“If I only had 10 days to get my first 10 users I’d start with what I already have - my network.

 

While we live in a time where people immediately think about ads, funnels, content strategy, I’d go back to basics: word of mouth.

 

I’d personally message people in my network - voice notes, WhatsApp messages, even my close friends on Instagram - and ask for 10 minutes of their time to tell them about what I’m building and asking them to help me make it better. My first 10 users would become my focus group and I’d make it clear that they’re not just users - they’re co-creators.

 

I think one of the biggest misconceptions today is that growth has to come from strangers online. But the truth is, growth often starts closer than you realise. Sometimes, the people you’re praying will stumble across you through an algorithm are passing you on the street, sitting across from you in church, replying to your IG Stories, or in the group chats you message everyday.

 

These people already know you, have trust in you, and ultimately want to see you win. Before you go looking for followers, look for your friends.”

“The secret to finding and keeping those all-important first few users? Exceed their expectations, and they’ll become your growth engine.

 

For me, the problem I was trying to solve was close to home. My church is so important to me - but I always procrastinated from donating. Either I never had cash on me, or I wasn’t able to remember my username and password for the church’s website. I knew there must be an opportunity to build something better and faster.

 

I reached out to my pastor and explained the problem I was trying to solve. Even if he didn’t fully understand the app, he agreed to let me run a small trial with the youth ministry. Now that I had my first customer, I had to prove that my idea really worked.

 

Honestly, I completely engineered the first success: I told friends to come by and give a minimum amount.​I even offered to loan them money!

 

And it worked - we had an immediate, visible win. The pastor saw results, which encouraged him to continue the trial. By the following week, more organic users joined, and within a month, the trial had grown even more. In our first 3 months, we hit $100,000 in charitable contributions.

 

My advice to founders is to deliver so much value your users can’t help but stay. If you do, those first users will become advocates within their networks, helping you reach more people. If you don’t exceed their expectations, you lose the chance to turn that initial user into a referral source. The first user is often a favour based on trust - you can’t take that lightly.”

“I build tools for content creators. The tough part about this, of course, is that your customers often have high profiles, and can be tricky to get in touch with.

 

The strategy I used to get my first 10 users was to find people who had built up a following on one platform. For example, they might have a million subscribers on YouTube but only a couple of thousand followers on Twitter.​By focusing on platforms where your customers have fewer followers but are active, your outreach has a real chance of getting noticed.

 

I combined that with building in public. Every time I built a new feature, I tweeted about it and included a GIF of it working. A video, demo, or GIF goes a long way - it shows what your tool can really do.

 

You won’t necessarily have a perfect picture of your user on day one. It’s all about experimentation - pick a few cohorts, reach out, and just see who engages with you.

 

My only marketing advice? Be human. Don’t be boring. Most people’s problem isn’t selling or getting users - it’s communicating what’s interesting about their product.”