How to get your first customers (even with ZERO audience)

December 16, 2024

AI Summary

5 min read

How to Get Your First Customers Without an Audience

Jonathan Courtney, CEO of AJ&Smart, has generated an estimated 40–50 million euros in revenue from a single strategy he calls the Dream 100. He didn't invent it. He doesn't remember where he learned it. But he's used it for 14 years, and when he focuses on it, it produces step-function growth. When he forgets about it and chases smaller optimizations, revenue stagnates.

The core insight is simple: instead of trying to build an audience from scratch, find the people who already have the audience you want, and figure out how to be useful to them.

The Dream 100

The first step is research. Open a spreadsheet and list every person, organization, meetup, or community that already has access to the people you want to reach. If you're starting a web design agency targeting startup founders, that list includes podcast hosts like Greg, platforms like Product Hunt, local entrepreneur meetups, and anyone else who regularly speaks to founders. The goal is not to figure out how to contact them yet. It's just to identify who they are.

Jonathan recommends spending a full day on this research. You'll be surprised how many niche figures exist who talk to exactly the audience you need, even if their reach is small. The list doesn't need to be 100 names. Ten or twenty is enough to start.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Episode Introduction** - Host Greg introduces the topic: getting customers without a social following or ad spend, covering three methods.
2 (01:24) **The Cold-Start Problem** - Jonathan defines the core challenge: getting leads and building a list from nothing, without being an influencer or creating content.
3 (03:33) **Strategy 1: The Dream 100** - Jonathan introduces the concept of finding people who already have access to your target audience.
4 (05:08) **Live Demo: Building the Dream 100 List** - Greg and Jonathan open a Google Doc and brainstorm potential partners for a web design agency.
5 (08:56) **From List to Action: The Canvas Strategy** - Jonathan explains how to actually reach out to people on your Dream 100 list without being ignored.
6 (13:01) **The ROI of the Dream 100** - Jonathan estimates his business has made 40-50 million euros from this strategy.
7 (18:45) **Strategy 2: Go Where Your Audience Is** - The second method: find where your target audience congregates and deliver extreme value.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Join me as I chat with Jonathan Courtney, Co-Founder and CEO of AJ&Smart, as we dive deep into various lead generation strategies. Jonathan shares his strategies and frameworks for building a client pipeline without having a large online following.

00:00 - Intro
03:13 - The Dream 100 Strategy
11:01 - The Canvas Strategy (for reaching out)
18:12 - Go Where Your Audience Lives
27:21 - The Power of Strategic Gifting
36:33 - Content Creation (if you choose to)
40:47 - Key Mindset Shift around Content Creation

1) The Dream 100 Strategy:
• Make a list of 100 people/orgs who already talk to your target audience
• Research their platforms, reach, content
• Focus on building relationships with them
• Can start with just 10-20 names

Example: Web design agency targeting founders? Start with podcast hosts, community leaders

2) The Canvas Strategy (for reaching out):
• Don't just ask for favors
• Focus on providing extreme value first
• Make thoughtful, detailed pitches
• Show you've done your homework
• Be patient and play the long game

3) Go Where Your Audience Lives:
• Join paid communities ($149/mo is nothing if you land 1 client)
• Lurk in Reddit threads
• Answer Quora questions in detail
• Participate in Discord servers
• Be the MOST valuable member

No promotion, just pure value.

4) The Power of Strategic Gifting:
• Doesn't need to be expensive ($5-50 can work)
• Make it personal and meaningful
• Think long-term relationship building
• One mentor landed a huge deal with a $50k guitar gift
• Small gestures = big memories

5) Content Creation (if you choose to):
• Focus on MASSIVE value over production quality
• Create 5+ hour detailed tutorials
• Answer common questions exhaustively
• "Low quality, high effort" is the new formula
• Example: mastering . com's 11-hour tutorials

6) Key Mindset Shift:

Stop obsessing over:
• Social media metrics
• Personal branding
• Complex marketing funnels

Start focusing on:
• High-leverage relationships
• Direct value creation
• Being present where your audience is

7) The ROI is INSANE:
• Single partnerships can generate millions
• One webinar can outperform months of ads
• Relationship-based leads convert better
• More sustainable than viral marketing
• Less stressful than being an "influencer"

Pro Tip: Review your Dream 100 list every quarter. Most businesses forget this and focus on low-leverage tasks instead.

Links Mentioned:

The Dream 100 Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a7d1GSZoJq_pT2Ptbvc9HsZWPxNsQDhRcUvT6d1V2Jw/edit?gid=0#gid=0

The Canvas Strategy Ep: https://youtu.be/fr5xG_bTV44

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