I'd love some feedback on my "$0 - $50k in 3 months" article!

Hello! I am writing an article about "3 things I did to make $50k in 3 months as a bootstrapped digital agency".

I would really love some feedback because I want to publish helpful content. Is this content useful? Is the writing clear and easy to understand? Does the flow of the article make sense (I tend to digress or bounce around a lot when I write)? What sort of visuals or additional things might be helpful to add?

3 things I did to make $50k in 3 months as a bootstrapped digital agency

Being a great designer or developer is not enough to get you clients. I say this with great pain because, as a creator, I want to believe that the quality and uniqueness of my work are what people value.

To get clients, you need to make the mental shift to “salesperson” or “business development”. These words probably make you feel slimy or gross. But awkward Zoom calls, cringe LinkedIn posts, and annoying cold emails aren’t the only way to get clients. I am going to tell you about 3 things that I did to take us from $0 to $50k in revenue in 3 months.

1) Tell everyone what you do. EVERYONE!

I had zero experience when I first made the switch to business development. (I started calling the job of finding clients business development because a) I hated to think I was a salesperson and b) it was truer to the actual job I was doing.) I watched every video and read every blog/article/Reddit thread I could. But nothing taught me more than getting out there and taking action.

I figured that no one was going to tell people what Stack Five did, how we did it, and why we were good at it. Here’s exactly what I did in my first 6 weeks.

Week 1:

Sent emails and messages to the first few people that came to mind when I thought about potential clients. I could only come up with about 6 or 7 individuals at the time.
Received a lot of non-responses or well-wishes.
Had 1 or 2 catch-up calls with no potential leads.
Realized I needed to do more.

Week 2:

Confronted my own mental blocks. I was scared of what people would think of me. I reframed my own perceptions and continued on.
Expanded my outreach to about 20 more people I had previously worked with. Many of them were individuals that I didn’t think would be good leads. But I figured that they might know someone that could become a lead.
Reframing my own perceptions changed my messaging. Rather than timidly and passively talking about what Stack Five did, I became bolder in my ask. My messages were something like this:

Hey <contact name>! It's been quite a while! How are you doing? Looks like you've been pretty busy since our days at <shared former employer>. I just checked out <contacts project> and it looks really awesome! Congrats on launching that! Anyways, I am currently working freelance and trying to find work, so I thought I'd reach out. I'd be more than happy to chat about anything development or design related that I might be able to help out with! Also, it would be neat to work together again :)

Quick side note, you might be wondering why I presented myself as a freelancer. I grappled with what Stack Five was for a long time. I wanted it to be a digital agency. But it was really just me. Presenting myself as an agency seemed too self-aggrandizing. So, for a while, I found it easier to tell people I was freelancing. They didn’t need to know about my plans to scale a digital agency.

Week 3

Started to see some results! My calendar filled up with a few real leads.
Many of these leads fell outside of our “ideal client project”, but I reframed my thinking again. I would rather get paid to do work than not get paid at all!
I expanded my outreach on social media, focusing on LinkedIn (this would prove to be the most valuable channel for me, and continues to be to this day), Twitter, and Facebook.
I created 3 message templates:
1. Friends — People that I would hang out with outside of work.
Hey <friend>! How’s it going? It’s been far too long since we’ve caught up. What’s been new with you?

Hey <friend>! I was just scrolling through <social media platform> and saw your <content>, so I thought I’d say hello! How are things going?

Hey <friend>! I was just thinking about <memory or shared experience> and I thought I’d say hello! How are things going?

The goal here is just to connect. Don’t sell to your friends. Reconnect with people and find out what they are up to. If the opportunity presents itself, then tell them about what you’re doing. Don’t force a video call or meet-up either. That can be awkward. Go with the flow of the conversation and just connect human to human.
1. Colleagues or acquaintances — People that I worked with or interacted with in a professional setting.
Hey <contact name>! It's been quite a while! How are you doing? Looks like you've been pretty busy since our days at <shared former employer>. I just checked out <contacts project> and it looks really awesome! Congrats on launching that! Anyways, I am currently working freelance and trying to find work, so I thought I'd reach out. I'd be more than happy to chat about anything development or design related that I might be able to help out with! Also, it would be neat to work together again :)

This is more or less the same template I used in my previous week's outreach. In later iterations of this message, I tried a more humble approach. I would mention that the recipient probably didn’t even remember me. More often than not their response surprised me! I wasn't aware of how people perceived me. Don’t underestimate the power of your impact on others!
1. Complete strangers — Mostly random people that somehow ended up in my social media contact lists.
Hey <contact name>! How are you doing? I found you randomly on <social platform> and just checked out <contact’s company or project>. You’re doing some awesome work! I am currently working freelance and trying to find work, so I thought I'd reach out. I'd be more than happy to chat about anything development or design related that I might be able to help out with!

