How to get your first-paying users? 🙏

I love talking to early-stage founders. Most ask me how to get to customers. 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘'𝗦 𝗛𝗢𝗪: — 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗣 — 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴. 👀 First, set 1-3 ideal profiles who could become customers that you want to test. Second, set a deadline. Depending on the complexity of the sale/solution (best guess), set a number of weeks until you get to the first patterns. Three, for most products to get legitimate results, you only need up to 10 connected stories (patterns) confirmed. Analyze and then do the following. — 𝗘𝗫𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗘 — 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲-𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 🚀 1. Which channel/medium does your ideal customer spend the time on? - If you are selling some consumer-like products, you should focus on Reddit - If you are selling B2B SaaS software, it's likely LinkedIn - If you are selling services, it's likely referrals 2. Best guess what outreach strategy will yield results and adjust as you go. - Cold outreach 1:1 with your potential customers or channel owners - Sharing content if you have an audience in your target medium - Community engagement (showcasing your resourcefulness) 3. What problems are timely, relevant, and worth solving for your ideal customer? - Prepare copy based on the above answers - Focus on one tiny ask at a time - Focus on benefits, not features — 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘'𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗦 (𝗕𝟮𝗕, 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦) — 😍 1. My personal network → ~200 users 2. Marketplace: Product Hunt → ~100 users 3. Cold outreach: Email/LinkedIn → ~200 users 4. Marketplace: Review platforms → ~100 users 5. Content / SEO strategy → ~200 users 6. Partnerships: Affiliates → ~200 users Our initial conversion rate from Trial to Paid was around 16%, and it took 15-30 days to become a customer (paid user). *** How do you acquire customers?