Free underrated ways to get your first customers

Hey everyone!

Getting those first customers was really hard for me.

Everyone talks about "build a community", "get backlinks for SEO", and "create content,"—and they're right, that's the long-term play. But while you're doing that, here are some methods I've actually tested that can get you results right now:

1. Google Search Operator Hacks

This one's simple but powerful. You can find emails for your target audience using specific search queries. For example, if you're looking for YouTubers in a youtube creators in the youtube growth niche:

"Youtube growth" inurl:channel "@gmail.com"

You can even use an AI chatbot to help you craft custom queries for your specific case. After searching, copy everything, throw it into ChatGPT or Claude, and ask it to format the data into a clean table. For cold emailing, you can start with free Gmail and Sheets extensions like YAMM or use the free mail merge guide from Google.

2. Facebook Goldmine

Facebook is still massive, and its targeting is insane. Here's what I do:

Find Facebook groups or pages where your ideal customers hang out.

Look at recent posts to see who is liking or commenting.

Send friend requests to those people.

You can either reach out directly or start by providing value through organic content first and then DM them.

The key is being genuine—don't just spam. Actually engage and help.

3. AI Agents for Finding Contacts

This space is getting crazy good. You can use new AI agents like Perplexity Labs, Manus, Genspark, or one I've found really helpful, Exa Websets. It uses both semantic and keyword search to find lists of whatever you want—projects, companies, or people. It's great for finding prospects, and it has a free tier so you can sign up for a trial to get maximum value. Watch out for this agentic space; it's already really good and only getting better.

4. Subreddits

I haven't fully tested this one yet, but it looks promising, especially if you have a product for businesses. Communities like r/SideProject, r/SaaS, and r/microsaas encourage positive self-promotion and can get you thousands of views without a following.

These are some of the methods that have helped me. Of course, there are other techniques like creating content, offering free tools, SEO, open source, etc. But these are actionable right now with zero budget.

The common thread? Go where your customers already are and provide value first.

I'm still a noob in this whole world, but this is what worked for me initially. I hope this helps someone :)

What methods have worked for you when starting out? I'm curious to hear your experiences.

Thank you for reading! And have a nice day :)