How I’d Build My Email List From Scratch in 2025 - Without Social Media or Ads [Ep 198]

This week I’m walking you through exactly how I’d grow my email list from scratch in 2025 - no social media, no paid ads, no burnout.

This is a step-by-step breakdown of what I’d ignore completely, what I’d focus on instead and the exact moves I’d make to build a powerful, engaged list from zero.

Spoiler: it’s not about doing more - it’s about doing what actually works.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why most “visibility hacks” are just busywork (and what I’d stop doing today)
• The 3 strategic moves I’d focus on if I were starting from scratch
• How to position a lead magnet that actually leads to paid offers
• Why bundles, podcast guesting, and freebie swaps still work in 2025
• The email approach I’d use to build connection from Day 1
• How to build momentum without burning out

If you’ve been wondering how to grow without going viral, this is the strategy roadmap you’ve been craving!

Mentioned in the Episode:

Ep 182 – “The #1 Thing Your Lead Magnet Needs To Do (But Most Don’t)”
Ep 113 – “Harnessing the Power of Bundles - Why They Accelerate Your Email List Growth
Ep 151 – “How to Host Your Own Bundle”

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Transcript

Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
So if I was starting again, this is what I would not waste my time with. I would not waste my time posting daily on Instagram hoping that the algorithm loves me.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:09]:
I've tried it. You've likely tried it.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:12]:
I would stop pretending that it works for audience growth. It's never worked for me, and from my experience, it's always been visibility for the sake of being seen. It hasn't helped me with connection or conversion.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:27]:
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.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:46]:
2 years, and the same is possible for you too.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:50]:
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 [00:00:58]:
Hey, hey, welcome back to the Email Growth Show. I'm your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility coach, audience growth strategist, and your biz bestie who's here to lovingly remind you that you don't have to do this whole business thing the way everyone else is doing it. If the online space has been feeling a little loud lately, I want you to know that you are not alone. If you have caught yourself thinking, should I be doing more, posting more, showing up on every single platform, I wanna remind you, my love, take a deep breath because today's episode is for the woman who's craving simplicity, the business owner who wants to grow her audience and income without burning herself out on the content hamster wheel. Today we are gonna pretend it's day one. You've got no email list, no followers, no ad budget, but you do have a big vision and a deep desire to build a business that's visible, profitable, and actually feels like you. So let's talk about how I'd grow an email list from scratch in 2025 without without social paid ads and without losing your goddamn mind. Now firstly, I wanna share with you what I'd ignore completely.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:03]:
We've gotta start here because honestly, there is so much noise online with people sharing their opinion on what they think you should do. So if I was starting again, this is what I would not waste my time with. I would not waste my time posting daily on Instagram hoping that the algorithm loves me.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:20]:
I've tried it. You've likely tried it.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:23]:
I would stop pretending that it works for audience growth. It's never worked for me, and from my experience, it's always has been visibility for the sake of being seen. It hasn't helped me with connection or conversion. When I made the move to put up a 9Grid and move away from Instagram and grow my audience in other ways, I looked at the data first and I was getting like 2 clicks a month from my Instagram profile to my website. Like it was not doing anything for my business and yet it was zapping so much of my time, which is why I do not post on Instagram. So I would not do that. I would stop spending months building a generic freebie that doesn't convert. If it's another 10 tips to blah, blah, blah, no one's gonna want it.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:01]:
And honestly, neither would you. I would also stop creating endless content without a clear call to action. Content that doesn't lead somewhere is just effort with no reward. We are not here for burnout marketing. And lastly, I would not run paid ads before anything has been validated. Don't spend $500 to test a funnel that you've never even tried organically. Ads amplify what's already working. They do not create magic.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:27]:
So again, that is something that I wouldn't do, right? And neither should you. So here is what I would focus on instead. Here's what I would do. And honestly, this is what I still do to this day. I would create one killer lead magnet, not two, not three, not four, just one, one killer lead magnet. Make it really good. Some examples I thought I would share with you. A quiz like, what visibility strategy matches your business personality? Spoiler, that's my quiz in progress at the moment, and so far everyone that.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:56]:
I've shared it with loves it.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:58]:
Or a case study that tells the truth about your offer and results, like my Inside the Inbox case study that's turned subscribers into mastermind clients. I will share the link to that case study in the show notes below. Sign up for it, have a look at it, analyze it, see what I've done, and please create something similar for your own business. Or perhaps your freebie is a mini audio training that they can binge on a walk. Think private podcast format, super intimate, and high converting. The takeaway here with these examples, don't just teach, position your offer. Your lead magnet, your free resource, should naturally lead into your paid work. They should naturally start that customer journey at a place where you're actually giving them a transformation, and then you are leading them to where you want them to go.

