Startup Customer Acquisition 101: How to Get Your First 100 Customers

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur or startup founder struggling to get your first 100 customers?

Let me share 3 effective strategies that helped me attract my first 100 customers - all without a big marketing budget. These actionable business tips are specifically tailored for early-stage founders looking to kick-start their customer acquisition efforts.
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If you're passionate about entrepreneurship and looking for practical business advice and tips, this is for you!

→ How to get your first 100 paying customers.
→ Practical tips to help you build brand awareness and trust.
→ How to create your own supportive network from the outset.

Let's dive in.

When I started my first business, I thought that getting new customers required a big budget, a lot of time and cold calling - being the sleazy salesman.

Fortunately, none of that is true.

Instead, there are smart marketing strategies that work exceptionally well, even if you're just starting out. Let me show you 3 powerful tactics that don't require a huge budget, don't take up too much time and definitely don't involve cold outreach.

These strategies are tailor-made for early-stage founders like you.

If you are just starting out, this is probably the most important strategy:
Use your personal network.

Why? Because people in your network already know and trust you (so we are not cold-calling).

But when you reach out to your friends, family and former colleagues, you're not looking for sales - I mean, there's little value in your mum buying your product. What you are really looking for are connections and people in THEIR network who could benefit from your product.

I'll show you how to use this strategy step by step in a moment, but remember that you're not asking for a direct sale. You want to spread the word first.

Here is how to use your personal network step by step:

Grab your phone, check your LinkedIn or email contacts and make a list of everyone you know. Now sort the list by 'Trust is already established'.

Like family at the top, then your friends, classmates and then professional contacts. This is super important - I'll tell you why in a minute.

Once you have your list - you reach out to each person - you start at the top of your list. And this is why it was so important to sort your list:

The people at the top - your family and friends - trust you - they will text you back and support you.

The further down your list you go, the less likely people are to help you, and more importantly, those people will be annoyed if you cold message them. That's how you become the sleazy salesman - and that's what we want to avoid.

So build trust and rapport first. Your message can be simple: Explain what your product is about, who you help and how you help them.

For example, if you are building a mediation app, you could say:

"Hey Amanda,
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I just launched my meditation app that gives people tips on how to relax during a busy day at work.

Do you know anyone in your network who might find this valuable?
I would really appreciate it if you could share it with them."

So don't sell directly. Ask if they know anyone in their network who could benefit from your solution.

If someone refers you to someone in their network, follow up with the same approach: A personalized message that offers value without asking for a sale.

It's all about maintaining that trust.

Next is my favorite: Content marketing combined with a powerful lead magnet. Content marketing means creating valuable assets for your audience - like ebooks, videos or blog articles.

Your goal is to build trust and stay in the minds of your prospects.

But here is the twist - we combine our content with a powerful lead magnet.

A lead magnet is like a checklist, worksheet or ebook that people can download for free from your website - in exchange for their email address.

So here is how it works, step by step:

Start by researching your target audience. What problems do they face that your product or service can solve?

This is important to know because the content you create should revolve around these issues. Let's stick with the meditation app example - let's say your audience are people who are stressed throughout the working day.

So some problems your audience has are:
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• "How can I be more relaxed during the day?"
• "How can I implement a meditation routine into my stressful workday?"

These are the topics of interest to you.

The next step is to create the content. For example, you create a blog article about why meditation is so important during the workday.

Now - and this is key - at the end of your article you show your lead magnet - the worksheet - "10 ways to implement meditation routines in your daily life".

Since this is highly relevant to the article and the pain point your audience has, people will want to download it - in exchange for their email address.

After they download your lead magnet, they are automatically added to the newsletter. You have 2 goals with your newsletter - add value and drive people to your main product.

Here is how you do it:
You send 5 emails in the first week.

In the first 2 emails, you send more valuable content - for example, sharing helpful tips or resources related to meditation and relaxation.

In the third email, you slowly transition to your main product and show how it helps people.

The last two emails really sell your product - use strong calls to action and show customer testimonials or success stories to encourage conversion.

You might be thinking: 5 emails in a week? Isn't that too much? Won't people get annoyed?

No - because you are sending valuable content first and the offer is highly relevant. As long as you do that, your offer won't be annoying.

After these 5 emails, you should nurture your leads with more valuable content - for example, send one valuable email a week to stay top of mind and show how you can help them solve their problem.

If you're an early-stage founder, this tip is perfect for you: It's about sharing your story early on. We often feel like we don't have anything valuable to share in the beginning, but that's not true.

People want to see your progress, and you can build a strong community early on.

Here's how to do it:

Document everything - scribbles, dribbles, wireframes, behind-the-scenes photos, team photos, or photos of your office space.

Once you have your collection of wireframes, scribbles and other content, create engaging posts and share them with your community on social media.

Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. You're just starting out and making mistakes is part of the process. It makes you relatable and human.

Be authentic about your experience.

Once you've built some engagement and have some people in your community - offer your product for free to a select group of early supporters. This could be a beta version or a free trial for a limited time.

At this stage you want to get some customer feedback to help you improve your product.

After your early users have given you feedback, ask for their testimonials. This will not only help you improve your product, but also provide social proof for potential future customers.

And once you've got your testimonials, it's time to fully launch your product to your community. If you've done a good job of nurturing this community early on, your first customers should come organically.

Here is a pro tip for your launch - consider offering a 50% discount to the first 50 customers.

This strategy not only encourages early adopters, but also helps create a buzz around your product.

Attracting your first customers is not easy. I remember struggling with it as well—but that was because I didn’t know about these strategies. Now you know, and nothing can hold you back!

Use your personal networks, create valuable content, and share your story early on.

Now these are just 3 marketing strategies you can use. If you want a step-by-step framework on how to find the best marketing channel for your business, check out my Marketing Channel Bundle.

The Marketing Channel Bundle helps you find the best marketing channels for your business, without wasting any budget on costly ads.