For years, I believed that the only way to grow my business was through working longer hours, posting more content, showing up every single day, hoping that organic marketing alone would bring in enough leads and sales. I thought if I just worked harder, the results would come.

And while organic marketing absolutely has its place, it wasn’t until I ran my first ad that I realized something that changed everything: I didn’t have to work more to grow. I just had to work smarter.

I went from feeling like I constantly had to grind for every single sale to seeing my business scale in a way that felt… dare I say, effortless? That’s when I knew: ads were the missing piece.

And I’ll never go back.

How Running Ads Changed Everything for Me

I’ll never forget the moment I launched my first paid ad. I had poured so much time into growing my business organically, yet it still felt like I was stuck in a cycle of needing to work around the clock. When I stopped working, the sales stopped coming.

I figured I had nothing to lose, so I took the leap. I started with a small budget, testing out just $5 a day. And then something wild happened—

For every dollar I spent, I was making three dollars back.

I watched as people who had never heard of me before started clicking, signing up, and buying. I could see exactly what I was spending and exactly what I was earning in return. For the first time, I wasn’t just hoping my marketing efforts would work—I had actual numbers to prove it.

I wasn’t just throwing content into the void and waiting for engagement. I was actively bringing in leads and customers on autopilot.

That one ad completely shifted how I looked at my business. It’s been over 10 years now, and I’m still running ads today.

Why I’ll Never Rely on Organic Marketing Alone Again

Don’t get me wrong—organic marketing is incredibly valuable. SEO, email marketing, and social media all play a role in growing a sustainable business.

But organic marketing alone has its limitations:

• It’s unpredictable. You can create amazing content, but you have no control over how many people see it or when it gains traction.
• It takes time. Building an audience through organic content is a long game, and while that’s great, it doesn’t always help when you need to drive sales now.
• It’s exhausting. If you’re solely relying on organic marketing, you’re constantly on the content hamster wheel, trying to get enough visibility to make sales.

With paid ads, you control your reach. You’re no longer at the mercy of algorithms. You can take your best offer, put it in front of the right audience, and see results without waiting months (or years) for organic marketing to work.

Why I Use Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest Ads

Each platform has its strengths, and depending on your business, one might work better than another. Here’s how I use each:

Facebook & Instagram Ads

• Best for retargeting and getting in front of warm audiences.
• Great for brand awareness and engagement-based campaigns.
• Allows for highly detailed targeting based on demographics and behavior.
• Best for running ads to freebie opt-ins, webinars, and digital product sales.

Pinterest Ads (My Favorite Strategy!)

• Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform, meaning your ads have a longer shelf life.
• Best for getting in front of people actively searching for solutions.
• Great for evergreen promotion, where your pins continue working long after your campaign ends.
• I scaled ONE of my offerings to over $600K using Pinterest Ads alone—you can read about my strategy here.

Out of all these platforms, Pinterest has been my best-performing ad platform in the most recent years, which is why I created an entire class breaking down exactly how I run my Pinterest ads for maximum ROI. If you want to learn how to use Pinterest ads to scale your business, you can check out my Pinterest Ad Strategy Course!

Pinterest is also a wonderful platform for anyone who might not yet have an established audience to market to. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, where ads are often shown to people based on their past engagement or behaviors, Pinterest users are actively searching for solutions, ideas, and products. This means you don’t need a massive following or an email list to start seeing results. Your ads will reach people who are already looking for what you offer, giving you a direct path to potential customers without spending years building an audience first. That’s the power of Pinterest—it connects you with warm, ready-to-buy leads, even if you’re just getting started.

How I Make Ads Work for My Business

If there’s one thing I’ve studied and tested more than anything else in my years of business, it’s how to set up ads that actually convert. Because while ads can be powerful, running them the wrong way can feel like throwing money into a black hole.

So here’s the simplified version of how I make ads work:

Step 1: Get Clear on Your Offer

Before running ads, you need a clear, irresistible offer. Whether it’s a digital product, a course, or a service, you need to be able to answer these questions:

✔ Who is this for?
✔ What problem does it solve?
✔ Why would someone choose this over a competitor’s offer?

Ads won’t magically fix a weak offer. But when you have an offer that works? Ads amplify it. And if you’re not quite sure what to try and promote in a paid ad first, just look at your best sellers and start there—those have already been proven to sell to your audience.

All too often, I see people getting excited about jumping into paid ads and creating something new just for it, or trying to promote the thing they are most excited about. But here’s the truth: the best-performing ads come from promoting what’s already working. If you have a product or service that has sold well organically, start there.

A good way to guarantee your ad performs? Go with the product that has the best chance. Let the data guide you, and build from that success.

Step 2: Start Small and Test Everything

The biggest mistake I see people make with ads? Going all in too fast.

Instead of dumping a huge budget into an ad right away, start small—$5 to $10 a day. Run a few different versions of your ad, testing different images, headlines, and copy to see what resonates most with your audience.

Let the data guide you. The numbers will tell you what’s working. Once you have an ad that’s converting well, then you scale.

Step 3: Focus on the Right Metrics

Not all metrics matter. Forget vanity metrics like likes and comments—when running ads, here’s what you should focus on:

Click-through rate (CTR) – Are people actually clicking on your ad?
Cost per lead (CPL) – How much are you spending to acquire a new lead or customer?
Return on ad spend (ROAS) – Are you making more than you’re spending?

When you know these numbers, running ads becomes a simple math equation—if you’re making $3 for every $1 spent, why wouldn’t you keep going?!

The Marketing Shift That Changed My Life

Running ads was the best decision I ever made for my business because it freed me from the constant grind of having to show up every single day just to make sales.

If you’re ready to get serious about ads—especially Pinterest Ads, which have been a huge part of my success—be sure to check out my Pinterest Ad Strategy Course. If you’re ready to get serious about ads—especially Pinterest Ads, which have been a huge part of my success—be sure to check out my Pinterest Ad Strategy Course. I break down everything you need to know so you can get started with confidence. I show you exactly how I go about setting up my own ads, and give you unique examples that you can apply to your business. All under 90 minutes.

Because once you get ads working for you, there’s no turning back.