V. After You Launch

Get more leads

After you launch, your biggest need will be filling the top of your marketing funnel with leads. Here are some tactics to get your started.

Email the people you know

For his new product, Drip, Rob Walling emailed 17 founders. These were people he knew, like Crazy Egg’s Hiten Shah. In his email, Rob asked a specific question:

I don’t want you to tell me that you think this is an interesting idea; I want to know if you would actually use and pay for it.

Building relationships with people in your target audience, and then emailing them, is an excellent way to get your first customers.

This approach applies to products that have already launched as well. Write a personal email that looks something like this:

Hi [name],

We’ve known each other since we met at [location] in [year]. It’s been fascinating to see your business, [business name], grow over the years.

As you know, I’ve been working on [my product]. The aim is to help business owners [value proposition].

Do you already have a solution for this? If not, I’d love to give you a free trial for [my product].

If you’re already using something, let me know. It’d be great for you to take a look at [my product] and tell me what might help you switch.

Cheers,

[your name]

Always be building relationships! You can’t build a network overnight, but here are some unique ways to meet new people and get out of your comfort zone:

1. Buy someone lunch

There was a CEO that I wanted to meet, but I was never able to connect with him at social events. So I wrote him an email with the subject line: “Can I buy you lunch?” In the email, I said, “You’re a business leader that I respect. I want to get better at x. Can I take you for lunch?” He replied and said, “I’d love to go for lunch, but you don’t have to buy.”

Everyone likes going to lunch. Be generous, and you could receive enjoyable company, and great advice, in return.

2. Start a podcast

This one isn’t for everyone, but I’ve been able to have amazing conversations with interesting people through my podcasts (Build & Launch, Product People). Podcasts are great because they give you a good reason to have a conversation with interesting people. Most folks are flattered when you invite them to be a guest on your show.

You don’t need to be naturally outgoing or extroverted to record a podcast. Some of the best hosts I know are the opposite!

3. Start a meetup

My friends Kevin and Jared didn’t like the other networking events in town, so they decided to start their own: Nerds Night Out. Instead of doing the “normal” thing and have a presenter, they just get together for drinks at a pub. They started small by inviting a few other people in the web development community. It gradually grew, and now 10–25 people come each month.

4. Take a class; in a different city

One way to meet a whole new group of people is to take a class in a different city. I went to a Ruby Weekend in Las Vegas. It was actually easier meeting people as the out-of-towner because I was unique (I was the only non-local). I still keep in touch with people from this class.

5. Volunteer at an event

Every event organizer needs help: a photographer, a sound person, a host (to welcome people). When you volunteer, you get to meet the organizing team, and anyone attending the event. (Plus, you usually get to attend and participate for free.)

5. Go to a conference, and look for ways to help

My friend, Mike Bridge, goes to events and takes photos. When he takes pictures of attendees and speakers, he offers to email people their photographs.

When Kai Davis attended MicroConf, he took detailed notes from each speaker’s presentation and offered to send them to attendees.¹

These are great techniques: they help you make meaningful connections and provide you with an excuse to follow up with people.

Email people you don’t know

Before he’d even built WPEngine, Jason Cohen talked to 50 people and asked them if they would pay $50 each month for stable WordPress hosting. Then he asked them for a cheque towards their first month. In his 2012 interview on Mixergy², he explained his process:

Anyone can do this. You go to LinkedIn, and you search for the type of person that you want to interview. I found people who were professionals, that is, they charge money for their time. Then, I contacted every one of them, which is easy, since, as they are consultants you can find them, and their email addresses and they answer it because that’s their sales line. So, it’s very easy to contact people who are professionals in the field. So, I would send an email to each one, and this is what I’d say exactly. I’d say, “Hey, we’re thinking of building these new tools for WordPress. You are exactly the kind of person who we’d want to use these tools. I would love to get your opinion.” Here’s the result, 100% of them agreed to the interview.

