Dare to Launch

Join your hosts Chris Saunders and Jeff Walker in welcoming Thembi Bheka to the podcast this week! Thembi is a longtime Launch Club member, a recipient of our Launch Club Spokesman award, and the founder of Digital Marketing Demand. Her course educates and empowers disadvantaged African women by training them for virtual assistant positions at tech companies worldwide. Fleeing a difficult situation in Zimbabwe, she moved to Canada with $5 in her pocket, where she worked as a nurse for many years. After some successful real estate investments, she was able to create her own real estate business. In the end, she realized her true calling was to help women escape abuse and poverty back in her home country. In today's episode, Thembi walks us through the highs and lows of running an impact-driven business, the importance of pricing out business services based on real value, and how her community and purpose has pushed her over the years. Whether your business is dedicated to a cause or not, Thembi's story is full of valuable insight into finding a niche, staying motivated through adversity, and understanding the worth of your unique talents. Join the Launch Masterclass by going to https://GetYouLaunched.com Key topics discussed: Finding Your Purpose: Thembi's road to entrepreneurship wasn't an easy one. But her difficult upbringing motivated her to seek a better life and find her purpose. Impact-Driven Business: Working for a humanistic cause is full of risks and rewards. Thembi discusses some of the realities of supporting disadvantaged women today. Pricing Your Services: Many entrepreneurs creating services for impoverished communities struggle to price their services. Thembi's approach is simple. Key takeaways: "What's the worst that could happen?" is Thembi's life motto. She urges us all to ask ourselves this question when we start to doubt ourselves. Whatever you feel most passionate about changing in the world is what you should pursue. Otherwise, you may not have the personal investment to stay the course. You need to surround yourself with entrepreneurs who are just as motivated and dedicated as you are. Every successful business owner has a community. Got a question for us? Go to DaretoLaunchShow.com to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

In this special BONUS episode of Dare to Launch, Jeff Walker, Chris Saunders, and our Marketing Lead Dan Walker give you a rare "behind the scenes" look at our annual Launch Masterclass™. This is an annual FREE event where Jeff teaches the latest and greatest strategies for launching your online business. The story of Launch Masterclass has been one of constant reinvention and refinement. Ever since Jeff first debuted the Launch Masterclass in 2005, he's been committed to leveling up the content and improving the delivery of that content. There have been many evolutions of the Launch Masterclass from PDFs and discs back in the old days, to screen-recorded videos, all the way up to interactive live-stream technology. This year's Masterclass is the culmination of those 2 decades of experience, refinement, and evolution. It's everything Jeff's learned about delivering HUGE value packed into two weeks of training video, live calls, and community building. As Jeff and Dan see it, the challenge every year is to offer incredibly rich, free content and deliver it in as consumable and impactful a method as possible. Whether you're a longtime fan of Jeff Walker's teachings or just coming into his orbit, the Launch Masterclass is the perfect first step. The Launch Masterclass is only happening from Aug 15th - 29th Register for this year's Launch Masterclass by going to www.GetYouLaunched.com Key topics discussed: The History of Launch Masterclass: Jeff and Dan take a walk down memory lane and talk through the different ways in which the class has evolved over the years Launch Masterclass Structure: There's a very intentional way in which the class is laid out, and Dan helps break down the thought process behind this architecture The Ultimate Goal: Creating the best free launch training in the world is the main goal, it's just a question of refining the content and the process Key takeaways: Jeff could teach about the launching process for hours and hours. The real challenge is knowing exactly what to teach in order to have the biggest impact. Spontaneous challenges and opportunities have a way of appearing every year, and Jeff has made leaning into those surprises a key part of the process. Above all, Jeff and Dan work to make this launch a truly exemplary example of what the course itself teaches. If viewers are paying extra attention, they'll learn even more tricks to the trade by seeing how Jeff rolls out the launch. Got a question for us? Go to DaretoLaunchShow.com to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

