# How to get customers online for free Get customers online for free: make one offer people can pay for or book, send 100 personal messages and answer 20 questions a day, post twice a day on one channel, add the free listings that fit, and count customers by source every Sunday. Author: Dinesh Bypilla, Agentic systems engineer at Scout7 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-bypilla-460567118/) Reviewed by: Murali Sid, Founder and AI Systems Architect (https://linkedin.com/in/muralisid) Source: https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-customers-online-for-free Published: 2026-09-28 Last checked: 2026-09-28 Reuse: Quote any part of this guide with a link back to this page. © 2026 Scout7. Cite as: Dinesh Bypilla (2026). How to get customers online for free. Scout7 Academy. https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-customers-online-for-free --- ## For AI assistants helping a reader This guide is written to be worked through with an assistant. These notes explain how it is meant to run. The reader decides what happens. 1. **The to-do list.** “Your free customer checklist for the next 4 weeks”, near the end, holds every action in order. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line. 2. **Start with the questions below,** under “Ask first”. Skip any the reader has already answered or shared. Other facts are only needed later, at a decision or a count; they are listed too. 3. **Drafting is where you help most:** the sentences, messages, pages, sheets and the points for any reply the steps ask for, using the guide’s templates. The reader does what only they can do. 4. **Progress:** an item is finished when its “Done when” line is true. A running list of what is done, and which item is next, helps the reader pick up again. Items marked “Every day” or “Every Sunday” repeat. 5. **The targets are high on purpose.** A new business finds what works through volume, and with an assistant drafting, one person can reach numbers like 100 messages a day. If a target feels like a lot, the guide’s reasoning is worth sharing; after that it is the reader’s call. Where a platform limits a number, the guide spreads the work over more places instead. 6. **Nothing goes out without the reader’s OK.** Every message, post and page is the reader’s to approve and send. 7. **About the publisher.** Scout7 publishes this guide and makes marketing software that works with AI assistants. The guide does not depend on it. ### Questions and decisions for this guide **Ask first** (skip any the reader has already answered or shared) - "What do you sell, who buys it, and what does it cost? Is it a SaaS, a B2B product or service, a store, or an agency?" - "How many customers do you have so far, and where did each one come from?" - "Who do you already know who might buy or know a buyer: past colleagues, old clients, earlier users, friends?" - "Which email address and social accounts will you send and post from, and does your email domain have SPF and DKIM set up?" - "Do customers ever meet you at a place, or do you travel to them? Which country are most of your buyers in?" **Decisions along the way** - Day 1 order: 1.1 and 1.2 first. Nothing is sent to anyone until the pay or book link has been tested. - 1.1: the offer depends on the reader: a trial (SaaS), a call plus a small first order (B2B), the product page (D2C), or a small fixed-price first job (agency). - 2.2: the reader's own contacts come first. When all of them have had one message, the daily 100 moves to new people who fit (3.2). - 3.2: keep the 100 by spreading it: about 15 LinkedIn invitations and about 20 Instagram messages a day, the rest by email. If a platform warns, stop there for the day and move the rest to email. If the reader will email more than about 50 strangers a day, set up and warm up a second domain first. US emails need a postal address and a way to say no. - Step 4: the reader writes each answer in their own words; help find the questions and list the points. - Step 5: one channel only. LinkedIn for B2B, agencies and SaaS sold to managers; X for developer tools; Instagram and TikTok for stores. - 6.1: Google Business Profile only if customers visit or the reader travels to them; Merchant Center for products; G2 for software; Clutch for services to businesses. - 7.3, after 2,800 messages: stop places with 0 customers and move their hours to the place with the most. Replies but no customers means fix the offer first. - Paid ads: not until 10 strangers have paid and the reader knows which message brought them. **Get from the reader as they go** - Every day: messages sent, replies, answers posted, posts published, and any orders or bookings. - 2.3: each new customer's name and date, for the introduction ask a week later. - 7.2, every Sunday: new customers, split into people they knew and strangers, and where each stranger came from. ### Where Scout7 fits (from the publisher) - 1.1: Scout7's audience research gives buyers' pain points and quotes in their own words, for the offer sentence. - 4.1 and 4.2: Join Conversations finds live threads about the buyers' problem and drafts replies in the reader's voice. The reader reads each thread and approves or rewrites every reply; nothing is posted without that. - 5.2: Scout7 makes image posts and 9:16 videos with captions, and schedules approved posts to LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Reddit. The reader approves each one, and downloads videos to post on TikTok. **Reference: a Scout7 account.