🚀 How to Launch Your Next Big Thing Without Social Media

Amelia Hruby [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing all their clients. Hello, and welcome to Off the Grid, a podcast about starting and running a successful, sustainable business with no or minimal social media presence. I'm Amelia Hruby. I am the founder of Softer Sounds Podcast Studio, the co-founder of the Lifestyle Business League. And here on this show, I am your host. It has been a minute since I've done a solo episode, and I have to say it feels good to be back on the mic, hanging out in my element, ready to show up, teach you some really cool things, and hopefully resonate in the process. I'm really trying to get us on the same vibe today. So let me tell you what we're gonna be talking about.

Amelia Hruby [00:01:15]:
In this episode, I am going to walk you through how to launch your next big thing or small thing without social media. This is a request I have gotten so many times, and I think that is the case for two reasons. One is that a lot of people want to start a business, and when you're starting a business, we really get this strong messaging that you have to have a social media presence. In fact, many people will launch an Instagram or a TikTok for their business before they even really have a business.

Amelia Hruby [00:01:48]:
So I think in that moment of launching a new business, there's a lot of pressure to be on social media, and that's one place this question comes from. And then I think the other reason I get this question of, how do I launch without social media so often, is that many of the launch blueprints that we have been taught, if we are paying attention to online business or taking courses in online marketing, those blueprints often are built on this social media foundation or like a backbone of social media posts as a primary method for selling your products and services. And so whether you are a brand new business beginner who really wants to launch your thing without social media, or you have been in business for a while, but you're really curious if you could do your next launch without social media, today's episode is for you.

Amelia Hruby [00:02:45]:
I've shared on this show before that some of the things that people tend to hate the most about business, AKA marketing, sales, launches, are some of my most favorite parts of the work. And so I think that is part of why this show is so much in my zone of genius, because I just get to show up and nerd out and connect around these areas that I find really fascinating. And when I do that, I get to support you in enjoying them a little bit more. And launching is definitely one of those spots. And I'll be honest, I have a history of hating launches. I had a job where we launched a course multiple times a year, and we just did it over and over and over and over, and it was kind of the bane of my existence by the end. Nothing about the job, I was just really burnt out by the launch cycle.

Amelia Hruby [00:03:38]:
And I realized that a big part of that is that I was only launching through social media and some follow-up emails. And so when I've been able to reconnect with what does a launch look like without social media, it's made launching so much more easeful and spacious and enjoyable for me, which frankly are some of my biggest priorities in business is to have everything feel easeful and spacious and enjoyable and pleasurable and good and fun and making money and all that good stuff.

Amelia Hruby [00:04:09]:
So I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here and I want to roll it back. On today's episode, we're gonna talk about how to launch without social media. In this episode, I am going to talk you through three steps that I think are crucial for launching anything. And we're gonna talk about how to go through those steps without social media. Before I dive into those steps, I want to go ahead and say, at the outset, that the reason I'm doing this episode now here on the feed is because this quarter inside the Interweb, we are also talking about how to launch your next big thing without social media.

Amelia Hruby [00:04:51]:
So today's episode is going to be a mini masterclass of sorts where I'm gonna tell you the three steps, give you some things to think about, send you on your way. And then inside the Interweb, we're gonna have, like, the maxi master course where I'm gonna go through all of this in much more detail. I'm going to provide some really great workbooks that I've created, particularly a workbook to design your core offer and a workbook to write a sales page, and there will be a live call where I can answer all your questions, help some people through the process, and really bring this to life.

Amelia Hruby [00:05:26]:
So I'm happy to share this mini masterclass here on the feed for you today, and, of course, I wanna invite you to become an Interweb member to take you deeper into that process. Membership is only a $129 a year when I'm recording this, so it's really a lot of value for not so much money. And if you like this episode, I just hope that you'll join us. Okay. Now that you've heard about why I get this question so often, how I learned to love launches, and how we'll be going even deeper into this work inside the Interweb, let's go ahead and dive in to our three step process for how to launch without social media.

Amelia Hruby [00:06:09]:
All right, my lovely listeners, my launchers, my favorite people on the worldwide web. Let's talk about the three step process for launching without social media. So I'm gonna do that thing where I tell you all three steps and then we go through each one and then we recap at the end so you can really remember it.

