Why Having a Small Audience is Your Biggest Advantage (And How to Monetize It Like a Pro)

My four simple steps that helped me monetize a small audience and build a five figures online writing business in just 11 months on the side.

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Do you have a small audience?

Most people dream of building a massive audience before they start monetizing. They think success is reserved for those with thousands (or millions) of email subscribers, and engagement that makes the algorithm gods bow down in approval. They’re wrong.

If you have a small, but engaged audience, you’re sitting on a goldmine.

Here’s why:

• You don’t need a big audience to make money. You need the right audience. Monetizeable.

• A small audience means higher engagement which means more revenues.

• You can get to six figures faster by solving a painful problem for them.

So, do you have a small audience? Congrats.
Here’s 4 simple steps how to make it work for you.

Step 1: Ensure Your Audience is Monetizable

Not all audiences are created equal.

A bunch of freebie-seekers who love your “value-packed” content but never buy?

Useless.

A handful of engaged people with a real problem they’re desperate to solve?

Game-changer.

Ask yourself:

• Does my audience have a specific pain point?

• Are they willing (and able) to pay for a solution?

• Have they spent money on similar things before?

If the answer is yes, you’re already ahead of the game.

If the answer is no, start building monetizeable audience.

Three simple and easy steps:

• Define a paidnful problem you can easily solve.

• Give away a freebie solving that problem.

• Start creating more content around it.

Pro tip: A freebie is the best way to test an offer. If someone subscribes for a freebie, they’ll definitely consider paying for something more. Compile a pdf guide or an email course our of your best free content and see what ahppens.

This way you attract the right audience.

Step 2: Find Their Biggest Pain Point

You’re not selling a product. You’re selling a solution to a painful problem. A transformation.

People pay to stop hurting. To save time. To make more money.

Not for learnings. Not for information.

For solutions.

Figure out:

• What frustrates them daily?

• What are they Googling at 2 AM, hoping for an answer?

• What problem do they rant about but struggle to fix for a long time already?

Your offer should solve something so painful that buying from you feels like a relief.

Step 3: Create an Offer They’d Feel Stupid Saying No To

A great offer makes people think:
“This is exactly what I need. Who the hell wouldn’t buy this?”

Here’s the formula for an irresistible offer:

Write2Sell: Build Your Substack Paid Offer for High Conversion Rate [with Checklist]

Example:

• Weak Offer: “I’ll teach you how to grow on Substack.”

• Strong Offer: “Get 1,000 Substack subscribers in 30–90 days using my simple growth strategy — without wasting hours on content or engagement.”

The second one? You can feel the result. It’s tangible.

That’s what sells.

Step 4: Sell to Your Small Audience Like a Pro

You don’t need ads. You don’t need SEO. You need trust and conversion.

Here’s what works:

1. Talk about the pain point relentlessly. Show them you got this.

2. Share proof. Your results, client wins, or even your own journey.

3. Make them an offer. Not once. Multiple times.

You don’t need to sound salesy.

Simply talk about your solution without giving it away. Deliver value. Give them insights and inspiration. Save the “HOW” for the buyers. That’s how you sell without actually selling.

Simply add a link to your offer an the end of your post with a proper CTA.

Pro tip: Ask them to buy, don’t inform them you have an offer. I see tons of writers make that very same mistake: “Consider becoming a paying subscriber” Not working! No one will consider unless you tell them what they get, or even better: what they’ll miss if they don’t. Simply say: “Become a member now and get [desired outcome] in [time] without [high cost (time/effort/investment)].”

Small audiences convert better when you sell naturally instead of “hard selling.”

And if you think selling is pushy, remember: if your offer helps people, not selling is kinda selfish ;)

You’re not selling. You’re helping people.

Final Thought: Stop Waiting for “More” Before You Start

You don’t need more subscribers.
You don’t need more content.
You don’t need to “wait until you’re ready.”

Trust me, you’ll never be ready.

Just take the leap.

All you need:

• A small, monetizable audience

• A painful problem they want solved

• A clear offer that makes buying feel like common sense

That’s how people hit six figures without a massive audience. That’s how I built a 5 figure online business in 11 months starting from zero.

This is the exact method I used to achieve this:

I Became a Substack Bestseller in Just 3 Months

Your current audience is enough.

Now, go sell.

Recommend Unplugged by Yana G.Y.!

Your one-stop shop to grow your Substack in 2025: get access to all the proven strategies, tactics, tools, and challenges.

👉 And if you haven’t already, join the Unplugged community and Kickstart your Substack growth: