7 Techniques for Startups to Get Their First 20 Customers

While getting customers can seem like an impossible task, the truth is that it’s much easier than you might imagine. If you know the right techniques and are willing to put in the time, getting your first 20 customers should be easy as pie! In this article, we’ll discuss 7 different techniques that you can use to get your business off the ground and on its way to success.

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1) Referrals

Referrals are great because you already have a trusted relationship with your friends, family, and colleagues. If they like you, they are more likely to trust what you’re selling and become your customer. In addition, a referral is more likely than a cold call or email out of nowhere.

 Finally, your customers will be happier when they receive their product from someone they know rather than some unknown entity that sent them an email or cold called them. So how do you get referrals? Do good work that leaves everyone satisfied and happy with your business. You’ll earn word-of-mouth marketing by being in tune with what your clients want—and then giving it to them.

2) Affiliates

An affiliate program is a powerful way to attract new customers and encourage existing customers to continue purchasing from you. Whether you have an existing audience or are just getting started, an affiliate program can be a great way to promote your products. 

Affiliates can help market your products in exchange for a cut of sales (typically 30%–50%). There are many different platforms available for creating your own affiliate program. For example, ShareASale and ClickBank offer excellent options.

3) Paid Ads

No one will give you money without a good reason, so don’t expect to get customers without having something substantial in return. That doesn’t mean you have to give away tons of value—you just need to convince your first customers that you’re worth giving their money. 

Paid ads on sites like Google and Facebook are great, especially if you know where your target customer is hanging out online (think: Reddit, Slack groups). For example, if your startup helps people lose weight, and you live in San Francisco where there’s an active community of health-conscious people, it might make sense to start advertising on Reddit and Facebook groups dedicated to fitness or dieting.

4) Online Communities

Nowadays, it’s not enough just to have a website and hope visitors find you. Forums and online communities are an excellent way of getting your product or service in front of prospective customers. In fact, these sites offer some of your best opportunities for generating traffic and sales because you can target people specifically interested in what you’re selling.

 Joining communities related to your niche can get you in front of buyers and journalists who might write about you down the road. Bonus: You don’t even need a website! Just create a profile on relevant discussion boards and post content that is helpful and solves problems that customers may have with your target market.

5) The Customer Development Process

Customer development is a process designed to inform your business decisions with real data. The central tenet of customer development is that, in order to be successful, startups must pay attention to their customers early and often. Customer development methodologies help you get outside of your own head and into customer’s shoes. 

In essence, you have a hypothesis about what customers need, then you use metrics, surveys and interviews that prove or disprove your idea. Even if you have some market data behind your idea (from beta tests or pilot programs), remember that people can’t tell you what they don’t know – so it’s up to you to go out there and find out what problems they’re having and how likely they’d be willing to purchase a solution from your company!

6）Optimize your local listing and get more 5-star reviews

You may specifically target local prospects who are looking for companies like yours. You may improve your website and Google My Business listing to rank better in search results. This might increase the number of website visitors, leads, and paying clients. Additionally, a terrific approach to increase brand recognition for your company, is local SEO. Early local SEO implementation is crucial if you want to see benefits as soon as possible.

How to setup Google my business and get 5-star reviews:

1. The first step is to ensure your business is correctly listed on Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, and Yelp.
2. You’ll want to optimize your listing by adding photos, videos, and rich snippets.
3. After that, it’s time to start getting more 5-star reviews from your customers.
4. You can do this by sending them follow-up emails after their purchase or visit or offering incentives for leaving a review.
5. Once you have a few 5-star reviews, make sure to showcase them prominently on your website and social media pages.
6. Finally, keep up the excellent work!

7) Offline Community Networking

Offline community networking is essential because you can establish a powerful connection with others who share your passions. It doesn’t matter if you want to start a business in your local area or sell a product that targets a global audience—you need local support and it begins with offline community networking.

 Use Meetup as an example and focus on how businesses use Meetup to meet their customers/clients. You could even pull statistics from your own Meetup group here, depending on whether or not you’re actually involved with an entrepreneur-oriented Meetup group. Include sample messaging and social media posts that will encourage connections between people who don’t know each other yet but may very well be potential customers/clients for one another.<