Introducing Challenges That Make Bank

behind the scenes challenges Jan 25, 2024

Hear a little about what it is, get a behind-the-scenes look at what creating this program looked like, and what my launch strategies and goals are.

I've got a special announcement for you today to round out this series we've had going about challenges!

Over the last few episodes, I shared that challenges (alongside summits) are one of the top ways I've grown and sustained my business over the years. I talked about how virtual summits and challenges compare and why I won’t stop doing either anytime soon. And last week you heard about why I don’t rely on just one marketing strategy and why I don’t think you should either.

And all of that was leading to today’s announcement of our new Challenges That Make Bank program.

I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this. I’ve been thinking of releasing a program about challenges for a couple of years now, but of course, our summit-related programs had to take priority.

Then, early in 2023 I started taking action on it, got the copy written for it, mapped out the entire program, and then froze worrying about what people would think if I, the summit person, released a program about challenges.

And it took me more than 6 months to realize that if someone couldn’t see how well these strategies fit together and wanted to have a problem with it, there just wasn’t a whole lot I could do about that. So here we FINALLY are and I’m so excited to get this program in your hands.

In this episode I want to, of course, tell you a little about the program, who it’s a good fit for, and where to go to learn more. But I also want to share a little of my journey creating it, my goals (like the real numbers) behind it, and what it’s been like creating my first big program from scratch after 4 years of having really one primary program to grow and maintain.

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What is "Challenges That Make Bank"?

Challenges That Make Bank is a program that teaches you a simple and repeatable framework for creating a signature challenge that will create genuine buzz, excitement, and sales of your signature offer in 30 days. My main goal with this is to give you a strategy to generate 5-figures in revenue between summits.

I still want you to host summits. If you’ve listened to the last few episodes, you know that challenges don't do a lot of the things that a summit does, including bringing in the number of leads you need for a 5-figure launch. But challenges are the perfect compliment to your summit and are a lower-lift strategy to incorporate between summits.

I see a lot of people hosting summit after summit because nothing else they’ve ever done in business compares to the power of a summit. I love that summits work so well for so many of you, but I also don’t want you burning yourself out by going straight from one summit to the next when you get to the point of knowing you need a break.

That’s where challenges have come in for me! They give me a break while also bringing in 6-figures in revenue per year, and I want that for you too.

For those of you familiar with the Summit in a Box course material, this new program is set up very similarly. I’m calling it the younger sibling of Summit in a Box.

It has a step-by-step project plan you can upload, and then trainings, processes, and templates to go along with every task in the project plan. It is prettttty great and includes literally everything you need.

Plus, you get our evergreen challenge strategy, too. So you can host your challenge live once, make any tweaks you need, and rerun it live within 30 days whenever you want to, but then also have it on Evergreen all the time, which is so nice.

The program walks you through my 6-phase challenge cycle, which includes the phases of Plan, Create, Promote, Deliver, Launch, and Wrap-Up with the copy templates, design templates, video templates, systems, and more for each phase.

Head over here to see the replay of the strategy session I hosted today (available for the next couple of days) and if you’re reading this afterward, we’ll make sure that page directs you to your best next steps.

The Journey of Planning, Creating, and Launching

This has been a lot of fun to create…but also a lot of work! It’s funny how something can always seem so easy on the surface…and then you get into it and remember alllllll of what’s involved. Kind of like hosting a summit! Here's what taking this new offer from idea to launch has looked like:

Step 1: Map out the strategy session.

I actually started by mapping out the strategy session or webinar for it. I knew I wanted it to be a behind-the-scenes style training, rather than doing the whole thing of busting myths, showing the audience their biggest problems, etc. I wanted it to be fun and engaging and really give everyone a look at my journey with challenges. So I started by mapping out some of that and looking back at my last 7 years of challenge topics, strategies, and results. I didn’t go into details but made notes of the overall results, themes, and takeaways I wanted to give.

Step 2: Map out the content.

Then, I mapped out the content because that was feeling stressful for me. I have such a solid process with summits that I was worried that the same style of process wouldn’t translate to challenges, but it definitely did. The good thing about the timing here was that I was actually hosting a challenge of my own at the time I was thinking about the content so I was able to make notes and add extra details to my own project plan as I went.

Step 3: Copy!

Then the biggest hurdle was the copy. I worked through a course to figure out the messaging, took a stab at the name and tagline, and started to write the copy and verrryyy quickly remembered that’s not my job for a reason!

Previously, one of my employees did all of our copy, but things have shifted over the last year so I had to find someone new. It was a no-brainer to work with Nadine from Cando Content. And it was AMAZING! She pitched me to be on the podcast, and it's the only pitch that sticks with me, it was so good! Her process was amazing.

That’s where I got stuck…for months.

Then, in November of last year, I had a team member kind of give me a nudge and that nudge basically turned into pushing me down a cliff because that little bit of encouragement was all it took for me to go all in. I chose a launch date, mapped out the project plan using Eden Fried’s Launch List, and off we went.

The biggest things for me were creating the full webinar content and then creating the program content.

Step 4: Map out the program content.
I knew that this program needed to resemble Summit in a Box. Everyone knows me for that level of organization and top-tier resources in that program, so I wasn’t going to do anything different here. And it’s also just how I work.

But because it’s not just training videos like most online courses, but it’s also a step-by-step project plan, timeline generator, and every template and resource someone would need, I knew that I couldn’t have everything done before the launch. I could push the launch back to have it all done, but it was too risky for me to spend that much time creating content for an unproven offer so I decided on a beta launch.

Right now, we have the first couple of modules ready, and, assuming all goes well, the remaining modules will be released over the next couple of weeks.

Step 5: Have a team to back you up.

My team is also backing me up behind the scenes.

The copy was all written.
Kate took care of all of the tech and logistics.
I have a Kajabi expert ready to build out our sales page and Kajabi automations.
My designer made the branding, graphics, slides, and page designs.

And I couldn’t have done it without them!

My Launch Goals

This is a true beta launch: I won’t finish making the program if the launch doesn’t go well (I don’t think that will be a problem). And I’ll be taking lots of feedback and incorporating that as we go.

Goal #1: Get people in the door.

The first goal is to get people in the door and I’m hoping for at least 40. When I look at my email list size and what percentage that would be, it really shouldn’t be a problem and I’d be happy with the amount of revenue that would bring. So that’s my goal there.

Goal #2: Support my new students.

After that, and what feels more important, is just making sure everyone feels so well supported and served in the program. I’ll have forms people can fill out to give feedback, point out any issues they find, request extra training and templates, and more. And then I’ll have time set aside to incorporate all of that to make sure this program really starts out just as good as Summit in a Box is now.

So it’s all very exciting and I’m so happy to finally be getting it in your hands!

As for how we’re launching, I decided on a webinar format but really positioned it as more of a strategy session because that’s what felt good to me. I didn’t just want to do a traditional webinar, I wanted it to really be fun and interesting because...

I have an engaged audience to support it.
It was the easiest way to test whether it was going to be something people wanted.
I was still able to craft it in a way that feels high-value.
I did think about launching it with a challenge, but it just felt too meta…maybe someday.

Click here to learn more about Challenges That Make Bank.

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Hear a little about what it is, get a behind-the-scenes look at what creating this program looked like, and what my launch strategies and goals are.

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