Vent: My agency tried cold email for 6 months, then switched to just doing free audits

We sent about 500 emails a week for half a year and maybe got 3 calls. Last month, we started offering a free website audit on LinkedIn and got 8 new clients. The free work upfront seems to build way more trust. Anyone else find that giving away value first beats the old spray and pray method?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_murray3mo ago

Hold up, you sent 500 emails a week for six months? That's a crazy amount of work for almost no return. I get that the audit thing worked better, but is doing free work for everyone really a plan? Feels like you just swapped one grind for another. What happens when you get too many audit requests and no one pays?

theabennett12d ago

Did your friend try setting a limit on how many free audits they'd do each week? I knew someone who burned out exactly this way, taking every free request that came in hoping one would convert. They ended up dropping the whole thing because it just wasn't sustainable.

the_terry3mo ago

Man, you nailed it. I tried the free audit thing last year and got totally swamped. Did like twenty of them and only two people ever paid for the full service. It just turns into a huge time sink where everyone wants free advice. You end up working nights for maybe one real client.