One of the most common things holding people back from launching their own online courses is the thought that they aren't ready until they have a countless raving audience already. But, do you really need a big audience to successfully launch a course?

I don't think so. In fact, I believe that to sell a course without a big audience is more possible than ever nowadays.

More and more people see the need for online education because it gives them the freedom to learn at their pace and time and wherever they are. Online courses make it possible for us to get access to everything we want to learn about right at the tip of our fingers. That's why this industry is booming in the past couple of years -- there are just countless opportunities that come with it both for the learner and the course creator.

On the course creator part, people are given the chance to share their knowledge (whether a hard-earned degree, experiential or self-learned) and create value out of it. The skills that our parents once learned for the reason that they need them to get a job can now provide you a chance to be your own boss and live your life with freedom and fulfillment.

So, what's stopping you from creating a course? The fact that you think you need a big audience first in order for you to successfully sell?

Well, think again.

How to Sell a Course Without a Big Audience

You might think that it's impossible to sell a course without a big audience because many of the course creators you know now have hundreds or thousands of fans and followers from across the world. You forget that they, too, started from the bottom, from literally zero. Z-E-R-O! The only difference from them and those that failed was that they kept going no matter what.

Generally, in order for you to successfully sell a course without a big audience, you only need to have CRYSTAL CLARITY on your niche, target audience, offer, and transformation. You need not worry about what platform to put your course into, how you'll draft your sales page copy, or how much you'll price your course. Focus on the foundations first!

This way, you can actually ensure that you're putting your energy on the right things that will give you the best ROI (return of investment) rather than exhausting yourself on the things that won't make much of a difference to your audience (which you might think is relatively small now).

girl talking in front of laptop -- how to sell a course without a big audience

Still have some mindset blocks about this? Here's a new perspective for you:

It is of your advantage that you have a smaller audience now because you can actually focus on engaging and creating 1-on-1 deeper relationships with them. This makes it easier for them to trust and resonate with you. As your audience grows, your time spent communicating with ALL of them 1:1 becomes less and less possible, hence, making it harder for you to convert them to paying clients or students.

Get it yet? You can either see the good or bad in your situation and at the end of the day, the choice is ultimately yours.

You might think that it's impossible to sell a course without a big audience because many of the course creators you know now have hundreds or thousands of fans and followers from across the world. You forget that they, too, started from the bottom, from literally zero.

7 Tips in Launching a Course if You Don't Have a Big Audience Yet

Your audience can barely care about the number of your traffic or your followers; they care more about solving their own problems or learning what they need to so they can have a better life! If you can emphasize just how much you can help them with whatever their concern is, they won't hesitate at all to invest in your course.

So, how do you really sell a course without a big audience? Here are some top tips you should take note of:

Get Clarity on Your Niche and Target Audience

Stop obsessing over the number of your audience and instead, focus on WHO they are. Are they your targeted audience? Do you know their struggles well enough for you to resonate and build a thriving relationship with them?

If you are not clear with your niche (what you do) and your target audience (who you help), then there are bigger chances that they, too, are confused with it. Hence, if they can't even tell how you can help them in your chosen niche, why would they think they should purchase your online course in the first place?

If you need help clarifying your niche and target audience, check out my course, Your Profitable Niche, which is designed to help you get crystal clarity on your niche, tribe, and purpose without the overwhelm. Perfect for the multi-passionates out there who's having so much trouble choosing a specific niche!

Have a Crystal Clear Offer

There are tons of online courses out there now so why would your ideal students choose yours? What's in it for them? What will they gain after taking your course?

Answer these questions and you'll find yourself getting clearer with your offer. Doing so will help you with the messaging and positioning of your course in the market. Doing so will also help your audience feel more urgency as to why they need to take your course now.

how to sell a course without a big audience

Focus on Creating a Signature High Ticket Course

There are two main factors here: signature AND high-ticket. Signature, meaning, the course you'll be known about with your signature framework incorporated in it. High-ticket, meaning, a relatively higher-priced course with more exclusivity and higher value.

Here's why you should focus on these two:

A signature course will help you position yourself as a credible expert on this topic, especially once you have your signature framework (your process on attacking the problem your course answers). This also adds to the scalability of your course because, with their signature frameworks, course creators have gone onto becoming Ted Talk speakers, international speakers, authors, and many more!
A high-ticket course will help you get more profit margin as opposed to the lower-ticket ones. Let me give you an example. Your income goal is $5k. With a smaller audience, it's easier to find at least 5 people (from your targeted audience) to invest on a, say, $1000 course than to convert 50 people to buy a $100 course. In converting 50 people, you might need ads or anything (which means your income minus more expenses) whereas finding 5 people would only require you to create 1:1 relationships with your potential students (which means fewer expenses or none at all).

Convert Best Through 1:1 Conversations

With a smaller audience, it might be tempting to spend WAY too much on ads just to get more people to be aware of your course. However, what you'll get out of those ads are cold leads that are way harder to convert than those warm leads or people who already know you or know how you can help them.

Ads are great but if you're just starting out, I believe 1:1 conversations is the way to go. These could be in various forms depending on what feels good and comfortable for you. For others, it might only be through text or DMs, but for others, it might be 1:1 calls.

Market the Transformation, Not the Product

To successfully sell a course without a big audience, you must emphasize the transformation and not the product. What I mean by this is, you shouldn't focus on telling people about the features of your online course (i.e. the number of modules and videos included, number of workbooks, etc). Instead, focus on what they will get out of it and how important it is for them to solve their problem or live a better life!

Eliminate Objections

No matter how big or small your audience, you'll face objections at some point. Those might be lack of money, lack of time, or any other mindset beliefs your audience has.

It is your job, as the course creator, to continually show your audience what they are missing out if they stay stuck in their objections. It is also your responsibility to know exactly how to handle these objections when they come knocking right up your door.

Position Yourself as a Leader

When you've positioned yourself as a leader in your niche by constantly giving value and consistently showing up for your audience, the size of your audience could be one of the last things you'll worry about. People naturally gravitate to the people who stand out by being authentic and lead by example. This should be one of your main goals if you want to have a successful launch for your online course.

Your audience can barely care about the number of your traffic or your followers; they care more about solving their own problems or learning what they need to so they can have a better life! If you can emphasize just how much you can help them with whatever their concern is, they won't hesitate at all to invest in your course.

Next Step

Now that you've got those tips ingrained in your mind, why not move forward to actually start scaling your income and impact by launching your own transformational online course?

If you're a coach, blogger, service provider or entrepreneur who's looking for ways to stop trading time for money and create more passive income, download my FREE Guide on How to Launch Your Course in 5 Days or Less. This contains my top tips and resources that will teach you how to turn your God-given expertise and skills into profitable and successful online courses.

There is absolutely no need to be overwhelmed and stress too much about launching your course. If and when you're ready to launch your course, sign up for the free guide below!

That said, I want to remind you again that you have the potential to help SO MANY people by launching your online courses even without a big audience just yet. Don't doubt yourself, love. The most important person to believe in your product is YOU.

Shine bright,

M.K.

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How to Sell Your Course Without a Big Audience

How to Sell a Course Without a Big Audience