Blueprints in Blenders, Launch Layouts, and Joys of the Journey

Last week we wrapped up our new Teachery articles and blog design, and then we shifted into writing our new articles for our upcoming website re-launch in July. More on our article-writing process in the latest podcast below (along with an AI tool that is help us save a ton of time)!

We're also in our first month of proper content creation again, and while we're a little rusty, it feels really good to have a system that feels sustainable. The real test will be when we start posting again later this month, but we're excited to dip our toes back into social media—and to do it in a way that is on our terms, protecting our mental health. I'm sure we'll have more to share on that in future newsletters. Now, let's get to the goods!

- Jason and Caroline

predictable 🔄

Find the blueprint, then put it in a blender

👩🏻‍🦰 👋: One skill I’ve been using a lot lately that every creator should develop is the skill of reverse-engineering.

This means looking at an end-product or outcome and working backwards to find patterns, formulas, or first principles that you can use to inform your own best practices.

Here are just a few examples of how I’ve applied this recently:

• Analyzing short-form content to identify the key story beats that keep me interested

• Finding patterns in email newsletter subject lines that compel me to open them (without feeling click-baity)

• Dissecting great sales pages to uncover the storytelling formula that makes the value clear and compelling

Being able to do this kind of analysis and find the underlying frameworks that make something work is a very helpful skill.

But this is where a lot of creators stop short.

See, it’s one thing to extract the blueprint from what you see, but if you just follow that blueprint, you’ll quickly blend into the sea of sameness.

Take YouTube, for example. We've all seen the same titles, thumbnails, and opening intro patterns become extremely repetitive, to the point where a lot of the "successful" channels start to blend together in your mind.

That’s the last thing we want for you (or us!)

So the key is that it's a two-part formula: reverse-engineer to find the blueprint... then remix it. Put the blueprint in a blender, if you will, add your own spice, and see if what comes out still feels 100% unique to you.

It's like they say: Know the rules so you can break them.

Action step: Study the businesses in your niche whose content is getting visibility, and reverse-engineer why it's working. Then, put that blueprint in a blender and decide how you can put your unique spin on it.

​- Caroline 👩🏻‍🦰​

Profitable 🤑

Our 6-4-2 framework for smoother launches with higher revenue

👨🏻‍🦲👋: This is a very abbreviated version of the launch strategy we’ve been using for almost 10 years! 😱

(ps. We plan on diving deeper into the topic of launching—especially having “calm launches”—so if that’s something that interests you, hit reply and tell us why! We'd love to hear from you.)

How the 6-4-2 launch strategy works:

6 = 6 Month Plan (how far out you should start planning and marketing)

A launch of a digital product can feel incredibly overwhelming and stressful, but we’ve found by starting WAY earlier than you think, you’re setting future-you up for success (in many ways). The high-level things you should be focusing on each month are…

1. Honing in your offer and finalizing your product experience

2. Getting early beta user feedback on your offer/product

3. Creating consistent content to grow your audience and capture attention leading up to your launch

4. Dropping hints and sharing behind-the-scenes looks while you build the product

5. Building out your overall launch plan/checklist (sales page, sales emails, bonuses, redemption, etc)

4 = 4 Weeks of Pre-Marketing (when you should really start promoting your launch)

We see this mistake time and time again, creators ONLY start mentioning they have a product for sale the week before or the week of a launch. This is a critical mistake and why many launches flop.

Your primary focus for the 4 weeks of pre-marketing is to warm your audience up to your offer and to deliver value around your offer topic so that your audience sees you as a trust-worthy authority who can solve their problem.

What should you talk about in the 4 weeks leading up to your launch? A good rule of thumb we like to use is pluck out 4 action items, lessons, or big takeaways that are inside your offer and share those week by week.

Also, this is the final stretch to finish your sales page, write all sales emails (and queue them up), and ensure you’ll have a calm launch.

2 = 2-Week Open and Closed Launch (our fave timeframe)

Having a launch run for 2 weeks feels like the perfect amount of time to us. Here’s just one way you can structure the two weeks:

• First 1/3 of launch, offer an early bird discount window to encourage highly interested folks to take the plunge

• Second 1/3 of launch, offer a solid bonus to stir up excitement when it tends to lag after the initial window

• Last 1/3 of launch, focus on the limited time remaining and alleviating doubts (share case studies, focus on results, mention how your offer is designed for success)

We typically use a 9-email sales sequence during our launches and every email serves a slightly different purpose. The overall key is to always focus on the benefits of your offer, not the features. (No one cares it’s a 12-lesson course, they care that your offer will save them time!)

If you’re planning to launch anything this year and you're overwhelmed on how to start building a launch strategy, start with the 6-4-2 framework and this will help you get way ahead of your schedule, keep you from scrambling at the end, and will absolutely generate more revenue because you’re actually devoting more time to marketing and promotion.

Hope that brief overview of our launch strategy helps! Want us to break that down further, hit reply! 👀

​- Jason 👨🏻‍🦲​

Peaceful 🧘

3 benefits to NOT reaching your goals yet

👩🏻‍🦰 👋: If you feel like you haven’t “made it” yet—whatever that goal is for you—today I want to persuade you to believe you’re actually in the good part. The part where the magic lives. The part where you find ways to enjoy TODAY, rather than postponing joy for the day you finally achieve what you're working toward.

Reason #1 NOT making it is better: You get to experience the electric hope of the future.

You look at your heroes and may feel envious sometimes, but you have something they don't: HOPE. Most would agree that almost everything in life is better in daydream format than in reality. When you dream, you get all the rosy bits and none of the trade-offs. If you haven’t reached your destination yet, you get to revel in that electric hope of what if. It’s a pep in your step that reality can't offer. So keep daydreaming!

Reason #2 NOT making it is better: You learn more from the climb than the summit.

You learn so much more from your missteps than your wins. On the climb, every step is a chance to experiment and learn something important. You try, you learn, you grow. Once you “make it,” that novelty often fades. This is why retired athletes struggle—the growth and challenge go away, leaving an empty feeling. If you're still in pursuit, you still get the benefits of greater growth.

Reason #3 NOT making it is better: It's easier to find community and camaraderie while in the pursuit.

For a lot of people, reaching their goals actually feels quite lonely. Think about the amount of people who try to qualify for the Olympics vs. the amount of people who actually win gold. You're more likely to relate with other people who tried to go for the gold.

**

None of this is to say that achieving things in life isn't sweet; it is! And with mindfulness, you can find deep satisfaction and gratitude in reaching your goals. But the truth is that we spend way more time trying than we do achieving—way more time on the journey than at the destination. So it's worth taking a step back every once in a while to remember what's just as sweet about the pursuit.

​- Caroline 👩🏻‍🦰​