Amelia Hruby [00:06:29]:
Step one is that you need to create a clear container for your work. Step two is that you need to develop clear communication about your offering. And step three is that you need to do clear outreach to your community. So again, the three steps to launch without social media are to create a clear container for your work, clear communication about your offering, and clear outreach to your community.

Amelia Hruby [00:06:55]:
So let's go deeper into step one, creating a clear container for your work. This is where you decide exactly what you will be selling. What is the thing? Is it a product? Is it a service? Is it a course? Is it a group program? Is it a membership? Are you selling a book? Are you selling really cute hair clips? Are you selling beautiful bouquets of flowers? Are you selling a service where you come design someone's landscaping? The possibilities are endless here, and this is where you really get to step into your role as a creator. What is it that you feel called to make? What is pouring out of you when you come to the page? What are the things that you really clearly deeply know that you have to offer? And then how can you shape them into this clear container? What is the vessel through which you will sell them?

Amelia Hruby [00:07:53]:
So if we take the example of a writer, maybe I am pouring those words onto the page and that is my offering. But now in order to launch, I need a clear container. Is it gonna be a book? Is it gonna be a newsletter series? Is it gonna be a zine? Am I gonna do a poem a day text message that people can pay me for? There are so many ways that I can shape the raw material of my words into a clear container, AKA an offering, and that is step one, creating this clear container for our work. When we go through this in the Interweb, that workshop has some questions to answer, some archetypes that you can channel. I've also got an episode coming up in a couple weeks with Ayana Zaire Cotton who teaches a whole course on developing a creative offering. So tons more to dig into here. And it's a whole other podcast episode for how exactly to create an offer. So for now, I'm just gonna say that the finish line of step one is that you know the thing.

Amelia Hruby [00:08:59]:
You've got the clear container, and then we move on to step two, which is clear communication about your offering. So let's go deeper into step two. With step two, we are figuring out exactly how to talk or write or share about the thing that you are selling. So if step onw was about what is the thing, step two is where we fill in all those other questions. Who is it for? Why does it matter? What problem does it solve? What transformation will it support? Also, how much does it cost? We've got to kind of wrap all these details around the thing itself.

Amelia Hruby [00:09:38]:
So if we go back to my example of the writer who has this raw material of their beautiful words, they're pouring them out onto the page, it's so deeply connected to their creative process. In step one, they had to choose the container. Was it a book? Was it a zine? Was it a newsletter? Was it that poem a day text message I talked about? Right? Whatever it might be, now we're discovering who is that for? Why does it matter? What transformation will support? How much does it cost?

Amelia Hruby [00:10:06]:
So let's say I decide that I'm going to put my writing into a zine. Well, who is this zine for? How will it help them? Why might they love it? Maybe they'll love it because it's actually a zine about how to get over a bad breakup, and it's got a really clear, like, you're in a time of need, and this is gonna solve that for you. Maybe it's a zine that is really just about the beauty of the world around us and is going to bring beauty to people's lives, And that's how it's supporting them. Also, again, how much does it cost? Am I selling the zine for $5? Am I selling the zine for $50? Is there a digital version of it? Is it only a print version, so I'm shipping it out and around the country? All of these things are the details that we have to determine once we know what we are selling.

Amelia Hruby [00:10:53]:
So, again, in step one, we got the what. In step two, we get into all of the details, and the output for step two is going to be your sales page if you're selling this online or perhaps your line sheet if you're creating products and selling them wholesale. But, basically, just this collateral that explains exactly what it is and tells a potential buyer all the details that they need to know to be interested.

Amelia Hruby [00:11:21]:
Let's do one more example here and say that I am selling a course. So perhaps I make really beautiful jewelry. And in step one, I realized that I wanted a container to teach jewelry making and that I wanted to offer a course. So in step two, now I have to figure out all the details of this course. Is it live, or is it prerecorded? Is it online, or is it in person? Is it lots of ideas and philosophies about jewelry making, or will people actually be making jewelry? Do I need to offer supplies, or do people need to buy supplies? Those are some of the logistical details that I need to resolve. But then, also, what are the motivations and the people its for? Is this for jewelry designers is it just for people who love to wear jewelry and want to make something for the first time? Is it gonna help people create jewelry that's aligned with their human design or create jewelry that brings in materials from the natural world?

