Unlock Black Friday Success with Our Free Masterclass!
Join me, Dolly DeLong, along with my biz besties Mara K. and Bekah R., as we reveal the key trends you NEED to know for Black Friday 2024. With an unpredictable election year and a shifting economy, we’ve got the insider tips to help you stand out and drive sales like never before!
 
(Don't miss your chance to get actionable insights and exclusive bonuses when you show up LIVE!)
Check your email for details of the class! 
seo magic here!

develop a system that works for your small business when it comes to SEO & learn how to become the googled answer to your ideal client's searches! 

118: Navigating Launch Challenges With Abagail Pumphrey

blog-post-cover-for-episode-118-featuring-abagail-pumphrey-on-the-systems-and-workflow-magic-podcast-which-we-talk-about-navigating-launch-challenges

Today, I’m joined by Abagail Pumphrey—the CEO and co-founder of Boss Project—to talk about navigating launch challenges. We discuss various aspects of business launches, sharing insights on the buyer’s journey, key messaging, engagement strategies, and ethical business practices. We also emphasize the importance of understanding personal goals in defining a business’s success. Get your pen and paper ready to take notes during this one! We hope you enjoy it! 

Meet Abagail Pumphrey

Abagail is an expert in online sales, your go-to resource in data-driven strategy, and a total geek for the numbers. She’s made it her life’s mission to help more small business owners become financially free (without your business taking over your life).

Her superpower is breaking down complicated concepts into bite-size, easy-to-implement, duplicatable systems. She’s here to empower you to do business your way without relying on trendy tactics.

Post-business hours, you’ll find her experimenting with new recipes or crafting seasonal floral designs. Sunshine is her muse—whether enveloped in a good read, on her morning stroll, or decompressing poolside. Jaunts often color her weekends through a local boutique, a refreshing espresso concoction in hand, or on the familiar weekly grocery run.

navigating launch challenges with Abagail Pumphrey: key takeaways

In this episode of the Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome Abagail Pumphrey, the CEO and co-founder of Boss Project. Abagail brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in launching online businesses, and in our conversation, she shares invaluable insights into navigating the ups and downs of launching.

🔑Key Highlights from Our Conversation:

1. The Emotional Rollercoaster of Launching 🎢: Abagail discusses a business’s emotional highs and lows. From the thrill of success to the challenges of failure, she shares how embracing these experiences can lead to growth and better decision-making in future launches.

2. Importance of Messaging 📝: One of the core themes of our conversation is the importance of clear and compelling messaging. Abagail explains how the right messaging can make or break a launch, emphasizing the need to clearly articulate the problem your product or service solves for your ideal client.

3. Experimenting with Launch Strategies 🚀: Abagail encourages entrepreneurs to experiment with different launch strategies. Whether tweaking how you sell or trying new trends, she highlights the importance of adaptability and learning from each experience.

4. Aligning Business Goals with Personal Values ⭐️: We also discuss how personal goals should align with business strategies. Abagail shares her perspective on building a profitable business while supporting your lifestyle and values.

5. Understanding the Buyer’s Journey 🤔: Abagail breaks down the buyer’s journey, from initial awareness to becoming a loyal customer. She offers practical advice on how to guide potential clients through this journey with thoughtful engagement and consistent communication.

Whether you’re just starting or in the messy middle of your business, this episode is packed with actionable tips and insights to help you navigate the challenges of launching.

For those who prefer reading, the full transcript is available below. But if you’re ready to dive in, grab your favorite note-taking tool and listen to the episode!

