Yup. 3 Sign-Ups. (aka How I Screwed Up Majorly, and What I’m Doing to Fix It)
Ever Tried Ever Failed Print by limeyts
If you watched my I Quit My Day Job: 22 Month Update on Monday, then you know I wasn’t my usual chipper self. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe – but above and beyond the boob cancer, I was disappointed in the recent launch of my Clubhouse. It was something I was working on in the back on my brain for months, and real actively for 8-ish weeks. Everyone I told about it reacted super favorably, and would offer tons of encouragement and kudos. I told my Mom and my husband, “I think I’m going to make a lot of money this month – my Clubhouse is opening up and I think the members will be pouring in!” I even asked my Virtual Wizard if she’d want more hours, as I’d love to hire her more often since I’m gonna get a nice foundation with The Clubhouse Money. Let’s say I was Law of Attraction-ing it up, but in a I-really-believed-it way. I was sure. I was confident. I was On To Something.
I wanted to launch it on my birthday, but that fell on a Saturday and I thought I “shouldn’t” do it then. I thought of opening the clubhouse doors the day before, but Friday was the “wrong” day, too. And Monday was a national holiday, so nobody would be paying attention then…(right?) So Tuesday the 17th it would be! I wrote the newsletter and scheduled it for 7a Eastern that day, and scheduled the blog post to go up a few hours prior. I let in The Sneak Peek People the week before, using them to make sure the welcoming process was smooth (which I could not have come close to doing without the help of my Virtual Wizard, Arwyn!), to see if anything was broken and/or confusing, and to give some life to the private Facebook group before the first “official” person came in on Tuesday at 7:01a Eastern (I presumed). 18 people were already there, and I felt confident that at least another 20 would join them that day.
The first “official” Clubhouse member came in at 1:16p Eastern. I told myself, “Everyone had a busy morning back at work…the sign-ups will be pouring in now!”
The second member came in at 2:48p Eastern. I told myself, “OK, here we go – be at the ready!”
The third member signed up at 9:51p Eastern. I told myself, “(Gulp).”
And then I went to bed, too tired from the early-morning doctor’s appointment, my lack of sleep from the night before, and my unnecessary waiting at the computer. But even though I knew there were “more important things” to be upset about (read: boob cancer), I couldn’t help but be disappointed.
It’s now a full week after “launch”, and I only had 1 other person “officially” sign up, at 1:06p Eastern on Monday the 23rd. That is absolutely positively not to negate the other 19 people in the Clubhouse -not at all! But those are my Brooklyn Brunch Business Babes (yes, we get together monthly to drink mimosas, eat bagels and talk about Woman of the World stuff) and my Grads, the former group gettin’ in because I value their contribution and feedback, and the latter group because I love my Grads so freakin’ much that I wanna do special things for them all the time (in this case, I refunded their first month if they joined the Clubhouse before Tue the 17th). Yes, they absolutely positively count, but…they didn’t “count.” You know what I mean.
I tried not to break down the 27 hours I prepped for the Clubhouse (I told ya Freckle comes in handy) into the money I made, including the refunds. But I did. $138 divided by 27 hours is (gulp) $5.11/hour. If I include my Grads, and assume they won’t drop out after the first month, then Month 2 right now would bring me…$327. That’s $12.11/hour, and that goes down the longer I continue to work on The Clubhouse (I’ve spent an extra 3 hours on it today already).
I mean, can you see The Travesty? The Embarrassment? The Head Scratching and Brow Furrowing, especially as I get emails and blog comments and tweets about how amazeballs The Clubhouse is and “Congrats” with it?
I have to admit, I wasn’t gonna tell you this in detail. It’s why I was all “I’m disappointed in my launch…” on the video instead of “Only 3 People?! What the Frackin’ Frack?!” I don’t like talking specifics when it comes to the money I’m making, but this…it couldn’t be ignored. It couldn’t be brushed under the rug. I felt the need to share, especially after the comments I got on Monday thanking me for the honesty and the vulnerability. I can’t help it – I’m committed to documenting it all here – the ups, the downs, and The 3 People Launches.
