How to Get Your First 100 Customers When You Have No Network
No email list. No Twitter following. No warm leads. Here's the tactical playbook for finding your first customers when you're starting from zero.
January 8, 2025 10 min read
You Built It. Nobody Came.
You spent months building your MVP. You launched on Product Hunt. You posted in a few Facebook groups. You sent a LinkedIn message to people you haven't talked to in years.
You got 12 signups. Three were bots. Four never logged in again. Five are your friends being supportive.
Zero paying customers.
The advice everywhere says "build an audience first" and "leverage your network." Great. You don't have either.
Here's the tactical playbook for finding your first 100 customers when you're starting from absolute zero.
The Harsh Reality About Distribution
Building the product is 20% of the work. Finding customers is the other 80%. Understanding how to rescue a failed MVP requires knowing what went wrong with distribution.
What doesn't work when you have no network:
Social media posting:
Your tweets get 3 likes from bots
Your LinkedIn posts reach 47 people
Your Instagram isn't built for B2B
You're shouting into the void
"Launch" strategies:
Product Hunt gets you 100 signups, 0 paying customers
Stop planning and start building. We turn your idea into a production-ready product in 6-8 weeks.
Waiting for virality:
Your product isn't viral (few are)
Word of mouth takes months to build
Viral marketing requires network effects
You need revenue before you run out of money
If you have no network, you need tactics that work regardless of your following. Here they are.
Channel 1: Manual Outreach (The Unglamorous Truth)
The first 100 customers come from talking to humans one at a time.
The outreach framework that works:
Step 1: Identify exactly who would pay for this
Not "small businesses" or "marketers"
Specific job titles who have this specific problem
Companies at a specific stage with specific triggers
People you can actually find and contact
Example: Not "e-commerce companies." Instead: "Shopify store owners doing $10K-$50K/month who manually reconcile orders in spreadsheets."
Step 2: Find 100 of them
LinkedIn search:
Filter by job title, company size, industry
Export to CSV using tools (Phantombuster, Expandi)
Find companies matching your criteria
Identify decision-makers
Industry directories:
G2 user reviews show companies using competitors
BuiltWith shows tech stacks of companies
AngelList shows funded startups by category
Crunchbase shows companies by funding stage
Communities they're already in:
Industry-specific Slack channels
Reddit communities for their role
Facebook groups for their industry
Discord servers for their interests
Step 3: Craft outreach that doesn't suck
Bad outreach (what everyone does):
"Hi [Name], I noticed you work at [Company]. We built a tool that helps companies like yours. Would you be interested in a demo?"
Generic. Self-focused. Clearly templated. Delete.
Good outreach:
"Hi [Name], saw your post about reconciliation headaches with Shopify and QuickBooks. Built something that might save you 5 hours/week on this specific problem. Cool if I show you how it works?"
Specific. Problem-focused. Personalized. Shows you understand their world.
Step 4: Follow up relentlessly
The follow-up sequence:
Day 0: Initial outreach
Day 3: Quick follow-up referencing the problem
Day 7: Share relevant insight or resource
Day 14: Last attempt with different angle
80% of sales happen after the 5th touchpoint. Most people give up after one email.
Step 5: Track everything
Use a simple spreadsheet:
Name, company, contact method
Date of each touchpoint
Response status
Notes on conversation
You need volume. 100 outreach attempts should get 20 responses and 5 demos.
Channel 2: Go Where They Already Are
You can't build an audience from zero fast. But you can borrow existing ones.
Community infiltration strategy:
Find the right communities:
Slack/Discord groups for their industry
Reddit subreddits where they complain about problems
Facebook groups where they ask for solutions
Industry forums and Q&A sites
Example: Building for freelancers? They're in /r/freelance, Freelancers Union Slack, niche industry Discords.
The contribution ladder:
Week 1-2: Lurk and learn
Read without posting
Understand the culture and rules
Identify recurring pain points
See what solutions get recommended
Week 3-4: Provide value with no pitch
Answer questions generously
Share insights from your experience
Help people solve problems
Build credibility
Week 5+: Introduce your solution naturally
When someone asks about your specific problem
When you can genuinely solve their stated issue
In a helpful comment, not as a top-level post
With context about why you built it
Critical rules:
Follow community guidelines obsessively
Never spam or hard sell
Give 10x more value than you take
Build relationships, not just leads
This approach takes weeks but gets you qualified, warm leads who already trust you.
Channel 3: Content That Attracts Your Customer
You don't need an audience. You need to be findable when your customer searches for solutions.
SEO content strategy (the 90-day version):
Month 1: Keyword research
Find what your customers actually search:
Use AnswerThePublic for question-based searches
Check Google autocomplete for your problem space
Look at competitor blog traffic (Ahrefs, SEMrush)
Mine Reddit/forums for how people describe the problem
Target long-tail, buyer-intent keywords:
Not "project management software"
Instead "how to track freelancer hours for client billing"
Low competition, high intent, actually achievable.
Month 2-3: Write 10-15 comprehensive guides
Each targeting a specific long-tail keyword:
How to solve this specific problem
Alternative solutions and tradeoffs
When to use different approaches
How your product solves it (mentioned naturally, not pitched)
Format:
1,500-2,500 words
Genuinely helpful, not just SEO bait
Screenshots, examples, step-by-step
Better than existing content ranking
You won't rank immediately. But in 3-6 months, these become your best lead source.
Immediate traction hack:
Answer questions where your customers are:
Quora questions about your problem space
Reddit threads asking for solutions
Twitter searches for people complaining about the problem
Facebook group questions
Provide genuinely helpful answers. Link to your content (not your product) for more detail.
This gets you immediate visibility while SEO builds up.
Channel 4: Partnership and Integration Strategy
Your first customers are often using tools that could integrate with yours.
The integration playbook:
Step 1: Identify complementary tools
What do your ideal customers already use?
What tools create the problem you solve?
What tools are adjacent to your use case?
Example: Building an invoicing tool? Your customers use Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks, time tracking tools.
Step 2: Build lightweight integrations
Start with one-way data sync
Make it genuinely useful, not just a gimmick
Document it thoroughly
Make setup dead simple
Step 3: Get listed in their marketplace
Most SaaS tools have integration directories
Many promote new integrations to their users
Instant access to qualified audience
Credibility from being "official"
Step 4: Co-marketing with integration partners
Joint webinar showing the integration
Guest post on their blog
Case study featuring both tools
Affiliate arrangement where they recommend you
One solid integration can bring 50-100 customers if executed well.
Channel 5: Build in Public and Document Journey
Transparency builds trust and audience simultaneously.
The build-in-public playbook:
What to share:
Weekly updates on customers, revenue, learnings
Specific tactics that worked or failed
Behind-the-scenes of running the business
Problems you're solving and how
Where to share:
Twitter/X with consistent threading
LinkedIn articles for professional audience
Indie Hackers for founder community
Your own blog for long-form depth
The format that works:
Weekly update template:
Metrics (signups, revenue, churn)
What worked this week
What failed this week
One specific learning
Next week's focus
Example:
"Week 8: Hit $2K MRR. Got 12 customers from cold email (32% response rate). Failed at Product Hunt launch (0 conversions). Learned: Personalized outreach > spray and pray. Next week: Testing Reddit strategy."
Why this works:
Builds audience as you grow
Creates accountability and momentum
Attracts people solving similar problems
Documents lessons for future customers
You won't get 100 customers from building in public. But you'll get 10-20, plus an audience that grows with you.
The First 10 vs. The Next 90
Different tactics work at different stages.
For customers 1-10 (do things that don't scale):
Manual outreach to perfect-fit customers
Personal demos and onboarding
Extensive hand-holding
Direct Slack/email access to you
Custom features for early customers
Goals: Learn what actually matters. Refine the pitch. Validate pricing. Build case studies.
