What to do when nobody’s buying your offer

Have you ever ditched a launch or felt like a failure because nobody is signing up to your offer?

You’re not alone.

In fact, it happens to literally everyone who sells anything online.

Including, and especially me.

Let’s say you’ve decided to add a new offer.

A digital product, perhaps.

One that details your team’s unique process that helps you produce with companies that have ten times as many people on their staff as you do.

You’ve gotten a lot of attention about your process in one-on-one calls, so you’ve decided to launch it.

You gave yourself a three-week window where you swore you’d talk about this course — and nothing else! — for that time.

And you started strong.

Your first post on Instagram was one of the best you’d ever done.

You put your heart and soul into it, and when you published the post, you were let down.

Not that you were expecting anything crazy, like five sales in the first hour (though you wouldn’t have hated that!).

But for some reason, that first post got less engagement than literally anything else you published.

And the wind got knocked out of your sails.

You faltered.

“Maybe I chose the wrong platform,” you thought.

Does any of this sound even remotely familiar?

I have been there.

I used to feel extremely frustrated every time I launched something new.

And I’d do one of three things:

1. Switch platforms without adjusting my strategy (“Instagram doesn’t work for me”)
2. Stop posting as aggressively as I’d intended (“social media doesn’t work for me”)
3. Or give up before the end of the launch period (“digital products don’t work for me”)

But then I realized that I was sabotaging my own launches by doing any of those things.

I’d selected a platform because I knew that I could only launch well on one platform at a time, especially when I didn’t have a team. And switching platforms mid-launch is like trying to change which boat you’re driving while you’re in the boat.

I’d promised I would post multiple times a day, because I knew that humans are not robots, and everyone is online (and scrolling social media) at different times of the day. And I knew that focusing on vanity metrics like who liked each post and how many comments I’d get would only frustrate me.

I’d broken the most important promise, which was to see the launch all the way through. And I knew the data about how many people commit right before the deadline!

Instead, in the launches that flopped, I’d let fear, doubt, and insecurity kill my momentum.

And what’s worse is that letting a campaign fade away eliminates every single person who would have signed up at the last minute before the deadline.

I’d tell myself that the reason I wasn’t getting any traction was because my offer wasn’t good enough.

And not just the offer, but me.

I’d succumb to my inner critic.

What changed?

I’d like to say that when I launch new things, I no longer have these negative feelings.

But that’s not painting the whole picture.

Yes, I’m now consistently earning $10,000 and more per month.

No, I don’t worry about where my next client will come from.

Yes, I believe that I will succeed in every launch I put out there.

But no, the fear hasn’t gone away.

And if I’m being honest, I don’t think it ever will.

Success doesn’t feel deserved. It feels like consistently getting lucky, launch after launch.

In fact, it feels a lot like my yoga practice.

Progress in yoga is measured in millimeters. And it’s not linear.

So being able to hold my toe while standing once does not mean that I’ll be able to do it the next time.

But in yoga, just like in business, the only thing that matters is consistency.

You’re not going to sell out any of the launches you do not complete.

Being consistent, selling even when nobody is buying, practicing your marketing messages, your sales conversations, and the way you ask for the sale, are the only ways you’ll see any progress.

Focus on momentum.

Spend three weeks launching.

Detach yourself from the outcome.

And remember to breathe!

A launch that “flops” and doesn’t get you any (or enough) sign-ups is still a money-making activity.

The sooner you absorb that notion, the sooner you’ll start to see your launches truly resulting in more money for you.

Just get on your mat. As my yoga instructor says, “just keep showing up for yourself.”

You’ll be rewarded.