Dubsado. What would you like to learn for free? So you can poll your audience and have them do the hard work. If you have an online course or a digital product, you can also look at what you talk about at the beginning of that product that’ll help people get started and snag them. You do want to give them a win. So give them something tangible they can do. Sometimes people do a webinar and It’s just like really basic advice that you could have googled and then they get to pitch their thing and you get through the whole thing and you’re like, wait, did I learn anything at this? So I’m a big fan of There Should Be a Win. They should be able to leave and have some sort of homework. Keep it pretty simple. Something else that is interesting is you can accidentally overteach your master class and then what happens? 

Dolly DeLong: I’m raising my hand. That’s 

Mara Kucerik: I’ll be curious if you have experienced experience to this of you overteach and the information is amazing, but then no one joins your course because you just gave them so much homework to do that why would they have time to join your course because you just gave them a checklist of things to do for free.

Dolly DeLong: Yeah, they’re like, I need to work on this homework first and then I’ll be able to buy. Yes. Totally. I am guilty. I am the problem. It’s me, you guys. I’m the problem. That’s me. 

Mara Kucerik: So many people do, and I do the same thing, by the way, even after helping clients do this, I’m always like, okay, we have to scale back. Don’t overwhelm people because then they do get overwhelmed and it gets confusing. And then, like you said, they’re like, wait. I can’t join the course. I’m not ready. I have to do all of these things before I’m qualified, which is probably not true, but it’s really easy to make people feel like they aren’t qualified or they’re not at the right step yet. So give them a bite-sized thing that after the master class, I like to say they could go and do in 15 to 30 minutes. Like their homework should be pretty short. It’ll give them a quick win and help them, but it’s not so long that it’s going to take them months to do 

Dolly DeLong: exactly. I love that reminder and I’m just like, okay, Dolly, you need to remember to do this as well because my problem is that I just want to make sure people know that. I like and bringing in lots of value and I don’t want to waste their time and I want them to feel like, I don’t know, mostly I don’t want them to feel like I have wasted their time. I want them to be so excited about applying my case systems and workflows to the back end of their business, but I can get so wordy and over just like. Oversay 

Mara Kucerik: everything I always tell people just treat it like you’re teaching middle schoolers, which I used to teach 7th grade English and middle schoolers have no attention span like the you have to do all sorts of crazy things to hold their attention span and then you do not need to include excess information that they don’t need to know and it’s funny because I think most entrepreneurs are a little bit like middle schoolers. We have so many others. It’s true. We all have. A million passion projects were all like, marketing. Director of our business the CEO the copywriter and the podcast. And we all have all these hats, so just pretend like your audience or middle schoolers have a short attention span. They’re going to have a hard time remembering the homework. You’re going to have to put it up a million times and email them about it. 

Dolly DeLong: Yes. And I was just thinking and then we all have the strongest feelings ever about our business. It’s like an emotional rollercoaster. I’m like, when did I last feel like that? When I was in middle school, I felt these 

Mara Kucerik: feelings. Yep, exactly. It’s funny how much overlap there is between teaching middle schoolers and teaching entrepreneurs. Yeah, 

Dolly DeLong: very. Oh, I love that analogy so much.   Okay, so I love that, you mentioned, that if you are stuck on ideas on what to teach, again, poll your audience, poll your email list, and ask them what they want to learn from you. Okay. So this is a question, then I know we’ll come up with the listeners, like how, what if I don’t have a big email list and how do I get people to show up to my masterclass? 

Mara Kucerik: Yeah, you, so I see this all the time because we’re all self-conscious about our email list and you might have an email list of zero, that’s fine to launch and your launch is going to be growing your email list and the actual launch. That’s what happens for most of us why we started our email list to begin with. So don’t let that scare you I have done so many launches where the email list was like five or ten people and then you launch again in a few months and it’s, doubled, and then it’s doubled again. And it’s when you see these business owners that have these huge email lists, know they were absolutely at the beginning at one point and didn’t have anything. So this is cheesy advice, but you have to start somewhere. You have to start by talking about your thing. So just put it out there. If you truly don’t have a lot of followers on social media or an email list, you can also tell business friends, tell whoever, you like, it’s really basic, but It works. So just. Share it and sometimes people will be willing to share it or they might be like, oh, wait, I do need to learn that thing in my business and yeah, they didn’t realize it. So you have to start somewhere and keep talking about it. A lot of people mention their free class one time and they’re like, check. I told everyone. 

