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What Really Happened During Our Recent Launch: The Unfiltered Recap

blog business strategy email marketing marketing without social media Jun 04, 2025
business strategist for women Holly Haynes

 Let’s be real: most people only share the highlight reel of their launches. But in this blog post, I’m pulling back the curtain on our recent Anti-Social School launch to give you the real stats, real moments, and real lessons—the ones that don’t always make it into polished Instagram captions.

Why? Because if you’re a business owner preparing for your own launch, I want you to feel equipped, encouraged, and informed. As a Business Coach for Women, I believe in sharing what actually works—and what doesn’t—so you can plan with clarity (not confusion).

Setting Launch Goals (and Why You Need a Range)

For this launch, we set three goal tiers:

  • High Goal: Our dream scenario

  • Mid Goal: Our realistic target

  • Low Goal: The "still counts as a win" baseline

Why use this approach? Because launches are unpredictable. Giving yourself multiple benchmarks keeps you grounded, focused, and emotionally balanced throughout the process.

In this launch, we hosted a live event, opened cart, offered a simple upsell, and ran follow-ups across 10 days. And yes—there were moments of momentum and slow stretches that made us wonder if anyone was watching.

Final Result? We landed right around our mid-goal. It took follow-ups, discovery calls, and lots of flexibility, but we’re proud of how it turned out. And we even gained a surprise full-pay Club member who wasn’t even on the launch radar!

 

The Numbers You Actually Want to Know

DTSD Live Event:

  • 71 registered

  • 36 paid

  • 5 upgraded to the Pitch Perfect Bundle

  • 42% live show-up rate (27 attendees)

Cart Week Timeline:

  • Day 1: 2 sales post-event

  • Day 2: 1 sale + 2 discovery calls

  • Day 3: 2 more sales

  • Day 4: 1 returning alum

  • Days 5–6: Total silence (and yes, that’s normal!)

  • Days 7–8: 2 discovery calls, 2 deposit back-outs, 1 recovered

  • Day 10: Final sale came through

Final Stats:

  • 6 new students

  • 2 on deposit

  • 1 returning alum

  • Bonus: 1 new full-pay Club member 🎉

 

What Worked

Live Event Strategy: DTSD Live led to immediate conversions. The energy was high and the feedback was strong.

Easy Upsell: The Pitch Perfect Bundle provided an effortless revenue boost.

Discovery Calls: Still one of the highest-converting touchpoints (when leads are qualified).

Bonus Email Campaign: A St. Patrick’s Day segmented email gave our list the nudge it needed.

Alumni Support: Don’t underestimate the power of past clients who come back. Loyalty matters.

 

What Didn’t Work

Weekend Lull: Sunday and Monday were quiet. It’s expected but still frustrating.

Deposit Drop-offs: A good reminder that a deposit isn’t a done deal. Have systems for follow-up.

Unqualified Leads: A few discovery calls didn’t align—we’re revisiting how leads book calls.

Email Fatigue: We sent 2 emails in one day with little result. Testing frequency matters.

Didn’t Hit Stretch Goal: We aimed for 15, hit 9 paid. It’s not failure—it’s insight.

Introducing a new private podcast series that’s just for you if you’re sick of all the Instagram BS! (or insert social channel of your choice). You can build a business without being a slave to the social engine. Grab the free series.

 

Key Takeaways You Can Use

  • Live events still work if they solve a clear problem and lead into a strong offer.
  • Follow-up is key. From emails to discovery calls, don’t let momentum fade.
  • Be ready for anything. Launching requires both thick skin and flexible planning.
  • It’s never just one email. This result came from layering events, emails, calls, and bonuses.
  • Track everything. We knew what to adjust because we tracked performance daily.
 

What’s Next: Meet Layla the Layout Legend

This launch also laid the groundwork for our next offer: Layla the Layout Legend. She’s our new launch planning bot that helps you visualize your next campaign—fast.

If you love systems, strategy, and seeing the big picture, Layla’s your girl. You can meet her here: Launch Layout Bot

 

A Final Word on Launching (From Your Favorite Business Coach for Women 😉)

Here’s your reminder: Launches aren’t linear. There are highs, lows, weird calls, slow days, and surprise wins. And that’s okay.

As a Female Business Coach, I built this recap not just to show you our results, but to give you the encouragement and clarity to take your next step—without second-guessing every move.

If you’re launching soon (or have before and it felt like a mess), you don’t have to wing it again.

I put everything I’ve learned—including insights from this very launch—inside my private podcast series: Launch Lessons.

This blog is your behind-the-scenes pass to what launching really looks like in 2025.

Let’s keep building sustainably—and launching like the CEO you already are.

 

About the author

Holly Haynes is a business strategist who loves a good plan and flow chart. She is crazy passionate about teaching women like you how to build your dream job and scale to 6-figures without sacrificing your weekends or priorities.

Connect With Holly:

 

Holly Marie Haynes

Written by

Holly Marie Haynes

Business strategist, host of the Crush the Rush™ Podcast, and founder of Anti-Social School™. After 22 years in Fortune 500 strategy, I built a life-first business in part-time hours. Now I help women entrepreneurs grow without living on social media.

Read my story →

A FREE PRIVATE PODCAST FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

How to Grow a Profitable Business without Social Media

A 9-episode private podcast for the founder in the messy middle of business growth. Inside, I'll walk you through the same framework I've taught 1,000+ women entrepreneurs, the one I use to run my business on less than 1 hour a week of social media. Email marketing, AI, GEO, and the systems behind a sales-generating business that runs whether you post or not.

Less than 1 hour a week. Whole weeks offline. No algorithm. No burnout.

Not sure where to start? Take the 2-minute quiz →

A FREE PRIVATE PODCAST FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

How to Grow a Profitable Business without Social Media

A 9-episode private podcast for the founder in the messy middle of business growth. Inside, I'll walk you through the same framework I've taught 1,000+ women entrepreneurs, the one I use to run my business on less than 1 hour a week of social media. Email marketing, AI, GEO, and the systems behind a sales-generating business that runs whether you post or not.

Less than 1 hour a week. Whole weeks offline. No algorithm. No burnout.

Not sure where to start? Take the 2-minute quiz →

Holly Marie Haynes is a business strategist helping women build profitable, life-first businesses without social media, through Crush the Rush™ and Anti-Social School™.

Holly Marie Haynes is a business strategist helping women build profitable, life-first businesses without social media, through Crush the Rush™ and Anti-Social School™.