Kylie Kelly [00:04:39]:
If you want more information on creating this lead magnet, if you go back to episode 182, it was titled The Number One Thing Your Lead Magnet Needs to Do But Most Don't. Listen to that episode, it's only 9 and a half minutes, magnets, but it is going to help you create the most incredible irresistible lead magnet that actually helps your business and brings clients into your world, not just freebie seekers, right? So that is episode 182. I'll make sure to link that in the show notes for you as well. Now, the second thing I would do if I was starting from scratch in 2025, if I didn't have an audience, after I created that irresistible free resource, that irresistible lead magnet, I would say yes to 2 to 3 high-quality visibility opportunities. If you want to grow your list without social media, this is where the magic happens. So what's working now? Bundles. These are still the number one fastest way to grow your email list in 2025, especially in a B2B audience. Now I've grown my list from zero to almost 7,000 subscribers, and bundles played a massive part of that.

Kylie Kelly [00:05:43]:
Yes, I was hosting my own, but I was also participating in them to start with. So the main thing with this is that you choose bundles that are aligned, that are high quality, that are curated, that are all of your ideal audience. If you do not know where to find these bundles, come and join my membership, the Email Growth Club. It's just $77 a month, and I share a collaboration database that is curated full of these kinds of collaborations. High quality, curated, worth your time to be a part of. If you want to dive into this deeper, there's a couple other episodes where I've dived deep into the bundle strategy. So if we go back into the archives, episode 113, back in 2023, I hosted a mini series all about bundles. And that particular episode was on how to harness the power of bundles and why they accelerate your email list growth.

Kylie Kelly [00:06:33]:
There's also another episode that I would highly recommend you listen to if you're thinking about hosting your own bundle, and that's episode 151. I dived again really deep into how to host your own bundle. 12 minutes of your life that you will be glad you listened to that episode. So again, I'll put those links in the show notes, but that was episode 113 and episode 151. Now the other strategy that I wanted to talk to you about is podcast I would choose shows that your people are already listening to. Don't just say yes to everything. I want you to be really strategic with this. Think who has your audience's attention right now and pitch yourself onto those podcasts as a guest speaker.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:12]:
Make sure whenever you're doing a podcast interview, you have one specific call to action at the end. Don't give them your website and your Instagram and all the other fucking places that you are. One call to action that then leads to your email list. Remember, your email list is your home base. You wanna drive traffic to that signup page. Whenever you possibly can. So make it relevant to what you've talked about in that podcast interview. One call to action at the end, full stop, leave it there.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:38]:
And then the last one that I actually think is really underrated, people seem to just forget about this, is freebie swaps and inbox collaborations. Oh my goodness, these have been a game changer for me. I have loved, loved, loved doing almost 2 freebie swaps a month. Literally what that is, is that you send my freebie, I send yours, Oh my goodness, so underrated. And when it's done with people that you trust, it converts like crazy. If you both serve the same ideal client in complementary ways, they share your free resource to their list, you share theirs with yours, and it is a beautiful way to grow by 50, 100, even more subscribers through one email collaboration. Now, the third thing that I would focus on if I was starting from scratch in 2025, I would obviously create the lead magnet, I would pick those aligned visibility strategies, and then I would prioritize consistency over complexity. If I had 23 people on my list, I would write to them like they were 2,300.

Kylie Kelly [00:08:35]:
You don't need a complicated funnel. You just need to connect with the humans that are already there. Here's what this might look like. One value-driven email a week. Maybe it's a raw behind-the-scenes share when things aren't perfect. Maybe it's a soft pitch with a call to action that feels like a conversation, not a conversion, right? Maybe it's a welcome sequence that tells your story and invites them to reply. If you want an example, remember my best performing email last month wasn't fancy. It wasn't designed.

