8 builders who never spoke to each other

Make search the channel that carries the business

For a considered purchase with a name people can type, being present at the moment of the query beats everything else these operators tried: ninety percent of revenue at a cleaning company, near-zero acquisition cost at a SaaS, every one of one startup's first fifteen paying users. Check where your paying customers actually came from and abandon the channels that produced none. Traffic that arrives without you also raises what the business sells for.

The method

1. 01

   Commit to search for a local service business and accept that the return takes years. It ends up carrying almost the whole business.

2. 02

   Search is the channel to master for a considered purchase with a specific name. Being present when someone looks for the thing beats everything else available.

3. 03

   A business built on organic search can run at effectively zero acquisition cost, which is what makes a small monthly revenue viable.

4. 04

   Check which channel your first paying customers actually came from and abandon the ones that produced none, however much effort you put in.

5. 05

   Traffic that keeps arriving without you, from search rather than from your own personal brand, is what raises the price of the business.

What it returned

• 90

  SEO now delivers 90 percent of revenue at DeluxeMaid, which passed $500,000 in 2020 and runs at $60k a month, with service industry margins typically 20 to 25 percent of gross.

• $170,000

  Matboard and More is almost entirely digital and reached $170,000 a month. By year three it ranked first for most of its major keywords, and the founder says nothing in their marketing has ever come near what Google delivers.

• 600

  Seomator's monthly marketing spend is very low and user acquisition cost is close to nothing, producing 600 to 700 leads a month with about 10 percent converting to a trial.

• Kapwing's cold emails, ads and Facebook group posts all failed, while every one of its first fifteen paying users arrived through Google search.

Sources

• What type of pain is your business solving?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Low pain (vitamin) · undated
• SEO project marketingHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · SEO project marketing · undated
• Storemapper 2015 Roadmap: 100K to 4HWW - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · When your business doesn’t have an accelerator pedal · 2015-02-03
• From Desk Job to Building a $60k/mo Cleaning BusinessFinn Pegler · failory.com · Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business? · undated
• Habitify: From $0 in 6 months to 1M downloads and $21K/monthAlan Nguyen · failory.com · If you had the chance to do things differently, what would you do? · undated
• How to Make $2,000/Month with a Personal Development BlogLidiya K · failory.com · How did you build Let’s Reach Success? Which is your business model? · undated
• Digitizing a Startup & Making $170,000/MonthMehdi Kajbaf · failory.com · Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business? · undated
• Growing a SaaS to $4k/month in a Highly Competitive MarketNick Sawinyh · failory.com · Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business? · undated
• 2020 Year in ReviewPreetam Nath · preetamnath.com · SEO experimentation to 180,000 monthly impressions on Google · 2020-12-27
• Evolution Happens via IterationsPreetam Nath · preetamnath.com · 3. Keep evolving · 2021-02-21
• 3 lessons learned selling 3 SaaS productsLuca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · 3. Exit value · 2023-12-17
• Do you need a big Twitter following to be a successful solopreneur?Luca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · Do you need a big Twitter following to be a successful solopreneur? · 2024-01-28