Why Your Launch Failed (It Wasn't Your Product, Your Price, or Your Marketing) (EP. 020)

You did everything right.

You built the course. You wrote the sales page. You posted on Instagram. You sent the emails.

And then nothing happened.

Maybe one sale. Maybe two. Maybe your sister bought it because she felt bad.

Now you're lying awake at 3 AM wondering what went wrong. Googling "why did my launch fail" and reading articles that tell you your offer wasn't clear enough, your price was wrong, or your marketing sucked.

But here's what nobody's telling you.

Your product wasn't the problem. Your runway was.

I've been building online businesses for over 20 years. I've helped hundreds of Latina women launch courses, memberships, and digital products. And I see the same mistake over and over.

Women with great offers launching to tiny lists of people who barely know them.

That's not a launch. That's a Hail Mary.

In this post, I'm going to show you exactly why your launch failed and give you the 90-day framework that fixes it. By the end, you'll have a clear path from where you are now to a launch that actually converts.

The Math Nobody Wants to Tell You

Let's talk numbers.

The average email list converts at about 2 percent. That means for every 100 people on your list, 2 will buy.

Now let's do the math on your last launch.

If you had 50 subscribers, you could expect 1 sale. If you had 100 subscribers, you could expect 2 sales. If you had 200 subscribers, you could expect 4 sales. If you had 400 subscribers, you could expect 8 sales. If you had 1,000 subscribers, you could expect 20 sales.

If you launched to 50 people and made one sale, your launch didn't fail. The math worked exactly as expected.

The problem wasn't your offer. The problem was launching before you had enough people who knew you, trusted you, and were ready to buy.

You skipped the runway.

The Runway Explained

Think about an airplane.

A 747 needs about 10,000 feet of runway to take off. You can't just point it at the sky and expect it to fly.

Your launch works the same way.

The runway is the time BEFORE your launch when you build your email list, nurture relationships, and warm people up to your offer.

Not followers. Subscribers. Not broadcasting. Connecting. Not surprising them with a sales pitch. Preparing them for an invitation.

Without the runway, even the best product crashes on takeoff.

I learned this the hard way.

My $788 Launch Disaster

In 2009, I built what I thought was my best product ever. A course for Latin-american businesses wanting to buy products isn China. Three months of work. Beautiful modules. Professional videos.

I had an audience. People followed me on Facebook. They commented heart emojis on my posts. They said they couldn't wait for the course.

So I picked a launch date and went for it.

My email list had 89 people. Most had signed up in the previous three weeks.

I made four sales. $788.

After three months of work.

That night, I analyzed who actually bought. All four had been on my list for at least six months. They had opened almost every email. They had replied to me. They had a relationship with me.

The other 85 people were strangers. New subscribers. No relationship yet.

And my Facebook followers who had been so excited? They never even saw the launch emails. Because they weren't on my email list.

I had confused attention with trust.

Social media followers aren't email subscribers. Comments aren't commitment. Excitement isn't readiness.

Six months later, I relaunched the same course.

But this time, I gave myself 90 days of runway.

I grew my list to 340 people. I emailed every week. I built real relationships.

Same product. Same price. 23 sales. $4,531.

The difference wasn't the offer. The difference was the runway.

The 90-Day Runway Framework

I call it Seed, Grow, Harvest. Three phases. Thirty days each.

Phase 1: SEED. Days 1 through 30.

Your goal is to build your email list.

You're not selling anything yet. You're not even talking about your offer.

You're doing one thing. Getting the right people to raise their hand and say yes, I want to hear from you.

This is where your freebie works. Your lead magnet. Your Gift.

Share it everywhere. On social media. In groups where your people hang out. With friends who might know someone.

Your target is to add 10 new subscribers per week. That's 40 people in 30 days.

It sounds small because it is small. And that's the point. You want your people, not random followers.

By Day 30, you should have at least 100 subscribers who actually want what you're building.

Phase 2: GROW. Days 31 through 60.

Your goal is to build trust.

Every week, send one email. Not selling. Just connecting.

Tell a story. Share a struggle. Teach something small. Let them see you as a real human.

This is where strangers become followers. Followers become fans. Fans become buyers.

Most people skip this phase. They think they have subscribers so it's time to sell.

No. This is where the magic happens.

Your target is to email every week for four weeks. Reply to anyone who responds.

By Day 60, your subscribers should know your name, your story, and why you care about this work.

Phase 3: HARVEST. Days 61 through 90.

Your goal is to seed and launch.

Now, and only now, you start talking about your offer.

Week 1 you say something's coming. I've been working on this for you.

