MBA1790 Q&A Wednesday: How do I get my first customer?

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Hey oh welcome to the Hunter, our MBA show. Because we know your business means the world to you. That's why we deliver daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of Webinar Ninja, an independent software company I started with my partner back in 2014 and today's episode is Q and A Wednesday. On Q and A Wednesdays, we answer a question from one of you, one of our listeners. If you have a question you want to ask, just email me over@omar mba.net and and I'll answer it right here on Q and A Wednesday. Today's question is from Jason and Jason asks, hey Omar, I really liked your podcast episode on the Perfect First Business, but you didn't mention how do you get your first customer which may incur a cost to gain those leads or customers? Solid question Jason. I'll make sure to answer it fully in today's episode. The this is probably the first and biggest hurdle for new entrepreneurs getting their first paying customer. In today's episode, I'm going to share with you how you can get that first customer when you have no audience, no leads, just your website and your product. The task can seem daunting, but rest assure every business that's in business has gone through it. So you can do it too. I'll show you how in today's episode. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business.

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That first customer is so, so sweet. It's awesome to see somebody buy what you're putting out in the world. It's validation that your product has value in the marketplace and gives you hope for the future of your business. So it's super important for us to get that first customer to have all the feels right, all those great feelings and to capitalize that and use it as momentum. So how do you get your customer and I'm going to be speaking as if you do not have any audience, no email list. You have a brand new website, so no real traffic or SEO yet, no audience. So you have a product, you know that it could help people. You validated it in the process of creating it. So now let's get our first customer or customers. So I'm going to share with you a few strategies. These strategies are going to require you to make some effort. This is probably a little harder than you're used to working, but it's going to pay off and things will get easier once you get the ball rolling. Now Jason asks on tune, how do we do this? Is this going to incur costs? Well, there are different ways of gaining customers. If you have a budget to market, to gain leads, then obviously this is going to be an advantage. This is going to speed things up. But even if you don't have a budget, there are ways to do this and I'll explain. So first, let me start with the fact that let's say you have a modest marketing budget. How do you get those first customers? Some people say, let me advertise, let me run some Facebook ads, some Google Ads. I'm not really bullish on that type of marketing when you're starting out. Why? Because those ads really perform well. When you have some data where you know what kind of people visit your website, you have some analytics, you have an existing audience or email list that you can build lookalike audiences off. If you're going in fresh with Facebook or Google Ads. You're really going to be doing billboard marketing. Really, you're just putting out, hey, I have this thing, check it out. The chances of you converting are very low and it's going to get expensive quickly because you don't really have a target market or audience. What you want to do is high trust building activities at the start. You want to build trust with your customers as quickly as possible. I actually think one of the best ways to spend your money is at events. Let me explain. Number one, if there is a way for you to attend a virtual event or in person event, if you're in a relatively safe Covid area, do it, buy a ticket, get to that event because you're going to meet new people. You're going to be on a mission to meet new people. People that share your audience, have businesses that have your audience. You're going to get to know your potential customers. This is money well spent because you're going to be building relationships. We'll talk more about that later. Super. The other way you could spend money at one of these events is to be a sponsor. And this could be a local event. I know in my local startup hub or co working space they have weekly events that you can sponsor, like pitch nights. They have something called lunch and learns on Wednesdays where basically you're going to spend maybe 100, 200, maybe $300 on some pizzas and some drinks and your business is the headline sponsor and you get to speak at this event. Usually you can negotiate what you like, but the point here is that you're getting it of people and you can build a relationship by giving them great value. Become an authority instantly, really, because you are speaking on stage and you become the sponsor of that event. At that event when you speak, you make an irresistible offer like a free month when you sign up for your software, for example, or get $50 of credit when you spend a hundred if you're an E commerce store. The point here is that you're going to go a little bit aggressive on the offer to get your first customer and get great feedback and get the ball rolling. Now again, the reason why we're doing this is to build relationships, to build trust with our customers, but also our potential partners that we can market with. One of the things I did back in 2014 is I attended an event called New Media Expo. It was really expensive for me at the time to spend that kind of money to fly to Vegas, to get a hotel room, to cut a ticket or two tickets. Me and Nicole, we went to this event. It was a couple of grand all up, but I met some amazing people that I became friends with, got their contact, got their email. I spent four days building relationships. Four months later, I launched Webinar Ninja. I pre launched it and I emailed every single person that I met there and said, hey, I'm launching a new thing. I didn't ask them to buy it, but I said, hey, can you share this if you think it's useful for your audience? All these people were business owners. They had great followings on Twitter and Instagram. All these people had followers on social, on Twitter, on Facebook, they had email lists. And I wasn't directly asking them to buy it. I just asked them to share it if they think their audience would find it useful. And many of them did buy it and did share it. I literally emailed each one of them. So we're talking about maybe over a hundred people, but it resulted in us getting our first 250 beta members because of all the sharing. And I invested in just being in the right place, meeting the right people at a great event. So I know this sounds kind of counterintuitive, like, hey, maybe I should be doing some digital marketing or running some banner ads. No, actually building strong relationships with people that have the audience you want to go after. Not competitors, so to speak. But you share the same audience so they can help you get in front of their audience when the time is right. Now, let's say you have a zero budget. You could still get in front of people's audiences through podcast interviews, getting on other people's podcasts, guest posting on people's blogs, and at the end of your guest post, you can mention, hey, I just launched a new business. You may want to check it out. Here's the link. Or maybe you want to continue their learning with a free webinar and they get on your email list. Leveraging other people's audience is very inexpensive. But it's going to be a lot of work to do all this work. So understand you're investing a little bit of sweat equity to get the ball rolling to get your first customers. My other piece of advice is if you are starting a business with no audience, start building your audience. It's going to accelerate your chances of getting more customers. Be diligent about whatever you do to build your audience, whether you're running a great blog that publishes regularly, whether it's a podcast or a YouTube channel, or you're going to be the king or queen of Clubhouse. The point here is that you need to make a concerted effort to build your audience when you're getting started because it's going to help you get those first customers or beyond your first customer. Another no cost way for you to get your first customers. And I did this before Webinar Ninja, before the $100 MBA, I had a business consulting firm where I built people's websites and logos and blogs. That's what I did. I had no list, I had no contacts. I just knew some friends and family that I worked with in the past. But I needed to get more customers beyond my friends and family. And I meet one time I met a guy named Justin Belmont. Justin was a really cool guy. We got along and he had a company called Prose Media. He wrote content for other people's blogs. He wrote their blog posts. He was like a ghostwriter or his was ghostwriting for other people's blogs. And often he would get people coming to his service and saying, I want you to write me a blog. And he'd be like, what do you mean like a blog post? He's like, no, I want you to create me a blog and write all the blog posts. And he said, well, we actually do the writing of the blog post, but we don't create the blog. Hearing that, I was like, that's funny, but interesting because I create blogs. Would you mind referring them to me and we can work together where I'll create the blog and you will write the content for the blog and I will then take your content and fill the blog that I created with that content. It was a win win because I would get a customer and he would be able to say hey to customer. I can help you with that and I can write the blog posts. So there are all kinds of businesses that work with each other like this all the time. Look at your market, look at your niche, look at what other businesses depend on your services. Even if there's a kickback involved or referral fee or affiliate commission, it's worth it because you are getting free CL clients at no cost in terms of customer acquisition, not running any ads. And sometimes it's just a win win and no money needs to change hands. It's just I'll refer you to my customers and you'll refer me. So you can definitely get creative and do these strategies to get your first customers and get the ball rolling.