Dolly DeLong: You have to have like definitely like remind people that middle school mentality like remind people over and over and over again. Yeah, I, yeah, I need that reminder all the time. 

Mara Kucerik: Yeah, you can send So many emails and you will still have someone tell you, wait, I didn’t know you did a class on that. And you’ll be like, what? I stayed up all night writing emails every day about this. And I posted it on social media and it was all over my website. And so people just don’t always see it and you’re not going to overwhelm people or make them feel like you’re talking about it too much. Most people just don’t see everything you put out. That’s normal. So give them multiple opportunities to see your thing, to sign up. One little quick hack, too, is when you’re doing the Masterclass, take some screenshots of what people say in the comments, and then you can use that for the next Masterclass to, advertise it, because usually at the end, if you’re an amazing educator, like most of the people listening to this podcast are, people will say, Thank you so much, Dolly, for putting together this training, or your answer was so helpful, and it’s really fun to have that social proof later to put. If you make it into an evergreen opt-in, or you run your masterclass again, which once you set it up, you can teach it again live, and it’s so easy to teach on the same topic, and you get better at it, and you anticipate people’s questions. 

Dolly DeLong: That’s so true. And something that I want to remind everyone, and this is something that I’m holding myself accountable to is that let’s say, don’t just assume you’re just going to record it once, put it on Evergreen, and then attach a product to it. And then that’s that you never have to update it. I would say, try to, Update it at least once a year, if not, assess it like every few months because like you want the content to be fresh and relevant because some of it may change according to industry standards. So hold yourself accountable.

Mara Kucerik: Yeah, and it also feels really good when people opt into something and it’s clear this is current. Yeah. I think we all have opted into something and we’re like, whoa, I think this was filmed in 2010 before, phone cameras were a big thing. So keeping it fresh and all, sometimes I’ll see someone’s webinar. And they mentioned their kid being one. And I’m like, their kid is 10. Now It might be time to rerecord. 

Dolly DeLong: That is so funny. Yeah, that’s very true. And I, yeah, that’s a really good point. If you want to keep things very evergreen as well in your webinar, maybe don’t mention things that are current events and happening, that way, like if you’re only able to refresh it once a year, like that way, it’s. Kind of staying, remaining fresh in a way. I don’t know what your thoughts are on 

Mara Kucerik: that. No, I agree and I usually tell people to put all the current event stuff at the beginning, so it’s easy to edit out. Another thing is to be careful about saying the price out loud a ton of times. You can put it on the screen, you can maybe say it once, but I have gone back and had to re-edit so many people’s webinars because we changed the price, or we changed the bonuses, or something about the course changed, where then we have to, chop off the end and Do some fancy editing to keep it up to date.

Dolly DeLong: Gotcha. No, that’s a really good point. okay. Mara, you have shared so much about, the power of, webinars and master classes, especially before launching. do you mind, okay, do you mind sharing with the audience, any If off the top of your head, like how well for you, from your viewpoint, from your experience working with business owners, like how high converting or like, how did the masterclass or webinar help convert into launch week? Does that make sense until conversions? 