Week 2 you say here's who it's for. If you've been struggling with this problem, this is for you.

Week 3 you say here's what's inside. Here's what you'll learn.

Week 4 you say it's available. Here's how to join.

By the time you open the cart, they're not surprised. They've been waiting. They're ready.

Launch day becomes a celebration, not a gamble.

The Proof: From Failure to $6,831

Let me tell you about Natalia, my student.

She had launched twice before. Both times she heard crickets.

First launch she had 63 subscribers and made three sales. Second launch she had 89 subscribers and made two sales.

After the second failure, she messaged me and said maybe online business isn't for me.

I asked one question. How long were those subscribers on your list before you launched?

Most of them had been there less than two weeks.

She had subscribers, but no relationships. A list, but no trust.

I walked her through the 90-Day Runway.

In Phase 1, she focused entirely on list building. Every piece of content drove to her freebie. Thirty days later she had 280 subscribers.

In Phase 2, she emailed every week. Stories. Tips. Replies to everyone who wrote back. By Day 60, her open rate was 52 percent. Industry average is 20 percent.

In Phase 3, she seeded the launch. Something's coming. Here's who it's for. Here's what's inside.

By launch day, she had 412 subscribers who knew her.

She sold 23 spots at $297. That's $6,831.

Same woman who thought she wasn't cut out for this.

She messaged me after and said this time it didn't feel like begging. It felt like inviting. They were ready.

How Many Subscribers Do You Actually Need to Launch?

Here's a realistic breakdown.

If your goal is 5 sales, you need about 250 subscribers at 2 percent conversion. If your goal is 10 sales, you need about 500 subscribers. If your goal is 20 sales, you need about 1,000 subscribers. If your goal is 50 sales, you need about 2,500 subscribers.

But here's the thing. Warm subscribers convert higher than cold ones.

If your list has been hearing from you weekly for 60 days, your conversion rate isn't 2 percent. It's 4 to 6 percent.

Natalie converted at 5.6 percent because her list was warm.

That's the power of the runway.

The Mistake That's Costing You Everything

The online business world is full of gurus screaming just launch and done is better than perfect.

And it sounds empowering.

But here's what they don't tell you.

When they launched, they had 18 months of foundation. They had 10,000 subscribers. They had relationships built over years.

They tell you to launch in week three.

And when you fail, they don't say you launched too early. They say your offer wasn't good enough. Buy my advanced course.

They profit from your confusion.

The truth is simple. Your launch didn't fail because of your product. It failed because you launched before your audience was ready to buy.

You don't need a better offer. You need a longer runway.

Your 90-Day Launch Calendar

I created a free tool that maps out exactly what to do each day of your 90-day runway.

It tells you when to focus on list building, when to start emailing, what to say each week, when to seed your launch, and when to open the cart.

No guessing. No hoping. Just a clear path from where you are to a launch that actually works.

It's inside the Latinpreneurs Vault and it's completely free.

What Else Is in the Vault?

The 90-Day Launch Calendar is just one exercise. Here's what else you get when you join.

The Simple System Sketch helps you design your Gift to Story to Offer funnel on one page.

The First Follower Framework shows you how to get your first sale from people who already know you.

The Sacred Hours Finder helps you find hidden time in your week to build.

The Offer Direction Sheet helps you figure out what type of digital business fits your life.

The Pricing Leak Finder helps you uncover the money beliefs holding you back.

The Transition Timeline helps you calculate when you're ready to leave your job.

Every week, I add more. Women in the Vault aren't waiting. They're building.

Join the Vault free.

Why Is the Vault Free?

Because I've seen what happens when Latina women build businesses that work.

I've seen families transformed. I've seen women tithe for the first time. I've seen missionaries funded, churches planted, communities served.

When you build a business that creates freedom, you don't hoard that freedom. You use it. You show up for your family. You give generously. You say yes when God calls.

That's why the Vault exists. Not to build my email list. To build an army of women whose income funds their obedience.

90 Days from Now

Here's the truth.

90 days is going to pass whether you do something or not.

You can spend those 90 days the same way you've been spending them. Wondering why your launches fail. Blaming your product. Thinking you're not cut out for this.

Or you can build a runway.

Grow your list. Nurture your people. Launch to an audience that's actually ready.

Same 90 days. Completely different outcome.

Download the 90-Day Launch Calendar.

The women who succeed aren't smarter than you. They just stopped launching to strangers.

Your turn.

Salime

 

P.S. If you want to hear the full story of how I went from a $788 launch disaster to a system that actually works, listen to this week's episode "The 90-Day Runway: Why Your Launch Failed Before It Started". It's everywhere you listen to podcasts.