🧩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 following bundle!) (click here )

🗒️Review the Show Notes

Connect With Abagail

Connect With Dolly

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

Episode 105: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/11/16/copywriting-tips-for-launching/

Episode 106: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/11/25/how-to-use-tiktok-for-launching/

Episode 107: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/12/03/easy-launches-during-busy-seasons/

Episode 108: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/12/10/how-to-host-a-webinar/

Episode 109: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/12/16/how-to-have-a-powerful-pre-launch/

Episode 110: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2023/12/19/how-to-create-a-marketing-workflow/

Episode 111: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/01/01/launch-metrics-to-track/

Episode 112: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/01/08/how-to-create-pre-launch-content-using-the-story-brand-guide/

Episode 113: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/01/15/how-to-be-more-visible-for-your-business/

Episode 114: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/01/22/getting-started-with-google-ads/

Episode 115: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/01/25/launch-management-and-launch-planning-tips/

Episode 116: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/01/29/abandoned-cart-email-sequences/

Episode 117: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/2024/02/05/why-launching-is-important/

DID YOU LIKE THIS EPISODE? PLEASE SHARE IT ON PINTEREST!

episode-118-of-the-systems-and-workflow-magic-podcast-pinterest-pin-image-of-abagail-pumphrey-which-is-about-navigating-launch-challenges

Read The Shownotes + Transcript Here.

Dolly DeLong: Hello, and welcome to another Systems and Workflow Magic podcast episode. I am your systems and workflow BFF and guide, Dolly DeLong. And you all, I am thrilled to introduce the one and only Abigail Pumphrey from Boss Project today on the podcast. To say I’m fangirling is an understatement, and I’m just really, really excited about having Abigail on. And before I embarrass Abigail and me, I will let her introduce herself briefly. Cause she’s. And amazing person. So, welcome to the podcast.

Abagail Pumphrey: Thank you so much for having me, Dolly. I’m Abigail Pumphrey. I’m the CEO and co-founder of the boss project. I have been working online for myself since 2015. The years seem to go by faster and faster. When I started my business, I was a. Brand designer working with small businesses, mostly locally, on brand and website design. I booked out my boutique and was busy working on one with design clients. I enjoyed sharing what it was like to sell, how to get clients, get new leads, and build an audience.

And so, in everything I was doing, I was teaching how it worked and how I could get to that point. And that’s how the boss project was born. It was born by accident. It was never necessarily my intention to build an education company when this all began, but.

Today, I am thankful we have worked with over 30,000 clients worldwide. We have taught people how to build ethical and sustainable businesses online so that more and more people can create profit and fuel the life that they want, one in which they’re allowed to prioritize their family and their life first and build something that’s in alignment with their personal goals as those evolve and change over time.

It’s been an enjoyable journey. I’ve launchedalmosth every kind of offer in the online business world in a million different ways, so I’m excited to discuss today’s podcast.

Dolly DeLong: thank you again for agreeing to be on the podcast today. And I’m excited to learn from you and for others to get to know you more if they’re new to your business or brand. And I want to say I am so; I am glad that you accidentally landed in education years ago cause I’ve learned so much from you; oh, well, thank you. I’ve learned so much from you. So, I’m excited about this conversation. So just. So everyone knows before we hit record, I asked Abigail, Hey, like you have experienced the whole gambit of launching. You’ve launched many different aspects of your business, such as digital products, services, and one-to-one services. Group programs, like everything. And she’s also experienced the launch emotional rollercoaster that many people don’t discuss. People are starting to talk about it now, but mostly, people see the highlight reel on Instagram and social media, as anybody wants he sia-, s-en—, -eight-figure launch. And so I wanted to chat about your experiences, The good, the bad, and the ugly of your experiences, and like what you would like to share with either brand new business owners who are learning about what launching is to maybe even, I have a lot of business centers who listen to this podcast, and who are in the messy middle of their business.

They are slowly piecing together what they need—the systems, workflows, and SOPs to impact the backend of their business. In this series, we’re talking about the systems, workloads, and SOPs of launching and how to piece it together as a solo business owner. So, I know you’ll give us a good reality check of what we should be expecting realistically.

Abagail Pumphrey: Yeah, I mean, too, to give you full transparency, I’ve had launches that have made everything from zero dollars to losing 50,000 to Making well over six figures and everything in between. Some of these launches have been the thrill of a lifetime.

Some have been incredibly hard and painful. Others have been devastating. And everything in between: some has been straightforward to execute, some have been very low stress, low impact, and some have been exceptionally curated and thought out in advance; I’ve launched on autopilot where I wasn’t in the office while the launch was happening, I’ve launched very much like in the moment where I’m building things as we’re going along, and it just really has depended on it.

