How I Pulled This Launch Off (aka, Courses Aren't Dead)

I gotta be honest, "HAVE MY BIGGEST LAUNCH EVER" wasn't on my 2026 Bingo card...

Especially since 2026 is my "entrepreneur gap year." (I wrote about it on Substack here→)

🥳 So I didn't see it coming when the 4-day Ultimate Bundle®️ sale I ran last week made over $500,000.

I walked around all weekend staring into the abyss. I just ran a $350k launch like 3 months ago...

Plus, lately everyone's been all like, "courses are dead! Launches are dead! Webinars are dead!"

I worried they were right. What if this is the time it all stops working?

🤔 So if everything's dead, as 'they' say, why are my launches getting bigger every time?

I have good news and bad news for you, Reader.

The good news is I'll show you my stats and what I did that helped.

📚 If you need more of a step-by-step plan, though -- you should read my book, When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy. (If you wish I could be your business coach, that's what my book is. It's everything I know: how to build an email list, audience, evergreen funnels & big launches. It's $17 right now here.)

But let's chat launch stats.

I hate when people tell you about huge launches, but not how they happened.

💻 WEBINAR STATS: I only hosted one live webinar, Monday Feb 9.

• registered: 11,000
• show-up rate: 25%
• conversion (on webinar): over 5% (WILDLY above industry 'standard' of 1-2%)

💸 SALES

• Over 230 Bundles sold (we're still making some late sales as we speak)
• 44% order bump conversion rate (we had 1 available for $99)

OK but I know what you're thinking now...

🙄 "Sam probably spent $498,000 on Facebook ads to make $500k..."

Put your coffee down, Reader. I don't want you to spit it out when I tell you this:

🤑 AD SPEND:

• Live Webinar Ad Spend = $22,611.89
• Sales Promo Ad Spend = $1,555.93

TOTAL LAUNCH AD SPEND = $24,167.82

I spent $24k to make $500k. So you can't blame this on ads ;)

My only other launch-specific expenses were:

• Zoom, because of our webinar size ($100); and
• copywriting, for launch emails from my sales copywriter, Katelyn ($3200)

So what made this launch go so well?

🧠 Top of mind: I rerecorded the Ultimate Bundle®️ in December, and documented the entire process on IG, giving me an opportunity to not just talk about the Bundle, but show it, too.

📈 Trends: When my social media manager, Natasha, texted me about a TikTok terms of service trend, I hopped on it, recorded a simple reel, and made the call-to-action to sign up to my webinar.

🖥️ Webinar content: I keep my webinars fluid. If there's a breaking legal update, I'll add it to my teaching content & lean into the urgency around the issue.

🤳 VideoAsk: I started integrating VideoAsk into my webinar show-up sequence so people can send me videos/voicenotes/texts, letting me know what they want to see in the class. One: it gives me a TON of voice-of-customer/pain point research. Two: I send back personalized videos to hundreds of people, which creates a deeper connection (& improves show-up rates.)

📱 Ads: our ads are really good, and my ads manager, Megha, is unbelievable at what she does. I treat my ads like an extension of social media. I put a ton of time into the concepts, filming, scripting, and editing the visuals/copy for them.

📬 Emails: our emails are really good, and we integrate a ton of voice of customer research (we interview them a few times a year + I chat with them every single day, so I integrate word-for-word what they say).

One of the most common post-purchase survey comments? "I've been getting your emails forever, and I love them!" So it also goes to show how important long-term email nurture is.

I could literally go on and on... but I don't know how much you want to know ;)

What else do you want to know? How many emails I sent? Whether I used affiliates? What I'd recommend for beginners?

​Send me all your questions here→​

^ Feel free to send me a quick video, voice note, or text there! ^

If I get a few questions, I'll do a Part 2 newsletter or podcast episode answering all of your questions.

Oh! And remember that bad news I had? Well... I hate to be the one to say it, but the #1 thing that helped me run a 4-day $500k launch was...

The culmination of so many things that built upon one another, over years and years of hard work.

I know everyone wants the "one thing" or secret that makes my launches go so well. I think the most honest answer is the least cool one:

🔁 Repetition: I've talked about the Ultimate Bundle®️ every single week for the past 8 years

🔨 A sh*t ton of hard work for the last 10 years in online biz

😫 Showing up again & again, even when I was sick of talking about my offer and felt like I already said everything that needed to be said

👯 Building a small-but-mighty team of incredible women, after years of doing it all myself, hiring mishaps, and learning how to be a leader

💕 My Director of Ops, Lindsey, Slacked me over the weekend to say, "This is a testament to all the hard work you do between launches, honestly." I've built genuine relationships with cool people in the online biz world, who I can drop a text or email to saying, "Hey, can you promote my free training?" and they do.

So!

Not too shabby for a launch in my entrepreneur gap year 🤣

What questions do you have? I'm all ears. Hit "reply." I read and respond to everything you send (the people who send me really mean emails learn that the hard way 😜.)

Since I just spilled all my deets -- can you do me a quick favor?

I'd love for you to subscribe to my (free) Substack, Beyond Business, here→​

It's where I write about the more personal side of running a multi 7-figure business -- what I do offline, to live an intentional, present life.

I hope you've already sent me your #1 burning business, launch, email marketing, audience growth, etc. question HERE→.

I'm off to the gym, but first I'm going to drop a little secret at the bottom of this email...

But you're going to have to scroll down to see all of the other incredible business resources, podcasts you need to listen to, etc. to see it! 😉

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.​

🎙️ NEW EPISODE How I Set My Goals If your January resolutions have fallen off a cliff, I'm here to say: who cares! That's not the best way to set business goals, anyway. In this week's new episode of my podcast, On Your Terms®️, I invite you to steal my monthly goals method and how it's what lets me pull off $500k launches. 🎧 Listen here→ THE MONTHLY GOALS METHOD (Steal This)

🔗 Links You'll Love

🤭 LEGAL MISTAKES TO AVOID

🎙️ 10 years in, I see new entrepreneurs make the same legal mistakes over and over. I went on Gillian's pod to share which ones you should avoid:

Work Less, Earn More with Gillian Perkins: Ep 311: The Biggest LEGAL MISTAKES New Business Owners Make→ Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube​

---

🎧 WHAT A GEM

Any time Barrett Brooks speaks, you should listen.

My friend Barrett is an incredible executive coach for high-level entrepreneurs and the owner of Presence Based Coaching, one of the best coach training companies. He also just so happens to be the former COO of Kit.

Basically, he's a wealth of knowledge who you need to listen to. I was lucky enough to be on his podcast, Good Work, this week ⤵️

🎙️ Good Work with Barrett Brooks: The Quiet Grief Behind Growth→ Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube​

---

🤳 GROW YOUR BIZ (WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA)

🥳 Anti-Social Reset - My friend Holly Marie Haynes is hosting a 3-day live, paid working challenge where she will help you reset how you attract clients—without relying on social media, chasing algorithms, or adding more content to your plate. Grab your seat→ (affiliate link)

---

PS. If you made it this far... congrats! You're my favorite reader. I can't wait to write to you next week... I'm taking myself on a solo trip somewhere to reconnect with my Dad in spirit ❤️ Some people say it's the most magical place on earth. I can barely get through this week knowing where I'm headed...

And I'll definitely be covering it all over on my (more personal, behind-the-business-scenes Substack.)