It's time to get serious about customer acquisition
Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #215
Wow! Nearly 100 of you have already registered for my live class — “How to Get Your First 100 Customers.” I’m excited to see everyone there in just a few days!
For those of you who haven’t registered, why not? 🤨
You need customers, right? Plus, the class is free, it’s live, and it’s going to be co-taught with one of the most savvy and creative customer acquisition specialists I’ve ever met, Chris Leithe, CEO of Audience Acceleration Labs.
Luckily, if you haven’t reserved a spot yet, there’s still time! Just choose from one of the following sessions:
In the meantime, I’ll add that Chris and I have been polishing the lesson plan during the past few days. While I don’t want to give too much away, let’s just say that I’m excited for what we’ve pulled together. Our goal is for you to come away from the hour-long session with a clear series of steps you can follow to immediately begin prospecting prospective early customers by leveraging a thoughtful combination of personal networks and strategic cold-outreach.
To be clear, getting your first 100 customers won’t be easy. (Getting customers is never easy!) But we’re going to help you make the process more successful by arming you with a well-structured, systematic, easy-to-follow, repeatable process.
Why a process?
Because processes are at the core of customer acquisition!
I get it… processes aren’t sexy. It’s so much more fun to do things like build products and fundraise. But processes are necessary.
Too many entrepreneurs think customer acquisition is something that magically happens. Heck, I was one of those entrepreneurs for a long time. I believed once I released my product people would immediately discover it on their own, fall in love, and suddenly I’d be rich.
That never happened. Instead, I launched lots of products that never got any traction until I began taking customer acquisition seriously.
Don’t be like me. Don’t just assume people will find your product on their own, love it, and decide to buy. It’s time to get serious about getting customers. After all, without customers, you don’t have a business.
-Aaron
This week’s new articles…
Two Important Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Venture Capitalists
Venture capitalists are a valuable part of the startup ecosystem, but don’t let them confuse you about what really matters.
The Real Reason Your Startup Is Failing (and How to Fix It)
If the wheels are falling off your startup and you can’t figure out why, there might be a surprisingly simple explanation.
Office Hours Q&A
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QUESTION:
Hello Dr. Dinin!
I am writing because I wanted to tell you how much I love your social media content. I am a recent subscriber to your Instagram page but I have watched all of your videos and each one teaches me something new and wonderful.
With that said, I have been thinking of also beginning to put myself out more on social media. You clearly have a strong passion and talent for it, and I also read that you teach it to your Duke students.
Even though I know I can never take your class, I am wondering if you would be willing to share some advice on what someone should do to get started posting more on social media.
Thank you for your kind consideration,
Yunji
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First things first, I feel obligated to use this space to pat myself on the back for my Instagram account, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite platforms.
Prior to last October, I had basically no Instagram presence. Sure, I was already “the TikTok professor,” and I’ve been posting to Medium for what feels like forever. But Instagram just never excited me.
It’s time to admit I was wrong. To everyone reading this who’s joined Entrepreneur Office Hours by way of Instagram in the past few weeks, welcome and thanks for being such a great and engaging community. I wish I had been more active on there a lot earlier.
This last point – being active earlier – also dovetails nicely with how I want to answer this question.
Simply put, the best advice for how to start posting more on social media is TO START POSTING MORE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
You’re damn right I just answered your question with your own question!
The only thing stopping anyone reading this from posting more often (and accessing the potential entrepreneurial value that comes from posting) is you.
I’ve now been teaching content creators at Duke for a few years, I’ve worked with hundreds of students, and I know for a fact that the biggest problem for every new creator is posting consistently.
To be clear, your first posts won’t be any good. Heck, my earliest TikToks, Reels, and articles are embarrassingly bad. But I kept posting, which is critical. Posting – and seeing how people engage with the content we post – is the absolute best way to learn and improve.
In other words, don’t wait. There’s no magical advice anyone can give that’s going to suddenly turn you into a social media content superstar. It’s like any skill – it takes lots of work and lots of practice. If you want to learn it, then you’d better start doing it.
Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer!
