The Launch Lounge Podcast

What if the secret to a business that lasts ten years isn't a better funnel — it's just being a human? 🚀

I've known Stephanie May Wilson for almost a decade, and watching her build her business has shaped how I think about marketing more than almost anything else.

She's an author, podcaster, and course creator who built her very first funnel before the word "funnel" even existed. How? She asked the most human question possible: what's the best way to actually serve these people?

That instinct once turned $7,000 in ad spend into a launch worth around $91,000 — the moment that changed how I saw what's possible in this whole industry.

In this episode, we get real about the stuff most course creators feel but rarely say out loud. Why launch week can quietly wreck your self-worth. Why ads still work (even for a $37 journal). And why Stephanie walked away from social media completely — and what she does instead.

If you're stuck in the feast-or-famine cycle and tired of dancing for the algorithm, consider this your permission slip. 💚

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why "being a human" is outperforming every funnel hack she's ever tried

• The hole-in-the-hose reframe that takes the heartbreak out of launches

• How she profitably sells a $37 journal with ads (breaking the "low-ticket" rule)

• The $5-a-day engagement ad strategy that grows an audience without social media

✨ Ready to stop being the bottleneck in your own growth? We're accepting 2 agency applications for course creators, coach or online expert doing 10K+ monthly. We're not just your ad team - we're growth partners who optimize your funnel, customer journey & scaling roadmap. Apply at thelaunchlounge.com/agency 💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Ready to stop hoping the Instagram algorithm shows you some mercy and start building a real list of buyers instead? 🚀

If you've been posting, promoting and wondering why your audience still isn't buying, this episode is your permission slip to step off the organic treadmill. As a course creator, coach or online expert, you sell transformation — and transformation requires trust. The problem? The organic algorithm on Facebook and Instagram isn't built for trust. It's built for seven-second entertainment.

That's why I'm walking you through why Meta ads are the most controllable, predictable way to build your email list — even if you have a tiny budget, no fancy gear, and zero viral moments to your name.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Discover why waiting to start running ads is the most expensive mistake course creators make

• Learn the exact daily ad budget I recommend for list building (plus the $1-a-day workaround)

• Master the low-budget engagement ad strategy that builds warm retargeting audiences on autopilot

• Uncover why the ads algorithm is far more stable than the organic one you're chasing

✨ Doors are OPEN for Ads Foundations! Get the step-by-step Meta ads training that fills your list with hot leads ready to buy - stop dancing for the algorithm and start selling to buyers. Enrollment closes soon at thelaunchlounge.com/join💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Tired of being told you need 500 fresh ad creatives every single day just to keep your Meta ads alive? 🚀

Here's what most ad advice gets wrong for course creators: it wasn't built for you. It was built for e-commerce — for selling lipsticks, hoodies, and fidget spinners on a tight seven-to-ten-day promo window. When coaches and course creators follow that advice, it quietly backfires.

You're not selling widgets. You're selling transformation. Your funnels are longer, your campaigns are mostly lead magnet and webinar ads, and you only need to reach the right person once to get that email address. In this episode I walk you through the creative strategy actually designed for online experts — including the "microsecond test," the placement "twin set" trick, and the anti-fiddling plan that makes Facebook and Instagram ads feel easy again. ☕️

🔥 In This Episode:

• Discover why e-commerce ad advice actively penalizes course creators who follow it

• Learn the "microsecond test" that tells you instantly if your creative will stop the right person

• Master the placement "twin set" method so your ads work in newsfeed, stories, and reels

• Build a simple three-to-five concept system you can set up once and leave alone for seven days

Ready to get off the content treadmill? Ads Foundations opens May 26th - the step-by-step Meta ads training that fills your list with hot leads ready to buy. Waitlisters get FREE personal ads & funnel audits from my team. Join at thelaunchlounge.com/waitlist 💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Ready to discover the boring little campaign setting that's quietly draining your meta ads budget before your best ads ever get a fair chance to work? 🚀

Most course creators blame high ad costs on weak creative or the wrong targeting. But there's a sneaky little setting sitting inside your campaign structure that can drain your budget fast — long before your best ads get a fair chance to fill your email list with ready-to-buy leads.