Well, I wouldn’t be a life coach without document What Went Wrong (and How I’m Gonna Make It Right), so here it ’tis:
I sent the newsletter at 7a the day after a long weekend. I literally wanna hit myself. I “should” know better. People at corporate gigs were rushing in to work and didn’t come up for air until lunchtime at the earliest. Moms were getting their kids ready for school and out the door after time off. Men and Women of the World (aka Entrepreneurs) were also digging out of Inboxes and probably feeling a bit guilty for not working the day before. If I sent that email on Wednesday or Thursday – or even 6 hours later on Tuesday! – I think it would’ve made a huge difference. In my Mailchimp campaign report, I had a 3.6% lower open rate than normal, with 1.4% less clicks than usual. I’m still above the industry average (my open rate is usually 36.7% while the industry open rate is 15.2%), but if I’m comparing myself to myself…this didn’t measure up as it usually does. How I’m Gonna Fix It: I’ll send another newsletter this afternoon, admitting my screw-up and telling everyone the details. I think they’ll get it.
I didn’t tell any of my cohorts about it. OK, that’s not true. When I’d see/talk to/tweet ‘em and they’d asked what I was working on, I would tell them all about The Clubhouse and, as I mentioned before, they’d be super enthusiastic. But, um, I didn’t let anyone know when I was opening The Clubhouse, so I didn’t have my usual amount of help in spreading the word. This is also tricky because I can’t set-up The Clubhouse membership through e-junkie (because the Clubhouse payments are subscription-based, and e-junkie doesn’t support that), which runs my affiliate programs, and so I can’t offer anyone to be an affiliate for The Clubhouse. I’m trying to think of other ways to compensate those who refer Clubhouse members my way, but still – it doesn’t excuse me not asking! How I’m Gonna Fix It: I’m gonna send out an email to my beautiful, lovely, amazeballs colleagues, clients and cohorts, asking for some tweets or a blog post or some other way to help me spread the word. I’ll also probably put some sort of affiliate-like thing in place, but more of a whoever-refers-the-most-people-gets-something-every-month thing, just ’cause I can’t track the direct clicks.
I didn’t advertise. Not only was nobody spreading the word for me, but I was barely spreading it myself! I know that it’s a good investment to take $100-$200 and take out a blog ad on some of my favorite Interweb homes. I mean really – what the heck is wrong with me? How I’m Gonna Fix It: Stop beating myself up and reach out to Alexandra Franzen, Kind Over Matter, and Kelly Rae Roberts STAT.
I rested on my laurels. I have to admit – I might’ve gotten a bit cocky. With 6,000+ Twitter followers and 1,700+ Facebook fans and 2,000+ newsletter subscribers…I mean, I don’t think my numbers are huge, but I just figured there’d be at least 20 people who’d be picking up what I’d be putting down, yaknowwhatI’msayin? I put the button on the homepage and made the Clubhouse page “live” and wrote/recorded a song and scheduled some tweets and a blog post and the newsletter and thought, “Well, I built it!…Where the hell are they?” It still has to be active at this point, people. I can’t just put something new up and expect to make thousands. How I’m Gonna Fix It: The emails and ads above are a great start, with actually reading How to Launch the S*** Out of Your Ebook being a good follow-up (I can’t even admit how long I’ve had it, because it’s ridiculously long).
I had almost 200 people look at the Clubhouse page that day…and only 3 joined. While I was super proud of how that page looks and how the copy reads, I knew there had to be something missing if something like 98% (math ain’t my strong suit) of the peeps who checked my page out (which must’ve meant they were somewhat interested) clicked off. Um, the page has now been viewed 354 times in the past 7 days, and…only 4 sign-ups. So, I spent 3 hours today pulling quotes from my Clubhouse members as to why they joined, making them pretty on Picnik (don’t tell me it’s closing – I’m still crying about it), and adding them to the page. I also took out the few times I said I needed to build something “hands off” for myself, as I now think it could give the wrong impression that I won’t be around the Clubhouse very often (which so ain’t true!). How I’m Gonna Fix It: Ya know, I have a feeling I’ll be tweaking this page lots as time goes on and I get more Clubhouse feedback. I already added a new question to the FAQs, and within the week I wanna add a free downloadable exercise to that page, too.
I listened to the “shoulds”. I originally wanted to launch this on my birthday, but since it was a Saturday “nobody would pay attention.” Well, on one hand I convinced myself of that, and on the other I decided to run a 34-hour sale in honor of my 34th birthday for my newsletter peeps only (no tweets, no blog posts, no Facebook updates) that started – you can probably guess this – on Saturday morning. I sold 27 workbooks by the time the sale ended on Sunday night. If that was the number who ended up in my Clubhouse that weekend, I woulda been thrilled. Thrilled! How I’m Gonna Fix It: Tell the “shoulds” to take a hike and continue to conduct my business the way that feels good and makes sense to me.