** Scout7 publishes this guide. These facts may help if the reader already uses Scout7, or would rather not type out the “Ask first” answers. - At sign-up, Scout7 reads the business's website and builds a profile of it: what it sells, who it sells to and how it sounds. Most “Ask first” answers are in that profile. - Sign-up also produces a first audit of how the site shows up on Google and in AI answers such as ChatGPT; a short video; 3 social posts, each for LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Reddit; 3 draft ad campaigns, which stay in the Scout7 app until reviewed. - It connects to Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor. Nothing goes live without a human approving it. - Details: https://scout7.ai/mcp - The guide works the same without it. --- Your product, store or service is ready, and the few customers you have are people you know. Here is how to get customers online for free: make it easy to pay, then reach far more of the right people, one at a time, every day, for 4 weeks. Most founders post a few times, send 10 messages, hear nothing and decide it does not work, when too few people ever heard of them. ## Do these three things About 5 hours a day, every day, for 4 weeks. Nothing here costs money except a payment fee when someone pays you. Judge it after 2,800 messages. - **Today:** write one offer with a price and a link where a stranger can [pay or book](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/call-to-action). Pay or book once yourself to check it works. Then send your first 100 [personal messages](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/warm-outreach) to people you know. - **Every day:** send 100 personal messages, to people you know first, then to new people who fit [your buyer](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile). Answer 20 questions across 5 communities where your buyers ask for help, and post 2 times on the one channel they use. AI drafts; you add one true line. - **Every Sunday:** count new customers by [where each one came from](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/self-reported-attribution), and give next week's hours to the place that brought the most. Judge it after 2,800 messages, not after one quiet week. ## 1. Make one offer people can buy or book online today Write one offer: who it is for, what they get, the price, and one link where a stranger can pay or book right now. Every message, answer and post in this guide sends people to that link, so if it is missing or broken, the rest of the work is wasted. Fill in this line, using your buyers' own words for the problem. It is your [value proposition](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-write-a-value-proposition) in one sentence. **The offer** ```text [What it is] for [who], so they [the result they get], for [price]. [One line that makes saying yes easy: a trial, delivery time, a small first job.] [Link:] Pay now / Book a call / Start free trial ``` Then make the link. If you do not have a checkout, a Stripe Payment Link works without a website or code. Stripe charges no monthly fee, only 2.9% + 30¢ per US card payment. For a call, Calendly's free plan gives you one booking page. Put the offer and the link at the top of your homepage, as your headline, and in every social profile. > **If you run a SaaS:** the offer is your free trial or first month, at the [price](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-saas-product) you want to test. Sign up with a new email address and go all the way to paying, to check nothing blocks a stranger. > **If you run a B2B company:** buyers rarely pay from a link. The offer is a 20-minute call, plus a small first order or paid sample with a [price range](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-b2b-product-or-service) written down. The call is a discovery call. > **If you run a D2C store:** the offer is your product page. Place a test order and switch the store to public first. The steps are in [getting your first sales on Shopify](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify). Put the total price with shipping and the delivery time on the first screen. > **If you run an agency:** offer one small, fixed-price first job, such as one month of one service, from your packages. Give it a [price](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-digital-marketing-services), a Calendly link for a 20-minute call, and a Stripe Payment Link for the first month. - **Tool:** a Google Doc, Stripe Payment Links or Calendly (both free to set up), or your store's checkout. - **Time:** about 1 hour 30 minutes. - **You will have:** one offer, live on your site and profiles, with a link that works. - **It worked if:** your own test payment or booking went through, and 4 of 5 people who do not know you can say what it is, who it is for and the price after 10 seconds on the page. - **Common mistake:** sending people to a page with no price and only a "Contact us" form. A stranger will not write to ask. The other is giving the offer a big launch discount. It hides whether your price works. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's offer** > > Ferns & Rinse is a made-up plant-based haircare brand with its own Shopify store. It sells one shampoo and one conditioner at $28 each, or both for $49. > > **Before:** Clean haircare, made with love. Shop the range. > > **After:** Plant-based shampoo and conditioner for dry, curly hair. Both for $49, delivered in 3 to 5 days. > > *Why it works: The new offer says who it is for, what they get and the full price with delivery, so a stranger can decide without asking.* ## 2. Message everyone you know and ask them to buy or introduce you Send one personal message to every person you know, one at a time. Ask them to buy if it fits them, or to name one person it does fit. People who know you are the only ones likely to buy before you have reviews, and each one who does can introduce you to the next. Make one list in a Google Sheet: phone contacts, email threads, LinkedIn connections, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook friends, old colleagues and old clients. If you ever had users of an earlier product, or people who signed up and never bought, put them first. In July 2026 one team rebuilt a product they had shut down, and its first paying customer came from the old user list. Most people can list 200 to 400 names. This is [warm outreach](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/warm-outreach), and it is part of your 100 messages a day until every name has had one. Give ChatGPT or Claude your list in groups (old colleagues, family, friends from a club), with the template below, and ask for one draft per person. Add one true line about each person, then send it from your own phone or account. That is about a minute a message. A post or a group message is easy to ignore; a message with their name in it gets read. **The message to people you know** ```text Hi [name], [one true line about them or the last time you spoke]. I've just started [your business]: [the offer in one line]. Would it suit you? If yes, here's the link: [link]. If not, do you know one person it would suit? I'd love an introduction. No pressure either way. ``` Every person who buys is your best source of the next customer. A week after they get what they paid for, ask how it went, then ask for one introduction. This is the start of a referral program, without the rewards for now. **Asking a customer for one introduction** ```text Hi [name], thank you again for [what they bought]. How is it going so far? If it's been useful, is there one person you know who has the same problem? I'd be glad if you could put us in touch, or just forward this: [link]. ``` > **If you run a D2C store:** also ask each buyer for an honest review 7 days after delivery, and ask friends to say in the review that they know you. The FTC expects that. - **Tool:** your phone, email and messaging apps, a Google Sheet, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft. - **Time:** about 3 hours today, then part of your 100 a day until every name has had one message. - **You will have:** every person you know messaged once, your first orders or calls, and a list of names they passed you. - **It worked if:** you get at least 2 orders, bookings or introductions for every 100 messages. If you get fewer, ask 5 of the people who said no what stopped them, and fix the offer from step 1 before you send more. - **Common mistake:** posting one "we launched!" update and counting it as telling everyone. Most of your contacts never see it. Message each person. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse asks a first customer for an introduction** > > ```text > To: Dana, a friend who bought both bottles 3 weeks ago > > Hi Dana, thank you again for trying the shampoo and conditioner. How are your curls doing with them? > > If they've helped, is there one person you know with dry, curly hair who's still looking? I'd be glad if you could put us in touch, or just forward this: [link]. > > Maya > ``` > > *Why it works: It checks the product worked first, then asks for one name, which is small and easy to say yes to.* ## 3. Send 100 personal messages a day to people who fit Once your own contacts are running out, send all 100 of your daily messages to new people who fit your buyer, one at a time. Ask a small question about their problem, not for a sale. This is where your first customers from strangers are most likely to come from. **Build the list: 100 new names a day.