Joana Dockute is a business development specialist and a business coach with a background in running her own direct sales and marketing company for 7 years. When it comes to helping her clients go to the next level Joana perfectly understands their problems, as she had to go through most business development stages herself before she became a business coach.
Do you think you can’t sell online because your audience is too small? You might’ve been crushing it offline, talking to a few people, and getting great results, but suddenly that confidence disappears when it comes to selling online. You get that uncomfortable feeling and start believing that your audience isn’t big enough, or that they just don’t get you. Sound familiar? It’s likely you’ve picked up some limiting beliefs about selling online, influenced by industry myths that keep you stuck, doubting your ability to fulfill your full potential. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
From networking pro to struggling online seller
Maybe you were great at picking up clients at networking events, sealing deals face-to-face, and building a strong reputation within your network. Talking to potential clients in person, you could quickly pinpoint their problems and offer solutions that win them over. And of course, former clients would always refer new business your way. That worked brilliantly—until you took your business online, and things started to feel different. However, client acquisition can feel like a different game without a strong online presence. But the good news? It’s possible.
How I went from local to global: My personal journey
I get this on a deep level because it was me for over six years as a business growth coach, helping local business owners with zero online presence. I never needed to build my brand online because everyone in my network already knew me. I knew exactly which events to attend, and I was never short on clients. That all changed when I moved to the beautiful coastal village of Howth in North Dublin. I wanted a lifestyle shift—to be closer to the sea and enjoy cliff walks every day. So, when I moved here, I had two options: either start from scratch at local networking events or build my brand online to attract clients nationwide and globally. I chose the latter, and while the beginning wasn’t smooth, it opened doors for me to work with clients in the USA, Canada, and the UK.
The truth is, if you can ignore some of the biggest industry myths, selling to a small audience is completely possible. Here are the top three myths you need to let go of.
1. You need a big audience to sell
The biggest mistake people make when selling online is believing they need a huge following before they can sell their high-ticket offers. Building an audience quickly requires a very different strategy from converting clients, especially if you’re selling offers priced at $2,000 to $5,000. A rapid audience-building strategy focuses on viral content, which can get you a scattered, less-targeted audience. But going viral doesn’t mean you’ll convert those viewers into clients.\
Example: I had a client who built her following to 4,000 by talking about trending issues in her industry. But when it came to converting her audience, she couldn’t do it. She sent them offers, but no one was buying. She assumed that the bigger the audience, the better her chances of success. But if you build your audience that way, your audience doesn’t really know what you’re about. After working together, she realized she was focusing on the wrong thing. Her audience didn’t understand her core offer because her messaging wasn’t consistent. Most of her content was focused on going viral, rather than taking her prospects on a journey to solve their problems.
2. Copy what the big names are doing
It’s tempting to look at influencers with 10,000 or 100,000 followers and think, "I’ll just do what they do." But that’s a trap. They’re at a completely different stage in their online journey. Their content strategy is tailored to their audience and their position in the market. They’ve already built trust and credibility, while your prospects don’t know you yet. Copying their approach won’t work for you, and worse, it’ll leave you feeling inauthentic and anxious.
Example: I had another client who tried copying his competition’s offerings, replicating the same videos and posts. But the results? Crickets. He wasn’t getting any engagement, and his audience started comparing prices because they thought they were seeing a similar service packaged slightly differently. After we changed his approach to focus on answering his audience’s questions in his authentic voice and designed an offer based on his particular services, he started seeing real interaction and inquiries from potential clients. You can’t copy someone else’s content strategy and expect it to work for your unique audience.
3. It’ll take ages to get clients
Ever heard the saying, “If you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right”? If you expect getting clients online to take forever, it probably will. But here’s the truth: I got my first quality lead with just 40 subscribers on YouTube. They didn’t ask, “How much do you charge?” They sent a detailed message about the challenges they were facing and asked if I had a coaching slot available. And I’m still getting leads from videos with as few as 15 views.
Example: I just witnessed someone make $12k by landing six clients from an email list of fewer than 30 people. This person didn’t wait until they had hundreds or thousands of subscribers. Instead, they worked out the right messaging for the biggest problem their clients had. Of course, this strategy involved nurturing their prospects with valuable content (videos), taking them through the buyer’s journey. It wasn’t about the list size—it was about having the right content strategy.
If you need help designing your marketing strategy, check out my article here.
Final thoughts: Small audience, big results
All three of these industry myths—“you need a big audience,” “copy the big guys,” and “it’ll take forever to get clients”—are just that: myths. Plenty of business owners are selling to a small audience every day and getting real results. It all comes down to having the right strategy and message tailored to your ideal client at the right time. And while it might take time to work that out, once you do, you’ll see that selling to a small audience is more than possible—it’s powerful.
Remember, you didn’t need to talk to thousands of people offline to land clients, so why expect that online? You’re not new to this—you’re an expert, and you’ve helped plenty of people before. Focus on delivering the right message, not on chasing a huge follower count.
Joana Dockute, Business Development Specialist/ Business Coach
Joana Dockute is a business development specialist and a business coach with a background in running her own direct sales and marketing company for 7 years. When it comes to helping her clients go to the next level Joana perfectly understands their problems, as she had to go through most business development stages herself before she became a business coach. She loves helping business owners 'find their voice', design, and implement customized business systems and processes. Each business is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all. Joana's mission is to help entrepreneurs succeed without having 'to sell their soul'. Meaning, if the strategy doesn't align with your values you shouldn't even consider it.
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