Building an audience is hard work.
You need to find where people hang out. Then somehow “catch” them. Convince them to follow you. One by one by one.
Don’t do that.
There is a shortcut.
Someone already did the hard work for you.
Right now, there are people who’ve spent YEARS gathering your perfect audience. Newsletter writers. Podcast hosts. LinkedIn thought leaders. Facebook group admins. Reddit moderators.
Your dream audience lives on someone else’s list.
Your job is to borrow it.
Welcome to the art of “stealing” an audience from someone - not taking it away from them, but borrowing their trust and reach.
You just need to make them talk about your product.
Here’s exactly how ↓
1. Pay them 💰
Most creators mention products for money. It’s how they make a living.
Offer them cash to promote your thing.
Don’t ask for a “sponsored post” - ask them to try your product. Then share their honest thoughts.
Real reviews > fake ads.
2. Praise them 🎉
When I worked at a startup called Mine, our target audience was Data Protection Officers (DPOs).
I googled “famous DPOs”.
Nothing came up. No awards. No recognition. No “top DPO” lists.
So I made one.
I launched a “Top DPOs” section on our website and set up a nominations box.
Then I picked 10 DPOs who were active on LinkedIn and emailed them:
“Congrats - you made our Top DPOs list! Want to do a quick interview?”
All 10 said yes.
All 10 shared it with their audiences.
Our website traffic went up 4,000% that month. From a 2-hour project.
Why? Because we praised them publicly.
People crave status. When you celebrate someone’s work → they’ll promote yours.
3. Give them the microphone 🎤
Start a podcast just to meet people.
Big names who ignore your emails will say yes to podcasts.
No one actually needs to listen to it. You can have 5 downloads per episode. Doesn’t matter.
The point is the relationship.
Once you interview them, you have a relationship. Now they’ll reply to your DMs. Engage with your content. Make introductions with others.
The podcast is just an excuse to connect.
4. Tell them they inspired you ✨
Here’s a weird trick that works.
When I launched my viral post generator, I posted it on Twitter:
Silence. Zero engagements.
So I deleted it. Then had an idea 💡
I re-posted the same thing but added: “Inspired by @[random popular account]”
The account retweeted it. My post went viral.
Later, I used the same trick on Reddit. Posted about my tool and mentioned it was inspired by the Reddit community.
Reddit shared it on their official LinkedIn page.
The magic words: “inspired by”
People love feeling inspiring. It’s flattering. They’ll return the favor.
Those first 4 tactics work well. But I saved the BEST for last.
📈 Here are 3 more *advanced* ways to borrow an audience.
Plus I’ll show you:
🌈 How to find those people who have gathered your audience (specific tool)
💌 How to message them so they actually respond
💰 Screenshots, examples and copy-paste templates