It was a beautiful spring day in 2005… and when I hung up the phone, my business was GONE. This is the story of how I started over, in a brand-new market, with a brand-new product that would eventually become known as Product Launch Formula®. In my first business, it took six long years to reach a million dollars in sales. With this new business, it took just six months. In this episode, we dive into that crazy ride… along with some of the key things that made all the difference. We also discuss: The Early Days of Online Marketing: This industry was crazy tight-knit back in the early 2000s. It felt like a handful of us were working together to invent the future of online marketing. Building Social Proof: How I was able to get 10,000 people on one phone call (in 2005, this meant patching together bridge lines!), and leverage my relationships with key players in the industry to position myself as an expert in my prelaunch content. My First JV Partners: How I came into a brand-new market as a virtual nobody… and less than six months later had some of the biggest names in the industry promoting for me. Market Longevity: Back in those early days, it was rare for anyone to sell the same product for more than a few months, let alone years. But that first launch gave me a different idea… Got a question for us? Go to DaretoLaunchShow.com to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! Go to DaretoLaunchShow.com/taco to access the bonus vault THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Get access to the Dare to Launch Bonus Vault: https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/taco Join your hosts Jeff Walker and Chris Saunders in welcoming Emma Johnston and Eleanor Mann to the show this week! Emma and Eleanor are the founders of The Reconnected, a revolutionary resource for the modern parent. Their courses and online community provide parents with the emotional and practical tools necessary to connect with and responsibly raise their children. They've been incredibly successful not just in launching their business but in converting their existing audience away from Instagram and onto their own independent app. They've also cultivated an intensely supportive following by setting the tone early on, and have never once had to moderate their community. In today's episode, we dig into how they were able to establish that intimacy, and how their coaches have been successful in maintaining it. We also dive into the nitty-gritty of offering captivating free resources, transferring a devoted following across platforms through unique perks, the vital connective magic of the live event, and how introverted entrepreneurs can utilize technology to speak to thousands of people. Emma and Eleanor have cultivated one of the most genuine, supportive communities out there, and it's no happy accident. We discuss: Why Emma and Eleanor offer transformation to everyone, not just paid subscribers (and how it leads to conversions down the road) Why they believe the best way to foster intimate, personal connections is through live events Why they choose to host their community in a private app (and how they migrated their community from Instagram little by little) How setting the tone with your followers right at the beginning is crucial (and why it makes all the difference down the road) Key Takeaways: Be Authentic: Emma and Eleanor don't try to be perfect on their live streams, and their following loves it. They're not pretending to be anybody they're not. Set the Tone: If you create a positive, supporting environment at the outset, your community will follow the lead (and you'll never have to worry about removing bad apples from the bunch). Look at the Camera Like It's Someone You Love: Teaching thousands of people can feel incredibly daunting. The key is to focus on one special person at a time. Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Access the Dare to Launch bonus vault by going to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/taco It's hard to beat the rags-to-riches entrepreneur origin story. By nature they're uniquely entertaining, often harrowing, and always motivational. We decided it was time for Jeff to enter his own success journey into the Dare to Launch canon. In the mid-90's, Jeff had quit his job to be a stay-at-home dad. He and his wife were just scraping by, living paycheck-to-paycheck. With a lot of free time on his hands, Jeff had begun to study the stock market and get into some small-scale trading. He figured he'd start an investing newsletter to share his findings. Soon enough he had a loyal following of about 800 people who loved what he was doing. After some discussions with his mentor, he outlined a paid model and a way to launch it in a coordinated sequence… before he even knew what a sequence was. The rest was history. Jeff took that first big leap and never looked back. And if you haven't already followed his lead, we know this story will inspire you to take action! Key topics discussed: Making the Leap: How's Jeff's utter desperation to make money from home gave him the courage to start providing a valuable resource to his followers Now vs. Then: Jeff and Chris discuss the differences between 90's internet marketing and now, and how many online coaches/creators are still taking the wrong approach. The Art of the Sequence: Jeff didn't realize it at the time, but his first launch included the kind of email sequence that would be essential to Product Launch Formula Key takeaways: Mentorship is Key: Jeff had an incredible mentor in those early days, and Jeff wouldn't have had the confidence to launch without someone in his corner. Find Community: At every pivotal moment in Jeff's career, he needed a community of like-minded folks to bounce his ideas off of. It's Always a Stretch: Jeff didn't believe that people would pay him for his insight. It's always a gamble, but taking that chance is the only way to step into greatness. It's a Value Exchange: It may seem bold to ask strangers for money, but you're providing them value, and that's worth something. It's worth a lot, actually! Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Get access to the Dare to Launch Bonus Vault and the Transformational Value Manifesto free: https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/taco Join yours hosts Jeff Walker and Chris Saunders in welcoming Amy Small to the show this week! Amy is the genius behind Knit Collage, an inclusive community for wildly creative knitters and crocheters. After years of exhausting design jobs and a few wrong entrepreneurial turns, Amy crystallized her golden idea: the-knit along. She realized she had the resources and the design expertise to provide the yarn, the designs, the online courses, and the community support directly to consumers. And when she made each course into an 8-week sprint, she was amazed at how her customers helped each other out, and how learning how to knit became a catalyst for transformative self-actualization for her customers. Through this model, Amy created a lucrative business based on her ability to craft unique yarn and creative designs, and release them as limited-edition drops alongside time-sensitive online courses. There are so many incredible business lessons to absorb in this episode around building a following, weaving scarcity and transformation into your business model, and staying true to yourself. Amy did it her way and hit the jackpot at the same time – she's a perfect case study of the modern entrepreneur. Key topics discussed: Follow Your Passion: The importance of your own passion and innate creativity in starting a business Selling Transformation: The necessity of baking a transformative experience into your business model (Amy sells the ability to access your inner child) Find Scarcity: How Amy also weaves the element of scarcity into her operation by dropping limited-run physical products Inclusivity: Amy's strategic efforts to foster an inclusive community around knitting Key takeaways: Be Yourself: Amy had to learn the hard way not to tailor her creativity to market demands Keep it Simple: Don't overwhelm your following with constant changes to your offer. It's confusing for your customers and overwhelming for you and your team! Foster Community: Building up an enthusiastic community will help your product expand in all kinds of exciting ways Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Get Jeff's AI Playbook FREE at https://Daretolaunchshow.com/ai Join your hosts Chris Saunders and Jeff Walker in welcoming Michael Walker to the show this week! Michael is the founder of the Modern Musician, a company dedicated to helping musicians grow their fan bases and build sustainable careers in the industry. His story starts in high school, where he formed a band called Paradise Fears with his close friends. Desperate for some exposure, he and his bandmates used an ingenious strategy called "tour hacking" to grow their fanbase. Before long, they were touring the world, climbing the iTunes alt-rock chart, and multiplying their revenue by a significant factor. And the key principle behind this success, as Michael emphasizes, was connecting with fans on a personal level. After a few key conversations at my PLF Live event pushed him in the right direction, Michael figured out how to teach aspiring musicians his approach to personal connection first through 1-on-1 coaching, and then through his patented masterclass. He's now helped thousands of musicians build sustainable careers and cut through the competition, and established a million-dollar business along the way. Being a modern musician also means utilizing technology, and Michael offers some insight into how the internet and AI have created huge opportunities – and a few big challenges – in the current landscape. Whether you have a creative background or not, Michael's story is a perfect case study in how to use the entrepreneurial spirit to turn your passion into a lucrative career. Key topics discussed: Michael's "Tour Hacking" Technique; His band would follow successful alt-rock bands on tour so they could sell CD's and chat with their fans while they waited in line. Failure to Launch: Michael's first launch was a dud from a sales perspective… but as is often the case, it taught him everything he needed to make his second launch a winner. The Modern Musician: Michael walks us through the pros (freedom, resources) and cons (clutter, competition) of today's music industry. Standing Out: How Michael focuses on competing with value instead of competing with price, and how personalization is the way of the future. Key takeaways: The quality of the product or service isn't the most important thing. Finding the right audience and communicating with them in a genuine way is what really matters. We all have untapped resources within us and we have to discover how to use them in creative and genuine ways. Once you know your audience well enough, you can cut through the noise by authentically focusing on how to serve their needs. If you've cultivated the right audience, selling a high-ticket offer to a small group of customers is no longer a challenge. Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Become a PLF affiliate and make 40% commission on any PLF sale from your traffic to the Launch Masterclass Aug 15 - 29. Sign up here: https://productlaunchformula.com/affiliate/ Join your hosts Jeff Walker and Chris Saunders in welcoming Mark Duffield-Thomas to the show this week! Mark and his wife Denise run a highly-successful coaching and mentoring business focused on helping entrepreneurs scale up their operations and establish themselves as experts in their communities. Mark and Denise also happen to be the most-successful affiliate marketing partner in the history of Product Launch Formula. This powerful duo has won the annual PFL affiliate marketing competition 6 out of 7 years! Today on the show, Mark breaks down his experiences in affiliate marketing, emphasizing the mutually-beneficial nature of these kinds of partnerships. As Mark explains, affiliate programs are a fantastic way to learn more about the launching process, get more exposure to like-minded entrepreneurs whom you admire, and learn valuable lessons which can be funneled directly back into your own business. The right amount of time and resources must be allocated to run these campaigns properly, however, and Mark speaks on how he and his wife have developed their winning approach over the years. If you're considering dipping your toes into the world of affiliate marketing, we can't think of a better primer than this chat with Mark! It's a pretty strong dose of inspiration and camaraderie for the more seasoned partners out there too! Key topics discussed: Personalization: How reaching out to your audience in custom-tailored communications is becoming the real difference-maker in affiliate marketing. Choosing Carefully: Mark recommends only partnering with businesses which he actually supports and fit his specific criteria for success. The Process: Like any successful operation, Mark and his wife have a detailed multi-phase process. Mark breaks down what goes into each stage. Making Adjustments: Knowing which levers you can strategically pull throughout the process is key to keeping your program going strong. Key takeaways: Diversity of Approach: Successful affiliate campaigns need to use the full suite of marketing tools: blogs, emails, podcasts, live calls, social media, and more. Communicate With Your Audience: It's crucial to have a pulse on the struggles your audience is facing in order to provide relevant resources. Seek Mentorship: Think of these programs as a way to build relationships with other entrepreneurs whom you admire. Maximizing Leads: Perhaps the most important part of the process is ensuring the highest volume of quality leads in the initial stages of the process. Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Get Jeff's AI Playbook FREE at DaretoLaunchShow.com/AI Join your hosts Chris Saunders and Jeff Walker in welcoming Nick Ortner to the podcast this week! Nick is the creator of The Tapping Solution; a hugely-popular app, book, and online resource which provides revolutionary meditations to help ease everything from anxiety to chronic pain. Like many of the entrepreneurs we bring on the show, Nick's journey is anything but linear. He takes us through the various stages of his career, from innovating in the tele-health space in the early aughts, to making an indie documentary, to essentially inventing the modern conception of the marketing summit, to developing an app from scratch. Since discovering the health benefits of Tapping at a Tony Robbins event in 2000, Nick has been dedicated to spreading this holistic practice to the world through every medium within his grasp. The lessons learned along the way have been innumerable, but we dig into some of the big ones: the value of providing substantial free content, the right and wrong way to organize a summit, and how focusing on doing genuinely good work over a long period of time will only bring you wealth in business and in life. Nick's strategies for building trust and curating excellent summits are just too good not to share. I know you'll walk away with tons of new ideas and a reinvigorated commitment to your business. Key topics discussed: Creating a Summit: How Nick developed his approach to organizing summits through trial and error, and how he continues to perfect his methodology. Offering Free Content: In building his business, Nick has found time and time again that giving out substantial free content is the only way to build a loyal following. The Tony Robbins Effect: Many of the folks we work with have been affected by Tony's work and Nick is no different. Nick tells us about his full circle journey with Tony. The Sandy Hook tragedy: How the horrendous school shooting, which happened minutes away from Nick's home, led to some of his most impactful work. Key takeaways: Taking advantage of multiple outlets is key! Nick owes a lot of his success to embracing a multi-faceted approach to promote his life's work. We have to focus on content first. Especially when planning a summit, it's essential to make every part of the event unique, educational, and engaging. Product management is essential in building a good app. Nick emphasizes the importance of having a person solely dedicated to testing and shaping your app. The best way to attract experts to your summit is by showing them you genuinely love their content and know what they're all about. Building a good business foundation is more important than some of the more public-facing stuff. And that includes taking care of your team! Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!