Mara Kucerik: Yeah, so to give some statistics and this might sound a little scary because I’m going to get I’m going to say across the board, usually, and even in large businesses, 1 percent is considered a really good conversion rate that might sound terrifying. Yeah, usually for smaller business owners, there’s a much higher conversion rate because you have more of a connection with your audience, especially the first couple of webinars for people they had like this. tight community even if they didn’t think they did. I did a webinar for a client I’ve worked with for years and her first webinar had the highest conversion because her community was so small and like really tight-knit. She made a ton of money and it’s since grown and our conversion rate has gone down but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Yeah. and it also really depends. I know that 1 percent sounds scary. And there’s so much that goes into it that you might not see from the beginning. Sometimes someone attends your webinar, and they don’t buy on that launch, but they think about you the whole time in between launches. And then the next one, they’re ready to buy. there’s a lot of stuff like that happens where you’re warming up people and you, Some people are different. Some people can meet someone and buy something from them right away. Some people need to date you for years before they’ll buy something. And the longer you’re in business, the more you see that if someone will buy and you’ll be like, wait, they’ve been on my email list for five years. They’ve clicked the sales page every single time. And then finally, something about it breaks through and they join. And then you’ll have other people who. Signed up for the webinar 5 minutes before it started and they bought your thing. Like people are all different. So give them lots of opportunities in general, though. I usually see having a webinar or a master class increases. conversions across the board because they’re getting that touch point with you. They know your teaching style. Also, it’s really powerful to be on live with someone and you can ask questions about the course. You can be like, Hey, Dolly, what is lesson three about? Is this covered in the course? And it’s hard to do that over email. So it gives people a way to ask whatever they want and get a genuine answer because you’re right there. Yeah. 

Dolly DeLong: And I’ll say, you’ll have to buy it by now. I’m just kidding. This is salty Dolly. No, I was kidding everyone. I would answer. That’s good. what that kind of makes me think of, do you highly recommend having a Q&A at the end to be successful, or does there have to be a Q&A at the end of a masterclass? 

Mara Kucerik: I usually do recommend a Q&A, but putting A time limit on it, because otherwise it’ll turn into this long thing and sometimes people will start asking you questions about things that have nothing to do with what you’re talking about. Um, which I usually do tell people, prioritize the questions that are the thing that you’re talking about. It’s okay to ignore or circle back at the end the questions that are about your personal life or something total or someone will be like Remember that podcast you recorded a year ago. I have a question about one thing you said in there yes So I do recommend a q usually though Put some sort of time on it and you can even have a timer up on the screen to hold yourself accountable because if you just give people All the time in the world it starts to turn like you feel bad if you can’t answer everyone’s questions And it gets weird. The other thing is people do need some sort of incentive to buy I think we all need deadlines or incentives or we just never buy the thing So if you have a timed Q&A and you’re like, hey I’m popping off at this time and then you pair that with Anyone who buys while I’m on live will be entered to win a coaching call, or you’ll get this bonus. That is effective in giving people something tangible that they get. When they buy on live with you because otherwise you will just have your Q& A and you’ll be like, okay The cart is open for the next week and then people will be like cool I can buy it next Friday and it’ll be fine and then they forget to ever go back and buy it so having some sort of Incentive a lot of people do like a giveaway for something or they offer some sort of like bonus like hey If you buy on live, you’ll also get a coaching call with me there’s a lot of like creative things you can do to kind of Sweeten the pot when they’re on life and those are usually your best buyers to they’re already engaged. They listen to your pitch. They’re asking questions. They’re primed and ready to buy and then I also have your cart checkout software open or have someone that can text you when someone buys that way you can say, Oh my gosh, Dolly, you just joined welcome like that is so powerful when you start calling out people’s names, but you’ve probably been on webinars and seen that. The answer is just to have your checkout software open and then you see the sales come through and it’s really fun or if that’s complicated, you can have someone watching it and texting you as they come 

Dolly DeLong: through. That’s true. That’s true. , I love it, these are all really good ideas. Mara, I, I could just. pick your brain for hours, but you’re like, no, please don’t. I have to go back to my baby. So we’ll wrap up here. And, Mara, do you mind, sharing with everyone how they can find you work with you, connect with you, and just get to know you? Cause you genuinely are one of the sweetest, sweetest people ever in the online space.

