Ep 31: My complete launch strategy step by step

What if your launches didn’t feel like a gamble anymore?

In this episode of the Hometown Advantage Podcast, I’m pulling back the curtain on my entire launch journey — from my very first launch that made about $900 in profit after ad spend… to my sixth launch that brought in over $60,000 in profit with a 4–6x return on ad spend.

Same offer.
 Same core framework.
 Very different results.

And the difference wasn’t luck, talent, or some secret tactic no one’s talking about.

It was reps.

In this episode, I walk you through:

• How I built and refined a repeatable launch strategy over time
• What my early launches actually looked like behind the scenes
• Why enrolling 3 people isn’t a failure — and why quitting there is
• How ads became my biggest lever for visibility, list growth, and trust
• Why ads aren’t just a “launch tool,” but a long-term growth asset
• How to use ads as a touchpoint machine instead of relying on organic reach alone
• And how data (not vibes) is what allowed me to scale with confidence

Whether you sell a service, run a local business, offer a group program, or sell digital products, this episode will help you understand how ads fit into sustainable growth — not just one-off launches.

I also break down the two ways my team and I currently support business owners with ads:

👉 Done-For-You Ads Management
For established businesses ready for a true advertising partner who handles strategy, creation, optimization, and scaling alongside you.
Book a call here:
https://portal.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/public/appointment-scheduler/690422e2baa8d706bfe38dc0/schedule

👉 Ready, Set, Launch (7-Day Intensive)
A hands-on, high-touch intensive where we strategize, build, and launch your ads in just 7 days — plus ongoing Slack support so you’re not left guessing after launch.
Book your spot here:
https://tidycal.com/mp0lnv3/ready-set-launch

If you’ve been wondering how to create momentum, visibility, and consistency with ads — without reinventing the wheel every time — this episode will give you the clarity you’ve been looking for.

🎧 Press play and let’s talk reps, patience, and profitable growth.

