How would I approach networking?

#43 · How to Find Pain Points for AI Automation Agency Niches

How would I approach networking?

I would approach networking by going to events centered on technological disruption or innovation and trying to meet as many people as possible there. Besides events, you can literally email anyone you want to talk to; if you write a personalized, customized email, there's about a 20% chance they’ll reply. For example, you could email someone like Sam Altman or Elon Musk if you had their personal address, and they’d likely check their inbox. I’ve even thought about messaging Alex Horos directly. You could also reach out to high‑leverage entrepreneurs, offering value up front. The best emails I receive usually say something like, “Hey Nick, I love your stuff; I’m also doing X, Y, Z and I’m interested in the same topic,” then they share a nuance and give me something for free without making an ask. I plan to run a similar campaign targeting about 300 people at the bleeding edge of AI ethics and AI safety, sending roughly ten customized emails a day for a month. If 20% respond, that would give me around sixty high‑level contacts.

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I'm 19, bootstrapping with no capital, no tools, just grit — using Perplexity to research real estate businesses and Claude to write ultra-personalized cold emails offering follow-up and booking automations. How do I scale this and land my first two clients?

I appreciate the grit — but seriously, try to find even 0 to put toward tools, it'll make your life a lot easier. That said, what you're doing is fine: ultra-personalizing emails and throwing enough of them at the wall is the straightest-line path to making it when you have nothing. I'd combine that with a Loom video or some other custom asset — it's one thing to research a business and write a personalized email, it's another to also hand them something custom while you're at it. I'd also experiment with DMs: while researching a business you'll usually find their Instagram, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn too, so have Claude also draft a customized one-line DM or connection request for each platform and send them all out simultaneously. If each channel independently has, say, a 20% chance of being seen, sending across email plus two or three social platforms takes your odds of being seen from 20% up to around 59% — and if a third of the people who see hyper-customized, well-researched outreach respond, you're looking at something like a 20% reply rate.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

With zero budget and no proof, what outreach strategy and daily actions would you recommend to land the first client for an AI receptionist agency using cold emails?

You already have the product, offer, and demo, but you could have validated the market first—sell the idea before building the product. With no budget or proof, focus on hyper‑customized cold outreach: research each prospect deeply (e.g., find an old blog post) and mention it in a personal note. Instead of blasting 100 generic emails a day, send about 20 highly tailored ones and follow up on every platform where they’re active (Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok). This multiplies your visibility—reaching people on three or four platforms can give you two‑to‑three times more exposure than email alone. Assuming a 20% chance of being seen per platform, outreach on several platforms raises your overall view rate to about 50%, which can yield a 25% reply rate. From 600 outreach attempts you might get ~75 replies, ~10 positive, leading to a few calls and possibly one closed deal.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

What email service do you recommend for cold email, Zoho Mail or Google Workspace?

I've read your point about building a personal brand generator for consultants that does all the work for them, packages it into a file, and sends it to the prospect. It sounds really cool, but it's too high scale—if you plan to mass DM, you'll burn through resources. What do you mean by 'too high scale'? How much does it cost to generate one? Maybe around 25 cents? If you send it to 100 people, that's $25. What do you think your open rates on these pitches will be? Probably pretty big—you might connect with about 25 out of 100 people, so roughly a dollar per connection or meeting. I don't necessarily think this is a bad idea; that's what I'm trying to say. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it. Please post in the right channel; don't sweat it.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

I’ve built an automated personalized outreach system but have almost no credibility. How should I market my system?

Even with zero credibility you can still get traction by using a conversational tone in your outreach. Write longer, personalized emails that give context about who you are, what you’re building, and why you’re reaching out. Make it sound like a genuine conversation rather than a sales pitch. This approach works well for beginners because it feels authentic and helps you stand out from the generic offers flooding inboxes. Give it a try – the personal, story‑driven style often lands the first leads when you don’t have a brand reputation yet.

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