What was the offer, what was the seasonality of what was going on in my life and business, and what did the marketplace look like? Those all shift and change in their timeline and schedule, and they don’t always agree with each other on the direction you should For that, for those just starting, you must focus less on what you think should be happening, what you feel is required to succeed, or even setting an arbitrary goal. Not that you can’t have goals, not that you can’t strive for something, but I would much instead you Try something and learn from it and utilize that information to execute again in the future than you try something and feel like it didn’t work because I didn’t hit this metric and forget about ever launching that product or launching in this way again. After all, the method is often not necessarily The issue; sometimes, it’s not even the offer, and I think we start blaming many different things.

It’s the price point, how I sold it, how many emails I sent, and how many social posts I posted, and it could be any combination of those things, but often, some of the switches are much simpler than we give them credit for.

Dolly DeLong: Can we unpack the switches? If that’s okay with you, I’d like to investigate further.

Abagail Pumphrey: Yeah. So, one of the things that I love talking about with any business owner is that regardless of what you’re selling, it doesn’t matter if you’re selling a service or a digital product. Irrespective of whether it is group membership or a course, you have to be able to clearly articulate the problem you’re solving for your ideal client. And typically, when I see low sales, unless there’s like, like, you’re not getting in front of enough people unless traffic is so, so low, more often than not, the issue comes down to messaging. And so it’s not necessarily. What the offer is, but it’s how you talk to the right person.

And I either see people making it try to apply to too many people, or they try to make the offer so broad that it solves all of these problems, and people don’t necessarily know if it connects with them or, you know, we’re in a kind of a weird economic time right now and people. I can’t imagine six months, nine months, and 12 months into the future. And so I see people making smaller commitments on smaller ideas. And so maybe the concept of what you’re trying to get them to accomplish in the service or offer. It is too much. And, like, what if you bought a bit of a smaller piece of the puzzle?

So, before you shrink or grow your offer or change the components of what’s included or the deliverables, I would always try a messaging change before changing the offer. You put in this offer. Into the world because you believe in it. And if you don’t believe in it, we probably need to back up and work on that first. Still, assuming you think this thing can get results for people and it will be something for them, we need to work on sharing that story and making it clear who this is, why it’s meaningful to them, and what sort of transformation.

They’re going to have in store for themselves. The clearer you can be about this, the better. And often, if we can tie it back to things that people tend to spend the most on, we will, we will really, have a home run. People love to buy things related to growing their wealth, saving them time, improving their relationships, or improving their health.

If we can do one of those things, we are going to make a huge impact, and we can focus on it. It doesn’t have to be a ton of any of those areas. It can be a little snippet and make a huge difference.

Dolly DeLong: I like that you brought up going back to messaging.  And then I made a note while you were talking to ask for some messaging tips. But you, for the listeners or the viewers, Abigail shared some great tips about messaging. Like, remind yourself of who it’s for. Think about the transformation, get super clear, and be laser-focused. And because, as she shared,  that would be better. Then, I will also focus on and correct myself if I’m wrong, as well as my wealth, health, and relationships. Those are the three things people spend the most time, energy, and money focusing on. Is that correct?

Abagail Pumphrey: Yeah, health, wealth, and relationships.

I would say the fourth kind of like annex, but not quite as much, is happiness, but it tends to be more challenging to illustrate and sell. So health, wealth, and relationships will be the easiest things to align someone with. But people spend money on their happiness all the time. You go to Starbucks on a random Tuesday to brighten your day like you Do it because you want to be happy. It’s generally not because you need a caffeine fix. If you need a caffeine fix, there are a million other ways to make that happen, but you chose that coffee spot on that day to enjoy it. So those tend to be more purchases that are last-second at the moment. Still, in terms of planned ormoree significantpurchaser,r even high ticket purchases, peoplewill spendd much more on health, wealta,andd relationships.

