If you had to start your AI agency from scratch, what channel would you focus on first? Cold email, LinkedIn DMs, Instagram, Facebook groups, or something else? Why and what would your first 30 days look like?

Don’t limit yourself to one channel; test several and match each to your existing skill set. For example, if you’re strong at aesthetics, branding, and the first five minutes of conversation, you’ll do well on Upwork but might struggle with cold email. Run both in parallel, track results, and after a month double down on the winner. Set a consistent goal (e.g., 10 LinkedIn DMs a day, 100 cold emails a day, 20 Facebook‑group messages a day) and treat the experiment like a scientific test.

ai agencyoutreach channelsskill matchtesting

Related answers

youtube ↗Lead Generation

How can I get back into my AI agency journey and start making money after pausing for exams, given I only tried cold calling a few days and built some basic automations?

If you've only tried cold outreach a few times, you need to do it 100–1,000 times more to see results. When I started, I knocked on about 3,000 doors over three months with a friend and made only $7—roughly the same outcome as 5–15 cold calls that got zero replies. At the beginning, lacking experience means you need many reps to win. I wouldn’t recommend cold calling for selling automations today; instead, send custom Loom videos. They avoid synchronous timing issues and gatekeepers, letting your message sit in the prospect’s inbox, which is far more effective—likely three to four times better use of your time.

cold callingloom videooutreachreps

youtube ↗Agency Operations

Jordan Michael Jordan asks if I’ve considered recording a series that shows the journey of starting an AI agency from zero, similar to a Maker School methodology.

Sure, I get the idea of creating a series that shows the journey from zero. I’ve already built a lot of proof for my AI agency. Over the years I’ve recorded sales calls, kept bank statements, and documented everything. I’ve even done a project on Upwork that started with just a dozen cold‑email calls. After about 12 calls I closed a few clients who didn’t even know who I was, and that gave me real case studies. I’ve also tried cold‑email and community‑post outreach, but hiding your reputation there is hard, so I haven’t pursued it further.

starting from zeroupworkcold email

youtube ↗Niches

If starting an AI agency for SMBs today, which niche should I target and which platform should I use to acquire the first 10 clients?

Don’t rely on building a personal brand or posting content first; that takes too long. Instead, launch cold‑email campaigns aimed at several different niches, send the same offer to each group, and measure which yields the highest response or conversion. Double down on the offer and niche that performs best numerically. Test multiple platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, X, YouTube) in parallel, but prioritize the one where your offer gets the most traction. The key is rapid experimentation and data‑driven focus, not waiting for a brand to grow.

AI agencyniche testingcold email

youtube ↗Cold Email

Can you do a step‑by‑step for somebody looking to do their first cold email campaign at a small scale? How would you structure a campaign on Instantly?

I already recorded a video that does all this called "Watch Me Start and Sell an AI Service in 10 Hours" where I go through the process of finding a need, picking niches, finding needs via Reddit, converting them into offers, putting offers into Instantly, scraping and uploading lead lists, reaching out, and I usually get about 10 interested people who want to book calls within an hour and a half of work.

cold emaillead genstep-by-step