Jason used this tactic to validate his idea before launching, but you can use it to find customers after launching as well. One key is Jason offered to compensate them for their time. He knew that some of these professionals charge $200 per hour, but he was willing to pay because it showed respect to the consultant. Interestingly, not one person took him up on his offer.

Ask for referrals

Using the previous two techniques, you should be able to get your first five customers. What do you do now?

Ask those customers for referrals! Make it an automatic process for every new client. Once they’re using your product, send them an email like this:

Hi [name],

It looks like you’ve been using [my product] for a couple of weeks now! Thank you, I’m glad to have you as a customer.

You seem like you’re well connected in the [industry name] circles. Do you know anyone that could benefit from [my product]?

If so, could introduce them to me? I’ve attached a template you can use to email them.

Cheers,

[your name]

Having the above conversation over the phone might be even more powerful. The key is to ask.

Many people get uncomfortable asking for referrals. Steli Efti, the founder of Close.io, thinks they’re missing out on a tremendous opportunity:³

Referral sales can be your #1 source of new leads and turn into a massive growth engine for your B2B startup if you do it right. Why are so many sales people doing referral sales wrong? Because they’re afraid. It’s scary to ask for more once you close a deal. Sales people worry that they might jeopardize a deal, or that it’ll turn a positive conversation awkward. Go where others are afraid to go, and you’ll find massive opportunity. Don’t let fear get in the way.

Don’t complicate this by implementing an affiliate scheme, or trying to reward customers for their referrals. Most satisfied customers are happy to do this for you. They don’t want payment.

Give away a free eBook that gets people hooked

You have a great product, but it’s likely behind a paywall. For people to experience it, and benefit from it, they need to pay first.

One way to get people on your email list is to give them a little taste of the benefit your product offers in content form.

Intercom provides software that allows companies to talk to their customers. They offer a free, high-quality ebook on Product Management that anyone can download for free:

To attract more subscribers, Intercom developed a free ebook

To get the book, you need to enter your email address:

To get the free book, you need to enter your email address

Finding content for an eBook

Putting together a whole book sounds daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. There are a few ways you can get great content for your book:

1. Ask ten experts in your field if you can publish one of their blog posts in your book, with full attribution.
2. If you’ve been blogging, take your ten best blog posts and rewrite them as ten essays for your book.

Assembling an ebook

Once you have your content, you need to get it into ebook form. At a minimum, this means creating a PDF that people can download and read on their computer or tablet. If you want to go the extra mile, you can also offer it in ePub and MOBI.

The easiest way to export an attractive PDF ebook is with Apple’s iBooks Author. It’s free, has great templates and layout options, and is relatively easy to use.

Here are some other options:

• Softcover – if you’re a Ruby on Rails developer, you’ll love their take on publishing.
• Reedsy – a web application that helps you write and publish your ebook. I used it to write and publish this book!
• Pressbooks – allows you to publish PDF, MOBI, and ePub books from WordPress.

Delivering the book to subscribers

So the user flow is going to look like this:

1. Someone visits your homepage, landing page or blog.
2. On the page, you have a call to action (similar to Intercom’s above) that asks the visitor if they want to get your ebook (free).
3. They enter their email address.
4. Your email system automatically sends them an email asking them to confirm their address. To download the book, the subscriber clicks the confirmation link.

There are a few different tools you can use for this:

• MailChimp.com: You can add a file to the final welcome email, or (if you’re using Automation) you can add a file to one of your triggered emails.⁴
• Gumroad.com: You can create a free product in Gumroad, and add your ebook files to it. People go to the Gumroad landing page, click the “I want this” button, and are asked to enter their email address. Alternatively, you could use their Audience feature and set up a Workflow that automatically sends them your ebook when they subscribe.
• ConvertKit.com: ConvertKit was built expressly for this use-case. You create a subscription form in ConvertKit and upload your PDF. A subscriber automatically receives a welcome email with the download link.

