Making Space for a Sustainable Launch
My brain is very excited about relaunching Skyward Ink.
Too excited.
It wants to create everything at once, launch a dozen products and courses, write a book(!), and probably start making talking head videos while we're at it. (Creative brains, am I right?)
The thing is, I recognize this energy. It's the same enthusiasm that enabled me to launch my first business in 90 days back in 2001. Back then, it worked - I was young, had endless energy, and the business landscape was totally different (there was no social media to strategize, websites were 5-page brochures, and the baby internet was not powerful enough to support video).
These days? After my latest bout with chronic illness, I knew I would have to manage my energy carefully, to not burn through all my fuel before I even reach orbit.
But here's what's interesting: when I slowed down and really looked at what I had, I realized I didn't need to create everything from scratch. Two decades of business means I've already built a lot of valuable things. They just need organizing, updating, and in some cases, remembering they exist in the first place.
So instead of letting my enthusiasm carry me into chaos, here's what I'm doing:
- Taking stock of what I actually have - turns out I already have frameworks, workbooks, articles, and tools that just need refreshing, not reinventing. Some of them are actually better than what my excited brain wanted to create from scratch.
- Designing a minimum viable launch - what I'm calling a "Big Enough Bang." Not everything needs to happen at once. Some things can wait for phase two, or three, or never if they don't serve a real purpose.
- Getting organized - I have been very into Notion lately, so I created a Launch Planner to keep myself on track (and yes, I'll be sharing it with you soon). Because apparently, my response to potential chaos is to create systems. At least it's a useful coping mechanism?
- Simplifying my systems - After many years, I moved my website from Wordpress to Systeme.io, so I could have my website, funnels, email newsletters, courses, products, and everything all in one place. So far I'm loving it, and I'll report more on this after I've used it in the wild for a while.
- Implementing what I can, as well as I can. Perfect is the enemy of launched, as they say. Sometimes done is better than perfect.
- Resting and renewing along the way - burnout is real and serious and I absolutely don't want to end up in that black hole again. I planned for this from the start, and while my efforts helped, next time I would add even more to keep me going next time.
- Being real about the process - like the fact that I accidentally launched with two slightly different versions of my logo because I didn't follow my own final file labeling process... (If you spot both "Design Co." and "Creative Co." versions floating around... just consider it part of the authentic launch experience... and let me know so I can fix it!)
The funny thing is, slowing down actually speeds things up in the long run. When I take time to assess and organize before acting, I waste less energy on false starts and do-overs. Plus, I actually have energy left for the important part - showing up for my clients and community.
Stay tuned - next week I'll share more about this "Big Enough Bang" approach to launching, along with the Launch Planner I created to make it all manageable. Because it turns out, I'm not the only one who needs a system for sustainable launches.
Sometimes the best way to launch is to slow down first. And if you're feeling that same overwhelming creative excitement about your next launch? Maybe this approach could help you too.
P.S. Yes, I really did launch this whole business in 90 days back in 2001. Ask me sometime about trying to figure out how to run a business in the early days of the Internet!
