From Zero to Hero How to Get Your First 5 Customers Ep 572

Alex, in a sneak peek from his forthcoming book "100 Million Dollar Leads," outlines a ten-step strategy to acquire the first five customers for a new business with no monetary investment, just time. He emphasizes simplicity and human connection, starting with compiling contacts from emails, social media, and phones to create a potential customer list. Alex then guides on personalizing outreach messages and using his AcA (Acknowledge, Compliment, Ask) framework to build rapport and subtly transition discussions towards one's services. He suggests offering services for free initially to gain experience, feedback, and testimonials, akin to how Warren Buffett offered to work for Ben Graham. As referrals and demand grow, Alex advises gradually increasing prices and maintaining warm relationships with the contact list for sustainable business growth. He also teases exclusive content for attendees of a free virtual event for his book release.

• Alex introduces the concept of simplifying customer acquisition.
• Emphasizes that many resources overcomplicate scaling and growing a business.
• Offers a sneak peek from his upcoming book "100 million dollar leads".
• Provides a website link for further details on his book.
• Stresses the importance of starting with the basics of business setup.

"The wild world of YouTube has videos everywhere telling you how to scale and grow, but I think people overcomplicate it."

This quote underlines Alex's belief that the process of scaling and growing a business is often made more complicated than necessary, setting the stage for his simplified approach.

"I had a video that that did really, really well, that talked about how I got my first customers in every one of the businesses that I ultimately scaled to multiple millions of dollars a month."

Alex references his past success and credibility in scaling businesses to highlight the effectiveness of his methods.

• Alex outlines three initial steps to becoming a business owner.
• Recommends forming an LLC, opening a bank account, and setting up payment processing.
• Congratulates the viewer on becoming a business owner after completing these steps.

"If you don't have a business one, get an LLC, which you can find on legal Zoom. Go to a bank with your LLC papers and get a bank account, and then go online with stripe or PayPal and get a way to process money."

This quote provides a concise checklist for the legal and financial setup required to start a business, emphasizing the ease of these initial steps.

• Alex discusses the importance of compiling a list of potential leads.
• Breaks down the process into three lists: email contacts, social media contacts, and phone contacts.
• Encourages viewers to realize they have more leads than initially thought.

"I want you to go to your email account, and I want you to pull all the contacts that you have in there, anybody that you've ever messaged or emailed."

This quote explains the first step in creating a list of potential leads by utilizing existing email contacts.

• Alex advises to pick one platform to start the outreach.
• Suggests selecting the platform where the user has the most contacts.
• Highlights the need for focus in the initial outreach efforts.

"So you have all these contacts, but you're going to have to pick one platform that you're going to start messaging or emailing them with."

This quote emphasizes the strategy of concentrating outreach efforts on a single platform to begin with, for efficiency and impact.

• Alex recommends personalizing messages to initiate contact.
• Suggests looking at profiles for personal details to mention.
• Encourages reaching out to 100 people daily to increase business visibility.

"You personalize your message. So what you want to do is you want to use something you already know about the person or prospect in order to initiate reaching out to them."

This quote stresses the importance of personalizing outreach to show genuine interest and attention to detail, which can help in establishing a connection with potential customers.

• Alex emphasizes the necessity of daily outreach to let people know about the business.
• Suggests dedicating the first four hours of the day to this task.
• Reminds that the initial stages of business require significant effort in advertising.

"The first thing you need is to let people know that you exist. Which is why advertising will take the majority of the beginning of your business career."

This quote underscores the critical role of advertising and outreach in the early stages of a business, as visibility is key to acquiring customers.

• Alex introduces the AcA framework for responding to potential customers.
• AcA stands for Acknowledge and Compliment, which is used to warm up the conversation.

"You warm them up. I use a framework that I call AcA. You acknowledge, that's what A stands for, compliment."

This quote presents a simple framework for engaging with individuals who reply to outreach messages, aiming to build rapport and a positive relationship.

• Active listening involves acknowledging what someone has told you.
• Acknowledging information shared by the other person shows that you are actively engaged in the conversation.

"I can acknowledge and say, oh, so you have two kids. That would be the acknowledgement of something they just told me."

This quote emphasizes the importance of acknowledging details shared by the conversation partner, demonstrating that you have heard and understood them.

