Do you want to launch an online course but not sure if you should because you have a small email list? As a launch strategist, I get this question a lot.

Many online business experts say you need at least 1,000 subscribers before you launch.

But growing your email list takes time. If you wait to launch an online course until you get 1,000 subscribers, you could be waiting months — or even a year or more.

You don’t need 1,000 email subscribers to launch. You need one potential buyer.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t worry about growing your email list. You totally should, because:

• More subscribers = more sales

• A bigger email segment gives more reliable data to draw conclusions from

• Launches are a lot of work, so you want to make sure there’s a payoff

4 Reasons to Launch — Even to a Small Email List

Reason 1: Launching to a small email list is great practice

There are a lot of moving parts in a launch and it’s not uncommon for something to go wrong. Some launch errors are beyond our control – like your server going down. And some are preventable, like sending an email out with a broken link.

(Side note: if you use Kit – formerly known as ConvertKit – as your email service provider and upgrade to the Creator Pro plan, you can change your email links even after the email gets sent. Straight wizardry!)

Either way, if something is going to go wrong, it’s better for it to be with a smaller group than a larger one. That way you can create systems and backup plans to accommodate potential points of failure and be better prepared for your next launch to a bigger audience.

Launching sooner than later will help you iron out the kinks so that your launches go more smoothly in the future.

Reason 2: Launching gets your name out in a bigger way

A launch helps you establish your expertise, gets you in front of more people in a bigger way, and can lead to other opportunities in your business.

In fact, launches are great for growing your email list as new people hear about you and sign up for your challenge, webinar, or other launch event.

And even though you know you have a small email list, other people don’t know that, so launch as if you had 5,000 people on your list, even if you only have 500!

Because those 500 people don’t care how big your email list is. They only care whether or not you can help them.

So put yourself out there. Let more people see you as the expert you are, and you’ll attract even more people in the process.

Reason 3: Launches (even small ones) are still money in the bank

And to a business owner, money in the bank is more important than data.

I know several people who had successful launches with fewer than 1,000 email subscribers.

In fact, I had a successful launch with just 278 subscribers. I converted 3% of my email list, which is a tad higher than average. Sure, it wasn’t life-changing revenue, but it was money in the bank, and that’s a lot more than I could say if I’d waited until I hit 1,000 subscribers.

And that revenue helped me invest back into my business in ways that helped me grow my email list. That was huge for me.

Reason 4: A small email list is often more engaged

Finally, there’s something to be said for a smaller audience. When you’re just starting out, or have a small email list, you probably know a lot of their names.

Maybe they’ve replied to one or more of your emails and since you’re not yet overwhelmed with the customer service side of managing a big list, you’ve been able to reply back and engage in a better way. 

This kind of connection can be incredibly powerful, and quality can often outperform quantity. In fact, on many of the launches I’ve worked on… the bigger the audience, the lower the conversion rate. Sure, the sales numbers overall might be higher, but a lot of times, a larger audience is less engaged. 

So one thing I always say is to make your perceived ‘weakness’ your superpower. With a small email list, you have more capacity to love them up even bigger.

Send personal messages or even short videos. Connect with them on a deeper level. Find out what they really want and need so you can deliver a better, more intimate experience which makes them feel more special and your offer feels more exclusive. 

In other words…

Don’t let a small email list be your excuse not to launch.

You don’t have to go balls to the wall and have a huge launch with a webinar or challenge and all the other bells and whistles. You can launch with just emails if you want — even with a small email list.

How to Make Your Launch More Profitable (Even With a Small Email List)

So, you have a small email list and you still want to launch, it’s important to make it as profitable as possible, and since time is money, anywhere you can save time during your launch will put more of the money back in your pocket.

Not to mention that when you save time in one area, it frees up time in another area – like reaching out to potential customers directly, having sales calls, etc. 

We have an offer called The Launch Library All Access, which is an all-access pass to our complete library of launch templates to help you save dozens of hours on your launch prep. 

Get email templates, webinar templates, templates for recording your launch numbers and insights, sales page templates, social media templates… everything you need to successfully launch your offer. 

It even includes a project management template that gives you every step of a launch from A to Z so you never have to wonder what comes next or worry that you forgot something. 

So if you’re launching with a small email list, keep the profits in your pocket and check out The Launch Library All Access today!

*Note: For the sake of this post, we’ll consider a ‘small email list’ as one that is smaller than 1,000 since 1,000 subscribers is the benchmark that many people think you must have before you launch. There is no shame in a smaller audience. The only shame would be to make them wait to buy an offer that could help them until you got 1,000 subscribers. 😉