How One Badass Reddit Post Produced 170 New Customers in under 3 Hours?
How One Badass Reddit Post Produced 170 New Customers in under 3 Hours
Here’s the thing about promoting your brand-new business or service –
We all need the validation that people not only want our services, but are willing to pay for them.
So getting those first few clients can be critical to building up confidence that you’re on the right path.
But let’s be honest about why we’re actually promoting ourselves.
It’s all about money and control, right?
The more clients you land, the more you can potentially add to your bottom line.
Hell, on top of having that extra income, by producing a portfolio of clients and successful case studies you can transition to doing this full-time and living life on your own terms.
But there are two big questions startups and freelancers struggle with in their infancy:
#1 – Where do I start?
#2 – Where do I find clients?
We’ve written about how 30 entrepreneurs found their first 100 customers.
But now, let’s look at a bold approach one person used that resulted in over 170 requests for his services in under three hours (!!!).
Where did this “bold approach” take place?
Reddit.
Ah snap…
This brave Redditor’s name? Alex Clark.
In this article, we’re going to break down:
- The mental barriers Alex had to overcome to put himself out there
- The copywriting strategies he used in his Reddit post
- How he strategically used free work to his advantage (and ‘yes’ – you can too)
- The opportunities that came Alex’s way after his post
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?
Let’s give you a little bit of background information about Alex Clark. He was a manager and teacher, first in Korea and then in Taiwan, where he still lives now.
He built an MVP app that racked up close to five figures in development costs. Though, after completing the app, he lost all interest in the project.
Instead he directed his focus toward learning copywriting. But he needed to get honest feedback on whether copywriting was a viable career option.
So he reached out to professional copywriters Sean Ogle and Derek Johanson for career advice.
Sean Ogle from LocationRebel.com
And guess what?
They replied fast.
They gave Alex AMAZING and supportive responses (which he’s printed and framed on his wall).
After that, he went all in to learn the art of persuasive copywriting.
He worked at it for three months.
He practiced. He studied.
But he needed to get some experience under his belt.
So he made a decision.
It was time to get down to business, in order to actually get some business.
He had to test out his skills to make sure business owners actually WANTED his services.
So he went where thousands of entrepreneurs hang out on a daily basis: Reddit.
Whoa, hold on a sec.
We all know that Reddit can be a BRUTAL place. Reddit has a lively audience that’s willing to take part in any conversation.
But it also has a HARSH reputation for putting you down in flames if you try to self-promote on the platform.
Life of a Marketer on Reddit. From personal experience, this is pretty damn accurate.
That’s why business owners and marketers avoid promoting on Reddit the way you avoid talking politics with your grandparents.
As explained in a recent article by Si Quan Ong, a Reddit promotions specialist:
“Reddit is a site with a reputation of destroying self-serving marketers. Yes, it is scary [to promote yourself or your services]. Yes, they can be pretty vicious. But don’t let them deter you from promoting.
If you truly have great content, and all you desire is to help the community and add value, don’t let a few naysayers bring you down.”
In other words, if you’ve got something to offer the community, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
And that’s exactly what Alex did.
In Alex’s own words:
“I care about what people think and don’t want to come across as a salesman. But then I came to the realization that if you have a good skillset…and you don’t have to be the best…and people are struggling with the skillset [you’ve studied and sharpened] – it helps to say “fuck it” and go against the voice nagging you to ‘not be that guy.’”
Now, on top of having to make that tough mental shift, imagine having your back up against the wall due to mounting debt from an app you built and didn’t want to pursue anymore.
This was Alex’s reality.
And with that kind of pressure on him, he wasn’t going to let a few downvotes and nasty comments deter him from AT LEAST TRYING to change his situation using a skill he was confident in.
Bring it, Reddit.
So let’s dive into the Reddit post that generated over 170 requests for Alex’s copywriting services in under three hours.