Amelia Hruby [00:12:20]:
I keep coming back to those, like, reporters' questions of who, what, where, when, why, how. And with step one, we're really anchoring in the what, and with step two, we're in the who, where, when, why, how. Right? And we're gonna bring all of that together to write this beautiful sales page or line sheet or, you know, one page PDF, whatever it might be, that's gonna tell people how they can buy this offering that we've created. Again, that's just a swirl of questions and ideas for how to think about step two. In the Interweb workshop, I will walk through more questions. I will share some archetypes that could be really helpful to channel in this phase of the process, and I will also offer a workbook for writing your sales page and bringing it all together in that format that will support the people who want to buy it and making that decision to buy it.

Amelia Hruby [00:13:14]:
So now let's move on to step three. With step three, we need to make a plan for and do clear outreach to our community. So this is where we get to the fact that we're launching without social media. Because the outreach part is where folks will say, okay, great. Now go put it on social media and it'll sell. Which likely, if you are listening to this, you might have had an experience where you put something on social media and it did not sell. We're learning that that's, you know, less and less of a sales platform for many of us.

Amelia Hruby [00:13:46]:
So how do we do that outreach we're not on social media? Let me give you some ideas. If you are a service provider, what you need here is a good sales page, a great email, and strategic relationships. Your focus can be on sharing with your network and making the sale. This is where relationship marketing is really gonna shine. So I think that most services can be sold with a really clear sales page that's really talking someone through what you are offering, how it will support them, and helping them make that decision about if it's right for them and how to purchase it. Then you're gonna need at least one really great email that's gonna invite people to that sales page, that's going to bring them in and help them share it. And you need those relationships that are going to be how you activate your community, how you meet the right people to come into your offering and to buy your work.

Amelia Hruby [00:14:50]:
For some folks, this will be like a one to one effort. You know, if you're doing, like, high touch coaching, it may be that you write your sales page, you write an email that you're going to then personalize and send to, like, 50 people, and that's how you book your first five clients. Or it may be that you're a service provider and your offering is an affordable six week course, and you already have an email list that's got, I don't know, a few hundred or a few thousand people on it. And so you really hone that sales page, and then you write a series of emails selling it to your list. And then with the strategic relationships, you have a few of your peers and partners share it with their lists as well, and that's how you fill your first or second or third cohort. So, again, I think for service providers, the clear outreach to your community is really happening through that good sales page, that great email, and those strategic relationships. That is one way you can launch without social media.

Amelia Hruby [00:15:51]:
Now, if you're a product maker, you might have a slightly different method here. So I think for product makers, what you need to launch without social media is a really great line sheet to hand to your wholesale partners and or a great shop experience to serve your shoppers, whether that's online or in person. You need great reviews, that social proof that people love the thing that you've made. And you need community partners who are gonna help you spread the word.

Amelia Hruby [00:16:23]:
So for product makers who want to launch without social media, I think your goal is to focus on cultivating partnerships to create buzz around the launch. You need people who will love and share the product. Those are gonna become your brand ambassadors. They may be social media influencers even if you're not on social media, but they might also be your hairstylist or your massage therapist or any number of people in your community who know a lot of other people and can help spread the word about your amazing product. You're also gonna wanna find those shops who will stock and support you, who will become your wholesale partners, which can really help create other revenue streams for your business, build that buzz, and help you grow and maintain and sustain over time. We really heard about that in my conversation with Kristen Drozdowski of Worthwhile Paper. So head back to that episode if you're a product maker who wants to think more about how wholesale can support your business and how to run a product based business without social media.

Amelia Hruby [00:17:27]:
So, again, this is like the juicy part of the episode that you're all here for, how to launch without social media. The real question here is how do I do that outreach if I'm not on social media platforms? And to recap, I think that if you're a service provider, what you need is a good sales page, a great email, and strategic relationships, so you can focus on sharing with your network and making the sale. And if you're a product maker, I think what you need here is a good line sheet, great reviews, and community partners so you can focus on cultivating partnerships that create buzz around your product.

