51 Ways to Acquire Your First 100,000 Customers Without Any Marketing Budget

Most startups are strapped for cash and the majority of them don’t have the budget to dedicate any serious funds to marketing.

So I’ve compiled a list of 51 ways you can acquire customers without having to spend thousands of dollars on marketing.

1. Looks Matter
It sounds silly, but if your website isn’t smart, inviting and intuitive, most people these days aren’t going to stick around for long. Make sure that it looks like somebody updated it a few hours ago—rather than a few years.

2. Break the “Skill” Barrier
If new users don’t have the skills to use your website, they’re not going to take the time to learn them first. Make it so that they don’t have to, and they’ll value you all the more.

3. Meet Market Behaviors, Don’t Try To Change Them
It sounds complicated, but it’s simple: be innovative, but make sure that you’re not being an inconvenience. It’s exactly how Square became the titan it is today.

4. Find Your Micro-Market
You’re not going to appeal to all 7,000,000,000 people on the planet. So instead of trying to win everyone over at once, follow Facebook’s example, and target one group and expand from there.

5. Become a Life-Hack
Save people time and effort, and they’ll naturally start coming to you. Offer a one-stop shop appeal, and you’ll make it hard for them to go anywhere else.

6. Be Sharable
Make sure that your site is equipped with easy-share buttons to all of the big social media sites. Make things tweet-able, email-able, and even text-able. People won’t go too far out of their way to spread the word.

7. Plug It In!
If you can make your service a plugin or extension—do it. It’s an easy way to get your name and product out there, and makes you all the more accessible.

8. Blog, Blog, Blog, Blog, Blog
If you don’t have a blog on your website, then you’re still on the ground floor. This is an essential part of promoting your site. Get started right here.

9. Start Spreadi–er, Reporting the News
If you’re having trouble coming up with fresh content, engage with current stories out there! Get involved with the news, and watch how relevant your blog can become.

10. Find Your Money Keywords
It’s like cheating. Google has a free tool that allows you to see who’s searching for what every month. Start with what you want to target and develop a set of keyword silver-bullets.

11. Exclusivity: The Art of Invite-Only
Done right, the invite-only strategy can be a great way to build hype around your new product. Just make sure you don’t wait too long and invitees forget who you even are.