The team shares some of the lessons learned and the challenges posed by the process of launching a program.    The Episode: What You Can Learn From Our Past Launches   The launch cycle makes up a large chunk of the work of any online trainer and there are unavoidable learning curves and hurdles that everyone will encounter in the process. That being said, we wanted to share some of the biggest lessons we have learned, and hopefully avoid extra unnecessary strife in your business, if possible! Remember, learning comes from encountering challenges and the knowledge you take forward will serve you in the long run, so don't be afraid to make a misstep. In this discussion, we cover the wrong kind of marketing, avoiding apathy in relation to your offer, confidence and selling yourself, payment mistakes, and more! We also dive into tactics to keep you visible between your launches and why you need to minimize potential pitfalls early on in the enrollment process.    In This Episode  The roots of knowledge lie in challenges and mistakes [0:13:37] Avoiding over-the-top and misleading marketing [0:14:43] The impact of self-doubt on selling yourself and your offer [0:18:11] Lasting effects of early issues present in the enrollment period [0:21:04] Taking payment up front, no matter what [0:25:01] Creating excitement and energy for your launch [0:28:46] The power of identity and appealing to certain sectors or demographics [0:35:01] Staying visible between launches and looking for feedback [0:36:12]   “The thing about lying is that once you start to lie, it starts to spin out of control very, very quickly. And then you have to lie to cover up your lies, and then lie again to cover up those lies. And all of sudden your entire business is just a lie.” — Jonathan Goodman   The Growth Opportunities Offered by Mistakes Launches present a multitude of challenges for online trainers and these, in turn, offer many opportunities for learning! The first thing to keep in mind is that problems that are present in the early stage of a launch can linger, so best to keep a handle on things from the start. As we often say, you want the right kind of clients to work with you, so appeal to your ideal audience, get people excited, sharing your offer, and wanting to sign up!   Honesty and Self-Belief  Honesty is always the best policy and this is true with marketing too. As soon as you start lying or even stretching the truth, you are setting yourself up for unnecessary and unwanted stress. Leading with transparency from the start will have direct results in your program and the experience of those that sign up, so make this a priority! Honesty will also force you to be a better and more accurate communicator, serving your business in the long run. The next point relates to your confidence and how you are able to present and sell yourself. If you are clear on your offer, it is that much easier to be proud of what you doing and launch in an impactful way!   Payment and Excitement Generation We have seen many times how deferring payment in some way can lead to a number of issues. We highly recommend taking full payment upfront, as this will set the tone for a professional relationship, which is what you want. One of the most important things about any launch is the creation of excitement and energy, so you want to try and enhance this as much as possible. Get your things in order and organized, and then see the process through. You want to be hosting the party that everyone wants to go to, so double down on the celebratory aspects of your launch to get people interested.   Already at $1,000/month online and want to scale? Apply for OTA 2 here: www.thePTDC.com/OTA2   SPONSORS Get started TODAY with the world leading certification and business development program for personal trainers, nutrition coaches, and gym owners – The Online Trainer Academy:http://onlinetrainer.com/ota   Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id1468193055 Stitcher -