THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 206
If you’re tired of shouting into the void and wondering why your list growth has stalled, this episode is for you.
Today we’re talking about that infuriating moment in business:
When you’re doing all the things…
Posting. Collaborating. Podcasting. Swapping freebies.
And still?
Crickets.
Your list isn’t growing. Your audience feels stale. And you’re wondering, is it me?
Let’s break this down and I’ll walk you through exactly what to look at, shift, or stop doing if you’re stuck in an audience growth plateau and thought “WTF do I focus on next?”
Listen to this episode here:
TL:DR
What you’ll learn in this episode:
– Why your audience hasn’t disappeared – but how you reach them has to evolve
– 3 reasons your old strategies (reels, bundles, FB groups) aren’t converting anymore
– 5 strategic shifts to refresh your visibility & attract the right people
– Why sometimes the smartest move is nurture, not more noise
Need help getting unstuck?
If this hit home and you’re ready to actually grow with intention (not more noise), here’s how I can help:
→ Book a Business Breakthrough – I’ll audit your visibility, list growth, and offer flow and give you a 3-step action plan to get unstuck fast.
→ Join The Email Growth Club – where we build simple, strategic list growth and nurture plans that actually work (and feel good doing it).
Why your list growth stalled (& why it’s not about you)
Before you scrap your offers or spiral into “maybe I’m just not cut out for this” territory – pause.
Your worth isn’t the problem. And it’s probably not your offer either.
The real culprits?
1. YOUR LEAD MAGNET ISN’T PULLING IT’S WEIGHT
If your freebie is too broad, too fluffy, or completely disconnected from what you sell, people will scroll right past it.
2. YOU’RE BLENDING IN
If your messaging sounds like every other “10 tips to grow your biz” post, you’re getting filtered out before you’re even noticed.
Your point of view matters more than ever.
3. YOU’RE BUSY, NOT STRATEGIC
Showing up everywhere ≠ growing your audience.
Are you actually visible in the right rooms with the right people?
Or just posting because Instagram told you to be consistent?
Why old strategies don’t work anymore
The online business world has changed – fast. What worked in 2022?
Pretty much dead in the water now.
- Instagram reach is buried unless you’re dancing, trending, or paying.
- Facebook groups are ghost towns unless hyper-niched.
- SEO is slow as hell without fresh content and strong backlinks.
And the biggest shift?
WE’RE IN A TRUST RECESSION
People are skeptical, burnt out, and can smell a copy-paste tactic from a mile away.
They don’t want polished. They want personal.
Algorithms aren’t here to help you grow anymore, they’re here to make you pay.
If you’re still relying on old methods, no wonder you feel stuck.
Your audience hasn’t disappeared, but how you reach them has to change.
5 moves to get unstuck (& grow with intention)
Here’s exactly what I tell my clients inside The Email Growth Club and Headliner Mastermind when they’re stuck in an audience growth plateau:
✅ 1. REFRESH YOUR LEAD MAGNET POSITIONING
Don’t create a new one, reposition your best-performing freebie.
Ask yourself:
- Does it solve a problem your ideal client knows she has?
- Does it naturally lead to your paid offer?
- Would you download it yourself if you saw it?
Reverse-engineer it from your paid offer if needed.
✅ 2. DO ONE HIGH QUALITY COLLABORATION
Not five bundles. Not a random summit.
One curated, strategic collab that borrows someone else’s trust – think:
- A bundle with aligned experts
- A co-hosted workshop
- A podcast swap
✅ 3. TAP INTO SMALLER, MORE ALIGNED AUDIENCES
Forget going viral.
Focus on the right rooms:
- Pitch 3 niche podcasts your ideal client actually listens to
- Swap freebies or inbox features with biz friends
- Personally share your freebie with warm DMs (no sleaze)
✅ 4. AUDIT THE HELL OUT OF YOUR CALL TO ACTION
Go look at your podcast outro, email signature, blog sidebar, IG bio.
Do you have ONE clear CTA, or are you throwing 7 links at people hoping something sticks?
Clarity converts.
Confused people don’t click.
✅ 5. DO REAL MARKET RESEARCH
Stop guessing.
Ask your people.
- Run a quick survey
- DM past clients
- Ask what problem tipped them into saying yes
The gold you get from their words will tighten your messaging instantly.