• Complimenting involves giving the other person a positive label based on the information they've shared.
• This tactic is used to make the person feel good about themselves and to reinforce their self-perception.

"Wow, you have two kids. You must be a super mom. Working full time and having two kids."

The speaker uses a compliment to create a positive label ("super mom"), which is meant to flatter the individual and acknowledge their efforts.

• The strategy involves tying a question to the compliment previously given.
• The question leads the conversation towards the service or product being sold.

"Hey, so you're a super mom. Then we transition to whatever type of question that's going to lead them to the service we sell."

This quote shows how to smoothly transition from giving a compliment to asking a question that guides the person toward considering the speaker's services or products.

• Selling is framed as a natural part of human communication, not a manipulative tactic.
• The speaker emphasizes the human aspect of selling, suggesting that it involves understanding and interacting with people.

"This is how it's like selling. It's not because we're talking to fucking humans, it's all we're doing."

The speaker clarifies that the sales process is simply a form of human interaction, with the goal of understanding and responding to human needs and desires.

• The speaker suggests asking if the person knows anyone who might need the service, rather than directly selling to them.
• This approach is presented as a way to engage contacts without making them feel pressured to buy.

"Do you know anyone who's looking for x, Y and z? Because I'm opening up a few slots to help people do exactly that."

By asking for referrals, the speaker aims to expand their network and potential customer base without directly soliciting the individual they're conversing with.

• Differentiating between a lead and an engaged lead is crucial.
• An engaged lead shows interest in the product or service, which is a step closer to a potential sale.

"A lead is somebody that you can contact. An engaged lead is someone who you can contact, comma, who has shown interest in the thing that you sell."

This quote defines the difference between a general lead and an engaged lead, highlighting the importance of the latter's interest in the product or service offered.

• The strategy includes making an offer that is easy for the potential customer to accept.
• Honesty about one's experience level and capacity is advised when making the offer.

"I'm taking on five case studies for free because that's all I can handle."

The speaker suggests making an offer that is attractive and risk-free for the potential customer, while also being transparent about the limitations of the service provider.

• Gathering testimonials is important to demonstrate the effectiveness of a product or service.
• Sharing success stories helps to establish credibility and convince potential customers of the value being offered.

"I just had a girl named XxX work with me to get dream outcome, even though she described the same struggle."

This quote illustrates the use of testimonials to show prospective customers that others with similar struggles have achieved their desired outcomes through the speaker's service.

• Using humor to dissolve awkwardness in conversations.
• A suggested humorous response to someone not having anyone in mind when asked.
• The effectiveness of humor in eliciting genuine responses.

"Does anyone you like come to mind? If they say no? Here's a really funny way you can respond to that. Just say, ha ha. Does anyone you hate come to mind?"

This quote provides a specific example of using humor to navigate a potentially awkward moment in a conversation, suggesting that by asking about people they dislike, it may break the ice and lead to a more honest dialogue.

• The importance of having a target audience to sell products or services to.
• The speaker's personal success in advertising with a significant return on investment.
• Promotion of the speaker's forthcoming book and an event to share advertising insights.

"Well, the first thing that any business owner needs is someone to sell their stuff to. And I spent the last decade getting proficient at advertising to the point that right now I have a 36 to one return on advertising, meaning for every dollar I put in, I get $36 back."

This quote emphasizes the necessity for business owners to have a customer base and highlights the speaker's expertise and success in advertising, which is further shared through a book and an event.

• Crafting a concise and compelling business pitch.
• The importance of communicating the value proposition clearly and quickly.
• Offering guarantees to reduce perceived risk for potential customers.

"I help the type of customer get dream outcome in time period without effort and sacrifice, and I guarantee x, y, and z to decrease risk."

The quote outlines a formula for a succinct business pitch that addresses the customer's desires, the outcomes they can expect, the time frame, and the removal of effort or sacrifice, all while offering specific guarantees to lower the risk for the customer.

• Offering services for free under specific conditions to gain experience and feedback.
• The strategy of working for free to improve skills and attract initial customers.
• The story of Warren Buffett and Ben Graham illustrates the value exchange in offering free work.

