THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 222
You don’t need a bigger list.
You need a deeper one.
And that truth hit me in the most human, grounding, holy-shit-this-is-why-I-do-this way when I hosted a networking mixer last month = just for my email list.
No ads.
No big launch energy.
No growth objective.
Just… connection.
There were women who’d joined my world days earlier. Others who’d been opening my emails for two years. Different countries. Different businesses. Different stages.
But the energy in that Zoom room?
Instant connection.
Real conversation.
Momentum – without thousands of people.
And it reminded me of something we don’t hear enough in online business…
Reach without relationships means nothing.
Listen to this episode here:
TL:DR
What you’ll learn in this episode:
– Why list size doesn’t equal momentum
– The real difference between a “big” list and a “deep” one
– How trust and connection impact sales more than reach
– The three foundations of a deeper email list
– Simple ways to turn subscribers into a real community
Ready to grow without the hustle?
Here’s how I can help:
→ Book a Business Breakthrough – If you want a simple, sustainable plan for growing your business without relying on big sales weekends, book a $44 Business Breakthrough Audit. I’ll personally review your visibility, offer flow, and list strategy – and send you a 3-step action plan you can implement right away.
The lie we’ve all been sold: bigger is better
For years, I chased numbers.
I genuinely believed that once I hit a certain list size – 5k, 10k, that magic number – everything would click. More sales. More ease. More authority.
But I’ve seen behind the curtain.
I’ve watched business owners with massive lists struggle to convert a damn thing.
And I’ve watched women with 300 subscribers sell out offers effortlessly.
The difference isn’t volume.
It’s vibe.
It’s trust.
It’s connection.
Because if your list doesn’t know you…
If they don’t feel seen…
Adding more people just multiplies the disconnection.
What a “deeper list” actually looks like
That mixer? It wasn’t flashy.
About 50 people registered.
35 showed up live.
But something shifted within the first 90 seconds.
I asked everyone to drop two words in the chat describing how they felt.
Excited.
Grateful.
Tired but happy to be here.
Curious.
Inspired.
Women were showing up between school drop-offs, client calls, dinner prep – and they were present.
Then the walls came down.
The chat turned into:
– “Let’s collaborate.”
– “Email me.”
– “I need you on my podcast.”
I didn’t orchestrate it.
I didn’t force it.
I just held the space.
And by the end, the DMs rolled in:
“The energy was so genuine.”
“The conversations felt real.”
“You’ve built something really special here.”
That’s a deeper list.
Not giant.
Not loud.
But connected.
Why i’d rather build braver rooms than bigger ones
That experience reminded me why I don’t want massive, anonymous audiences.
I want braver rooms.
It’s why everything I host – from Empire Mixers to my Empire Expansion Events – is intentionally intimate, curated, and personal. Because when the right people are in the room, something f*cking powerful happens.
Women stop performing.
They stop posturing.
They start connecting.
And your email list can feel like that too.
It doesn’t have to be transactional.
It can be relational.
A place where people don’t just consume – they contribute.
How to build a deeper email list [without more hustle]
A deeper list is built on three things:
1. Personalisation
Write like you’re talking to one person.
Not an audience.
Not “hey everyone”.
One human – like a voice note to your biz bestie.
That’s where connection starts.
2. Consistency [Not Perfection]
Depth grows from rhythm – not rigid schedules.
You don’t need polished essays.
You don’t need perfect timing.
You just need presence.
A question.
A quick update.
Two honest lines.
Relationships don’t grow in silence.
3. Reciprocity
Invite replies.
Ask questions.
Celebrate your people.
A deeper list isn’t passive – it talks back.
And that’s when everything shifts.
What changes when you choose depth over width
You stop hustling for strangers.
You start nurturing people who already raised their hand.
Launches feel easier.
Sales feel cleaner.
Your inbox fills with real conversations, not just automation notifications.
And honestly?
Your business starts to feel good again.
No more performing.
No more chasing virality.
Just serving the humans who chose you.
Your next step
If you’re ready to turn your email list into a living, breathing community that actually converts – I can help.
My Business Breakthrough audit is your personalised roadmap to more sales, visibility, and momentum – without the hustle or burnout.
p.s If you’ve been telling yourself your list isn’t “big enough” to matter – this is your reminder that it already does. Depth builds trust. Trust builds conversations. And conversations always come before conversions.
