@jjbirnbaum-beck3I'm 15. My first client paid me $1,000 and their site got 7 bookings. Now I need customer #2.
The new site I built for AA Windows has gotten 7 bookings since it went live, and Atom Designs got paid $1,000 for it. It's my first real result, and these are the things I think made it work:
One niche. Ryan Allis told me to stop pitching everyone and focus on local home service businesses like window washers, power washers, and roofers. I took that advice, and now I know who I'm building for and what the site has to do: get customers to book.
A real customer first. AA Windows gave me something to build and something to show. It's on my site now as proof of concept, and it taught me more than months of planning.
Building with AI. I use Claude Code and Codex to build faster than I could alone, so a one-person team can ship real sites.
What's not working: finding my next customers. I have the proof and the niche, but I don't have a repeatable way to get in front of the next home service business.
Where I'd love your advice:
If you've sold to local service businesses, how did you land customers #2 through #5?
What's the best way to reach owners who are busy on job sites and don't answer cold emails?
If you run a local service business or you've done this before, I'd really appreciate your take.
Comments2
Seven bookings from a $1,000 site is the line I'd lead with, because a window washer or roofer can do that math in their head and see the site paid for itself. Those owners won't read a cold email from a ladder, so a short text or a quick stop by their truck showing the AA Windows results will land better than anything long.
Congrats on the first real result. Two things that worked for people I know selling to local trades: first, ask the AA Windows owner for two introductions, since window washers know the roofers, gutter and pressure washing crews they share customers with, and a warm intro from a peer beats any outreach. Second, build your list from Google Maps: search the trade plus your city and note businesses with no website, a Facebook page as their site, or a site without a booking button and few reviews. Those owners already lose jobs they cannot see, so a one-page before and after mockup of their own site sent as a text tends to get a reply. And put the 7 bookings on a short case page with a screenshot and a quote from the owner, so every message you send can point to proof.
2 comments
Seven bookings from a $1,000 site is the line I'd lead with, because a window washer or roofer can do that math in their head and see the site paid for itself. Those owners won't read a cold email from a ladder, so a short text or a quick stop by their truck showing the AA Windows results will land better than anything long.
Congrats on the first real result. Two things that worked for people I know selling to local trades: first, ask the AA Windows owner for two introductions, since window washers know the roofers, gutter and pressure washing crews they share customers with, and a warm intro from a peer beats any outreach. Second, build your list from Google Maps: search the trade plus your city and note businesses with no website, a Facebook page as their site, or a site without a booking button and few reviews. Those owners already lose jobs they cannot see, so a one-page before and after mockup of their own site sent as a text tends to get a reply. And put the 7 bookings on a short case page with a screenshot and a quote from the owner, so every message you send can point to proof.