Write a surprising blog post that gets people interested

Don’t underestimate the value of creating something unexpected, unusual, and weird: these are the blog posts that get read and shared.

Derek Sivers⁵ is one of my favorite bloggers of all time. When I asked him for writing advice he said:

Before you publish, ask, “What is surprising about this?” If it’s not surprising, then you’re not telling them anything they don’t already know. If it’s not surprising yet, look for the surprising element. Think of a way that this idea can be really helpful to people.

Sacha Greif (co-author of Discover Meteor) is great at writing these types of posts. Check out his piece What Kind of Logo Do You Get for $5?

This title, by Sacha Greif, already hints that something surprising is coming

In it, Sacha compares the type of work you would get from his service, Folyo, to what you would get for $5 from Fiverr. There are all sorts of unexpected gems in the piece, including bits like this under the headline “Bait & Switch”:

After noticing this pattern, the explanation became clear: these designers were appropriating other designers’ work, and passing it off as their own. This little switcheroo is a big no-no in the design community, and it’s obviously quite misleading for prospective clients as well. It seemed to be standard practice on Fiverr.

These are the type of “ah-ha!” moments that people love to share.

Create a free tool that naturally leads to your paid product

Reuben Gamez has a lead magnet that helps him attract thousands of customers. His SaaS product, Bidsketch, gives away free downloadable templates.⁶

Google “web design proposal template.” Who is at the top of the list?

When you search for “web design proposal template” on Google, the first result is a landing page on Bidsketch. It’s filled with great advice (“Demonstrate you understand their problems with a Problem Statement”), and research bits like this:

Our research shows that online proposals are accepted 60% faster than traditional proposals, and they’re 18% more likely to be accepted overall.

Finally, at the bottom of the page, the reader has a chance to enter their email and get free templates sent to their email address:

After giving great information on screen, the reader can get the templates sent to their inbox

Moments later, an email pops up in the prospect’s inbox. It has a download link to a zip file that contains two proposal templates (in Word, Pages, and InDesign formats). The templates are high quality and could easily save a freelancer hours of work. But if a freelancer wants an automated, online solution for creating proposals, they know where to go: Bidsketch.

Have a point of view that gets people talking

From the beginning, it was clear that Basecamp’s Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson had strong opinions. In their book, Rework, they spell it out:

Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service. You have to believe in something. A strong stand is how you attract superfans. They spread the word further, wider, and more passionately than any advertising could.

Not everyone likes Basecamp. But the founders have drawn a line in the sand: they’re clear about what they believe in.

A point of view invites discussion: “Can you believe they said this?” “What do you think about this?” “I agree with them.”

Share your process

When Alex Turnball started Groove, he knew he wanted to do things differently than he had with his first company, Bantam Live. Groove is help desk software for small businesses.

Instead of buying ads or starting an affiliate program, Alex decided they would publicly share Groove’s journey from $28,525 to $100,000 in monthly revenue.⁷

Groove made their revenue numbers transparent

In 14 months, the Groove team wrote over 50 blog posts detailing the tactics they used (and the lessons they learned) to get to $100k in recurring revenue. People responded to it in a big way. Over 30,000 people signed up to get regular updates on the company’s progress.

The next step

A lead is a potential customer: someone who has the intent to buy and the budget to do so. Someone knowing about your product isn’t enough. Nurture your leads from initial contact through a series of steps up until the purchase. In the next chapter, we’ll look at the sales funnel and how you can keep your leads engaged.

Footnotes

1. http://doubleyouraudience.com/microconf/ ↩

2. WP Engine: How A Startup Reached $1M in Sales in Less Than a Year - with Jason Cohen, Mixergy, 2012 ↩

3. http://blog.close.io/how-to-do-referral-sales ↩

4. Send a File to New Subscribers, MailChimp ↩

5. sivers.org ↩

6. https://www.bidsketch.com/proposal-resources/proposal-templates/ ↩

7. https://www.groovehq.com/blog/100k ↩