How to Reach New People Without Ads: Strategic Collaborations for Creative Businesses
Hey Tori! Answering Your Digital Marketing Questions for Creative Entrepreneurs Podcast
You've spent weeks mapping out your promotional calendar. You know when you're launching, when you're promoting, and you have a solid plan. But as you look at that calendar, you realize something that makes your stomach sink: every single promotion is reaching only your own audience.
Your email list. Your Instagram followers. Your Facebook group. The same people, every time.
So you start wondering: How do I reach new people without spending a ton on ads? And is it really worth the time to try?
What You'll Learn in This Post:
The one leverage tool most creative entrepreneurs overlook — and why it works
The Why You, Why Now framework for reaching out to collaborators
How to find aligned partners (not just bigger audiences, but the right audiences)
The exact words to use when you reach out
How to structure a collaboration so both audiences win
Your Audience May Have Limits — But Someone Else's Doesn't
Your own audience has a ceiling. You can only reach so many people through your own platform, your own list, your own followers — especially in a short window when you're launching something new.
Some of us get lucky and go viral. But those are outliers, not the norm.
What if you could borrow reach from someone else? And what if they could borrow yours in return? That's collaboration. And it's one of the most effective ways to expand who sees your work without paying for ads.
Collaborations matter because they give you access to an audience that doesn't know you exist yet — and they come with built-in trust. When someone you follow recommends another creator, you listen. You're more likely to click. You're more likely to buy. It's the same for your clients. You're borrowing an audience, and borrowed audience is the fastest way to grow without doing everything yourself.
The Most Important Question: Are They Aligned With You? The Key to Strategic Collaboration
Here's what some people miss: you're not just looking for someone with a bigger audience. You're looking for someone whose audience is actually your ideal customer.
Let me show you what alignment actually looks like:
Modern quilting + traditional quilting cross-aesthetic partners. If you teach modern quilting, you want to partner with someone who either specializes in modern work or straddles that line between modern and traditional. You get reach from different people, the audiences overlap, and both of you add value. Your modern audience gets exposed to traditional techniques they might love. Their traditional audience sees modern aesthetics they didn't know they liked.
Hand appliqué + machine appliqué. Lots of quilters do both techniques. Some prefer one or the other, but they tend to do both. You can partner for a collaboration about appliqué in general — teaching both audiences hand and machine methods. Everyone wins.
Garment sewing + quilted clothing. There's a huge trend right now in quilted and handmade garments. Imagine a quilted garment specialist teaching appliqué to garment makers. Then you showing quilters how to make a simple garment with appliqué on it. That collaboration could open up entire new audiences for both of you.
Before you reach out to anyone, ask yourself: Do they serve the same kind of customer I do? Would their audience actually want what I'm offering? Are they making similar-level offers? Do our values align? If any of those answers feel shaky, pass. A misaligned collaboration feels forced, and your audience will sense it.
The Why You, Why Now Framework: How to Actually Ask
When you reach out to a potential collaborator, you're really answering two questions for them. And these questions make the difference between getting a yes and getting ignored.
Why You? What specific value are you bringing to their audience? Not to you. To them. Maybe you have a free resource their people need. Maybe you're teaching a skill their audience wants to learn but they're not offering. Maybe you're launching something that solves a problem for their people. Put that value first.
Why Now? What's the timing or context that makes this collaboration make sense right now? Are you launching something new? Is there a seasonal opportunity? Did a trend happen in the industry that makes you relevant together? Did you just get inspired by something they posted? Why now could be as simple as 'I have a new resource your people would love.'
When you can answer both questions, you have the foundation for real outreach — not a generic 'want to collaborate' message, but a specific, valuable ask.
The Actual Message
Reach out personally — DM if you're already engaging, or email if you want something more formal. Keep it specific, personal, and brief. You don't need to dump all the details in the first message.
Say something like: I loved your recent [post/video/blog post]. I think we could be a great fit. I have [your specific value] that I think your audience would be really interested in. What if we [your specific collaboration idea] in [timeframe]? What do you think?
Keep it open. They can say yes, or they can say 'actually, I'm booked up right now, but let's reconnect later.' Either way, you'll never know unless you ask.
Once They Say Yes: Put It in Writing
You got a yes! Now don't wing it. Document the expectations so both of you are on the same page.
Put these four things in writing (a shared Google Doc works fine):
Who does what, and how many times? How many times will each person promote? On which platforms? Is it Instagram, email, both?
When is it happening? Specific dates, specific times, even time zones if you're in different ones.
How do you track results? A promo code, a special link, a landing page? Who hosts it?
What does success look like? Clicks, sales, email subscribers? Be realistic about what you're measuring.
And here's the most important part: both of you have to show up fully. You're not just posting something and ghosting. You're engaging with comments, sticking to the schedule, answering messages, actively promoting. If one person does the heavy lifting and the other doesn't, everyone feels it. Your audience feels it.
Why Quilting Summits Are Changing the Game
One of the biggest collaboration opportunities happening right now in quilting are summits. They're bringing dozens of quilting teachers together in one place, all promoting to each other's audiences.
Here's what my clients who've participated in summits are experiencing: they're getting hundreds to thousands of new email subscribers from a single event. Some get a couple hundred. Some get into the thousands. And here's the thing: you're not going to keep all of them. Some will unsubscribe. But the people who stay are the ones who are genuinely interested in what you're offering.
The time investment is small. You show up live (or answer questions if it's prerecorded), promote the summit a few times, and that's it. Small amount of effort. Big return on investment.
The real win is this: you're not a solo promoter anymore. You have a network. You're part of something bigger than yourself.
Hey Tori Takeaway
Your assignment
Look at your promotional calendar. Identify three people you think could benefit from collaborating with you. They can be peers. They can be people with slightly bigger audiences. Just make sure they're aligned.
This week — in the next seven to ten days — reach out to one of them. Just one. Use the Why You/Why Now framework. Be specific. Be personal. See what happens.
My guess? They're going to say yes. And you're going to realize you've been sitting on this leverage tool for way too long.
If this episode landed for you — if you've been wondering how to grow your reach without ads, without burning out, without doing everything alone — I want you to know that strategy clarity like this is exactly what we build inside the Digital Marketing Magic Coaching Program. Collaborations fit into your lead strategy (how you reach new people), but they also feed into your launch strategy (how you amplify when you have something to sell).
Inside the DMMC, you get access to all five custom AI tools, monthly group coaching calls, a personalized marketing roadmap, and a community of creative entrepreneurs who actually understand what it's like to build this kind of business. Because generic marketing advice doesn't work for us.
The best first step is a free 30-minute strategy session. No pressure — just clarity on what your business looks like and what your next move should be. Book yours here.
Want me to answer your question? Submit one here.
About the Author
Tori McElwain is a digital marketing coach for quilting and creative businesses. With 24+ years of quilting experience and a Master's degree in Education, she helps quilters attract more students, sell more patterns, and grow their businesses online — without losing the joy of creating. She's the author of Workshops Unleashed and cohost of the Quilting on the Side podcast.
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