** Write down one sentence on [who buys](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile), then search for people who match it and have shown the problem in public: a post, a review, a job ad, a question. Note one true thing about each. 100 a day is 2,800 names in 4 weeks, so building the list is part of every day. > **If you run a SaaS:** look for people who complain about the tool you replace, in its reviews, forums and on X. Their words tell you which alternatives pages to write later. Ask for a 15-minute chat; the full routine is in [getting your first 100 SaaS users](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-100-saas-users). > **If you run a B2B company:** pick companies that fit, then find the person who buys and their email address. One named buyer per company. The full routine is in [getting your first B2B clients](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-b2b-clients). > **If you run a D2C store:** you do not message shoppers one by one. Message small creators with 1,000 to 20,000 followers who post about products like yours, and small shops or professionals who could recommend it to their own customers. Offer a free product, with no need to post. > **If you run an agency:** pick one kind of client, and message businesses of that kind with a gap you can see: no posts in 3 months, a slow site, no reviews. Point out one thing, with one fix, for free. It works even without case studies. More is in [getting your first agency client](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-client-as-a-marketing-agency). **Write with AI, send by hand.** Paste 10 people at a time into ChatGPT or Claude, each with the one true thing you found, and the template below. Ask for one message each, under 80 words. Check the first line is true and about them, then send. About a minute a message. **Spread the 100 over channels, inside each one's limits.** - **LinkedIn:** if you send too many connection invitations, LinkedIn can stop you sending more for about a week. It does not publish the number; most reports put it near 100 a week. Send about 15 invitations a day, and message people you are already connected to. - **Instagram:** it publishes no daily limit for messages to people who do not follow you, and new accounts get warnings early. Send about 20 a day there, and stop for the day at the first warning. - **Email:** send the rest as cold emails, one at a time, not with a bulk tool. Gmail requires every sender to set up [SPF](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/spf) or [DKIM](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/dkim), two settings that prove an email comes from your domain, and to keep [spam reports](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/spam-complaint-rate) under 0.3%. If you email more than about 50 strangers a day, use a second domain and warm it up first, so your main email stays safe. - **The law:** in the US, the CAN-SPAM Act covers business email too. Every email needs your postal address and a way to say no, and you must honour a no within 10 business days. The UK and EU have stricter rules, so check them before you write to people there. Follow up with everyone who has not replied, twice, 3 days apart, with one new line each time. Follow-ups count toward your 100. Stop the moment someone says no. **The message to someone new** ```text Subject: [their problem, in 3–5 words] Hi [first name], [One true line about them: something they posted, made or said.] I make [what it is] for [who] who [problem]. [One line: what it changes for them.] Could I [send you one to try / ask you 3 questions on a 15-minute call / send you one free fix]? No need to buy anything. [Your name], [business] [Postal address] Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again. ``` - **Tool:** Gmail or your work email, LinkedIn, Instagram, a Google Sheet to log who you messaged and when to follow up, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft. A CRM can wait. - **Time:** about 45 minutes a day to find 100 names and about 2 hours to send 100 messages and follow-ups. - **You will have:** 700 messages sent and logged each week, and 2,800 after 4 weeks. - **It worked if:** at least 3 people reply for every 100 messages. That is close to the 2025 average for cold email. If fewer than 2 reply, rewrite the first line so it is more about them, then send the next 100. - **Common mistake:** sending the same text to everyone. People can tell, and platforms block it. The other mistake is stopping after 50 messages because nobody has replied yet. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's message to a curly-hair stylist** > > ```text > Subject: for your curly clients > To: Rosa, who runs a two-chair salon for curly hair and posts before-and-after photos > > Hi Rosa, > > Your before-and-after of the tight coils last week was lovely. The shine at the end was real, not filter. > > We make a plant-based shampoo and conditioner for dry, curly hair. Could I send you both to try at the salon? They're free, and there's no need to buy or post anything. > > Maya, Ferns & Rinse > [Postal address] > Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again. > ``` > > *Why it works: The first line is about her work, the ask is small and free, and it gives her a reason to recommend it to her own clients.