The Fierce Business Babe Podcast Ep 136: Evergreen vs. Live Launches

Today, we will be diving into live launches and evergreen programs. I will be diving deep into the differences between the two and the different ways to sell each one along with the behind the scenes of how they look and how you can utilize each one in your business.

Evergreen vs. Live Launches

By: Melissa Lin

Today, we are going to be diving into the differences between evergreen programs and live launch programs and the different ways to sell each one. How to sell something that’s always open versus live launching programs that have open and closed state. Now, some like to stick to one because they prefer that method, which is amazing, while others like a mix of both evergreen and live launches. The beautiful part about running your own business is you get to decide how you want to run your business. I love that so much, right? There's no right. There's no wrong. Both work. You get to run your business and launch in ways that truly fit your lifestyle. 

I have done both live launches and evergreen launches in my business. Both work, but which is going to be the best for you and for your business? Can you utilize both types in your business? So first let's dive into what it really means to live launch and I'm kind of air quoting right now, what it means to live launch versus run an evergreen program that doesn't live launch.

Live Launch Model

So when I use the words “live launch”, I'm referring to you opening a program, a course, your offer, and selling it for X amount of days. That could be a week, two weeks, three weeks, six weeks, whatever that looks like, but it has an open and close window. So, typically with live launches, for example if the program is a coaching program, usually everybody will begin the program at the same time. If it's a course, typically clients will receive the course instantly or have it dripped out. However, there's only a certain amount of time, you know, during your live launch period where people can actually make the purchase. Then, it's not available for purchase once the doors are closed.  So typically you'll get a bigger group of people into your program if you had a three-week launch, because you've got that urgency of the doors closing. 

Evergreen Model

Now, when they talk about an evergreen program or an evergreen launch, because you can definitely have a launch for an evergreen program and then it rolls into evergreen where you're not really doing any live launches after, this is when doors to your program are always open. People can hop in and start at any time. With this model, typically there aren't many live launches since we aren't opening and closing doors into the program. With this model, you definitely could have more of an organic push throughout the year in different periods and have some type of "launch" if you choose to. You don't have to, you can also just have it running and not really have a huge push throughout the year. We usually do at some points during anniversaries and things like that, we may have a bit of a push. 

So with this model, you may not see that bigger rush of people in the same amount of time as a live launch. However, you're also open year round. So you could bring in more over a period of time. Also with this model, you're able to serve more people that need your guidance every single day and not just, you know, those three weeks during your live launch twice per year or three times per year, depending on what your capacity is for that program or offer that you've got. 

If it's a course, maybe there is no capacity. So I've definitely seen entrepreneurs over the years hold back from making any kind of transition for their programs. For example, from transitioning some of their programs into an evergreen model, because some worry about how their coaching calls may need to be structured. Some feel that clients need to be going through material at the exact same time, which you know, at the end of the day is definitely a story that's been made up. You most definitely can run your program evergreen, if you want to, right. This is your business and you are the CEO. So you get to decide how you truly want it to run. 

The Differences

So I would love to go in now and take a deeper dive into each of these, both live launching and evergreen. So if you don't have your pen and paper out yet, go grab it because we are going to go into some processes and steps and action items for you if you're about to go into a live launch, or if you want to make a transition into evergreen. Again, both work, both are amazing. It's all about what you want more of and how can we get you closer to that? So let's go ahead and take a deeper dive into both. 

So, you can run courses or you can run group programs. With both models and other products in your product suite, I've explored both options and I've made some transitions of my live programs into evergreen models and I've kept some of them live. So definitely pros and cons to both. I do recommend starting with live launching to see how your program performs. Live launch once, make some improvements, and then after a few launches, move it into the evergreen model after you've taken clients through and received feedback. 

My 4 Step Live Launch Model

So, what I mean by ‘live launch”, what it looks like for me is that I have a four step launch process that I teach my clients that I'm going to walk you through today. My clients receive templates and other tools to support them in their launches. Now, my launch process, again, it's a four step launch process and the first step is what I call the pre-prelaunch. So this is way back in the very beginning, getting things really prepared for your launch. So during the first step in your launch, you get to fully prepare so that when you do launch, it can be as smooth as possible. So during this time, and this is usually a few weeks before you officially open the doors if not more than that, as much time as you need. If this is not your first launch for this program, then it's going to be much easier because you probably already have your sales page ready to go. You probably already have your email sequences and you probably already have, you know, social media graphics to put out there. So again, during this first step we really get to prepare. So I usually recommend making sure you've definitely gotten some market research completed so you know what it is that your audience really needs right now. We get to make sure that your program is mapped out, you don't necessarily need to have it all recorded, you know, we've dripped some of our courses and programs out during the launch and dripped out after the launch as well and you can do this too. You can definitely start to sell before your product is fully created.

