$700K Digital Course Launch Case Study: Tyler McCall

Check out the interview video below (or read the transcript) to hear what Tyler had to say about why he hired a copywriter for the first time, how it impacted his digital course launch, the incredible results he achieved, and more!

Quick Stats Overview:

Client: Tyler J. McCall, digital marketing expert

Digital Course Launch:  Business by Design affiliate (James Wedmore’s program)

Total Revenue Generated: $702,000

Revenue Increase (from last year’s launch): 72%

Enrollments: 217 (surpassing his goal of 200)

List conversion rate: 7.4%

Cart open:  4 days

What we created:

Launch copy from top of funnel to final sale
– landing pages
– email sequences
– sales page
– sales page video script
– FB ads (top of funnel & retargeting)

$700K Digital Course Launch Case Study: Video Transcript

Christine:  Hey Tyler, thanks so much for coming on with me today to talk about your recent launch. It was so exciting to be on your team and help you with it. I’d love to talk with you a little bit about the results and how it went and everything. 

But first, why don’t you introduce yourself in case anybody doesn’t know who you are. Tell us what you do and what the launch was about.

Tyler:  My name is Tyler J. McCall. I help online business owners grow their businesses using Instagram. I do that through a membership site called the Follower to Fan Society. 

But, Christine and I actually worked together on another product that I’m an affiliate for. It’s James Wedmore’s Business by Design, which is an online business training program that I’m a student of. 

I took [BBD] a couple of years ago and now I’m an affiliate for that program. So that is the program we worked on together in the summer of 2019.

Christine: Yes. And the results were pretty phenomenal, right?

Tyler: This launch was incredible. It’s the biggest launch I’ve ever had in my business. Our goal this year was to sell 200 spots into Business by Design. We surpassed that goal. We had 217 people enroll in business by design with us this year. 

That accounted for a little over $700,000 in revenue from this launch. And the really cool thing is it’s actually over 70%, like a 72% increase from our revenue last year, which is incredible. Those are some of the quick and dirty and also really exciting numbers.

Christine:  That’s amazing. So amazing. And so the project that we worked on, in terms of your copy for this, we basically created everything from top of funnel – landing pages to the sales page, email sequence, Facebook ads – the whole thing.

Tyler:  Yes – I came to Christine and I said, I don’t know if you do this, but I want all this. And she said, well, let’s make something happen. So I just handed it over to you, Christine, and you made magic happen.

Christine: Yeah, it was super fun to write for you. And just to let everybody know, I’ve actually been a part of Tyler’s membership community since it first opened a couple of years ago. So, it’s really awesome to be helping him inside of his business. I know that you did this launch for James’ program last year, but this year was the first time you were really hiring a copywriter for your launch, right?

Tyler: Yeah, the first time I ever worked with a copywriter.  And of course, you were the person I thought of when I was like – who do I want to work with? Oh yeah. Christine. She’s been around since the beginning of Follower to Fan and we’ve been Insta friends forever, so yeah.

Christine:   What made you decide to outsource your copy for the first time for this launch?

Tyler:  So you know, I was looking at a relaunching this program this year. We did the affiliate launch last year which was the first time we ever did an affiliate launch. It was my first multiple six-figure launch. So lots of great results from last year’s launch. 

And I was looking at planning out this year’s launch, and I knew a couple of things. First of all, my time was a bit limited. My life has been a little crazy. My partner and I moved, we bought a home, and are planning a wedding. I have other things I want to do, so I don’t want to be working all the time. 

And then also I really looked at where I was the most useful in last year’s launch. And what it boiled down to was that the people who signed up for the program last year were the people who I had the conversations with.

So when I was looking at where I could be most useful in the launch, it was in having conversations, getting on the phone with people, having Instagram DM conversations, text messaging with people, emailing with people. That was the thing that made last year’s launch so successful. I knew that I needed to commit all of my time and energy to those conversations this year. 

So I was looking at the launch, you know, and knew the copy part was a huge piece of the puzzle. And for us, since we do a really big prelaunch, we have a long runway and we do a prelaunch video series and prelaunch content. We launch an Ebook, we do Facebook ads, you know, we put a lot into this launch because it’s really successful for us. So the copy was a huge piece of the puzzle. So working with a copywriter was a no brainer this year.

