Pitched clients like a hustler for 3 years until I stopped taking cold calls cold turkey

I used to chase every lead like my life depended on it. Cold calls, spammy emails, the whole nine yards. Then around 6 months ago I landed a $3k retainer from a bakery in Austin just by answering their question on a local Facebook group. That one reply did more than 50 cold emails ever did. I switched to writing helpful stuff on Reddit and niche forums, and now I don't even own a phone list. Has anyone else ditched outbound completely and seen better results?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverm4818d ago

Just by answering their question on a local Facebook group" - thats the part that got me. I stopped cold calling about a year ago and started doing the same thing but on Nextdoor instead. Helped a guy figure out why his lawn sprinkler system was acting up, didnt even mention my work. He ended up sending me a dm asking if I could come fix it, turned into a $500 job and three referrals from his neighbors. I think helping people without the pitch is way more natural, and it sticks with them longer than a cold call ever would. Have you found certain forums work better than others for this?

king.aaron18d ago

Nextdoor is solid for it, but I've had better luck on specific hobby forums. People there are already fired up about the topic and more likely to trust someone who's genuinely helping without an agenda. The referrals from those spots tend to be higher quality too, since the trust is already built before they even know you do it for money.