I also have to stress that at no point in time did I want to take The Clubhouse down. The Facebook Group still has 2 dozen really active creative ladies sharing their goals, their challenges, their blogs, and their stories to connect with, support, and help each other. I’m still psyched to coach them as a group – and offer a free session to one of ‘em – each and every month. I’m thrilled that there’s a built-in audience for my products and workshops (next virtual workshop’ll be on An Effective Escape – aka quitting your day job without having to live in your parent’s basement – on Feb 22nd). I’m happy to (finally!) have a place where us creative types, who usually feel so all alone, can meet each other and not feel, um, so alone anymore. To ask them to Shamelessly Share what they’re working on and read about their mentor-seeking and agricultural-training and new-blog-launching and event-planning and product-designing and Etsy-shop-launching and media-site-creating and ESL-training and Mommy-dancing-encouraging and lingerie-producing selves…well, I’m not going anywhere, and neither is The Clubhouse.
Y’know, I have a feeling that in a year I’ll look at the few hundred people who’re there and light up, knowing I Did That. And ya know what? Even if there’s less than a hundred, I’ll still be proud, because I would have achieved what I set out to: connecting, coaching, and serving more clients at a (much) lower price point. So no matter what…I Did That. And I’m proud.
———–
This is where you’d expect a button to join my Clubhouse, but seriously – overkill much?! Also, it’s my Mom’s birthday, and she’s the bestest Mom in the whole entire freakin’ frackin’ world (sorry other Moms), and I just had to link back to this post because it still rings true. Even though we’re going through the s*** now, we have each other – and I know that’s the most important, because my Mom taught me that. Here we are toasting to her last year – we’ll have another one tomorrow!
Tags: Hearty How Tos, Kick in the Knickers, Michelle's Memoirs
January 25th, 2012 at 9:51 am
I think it pretty amazing that you have figured all this out and so quickly. It seems to me that you have amazing business sense and also a lot of personal growth. You were not looking to beat yourself up. They should be asking you to be a guest lecturer at Harvard.
January 25th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Ha! Well, I so appreciate the super compliment, Patti! Always looking for What's Working – and how to make What's Not Working into, um, What's Working
The upside of being a life coach!
January 25th, 2012 at 10:33 am
Michelle, the fact that you share your process, the good & the ugly, keeps me coming back. I'm prepping for my first launch right now, and it's no joke. There's soo muuuuuch to dooooo. Appreciate the insight into yours. Wishing you a bustling clubhouse soon!
January 25th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for sharing such detailed insights Michelle – I'm looking to launch an information product during the next couple of months and reading this really gave me some useful tips! I agree with Laura that you really use transparency to your advantage, and you sharing everything in such detail definitely makes me return to your blog. Good luck – hopefully the Clubhouse will fill up a little more during February.
January 25th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I love how you went back to look at the why's behind why launch didn't go as planned. I often try to reflect on how something went, but digging deep into will always prove more fruitful!
Thanks for sharing!
January 25th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
I really appreciate the sharing you've done here. I think its so important that people see the good, the bad, and the ugly. I love your ahas! You go girl!!
January 25th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
I love that you shared this with us…your honesty, transparency and authenticity is truly what sets you apart from all other coaches. Not only do you have the insight to help people figure out their paths in life, but you show that sometimes you are still figuring out things too – which highlights a major truth that resonates with your amazing coaching style: even though we may already be doing what we love and rocking it, it is forever a learning and growing process. It never ends! But it just means we're getting better at it every day.
Seriously, you sharing this with us is amazing! It's helping me to be more brave about a launch I'm working on right now. And that is priceless. Thanks lady!
January 25th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Oh Michelle. It's like you're in my head! I had almost the exact situation with my book launch (I have been pretty disappointed about the turn out for that as well). I have been in such a funky mood because of my "failed" book launch but just knowing that I'm not alone has totally brightened up my spirits. Time to stop beating myself up and start figuring out how to fix it. : )
This Clubhouse will be wonderful and awesome for you and I really hope you get to help lots and lots of people this way while still keeping your sanity! : )
January 25th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
It is so awesome that you share challenges like this with us — I can't tell you how much it helps to know that more established and well-known businesswomen have the same issues as the rest of us.
I'd love to know more about how you arrived at the above reasons for why it didn't go as you hoped instead of just thinking "this is something that people, for whatever reason, don't want." (Which, I admit, is usually my reaction when I put something out there and hear crickets.) Is this something that just comes with experience?
