1. Find your customers’ pain points and talk to them about them.

You may be thinking: But this isn’t a marketing strategy!

Just bear with me for a moment.

When I was preparing to launch my latest online course, the first thing I did was research and map out the journey my customers were likely to take

to reach the point where buying my course would be the simplest and best solution to the problem they were facing.

For example, before promoting my course on how to validate a business idea, I messaged, called, and interviewed many of my closest followers.

to talk with them about the month-long course and hear their thoughts and what they hoped a course on the subject would include.

We also focused on what they had struggled with in the past when testing whether their ideas were viable, and looked at the barriers that stop most people from even

getting started. We explored possible ways to help them succeed with their side hustles from start to finish.

In the end, we all agreed that we wanted a simple, step-by-step plan for going from a rough idea to earning the first profit from the first customer in a reasonable amount of time.

This research and analysis therefore became my marketing plan.

Involving these followers in shaping the final version of my course had amazing results and an unexpected impact on its marketing. It not only made them participants

This not only helped them shape what the course would cover, but also made them feel that I cared and strengthened our relationship—especially since, while preparing

the course, I was personally helping them validate their ideas. This gave me the opportunity to use their successes as real-world examples in

my course, making it more credible and engaging.

Because I promised that my course would address the biggest challenges faced by these followers, whose feedback I had gathered earlier, more than 75% of them became

customers and bought the course after it launched.

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2. Build trust with your audience.

Before I could expect my followers to buy my course, I first needed to earn their trust.

كيف فعلت ذلك؟

After speaking with a group of followers who had shared their feedback, it was clear they wanted to see results that backed up what I was saying—and for me to prove that their feedback

أثمرت قيمتها.

So I ran a live, 30-day challenge on my blog to test the viability of a business idea, sharing the challenge publicly as it unfolded. I asked my readers to

tell me what kind of business they wanted me to use as the example for my challenge, and I posted weekly progress updates, including what was

working and what wasn’t. I also shared traffic, email subscriber, and sales figures with them.

The result was 23,000 words documenting the process of testing an idea’s viability. That post became one of the most viewed, shared, and commented-on posts on my blog

launch—it came close to the top of the rankings Search engines among approaches used to validate a business idea.

None of the promotional plans currently available could have had the impact this did, nor could they have convinced my readers simply to trust me and my promises

—no matter how compelling—if I hadn’t shown them a real-life example of myself following my own advice and getting effective results.

In addition to building trust with my audience, I also benefited from the challenge: it gave my readers a wealth of valuable information and gave me the opportunity

to put theoretical plans into practice.

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3. Partner with other influencers and business owners in similar fields.

Which bloggers, influencers, entrepreneurs, or others target a similar customer base?

To launch my course on testing whether an idea is viable, I partnered with Crew, which reaches a wider audience of aspiring entrepreneurs

and has strong relationships with its followers, including startup experts and young professionals and creatives who are tired

of their routine jobs.

Most importantly, their followers aren’t just looking for content about building businesses—they’re also interested in putting what they learn into practice. These are exactly the people

I target them. Whether they’ve failed in the past or achieved a reasonable degree of success, what mattered was that I wanted to promote my course to people with a history of

taking action, whether they succeeded or not.

Partnerships can open up many unexpected and enticing opportunities, including:

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- Exposure to the people on your partner’s email list, as well as their followers on Social media as well as their existing customers

- Borrowing credibility and trust by partnering with someone more established than you

-Amplify the impact of your promotional efforts

-Leverage your partner’s expertise and skills, and get their help when you need it

-Create opportunities to partner with more celebrities and entrepreneurs

Once you partner with a person or company that excels in its field to help promote your next product, you’ll soon find it easier to team up with

other high-profile partners.

It’s like a snowball effect.

Looking back at my own model, two partnerships with Crowe opened the door for me to connect with bestselling authors like Pat Flynn,

Chris Guillebeau, and Nir Eyal, among others, and bring them in as bonuses for my course. In turn, this introduced my course to their audiences.

When you think about collaborating with new partners, consider what’s in it for them. You can incentivize them to partner with you

by paying them to promote your product. That’s the best way to make sure you attract them.

If you can’t do that, another option is to offer access to a new audience they’d like to reach. You can also explore

other ways to use your skills and abilities to benefit your partner—and give them a compelling reason to join you.

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Marketing isn’t just about plans—it’s about communicating more.

No matter how great your product or service is, if you can’t build a strong, genuine relationship with your audience in your community, you’ll have a hard time

turning your audience into paying customers.

Do these three things to build those relationships before you start bringing your idea to life:

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- Talk to your audience, learn about their pain points, and develop your product with them

- Build your audience’s trust by following your own advice and using your product before they do—and show them the results

- Partner with influencers and entrepreneurs who can help you develop and grow

Once your audience becomes customers, deliver on the promises you made—and go beyond them. Show them you care, and give them a reason to come back.

Build strong, mutually beneficial relationships with your audience, and you’ll earn a loyal customer base that’s devoted to you and your products,

and stays with you for years to come.