How did you acquire your first paying customer?
Paul VanZandt
42 replies
Getting early customers for your product isn't easy - they need to buy into your vision and get a ton of value from your product.
Let me know if you have any inspiring (or lucky ☘️) stories about how you attracted and closed on your first paying customer!
Replies
Dale Nguyen@dalenguyen
I had an idea, then I create a simple FREE version of it to see if people have any interest. Then put a form where people who want to have a PAID version contact me for more info.
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Tagbox.io
Kind of a different story for us. Important lessons below:
We got two HUGE paying customers before we even wrote a single line of code. These were companies where iI knew the managers, and the deal was basically a vote of confidence in us as a team. We built and built until we launched. They loved it and used it all the time.
However, for a very long time, we couldn't get more customers. As it turned out, these first customers weren't really ideal, as other similar customers weren't willing to pay anything close to what they were, and they demanded a lot more.
We needed to pivot twice to find our ideal customers, which turned out to be really different from our first customers.
In the end, getting "easy" customers cost us +6 months of hard work.
So yeah - do anything to get those first customers - but make sure they are of the reproducible variety.
Side Project OS
By reaching out to a podcast host and letting them know they inspired us to build a product. We sent them the link to check it out for free and they ended up purchasing anyway!
@hugh_dawkins I hadn't thought about reaching out to some sources of inspiration, this is good advice. Was your product podcast-related or did they just like the vision?
Side Project OS
@paul_vanzandt it was the Run WIith It podcast with a guest feature from Courtland of Indie Hackers so definetely related!
The first paying customer was from our own network with whom we started discussing the product idea early on.
However I think while doing the research for your product idea you'll come across a lot of people of who would be looking for solution and mostly they eventually becomes your first paying customers
@anil_meena21 Agreed - networking throughout the process is one of the biggest sources of interest and potential leads
As you’ve done the groundwork to launch your business, you’ve undoubtedly met some people who could be potential customers. For instance, these could include people you surveyed in a focus group or connected with on social media. Put them on a list of prospects. B2B startups can put businesses they’ve interacted with on the list. You can also do some homework online to find companies that are likely buyers for what you sell and add them to your list.
JCPenneyKiosk
If you have set a strong sales& product value and know how to market it , then your people/ business will come to you and pay for your services ! no matter how you charge as long as they feel that got value for what they pay ( brand/product positioning ) and be clear on your offering !
Verticalls
Is a person from my boss' network, he tested, approved and now he takes a license on Verticalls for his new recruits !
And you ?
@enola_vedovott Thanks for sharing! We're still looking for our first paid customer, but we have both B2C and B2B business models and we're close to closing a new business integration so fingers crossed 🤞
Word of mouth
WorkHub
The trick is to recognize that sometimes your first and best paying customers come from the least likely source. If you've built something valuable enough, and your sales and marketing are on point, then it doesn't matter how long it takes to bring on a paying customer. Sometimes, a great product will attract the right people at the right time.
@qudsia_ali Especially early on, I wouldn't say it doesn't matter how long it takes, but I definitely agree that you can see interest from a ton of different areas that you might not expect. Especially for horizontal SaaS businesses, this is very possible.
My first paying customer was someone whom I had known quite well. I had asked her to be a pilot customer, and she was a good one. I figured out that she got value from our app. So I requested for to be a paying customer; I gave a good offer and discount. And she was interested.
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NVSTly: Social Investing
We're still working away on our app but it's currently functional through a Discord bot. It's a free app and membership isn't needed but I find if people truly enjoy what you've created and have a use for it and continue to push updates that include additional features they will choose to support it. Currently, the majority of our premium perks is mainly recognition, and we're giving early subscribers exactly that.
Mikrolo
My first paying customer was a friend of my highschool friend.
We are still on this road, when we get there, we will come back here and share.
We presented our product (https://ucanremote.com/) at various events for startups. It was there that we found our first business clients. No matter how many modern tools there are for attracting potential clients, nothing compares to good old-fashioned live communication:)
@dashabanov I love that - it's definitely one of the best ways to ensure you're presenting to a hyper-engaged audience.
no customers yet! Actually don't really know how this place works
Let's show it off. Exhibit at trade shows that attract your target customer.
play solitaire
Let's put it on display. Attend trade shows where your ideal customer is present.
cookie clicker unblocked
Hi, Everyone. As to get first paying customer is quite difficult. But I remember that how easily I get my first paying customer. As I am doing SEO so first time I did the SEO of vice city apk for my client free of cost. And the he assigned me a paid task. So I always suggest to do some work free for your first client he will bring more customers for you.
@buxton_rosenweigson This is a great way to get in the door and secure customers. At Fresco (https://www.producthunt.com/upco...) we are planning to launch with a Freemium model so people can always get in the door for free.