January 25th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Michelle,
I love! that you are so open and transparent about how your business works. Lots of people talk the talk, but walk it with vague generalities that are hard to parse. You don't. Another reason why you're a coach I have recommended without reservations to tons of friends already!
If it as at all helpful, for me, it's a purely financial decision–I think its the ongoing-ness that I can't commit to right now since I have no idea what my financial situation is going to be in six months. I am trying to be better with money.
I can't wait to see how it pans out though, I hope to be able to join someday! Perhaps as a treat to myself once my other freelance gig gets really cooking.
January 25th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I love that you are willing to spill the beans on the quirks behind the scenes! It lends that much more authenticity to what you do, and I believe it makes you an even better coach. Not only can you help your clients along the road to their purpose, but your empathy and experience can also help them prepare for what to do when the wagon steers off course. Let's go out for a margarita and celebrate this.
P.S. happy birthday to your mama!
January 25th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
I love that you shared this– thanks so much for your honesty.
I know I don't have to explain myself, but may I? I get your emails, and I open all of them and I love all of them, and I even clicked over to the clubhouse page, and maybe that disappointed you. (sorry!) It looks wonderful, and it looks even friendlier now.
But I'm a broke college student, and I don't know what I want to do with my life, but (at least today) that seems like a good place to be in. So I browse through your website every so often to give myself permission to dream, and I file you in the back of my mind as an option for when I stop being so okay with not having career goals (I have other, personal non-paying goals for the next year of my life, and I'm content right now with those) and I think to myself how lucky the people with money in their pockets are to have found you, and tell myself that I can do it, but if I can't, someday, you will still be there, waiting and smiling and inspiring.
So that's my story.
Best of luck with the new launch and best of health in the future.
Yours in cookie-adoration,
Hannah
January 25th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Wow! fantastic, honest post Michelle. I love hearing 'behind the scenes' stories from the online business community, especially when they share their lessons and mistakes. By sharing this, you're empowering us (your readers) to be more authentic business people too.
I was one of the 200 people to look at the sign up page, but not buy on launch day. Why? I'm not sure that The Clubhouse is right for me, right now. The subscription idea made me a little wary too – I've never bought anything online that wasn't a once off. That said, I think if the Clubhouse came to me at the right time in my life, I would have signed up without hesitation. I've no doubt but that you're stuff is worth the price you charge.
Best of luck with the re-launch,
)
Clare
(Commenting from Ireland – you have a global following
January 25th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
Wow … I felt like there were more of us there, for some reason. I LOVE the clubhouse. It is a fantastic deal. I am going to tweet it now!! (not that I have a ton of followers, but still!) The Clubhouse ROCKS–anyone reading this, it rocks, I have already benefited from Michelle's advice & wisdom. She is totally present there, regularly answering questions and offering feedback on people's projects and goals. So everyone should join.
January 25th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
So inspiring to read such a wholehearted account of your launch. Sometimes shit happens the way we don't think it will – but most people don't talk about it for fear of being shamed. This is such an important statement you're making by making your feelings public and I felt really priviledged to read it so thank you xxx
January 25th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I think my single greatest fear as a self-employed person is, "What if I build it (and shout it out from the rooftops) and nobody comes?" And it's not even just a fear of business failures, but a fear of looking stupid. Tough stuff.
Looking forward to the future success of your Clubhouse, and to learning more from you as you bravely share the reality of your business road.
January 25th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
I appreciate your words and insight today Michelle. I admit to being intrigued with your Clubhouse but not ready to commit for three main reasons: First, I am still, despite the pretty extensive description you provided on your web page, not sure I got a really good idea of what the clubhouse would be like on a day-to-day basis (I was put off by your calling the whole endeavor more hands-off). Second, I am not sure if an ongoing subscription would be something that I could take advantage of fully. Third, I am pretty sure I need to do some more work on my own before I am ready to do all the practical work-related exploration that you and the club are doing; Maybe I am wrong about that one, maybe that is just fear. So, messy as all that may be, that is why I didn't sign up right away.
January 25th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
I have to agree with all the commenters above who praised your transparency and bare-bones honesty about your own business model. I think it does a real service for people who are hoping to be where you are: successfully navigating entrepreneurship!
January 26th, 2012 at 9:57 am
love it. not the you have a slow start {that is what i see it as- big numbers are coming!} but that you shared it. i run an online workshop site and boy is it totally unpredictable! i have one workshop with over 100 members and one with under 15. What? I am with you— i am thinking big bucks. lol
thanks for sharing and i am here to say– you are not alone!