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Full Transcript:
Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
You don’t need a bigger list. You need a deeper one. And I was reminded of that in the most beautiful human way when I hosted a networking mixer last month just for my email list. There were women who had joined my world just days earlier, and there were others that had been there for two years. Different countries, different businesses. But the energy in that room, Instant connection, real conversation, and proof that you don’t need thousands of people to build momentum. You just need the right ones.
Kylie Kelly [00:00:28]:
You.
Kylie Kelly [00:00:29]:
Now, if you want to join the Empire Mixer, the free networking event that I hosted, I’m going to host one again at the end of November. The link is in the show Notes to grab your spot.
Kylie Kelly [00:00:42]:
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 marketing strategist. I grew my email list from zero to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than two years.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:03]:
And the same is possible for you, too.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:05]:
Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let’s head into today’s episode.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:14]:
Hey. Hey. Welcome back to the Email Growth Show. I’m your host, Kylie Kelly, and today we’re talking about something I think most of us need to hear. Because everywhere online, we’re told to grow our audience, build our list, get more visibility and. And of course, reach matters. But over the last little while, I’ve realized something. Reach without relationships means nothing.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:36]:
You don’t need a bigger list. You need a deeper one. Let’s talk about the myth of bigger is better. For years, I’ve chased numbers. I thought if I could just hit 10,000 subscribers, I’d finally make it right. Like that magic number would somehow unlock everything. But I’ve seen behind the curtain. I’ve seen business owners with massive lists who can’t convert a damn thing.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:59]:
And I’ve seen women with lists of 300 who sell out every single offer with ease. The difference isn’t volume. It’s vibe. It’s trust. It’s connection. It’s clarity. If your email list does not know you, if they don’t feel seen by you, adding more people just multiplies the disconnection. So let me share a story with you to highlight this a little.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:23]:
So in my manifesting generator nature, I decided to host a networking mixer pretty last minute. And there was nothing fancy. There was no strategy. There was no, like, growth objective. It was literally just a chance to bring my email community together. The women that were already in my world and holy shit, it was beautiful. Some of them had literally joined my email list that week. Others had been reading my emails for years.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:49]:
But when we all came together on Zoom, it literally felt like a reunion. Right from the very start, the chat was lighting up. I asked them to put in two words that described how they were feeling. And people were excited. Excited and grateful, tired but happy to be here. Curious and inspired. There were people juggling school drop off, feeding kids, showing up between client calls. And yet they were there.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:14]:
They were fully present. Then 90 seconds into the introductions, something clicked. You could literally feel the energy shift. Everyone relaxed into the space and were fully excited to connect. It wasn’t forced, it wasn’t awkward, it was real. Women started connecting instantly. There was, let’s collabor great, email me, I love your idea. I need you on my podcast.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:38]:
It was this wild web of genuine collaboration unfolding live in the chat. And I had nothing to do with it. I had literally just held space in the room. Right by the end of the mix up, people were DMing me. Things like, oh my gosh, Kylie. The energy was so genuine, the conversations were so real. You’ve built something really special here. And this is what I mean when I say a deeper list.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:02]:
This wasn’t a giant audience. I had something like 50 people register and 35 of them made it live. Right? It was a curated, connected community. They were all there because they all knew me. They’re a part of my community. But we were all women in business, wanting to connect, wanting to be seen, wanting to network, wanting to build relationships, wanting to actually have meaningful conversations. And this single event last month reminded me so clearly why I do what I do. And it really reignited something for me because I’ve realized over the last few months that I don’t want to build bigger rooms, I want to build braver ones.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:43]:
This is why the events that I host from the Empire mixes the networking events to my Empire expansion events, my two day events where we actually work out a plan to scale your business without social media. They’re intentionally intimate, they’re curated, they’re personal. Because when you hand pick the right people, something fucking powerful happens. The energy changes, the walls come down, women stop performing and they just start connecting. And here’s the thing, your email list, it can feel like that too. It doesn’t have to be transactional, it can be relational. It can be the place where real conversations happen, where people don’t just consume, they contribute. Where your subscribers stop being numbers in your kit or your flodesk account and they start feeling like names that belong in a community.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:36]:
So what does that look like in practice? A deeper email list is built on three things. It’s built on personalization, it’s built on consistency, and it’s built on reciprocity. So let’s talk about personalization. I want you to write like you’re talking to one person, not a whole audience, right? Make every email sound like a voice note that you would send to your biz bestie. We need to keep things personal. Then consistency comes in. And now this doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. You don’t have to send an email at 10am on a Tuesday.