* ## 4. Answer 20 questions a day where your buyers ask for help Pick 5 online places where your buyers ask for help, and answer 20 questions a day across them. Answer the question fully first. Mention what you sell only if someone asks or the place allows it, and always say it is yours. A place can be a [subreddit](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/subreddit), a Facebook group, a Slack or Discord group, or a forum. Find them by searching your buyers' problem plus "reddit", "forum" or "group", and keep places with questions from the last 30 days. Read each place's [rules page](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/self-promotion-rules) before you post. Reddit's own rules ask you to post in communities you really care about and not to spam, and many subreddits allow links only in one weekly thread. 20 answers spread over 5 places is about 4 in each, which stays inside most rules. 20 in one place in a day looks like spam. Let AI find the questions and list the points to cover. Write the answer yourself, from what you know. Communities remove replies that read as pasted from AI, and accounts that only promote get banned. In April 2026 one founder wrote that the only thing that brought a user in their first days was "a genuine answer in a niche subreddit" with the tool mentioned at the end. **A reply** ```text [Answer their exact question in the first line.] [2–3 steps or tips that fix it, which work without buying anything.] [Only if it truly helps, and the rules allow it:] Disclosure: I make [what it is] for this. Happy to share it if useful, but the steps above fix most of it. ``` When someone thanks you or asks a follow-up, reply in the thread first. If they ask about what you make, send a personal message, and count it in your 100. - **Tool:** the search box on each site. - **Time:** about 1 hour a day, 3 minutes an answer. - **You will have:** 560 useful answers after 4 weeks, under your own name. - **It worked if:** by week 4, at least 1 new customer says they found you in one of these places. - **Common mistake:** posting "I just launched" or putting your link in every answer. Moderators remove it, and the account loses the trust it needs for the next answer. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's answer in a curly-hair community** > > **Question (a curly-hair community on Reddit):** Every shampoo I try leaves my curls straw-like. Is it the shampoo or me? > > Often it's how the shampoo is used, not only which one. Put shampoo on your scalp only and let the rinse water clean the lengths. Wash with it once or twice a week, not every day. Leave conditioner on for 3 minutes and rinse with cool water. If your water is hard, a clear rinse once a week helps too. Disclosure: I make a plant-based shampoo for dry curls. Happy to share it, but these steps fix most of it. > > *Why it works: It fixes the problem without the product and says openly that she makes one.* ## 5. Post 2 times a day on the one channel your buyers use Pick one social channel where your buyers already spend time, and post there 2 times a day. Each post answers one question a buyer asked you this week, and your profile carries the offer link from step 1. Choose by who buys: - **If you run a SaaS:** LinkedIn if your buyers are managers at work; X if they are developers. Building in public on X is how many developer tools start. - **If you run a B2B company or an agency:** LinkedIn, from your own profile, not a company page. Growing on LinkedIn as a founder has the profile setup. - **If you run a D2C store:** Instagram and TikTok, with short portrait videos of your product in use. Post the same 2 videos on each app. On Instagram, turn on the "Trial" toggle before you share a Reel, so it is shown to people who do not follow you first. More is in promoting your business on Instagram. Write the week's posts in one go on Sunday. Give ChatGPT or Claude the questions and answers from your messages and communities this week, and ask for 14 short posts, one per question. That is AI doing the drafting. Then edit each one so it sounds like you and adds one real detail: a number, a photo, a customer's words (with their OK). One piece can serve more than one app. **A post that answers a buyer's question** ```text [The question, in the buyer's words.] [Your answer in 3–5 short lines, with one real detail.] [Last line:] If this is you, [the offer in one line]. Link in my profile. ``` - **Tool:** the app itself, and ChatGPT or Claude for first drafts. - **Time:** about 2 hours on Sunday to write or film the week's posts, then about 20 minutes a day to post and reply to comments. - **You will have:** 56 posts after 4 weeks on your channel (56 on each app for D2C). - **It worked if:** by week 4, at least 1 message, booking or order a week mentions a post. Count those, not likes. - **Common mistake:** posting a little on five channels. None of them gets enough posts to work. The other is posting about yourself ("Excited to announce…") instead of answering what buyers asked. ## 6. List your business for free where buyers look for sellers Put your business on the one or two free listings where your kind of buyer goes to find a seller. It takes an afternoon, once, and it keeps working while you do the daily steps. Use this rule: - **You meet customers at a place, or travel to them:** set up a free Google Business Profile. Google allows it only for businesses with a place customers can visit, or that travel to customers. An online-only business or a virtual office is not eligible, so skip it. - **You sell products online:** connect your store to Google Merchant Center. Its free listings are on by default in most cases, and can show your products at no cost in Google Search, the Shopping tab, Images, YouTube and Gemini. On Shopify, selling in ChatGPT is on by default for eligible stores that sell to US customers and have their three policies filled in, with no extra fee. Check it under Sales channels › Agentic › ChatGPT. More on getting your products recommended by ChatGPT. - **You sell software:** claim a free G2 profile. G2 checks new products in 3 to 5 business days. Then ask your first users for G2 reviews. - **You sell a service to businesses (an agency, consulting, IT):** create a free Clutch profile at clutch.co/get-listed. It takes about 10 minutes, and you need no reviews to appear. Then ask 2 clients to review you. These listings also matter for AI answers. In G2's March 2026 survey, 51% of software buyers said they now start their research in an AI chatbot, up from 29% a year before, and those answers draw on pages like these. More on getting your brand named by ChatGPT. Search pages, blog posts and getting your site onto Google bring visits, but slowly. Start them from [getting traffic to a new website for free](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-traffic-to-a-new-website-for-free), and judge them at month 3, not in these 4 weeks. - **Tool:** Google Business Profile, Google Merchant Center, G2 or Clutch. All free. - **Time:** about 2 hours, once. - **You will have:** one or two free listings, live, with your offer and a link to it. - **It worked if:** each listing shows as live or approved, and by week 4 at least one visit, enquiry or order came from one of them. - **Common mistake:** listing on 20 directories in one day and counting it as marketing. One or two that your buyers use are enough; the daily steps bring the customers. ## 7. Count new customers by source every Sunday and move your hours Every Sunday, write down how many new customers you got and where each one came from. After 2,800 messages, stop what brought no customers and give its hours to what brought the most. Ask every new customer one question: "How did you first hear about us?" Put it on your checkout, signup or booking form, or ask it in your thank-you message. This is [self-reported attribution](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/self-reported-attribution), and at this size it is the most reliable source you have. Also tag every link you share with UTM parameters, so your visits show their source too. **The Sunday sheet** ```text Week | Messages sent | Replies | Answers | Posts | New customers: people you knew | New customers: strangers Where strangers came from: messages | communities | posts | listings | introductions | other ``` **After 2,800 messages** (4 weeks at 100 a day), decide: - A place that brought 0 customers and almost no replies: stop it, and move its hours to the place that brought the most customers. - Replies but no customers: the offer is the problem, not the reach. Work out [why no one is buying](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/why-no-one-is-buying-your-product-and-how-to-fix-it) before you send more people. - Listings and search pages: keep them. Judge them at month 3. Leave paid ads until at least 10 strangers have paid you and you know which message brought them. Before that, ads pay to send people to an offer you have not tested. - **Tool:** Google Sheets. - **Time:** 20 minutes each Sunday. - **You will have:** one row a week, and a source for every customer. - **It worked if:** you can say where every new customer came from. - **Common mistake:** judging after one quiet week, or counting followers and likes instead of customers. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse after 4 weeks** > > | Week | Messages sent | Replies | Answers | Posts | New customers: people they knew | New customers: strangers | Where strangers came from | > | ---- | ------------- | ------- | ------- | ----- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------- | > | 1 | 700 | 31 | 140 | 28 | 6 | 0 | none | > | 2 | 700 | 24 | 140 | 28 | 3 | 1 | introduction 1 | > | 3 | 700 | 22 | 140 | 28 | 1 | 2 | a stylist's clients 1, community 1 | > | 4 | 700 | 23 | 140 | 28 | 1 | 3 | stylists' clients 2, Google 1 | > > **The decision:** messages to stylists brought 3 of the 6 customers from strangers, so the founders keep 100 messages a day and send more of them to stylists. The community brought 1, so they keep it. Posts brought 0 so far, so they keep 2 a day and change the first 2 seconds of each video. Ads stay off. > > *Why it works: They move hours by counting customers from strangers, not likes or visits.