The bottom line…
Audience growth isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing the right things for the right people in the right way.
And sometimes?
The strategy isn’t to add more leads – it’s to nurture the ones already circling.
If you’re in a season of rest or recalibration, own that.
Deepen relationships with the people already in your world.
When you’re ready to push visibility again, it’ll land stronger.
Need help getting unstuck?
If this hit home and you’re ready to actually grow with intention (not more noise), here’s how I can help:
🎯 Book a $44 Business Breakthrough Session – I’ll audit your visibility, list growth, and offer flow and give you a 3-step action plan to get unstuck fast.
💌 Join The Email Growth Club – where we build simple, strategic list growth and nurture plans that actually work (and feel good doing it).
Your audience hasn’t disappeared, babe.
It’s just time to meet them where they are.
Let’s make it happen.
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Save it for later:
Full Transcript:
Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
If you’ve been using the same strategies that worked back when reels were new, bundles were rare, and ChatGPT didn’t exist, my love, it’s time for a fucking reset. Your audience hasn’t disappeared, but how you reach them needs to evolve. It has to change. Are you a female business owner frustrated with battling the algorithm and looking for growth strategies that don’t involve awkwardly pointing or dancing online or throwing cash at paid ads? Welcome to the Email Growth Show. I’m your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility and email email marketing strategist. I grew my email list from zero to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than two years, and the same is possible for you, too. Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let’s head into today’s episode. Hey hey.
Kylie Kelly [00:00:50]:
Welcome back to the Email Growth Show. I’m Kylie Kelly, visibility coach, email strategist, and your biz bestie who’s not afraid to call bullshit on strategies that just don’t work anymore. If you’re tired of shouting into the void and wondering why your list growth has stall, this episode is for you. Because today we’re talking about that infuriating moment in business when you’re doing all the things you’re posting, collaborating, podcasting, swapping, freebies, and still crickets. Your list isn’t growing, your audience feels stale, and you’re wondering, is it me? Let’s break this down and I’ll walk through exactly what I look at, shift or stop doing. If you’re stuck in an audience growth plateau, let’s dive into this. So firstly, let’s talk about why list growth stalls and it’s not because you suck. Before you scrap your offer or spiral into maybe I’m just not cut out for this, I want you to pause.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:41]:
This isn’t about your worth, and it’s probably not about your offer either. But it is time to zoom out and take a look at what’s actually going on. I want you to check in with these things. Number one, Is your lead magnet pulling its weight? Are you offering something your audience actually wants, or are you offering something that you think they should want? If it is too broad, too fluffy, or has no clear connection to what you sell, people are going to scroll on by. Number two, are you blending in? If your content, your offers, or your messaging sounds like everyone else’s, you’re going to get filtered out before you’re even noticed. This is where your point of view matters more than anything. Number three, I want to ask you, are you being Strategic showing up everywhere does not mean your audience is going to grow. That’s just digital noise.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:30]:
And we know we don’t need more of that, right? So I want you to ask yourself, are you being seen by the right people, the ones who actually need what you have to offer? Are you guesting on podcasts that attract your ideal client, or are you just saying yes to every opportunity? Are you choosing bundles or collaborations that feel aligned? Or are you jumping into whatever lands in your inbox? Is your content leading somewhere or are you just posting because someone on Instagram told you to be consistent? I also want to ask you, are you relying on strategies that worked two years ago? Now, I want you to understand that you don’t need to do more, but you need to do what works intentionally. When you’re visible in the right rooms with the right people saying the right things, that’s when audience growth becomes inevitable. If you’re just showing up to show up, it’s no wonder you’re feeling stuck. Let’s shift it from busy visibility to strategic visibility so it actually leads somewhere. Because let’s be real, the online business world moves fast and what worked like a charm in 2022 might be fucking dead in the water in 2025. So let’s talk about these things, right? So your Instagram reach, unless you’re dancing, trending or paying, you’re probably getting buried. Facebook groups, unless they’re super active and hyper niched, they’ve become digital ghost towns. SEO, sure.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:46]:
But unless you’ve got fresh content, strong backlinks and a serious patience, you won’t see results anytime soon. Here’s the real reason that these strategies aren’t converting like they used to. Trust is lower than ever. We’re in what some are calling a trust recession. People are skeptical, over marketed to and tight tired are being sold to by strangers who don’t give a shit about them. If you want to listen to my spicy take on this, you can go Back to episode 187. I’ll put the link in the show notes where I talked about the number one strategy that is still working, which is trust. I covered a lot about the trust recession and how we can actually deepen trust with our audience without hustling more, without fakery or without AI generated shit.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:26]:
Right? So that’s episode 187. The other thing. Audiences are more discerning. They’re smarter. They’ve been burnt before. They can smell a template or a tactic a fucking mileage away and they don’t want polished anymore. They want personal, which I love. I think this is a great thing.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:42]:
The other reason that these strategies aren’t converting like they used to is platforms have changed. Algorithms aren’t designed to help you grow anymore. They’re designed to make you pay. You have to pay to play organic. Reach has plummeted. So they want you to invest in paid ads, right? That is all they are after. And then the last thing there is old methods lack connection. So if you’re just shouting into the void with no follow up, no nurture, no clear pathway from freebie to offer, of course it’s not converting if you’ve been using the same strategies that worked back when reels were new, bundles were rare, and chat GBT didn’t exist.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:14]:
My love, it’s time for a reset. Your audience hasn’t disappeared, but how you reach them needs to evolve. It has to change. So let’s go over some questions to get you unstuck. Here is what I ask my clients inside my membership, the email growth club or even my mastermind. Every single time they tell me, Kylie, my audience just isn’t growing anymore. So question number one. Who the hell are you actually trying to attract? Not demographics, not vague female entrepreneur, not like a lady that shops at target that has 2.5 kids.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:42]:
I mean, who is she? What is keeping her up at night? What is she frustrated by that no one else is talking about? And what does she actually fucking want? Not just what she thinks she needs. If your content, your freebie and your offers are solving the wrong problem, or worse, trying to speak to everyone, no wonder no one’s paying attention. Your ideal client needs to feel like you’re inside her head, not giving her a brochure, giving her a lifeline. Now question number two. Where is she already paying attention? And be honest. Like, are you meeting her there or are you just screaming into your Instagram stories, hoping she shows up? Is she listening to podcasts while doing school pickup? Is she obsessively checking her inbox during nap time? Is she hanging out in a specific Facebook group or opening certain newsletters religiously? Stop building a soapbox and expecting her to fucking find it. Start walking into her world and meeting her where she already is. If you want to grow your audience, get in front of somebody else’s guest, teach, swap freebies.
Kylie Kelly [00:06:35]:
Get into her inbox through someone she already trusts. That is the fastest way to grow with intention. And then question number three. Do your lead magnets and messaging actually match? Let’s get spicy. If your freebie is another generic 10 tips to do X, Y and z checklist. Babe, she’s not fucking downloading it. She’s drowning in PDFs that she’s never even read. I want you to ask yourself, does your freebie solve a real problem she knows she has? That part is important.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:01]:
Is it so juicy that she would share it with her biz bestie? Does it naturally lead to the thing that you actually sell? Because if you’re just giving away something that has nothing to do with your offer, congratulations, you’ve just built a list of people who’ll never fucking buy anything from you and your copy. It needs more confidence. No more apologetic. If you want to speak like you know what the hell you’re fucking doing, because I can guarantee that you do. Oh, spicy. I told you. Now let’s talk strategy. So after you’ve asked yourself those questions, I want to go through some strategies that I recommend instead.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:33]:
So if your audience isn’t growing, this is what I suggest. Number one, refresh your lead magnet positioning. Don’t create a new one yet. Instead I want to take your current best performing free resource and ask, is it solving a problem my ideal client knows she has? Does it naturally lead into your signature offer like super clearly? And would you download this if you saw it in the wild? If not, it’s time to reposition it. Tweak the headline, shift the format, make it more specific and if you’re stuck, reverse engineer it. Start with the offer. Ask yourself what does somebody need to believe, understand or experience before they’re ready to buy this. Then turn that into your freebie.
Kylie Kelly [00:08:13]:
That is how you build a list of buyers, not just browsers. And then number two, do one high quality collaboration. Not five fucking bundles, not a summit and a giveaway in a random guest expert spot. One strategic collaboration that gets you in front of warm aligned already trusting you audience. A curated bundle with experts who serve the same client as you without competing. A co hosted workshop with someone whose audience needs what you do. A podcast swap where both of you send it to your lists and highlighted on socials. Stop trying to grow on your own.
