Most people believe you need tens of thousands of followers to have a successful launch. But here’s the truth: you don’t need a big audience to make a big impact.
In fact, one of my mastermind clients, Emma Gentle, filled a free challenge with more than 700 registrations and she did it without a huge social following, without fancy tech, and while juggling life as a mum of two.
So how did she do it? And more importantly, how can you replicate her results in your own business?
In this blog post, I’ll break down the exact lessons from Emma’s story and show you how to grow your signature offer even if you don’t yet have the “influencer” numbers you think you need.
Why Audience Size Doesn’t Equal Launch Success
We’ve all been conditioned to think bigger is better.
More followers. More email subscribers. More likes.
But when it comes to selling your offers, audience size is only one piece of the puzzle.
Here’s why:
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Engagement matters more than vanity metrics. 10,000 followers who scroll past your posts aren’t nearly as powerful as 500 who actually read, comment, and take action.
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Your message creates movement. When you hit on the right offer and communicate it clearly, people pay attention regardless of how big your audience is.
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Visibility is leveraged. Paid ads, collaborations, and podcasts can put your offer in front of the right people quickly, without needing to “grow slowly” on social media.
Emma’s story is the perfect example of this.
The Backstory: From Expressions of Interest to a 700-Person Challenge
Emma started her business after leaving her career as a teacher and school leader. Her mission was to bring emotional intelligence and nervous system regulation into schools, skills that support teachers, leaders, and ultimately students.
When we started working together, she had multiple offers running, but she was spread thin. Like many entrepreneurs, she was juggling memberships, workshops, consulting, and coaching. It was a lot.
Inside the Peace + Profit Mastermind, we created a simple blueprint:
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A hero signature offer (front-end program)
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A premium back-end offer (for deeper transformation)
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And a plan to nurture her audience consistently between launches
Once this was mapped out, Emma was able to test interest for a new leadership program, Lead with EQ.
She casually mentioned it on Instagram Stories, shared a couple of posts on LinkedIn, and waited to see who raised their hand.
The result? 80 people asked for more information before she’d even officially launched.
From there, she ran a free challenge connected to her other offer, The Emotionally Intelligent Educator, and attracted over 700 registrations.
No viral TikToks.
No 50,000-strong email list.
Just the right offer, at the right time, to the right people.
Step 1: Validate Before You Launch
One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs make is creating an entire program before they know if anyone wants it.
Emma did the opposite. She validated demand with what I call an ascertain launch.
This is where you:
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Share a simple expression-of-interest post, story or email and get your warmest clients to put their hand up
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Invite people to DM you or click a link if they want more details
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Straight up sell with a can’t-say-no offer to be part of your pilot round
It’s the fastest, simplest way to know if your idea has legs.
If you only take one thing away from this blog, let it be this: pre-sell your ideas before you spend weeks building them.
The only way to validate an offer is to get your audience to put their money where their mouths are.
Step 2: Grow Your List Strategically
When it came time to run her challenge, Emma leaned on two things:
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Facebook ads to bring in fresh leads
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Consistent nurturing of her existing audience through podcasts, emails, and social media
This meant she wasn’t relying solely on organic reach (which we all know can be patchy). Instead, she had a system that brought in new eyeballs while also keeping her current audience warm.
The surprising part?
Most of the people who joined her paid program after the challenge had only been on her list for 30–60 days.
That’s why list growth is so critical. Your next client is probably not the person who’s been lurking for three years — it’s the new person who just found you and thinks:
“Where have you been all my life?”
Step 3: Keep the Cool
Here’s a stat that will calm your nervous system during launch week:
The majority of sales happen at the very end of a launch.
In Emma’s case, most enrolments rolled in during the final 48 hours before cart close.
This is completely normal. People need time to:
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Ask their boss for approval
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Check their budget
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Sit with the decision
Instead of panicking mid-launch, trust the process. Keep showing up. And remember, nervous system regulation (the very thing Emma teaches!) is your best friend during this time.
Step 4: Nurture Between Launches
Too many business owners treat their audience like a tap they can turn on when they’re ready to sell.
But the truth is, your audience needs to hear from you regularly, not just when you want their credit card.
Emma did this beautifully. Through her podcast, workshops, and consistent posting, she’d already been teaching on emotional intelligence long before her challenge. So when it came time to register, her audience thought:
“Yes, I’ve been waiting for this.”
If you want a sustainable business, make audience nurturing part of your weekly routine, not just a pre-launch scramble.
Step 5: Simplify Your Offer Suite
Another reason Emma’s launch worked so well was because we simplified her business.
Instead of trying to sell five different things, she focused her energy on:
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A clear front-end program (The Emotionally Intelligent Educator)
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A clear back-end program (Lead with EQ for leaders)
This clarity made her marketing sharper and her client journey smoother.
If you feel like you’re always “busy” but not seeing results, check your offer suite.
Too many moving parts often equals diluted sales.
You can dive deeper into how to create one hero signature offer inside my free 3-day challenge, Sold Out Signature.
Mindset Shifts That Make Launches Easier
Emma’s story also highlights some powerful mindset shifts:
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Invest before you feel ready. She joined the mastermind while heavily pregnant. She knew waiting for the “perfect time” would mean waiting forever.
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Outsource early. With an OBM, VA, and nanny support, Emma freed up her brainspace for the work only she could do.
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Value your expertise. Moving into higher-ticket offers wasn’t just about money, it was about creating the capacity to serve deeply while honouring her season of life.
These mindset shifts are just as important as strategy. Because if you don’t believe in your offer, no strategy in the world will sell it for you.
What This Means for You
You don’t need:
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A giant social media following
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A perfectly polished funnel
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Or endless hours in the day
What you do need is:
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An offer that solves a real problem
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A way to validate demand before you launch
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A consistent list growth + nurture strategy
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The resilience to ride out the ups and downs of launching
Emma’s 700 registrations didn’t happen by accident.
They happened because she trusted the process, simplified her offers, and leaned into both strategy and support.
And you can do the same.
Ready to Create Your Own Sold Out Signature Offer?
If you’re tired of spinning your wheels with too many offers and too few sales… it’s time to focus on the one thing that will change everything: your signature program.
Come join me inside the Sold Out Signature Challenge where I’ll help you map out the exact offer and pricing structure that brings peace + profit to your business.
Save your seat – it’s totally free! Click here to save your free seat
Emma’s story proves what I tell my clients all the time: it’s not about how big your audience is, it’s about how well you serve them.
By validating demand, nurturing consistently, and simplifying your offers, you can create results that look “impossible” from the outside.
So don’t wait until you’ve hit 10,000 followers. Start now.
Your audience, no matter how small, is ready for your brilliance.
More about Emma Gentle:
Em is an Emotional Intelligence and Nervous System Coach for women, a mama of two, a partner, a mentor and an Education Consultant who helps women develop incredibly powerful EQ tools – so that – as they’re juggling all the balls in their lives, in parenting, in the household and professionally, they have the nervous system tools to thrive.
- Find Emma on Instagram Here
- Connect with Emma on LinkedIn
- Listen to the EMpowered Podcast on Spotify or Apple
Want to keep bingeing?
If you loved this story and want to go deeper, here are a few more reads:
- 4 biggest reasons why your online course launch failed — and how to fix them fast
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How to juggle being a CEO and a Mother — lessons from building a six-figure business in nap times
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My Step-by-Step Launch and Promotion Planning Process — the simple strategy that saves time, energy and money
