Most advice about "building an audience before you launch" is vague.

Here's what actually happened when I did it concretely.

This week, ahead of XEdge's Peerlist launch Monday, I personally DMed everyone who'd engaged with my content over the past 4 months — comments, replies, genuine conversations.

The message was simple: "Launching Monday, would mean a lot if you could upvote, here's the link when it's live."

Response rate: roughly 70% said yes immediately.