Kylie Kelly [00:08:59]:
It was literally called, "Before I Lose My Nerve." 51.2% open rate, 1.8% click rate, and people replied like crazy. Why? Because I wrote like a human, not a marketer. I literally was just connecting and sharing something that was a little bit messy with the people on my list, with the human beings that were reading my email. That is what is working now. And it'll keep working as long as people want real connection over curated perfection, which I think will be for the foreseeable future.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:26]:
Future, right?

Kylie Kelly [00:09:27]:
So again, one email a week. I would commit to it, I would be consistent with it, and I would write to them like it's my best friend over a glass of wine sharing what's happened during my week. And then another little bonus, I would build relationships like it's my job because actually it is. Regardless of what you do, regardless of what niche or industry you're in, how you help people, what you do, whether you're a coach or a service provider, whatever it is that you do, relationships are your job, full stop. If you want a successful business, you need to get good at building relationships. If you're building without social media, visibility becomes a relationship game even more. That means pitching podcasts with custom messages, not copy-paste crap. It means showing up in other people's inboxes with value, right? It means following up after a swap or a bundle just to say thank you, because when people feel connected to you, they're going to want to support you.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:20]:
They're gonna open your emails. They're gonna click on your links. They're gonna refer people to you. You do not need to go viral. You just need to be visible to the right people. So let's recap. Here's how I'd build my email list from scratch in 2025 and what I'd coach you to do as well. Number 1, you're creating one irresistible lead magnet that is going to lead your ideal client where you want them to go.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:43]:
Number 2, you're going to then pick 2 to 3 aligned visibility plays, bundles, podcasts, freebie swaps, whatever it might be, just pick 2 to 3 different things to try. Number 3, you're going to be consistent and send relationship-first emails and not worry about sales funnels. Or complicated strategies. You know, keep it simple. And number 4, you're gonna have a mindset rooted in connection. You're not gonna worry about the numbers, you're not gonna worry about that content hustle, you're not gonna get shiny squirrel syndrome and go and do a million things and get distracted. You're just going to try to connect every single day with every single person. That's it.

Kylie Kelly [00:11:17]:
No dancing, no ads, no burnout. So my love, I want you to really hear this. Audience growth does not have to feel overwhelming. You do not need to do it all. You do not need to be everywhere. What you do need is a simple strategy that aligns with your strengths, your season of life, and your long-term goals. This is what I help my clients build every single fucking day inside the membership, the Email Growth Club, and inside my mastermind Headliner, and also inside free visibility audit calls with women just like you who are ready to do things differently. If you were sitting here listening thinking, Kylie, I needed this episode today, then maybe it's time to stop trying to duct tape to get somebody else's strategy into your life, into your business.

Kylie Kelly [00:11:57]:
Instead, create one that actually works for you. Now, some options. You can book a free 30-minute visibility audit call right now. Just go to kyliekelly.com/call. The link's in the show notes. We will literally look at what's working, what's missing, and what visibility move will actually move the needle for you next. Or you can pop your name on the waitlist for the Email Growth Club. It's where the magic happens.

Kylie Kelly [00:12:19]:
We plan your visibility, we build your email strategy, and we help you finally stop guessing what to say and how to grow. Whenever there's a space. So whenever someone leaves the club, I offer that space up to the next person on the waitlist. So the best way to get in on the club is to join the waitlist. The link is in the show notes as well for that. That is all for this week, my loves. Thank you as always for being here. I do not take your time lightly, and I'm so bloody glad that we get to build these businesses our way.

Kylie Kelly [00:12:46]:
If you loved this episode, please forward it to a biz bestie, post it on your Instagram stories and tag me, or just hit reply on one of my emails and say hello. I would love to hear from you. See you again on Tuesday for another spicy solo. Until then, keep growing, keep trusting, and remember, your voice is seriously your superpower. I have so much love for you. Bye for now. Thank you so much for tuning into.

Kylie Kelly [00:13:09]:
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 enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others. 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 grow their business and make a bigger impact.

Kylie Kelly [00:13:35]:
Thank you so much for listening, and.

Kylie Kelly [00:13:37]:
I'll see you in the next episode.