3 builders who never spoke to each other

Line up several routes so one has to work

List the independent ways your first few hundred customers could arrive and start more than one, so the launch never depends on a single channel behaving. Jason Cohen sets out eight alternatives side by side and only needs one of them to land. Luca Restagno uses repeated launches to find out which surface works for him, and Finn Pegler traded on classifieds while the slow channel he actually wanted was still being built.

The method

1. 01

   Line up several independent routes to your first few hundred customers so that only one of them has to work, rather than betting the company on a single channel.

2. 02

   Use repeated launches to test your distribution channels, rotating across Product Hunt, Hacker News, Reddit and the social platforms to learn which one works for you.

3. 03

   Seed the first customers on Facebook, Craigslist and Thumbtack while the slow channel is being built. They are not the long game but they get you trading.

What it returned

• The alternatives he lists side by side are Google ads, Facebook ads, affiliates, targeted outbound sales, search traffic, guesting on podcasts and newsletters, a high-profile reseller partnership, and press coverage of a distinctive brand.

• Those three were the initial channels, used while the long term plan was already set on Google visibility.

Sources

• Capturing luck with “or” instead of “and”Jason Cohen · longform.asmartbear.com · Capturing luck with “or” instead of “and” · 2019-10-08
• From Desk Job to Building a $60k/mo Cleaning BusinessFinn Pegler · failory.com · Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business? · undated
• Demystifying the 12 by 12 challenge.Luca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · Demystifying the 12 by 12 challenge. · 2024-01-07