2 builders who never spoke to each other

Cold email the consultants your buyers already hire

The people who advise your target customers are easy to find by job title, know the market intimately and will take a call. Ask for their view rather than their money, and the same thread produces both market research and a list of people ready to pay before the company has a name.

The method

1. 01

   Use professional search on LinkedIn to build your outreach list from the job title that advises your buyers, rather than approaching end customers directly.

2. 02

   Validate the idea by cold-emailing the consultants who already serve your target customers and asking for a phone call before you build anything.

3. 03

   You can line up paying customers before you have a company name, a deck, or a server running.

4. 04

   Write the closing paragraph so the exchange is flattering to them, respectful of their time and obviously fair to both sides, and people will help you.

5. 05

   Email named prospects individually and ask explicitly whether they would use it and pay for it, ruling out any answer about the idea being interesting.

What it returned

• 2010

  In February 2010 Jason Cohen searched LinkedIn for WordPress consultants and emailed forty of them; every single one agreed to a call

• $100M

  Cohen had thirty willing payers before naming the company; it became WP Engine, now around $100M a year

• 17

  Rob Walling emailed 17 founders, including Hiten Shah of Kissmetrics, with exactly that framing while validating Drip, and 11 of the 17 said yes.

• Cohen targeted WordPress consultants rather than site owners

Sources

• How (not) to validate your ideaJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How to (really) validate your idea · undated
• Try writing “advice emails” instead of sales emailsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Ask for Advice · undated
• The cold email that started a $100M / yr companyHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · The cold email that started a $100M / yr company · undated