What should I save up before joining Maker School, what’s your Upwork outreach recommendation, and should I offer a free service or start with a guaranteed paid one?

#102 · How to Send 100,000 Emails Per Month (Cheapest Setup)

What should I save up before joining Maker School, what’s your Upwork outreach recommendation, and should I offer a free service or start with a guaranteed paid one?

You should take what you can get and try doing guaranteed paid work; most of the time that’s enough. If you really can’t deliver enough value to convince people to pay, they’ll want performance‑based pay (pay when you get paid), which is fine. The downside is that as a beginner you may incur liability from paying for software platforms. I’d only recommend that arrangement if the customer is willing to cover the costs of tools like Instantly and mailboxes, because then it’s free upside—you learn on the job and get paid. If you have ongoing software costs each month, it’s not a good idea; I once had a coaching client who paid $100/month for six months, delivered results, but the client refused to pay, so I shut down the mailboxes and the client got angry. You should have covered the tool costs as promised; otherwise it’s not advisable. I hope this makes sense. Sorry about the international payment access issues—they’re weird and outside my control.

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Related answers

youtube ↗Cold Email

How do I fix one-month-old mailboxes landing in spam, and should I purchase Maker School now or wait until my mailbox health is fully restored?

Hey man, I feel you—I wanted my first client on day one when I started door-to-door, and it took me three months. I don't think you should join Maker School with just one month saved. First, you might leave after a month without landing a client, since many don't succeed in the first month; my success rate is high over 90 days but not within 30 days. Second, you'll face extra costs like buying mailboxes—my minimum viable setup is about $40–$50 per month—and you're young, so you can't use freelance platforms like Upwork or Fiverr due to age limits, which I recommend for bootstrapping. Instead, save up for at least three or four months of Maker School before considering it, though you're already at a disadvantage being young. I'm not saying avoid Maker School entirely, but I don't want to take your money if you don't succeed.

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youtube ↗Client Acquisition

When I joined Maker School, I saw I might need to spend around $600 for tools on top of the subscription. Is that true? I'm from India, so even $50 is a lot for me — what should I save up before joining?

That $600 figure depends on how you actually implement it — my recommended approach (e.g. sending 10 Upwork applications a day, roughly 270 by the end of the first month at about $25 in Connects each) is genuinely a lot of money, but in practice very few people actually do that much volume; most people send 2-4 a day, landing around 60-90 for the month. Doing more is still better — Upwork applications don't just help your closing rate, the practice of writing proposals and recording videos also builds real skill, so it's not purely about landing that first client, it's skill-stacking too. But at minimum, if you're doing Upwork, expect to spend something like $150 just on Connects — you will need to budget some money for the platform itself.

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youtube ↗Pricing

What budget should I start with when joining Maker School, and should I focus on freelancing to save money or jump straight into the program?

You're definitely overthinking it. Roadblocks appear when you can't generate revenue quickly enough to bootstrap. A $500‑a‑month freelance income is reasonable, but you don’t want to be in a scarcity mindset where you feel forced to make Maker School work at all costs. Think of it like sprinting: going 100 % all the time burns you out, while operating at about 85 %—a relaxed competence—lets you stay effective. My recommendation is to save up for a month, then look for the most cost‑effective options. You don’t need to submit a huge number of applications; focus on quality. Lean heavily on cold email and community‑based outreach that don’t require any money. That 80/20 blend of starting now with limited funds and waiting for a larger budget later will give you the best chance of success without hitting roadblocks.

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youtube ↗Lead Generation

How should I spend $1,000 to start getting clients? I considered buying a bulk of inboxes and a premium instantly plan to increase sending volume, but do you have other suggestions?

If you haven’t had a client yet, allocate part of the $1,000 to Upwork to buy your first job—it’s the simplest way to get started. Also invest in Maker School to learn the automation framework and get the curriculum. With the remaining budget, buy a modest number of mailboxes (around 20–21) and domains (about $50 for domains plus $70 for mailboxes, totaling ~$120). Use leftover funds to purchase leads. This approach lets you cover education, outreach tools, and lead acquisition while positioning you to land your first client through Upwork, provided you stay consistent and follow the program’s advice.

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