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How to get your 1st customer
If you have 0 audience and $0 for marketing, here are 4 marketing strategies I used to get customers for all my startups.
I assume you have a product but 0 audience and $0 for marketing.
Here are 4 marketing strategies I use as solopreneur to get customers for all my startups.
1/ Launch
List your product on popular launch platforms like Product Hunt.
It’s the fastest way to get results. And it’s free.
Spend at least 1 hour crafting your headline. It’s 80% of a successful launch.
If you’re building an AI tool and have a few bucks to spare, list on AI directories like TIAAIFT & Futurepedia.
2/ Cold outreach
Developers like myself are scared of this task. But it works.
I made my first $1 online and grew a SaaS to $4,000 MRR using cold emails.
Cold DM on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram works too — If you do it right. I get 30 cold outreachs per day. 99% are generic. 99% end up in the trash. Quantity doesn’t matter. Quality does. Spend hours carefully crafting your message:
Benefit-oriented
Ultra personalised
Short (5 sentences max)
Cold outreach works best if you’re doing high-ticket clients or B2B.
If you can afford it, sponsor niche newsletters (like mine, but I don’t do sponsorships, sorry!). It’s a clever way to do cold outreach at scale without being salesy.
3/ Build an audience
It changed my life.
But unlike the other marketing channels, it takes a lot of time and it’s not for everyone.
This part could be a book, so here’s the 80/20:
Pick a platform where you’re comfortable sharing your work: Twitter if you like writing, Instagram if you’re good with photos, YouTube if you prefer videos.
Build cool stuff. People need a reason to follow you.
Communicate using the platform’s code. Learn from creators who are already successful.
Respect people’s time. Too short is better than too long.
Find your signature: Start by getting inspired by others, shine by being you.
4/ Code, code, code
This is for you if you’re a developer who can’t close VSCode.
If you tried all the strategies above but none is working, it’s usually one of these:
Your product doesn’t solve a real problem, consider moving on
Your landing page copy isn’t converting, improve it
Your first endeavor won’t magically be a success. But if you show up for long enough, luck will find you.
Whenever you're ready, there are 5 ways I can help you:
ShipFast: Ship startups in days, not weeks with the NextJS boilerplate loved by 2,200+ developers.
DataFast: Grow your startup with actionable data.
IndiePage: Join 3,000+ solopreneurs and showcase your startups.
PoopUp: Turn your visitors into customers with wake-up call popups.
ZenVoice: Stripe invoices, without the fee.
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