And there were some other things we did behind the scenes. Our graphic designer came on a lot more than he normally works with us and designed all of our sales pages. All of our team came on and handled the customer service and scheduling of content so I could really stay in that role of CEO and launch manager. Also in just having conversations with people. 

So having someone else write the copy, it just took like this huge weight off my shoulders. Knowing that and even just you and I having conversations, even knowing that you and our ads manager were working together on crafting copy for Facebook ads and all of those things, it made it so much easier for me to focus on where I was the most useful in the launch.

Christine:  So you got to focus on the things that only you could do or that were the most important things for you to do.

I know you had mentioned that one of the things you loved about the copy was how the common theme and message of the launch ran all the way through from the runway and the prelaunch to the ads and the final sales and everything. Tell us a little bit more about what the copy was like and what your thoughts around that were.

Tyler:  Yeah, so you know, one of the things that I love that I get to do in my business is be really clear on the positioning and the messaging – the value of what I’m promoting. And the beauty of working with you, Christine, working with a copywriter was that I was able to kind of brain dump all of this and say – this is the through-line. This is the message I want to get across.

Our message this year was that online digital products like courses and memberships are the fastest and easiest way to grow your one-on-one service-based business. And that digital products can help you either replace your one-on-one service-based business income or supplement that income by launching a course or a membership site. 

Working with you, Christine, even coming up with the name for our video series – I didn’t even have a name – of you coming up with the name of “Digital Business Breakthrough” and then having that through-line from the very first time I said that – kind of thesis or I made that claim in the very first Facebook live.

So you were able to carry that out through all of the copy. You were able to reference back to that you were able to speak to our audience of service-based business owners. And, the beauty of working with you, too, was that you being a service-based business owner who also has a digital product, and then me being a digital product business owner who previously had a service-based business, we could even speak to our own personal pain points and navigating that. So that was able to come through really consistently and in a way that was really compelling for our community.

From the copy we had that was really personal and storytelling about my experience to the copy that was very promotional and that was actually selling the product to the copy that was a really elevating and highlighting pain points and doing a little bit of finger poking and wiggling to get people a little uncomfortable and recognizing the pain they need to be experiencing in their business, all the way to Facebook ads and email copy and sales page copy and our video sales letter script that you wrote, like all the way through the whole thing. That message was really consistent.

I had people by the end of that launch who were so on board with that initial statement, that initial claim, who were really ready for Business by Design because they knew that we were speaking to them. They understood the pain point that we were highlighting. They recognized that they were experiencing that. Then they also understood that this is fine. Business by Design was a great way to solve that pain. It all just worked so effortlessly. 

Another really important thing to me in copy and sales is that it’s really ethical, intentional and also really authentic and genuine. All the copy was all of those things. We weren’t trying to twist anyone’s arm, we weren’t trying to be fake about pain points or stories. It was all really genuine and honest throughout the entire experience. So that was a really big plus for me.

Christine:  That means a lot to me actually. That’s definitely a huge value of mine – being genuine in the online space. Thanks for saying that. Something that just came to mind. So a lot of business owners that I talk with, especially people who haven’t outsourced copy before, they worry about the copy not sounding like them or not really matching their voice. And I totally get that everyone’s really protective of their message. What would you say to that?

Tyler:  Yeah, I mean, I told you earlier – it sounded like something I would write if I were writing with a little bit more care for like spelling, grammar, and a consistent message. When I’m writing, I think a lot of times as the owner of the business, the entrepreneur or the CEO or

whatever, like sure it’s your brand, your brand voice, you are the brand, your personal brand, all of those things. But, it doesn’t hurt for that brand voice to evolve and to develop and maybe become a little bit more consistent or a little more fleshed out or for someone else to kind of take on that voice and work within that. 

I totally get that fear. I had that fear for the longest time because I was like, no one can speak like me – but that’s frankly not true.

Honestly, the way that we speak isn’t really that original to us I think.  I think working with the right copywriter, working with you, Christine, I just really saw how you were able to really quickly without any real deep dive into language – you just being a part of the community and kind of absorbing. And me sending you everything I’d ever written before, so you could read that and then adapt it – just works so effortlessly.

There was never a time where I read something and I was like, I would never say that. You know, I read things. I was like, oh yeah – I would say that, or oh yeah, that’s actually funnier than I would actually say. That’s more heartfelt or that’s actually more in line with the overall message of the launch, right? That’s actually in line with the positioning for this particular product. 