January 31st, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Thanks, Laura! As always, happy to share, especially when it'll give ya some insight/help into what will/won't work for ya. Enjoy your first launch!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Thanks much, Michele! Promise to keep it up, no matter how scary it seems!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Although I'm totally math/numbers-averse, sometimes ya need to go back and use the financial/analytical part of your brain to get beyond the surface. Ah, the joy of being an entrepreneur!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Aw, thanks Miss Lola. So nice of you to say, and so nice of me to hear
January 31st, 2012 at 2:05 pm
"Time to stop beating myself up and start figuring out how to fix it. : ) " (Especially when you're proud of it and knows it fills a need!) Amen and hallelujah!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Hmmm…such a good question, Darlene! I think that part of it is because I'm constantly asking/listening my peeps as to what they want me to offer, and/or just really pay attention when I get an email saying someone's saving their pennies to work with me/want lifetime coaching/crave community. So I think I felt certain that what I built is something that's needed.
The second part of that is that I still feel so proud about what I built and what's happening now in the Facebook group with the women who are there are talking to each other *constantly*. If there were crickets in there or I wasn't happy with how things turned out, I might be more likely to cut my losses and scrap it entirely.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Thanks for your sweet words and honesty, Lauren!
Question though, in terms of the finance piece, because it's really head-scratching for me. By seeing that, yes, this is subscription-based but you can cancel any time ya want, does that still make you nervous from a money perspective?
January 31st, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Thanks, lovely lady! My Mama thanks you too
And YES to that margarita! Promise to reach out soooooon.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Thanks for the "explanation", Hannah – I so appreciate it. For what it's worth, I love that you're Living in the Questions (http://whenigrowupcoach.com/blog/2010/09/02/living-in-the-questions/) and know that I'll be here if/when you need it. That's totally the truth.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:16 pm
Thanks, Miss Ireland! I've definitely been getting some the-subscription-scared-me feedback (which is making me think if I wanna change the pricing model), but I also appreciate your it's-just-not-the-right-time feedback. Totally valid and great that you recognize your needs.
I'll/the Clubhouse will be here if/when you need us!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:17 pm
YAY! You're the best, Jessica. And there *are* more of us there (almost 30 now), it's just that most of us were added pre-launch. Love the intimacy of this group and that everyone's already talking and sharing and brainstorming together. Promise if/when The Clubhouse grows that won't get lost!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:18 pm
And thank YOU for writing this, Hattie. Makes it all worthwhile (because I WAS scared shitless to share!)
January 31st, 2012 at 2:21 pm
What makes me smile, Thekla, is that *nobody will know if you fail* except for, well, you and anyone you decide to share it with. I mean, did it look like I "failed"? Hell no! If I didn't call myself out, nobody else would've. The smoke & mirrors of The Internet
January 31st, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Thanks for your response/explanation, Addie! I'm definitely taking to heart that you didn't know what the clubhouse would look like on a day-to-day basis, and I'm actually unsure if I can answer that because every day is different/what you make of it. There is a *lot* of discussion in the group, both started by me and the Clubhouse members, but it's absolutely up to you to go in and answer/ask away yourself.
Also, the exercises are there for you to grab if/when you need 'em, so we're not necessarily exploring the same thing at the same time as a group, if that's helpful. We are here to ask each other questions and meet other like-minded creatives and share resources and all that other goodness, but there's not a structure that you have to do This Particular Exercise on This Particular Day.
Hope that helps/makes sense!
January 31st, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Aw, thanks Katy! Really appreciated.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:26 pm
"i have one workshop with over 100 members and one with under 15." For me, I am never without a lack of coaching clients – but when I offer a product/less coachy service, it's always a struggle. BUT, I only offered my first product about a year ago, and I've been coaching since 2007…so I just might be rushing things a bit too much, too.
Thanks for the solidarity, Becky!
February 5th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
I feel like I just went to Blogger University! Seriously, thanks so much!
http://www.bunnysunday.wordpress.com
February 8th, 2012 at 9:06 am
Just saw this and absolutely am sitting here in stunned, awed silence. I am totally sharing this with my peeps in today's newsletter. Way to freakin' go, honestly. You are an inspiration.
February 15th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
A delayed Thank You, Annie!
February 15th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Huzzah! That makes the fear/vulnerability of putting something like this up here all worth it. Thanks Miss Bunny Sunday (best name ever, by the way).