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

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
03:00 - The Dream 100 Strategy
10:48 - The Canvas Strategy (for reaching out)
17:59 - Go Where Your Audience Lives
27:08 - The Power of Strategic Gifting
36:20 - Content Creation (if you choose to)
40:34 - 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/...

The Canvas Strategy Ep:    • How to meet anyone you want  

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BoringMarketing — SEO agency and tools to get your organic customers http://boringmarketing.com/

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FIND JONATHAN ON SOCIAL

X/Twitter:   / jicecream  
LinkedIn:   / jonathan-courtney-4510644b  
AJ&Smart: https://ajsmart.com/