I started learning automation in November, spent two months learning, and since January I’ve only secured two clients that are still in the process of closing. What are the top three ways to get my first two clients on board?
I think we should start by clarifying terminology: I wouldn’t consider someone a client until they’ve paid money—or at least committed to paying for something, like a software subscription. Until money changes hands or an agreement is signed, it’s not a real client. Many people think a deal is closed when the prospect says yes, but it’s not truly closed until they sign or, better yet, pay the invoice. Saying yes is different from actually paying you. You said you started automation in November, learned it in two months, and since January you’ve only got two clients in the process of closing. Over roughly 60–70 days, if you’d done a daily outreach minimum—say 10 personalized Loom videos a day via Upwork, DMs, Instagram, X, etc.—you’d have contacted about 700 people. Yet only two showed interest, which is about 0.3% (2 out of 700), or roughly 1 in 350. That’s extremely low; to get one ‘yes’ you’d need to hear roughly 349 ‘nos’. If you’d done consistent, reliable outreach using the mechanisms I show in Maker School and on my channel (daily Loom videos, etc.), even if you were terrible at it, it would be statistically unlikely to get so few results. Typical response rates are around 2%, which would be about eight times better than what you’re seeing. So you likely reached out to far fewer people—maybe around 80 total, or about one per day. To improve, first be very clear about what ‘closed’ means—wait for payment or a signed agreement. Second, set a clear daily outreach minimum, like sending 10 customized Loom videos a day on platforms such as Upwork, Instagram, X, or via DM. Third, standardize your sales process: use a repeatable roadmap (like my ‘Roadmap to $25k a Month with Automation’) that funnels prospects into a meeting, then a sales call, then a detailed proposal or scope of work, and follow the same steps each time. Doing this builds infrastructure you can iterate on—run it for 10 clients, tweak, run another 10, and you’ll see conversion rates improve. That’s what I’d do if I were in your shoes.