In this episode I'm finally explaining CBO vs ABO without the tech overwhelm, and showing you exactly when to let Meta drive your budget and when to take the wheel yourself. It's the strategy I'm teaching my students right now to scale online courses, coaching programs and memberships without wasting another dollar on low-quality leads.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The real difference between CBO and ABO (and why getting it wrong drains your budget fast)

• The "Idol auditions" framework for testing audiences before you commit serious ad spend

• The exact moment to switch from CBO to ABO so you stop paying for low-quality leads

• The 7-day "hands off" rule that finally lets your ads optimize properly

Ready to get off the content treadmill? Ads Foundations opens May 26th - the step-by-step Meta ads training that fills your list with hot leads ready to buy. Waitlisters get FREE personal ads & funnel audits from my team. Join at thelaunchlounge.com/waitlist 💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Ready to stop attracting freebie seekers and start filling your email list with leads who actually buy your online course? 🚀

The Meta ads game has shifted again — and if you're still optimising for cheap clicks and high lead volume, you're quietly filling your email list with people who'll never open your emails or buy your courses. Between Apple's privacy updates and Meta's brand-new Andromeda algorithm, the platform has gone almost blind to what happens once someone leaves the news feed and lands on your funnel.

In Part 1 of this Meta ads series, I'm pulling back the curtain on what I've been teaching my mentoring students and Scale with Ads beta testers about what's actually working right now — including the one performance-goal setting most course creators get wrong, and how to use Value Rules to claw back control inside Advantage Plus audiences. ✨

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why the Andromeda algorithm is quietly making your ads less effective

• The critical difference between "Maximise Number of Leads" and "Maximise Number of Conversion Leads"

• How to use Value Rules to control who Meta puts your ads in front of

• The 60-second email-list audit that reveals if you're attracting buyers or freebie seekers

Ready to get off the content treadmill? Ads Foundations opens May 26th - the step-by-step Meta ads training that fills your list with hot leads ready to buy. Waitlisters get FREE personal ads & funnel audits from my team. Join at thelaunchlounge.com/waitlist 💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

If you're using AI to write your emails, make your decisions, build your strategy and create your content, this episode might just save you two years and six figures. 🚀

There are four things AI absolutely cannot do for your course business — and most course creators, coaches and online experts are quietly outsourcing at least two of them right now without realising it. The result? Content that doesn't connect, decisions you can't defend, audiences drifting away, and a business that feels weirdly disconnected from the human running it.

After managing nearly $7 million in ad spend and building my own AI assistant (her name is Ada, she's trained on 10 years of my marketing brain, and yes — she's dressed like she walked off the set of Peaky Blinders), I'm walking you through the exact line between AI as leverage and AI as a slow leak in your business.

This is the final episode in The Good Advice Trap series, and honestly, AI is the perfect topic to end on.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The four things AI absolutely cannot do for your course business (and why outsourcing them is costing you sales)

• Why your audience can smell the AI sheen on your content — even when they can't name what's off

• How to use AI as your thinking partner without losing your CEO decision-making muscle

• The six things AI is genuinely brilliant at — and exactly how to use them without losing your voice

✨ Proven your course sells but scaling feels like a whole other job? Get a custom scaling roadmap in 30 days - no ongoing agency fees. Business audit + 2 sessions with me + guaranteed profit increase or your money back. Apply at https://thelaunchlounge.com/intensive💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Ever daydream about Stripe notifications rolling in while you sip a latte and never touch another funnel? 🚀

Here's the truth no one wants to say out loud: passive income is never actually passive. There's still a funnel to watch, numbers to track, messaging to fix, and platforms that keep shifting the goal posts on you.

In this episode of The Good Advice Trap series, I'm pulling back the curtain on why evergreen funnels aren't the magical freedom pill we've been sold, why every online course business needs recurring revenue (and why that's NOT the same thing as passive income), and the reframe that will change how you think about freedom in your business for good.

