How I got my first clients for my automation agency💯
I thought I’d share how I landed my first clients and built my initial client base as an automation agency. I started my agency in June. Before that, I had been in the automation space for a while, mainly creating scenarios for my own businesses as a hobby in Make.com. I decided to dive in fully after realizing the kind of income people were making doing what I had been doing for free. To get started, I created a website. It wasn’t fancy—basically just a virtual business card with some proof of my work. Then, I borrowed a strategy from Alex Hormozi: I offered my first few services to friends and family who ran businesses for free. My goal was to fine-tune my process and iron out any issues before charging clients. The deal was simple: free service in exchange for a testimonial. While working with those first clients, I focused on setting up my cold email system. This worked out perfectly because it takes 20–30 days to get a cold email system fully operational. By the time it was ready, I could hit the ground running. Initially, I started by sending out 150 emails per day, but I’ve since doubled that volume. Cold email outreach remains my primary client acquisition method to this day. After working with three clients, I began charging for my services. I opted for an hourly rate at first because it was easier to explain and justify to clients. Although I could have earned more by charging per project, the hourly rate was still higher than anything I had made before—so I wasn’t too upset! And that’s my story! If you prefer a quick summary, here are the bullet points😂: ✅ Build simple automations first. I reached out to friends and family with businesses and offered free services in exchange for testimonials. ✅ Offer free services to learn. I gave away my first three services to refine my process and perfect my delivery methods. ✅ Set up a cold email system early. I built my cold email infrastructure while working with initial clients. ✅ Start outreach when ready. Once everything was in place, I began sending 150 cold emails daily—and later doubled that!