What’s the best way to find clients for my AI search platform?

#35 · How I Cold Email Larger Companies ($2.4M Earned)

What’s the best way to find clients for my AI search platform?

Start by targeting the right level of people in a company – ideally founders, co‑founders, or senior executives. Map out the organization: owners/founders at the top, then C‑suite (CEO, CTO, CFO, etc.), followed by directors and senior staff. Skip sales reps and lower‑level staff. Build a list of companies in your niche and source leads using tools like Apollo or LinkedIn. You can also use affordable lead‑generation services (around $45/month or $1.50 per 10,000 leads). Once you have a list, email multiple people at each company (e.g., three contacts). Mention that you’ve reached out to the others so each recipient knows there’s internal awareness, which improves open and reply rates. Use a brief, personalized approach and follow up with the highest‑ROI contact, whether that’s a founder, a director, or a DM, depending on the response.

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Related answers

youtube ↗Lead Generation

Where can I find clients for my automation agency?

If you're running an automation agency, you have three main options to find clients. First, Upwork: it's the simplest, straightest path for beginners to get your first dollar online, though the ROI is lower than other methods. Second, cold email: cost per acquisition is super low, you can scale it, and you can use AI to personalize outreach; check out my previous videos on my main channel @Nix for details on customizing and personalizing emails. Third, communities: post high-value content daily or every few days in groups where your target customers hang out; this frames you as an authority and quickly builds an inbound presence without the hard work of recording hundreds of videos. In Maker School I provide a daily regimen: send 10 Upwork applications, make a community post, and do cold email outreach each day. I recommend about 270 cold emails per day (nine mailboxes with 30 emails each). With a two-step sequence, that yields roughly 3,240 contacts per month, leading to about 90 engaged people, and assuming a third respond positively, you get around 30 leads per day—fantastic for your pipeline. This is what's working today given your photography background; you don't need to cold‑approach bigger businesses unless you want to, as it's often a pain.

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youtube ↗AI & Automation

Nick, I'm considering offering or selling AI to businesses. I want to start to some small businesses before aiming for bigger clients. How would you tackle this given they have different needs and situations or problems? Do you build a setup per business or do we build a set of services that could work like a general AI service? Also, for approach, direct messaging or in person.

Don't overthink the exact method—pick a few approaches and test them. Choose three different ways of reaching people, set a minimum daily outreach for each, and stick with it for a month or two (30‑60 days). See what works, then double down.

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youtube ↗Lead Generation

If I have zero budget but plenty of time, can I land my first client in under 48 hours and generate $10k monthly revenue quickly?

With no money, you double‑down on time. Scrape LinkedIn or Upwork profiles for first names and contact details, then manually reach out with a concise pitch that showcases your AI skill and offers a quick solution. Aim for 10‑minute outreach slots; in 48 hours (assuming you sleep 16 hours) you have 32 slots, which translates to about 192 potential prospects. Even a single positive response can land a $5k‑$10k client. If LinkedIn isn’t an option, be relentless on any platform—spend every waking second on outreach. These prospects are pre‑qualified because they’ve already expressed a willingness to pay for a problem solved. You can also farm social media for signals of need and contact those users directly.

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youtube ↗Client Acquisition

After building an AI automation invoicing system for a creative agency (27 freelancers), I've spent 4 months trying to find similar clients without success; lost direction. What advice do you have for finding clients for this AI automation service?

Use a tiered outreach approach. First, pitch to people who have already paid you—past clients give you about 10× the results per hour compared to cold outreach. Next, go to those who have paid you before, then to prospects who almost paid but didn’t, then to people you’ve already reached out to, and finally to completely cold audiences. Each step down the tier cuts the expected return (≈5×, 2×, 1.5×, 1×). It’s analogous to retargeting ads: validate your offer with a warm audience before spending time on cold leads. In your case, start with the agency you built the invoicing system for, show them the ROI you delivered, and ask for referrals or additional work.

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