Kylie Kelly [00:06:09]:
Like, I don’t do that. But depth does grow from rhythm. They need to see you in their inbox with a consistency. Rhythm. Not perfection, not pressure, but just showing up with presence, right? Staying top of mind with them. I talk about this a lot on the podcast because a lot of times we think that consistency does mean that. Same time, same day every week with this format, blah, blah, blah. It doesn’t have to be that.
Kylie Kelly [00:06:36]:
It can simply be a question. It can simply be two lines of an update. It doesn’t need to be this massive formal thing. But you are building a relationship, and we have to show up if we want that relationship to go anywhere. We need them to get to know us. So consistency and then the last one, Reciprocity. Invite replies, ask questions, celebrate your subscribers. Let them see that you actually care about them.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:02]:
Because the truth is a deeper list. It’s not a passive one.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:06]:
It’s a.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:06]:
It’s alive. It talks back, it collaborates, it connects. And that’s when everything shifts. Your engagement, your sales, your referrals, your opportunities, they all start flowing because your people feel seen. So what happens when you focus on depth, when you focus on going deep over wide, right? Everything changes. You stop hustling for new leads. You start nurturing the ones you already have. Your launches feel easier because your people already trust you.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:38]:
Your collaborations expand because everyone knows what you stand for. And your inbox fills with actual connection, not just automation. Notifications, right? Probably most importantly, above all of that, though, is that your business starts to feel good again, right? You stop building to impress strangers or trying to go viral or caring what other people think. You start serving the humans who have already raised their hand and said, yes, I want to hear from you. I want to be in your world. So here is my invitation for you this week. Don’t Just chase new subscribers. Deepen with the ones you already have.
Kylie Kelly [00:08:18]:
Send one personal email that invites real conversation. Maybe host a mini call, a connection chat, a casual coffee hang. Like, it doesn’t have to be complex. Reach out to a few subscribers and simply say, hey, I see you. Tell me what you’re up to. This is the thing that I think a lot of us miss. But business growth, it doesn’t just come from metrics. It comes from moments like those.
Kylie Kelly [00:08:40]:
It comes from conversations. It comes from connection. So as we wrap this episode up, I want to leave you with this. Like the mixer that I host at the Empire Mixer. I’m doing it again next month. The link is in the show notes if you want to come. But it reminded me you don’t need a bigger audience to make a big impact. You just need to care a little harder about the people that are already here.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:02]:
So if you’ve been sitting here thinking that your list isn’t big enough to matter, I hope this little pep talk reminds you that it already does. Depth builds trust. Trust builds conversations. Conversations come before conversions, and connection like this can build your online empire. Now, if you’re ready to deepen your connection with your audience, to finally turn your list into a living, breathing community that converts, I obviously would love to help Inside a Business Breakthrough. I can personally review your visibility, your offers, and your email strategy and send you a private video with your three key shifts to create more connection and more conversion. Right now, no funnels, just three moves to make. You can book your business breakthrough from the link in the show notes.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:49]:
At the moment, they’re $44, which is insane, but the price will be going up next year. So please make sure you book one if you’ve been looking at it before then. All right, my loves, thank you for being a part of my deeper list. Truly, whether you’ve been here listening to me for two years or two weeks, I am so grateful for you. And the women in that room of Mixer reminded me that this is what it’s all about. It’s not about the vanity metrics, the downloads, the list size. It’s about the vibe. It’s about the connection.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:18]:
It’s about the relationships. And if that’s the kind of business that you are building to, you are in the right place. Until next time, my loves, keep building your empire. One genuine connection at a time. I love you so much and I will see you next week. Bye for now. Thank you so much for tuning into.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:35]:
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.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:50]:
Show and share it with others. Your feedback helps me reach more female.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:54]:
Entrepreneurs just like you who are ready.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:56]:
To say goodbye to social media and.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:57]:
Leverage email marketing to grow their business and make a bigger impact.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:01]:
Thank you so much for listening and.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:03]:
I’ll see you in the next episode.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:05]:
Sample.
Kylie Kelly [00:12:49]:
Now let’s talk about this.
