Seeking Advice: Cold Outreach vs. Freelance Platforms... Which Lead Generation Strategy Should I Prioritize? - Is My Strategy even Effective?

[DXLM]

Hello Fastlaners!

My wife and I recently started a Shopify Design and Development Service-as-a-Product business, and we are currently in the leads generation phase, aiming to secure our first clients. We have prepared a website, chosen a niche (UK-based Shopify stores), and built a list of approximately 25,000 .co.uk Shopify websites. Additionally, we have been posting useful tips and information for Shopify store owners on our social media channels (Instagram, TikTok, and soon YouTube).

Our current strategy involves:

1. Offering discounted prices for our first clients (90% off for the first 5, reducing the discount by 20% every 5 clients)
2. Creating content to attract warm leads (2 YouTube videos per month, 3 TikTok/Instagram posts per week)
3. Contacting cold leads via Instagram DMs (accounts with 10k+ followers) by initiating conversations about their products or business, sending them a personalized Loom-like video (like this one: I dont do this usually but) demonstrating how they could integrate AI into their buying experience, and following up after 3 days.

However, given that we have a one-year-old child and limited childcare options, our time is constrained. We can only contact around 20 Instagram accounts per day, with about 4 accepting our message request.

My question is: Should we pivot our focus to platforms like Upwork, where the leads are warmer but the Shopify freelancer space is more saturated? Or should we concentrate our efforts on growing our social media presence to attract more warm leads organically?

We understand that lead generation is a numbers game, but we want to ensure that we are using our time effectively. Any advice or insights from the community would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!

(Side note, I used Claude to help layout this question, my unfiltered prose was a hot mess )

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[se81renade]

Given your situation, why not consider a mixed strategy? Dedicate a portion of your time to Upwork to tap into those warmer leads while continuously working on your social media strategy to build a sustainable lead pipeline. This way, you can test the waters on Upwork without putting all your eggs in one basket, and you can adjust your strategy based on the results you see.

 

[DXLM]

Given your situation, why not consider a mixed strategy? Dedicate a portion of your time to Upwork to tap into those warmer leads while continuously working on your social media strategy to build a sustainable lead pipeline. This way, you can test the waters on Upwork without putting all your eggs in one basket, and you can adjust your strategy based on the results you see.

Thanks for the response!

I didn’t even consider doing both because I’ve tended to spread myself thin in the past making little progress on multiple things instead of going all-in . But now that you’ve presented it to me, it probably doesn’t apply to my situation since at my stage I think I need to try as many lead gen approaches as possible until something sticks.

Question: I still feel like volume is our main problem, are there any tips I’ve missed on how I might increase the DM cold outreach to over 20 a day? (I’ve considered automation (including using HeyGen (AI Avatar of me) for the videos to speed up the vid production) but I’m not convinced that it can achieve the personalisation needed)

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

1. Start being findable to the people already looking for your service.

• What are the 3 keywords someone must type into Google to find you (and it can't have your name or your business name).
• Make sure when you pick those keywords there are other people worthy of being in the same conversation. Example: 3 words for Shopify but plumbers show up.
• Create articles/blog posts/copy on your page that will get you ranked in the top 10.

2. Start going to places where people are already searching

• Spend a few dollars to create a profile on upwork and fiverr. You're competing against 3rd world countries in a place where London seems prestigious. Wouldn't take much to get you on top of the pile (for a few bucks).
• Get into Facebook groups of Shopify and amazon sellers. Give genuine advice and never make an ask. Set up your social profiles so that if you give good advice and someone clicks on your profile, they might hire you (banners, profile image, posts, etc.)

3. If you have a little money, run FB ads.

They are super inexpensive and a big bang for your buck.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Get into Facebook groups of Shopify and amazon sellers. Give genuine advice and never make an ask. Set up your social profiles so that if you give good advice and someone clicks on your profile, they might hire you (banners, profile image, posts, etc.)

