I got my first $999 client for my subscription design business - here's what I did

[bijoyuhuji]

Hy Everyone,

I started a subscription design agency in Jan 2023 leaving my full time job and being a developer and designer by profession, I had 0 sales or marketing skills.

Methods I tried

I tried the following things but nothing worked:

1. Linkedin
2. X
3. Indie Hackers
4. Approached YC companies which were recently funded
5. Approached Startups that just started in last 1 year and received funding
6. Approached various marketing agencies to partner with them, for outsourced design partner
7. Companies hiring for UI/UX designer on contract position
8. Fetched Lead contact and email through apollo -> Hired a cold calling guy on fiverr -> Asked him to call everyone on the list (after the service I felt I got scammed)

I didn’t go with the Ads as I didn’t have much savings remanning. Also, I think ads don’t do any good to business unless you spend a lot through a good strategy

Got my first project gig

After trying different ways for a couple of months, my friend referred me to one of his client who is looking to build his website. When I met the client he told me his budget was $300. Even-though I knew the value of my skills, I took to the project to start some revenue.

More project gig and first client acquisition

Second client: $300 (friend referral)

Third Client: $400(Coworking space I go to)

Fourth Client: $480 (Coworking Space I go to)

The third client got really impressed by our service and post support which led them to buy our design subscription.

Things I am trying

Although, one client is not enough but atleast we got the kickstart.Following things I am trying in parallel:

1. Trying different marketing strategies to find what works.
2. Tried hardcore sales -> Cold Calling ( I came to conclusion it is not for me)
3. Started taking communication classes ( Being an introvert and for my business. It’s the must. highly recommended for someone who falls in the category)
4. Linkedin valuable content generation
5. X Valuable content generation

Things I will try in future

In future, I might deploy my own sales team for cold calling, cold emailing and social media marketing but at the moment I plan to find 4-5 clients who subscribe to my agency subscription.

My key learnings:

1. Starting a business is easy but getting a client is 100 times harder
2. If you are new to business, don’t let single lead get out of your hand. You don’t know who they may refer.
3. Take the work even if it doesn’t pay according to the value you provide, it helps pay the bills.
4. Getting organic clients is hard.

 

[irishbelle]

@bijoyuhuji Congrats . As an introvert myself I find this very interesting. Do you have any recommendations regarding the communication classes?

 

[bijoyuhuji]

@irishbelle Yes, One of my friend found her on linkedin and, he recommend her to me.

I will say she is one of the best teacher I got. She teaches me personally for 1 hour and forces me to speak.

 

[formertweaker]

@bijoyuhuji Would you mind sharing profile link?