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?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_murray12h 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?

the_terry4h 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.