Dolly DeLong: Okay, can I hear your thoughts, or will I not necessarily hear your thoughts? I ask you this because maybe this will encourage my listeners again. We, like my listeners, are in the beginning stages of our business or again in the messy middle, and we can,

Abagail Pumphrey: I know me

Dolly DeLong: specifically, I can get hard on myself if I don’t understand a concept right away. I get so furious with myself. I’m like, you should know these things, Dolly. But When did things start clicking in for the importance of messaging? How did that journey look like for your business? What did you have to do to take the necessary steps to start honing in on your messaging?

Abagail Pumphrey: Does that make sense? Is that a question? No, it does make sense. I consider myself a bit of a unicorn, and I want to acknowledge that I am not necessarily brilliant. I want to think I’m smart and have done many savvy things. 

Dolly DeLong: You are brilliant. I will toot your horn!

Abagail Pumphrey: For you. But some of this does come down to timing. I came into the landscape when Small businesses were starting to get featured more often in online education, at least for my industry, which was very new. There were a couple of people who had been doing this longer. Still, most of them targeted more corporate audiences, very few targeted small businesses, and even fewer targeted women in business.

And so I, I’m a dinosaur regarding this online landscape. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I recognize that I’ve been doing it. I also acknowledge that I Was willing to try many things with no expectation of outcome. And so when I say try a lot of things, like I need you to understand the volume I created, because I tried a lot of messaging, but it wasn’t necessarily because I thought I needed to try a lot. That was not the goal. It was to get in front of the right people, the representation I had been shown. Was content creation. So, the majority of my audience started a business first. They started a company; they built a business and sold it. They likely have a local network that they began with. They got their product or service out into the world, and now they’re trying to utilize online to grow. I had the exact opposite, you know. Progression. I built an online audience by initially blogging five days a week. I posted on Instagram three to five times a day before stories and reels were a thing.

I started a podcast when women were very new to podcasting. Like, all of these things were a thing: hitting on volume. And if you don’t know what will work, often the best way to find out is to put a lot out there and see what’s resonating. And so, while I wouldn’t necessarily say I was super intentional and had all of this insight into, “Oh, I need to hone in on my messaging.”

It was, I’m going to try this and that and this and that, and I’m not going to worry about what works. I will pay attention to what works, try to do more of that, and continue to show up consistently in the same place for a very long period. And. Over time, it worked and was very successful, so I created less than I did before because I would consider myself more of a business owner now than I was eight years ago. So that’s fine, but it was a different approach and allowed me to get out in front of people. So, you know, if you have time. Then, sure, create a lot of stuff, see what sticks, and pay attention to what resonates with people. But if time is where you’re lacking, you will have to be more intentional with how and where you show up, and menus ensure that you have a high impact.

It depends on your goals. Do you want to be in front of a large group of people, or do you want to make enough revenue to support your family? And that’s it. There’s no right or wrong for what your goal has to be. Not everyone needs to be a millionaire. Not everyone needs to be a seven- or eight-figure business owner. You can have a business that supports you and your family, which is fantastic.

Dolly DeLong: Okay. Well, thank you for letting me take you off on that tangent. I was just curious about what you would have to say. 

Abagail Pumphrey: I wanted to return to the concept of the small switches a person can make in their business.

Dolly DeLong: You mentioned messaging. Is there anything else you want to share about these small, tangible switches?

Abagail Pumphrey: Yeah. So I think the other thing I would try is the method you’re selling. So, it would be best if you did not necessarily change what you’re selling again but how you’re selling it. If you’re trying to post just on social media to get someone to buy, what would it look like if you sent them a short video about it or a webinar, or if you’re selling services? You’re trying to get people to fill out a form and you want them to like to move through this process asynchronously, What would happen if you tried putting them through a discovery call and sales call? I would be willing to experiment with the method you’re trying to convert. And how people convert tends to follow a lot of trends. And we can learn a lot about what’s working in other businesses that we can apply to our own. Ultimately, the buyer journey should not be a surprise. I think that’s what people need to come to grips with; this is not the place to be original, like how you sell should not be, totally pioneering a new method. I mean, could you? Sure, but you’ll hit many more road bumps; you’ll have to spend a lot more money testing and trying many more things.