For customers 11-50 (find repeatable channels):
Double down on what worked for first 10
Test multiple acquisition channels
Improve self-serve onboarding
Create template responses
Start tracking metrics by channel
Goals: Find 1-2 channels that consistently work. Build processes. Reduce time per customer.
For customers 51-100 (scale what works):
Focus only on proven channels
Automate onboarding and activation
Build content for self-serve
Hire or outsource repetitive tasks
Optimize conversion funnels
Goals: Efficiency and repeatability. Laying groundwork for scale beyond 100.
Don't try to build scalable acquisition at customer zero. Do manual things first, then systematize what works.
The Weekly Acquisition Routine
Consistency beats intensity. Do a little every day instead of big pushes.
Daily (30-60 minutes):
Send 10 personalized outreach messages
Answer 3-5 questions in communities
Engage with potential customers on social
Follow up with people who responded
Weekly (2-3 hours):
Write one piece of content (blog post, how-to, guide)
Post build-in-public update
Review metrics and what's working
Adjust tactics based on data
Monthly (4-5 hours):
Deep dive on one acquisition channel
Test one new channel
Analyze customer acquisition cost by source
Interview customers about how they found you
This sustainable pace gets you 10-15 customers per month. That's 100 in 6-8 months.
What Worked for Real Founders (No BS Case Studies)
Example 1: Manual outreach → first 50 customers
SaaS for freelance designers
Sent 500 personalized LinkedIn messages
23% response rate
47 demos booked
18 paid customers in month 1
Example 2: Community strategy → first 30 customers
Tool for Shopify store owners
Joined 8 Shopify Facebook groups
Spent 6 weeks answering questions
Mentioned tool naturally when relevant
32 customers from communities in 3 months
Example 3: Integration marketplace → first 40 customers
Built Stripe integration for specific use case
Listed in Stripe marketplace
3,000 marketplace views
120 installations
38 paid conversions
Example 4: SEO content → slow build to 100
Wrote 20 comprehensive guides
Took 4 months to start ranking
Months 5-8: 15-20 signups/month from organic
Month 9: 40 signups from organic
Hit 100 customers in month 10
All of them: zero network at start, 100 customers within a year.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
Track the right numbers to know if you're making progress.
Acquisition metrics:
Outreach sent per week
Response rate (should be 15-25% if personalized)
Demo-to-customer conversion (should be 20-30%)
Cost per customer (time and money)
Time to close from first contact
Channel metrics:
Where did each customer come from?
Which channel has best conversion rate?
Which channel has lowest cost per customer?
Which channel brings best long-term customers?
Don't obsess over:
Vanity metrics (followers, impressions, signups)
Short-term virality
Launch day numbers
Only thing that matters: paying customers and the cost to acquire them.
When to Get Help with GTM
Building the product is the beginning. Getting customers is the real work.
If you're 3 months post-launch with fewer than 10 paying customers, you have a distribution problem, not a product problem.
Signs you need GTM help:
Strong product, no customers
Customers love it but you can't find more
Tried multiple channels, nothing sticks
Don't know where to focus effort
For additional context on post-launch strategy, see our guide on the first 30 days after launch. Sometimes working with an agency that understands go-to-market makes sense. Not for ads or growth hacking. For helping you identify and execute the right channels for your specific customer.
Ship Product, Then Ship Marketing
You can't get 100 customers without a product worth buying. But you also can't get them without actively finding people and showing them why it matters.
The playbook:
Build something that solves a real problem for specific people
Find those specific people where they already are
Show them you understand their problem better than they do
Help them see how your solution changes their life
Make it easy to start using and paying
Do it consistently, every single day
No hacks. No viral tricks. No audience required.
Just clarity on who needs what you built and relentless execution on reaching them.
Ready to build an MVP that's worth marketing? Start with MVP development that solves a specific problem, then use this playbook to find the people who need it.
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