Mara Kucerik: Oh, thank you. Someone once told me I was like a business golden retriever being friendly. And I was like, I love that compliment. That is exactly who I want to be. I’m sure Dolly will put all of the links, but probably the easiest way to find me is to search and create a better course. That’s my podcast, create a Better Course. On anywhere podcasts are available or on Google. Also, my website is MaraKosaric. com. But as we have mentioned, my last name is a bit of a doozy to spell. So I’m always like, just click the link. Don’t try to spell it. Or you can find me on Instagram as well. I am much more active now that I have a baby because I am feeding her in the middle of the night. And I’m like, I should scroll on Instagram and come up with a post because I can do it one-handed. 

Dolly DeLong: Yes, that’s very true. Like you think, Oh, I won’t have any time on Instagram. You do at those night feedings. So the real deal. So 

Mara Kucerik: yes, I have more The week after I had my daughter, I got my screen time report and it was like, your screen time has gone up 170 percent this week. And it’s because now I’m awake in the middle of the day. You’re 

Dolly DeLong: like, stop judging my screen time. 

Mara Kucerik: I did feel very judged. I was like, I just had a baby a week ago. I do not need to be yelled at about this. 

Dolly DeLong: I love it. I love it. I’m okay, I’m going to share a random fact with you and everyone else in the podcast and on the YouTube channel. You’re going to see me, but I heard a fact. I don’t know the exact statistics. So no one likes to look it up and then yell at me if I get it wrong. But I heard that your brain acts like A woman’s brain after giving birth, can soak in more information and learn so much more because just like the act of giving birth, like releases some sort of hormones and you are more alert and aware because you’re not only keeping the baby alive and nourishing it. But You can learn even like you want to soak up so much like a sponge and then that’s why a lot of new moms are like taking these programs are buying courses are in masterminds because and they’re like applying it as they like to raise their newborn. Have you ever heard that?

Mara Kucerik: I had it until you told me and you sent me a voice memo at some point during my pregnancy and it was super helpful because when I was pregnant and planning maternity leave, I had a lot of feelings around. is this the end of my business? And part of that was because sometimes people literally tell you that you’re going to have a baby and not care about your business, which is a weird reaction, but I had lots of people that are just like, Oh, so you’re quitting your business, which is not true. and then you also worry,

Dolly DeLong: you can do both.

Mara Kucerik: Thank you. You can do both. And I remember you sent me that voice message and it was so helpful. Cause I had, I did have a lot of fears of like, Things are going to change and I’m not going to be able to do work on my business. I have, my brain is sometimes sleep-deprived and exhausted, but yes, the learning thing, which I’m learning so much about babies, it’s insane how much you learn, after they’re born. You can read all the books, but then, the first week, you learn so much about, your actual kid and feeding them and you Google everything. It’s this crazy masterclass about everything, everything newborn. And then business stuff, sometimes in the middle of the night now, I’m, like, listening to podcasts and I do feel like I absorb it a little. Differently, Differently, yeah. yeah. Differently. and I’m just like, Oh, we need to implement this. Let’s go where before I would have sat on it and thought about it for weeks and over. Maybe it’s just, you don’t have time. So you stop overthinking everything. Cause you just take action. You’re like, now is the time. 

Dolly DeLong: I think you can, every mom has their own opinion, but I believe you can do both. there will be seasons where you’re going to have to give more energy to one thing than the other. And. I know you will give your all to your baby, but you can still, do both, and it will, I don’t know, I’m, that’s where I stand, personally.

Mara Kucerik: I agree. that’s my plan, by the way, to keep fueling my business, and then also raising a baby, and 

Dolly DeLong: supporting her, and… Yes, yeah, so many people have done it before us, and we are, yeah, I think it’s all about balance. People are like, there’s no such thing as balance, but there is, there is such thing as balance for everybody. Everybody has a unique balance. So, anyway, I’m sure somebody’s gonna send me, a technical DM about, balance. And I’m gonna be like, okay, I… I don’t know what to say about this. So anyway, we will just wrap up, and, thank you so much again, Mara, for being on the podcast. And as a little teaser, do you mind sharing with the listeners, what you are going to be contributing to the systems that workflow magic bundle, the launch edition? Cause I know you’re giving two. Two things.

