Ask HN: How did you get your first paying customers? - designerlye
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RedneckBob
You should have customers before launch. Read the first four chapters of:
[https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-
Blank/dp/09...](https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-
Blank/dp/0989200507)

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fairpx
For my latest business (a productised service that provides unlimited UI
design for software teams [http://fairpixels.pro](http://fairpixels.pro)) I
simply contacted my previous customers.

It's surprising how many of us are always looking for _new_ customers, when
sometimes, contacting people who you already have a relationship with works
best.

Even if it's your first business. Maybe you know a few folks from your
previous job, an internship. These people already trust you, know you and
interacted with you before... the easiest way to get your first customer, I
think, is through the network you already have.

Browse through your phone and email contacts. Your first customers and users
might be sitting in your pocket as we speak :)

~~~
tixocloud
And how did you first get your previous customers? ;)

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graystevens
A recent HN discussion which may help:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14191161](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14191161)

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dnh44
I had an ongoing relationship with a company and got them to pay a deposit for
a product before we even started the company.

We would not have started the company without that deposit and I would have
done something else in that case.

Anyway I think you should know who your first paying customers are going to be
before you start anything. But don't take anyones word for anything. Lots of
people will say "yeah I'll buy that if you make it" but not everyone will
follow through.

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nickswan
I built up a list of early access users for www.sanitycheck.io from a small
Twitter following, small podcast listenership, and two seo Facebook groups I
was a member of. Got about 50 users in total. 9 months of being in beta and
then switched on pricing and got first 10 customers from that.

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cdiamand
I found the first few customers for my SaaS problem archive
-[https://www.oppslist.com/subscribe](https://www.oppslist.com/subscribe)

Through running a newsletter that provided similar content and promoting
there.

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jwilliams
B2B SaaS - Used networks, cold emails and showing up (cities, events,
conferences). For everyone you meet, ask for a referral to someone else at the
end. When you have an idea that has some level of product-market fit, that
should be enough to get traction.

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malux85
My very first startup I was naive and just did cold calling. Got a huge number
of no's (200+) before getting a yes.

Next time I'm much smarter, seek partnerships and even better if your product
is an upsell, then you can have others sell it for you

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wingerlang
I the first costumers almost by just releasing the app, because the community
was small and anything "new" would definitely sell at least 1 copy.

The product(s) being of high quality still have sales after some years.

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AznHisoka
I found people who shared content from my competitors and sent them cold
emails using BuzzSumo [http://buzzsumo.com](http://buzzsumo.com)

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AznHisoka
I used social media to find influencers who could help promote my product
using tools like CrowdTangle and Followerwonk

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brianwawok
Met a guy on a relevant reddit :)

