This morning, I got an email from a reader (hi, friend!) who replied to one of my newsletters with a question that made me stop and smile. It’s such a good question. And it’s one that so many people shy away from asking because the online space has made it seem like we should all already have an audience, a list, and 10,000 followers by day one. When in reality, we all start at 0.

She wrote:

“Hi Elena, first, your email is the only email I receive that I look forward to opening. 🫶🏼 I have a follow up question for this email, if you’re absolutely new, with zilch traffic and just launching your business online, where do we gain email subscribers? I am trying to avoid social media like a plague as much as possible (aside from Pinterest and just showing up on Instagram, because I know I’m easy to squirrel and get sucked in the vortex.) I see this often where online creatives talk about traffic from their email list or sales, but I don’t see much of how they are getting the subscribers in the first place… I feel a lot are buying ads or have incredible SEO?”

So if you’re in the same boat—starting something new with no audience and no clue how to grow—I want to share exactly what I did when I launched my last big idea.

Spoiler: I didn’t use my email list, my website, or even my name. I launched it in the scrappiest way possible. And it still worked so I know it will work for you too!

The Backstory: Launching Without the Safety Net

When I launched Wordsmith, I made a pretty bold decision: I didn’t use my audience.

I had built up a list of over 60,000 subscribers, thousands of customers, and social media followers across multiple platforms. But I wanted to test a theory.

What if I launched something as a total nobody?

No list.
No followers.
No fancy website.
No name recognition.

Just a good offer, placed in front of the right people, using the strategies I’d been teaching and using for years.

So I uploaded Wordsmith to a simple course platform, didn’t link it to my main site, and didn’t even announce it publicly for months. Instead, I created a couple of Pinterest ads, turned them on, and waited.

What happened?

I scaled it to $10,000 MRR (monthly recurring revenue)—before I ever posted about it on Instagram, emailed my list, or updated my website.

The Shift: Why This Changed Everything for Me

This experience reminded me of something I think we all need to hear:

You don’t need a big audience to get started. You need a strategy.

I know that sounds like something plucked off a Pinterest quote board, but it’s true. When you focus on getting in front of the right people instead of everyone, your growth becomes intentional and scalable.

It’s not about being viral. It’s about being visible—strategically.

And in today’s world, when social media can feel like a treadmill you didn’t mean to hop on, this strategy is a breath of fresh air.

So, What Would I Do If I Were Starting From Scratch Today?

I’d do exactly what I did then. Here’s what that looks like in action.

1. Get Your Offer in Front of the Right People

Forget trying to post 3x a day and hoping someone sees it or praying something goes viral. You need to place your offer in front of people actively looking for what you sell.

Pinterest is a search engine (not a social platform), which means your ads show up for people based on what they’re searching for.

That means you’re not interrupting someone’s scroll—you’re meeting them exactly where they are, in the middle of their search.

When I ran my best-performing Pinterest ad, it cost me $0.008 per impression. If I spent $50, that got me in front of 6,250 people. But not just any people—people who were literally typing in search terms that matched what I was offering.

And that? That’s the kind of targeted marketing that works.

2. Build Your Email List (Without Social Media)

I’m passionate about email marketing because it’s what’s worked for me time and time again.

You don’t need 100k Instagram followers. You need 1,000 engaged email subscribers.

Create a freebie—something that solves a quick problem or gives your audience a taste of your paid offer—and then give it away in exchange for their email.

You can absolutely do this organically by pinning to Pinterest or writing blog content around your freebie. But if you want to scale faster?

Run an ad.

One of my freebie pins has brought in over 37,000 email subscribers. And that was with a $5/day Pinterest ad.

This is how you grow your audience, build trust, and create a base of people who actually want to hear from you.

3. Connect the Dots with a Nuture Sequence

You’ve got traffic. You’re building your list. Now what?

This is where a simple funnel comes in—think welcome emails, a mini nurture sequence, and then a gentle invitation to check out your paid offer.

Keep it simple. Let your content do the heavy lifting.

The goal here isn’t to be everywhere. It’s to be intentional in a few places that matter most.

This Is What My Pinterest Strategy Course Teaches

If you’re nodding along like “this sounds amazing but also… how??” — I’ve got you.

I created my Pinterest Ad Strategy Video Tutorial for this exact reason. So many of my business friends were asking how I was growing my list and sales without being online all day, and I decided to record my entire setup process.

It’s like sitting next to me in my office while I walk you through how I:

• Set up my own Pinterest ads
• Find the right keywords
• Target the right audience
• Track results and scale
• And grow my email list at the same time

There’s even a bonus video all about list building—because ads are powerful, but having a list is what gives you real control over your business.

👉 You can check out the course here.

You Can Start With Nothing (And Still Build Something Big)

I know what it feels like to scroll online and feel like everyone else is ahead.

To think, “Sure, that worked for her, but she already had followers and a list and a team…”

Friend, I built one my most successful business with none of those things—just a simple ad and a whole lot of heart.

So if you’re at the beginning? Let this be your encouragement: You can start from scratch and still scale something meaningful. And with the right game plan, you can do it really fast.

It’s not about having a massive audience to start. It’s about having a plan, taking the leap, and building as you go.

Now it’s your turn.
What’s one idea you’ve been sitting on that you’d launch if you had an audience?
What if you didn’t wait? What if you just turned an ad on and got to experience how fast it can all come together?

You’re not behind. You’re just getting started.