EP 297: Selling A New Program With Proof To Product Founder Katie Hunt

What Works

In This Episode:
* How Katie Hunt adapted her largely events-based business in the wake of Covid-19* Why a product she’d been working on since December 2019 was the key to serving her people in the most valuable way* How Katie adjusted the messaging and marketing campaign to reflect the current state of affairs* A complete breakdown of the social media posts and email messages that made her sales campaign a smash when it was time to launch
There are a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to launch and sell a new online course or program.
Heck, there are a lot of misconceptions about selling in general—but this is just one podcast episode.
“Launching”—depending on when and where you started your small business—means many different things. I’ve talked to plenty of people who swear it’s not a launch if you don’t have a Facebook ad funnel. Others will swear it’s not a launch if there isn’t a 3-part video series to warm up your audience. Still others will swear it’s not a launch if you don’t have a list of 15,000 people to blast with 30 different emails.
Launching a new online course or program has become so misunderstood and, simultaneously, blown out of proportion, that I often outlaw the use of the word! As my friend Amy Walsh once said, “Launching is for rockets.”
Instead of launching, I plan—and talk about—sales campaigns.
Today, we’re diving straight into an incredibly successful sales campaign to get the nuts and bolts of what worked.
When the economy ground to a halt earlier this year, many small businesses were forced to think fast and make big changes on the fly. At this point, we’re probably all familiar with the local restaurant that figured out an ingenious takeout model or the local clothing store that created virtual shopping appointments or the local yoga studio that started sharing classes, workshops, and meditations online.
And while many digital small business owners kept operating business as usual—or as usual as one can operate in a pandemic—there were a few groups that were deeply affected by the shutdowns.
Two of those groups were small business owners running in-person events as a component of their otherwise online business and small business owners who depend on trade shows for the majority of their wholesale orders.
Today’s guest is Katie Hunt—who is a member of the former group and serves the latter group.
Katie is the founder of Proof To Product, which helps creative entrepreneurs run and grow thriving product-based businesses. She works with designers, illustrators, and artists to help them develop in-demand product lines and get them sold in stores all over the world.
Not long after the pandemic threw her business and the industry she serves for a major loop, Katie and her team launched Proof To Product Labs to provide a completely digital, ongoing support opportunity for business owners when they needed it most.
And that launch was a smash.
Katie and I get into all of the nuts and bolts of how she adjusted the offer to meet the moment and how she warmed up her audience before the campaign, as well as the exact mix of emails, podcast ads, and social media content she used to sell the offer when it went live. We also talk about how she sees the sales system evolving in the future and how the offer has been received now that people are using it!
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