Transcript

0:00

Hello. Hello. Welcome to the Hometown Advantage Podcast. I'm really excited because today I'm taking you through my whole journey and walking you through my exact launch strategy. That gets four to six x return on ad spend every time. Man, something I've been noticing so much as a real factor of what sets apart people who are winning with online business, local business, advertising, marketing, all the things. Versus the people who aren't is what I'm just calling reps, like who's getting in the reps. So I went from making$900 after ad spend and launch one of my program to over$60,000 profit after ad spend in launch six. Those words that just came outta my mouth are absolutely insane to me. And while I still don't know everything, because I'm still putting in those reps, here's what I do know about running profitable AF launches. And ads in general. This strategy can work whether you have a done-for-you service, a local business, a digital product, a group, program, anything. So I wanna take a second to take you all the way back to the birth of my group program, hometown Advantage. I had been working in ads for years, taking my own clients, working for several different agencies at several different levels. But for a while, the majority of my time was spent strategizing, creating, building, managing ads for group program leaders and course creators that we're doing anywhere from.$10,000 a month in ad spend to working on scaling to$50,000 a month in ad spend. And I had a front row seat to how you sell a course or a program using ads, not only from the ads side, but from the whole other side as well. Webinar conversion rates, messaging. Email sequences, all of the things, because if you're an ad manager, you know this, but if ads aren't converting, everyone wants to blame the ads when usually it's actually what's happening after the ads that's making your ads not convert. And most ad managers are only responsible for ads. Are just responsible for getting you leads in traffic and you're responsible for the rest. But the agency I worked with, thankfully, because it taught me so much, took responsibility for all of it. And so I got to see what was really going into these funnels, and I got to see what was possible, which was huge. Now, the other thing that all ads managers done for you, service providers will understand is doing it for yourself versus doing it for someone else is a totally different ballgame. But what I did know when I decided I was gonna create a course was that I would need some sort of audience to sell it to. So I actually started running ads to a free lead magnet that felt aligned with my ideal client for months leading up to the launch. I think I was spending like two to$300 a month for probably like four months to start building my audience. Then I went right into the full live webinar deal. I think I maybe sent two emails promoting it as in promoting the webinar and then probably three or four emails selling the program after the launch. And then I ran my workshop ads'cause that is my area of expertise and I ran my retargeting ads after this is what I had done for dozens and dozens of clients in the past. And what I had thought I knew about launching running ads to group programs, selling group programs, but I actually had not seen even the start of it. Okay, so I think I had 200 people signed up for this webinar and three enrolled in the program. So it was about a 1.5% conversion rate, and I was selling the program for$650. It's like a third of the price of what it is now. Now I am in several masterminds where other people are selling group programs and things, and they'll get 3, 4, 5 people enrolled and I'll see them posting in our communities like, oh, do I just refund them and move on? And I think that is insane. I ran that program with three people as if there were. However many I wanted to begin with, but I got to be so hands on with those three people and they got such good results from working the steps that I teach and the handholding and the support that I got to give them through the coaching piece of the program. So it was time to try again, and I started pre-selling spots for the next round because I was just enrolling in rounds at this point. I wasn't enrolling all the time like I am now. And I ran the webinar again, and I think I sold three spots before the webinar, and then I enrolled three from the actual launch. So I had 10. People in the second round, which was over double. I was ecstatic. Seeing that growth happen, even though it was probably over a seven to eight month phase, is what gave me the confidence to go all in on the program in general. Because the idea for the program came in May 20, 20, 20 24. That's when I started running those list building ads, and then the first time I launched, it was October, 2024. And then the second time I launched it was January, 2025. So if there's anything I hope you take from these stories, it's time, it's reps, it's consistency, right? So from here I decided to go all in on coaching and mentorship. I joined a mastermind. I had a call with my business coach like two days before my third launch, and she gave me so much amazing insight on things I should tweak. Messaging and positioning I should change. Gave me an idea for a fast action bonus, and I was feeling so. Good about the launch because I had already doubled my results. I was like, there's no way I can double raise my results again. Go from 10 to 20, but like this would be amazing, so I'm gonna spend more this time. And I ended up spending$7,000. So I went from spending$1,000 the first launch.$1,000, the second launch to$7,000. The third launch, I had this bug in me and I had just been learning so much and I was so confident. I was like, let's do this. And I did end up enrolling 20 people, y'all. In that third launch, it was like 28 K in revenue, in 20 k profit after ad spend. So from there, I just keep doubling down and rinsing and repeating what's working, staying patient, not getting bored with selling the same thing over and over again. My third launch, I had so many tech and like ads hiccups, but, and I ended up enrolling 20 people again, my fourth launch, I end up enrolling 31 people and then I just finished up. Wait, am I saying this right? I did October, 2024. January, 2025. April, June, September, so it was my fifth launch that I ended up enrolling. 31 people, and I just finished up my sixth launch. Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been six times and I enrolled 45 people. Y'all, oops. The other crazy part of all this is that I actually raise the price of the program every single launch as well. Okay? So I've really been able to refine this launch process over the months and over the past year. So that's what I'm gonna walk you through right now. The general cadence and outline of my launch process goes like this, four to six weeks of launch warmup, which is where I'm promoting the live workshop and promoting my program simultaneously, and kind of teasing and alluding to the promotion coming. Then I host the live workshop. I pour into my people, give them so much value, help them see how ads will change their business and their life, and how it's changed my past client's business and their life, and I invite them into the program. Then for the next seven or 10 days, I'm promoting the program and the promotion for it. Okay, so that's the general cadence. And the actual length is anywhere from, five to eight weeks long. Eight weeks might be a little long. So during the launch warmup process, I've actually learned that this might be. Even more important than the actual, I don't know about the actual webinar, but like the time after the webinar. Okay. Because people need time to build trust with you. Everyone's talking about how attention is currency, which I agree with, but I recently heard someone say that attention is currency, but your trust is actually like. Depositing that currency into the bank, right? So I'm building trust. I'm showing what I can do. I'm sharing my unique point of view during this four week warmup process for my email list and my social following. I'm emailing three to four times a week, posting three to four times a week. And I am also running a bulk of my ads here. So for example, this last launch I spent around 16 K in ad spend. I'm gonna do a full launch debrief and a upcoming episode and I think like$14,500 was spent in this launch warmup phase, driving people to sign up for the workshop. Then of course I host the training. A lot of work has gone into this training. I give tons of value. I come up with the best way to position my offer that shows people this is