Cold outreach sucks. I tried many different iterations of this template with little success. In future rounds of cold outreach, I would try to at least create some warmth around the interaction by finding a more personal reason to reach out. I eventually found something that worked for me, which I’ll talk about in Step 2.

Weeks 4, 5, and 6

Continued to do the same type of outreach while taking meetings with leads. By the end of week 6, I had sent out roughly 1000 messages through email, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
We landed 2 small projects initially. A design project for $2k and a full custom website project for $10k!
Eventually, the work I did in these 6 weeks landed us 9 more small projects, which totaled a little over $50k. One of these leads turned into a large client ($50k+ contract) several months later. That project enabled us to hire our first full-time employee!
I juggled design, development, and outreach over the next several months. It was a tough balance to strike, but I eventually I found something that worked.

2) Reach out to make a genuine connection, not to sell.

People buy from those they trust, have confidence in, and like. - Neil Patel

People get sold to all the time. You probably get sold to all the time. No one likes it. So I tried to be the opposite of every annoying cold email or LinkedIn message.

How do you do that? It’s pretty tough, especially with a total stranger. Here’s how I approached things with each type of person that I did outreach to:

Friend — Reach out to connect. I’ve already said this before, but don’t sell to friends. Be a good and genuine friend and don’t have any expectations. Most good friends will ask what you’re up to and will want to help if they can. If they don’t then don’t worry about it! At least you got to renew your connection with another human being!
Colleague / Acquaintance — There is already an underlying assumption that you are connecting for professional reasons. So there isn’t a need to jump into a sales pitch. Usually, if you are genuinely curious about what they are up to, they will reciprocate. Asking good questions can also lead to discovering some ways that you can help them!
Stranger — The best way to approach a stranger is to quickly figure out a way to warm the relationship. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but I’ll list out 3 that have worked for me:
1. Comb through LinkedIn for shared experiences, contacts, or employers. They may not have worked with you, but you may have shared colleagues or acquaintances. Even talking about a friend that worked at the same company as them can spark an interesting conversation.
2. Pick out something unique in their experience and ask about it. I love finding people that have completely changed careers! It’s an easy thing to notice and ask about. They'll be excited to tell you about their career change because a transition like that doesn’t usually come lightly. It is purposeful and takes a lot of effort.
3. Ask for advice. This is by far the best way to connect with a stranger. I’ve had the most success with cold outreach by looking for mentorship and advice from people further along in their careers.

3) Be excited about what you do.

No one else should be more excited about what you do than you. Just make sure you express that excitement to others or else no one will know! You don’t need to do it in a boastful or bragging way. But you do need to do it. People are attracted to those that show passion and excitement.

Here are some ways that I’ve expressed my excitement about Stack Five:

When someone asks you “how’s it going?” or “what’s new with business?” make sure you have something interesting to tell them! Tell a crazy client story. Stories are a great way of connecting. Talk about your latest project and why you find it so engaging! Tell them about struggling to balance work and life. But, for the love of god, don’t say “things are good” and end it there.
Tell your story. Have a compelling narrative behind why you’re doing what you’re doing. People will want to be part of an exciting narrative or, at the very least, help you in your journey!
Be excited about what others are doing. Connect the dots between what they’re doing and what you’re doing. Most of your initial clients will come through your own network. Connecting the dots of your story and theirs will make the collaboration seem inevitable.

Conclusion

No one is going to grow your business for you. There isn’t a magic marketing strategy or cold email template. And your work isn’t going to speak for itself. The only way to get clients is to get out there and be the voice for your business.

If you’ve been a designer, developer, or any sort of creator for most of your career, then doing these things will feel foreign and uncomfortable. But this is your new full-time job. And yes, your full-time job is also to do the project work once you’ve landed the clients (unless you have the means to live off less).

But don’t be discouraged. Starting something new is hard and always requires extra effort. Stick with it and believe in yourself. Once things start rolling you’ll have momentum on your side. Take each conversation and relationship one at a time. And remember that most people want you to succeed! I know I certainly do :)

I know I'm not the greatest writer, but I am trying to work on getting better. I want to focus on creating better content and I know that only comes with practice and accepting critical feedback!