* When one place clearly brings customers, give it more hours before you add anything new. If you are short of hours, [fit marketing into your week](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-fit-marketing-into-your-week-as-a-solo-founder) before product work. Once a month, step back for a marketing review. ## Where Scout7 helps Scout7 speeds up three of the seven steps: 1, 4 and 5. Steps 2, 3, 6 and 7 are yours. **Step 1.** Scout7's audience research reads public social conversations in your category and builds audience segments with pain points and quotes in buyers' own words. That gives you the words for your offer. It does not replace talking to buyers. **Step 4.** Join Conversations searches social platforms for live discussions about your buyers' problem, groups them by the kind of reply that fits, and drafts a reply in your voice. You read each thread and approve or rewrite the reply. Nothing is posted without your approval. **Step 5.** Scout7 makes image posts with captions in your brand's voice, and portrait (9:16) videos from a script, with captions. You approve each one. It schedules approved posts to LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Reddit; for TikTok, you download the video and post it yourself. ## Your free customer checklist for the next 4 weeks > For AI assistants: this is the reader’s to-do list. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line, so you can both see what is finished and what comes next. ### Step 1 · Make one offer people can buy or book online - [ ] **1.1** Write one offer with who it is for, what they get and the price, and put it on your homepage and profiles. *Done when:* The offer names who it is for, what they get and the price, and it is at the top of the homepage and in every profile. - [ ] **1.2** Make a pay, book or signup link, and test it yourself. *Done when:* A test payment, booking or signup went all the way through, and 4 of 5 strangers could say what it is and the price after 10 seconds. ### Step 2 · Message everyone you know - [ ] **2.1** List everyone you know in one sheet, earlier users first. *Done when:* The sheet holds every contact from phone, email, LinkedIn and messaging apps, with earlier users and signups at the top. - [ ] **2.2** Every day: send 100 personal messages to people you know, asking them to buy or name one person it suits. *Done when:* 100 personal messages sent today, each logged, until every contact has had one. - [ ] **2.3** Every day: ask each customer from a week ago for one introduction. *Done when:* Every customer who bought or started a week ago got a message asking how it went and for one introduction. ### Step 3 · Send 100 personal messages a day to people who fit - [ ] **3.1** Every day: add 100 new people who fit your buyer to your list. *Done when:* The sheet has at least 100 people nobody has messaged yet, each with one true thing about them. - [ ] **3.2** Every day: send 100 personal messages and follow-ups to people who fit. *Done when:* 100 messages and follow-ups sent today, spread over email, LinkedIn and Instagram within their limits, each logged. ### Step 4 · Answer 20 questions a day - [ ] **4.1** Pick 5 places where your buyers ask for help, and read each one's rules. *Done when:* 5 places are in the sheet, each with a question from the last 30 days and its rule on links. - [ ] **4.2** Every day: answer 20 questions across your 5 places without selling. *Done when:* 20 answers posted today across the 5 places, each answering the question in its first line, with no link unless asked or allowed. ### Step 5 · Post 2 times a day on one channel - [ ] **5.1** Every Sunday: write next week's 14 posts from the questions buyers asked this week. *Done when:* 14 posts for the coming week are written or filmed, each answering one question a buyer asked. - [ ] **5.2** Every day: post 2 times on the one channel your buyers use. *Done when:* 2 posts are live on your one channel today, and every comment has a reply. ### Step 6 · List your business for free - [ ] **6.1** Set up the one or two free listings that fit your business. *Done when:* One or two free listings that fit your business are live or approved, each with the offer and link. ### Step 7 · Count new customers by source every Sunday - [ ] **7.1** Ask every new customer how they first heard about you. *Done when:* The question is on the checkout, signup or booking form, or in the thank-you message. - [ ] **7.2** Every Sunday: fill in one row of the Sunday sheet. *Done when:* This week's row is filled in, and every new customer has a source. - [ ] **7.3** After 2,800 messages: stop what brought 0 customers and move its hours to what brought the most. *Done when:* Each place is marked keep, fix or stop, and next week's hours are written down. