Hi Reader,

What if I told you that you don't need a huge email list to have a successful course launch?

One of my DPSA members, Kim, had just reached 100 email subscribers at the end of June.

A couple of months later, she launched her first signature course…

…and enrolled 3 students at $497 each.

That's $1,491 from her very first course launch!

But actually, the money isn't the most interesting part of this story.

What I really love about Kim's story is how she got there.

Because this wasn't a case of one lucky viral post suddenly making her business successful.

It was a case of Kim putting the right foundations in place…

…so that she was ready when all her hard work started paying off.

Here’s what Kim did…

1. She started with strong SEO + email marketing

Kim's story actually began long before her launch...

She started by building strong SEO foundations, using what she learned inside my SEO Jumpstart course, and she created really good lead magnets to convert that traffic into subscribers, based on what she learned in the DPSA.

And that was how she got her first 100 email subscribers.

As Kim explains:

“People were finding my website through search and signing up for lead magnets I had already created.”

I LOVE this.

She was getting found in search.

She was converting borrowed traffic into owned traffic.

She was warming her subscribers up with strong nurture emails.

In other words…

2. She had the foundations in place BEFORE her traffic took off

When Kim's social media suddenly started sending her lots more of the RIGHT people…

…she didn't have to scramble around trying to work out what to do with them.

She already had:

• Multiple lead magnets to turn them into email subscribers
• An email sequence to convert them
• Products to sell to them

As Kim put it:

“I already had multiple lead magnets in place. So when my social reach suddenly increased, I didn't have to scramble to create something new.”

Exactly.

Don't wait until you have traffic to build the things that turn traffic into subscribers and buyers.

Build the foundations now.

So that, when the traffic comes, you're ready.

3. She didn't just get MORE traffic – she got the RIGHT traffic

Then something really interesting happened.

Social media started showing Kim's content to more dental hygienists – exactly the people she wanted to reach.

One post in particular took off…

…and because that post directed people straight to one of Kim’s existing lead magnets, her email list grew rapidly!

Here’s what happened:

• June 30th: 100 subscribers
• July 27th: 233 subscribers
• July 29th: 303 subscribers
• September 20th: 545 subscribers

That's a pretty impressive jump!

But Kim was very clear that social media wasn't doing all the work:

“And it hasn’t all come from social. SEO has continued bringing people to my website and lead magnets too. It’s really been the combination of the two.”

And this is such an important point.

You don't necessarily need to find one magical traffic source that suddenly solves everything.

Usually it's about getting several things working together:

• SEO brings people in
• Social brings people in
• Your lead magnet converts them all into subscribers
• Email marketing builds the relationship so they are ready to buy
• Your products give them somewhere to go next

Which brings me to…

4. She paid attention to what her audience was telling her

Kim didn't have to guess whether her audience wanted her new course.

As Kim says:

“My audience kept telling me!”

Her course helps dental hygienists with the physical demands of their career, using strength, mobility and recovery.

And when she started talking about the course on social media, she asked people to comment STRONGER if they wanted more information.

The result?

72 comments across two posts.

But it wasn't just likes and comments.

She was getting DMs with specific questions about the course.

People were asking what was included.

They were asking how it worked.

They were showing genuine interest.

And Kim recognised the difference:

“They were actually considering joining.”

This is market research in action.

You don't always need to send out a complicated survey.

Sometimes you just need to pay attention:

• What are people commenting on?
• What are they asking you?
• What are they clicking?
• What are they replying to?
• What do they keep telling you they want?

Kim's course idea wasn't plucked out of thin air.

It grew out of the content she'd already been creating – and the response she was getting from her audience.

5. She made it easier to turn social media engagement into subscribers

There's another very practical lesson here.

Once Kim's social posts started taking off, she was getting so many comments asking for links that she couldn't keep up.

Her words:

“I couldn't keep manually sending links to everyone who commented. 😂”

So she finally signed up for Manychat.

Now someone could comment the relevant keyword and automatically receive the lead magnet.

So much easier.

And much more scalable.

6. She didn't panic when her launch didn't immediately produce sales

This bit REALLY impressed me.

Kim launched her course to just over 500 subscribers.

Her open rates were around 36–38%.

Her click rates were around 1.1–1.9%.

She was getting interest on social media.

She was getting DMs.

People were asking questions.

But…

…she didn't make her first sale until the second-to-last day of the launch.

Ouch.

I think a lot of people would have panicked at that point.

But Kim didn't.

She says:

“I definitely had moments when I wondered if I should change something, but I decided not to change the price or start rewriting the sales page because people were clearly interested and asking questions.”

Instead, she did something much smarter.

