4.5k MRR to 20k MRR design agency. Lessons from successful and failed experiments.
Hey all,
I am a solopreneur and the founder of Contrast, a design studio that caters to start-ups and offers a subscription service. The year has started off well, and the revenue has increased from a low of 4.5k MRR to roughly 20k MRR. I have tried out a few lead generation options and have come to some conclusions.
Slack groups - best so far
I joined a few product management Slack groups where my target customers might hang out and started engaging there. I try to be helpful and contribute to conversations with advice, and resources. I was surprised by how well people remember me based on my activity there. This was the source of a couple of customers and so far provided the best ROI.
Clutch.co - lukewarm
Clutch is a well-known portal for service providers. I'm paying for a featured listing that began in February. No deals have come out of it yet but I've gotten a couple of leads. The cost is not low but if at least 1 good quality customer comes from there, I'm in the green. It's a 12-month contract, so there's more to go. I'll continue to work on optimizing my profile and the score that influences search rankings (the "ability to deliver" score, as they call it).
Newsletter ad
I purchased an ad in a somewhat well-known newsletter for PMs and founders. It generated about 100 clicks but no leads. At an average of $3.5/click, IMO that's a high price for 0 leads. I assume it's a matter of audience fit. I'm considering making small bets in other newsletters if i feel confident the audience might be a good fit. I'm using passionfroot.me to find partnerships.
LinkedIn cold outreach - promising
While this channel hasn't generated any leads yet, I did have some interesting conversations. I sense there's a lot of potential here. Unlike an ad. I recently restarted this effort and I'm looking to optimize it over time. I'm using Dripify for the initial outreach.
Refer and earn $1500
I'm offering a bounty of $500/mo/client for the first 3 months a client subscribes to my studio. If you know someone who could use my help, make an intro at calin@contrast.studio.
I'd love your feedback and ideas of what I could do to improve or what channels are worth trying out. Share your thoughts in the comments.
Meanwhile, I'm also working on some exciting stuff: a brand refresh, a new website, and starting a blog. Stay tuned! Follow my journey on LinkedIn.
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