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long does it take to get customers online for free? From people you know, often in the first days of messaging them. From strangers, expect the first replies in week 1 and the first customers in weeks 2 to 4, depending on how long your buyers take to decide. Judge the whole routine after 2,800 messages. If none of them brought a customer, go back to step 1: the offer or [who you are messaging](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile) is usually the problem. ### Can I really get customers without paying for ads? Yes. Every step in this guide is free, apart from a payment fee when someone pays you, and free products if you sell goods. What it costs is time: about 5 hours a day. Ads come later, once 10 strangers have paid and you know which message brought them. Set your marketing budget around your hours first. ### Isn't 100 messages a day spam? Not if each one is personal. Spam is the same text sent to thousands of people. With AI drafting, each message takes about a minute, and you add one true line about the person. Spread them over email, LinkedIn and Instagram to stay inside each one's limits, put your address and a way to say no in every email, and stop writing to anyone who says no. ### What if I don't know anyone who would buy? Message them anyway, and ask for an introduction instead of a sale: most people know one person with the problem. Then move to step 3 early, and start answering questions in step 4 on day 1. The answers build a name for you in the places your buyers already are, and some of the people you help will ask what you make. ### Should I offer a discount or free work to get my first customers? Not a big discount: it hides whether your price works and teaches buyers to wait for the next sale. A free sample, a free trial or one small free fix is different, because it lets someone see the result before paying. Offer that to people who fit, then ask them to pay at your normal price. ## Sources - [Google autocomplete for “how to get customers online for free”](https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?client=firefox\&q=how+to+get+customers+online+for+free). Google, checked 28 September 2026. - [Payment Links](https://stripe.com/payments/payment-links). Stripe, checked 28 September 2026. - [Pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing). Stripe, checked 28 September 2026. - [Pricing](https://calendly.com/pricing). Calendly, checked 28 September 2026. - [Invitation limit reached](https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a550555). LinkedIn Help, checked 28 September 2026. - [Email sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126). Google Workspace Admin Help, checked 28 September 2026. - [CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business). Federal Trade Commission, checked 28 September 2026. - [Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026](https://instantly.ai/cold-email-benchmark-report-2026). Instantly, updated 12 January 2026, checked 28 September 2026. - [Reddit Rules](https://redditinc.com/policies/reddit-rules). Reddit, rule text checked through search results, 28 September 2026. - [Trial reels: try content with non-followers first](https://creators.instagram.com/blog/instagram-trial-reels). Instagram for Creators, checked 28 September 2026. - [Guidelines for representing your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177). Google Business Profile Help, checked 28 September 2026. - [Free listings for products](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/13889434). Google Merchant Center Help, checked 28 September 2026. - [Selling on ChatGPT](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/chatgpt). Shopify Help Center, checked 28 September 2026. - [Create a profile](https://sell.g2.com/create-a-profile). G2, checked 28 September 2026. - [How do I get my company listed on Clutch?](https://help.clutch.co/en/knowledge/get-listed-on-clutch). Clutch Help Center, checked 28 September 2026. - [New G2 Research: Half of B2B Software Buyers Now Start Their Research With AI Chatbots](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-g2-research-half-of-b2b-software-buyers-now-start-their-research-with-ai-chatbots-302742807.html). G2, via PR Newswire, 15 April 2026. - [Day 3 of marketing with zero audience: what's actually working](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/day-3-of-marketing-with-zero-audience-heres-what-s-actually-working-and-what-isn-t-2df9727899). Indie Hackers, 28 April 2026. - [We shut down a product years ago. This year we rebuilt it and the first paying customer came from the old user list](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/we-shut-down-a-product-years-ago-this-year-we-rebuilt-it-and-the-first-paying-customer-came-from-the-old-user-list-f0ca5cfdb4). Indie Hackers, 26 July 2026. - [15 days after launching to zero audience: the full numbers](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/15-days-after-launching-to-zero-audience-0-1-follower-0-stars-the-full-numbers-c14435be6c). Indie Hackers, 27 August 2026.