How to get your first customers with no marketing budget
Practical ways to land your first customers without ads: your network, communities, content and trading help with people who can send customers your way.
Start with people, not channels
Your first customers rarely come from ads. They come from people who already trust you, or who trust someone who recommends you. That makes introductions the most valuable thing you can get early on.
Free ways to find early customers
- Tell everyone you know exactly who your product is for, so they can think of a specific person.
- Answer questions in communities where your customers ask for help, and mention your product only when it fits.
- Write about the problem you solve. Clear answers get found by search engines and AI assistants.
- Partner with businesses that serve the same customers but don’t compete with you.
- Ask your first happy customers for one introduction each.
Trade referrals with people who have your customers
An accountant knows founders who need a lawyer. A designer knows startups that need a developer. On Scratch my back you can post who you could introduce, and who you’d like introduced to, and trade referrals with people whose clients overlap with yours.
Trade help, not money
Post what you can do for someone and what you’d like back, or find someone offering exactly what you need.
Updated September 2026