Announce to everyone on my waiting list
Most of what you tell a waiting list happens in one moment: the day the thing they were waiting for actually opens. Everything before that is just keeping them warm; everything after is you pressing a button.
The two halves
While they're waiting, this journey does the quiet, automatic part. The moment someone confirms they've joined the list — see Tell people when my next course opens for how the list itself gets built — they get a short, warm "you're on the list" email. If you want it, an optional behind-the-scenes taste follows about a week later — a peek at what's coming, nothing more. Then bernard goes quiet. There's no second reminder, no drip of updates, nothing until you act.
When you're ready, you press "Open the doors" on Your People. Bernard shows you exactly how many people are waiting right now and asks you to confirm that number — "Announce to 40 people — this sends now." Confirm, and the announcement you approved when you set the journey up goes out immediately to everyone still on the list. An optional last-call reminder can follow a few days later for anyone who hasn't acted since.
Everyone waiting, on purpose
The announcement reaches everyone still waiting at that moment — including people who joined the list weeks before you ever switched this journey on. Every other journey on your site only emails people from the point it's activated forward; this one is the deliberate exception, because a waiting list only means something if the announcement actually reaches everyone who asked to hear it, not just the newest arrivals.
What it won't do
There's no relaunch in this first version. Once you've opened the doors, that journey has done its one job and the button isn't offered again — if you're running a second round of the same course, ask Bernard to set up a fresh waiting list and a fresh journey for it. And like every journey, it stops early for anyone who unsubscribes, and it never sends more than four emails to one person — see How do automatic emails work? for the rules every journey shares, and Who actually receives my automatic emails? for exactly who counts as "still waiting."
The prompt
“Set up the 'launch to a waiting list' journey for [what people are waiting for — e.g. 'the next glazing course']. Keep the confirmation email and the announcement; [include / skip] the behind-the-scenes taste and the last-call reminder.”
The [bracketed] parts are yours to fill in. First time? Connect bernard to your AI over MCP — a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI — then paste the prompt above.
Questions people ask
- What does this journey actually send?
- Up to four emails: a warm 'you're on the list' the moment someone confirms, an optional behind-the-scenes taste about a week later, then nothing at all until you open the doors — that's the announcement, sent to everyone still waiting — and an optional last-call reminder a few days after that.
- Does the announcement need my approval before it sends?
- Yes, twice over. Bernard drafts the announcement and you approve the words when you set the journey up, same as any journey. Then, when you actually press 'Open the doors', bernard shows you the live count — 'Announce to 40 people — this sends now' — and asks you to confirm that exact number before anything goes. Nothing sends on a schedule; it only sends when you tell it the doors are open.
- Who gets the announcement?
- Everyone still on that waiting list at the moment you press the button — including people who joined before you ever set this journey up. That's different from every other journey, which only ever emails people from the moment it's switched on. Here it's deliberate: the whole point of a waiting list is to tell everyone on it when the thing they're waiting for is ready, not just the ones who joined most recently.
- Can I open the doors more than once?
- Not yet. One launch per journey — once you've announced, that journey is done, and pressing the button again isn't offered. If you're opening a second round for the same course or product, ask Bernard to set up a fresh waiting list and journey for it.
- What if I open the doors before anyone's confirmed?
- Bernard will show you a count of zero and let you decide — there's nothing stopping an announcement to an empty list, but you'll see the number before you confirm, so you won't do it by accident.
- What if I've also got a 'Welcome new subscribers' journey switched on?
- Then a waitlist joiner who confirms gets two hellos back to back — this journey's own 'you're on the list' plus the separate welcome email. Both are true and neither is wrong, but it can read as one greeting too many. Worth deciding which one you want doing the welcoming, and pausing the other.