I'm a fan of this ^^^. Make sure you're non-spammy. Help people where they are by answering their questions. Over time you'll figure out what questions keep cropping up, learn more about your ideal prospect (and those that aren't ideal), and all whole getting known as someone helpful and an expert at Shopify designs.

HOT! - MARKETING - How to use forums (and Facebook groups)

How to use forums (and Facebook groups) I'm going to braindump some of my learnings about using Forums and Facebook groups. For those trying to "validate a need" (I kinda hate that phrase), then forums and Facebook groups are a fantastic resource. Not only do people nicely group themselves...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Think about where your ideal clients hang out online, who they currently follow, and (as Kung Fu Steve already suggested) what they're searching for.




Here's some other threads that might help you:

GOLD! - HOT! - MARKETING - Andy's Inbound/Sales Braindump

I was asked this a while ago: If you were to start your business from scratch, how would you approach prospecting? Given that you don't cold call. And you don't know many people in the business world to "spend your money on diesel and coffee" with. And you've already reached out to your friends...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

MARKETING - SIDE HUSTLE - [Workshop Replay] Selling Google Ads as a Service

Here's a presentation about how I started and am building a business that provides Google Ads as a service to other businesses. I did it for @Fox 's paid web design group last year and he's kindly allowed me to share it. It should also help people starting other businesses. Let me know what...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Panos Daras]

Speaking from the perspective of a lead, I receive about ten emails daily regarding this kind of service. Most of them feature a generic, AI-generated, copy-pasted message. Just by reading the first sentence, I can tell they haven't taken the time to look at the website. If I were ever to hire someone, it would be because they sent me a personalized improvement suggestion for the website and they maintained a strong social media presence on LinkedIn.

Personally, I would never enter this space, even if I were an expert in Shopify development. The problem is that most of the customers are brokies who want to sell something on the side. There is also a tremendous amount of global competition, and the price wars can be relentless, especially for websites in English. How can you request a UK price when the same job can be done by a team in Bangladesh for one-fifth of the cost?

However, perhaps you are so skilled that you can outperform the competitors. I apologize for the negativity, but these are my thoughts.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Hello Fastlaners!

My wife and I recently started a Shopify Design and Development Service-as-a-Product business, and we are currently in the leads generation phase, aiming to secure our first clients. We have prepared a website, chosen a niche (UK-based Shopify stores), and built a list of approximately 25,000 .co.uk Shopify websites. Additionally, we have been posting useful tips and information for Shopify store owners on our social media channels (Instagram, TikTok, and soon YouTube).

Our current strategy involves:

1. Offering discounted prices for our first clients (90% off for the first 5, reducing the discount by 20% every 5 clients)
2. Creating content to attract warm leads (2 YouTube videos per month, 3 TikTok/Instagram posts per week)
3. Contacting cold leads via Instagram DMs (accounts with 10k+ followers) by initiating conversations about their products or business, sending them a personalized Loom-like video (like this one: I dont do this usually but) demonstrating how they could integrate AI into their buying experience, and following up after 3 days.

However, given that we have a one-year-old child and limited childcare options, our time is constrained. We can only contact around 20 Instagram accounts per day, with about 4 accepting our message request.

My question is: Should we pivot our focus to platforms like Upwork, where the leads are warmer but the Shopify freelancer space is more saturated? Or should we concentrate our efforts on growing our social media presence to attract more warm leads organically?

We understand that lead generation is a numbers game, but we want to ensure that we are using our time effectively. Any advice or insights from the community would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!

(Side note, I used Claude to help layout this question, my unfiltered prose was a hot mess )

Too complicated. You're a brokie, at your stage you need to focus on a SINGLE strategy.

So pick one. Just do that.

I do recommend Upwork + possibly cold email. That's it.

No lead magnet shit. People who need lead magnets ain't clients usually, and will waste your time.

And believe me, Upwork isn't "more saturated" than any of the other methods. They're ALL equally saturated. The only difference is that on Upwork you only need to answer ONE question:

• Why should you buy from me?