You’re way more likely to be successful by using methods that other people have spent a lot of time perfecting and testing, and take from those methods and apply them to your business reasonably. You know, not everything needs to be sold in the same way. It doesn’t. That’s so true.

Dolly DeLong: I know we’re going all over the place. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Well, you just mentioned two different things. I’m like, I want to talk; I want to dig into that, the buyer journey. I love that you. You said people must come to grips with how you sell and should not be pioneering a new method. And so, do you have any recommendations for resources or books? How could we be diving into what a good buyer’s journey resource you would recommend? Of course, I know this like I am, but I have listeners who are brand new to this.

Abagail Pumphrey: I think it depends on what it is that you’re trying to sell, but, in terms of the buyer’s journey, regardless of what you’re selling, everyone goes through the same couple of phases they go through from not knowing who you are at all to some awareness level of, Oh, I know who this person is. I’ve seen them before. I’ve seen them around. I’ve been going for you to go from awareness to engagement. So, at that point, someone would potentially become a prospect to you because they’ve engaged with their content or engaged with you. And then beyond. Engagement: you will typically have an actual lead. So there’s some exchange of information, whether they provided an email address, filled out a lead capture form, or indicated interest in what you sell specifically. So, I’m not necessarily talking about a lead magnet here. A lead magnet would indicate a prospect. Typically, a lead must be tied to interest in something for sale.

Mm hmm. And then beyond that, the sales process will vary depending on how you’re selling. However, they go from lead to buyer and then buyer to advocate. And the lead to buyer tends to be the part that people hyper-focus on, which I get because that’s where the exchange of money tends to happen. But if this is working, you are getting any sales. At all. You can improve the process’s earlier parts, naturally enhancing buying. So if you’re like, I’m getting two sales a day, and I want ten sales a day, Well, what would happen if you had five times the amount of people aware of who you are and spending more time at the top, rather than so focused on converting?

Getting someone to say yes to what you do shouldn’t be hard. And if it is, you’re trying to sell to someone who might not be an ideal fit. And I would much rather you spend time. Parts of the process that will attract the right people make the sale a total no-brainer. Because when the sale is a total no-brainer, it feels good for them. It feels good for you. There’s a lot of alignment and synergy happening, and they’re way more likely to become your advocate, singing your praises and telling everyone they know about what you do. And so. In terms of, what are the mechanisms, there are a million ways to create awareness.

There are a lot of different ways to interact and engage with prospects. There are a ton of other ways to capture leads. There are many different ways to convert a lead to a sale. Those methods all tend to vary by industry and by product type. And by how much focus you have on business first or content creation first because the process would change pretty significantly, they all have the same overall journey.

So my most significant advice is that as long as you’re getting sales back up in one to two steps, how did the people who converted? How did the people who said yes buy your thing? How did they find you? How did they discover you? How did they get to know you existed? And what was their journey like?

How can you improve that journey for more people? You can get more buyers like the ones you already have. And I guess that goes back.

Dolly DeLong: to, or maybe in my mind, I’m tying it to the messaging. You’re tweaking your messaging further back.

Abagail Pumphrey: Is that correct with your content? It’s not necessarily tweaking your messaging.

It might even be Doing something at that level, like many people. So the problem I tend to see people having when they’re moving, especially from a service-based business only to including a digital product or some one-to-many offer in the mix, is they have never spent time on awareness-level marketing.

They have fully waited for someone to know they exist, and then they market to them from that point. And so, when you only need four or five leads a month to book out your services with two or three clients, awareness-level marketing Is not something you tend to spend any time on because it’s unnecessary. You’re going to be booked out anyway. So people tend to get frustrated because they’re like, well, no one’s buying, and it’s probably because you sold to everyone who was already going to purchase from you, and you need to grow the pot of people that know you exist.

And so it may be. Try methods you aren’t yet doing in your business and back up a level you previously haven’t spent time on. And it’s the difference between discovery content or discovery marketing and nurture. Most people spend 80 to 90 percent of their time on nurture-level marketing.