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Wrap up today's Q and A Wednesday's Question Getting your first customer can be a bit challenging, but it's exciting and it requires you to be creative, hard working and to be honest. To be out there to connect with people, to talk to people. And remember, if you're going to work with somebody or try to get a referral, make sure it's a win win. No one wants somebody to constantly ask them for favors with nothing in return. See how you can serve the other person in the process of you being served. Invest in relationships, even if it means spending money to be in the position to build those relationships. Like the story I shared when I went to New Media Expo back in 2014 that resulted in me getting my first 250 beta members for webinar Ninja. Thanks so much for listening to the $100 MBA show. And thanks Jason for that great question for Q and A Wednesday. If you have a question you want to ask, just email me over at omar00mba.net and I'll answer it right here on the show. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Ideally, you should be getting your first customers before you launch your product or service. When you're validating the idea pre sell it, get people to put their money down. Even if it's just a deposit on your product. This is validation that you should go ahead and build this product or service or business. It means people are really willing to part with their hard earned dollar to get your product. Pre selling is one of the best things that I did when I started Webinar Ninja because it allowed me to 1. Validate the idea and know that people are hungry and wanting what I have planned for them. And then number two, you gave me some seed money so I can be able to build the business I wanted. Don't be afraid to ask for the sale, even when it's not ready yet. That's why relationships and those contacts I was talking about are gold because you can always reach out to them to help you in that process. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

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