"The reason we do it for free is you say, hey, I'm going to do all this stuff for free as long as you promise to do three things. One, you actually use my service. Two, you give me feedback on it. And three, leave a killer review if you think it deserves."

This quote explains the terms of providing services for free, which includes the customer's commitment to use the service, provide feedback, and potentially leave a positive review if they are satisfied, forming a value exchange rather than a simple free service.

• The concept of hidden costs in business transactions.
• Identifying and eliminating hidden costs to make a service more attractive.
• The potential to charge more later by removing these costs compared to competitors.

"If you figure out what all those hidden costs are, you can eliminate those hidden costs and then be able to charge significantly more for your solution later compared to the other people who charge for it and still include those hidden costs."

The quote discusses the strategy of identifying hidden costs that may deter customers from engaging with a service, even if it's offered for free. By eliminating these costs, a business can later justify charging more for their services compared to competitors who do not address these costs.

• The value of positive reviews, feedback, and referrals from customers who received free services.
• The process of using initial free service offerings to acquire the first customers and testimonials.
• The iterative process of reaching out to potential leads and refining the service offering.

"Once we have that, we have our first customers. Now we go to step eight. You start back at the top. So you had that big list and we hit all of them once and I'm back again."

This quote outlines the next steps after successfully engaging initial customers through free services. It suggests returning to the beginning of the customer list to re-engage potential leads, indicating an ongoing, cyclical process of business development and refinement.

• Begin charging for services once referrals indicate market validation.
• Incrementally increase prices from a significant discount to full and potentially above full price.
• Adjust pricing strategy based on feedback and improved value delivery.
• Transition free clients to paying clients or request reviews if they choose not to continue as paying clients.
• Utilize scarcity and demand to ethically sell services at a premium.

Once people start referring, that's when you know you are good enough to start charging.

This quote emphasizes the importance of referrals as a signal of readiness to begin charging for services.

You change free to 80% off and you say, that's for the next five.

Alex suggests a strategic discounting approach to transition from free to paid services.

Once you have those people and you started transitioning, congratulations, you are in business and you are making money.

This quote marks the transition from offering free services to running a profitable business.

• Recognize the balance of supply and demand as a fundamental business principle.
• Create true scarcity by filling slots with free and discounted clients.
• Use scarcity to increase desire for services and justify higher pricing.
• Ethically leverage limited supply to sell services with conviction.

Supply and demand is the single truth of business.

Alex identifies supply and demand as the core concept driving business operations and pricing strategy.

They will desire you more because you are scarce from a resource perspective.

Scarcity is presented as a key factor in increasing client desire and willingness to pay.

If you would like me to keep doing this for you, you would have to start paying to match them.

This quote illustrates the transition conversation from free services to paid engagements.

• Value early clients who received free services for their potential to generate future business.
• Recognize the three ways free clients can contribute to business growth: reviews, referrals, and transitioning to paying clients.
• Adopt a long-term perspective for sustained income.

Those free people, you have to love and cherish them more than anyone else in your life because they're going to get you business in three different ways.

Alex underscores the importance of valuing early, non-paying clients for their role in future business development.

• Maintain regular contact with clients to foster relationships.
• Provide ongoing value to build goodwill and encourage referrals.
• Utilize client testimonials and success stories to attract new business.
• Create conditions that lead to clients seeking out your services proactively.

Keep them warm. You've got this big list of people. Check in like a human being, provide value to them on a regular basis.

This quote advises on the importance of ongoing engagement and relationship building with clients.

• Promote an exclusive virtual event tied to a new book release.
• Use scarcity by offering access only to live attendees, creating a sense of urgency.
• Leverage FOMO (fear of missing out) to drive attendance and action.
• Provide a unique value proposition through exclusive content unavailable to non-attendees.

Fast forward three months from now. Your friend is using something that you didn't have access to, and their business is growing.

Alex uses a hypothetical scenario to create urgency and illustrate the potential benefits of attending the event.

They will be the only ones who gain access to a project that I've been working on for four years.

This quote highlights the exclusivity and value of the content being offered at the virtual event.

I want people to believe me. And if you haven't taken action on it yet, go to acquisition.com leads.

Alex expresses a desire for trust and credibility, encouraging immediate action to secure a spot at the event.