Yeah, and it’s fantastic because it gets people to buy. But if those sales or leads start to slow down, it’s because your awareness is not growing fast enough to support the level of sales that you’re producing.

Dolly DeLong: That’s wow, Abigail. I should send you money because this is like a coaching session. This is amazing. Okay. Then I was also going to the second part of this question from the buyer’s journey, but how do you know how to gauge trends and not only infuse them in your business? Everyday business, but then in the scope of launching, like from your experience, how, how, like, how do you know, I don’t know, this is like a very, very layered question. I realize I’m asking because it constantly changes, but how do you, from your experience, know when to jump on a trend versus when to do something that would work for your ideal client? Does that make sense?

Abagail Pumphrey: So, do I think specific trends only work for specific ideal clients? Sometimes, but not necessarily. I’ve seen a lot of people apply a trend to wild audiences. I would have never thought it would work. And sometimes, the wilder the comparison, the better it works. It’s so new to that industry, but it’s like working like gangbusters here. So don’t be afraid to apply a method you haven’t seen done in your industry but you see it working super well somewhere else. The thing with trends is that I saw this quote from this woman, and I have just latched on to it. I wish I knew her name. I have no idea who said this initially, but she mentioned that trends are like a sushi conveyor belt, and you’re in a fancy restaurant, and you get to choose what you’re hungry for, and we can just let some pass by.

And that doesn’t mean that. We’re missing out because we’ll still have an incredible meal curated by ourselves. Regardless of whether you like sushi, you don’t necessarily have to prescribe to any specific trends and decide to pursue them. It is an experiment. Every time it’s an experiment, it’s you being willing to put yourself out there and do something. Now, here’s the thing. With most trends, there tends to be a life cycle that comes and goes over time. Some trends will last a long time, like multiple years. Some trends will last days and hours. Some trends will last months. It just depends on what we’re talking about. But we’re when we’re talking about sales trends.

Sales trends tend to have a little bit longer lifespan than social trends. So, if we’re talking about sales trends, there are ways that people have been selling for a long time. And then there are new methods of sales. The big thing with it is. You all aren’t committing to it. So, please don’t be harsh, but trends do not work when you don’t keep doing them. It’s like, you did one webinar, and it didn’t convert. Oh, you did one reel, and it didn’t convert. Oh, you did one. Whatever, like insert anything. Yes. And, like, if you see it working for someone else, it can work for you, but you still have to figure it out. What is the recipe for the thing? Do you know what I mean?

We can all bake our chocolate chip cookies, but how many years does it take your grandma to get the perfect recipe that you just passed down from generation to generation? You have to take time honing in on your specialty and how you apply it to that specific trend, and you have to have the willingness to keep going, even when results are meh or nonexistent, because it could be one of a million things. And so, you know, if you’re talking about social trends, it could be as simple as You posted it at a weird time, and you didn’t get someone to interact with it in the first 10 seconds, and then it flopped. But if you posted the same thing two hours later, it could have gone viral as if you didn’t know why.

And there’s no one going to sit there and be like, this is why it didn’t work. Now. Some people will try to tell you that, and they may have some decent guesses, but no one knows. And so you have to be willing. To keep trying the same thing. And so, if you’re talking about committing to a trend on sales trends, I would say you need to commit to a strategy for at least three months to know if it will work for you. But. You have to be making changes pretty frequently during that initial period. If we’re talking about a webinar, you want to market it enough to get enough people there to know if the deck will convert. If you don’t have enough people there, your problem is traffic, not necessarily knowing if the deck works.

Like, so it all depends. But. I want you to commit; the only way you will commit is if the thing is aligned with how you want to show up. And I think so often the reason things don’t work is that people are trying to commit to things that are either out of alignment from like a time or ways they want to show up or whatever, or sometimes out of integrity, like you genuinely feel like deep down you’re like, I think kind of ick about this.

Then why are you doing it? Yeah, like, because if you feel sick about it, that’s going to come across, and you’re not going to sell, but the same person, someone else, is going to be like this jives with how I want to show up and I’m excited about it. And they will show up more authentically than you trying to force a square peg into a round hole. And so, like, you must be mindful of those gut intuitions guiding you. And it doesn’t mean giving up on something; it means paying attention when it doesn’t feel right.