If you've been chasing passive income because you're exhausted and craving more time with your family, this one's the real talk you need.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why "one funnel is not a business" — and what to build instead

• The real difference between passive income, evergreen, and recurring revenue

• Why Pat Flynn is quietly dropping "passive" from his brand

• The reframe that turns your passive income fantasy into a real, sustainable plan

✨ Ready to scale beyond six figures without throwing more money at ads? The LaunchLounge 30 Days Intensive gives you deep data analysis, custom strategy, and clear roadmap - profits guaranteed or your money back. Apply at https://thelaunchlounge.com/intensive💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Your last launch underperformed — and there's a very good chance you've been fixing the wrong thing. 🚀

Misdiagnosing a launch is one of the most expensive mistakes a course creator can make. In this episode, I'm walking you through the four launch mistakes that cost online course creators the most — the big, sneaky ones that make everything feel harder than it should and leave you questioning your offer when the real problem is the strategy underneath.

We're talking about skipping your pre-launch runway, scrapping an offer that was actually closer to working than you think, overfeeding your webinar audience with so much teaching they leave feeling full (but never buy), and pouring Facebook and Instagram ad spend into a funnel that was never ready for it.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Discover why your audience wasn't mentally ready for your offer — and how to fix that before your next launch

• Learn how to tell if your offer is actually dead or just has a leak (they are very different problems)

• Understand why teaching everything in your webinar is the fastest way to kill your conversions

• Find out when your funnel is truly ready for paid traffic — and what "signs of life" really look like

✨ Proven your course sells but scaling feels like a whole other job? Get a custom scaling roadmap in 30 days - no ongoing agency fees. Business audit + 2 sessions with me + guaranteed profit increase or your money back. Apply at https://thelaunchlounge.com/intensive💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Your follower count is growing. Your revenue isn't. And Instagram couldn't care less. 🚀

Here's the uncomfortable truth most online marketing gurus won't tell you: followers on Instagram are borrowed. The algorithm decides every single day how many of your own audience actually sees what you post. For course creators and coaches trying to build a real business, that is a dangerously shaky foundation.

In Part 4 of The Good Advice Trap series, I'm showing you what to build instead — a deliberate content system with three clear jobs, a follower-to-subscriber path you actually own, and a welcome sequence that turns strangers into people who genuinely can't wait to hear from you. Plus, I'm answering a brilliant listener question about whether to ditch the algorithm grind and just run ads instead (spoiler: yes, and also no).

🔥 In This Episode:

• Discover why Instagram is optimizing for entertainment — and why that's working against your course business

• Learn the three-job content framework that stops you from asking one post to do everything at once

• Understand exactly when list-building ads should replace your top-of-funnel organic content

• Build a welcome sequence that makes new subscribers feel like they've finally found their people

✨ Ready to scale beyond six figures without throwing more money at ads? The LaunchLounge 30 Days Intensive gives you deep data analysis, custom strategy, and clear roadmap - profits guaranteed or your money back. Apply at https://thelaunchlounge.com/intensive💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.

Your content is getting love — but your business still isn't growing, and it's starting to feel personal. 🚀

Here's what nobody tells you: content is not a growth strategy. It's evidence. It proves you exist, you know your stuff, and you show up consistently. But a menu doesn't feed anyone — someone still has to order.

In this episode, I share a real email from Gareth, a listener who has generated £50K through word of mouth, built 15 podcast episodes, and shows up across multiple platforms. Engaged audience. Zero sales from any of it. His story reveals the single most common mistake coaches and course creators make — and the exact fix that doesn't involve creating more content.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Discover why consistent content without a conversion path is just a very pretty dead end

• Understand the difference between awareness content and conversion content — and why you probably only have one

• Work through three diagnostic questions to find out if your offer is actually ready to receive traffic

• Learn how to find the scalable offer hiding inside your existing bespoke, word-of-mouth work

✨ Want a freedom empire that grows while you enjoy Friday Pilates? The 30 Days Intensive analyzes your business, dives into your data, and creates your custom scaling plan - guaranteed results or refund. Apply at https://thelaunchlounge.com/intensive💫

💚 💚 💚

Salome

Get full show notes here

Follow The Launch Lounge on Instagram.