She used the questions people were asking to create Instagram Stories that addressed their actual concerns.

And then…

3 people bought.

At $497 each.

And she's already got people joining the waitlist for the next round!

7. She built the pieces into a system

And this, ultimately, is what I think is the biggest lesson from Kim's story.

There wasn't one magic thing.

As Kim put it:

“So rather than any one thing being responsible for the growth, it was SEO, social media, lead magnets, Manychat, and email finally working together.”

And that’s the key…

SEO brought in the first 100 subscribers.

Social media then dramatically increased her reach.

Her existing lead magnets gave those new people somewhere useful to go.

Manychat made it easier to move people from social media onto her email list.

Her nurture emails continued the relationship.

And her audience feedback helped her shape and validate her signature course.

In fact, two of her three course buyers had joined her email list back in August and had been interacting with her through DMs before buying.

And her third buyer?

She came directly from Facebook and wasn't even on the email list.

As Kim says:

“There definitely wasn't one single path to the sale.”

Exactly.

You don't need one perfect, linear funnel.

You need a collection of strategic pieces that work together.

And that's actually what DPSA is all about.

As Kim says:

“DPSA taught me how the different pieces of a digital product business work together: lead magnets, email list building, welcome sequences, funnels, product validation, and creating products that make sense for the audience you've built.”

8. She didn't wait until she had a bigger audience

If you have a small audience, this is the bit I really want you to take away from Kim's story:

Don't wait until you have a big audience to start building your business.

Kim's email list had only just reached 100 people at the end of June.

But she had all the pieces in place…

• SEO
• Lead magnets
• Email sequence
• Ebook
• Social media

…so that when the traffic arrived, she could take full advantage of it.

As Kim puts it:

“I think it's also important to have the foundation in place before you necessarily see the results from it.”

I couldn't agree more.

You might not have huge traffic numbers yet

You might still have a small email list

You might not have loads of followers on Instagram

But you CAN start putting the pieces in place.

Because you never know when the traffic is going to arrive.

And when it does…

...you want to be ready!

9. She proved people will pay premium prices for her product

Now, I can imagine some of you reading this thinking…

“But Eb… 3 students? Is that really that impressive?”

Yes! It absolutely is.

Remember, this isn't an established product that Kim has launched ten times to a huge audience.

This isn't some "easy yes" $10 product.

This is her brand new signature course... which she launched to a relatively small audience.

And she has just proved that people will pay $497 for it.

That is HUGE!

Because now Kim doesn't have to wonder whether anyone will actually buy the course.

She knows the answer is yes.

So now Kim can focus on giving her new students an amazing experience, helping them get really great results, collecting testimonials and success stories, and learning what worked particularly well – and what she might want to improve before the next round.

Meanwhile, people are already joining her waitlist for the next launch.

So she won't be starting from scratch next time.

She'll have a proven product, social proof, a waitlist and a bigger email list.

And that's where this gets really interesting.

Let's imagine that Kim grows her email list to 1,000 people before her next launch.

If 2% of those 1,000 subscribers bought her $497 course, that's:

20 sales × $497 = $9,940

Now, obviously, there's no guarantee she'll get a 2% conversion rate. She might get more. She might get less.

The point is that the numbers get even more exciting as both sides of the equation grow.

A bigger list means more potential buyers.

And a proven product, backed by real student results and testimonials, means a bigger % of that list will buy.

That's how small launches become bigger launches.

And that's how you build a successful digital product business.

Want to see what Kim has built?

Kim's business is called Fun Fit Solutions, where she helps dental hygienists stay strong, mobile and healthy despite the physical demands of their career.

You can grab her freebie, 5 Strength Training Moves to Survive Dental Hygiene Life, here: Get Kim's free strength training guide​

You can also check out her ebook, Mind Your Muscles: Movement & Mindset for Dental Hygienists: See Kim's ebook​

And if you're a dental hygienist and want to hear when enrolment opens again for The Balanced Hygienist, you can join the waitlist here: Join The Balanced Hygienist waitlist​

Or go and say hi to Kim on Instagram: Follow Kim on Instagram​

Massive congratulations, Kim! ❤️

Want to get YOUR foundations ready?

If you're reading this thinking, “I really want to get the right foundations in place so I'll be ready when all my hard work starts paying off and things start to take off…”

​Head here to join Kim and all the other DPSAers inside The Digital Product Success Academy >>>​

Happy foundation-building!

Eb 😊
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​Eb Gargano
​eb@productiveblogging.com​
​www.productiveblogging.com​

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P.S. Want to put strong foundations in place so you can be ready to capitalize from it when all your hard work suddenly starts paying off? Head here to join the DPSA >>>​
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