Dolly DeLong: in terms of launching then, can you give a tangible example from your experience, from your launching life experience of when it was all aligning well for you and Like you tried specific trends or like just everything was in alignment versus a launch where things were like the shiz was hitting the fan, but you kept on going, and it was not in alignment.

Abagail Pumphrey: Yeah, it’s funny because sometimes what’s in alignment in a season will not feel in alignment later. And that can be frustrating. Yeah. So, there was a period in my business where I launched every two weeks. And that sounds wild. I would market a webinar for a week and then sell it to those who attended for a week. Then, I would market a webinar for a week and then sell it to the people who participated in a webinar for a week. And I did this. I had so much fun every two weeks for almost a year. I was going through six or seven different webinar decks, and doing this alongside my business partner, we had such great synergy and got so excited about the people showing up there.

Not all of these launches made a ton of money. Still, the energy I felt from being in the room with people and hearing how they were interacting with our content made a big difference in how I wanted to show up because I felt like I was part of something—like I was part of a community.

And now, like, that sounds so exhausting. Like, it’s so exhausting. And, you know, in terms of trends, show-up rates for a live anything are about half what they were even a couple of years ago, regardless of how great of your job you are. The trend is that just fewer people show up. Because they’re expecting a replay, they’re expecting to be able to have access to it.

They’re expecting all of these things because of the way we’ve taught them to consume in the past. Now, regarding something that was out of alignment, I want to be mindful that sometimes, things that are out of alignment will still work. And so, I sold a group coaching program. I love my group coaching program.

It has nothing to do with the actual program. It had to do with the sales method. So we had an application process we would have people go through, and then we were social selling. So we went on Instagram, conversed with qualified leads, got them to watch training, and had conversations.

Here’s the thing: It was super in alignment for me to have quality conversations one-on-one with people. Amazing. I felt so great about it. They had a great experience. I had a great experience. The problem was I had no personal time left. The only time that my audience tended to be active and available was between 6 pm and 11 pm because most of these people were working full time, either in their business or incorporated.

They were great about not responding during the day because they were doing their job as they should be, but that meant that I was doing my job all day and then talking all night to people who liked it, and I loved it. So that was the conflict. It’s like, I enjoy the conversations. I had great conversations.

I developed great relationships, and they degraded. In my time, I was tapped out, burnt out, and didn’t feel like I had any rest. I was looking forward to weekends, but I would like to blink, and they would be over, and it didn’t work for me. And so I did that for a lot longer than I probably should have.

Having something compelling and feeling good about part of it can be strange, but it is still out of alignment with how you want to run your company. So you’ll have to make hard choices in your business, and some will challenge you to figure out how to show up differently when three-quarters of how you’re doing it is good. That 25 percent will still impact you more than you realize, so pay attention to those nuances. Gotcha.

Dolly DeLong: Abigail, I could go on and on. I know we have been chatting for over 45 minutes now. That’s incredible. And I want to say thank you so much for sharing your launch experiences and more about going deeper into the buyer’s journey and talking about sushi conveyor belts. 

Abagail Pumphrey: I love that.

Dolly DeLong: No, but you presented many things that I know my listeners, even myself, will be chewing on for a while. And like I, I think when it comes down to it, it is just knowing ourselves. Knowing ourselves and like what you were saying, like how. Do you ideally want to show up in your business? What are your own goals for your life and your business? Cause those can go hand in hand. And that could also bleed into how you choose to launch. And so I’m personally glad that I’ve said this over and over again in this series, but there’s no one blueprint roadmap for launching like listeners; please know that. Abigail has experienced everything, and she’s still learning.