Creating the Behind the Scenes 

First, I recommend starting to create the behind the scenes, so you're as prepared as possible. So this could be your sales page. This can be your payment links. This could be the automation, the integrations for your welcome email, any other automations you may need and start to really tease your offer everywhere. What I usually recommend is, you know, a hashtag for your program name so people can start to see and visualize the name, what it could be inside and who it's for, start sharing some of the behind the scenes as you're actually creating the program as well. Get your audience excited. The more excited that you are, the more excited they will be. So that is step one, getting things ready, right? If you have templates of your launch in your Asana board or Trello board, amazing, like those are the things you want to start to prep. And yes, we supply those to our clients as well. 

Pre-Launch

So let's move into step two. This is going to be your pre-launch. Now during the second step in your launch, you can actually generate some early sales by providing your warm leads or hot leads, some type of incentive such as, you know, saving $200 if they hop onto your wait list, some type of presale or early bird, potentially beta spots. If it's your very first time you're launching this program, right? Why not fill a few seats before your doors are officially open? Right? There's no reason not to. Why not? So that is your pre-launch where you're really grabbing your warm leads and making them into your hot leads. Then, you're going to move into your actual launch.

Launch

This is step three. When you open doors to the public for your official launch, keep in mind that during your launch, you'll want to provide value as your value is your pitch and those that see your value and see value in you as an expert in your field, they're going to start to transition from a lead to a paying client, right, because you're going to bring in a lot of cold audience members as you're getting your launch going, and you really want to warm your audience up. That's why I highly recommend value adding during this time. So this could be like a live stream series, a Facebook challenge, masterclass, a workshop, a webinar, something during your launch. And then you're really, really selling during this time as well, showing what's possible for your future clients, hopping on sales calls or pre-qualifying people in the DMs, or if you have a buy button, this is where you're really enrolling your clients into your offer. 

Celebrate

Then we move into step four, and this is where we get to celebrate. During the last few days of your launch, you'll start to really celebrate those that have joined your program. This is what we usually experience and our clients see this too. Typically 30% or so will buy within the last 48 hours. So continue to add urgency through the end of your launch. If you're wondering what your numbers will look like, take a look around these numbers as you're going through your launches as well. Numbers tell such a story in your business. 

So once your program doors close, because again, it's a live launch, I do recommend continuing to create awareness throughout the year. Right? This could look like sharing a waitlist throughout the year, a few times, maybe once a month and how to hop on, past client results, when your next cohort will be starting. You want to continue to create that awareness. So people don't forget about your program, right? They want to be thinking about it and getting ready to hop onto the wait list or into the next cohort. So that's a quick overview of my four-step launch process. 

Selling The Evergreen Model 

Now let's move into an evergreen model. What does that look like? Things will look a little different. Again, it's very possible that you could have a live launch and then keep doors open, moving it right into that evergreen model so that clients can enroll anytime. This is how our academy is at the moment. However, it did start with live launches a few years ago, where we opened doors and closed doors four times per year. I personally love the evergreen model because people can hop in at any time and I absolutely love that. People can get their businesses started right away instead of waiting until Q2 or Q3 for the next round to start. But with an evergreen model, you're probably asking, "Okay, Melissa, how do I actually enroll clients and have doors always open, right? Aren't they just going to tell themselves, I'll do it next month. I'll do it next month. I'll do it next month?" Well, similar to live launching, we get to add in some type of urgency. So for example, a few months ago, anybody that hopped into our academy during a certain time period was also given our lead generation course as a bonus. This was an incentive, a piece of urgency for people to hop in. 

So, if you have an evergreen model, I want you to ask yourself the question, what urgency can you create? What would make somebody want to hop in today and get started? So if you are selling evergreen, I too recommend continuing to create awareness year long, always create awareness. So this could look like sharing testimonials weekly for your program. Right? Lots of awareness. Since it's an evergreen model, you get to add value weekly and then sell into your program. Just really creating awareness, awareness, awareness. People need to see and hear about something at a minimum, you know, 7 to 10 times before they take that next step and take action. So again, both are great models and you can add both into your business and both can be very successful. The question is which do you prefer? You may not know until you give both of them a try. I've given both a try in many of our offers, many of our programs courses. I love them both but there are definitely some differences.

I would love to hear your preferences. Which do you prefer? Tag me or DM me on Instagram @TheMelissaLin and let me know what you prefer. I would love to see. Are you more of a live launcher? Do you prefer the evergreen model? Very different pros and cons of both, but both can truly work and create your six-figure business or multiple six-figure business, your seven figure business and beyond. There's definitely no right or wrong. 

I cannot wait to see which you prefer, which you've tried, and again, if you've never done either, start with a live launch, dip your toes in the water first. You can always transition into evergreen once you've got some people through your program. It's going to be much easier to make tweaks to your offer as it's kind of going through that live launch, because you're creating those adjustments throughout the program. Then the next cohort will help the improvements versus making adjustments in evergreen. Again, can't wait to see your preference. I am always going to be your biggest cheerleader, so you taking the time out of your day to spend with me truly means the world to me! I’ll see you next time!

Topics we cover include:

• Live Launch Model

• Evergreen Model

• The 4 Step Live Launch Model

• Selling The Evergreen Model

   And so much more!

 Times to check out:

(6:55)Live Launch Model

(7:58) Evergreen Model

(11:59) The 4 Step Live Launch Model

(17:50) Selling The Evergreen Model

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