This is my first Infusionsoft launch story.

It's not the typical success story - I don't have a mansion, or a handful of sports cars in a six car garage.

But it is a success story.

I have a business that is largely powered by automation - which frees me up to do what I love, create content, support my members, and travel.

Sara and I (and Gatsby) took a road trip in July. We covered 3000 miles in 24 days - 19 of which we slept in a tent.

CB Trilogy course (it's bigger and better than ever, baby).

It was the first time I’ve done a concentrated “launch” like this.

And the launch went well - it actually exceeded my expectations.

I’m certain I didn’t do everything right, but I thought I’d recap my experience in case it helps you.

I sent promotional emails to 5 segments of my database (and also my OG members).

All Access Pass (which includes the trilogy), or if they unsubscribe (more on that in a sec).

Liquid Content you'll be able to offer personalized messaging based on tags or contact fields within a single email.

opt-out of just this campaign if anyone wasn't interested.

And lo and behold - it worked.

Launch Results

The campaign had open rates averaging 34% across the different segments, with colder groups at 27-29%.

Everyone received three emails - but I also structured the campaign to include an additional nudge for the folks who opened and clicked in the first two emails. As you might guess, this extra email the highest overall open rate (51%).

Lesson: Engagement snowballs - structure your campaigns to bubble up the most engaged contacts, and avoid overwhelm by pacing emails appropriately for those who aren't engaging.

campaign builder interface. Initially I was annoyed - because overnight they had made my CB Trilogy course "feel" outdated. So I begrudgingly began the process of updating my course - and I'm glad I did, because this gave my the opportunity to re-imagine it completely, and ultimately relaunch it.

3. Success is relative, and personal
Like I said, I know I didn't do everything right here. And if I were to compare my Infusionsoft launch numbers to some of the heavy hitters out there they'd be laughable, but in relaunching this course I set new records for my all-time best day and week with regards to course sales. You can't measure how much you've grown by tracking how tall someone else is. Growth is measured by progress over time, and progress is personal.

The final point I'll make is that not all "successes" are going to be financial. This final day of this launch was the first time I've seen my inbox filled with order receipts - and don't get me wrong, that was cool. But as important was acknowledging the fact that I was able to engineer and oversee this entire process without compromising the trip Sara and I had planned.

Sometimes the dividend automation pays is in time savings, peace of mind, or freedom and flexibility.