Abagail Pumphrey: growing in her logic. I’m

Dolly DeLong: It’s encouraging and provides fresh air for a business owner like me. So, I want to thank you so much for sharing some of your experiences with us. Do you mind sharing two things, one more about your membership, because I want listeners to hear more about it? Like what you have to offer, where people can find you, how people can connect with you and work

Abagail Pumphrey: with you. Yeah. So I launched the Creative Template Shop in 2020 and the co-op is our membership portion of that site. And the co-op was initially designed to help people save time. We were designing materials to improve their sales process, client experience, and social presence, and I felt something was missing. I didn’t necessarily know what it was for a long time, and then I knew what it was. I was afraid to commit to what it was because it meant many changes to how I showed up in my business. However, this fall, I’ve made many changes, and I am still so excited about everything that Co-op is turning into and everything it will continue to become now and into the future.

I want it to be a place where we can combine all the tools and strategies you need to be profitable and sustainable online. Our goal isn’t necessarily to give you a super specific or prescriptive roadmap but to allow you to pick and choose the adventure that makes the most sense for who you are and where you’re at and provide ongoing support. You need to be aligned with the resources that are right for you. And so you can come into our community and ask questions and say, Hey, I’m working on this, and there’s bound to be a tool or a resource. We have an incredible core curriculum combined with mini-courses, workshops, and the whole nine; there’s more content there than I dare you to consume. But my goal is to provide something accessible that will allow you to continue thriving over a long period. And I want to create an environment where you can be that whole person; you can be the person who’s excited and ready to go and do things. And the one that’s stressed and the one that’s anxious and the one that has real-life happen and the one that has to deal with clients that have you have uncomfortable conversations. I want you to be able to be that whole person and not just the shiny, beautiful parts. Because you’re you and unique just the way you are. And you’re allowed to have bad days, and we want to be there for all of them. So, if you’re interested in seeing more about what that looks like, go to the creative template shop.com and check it out. I would love to have you. And I’m excited to see everything you do in the future. And if you want a free resource to kick things off, I would encourage you to head over to my podcast, the strategy hour. You can listen anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Dolly DeLong: I listen. All this is not Abigail. She has not paid me to say this, but you all. I subscribe to her podcast. I hear it all the time. It’s great. You guys will learn so much from her experience, and she will keep it accurate. You keep it real, Abigail, which I appreciate. So much. And then finally, my final question is, can you share with the listeners and viewers what you will be contributing to the systems that workflow magic bundle, the launch edition?

Abagail Pumphrey: Yeah. So, we have the ultimate launch bundle, which I’m excited about. It’s a combination of launch graphics and social templates and, mock-ups and, A planner, and all of the bits and pieces you need to look fantastic throughout your launch and have tangible things that are going to help you move forward in a meaningful way, regardless of the kind of offer that you’re launching. I wanted to create something that would be good for all product types. So, defck out the bundle. I’m super excited. And I don’t do things halfway. So, like, Oh, you don’t

Dolly DeLong: thank you again for being on the podcast, sharing so many bits and tidbits, and letting me take you on all the tangents. Thank you so much. And for those listening and watching, everything will be in the show notes so that you can stay connected with both Abigail and me. And will you please send us both a DM and let us know what points you enjoyed from this episode? What aha moments have you had? I experienced a lot of aha moments myself. I was taking loads of notes while Abigail was talking, and I was excited to re-listen. And. Again, this is my awkward way of wrapping up. Thank you so much for coming, and you all continue to stay streamlined and magical. You amazing muggles, and I will talk to you all next week with the new podcast episode. Bye.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

a free masterclass

Join me, along with Mara Kucirek and Bekah Read, as we reveal key Black Friday 2024 trends. With an unpredictable election year and a shifting economy, we'll share insider tips to help you stand out and drive sales with strategy


the 5 black friday trends to know before you launch

A FREE GOOGLE DOC
CHECKLIST

Unlock the secrets to a well-organized and strategic launch with this must-have checklist designed for small business owners who need guidance on the essential puzzle pieces of a launch!

THE ESSENTIAL EMAILS YOU NEED FOR YOUR LAUNCHES

Snag the freebie

Need help growing your email list? Start with a Lead Magnet! As a launch strategist, I advise focusing on email list growth in all launch phases,
including pre-launch.

The Lead Magnet Master idea list

Snag some freebies to help you better organize & streamline
the backend of your launches (to impact your business)!

Don't  go home empty handed!