@lord_squirrel Ooooh now I see your dilemma. It's a brand awareness problem, not a lead gen problem.

Here's my cold email outreach process so my outreach isn't icy cold (but maybe not quite warm):

• generate a list of SaaS companies that fit my qualifications
• do research to further qualify them and find a point of contact (for me: marketing manager, CMO, or CEO)
• connect with that person/those people on LinkedIn and engage in a human-to-human way (no pitch)
• create content that's relevant to what they want/need
• join relevant LI groups and engage & be present there (to be visible)
• research and save links to their content & other content about the company that's relevant to them & what I do (so it'd be successful marketing campaigns)
• THEN and only then do I send an email, mention engagements we've had (as an anchor so I'm no longer just a random person), and reference their success -- then pitch them by sharing what my service will do for them in context of what they want, not what I want.

So it sounds like you can do everything there EXCEPT the last step. Even then, you can just modify your posts to have a very clear CTA for them to DM or email you for your calendar.

Reduce the friction as much as possible with this too. You can have your most relevant link in your bio since how LinkedIn works is friends of your friends will see your content, and, ideally, this will be people who are also your target audience.

I have SO many tips/resources I can share about strategic brand awareness, and I'd be happy to help if you'd like!

@lord_squirrel At least they replied and let you know instead of reporting you! Definitely dodged a bullet there.

First, you need a proper SEO strategy and to map out your customer's journey. Do you need help with this?

Writing content isn't too difficult. I can share some resources that talk about how to write effective articles if you'd like. Also, if you have some money to throw at this project, we can talk about outsourcing this so you can focus on high-leverage tasks, like networking.

For case studies, it doesn't matter if they paid. What matters is:

1. The client is similar to your ideal client you want AND they faced a similar problem that your ideal client has.

For example, it wouldn't make sense for me to write a case study about a physical therapist if I want SaaS company clients. It also wouldn't make sense for me to write a case study of a SaaS company with systems strategy problems when I want a SaaS company client with content problems.

Your current client & problem solved must be aligned with your ideal prospective clients' for maximum effectiveness.

1. The client actually got the desired/promised result AND you can describe those results in quantifiable terms.

For example, did they go from having 50 leads per month where only 2 were qualified for what they sell and 1 converted to a customer --> having 5,000 qualified leads per month where 2,000 converted to a customer and they increased their MRR by 500% within 3 months of starting to work with you.

See how specific and detailed that is? That's the kind of stuff you want for a case study. Then you just tell the story in an engaging way.

(I can share case study resources if you want. I'm actually writing one for a client today 😂)

If you can make cold calls, then I would try that! You can follow my process I shared, just swap out email for calling as the last step.

My process DOES take time and effort because it's not automated, but it sounds like you've got the time to dedicate building your business in a personalized, sustainable way since you've only got two clients. It's a slower way to grow, but, in my experience, it's more successful in the long run.

If this is a business you want to have long term (or even something you want to build brand equity to sell one day), it may be worth following a similar strategy.

You won't be able to call 500 companies a day with this strategy, but you'll have a higher conversion rate (if your offer is dialed in).

Can you maybe explain how a brand strategist and content writer comes before and after a product like Leadlist? Do you mean in a sense that they are both users of Leadlist but also that people find them via Leadlist?

Absolutely! Without really knowing what your product is or who it's for (besides B2B), it's hard to give a specific answer.

How I was thinking about it was: LeadList generates leads for corps/businesses, and then they qualify those leads and run through their sales process.

• Brand strategists help companies define their audience (what "qualified lead" means to them). This would come before LeadList because without knowing their audience, they'll generate the wrong leads for them.

• Content writers write content that captures their audience's attention. Copywriters write copy to convert their audience/leads. LeadList will give the companies a list of leads so the companies will know where to create content, who to target for ads, and write the direct-response conversion content the leads (from LeadList) will see (sales page, email, etc.).

I hope that helps! It's vague because I don't know the specific audience you're targeting for LeadList or what, exactly, it does.

PS Service providers (strategists and writers) CAN use LeadList, but it'd likely be a lightweight version since their (my/our lol) needs for lead gen differ from a corporation's needs.

Oh right you cannot just write them. You would need to play the long game like following them on Twitter and LinkedIn and let them notice you...

Wow, that's crazy restrictive!

I don't know how I would proceed to validate a business idea without cold outreach. Paid ads to a lead magnet to get consent?