Outside of Upwork you need to answer two questions:
• Why should you buy the service?
• Why should you buy it from me?

Double the difficulty. The only reason not to be on Upwork is if you're marketing something DIFFERENT that people aren't searching for.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DXLM]

Thanks for the advice so far!

The simplification really helps.
@Kung Fu Steve when you say this:

Make sure when you pick those keywords there are other people worthy of being in the same conversation. Example: 3 words for Shopify but plumbers show up.

Could you elaborate on what you mean here please? I think you're saying that if my keywords are: UK Shopify experts or custom Shopify themes, then I should aim to show up in a search result alongside other Shopify experts or theme creators?


Hi Andy,

Help people where they are by answering their questions. Over time you'll figure out what questions keep cropping up, learn more about your ideal prospect (and those that aren't ideal), and all whole getting known as someone helpful and an expert at Shopify designs.

This looks like essentially "market research" and some kind of "4D Fishing" but honing in on our customer this way sounds like a good way to land a first unexpected client. Thank you for the advice and the reading list.

If I were ever to hire someone, it would be because they sent me a personalized improvement suggestion for the website and they maintained a strong social media presence on LinkedIn.

Thanks for the tip here @Panos Daras. This point is why I feel the Instagram DM cold leads strategy is so slow. Looking through their Instagram site, following, liking, commenting something relevant/appropriate, and then DMing them something equally relevant/appropriate should increase the likelyhood of a conversion but it is still a numbers game. Email might be easier to still be personal but also hit high volume. But getting the copy right is still work to be done

The problem is that most of the customers are brokies who want to sell something on the side.

The problem with this statement is that there are a lot of Shopify stores, so if only 0.1% are not brokies, that's 0.1% of 2 - 4 million. And we're only aiming for 5 clients (at full price) in the short to mid term.


@Kung Fu Steve and @Black_Dragon43 I really appreciate the simplification of what I'm aiming to do:

being findable to the people already looking for your service.

going to places where people are already searching

on Upwork you only need to answer ONE question:

• Why should you buy from me?

Outside of Upwork you need to answer two questions:
• Why should you buy the service?
• Why should you buy it from me?

It's looking like we are gonna pause on the Instagram DM cold strategy for now and focus on approaching warmer waters.

Going to places where people are already searching:
Their search engine results,
Their task/job postings,
Their forums for asking questions about their Shopify related problems

Answering the question "why should you buy from me" with:
Video demonstrations on our socials, of implementing solutions to the problems they ask about on their forums,
Answers to the questions where they hang out.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

Could you elaborate on what you mean here please? I think you're saying that if my keywords are: UK Shopify experts or custom Shopify themes, then I should aim to show up in a search result alongside other Shopify experts or theme creators?

Exactly. If that's your goal.

How would someone find your website if they don't know you or your brand name?

What would they search for? What are 3 or 4 terms you could rank for that make sense?

Going to places where people are already searching:
Their search engine results,
Their task/job postings,
Their forums for asking questions about their Shopify related problems

Be careful where/how you do this though. It's easy to get involved in circle jerks of developers talking to developers instead of speaking to your actual potential clients.

eCommerce communities where people are trying to sell products would make more sense than Shopify Developer Chat (or whatever)

Answering the question "why should you buy from me" with:

This is the only part I don't like. It should never be about you. It should be about the client, their challenges, their frustrations, their emotions.

In copywriting we call this "joining the conversation already happening in their head" so what are they sitting at their computer frustrated with? How can you alleviate that pain for them?

If you can clearly articulate their problem and their thinking, you demonstrate you understand them and at that point you don't have to convince someone to buy from you, you just make the offer.

Video demonstrations on our socials, of implementing solutions to the problems they ask about on their forums,
Answers to the questions where they hang out.

This is great.

If you can just show your product/service does what you say it does, you don't have to sell it.