I run an agency with referral-based lead gen, pivoted to ops automation, have some social proof under NDAs. Should I act as if starting from zero and test different niches via outreach?
No, definitely not. Even with NDAs, you can talk in generalities about the work you've done. For example, you can say you work with a business that makes a certain amount of money per month; if it's impressive, that's social proof. People care whether you deliver revenue or savings, not that you built the exact same system before. The simplest way to show that is to share any example of past results. If you were a salesperson applying for an automation project, you don't need to claim you built the specific system; you can say you used to run sales at XYZ Corporation and generated over $2 million in a couple years, showing you know how to generate revenue and achieve desired outcomes. Talking about money works because it's the universal language of business outcomes. Focus on money in your messaging—mention specific revenue figures like generating $45,000 in three days for a client—and you'll be fine.
I think the last few days of live lead‑generation should answer that. If you need specifics, let me know and I’ll circle back with a more detailed answer in the next batch.
No. But you can get away with saying, "Hey, you know, I built this stuff for an AI agency." You don’t need to specify that the AI agency is yours, just that you built it for an AI agency—your own. It’s like pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, which is super cool, and that’s what I recommend. Start there. Visualize it: you start with a project you built for an automation company, then use that to land a gig with a personal trainer company, and so on. Create multiple portfolio pieces or case studies—one for an automation company, one for a personal trainer, and one for an AI agency. With three simple systems you’ve built, you can sell a lead‑gen system that adds, for example, $1,535 in revenue in the first three weeks for a B2B SaaS business. Starting with a modest case study builds credibility, and once you have dollar signs in your case studies, it becomes much easier to attract higher‑paying clients.
Response rate mostly depends on your outreach copy, not the offer. You can get a high reply rate even with a weak offer if the copy is compelling or the ask is very low. Think of conversion rate as stated ROI times belief in your ability (social proof) divided by friction. A strong example: pointing out a prospect’s $15k/month leak and offering to fix it for free, guaranteeing payment only if results are delivered. This creates high ROI and social proof (e.g., past work with Meta, big agencies) while keeping friction low—like offering a quick call or sending a video instead of a long onboarding. To improve response rate, maximize ROI and social proof, then minimize friction.
Well, you guys don’t have any revenue or clients, so you’re really just working on a project. Your first priority should be solving the no‑clients, no‑revenue problem. Don’t waste time building out a product or website—just get something sold. I’d have you and your friends create profiles on Upwork, Freelancer.com, and Fiverr. Each day, pool your school money or whatever you can and submit ten Upwork applications. In those applications, tell prospects exactly what you can do (X, Y, Z) and how you’d approach their project, showing rather than just telling your experience. This avoids the inevitable ‘show me your portfolio’ question because you demonstrate your process. If you do this for three days you’ll have sent about ninety applications, and the odds of landing at least one $200 project are high. Once you have that $200 project, you now have a real business—you’ve made money online and can stop pretending. You’ll learn more from that small project than from hours of my talking. After you land a client, get them on a call and confirm the money is changing hands or there’s a monetary agreement, like escrow on a platform. If I built you a solution that automated all of this outreach and follow‑up, it would definitely save you time and money—that’s the vibe I’m advising. So give it a try.