Join your host Chris Saunders for an extra special episode of Dare to Launch featuring three of our Product Launch Formula Coaches: Jolene, Barry, and Julie! On DTL we like to think of entrepreneurship in three stages, and each of these three coaches focuses on a different one: creating your offer and embarking on your first 50K launch, turning that 50K launch into a six-figure launch, and scaling your business up to the seven-figure level. Each stage of this continuum presents its own unique challenges and considerations, and our coaches have collected some keys to success, as well as some common pitfalls to avoid, over the years. As we talked through these trends, we kept coming back to one crucial element over and over: the necessity of a strong community at every stage of this sequence. Whether you're trying to articulate your offer for the first time or you're 3 days into a seven-figure launch and floundering, the ability to access a supportive, experienced community has consistently proven to be a key necessity for successful entrepreneurs. We go deep into cultivating the mindset necessary to put yourself out there, knowing when it's time to scale up and start building out your team, and the fundamental question you need to ask yourself before you decide to take your business to the moon. TALK TO A LAUNCH CLUB EXPERT Key topics discussed: Articulating Your Offer: Spelling out what it is you want to sell can be tricky. The key is knowing the right questions to ask and where to look for more information. The Value Ladder: Starting out, entrepreneurs want everything and they want it fast. It's important to understand the steps to success and how to take them one at a time. Task Delegation: As we scale up our businesses, we must also start to offload responsibility in order to free up our time. Barry offers up a handy strategy for doing just that. Community is Essential: Jolene emphasizes the myriad benefits of having a community of like-minded individuals to turn to in tough times. Serving Others: Julie emphasizes the impact that high-level entrepreneurs can have on the world, and understanding the implications of shooting for the moon. Key takeaways: Community is a cheat code. Having a support system means that you can move through the stages of success at a much quicker clip. We have to do the market research to make sure that people are actively asking for what we have to offer. Then we can focus on speaking the right language. We can't fear our competition. Instead, we need to observe what they're doing and see how we can do it better and with an injection of our own unique qualities. Fully utilize your mentor or coach. You need to work with someone who's been there before to navigate the noise when your business starts to become bigger than you. Understand what you really want! If you truly want a million dollar business, then you can put the pieces in place to make that happen. But if you don't actually want to go that big, don't create a business you don't actually want to run. Got a question for us? Go to https://www.daretolaunchshow.com/ to submit a voicemail with your question, and you might hear the answer on one of our next episodes! THANKS FOR TUNING IN! If you enjoyed this week's show, don't forget to hit the "follow" button. Not only is it totally free, it guarantees you never miss out on future episodes. Think you know someone who would enjoy this episode? Do them a favor and share it with them. Also, please consider leaving us a quick review. It only takes a few seconds, but your review makes all the difference in helping us get the show out to more business owners. And who knows… we might even read your review on the show!