Mara Kucerik: Yes. So I pitched Dolly a bunch of ideas and she was like, you can do more than one. And I was like, I can. I thought she was going to make me pick. So there are two things. the first is a thrive cart template, which is like a full sales page template. So in the past, I’ve had checkout templates that are just the checkout page. This. has all of the good stuff where you can put your refund policy, you can put your story about why you created the course or your product. That way you don’t have to pay for fancy sales page software if you already have Drivecart. And then the second one is super relevant to this podcast episode we’re doing is a course about hosting a masterclass or a webinar. And in there I talk about picking your topic. One of my favorite things, and this is where this course was born, was I have a bunch of email templates that I use when I set up webinars for people. Where, like, how do you tell people about your webinar? When do you send reminder emails? I’ve been in business now for five years, so I have a bunch of those that I’ve written over the years, and realized what works, and different subject line ideas, and so I’ve put that into, a template bundle inside of the course. That way you can copy and paste, and change what your masterclass is about, and it’ll tell you when to send emails for people to show up. Some ideas for what to send in your replay email because that is always challenging to get people to watch the replay and I think it’s harder than ever in 2023. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with business owners where they’re like, no one watches the replay. Like, well, what do we do? And so I have some ideas for that about how to. Send out your replay and then encourage people to watch it because not everyone’s going to be able to show up live. So three play is important. I love it. 

Dolly DeLong: I’m so excited Mara. And again, like this bundle for those of you who are following along the series, it’s going to center all around the different aspects of the puzzle pieces and systems of launching. So like we’re going to hit up Some resources for you to get ready for your pre-launch. So as you’re planning out your launch and then the pre-launch phase, everything you need to do in that, runway to your launch, and then what to do the week before your launch, and then maybe what to do. Things to consider during cart opening and then the steps to take during post-launch because a lot of people forget about that post-launch phase and how important it is, to read your data to read your numbers so that. For your next launch, you’re going based on data and not your feelings and you’re like your gut or just like the emotional rollercoaster. So, um, I’m sure people who are listening, they’re like, man, Dolly doesn’t have any feelings. I do have feelings. Okay guys, but I just want to help us all dig into it. The numbers. All right. so this is going to be an incredible bundle. I still have pinch-me moments about who is involved with this bundle, and I’m just so grateful you’re a part of this. So thank 

Mara Kucerik: you. I am so excited. And there’s something when I started my business five years ago, and I was just getting into online courses in the launch world. One of. The business people I followed, who was like a mentor to me. She told me when you learn how to launch, you’ll always have a way to bring money into your business. And at the time I was like, what is she talking about? Cause like, this is stressful. Some sometimes like your revenue is all over the place. That’s one of the things I have found very different than when I was a teacher my paycheck is not just like that. Every two weeks. 

Dolly DeLong: Yes. Yes. I miss that about my nine-to-five some days. I’m like, Oh man, I miss the, what’s it called? the consistency just like 

Mara Kucerik: knowing. Yeah. Cause it can be an, even when you’re having great financial months, it is so intimidating to not know what’s around the corner, but when you do learn to launch, it is like a skill that any other skill, if you learn, you rinse and repeat and, yeah. It’s cool because it becomes this thing of oh, you have a goal in your business of wanting to go on a vacation or hire someone you can launch and help fund your goal. So it’s a skill you can learn and I think people think there’s some launch magic touch or you have to go to some special school or something. Nope, you just need the right resources to experiment and I think this bundle is going to be exactly like the right resources for so many people. 

Dolly DeLong: Well, I’m excited and I couldn’t like I just have to say I cannot do this without all the amazing contributors. So thank you. so anyway, thank you everyone for listening to the very end and for joining me and Mara on episode 108. I am very honored that you all either listened or you watched to the very end so if you found it. Is there anything of value from this podcast episode? Do you mind sharing it with a business friend who also needs help with the systems and workflows of launching, especially when they’re planning out their masterclass or webinar? So that would mean the world to me. So until then have an extremely streamlined and magical week. You amazing muggle. I will talk to you next week with a brand new episode. Bye.