Kylie Kelly [00:08:45]:
Get borrowed trust on purpose. The third thing that I want you to do is tap into smaller, more targeted visibility actions. This is not about going viral. This is about being in the right rooms, even if they’re small as fuck. Right? So I want you to pitch three niche podcasts where your dream client already listens with intent. Maybe you do two inbox swaps, freebie swaps with biz friends whose people need what you have to offer. Maybe you share your lead magnet with a warm dm. No sleaze, just, hey, I thought this might support you.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:12]:
This kind of micro visibility, it compounds over time. It brings in qualified people, the ones who are already looking for somebody like you. Number four, I want you to audit the hell out of your call to action. So let’s play a game. I want you right now. Press pause on this episode. Go and look at your podcast outro, your email signature, your blog sidebar, the link in your bio, literally anywhere that you show up online. And then I want you to answer honestly.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:37]:
Is there one clear action that you’re asking people to take or are you throwing seven fucking links at them and hoping for the best? Let me be clear. Clarity converts. Simplify your funnel. Point to one thing at a time and make sure it’s something that gets them closer to working with you. Confused people don’t click, they scroll away. Right? We have enough in our world that confuses us, that overwhelms us, that makes us feel like it’s all too much. Don’t be that person online for them. Clarity converts.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:07]:
And then number five, lastly, do some market research. Here is your reminder. If your messaging feels off, it probably is. You’re likely too close to your brilliance. You’re using expert language, too much AI, not your ideal client’s late night Google search language, right? So fix it at the source. Go out there and fucking ask your people. Literally run a survey, open a few DMs, start a conversation in your stories. Jump on zoom and talk to a human.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:32]:
Ask your past clients why they said yes. What tipped the scale? What words would they use to describe the problem before you solved it? The amount of gold you will get from these conversations is going to change absolutely everything for you. So let’s recap these five strategies that I recommend if your audience isn’t growing. 1. Refresh your lead magnet positioning. Don’t create a new one. Refresh the positioning. Number two, do one high quality collaboration.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:57]:
Not five bundles, not a summit and a giveaway. One strategic collaboration that gets you in front of warm aligned leads. Number three, tap into smaller, more targeted visibility. This is not about going viral. This is about being in the right rooms, even if they feel small as hell. Right? Number four, audit the hell out of your call to action. Make sure you have one clear action that you’re asking people to take wherever you’re showing up online. And then number five, do some market research.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:23]:
Go and talk to people, your ideal clients, so that you can tweak that messaging. The bottom line Here, audience growth isn’t about doing more, but it is about doing the right things for the right people in the right way. And sometime the strategy isn’t add more leads, it’s get sharper with the ones that are already circling. Also, can I say this? Sometimes your audience isn’t growing because you’re in a nurture season, not a growth one. That’s okay too. Make sure you’re going inward and see what kind of season you are in at the moment. Don’t try and force visibility if you yourself are craving rest. Instead, focus on deepening relationships with the people already in your world.
Kylie Kelly [00:12:00]:
When the season shifts, that’s when you can go out there and be more public and do another visibility push that it’s going to land so much stronger. So let me leave you with this. If your audience isn’t growing right now, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It might just mean that you’re being invited to pause, pivot or simplify. Because your audience isn’t built by hustling harder, it’s built by getting clearer, bolder and more strategic with how you show up and what you say. And of course, if you need support figuring this out, come and join me inside the Email Growth Club where we build strategies that actually feel good. Or jump into one of my business breakthrough audits 44 and I’ll help you get clear on your best next step and audit the shit out of everything you’ve got going online. Links to both are in the show notes.
Kylie Kelly [00:12:44]:
Thank you so much for being here. I hope you got some value out of this episode and I can’t wait to share the guest expert that we have coming to your earbuds next week, Nadine. She is sharing all about how to write your best copy and finally build genuine connections with your audience. Trust me, it’s going to be one that you don’t want to miss. I will see you then. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Email Growth Show. I hope you found valuable insights into the next steps you can take to grow your email list and boost your business without relying on social media or paid ads. If you enjoy this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others.
Kylie Kelly [00:13:22]:
Your feedback helps me reach more female entrepreneurs just like you who are ready to say goodbye to social media and leverage email marketing to to grow their business and make a bigger impact. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you in the next episode.
