Week 3 update — sent my first DMs, still $0, but something shifted
Hey IH đź‘‹
Quick update on my $20k in 6 months challenge.
Week 3 just started — First Client Hunt week.
Here's what I did today:
→ Sent personalised DMs to 6 Lagos product businesses on X
→ Each one selling through WhatsApp and DMs with no website
→ Pitched them a clean, affordable website solution
→ Replied under Bitcoin and Bybit posts to attract crypto clients for my Solana token deployment service
Revenue: still $0. But this is the first week I'm actually talking to real potential buyers instead of just building and posting.
The shift from "building" to "selling" is uncomfortable. You feel like you're bothering people. But the product doesn't sell itself.
One Fiverr order is also in progress — small job, but it will be my first review. That matters more than the money right now.
Two questions:
- How many DMs did it take before you got your first reply?
- Any tips for converting cold DMs to paid work fast?
The first reply usually depends less on DM count and more on whether the message hits a pain the buyer already feels.
For the Lagos businesses, I’d be careful pitching “a clean affordable website” too broadly. A lot of small sellers hear that as nice-to-have.
The sharper question is: what are they losing right now because everything happens inside WhatsApp and DMs?
Missed orders, weak trust, no product catalog, no easy payment flow, no proof for new buyers — one of those has to become the hook.
Small shift: don’t sell the website first. Sell the business problem the website removes.
Happy to put a tighter first-client DM angle in writing if useful. This is exactly the kind of week where fixing the offer can matter more than sending 100 more messages.
Appreciate that, @aryan_sinh.
You hit the nail on the head.
I’ve been trying to move away from just pushing 'web design' and focusing more on fixing the actual bottlenecks these business owners face, but it's easy to lose sight of that when you're in the middle of the grind.
It's definitely a slower way to do things, and honestly, it can feel like a slog sometimes.
But I know it's the right move for the long term.
Thanks for the gut check—definitely needed that reminder.
That's exactly why I'd be careful here.
A lot of founders end up sending more messages when the real bottleneck is the offer sitting underneath them.
The useful part is making the actual call on which problem should carry the outreach, because that can change the response quality more than the next 100 DMs.
If useful, drop your email and I'll put the tighter version together properly.
[email protected]
I really appreciate.
Just sent it over by email.
Thank you, I really appreciate.
Hey Thomas,
Just realized it's been a while since our email exchange.
I sent over a few follow-ups after the payment link and wasn't sure whether they reached you or just got buried.
Either way, hope things are moving in the right direction.