the answer to the problems that I solve. And then there's about one to two emails that go out a day during that cart open or promo period, and these are really just answering questions and giving clarity about the program. I'm also running what we call retargeting ads. During that time where I've got client, face to camera testimonials, I've got screenshot testimonials, I'm answering again, questions about the program. Is this right for me if I have this type of business? And what exactly do you get? Like more of the technical stuff happens. In that promo car open period. Okay, so that is the basic process. Now I wanna talk to you about how ads are the best tool to use in your launch strategy to grow over time like I have. The most obvious reason is that your ads are going to drive growth. That drives momentum. So my email list in less than two years has gone from zero to almost 6,000 because of ads, right? And so that has been a part of what's helped me grow my launches every time. It's not just spending more. It is that I have this list of people that's growing bigger and bigger and bigger that have already expressed interest in me, that have already said, I am your person. I need to solve this problem that you help people solve. And now actually going beyond the launch talk. This actually makes it so that anytime I come up with a new offer or I need to sell even anything else outside of Hometown Advantage, I have a list of almost 6,000 people that are interested in again, the problem that I can solve for them. So actually like mid-year, last year, I decided to test out doing these two hour intensivess. As kind of a midpoint between the DIY approach of joining a program and then the full ads management retainer approach that a lot of people aren't quite ready for yet. And it was the first time I launched something new, sends Home found Advantage, and obviously it was like a very simple launch. Alls I had to do was set up a calendar and tell people it's available. And I think I made six spots available and they sold out within the first two emails, and I was not expecting that. But it made me realize that your audience and your email list is really like a safety net for you. I know now if something happens and my program completely dies for whatever reason, I have this safety net and this asset in my audience and also in my brain where I can come up with a way to solve someone's problem at a price point that works for them and that pays me what I need to pay my bills. And I can simply send them an email and offer it to them. The other reason that ads are so beneficial for your launches or selling anything. Is that they can create a touchpoint machine for you. So we've all heard the stats about how many times someone needs to see you in how many different places in whatever span of time. In order to convert from audience member to purchaser. I don't understand how anyone can get the exact number. Oh, you need seven, you need 44. It's like all over the place. I don't know what the number is, but alls I care about is that I know. It's true. You do have to show up, which is why when I'm doing a launch and you see me everywhere, it's very intentional. I want you to see me everywhere.'cause that is how I make sales by people seeing me everywhere. So the really cool thing about ads and actually something that. I came up with, and that I do and that I wasn't taught anywhere, is that I run something that I call nurture ads throughout my launch, usually throughout the warmup phase. So the warmup ads where I'm driving people from never hearing about me to signing up for the free workshop need to be this perfect balance of broad but specific, I need to meet them where they're at and say, Hey, I know you have these problems. It's totally understandable. You have these problems because of this, not'cause of you. I've seen it time and time again. The solution to those problems is actually. This, what you're trying to do is not going to get you to that solution, but this will, hopefully you're following there. I'm not getting specific on this is the problem, this is the solution. It's different for everybody, obviously, but that's my cadence of messaging that I walk through in my lead generation ads. Now, once they're on my list, they start receiving those three to four emails a week that I talked about, and I'm doing a lot of nurturing there. Talking about the frameworks that I teach, some of the random things they'll learn from me, whether they're on the workshop or coming into the program, results clients have gotten from these frameworks and things that they've learned from me, kind of changing their viewpoint on ads and what it takes to win. And then I can do that same thing in nurture ads, where alls I'm doing is spending money to retarget the people who opted in. So while I'm spending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars a day on those lead generation ads I only need to spend a couple dollars a day on these retargeting ones.'cause the audience is much smaller. It's only the people who've opted in or who have been in my world. And that's where I can tell my story and hit all these other points that are gonna help them see me everywhere, get to know me, get to know that I'm legit, start to trust me and hopefully start to see themselves in some of my clients, in some of my client's success stories. And then once that launch warmup phase is over and we go into the car open, I can hit them with ads and emails at that point too. And these ads are on Facebook, on Instagram, in their feed, in their reels, feed in stories, right? The last reason that ads are the best strategy to use to market your offers and launch your offers is because of the data that it will give you at a much, much faster pace than anything else. Like I said, in a couple episodes, you'll get my full launch debrief where you'll get to hear all of my data points from my last launch, but I would not be able to get these numbers. So clearly when my content's reaching a couple hundred people over and over again when I have, a hundred leads coming into my webinar, it's hard to get really good data on small numbers. And being able to collect that data and interpret that data has driven me to the growth I've been able to create. Because I know how to look at those numbers and say, okay, this is what needs to change for next time. Here are my ideas for changing that. Implement them. Rinse, repeat. Okay. If you're launching anything this year and you wanna use ads, I would love to hear from you and just even chitchat and the dms about what ads could look like for you. I actually have two ways that my team and I can help you with ads right now. One is our done for you ads management. This is full service white glove. A true advertising partner alongside you in your business. We strategize alongside you from top to bottom. We're actually bringing you ideas. New angles to test, and we create all your ads. We launch them, we monitor them, we collect the data on them, we debrief the data on them, rinse and repeat. Again, just like this whole strategy and episode that I talked about, This is for the business owner that's doing multiple six figures a year and is amped and ready to make it seven figures. We'll crank it up alongside you. The other way I can help you if you're not quite ready for done for you. Ads management is drum roll. A brand new offer. It's called Ready, set, launch, and it's a seven day intensive where we meet on a Monday. You and I strategize your campaign, and then my team and I get to work and we have ads launched for you within seven days, but that's not all. After that seven days, your ads are launched, you are not left in the dark to manage and decipher the numbers on your own. You're in Slack with me and you're assigned ads manager from my team who are all advertising geniuses by the way. Able to ask questions. We're checking in on you, seeing how things are going. We're asking you for your numbers so that we can tell you exactly what we would do if we were managing your ads, exactly what tweaks you can make that are simple, quick, but impactful. I opened up, I believe it's six. It's five or six spots between February and March for this offer at a beta price of$1,400. Once those spots are filled, we are definitely raising that to be closer to 2000. So if you are interested in getting ads up to help you start building momentum for all of 2026 and beyond, this is an amazing starting point for you and I would love to help you with it. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. You can email support@nicoleeldridgemedia.com or send me a DM on Instagram, Nicole Eldridge ads.