Amelia Hruby [00:18:06]:
I didn't even mention press, which is another great way for product makers to launch and sell without social media, can also be helpful for service providers. So, again, there are so many different ways to do outreach, and I think that within step three, you really want to be creating that creative marketing plan. And this is also where we can go to the list of 100 ways to share your work off social media and use that Creative Marketing Experiments Database to add in more marketing tools and activities for our launch. If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say 100 ways list and Creative Marketing Experiments Database, just head to the show notes to get the free Leaving Social Media Toolkit That includes those free tools, some other great resources. You can find all of that at offthegrid.fun/toolkit or in the show notes.

Amelia Hruby [00:19:02]:
So at the end of step three, you should have your marketing plan and the materials that you need to launch. Like, we've been baking this cake this whole time, and now you are about to jump right out of it. Can you tell that I watched Some Like It Hot recently? Because I definitely have Marilyn Monroe jumping out of a cake on the brain. And maybe you know that reference, maybe you don't. Either way, what I have to offer here is our three step plan for launching without social media. And again, those three steps are creating a clear container for your work, developing clear communication about your offering, and doing clear outreach to your community.

Amelia Hruby [00:19:41]:
How you do those things is going to depend a lot on the type of business that you have and the goals that you have for your launch. Right? Like, I don't know your specific starting point or the ending point that you desire, which is totally gonna shape this whole journey.

Amelia Hruby [00:19:58]:
But from what I have seen, these are the three kind of key steps or stages along the way. Again, step one and step two are really about the behind the scenes work that you're doing. Step three is where we are actually planning and doing the work of launching. It's the place where we're tempted to go to social media and just put 10 posts out there and see how it does, and then blame the algorithm if it does poorly, but instead I would invite you to turn to some of the suggestions that I offered here to go back to that list of 100 ways to share your work off social media and to plan your own launch.

Amelia Hruby [00:20:36]:
Sounds easy. Right? Believe me, I am under no false illusion that launching is super easy and fun for everybody all the time. But as I shared at the very top of this episode, I have found that it is much more enjoyable for me to launch without social media because when I'm not so focused on algorithms and short form video content and what I think everybody else wants from me, I'm actually better able to tap into what is at the heart of my work, what is at the heart of this thing that I'm selling, how is it really deeply of service? And then what's the best way to communicate that to other people, and who are the people that I need to be sharing that with so this can really get to the people who are gonna love and buy it.

Amelia Hruby [00:21:23]:
So if you are launching something without social media this spring or anytime, really, I want you to know that I am cheering you on. I hope that this episode helps, and I really hope that you will come join us in the Interweb where you can get the full extended version of this workshop as well as the core offer workbook and sales page workbook, where I really dive into to much more detail with questions and examples and resources for how to develop these different steps, how to actually build your offering, your sales page, and your marketing plan.

Amelia Hruby [00:22:05]:
And if you're listening around when this episode comes out, I will be doing a live call exclusively for Interweb members in May of 2024 to help you work through these materials, answer all your questions, and do some live member hot seats to build some marketing plans that don't rely on social media for members of our community.

Amelia Hruby [00:22:28]:
So thank you again for tuning in to this episode of Off the Grid. As always, I am so grateful that you're here. I love creating free resources like this, and I maybe even more love working with members inside the Interweb. But no matter how you take part, I am truly appreciative, so, so grateful for your attention, your care. I am so glad that you are out there thinking about how to create an offering, how to share it with the world, how to be less reliant on social media or off the platforms all togher. I'm really cheering you on in this work and I'm here to support you however I can.

Amelia Hruby [00:23:13]:
Next week, I will be back with a little preview of what a launching without social media hot seat looks like, So stay tuned to hear me work through how I would create a social media free launch plan for a few members of our Off the Grid community. I can't wait to be back in your earbuds, and until then, I will see you off the grid and on the Interweb.

Amelia Hruby [00:23:40]:
Thanks for listening to Off the Grid. Don't forget to grab your free Leaving Social Media Toolkit at offthegrid.fun/toolkit. This podcast is a Softer Sounds production. Our music is by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter of Making Audio Magic, and our logo is by n'Atelier Studio. I'm your host, Amelia Hruby, and until next time, I'll see you off the grid and on the Interweb.