Today I just got my first customer testimonial for Sweet Jam Sites. Here’s what he said:

“Sweet Jam Sites is a pleasure to work with! Jason was incredibly helpful and knowledgable. He held my hand through the entire process and thoroughly answered every single question I had. If you don’t know the difference between a URL and a nameserver, and even if you do, I highly recommend working with Sweet Jam Sites to help you get your website up and running! In fact, he even saved me money because I previously paid for hosting, where now the hosting is free. You can’t beat that. - Lenny Bron (TheBlogProofreader.com)”

How I found clients

This was the result of my cold email marketing experiments in January, from doing things that don’t scale. I scoured for leads on websites and places that my potential customers—service businesses and freelance professionals providing services—might be. Indie Hackers, Makerlog, Reddit, Starter Story, Carousell, Upwork, Fiverr, 99Designs, Telegram groups, Facebook groups. I went to places where they might be posting gigs (e.g. Upwork), but also where they were talking (e.g. Facebook, Telegram). What was surprising and new was how much easier it was to find them in places where they were promoting themselves! Starter Story was one such site. When I saw Lenny’s story and website on Starter Story, I knew I could provide value. Thankfully he saw the same too! 

Cold site as a proposal

I did up a demo website using Stackbit, Netlify and Github, using the content on his existing website. In a way, I did work even before he paid me. I called it a “cold site”, and used the demo as a proposal instead of persuasive words. Visuals and tangible prototypes speak a thousand words. I sent the link to him, all the while stating upfront that “this is a cold sales email”. He replied that cold emails were something he tried before, and he respected that transparency and honesty. Most important of all, he liked what he saw on the demo site, and it so happened he had been thinking about revamping the site. Opportunity meets need. I knew I needed to do whatever it takes to serve this first customer well. The monetary payoffs wasn’t life-changing for sure, but it was the spirit that mattered. I wanted to start right, and do it well. Even if it meant doing more than what the service was supposed to deliver.

Whatever it takes.

And I did! I’m glad it went well, for both sides. He enjoyed the process too, and gave a glowing testimonial in return. I got paid, and also learned about some new kinks in the process that I need to look out for in the future. 

Cold sales, or warm help?

To be honest, I never quite took to cold sales techniques. I personally don’t enjoy it when it happens to me, and (still) see it as a major source of annoyance and noise. So suspending my own principles to try cold sales had been difficult. What I enjoy doing instead is helping someone with warmth - the opposite of what cold sales literally means. I’m still trying to come up with less annoying ways to help people, provide value, without coming across in a cold sales-y manner. Dropping email bombs on someone, even in the spirit of helping with warmth, still sounds cold and sales-y. 

Moreover, there isn’t any existing interaction or relationship to start with when it comes to cold emails. Why should anyone listen? I wouldn’t. In fact, I was lucky this time round. One answered the call, while the many dozens I sent out didn’t. While this was encouraging, I’m not sure cold-sites-as-proposals will have the scalable payoffs I’m seeking. I need to warmer, more relational lead-in to a sale. That’s more my style. A little conversation starter perhaps, or a discussion back and forth on a forum. Before offering something in suggestion. I can accept that, if I’m on the receiving end.

Warm help, not cold sales.