That was huge because I know it’s easy for me to get very distracted in my copy and to lose focus of what the purpose of the copy is and having you write the copy, it’s like the one job of the copy at the end of the day is to sell this program. So that comes through in all the copy that you wrote.

Christine: Awesome! OK to kind of wrap this up, if somebody was thinking about outsourcing copy for their launch, if they were thinking about working with me, what would you say to them?

Tyler:  Okay, yes. So the first thing is looking at the cost, right? So I think this was even for me as someone who runs a multiple six-figure business on track for seven figures this year. Even making the decision to invest was a little bit like, oh my God, I can’t believe I’m doing this. 

Working with a high-quality copywriter, professional launch strategist, conversion copywriter – it ain’t cheap. And it shouldn’t be because that investment generated nearly three-quarters of $1 million through this one launch. 

So look at the investment compared to the potential outcome of the launch. That’s the first thing. Because that fear of investing is continuing to hold you back in literally every area of your business. So think about that.

The second thing is you really need to have an honest conversation with yourself about where you can serve your business in the best possible way. Recognize that as the visionary in your business, as the CEO, there’s lots of stuff that you may have been good at at one point in time or that you learned to be good at or that you just did because you had to do it. But that doesn’t mean you have to keep being good at it. That doesn’t mean you were actually good at it to begin with. And that doesn’t mean that even if you are really great at it – like I think I write really well. I think I can write really great copy. I really understand how to convert people through the words I’m using when I write something. BUT Even if you’re great at something, that may not be the best use of your time in a launch.

And I think nine times out of 10 where most CEOs, visionaries, entrepreneurs can be of the most service to their business and their launch is through the conversations they’re having with people, not through the Facebook live scheduling and trying to write the sales page and design the blah blah blah. Like all these things are things that there are people who are much more qualified and who are actually a lot better at. They could be doing those things for you and you can just show up in the way that actually works best for you.

Christine:  Yes. And let’s not forget about all of the energy that it takes to put into a launch. So as much as you can remove from your plate, you’re allowing yourself that time and space to breath and be your best self when you are showing up on live video and on phone calls and things like that. Burnout is real. And being able to take care of yourself during a launch is also really important.

Tyler:  Yeah. And listen, I am in the midst of post-launch breakdown at the moment, and I have been for a couple of weeks since cart closed. Honestly, the biggest post-launch meltdown, sickness, body sabotaging me that I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. Which is really cool and really exciting. I had the most successful launch I’ve ever had. 

And I’ve been hermitting away for a couple of weeks since then and I cannot imagine – like I would literally be bedridden right now if I had tried to run this whole launch myself. Last year when we did the BBD launch, I did the entire launch by myself. Because I didn’t know how it was going to go. This year, I knew how much that took out of me last year and I was not going to do that again.

Christine, we’d be doing this video probably from a hospital bed if I had done the whole launch myself this year. So thank you honestly for taking so much of that pressure off of my shoulders and giving me the ability to show up in the way that’s best for me to show up in the launch and have as much of the energy and rest that I could get during that lunch. I wouldn’t have had that if I didn’t work with you. So thank you.

Christine:  You’re welcome. And thank you for trusting me with your message and bringing me on. It was so much fun to work with you! If people don’t already know you and want to connect with you, where can we find you? Where do you hang out online?

Tyler:  Yes. Well, you’ll be surprised to hear Instagram is the best place to find me @tylerjmccall over on The Gram. 

And listen, I know if you’re watching this video, you’re thinking about working with Christine and you’re probably wondering – is that really true? Is this all too good to be true? Because I do videos like this all the time for folks that I’ve had the opportunity to work with mentors, service providers, people I love and care about who do an incredible job. 

My invitation to you is what I always invite other people to when I do these case study or testimonial videos – send me a DM and then we’ll have a conversation in private about it. And I promise you that whatever I’m saying here is legit, it’s real. And I’ll back it up in the direct message to you – everything Christine is saying. 

Let’s connect on Instagram. Let me know what questions you have about working with Christine and let’s get you signed up so you can have some incredible copy for your own launch in your own business.

Christine:  Thank you so much for that Tyler! And for just being candid and sharing all of this with everyone. We really appreciate it. Thank you!

Tyler: You’re so welcome!