Di listing don go live, di shelf full, di file dey export without error, and now you dey look share button and you no sabi where to point am. Dat position good sha. You make something, wey plenty people never do for dia life, and di next move small and ordinary pass di one wey you dey brace body for.
Your first customer almost always na person wey already sabi you. No be advert, no be algorithm, no be crowd wey you must build first. Na one person wey get idea of wetin you fit do and wey go read your message instead of deleting am. So di work for dis week na to write down ten of dat kind people, decide wetin you dey offer each one, and send ten separate message with price for di first line. E dey take one evening, and e dey work far pass di launch wey you dey plan.
Who I suppose tell first about something wey I just make?
Tell di ten people wey already sabi wetin you fit do, one by one, before you tell anybody else. Stranger must first decide whether you real before dem decide whether dem want di thing, and di people for your list don already skip dat step.
Broad announcement dey feel like di bigger move because e dey visible. You post once, four people react, di evening don finish and nothing happen. One single message dey feel smaller but e no small. E dey land where di person really dey read, e call dia name, and e ask question wey get answer.
Di size of dis matter dey worth sabi. Di Office of Advocacy count 36.2 million small business for United States, and 82.3 percent of dem no even get single worker. Almost everybody wey you go ever compete with na also one person dey decide who to message tonight. Nobody for dat group dey win with advert budget. Dem dey win because person already trust dem, and trust na di one asset wey you get pass company wey get media plan.
So di list no be wetin you settle for because you no get audience. Na di first channel, and e dey still work long after you don get others.
Where di ten names go come from?
Pull from four groups, and take di names wey come first instead of di best ones. People wey don buy something like dis before, people wey ask wetin you dey work on, people wey dey do work wey near your own, and people wey no owe you anything but just like you.
- People wey don already pay for something similar. Dem don prove say dem go spend money for dis category, wey na di hardest thing to prove about anybody.
- People wey ask wetin you dey work on. Na dem open di door demself. You dey answer question, you no dey start conversation.
- People wey dey do work wey close to your own. Di framer near di printer, di accountant wey get ten client like you, di photographer wey im customers dey always ask for di thing wey you dey make. Dis kind people rarely dey buy. Dem dey refer, and one of dem worth several customer.
- People wey no owe you anything but like you. Old colleague, di person from evening class, friend of friend wey you dey talk to twice a year.
Dat last group dey look like di weakest and plenty times e no be. For one study of pass twenty million people for LinkedIn, wey Science publish, na di connections wey person dey interact with least na dem most often carry am go new job. Dat research na about job no be sales, so hold am softly, but di mechanism na di same for both: di people wey dey small outside your daily circle dey stand for room wey you never enter.
Now add second column beside di names. No be wetin you want from each person. Na wetin you fit talk about dem wey true and specific.
Why any of dis ten people go answer me?
Dem dey answer because of wetin you do before you need anything, and because your message name something real about dem. Note wey carry one accurate sentence about dia work plus one clear offer na different thing from note wey only dey ask.
Specific na di whole word. “I love your work” dey enter everybody inbox and e no stay with anybody. “Di way you arrange di second page of dat menu na why I keep am” na sentence wey person go remember for one year. E cost you one minute and plenty times na di most valuable thing inside di message, di offer sef included.
If you never do any of dat, you no late and you no need wait. You go just do am for slightly different order. Dis week, send five out of di ten something wey really useful, no ask attach at all. Supplier wey cheap pass di one dem dey use. Name of person wey dey hire. Di fix for di thing wey you notice don spoil for dia site. No talk anything about your own work. Next week, send di offer.
No need call dis thing any name. Na di cheapest move for dis article and na why di list dey work at all.
Wetin exactly I go talk without sounding somehow?
Four sentence. Wetin you make, why you dey tell dis particular person, di offer with di price inside, and question wey person fit answer with yes or no.
Na di shape be dis, from person wey dey make leather bag.
- Wetin e be. “I finally finish di work bag wey I don dey make. E dey take fifteen inch laptop and na one piece of vegetable tanned leather.”
- Why na dem. “You dey carry dat satchel everywhere and na you I trust for dis matter.”
- Di offer and di price. “Na 180 dollars, I get four, and I fit get one reach you by Friday.”
- Di question. “You want one, or you sabi person wey go want am?”
Put di price for di first message. Message wey no get price dey force di other person do di awkward part, and plenty people dey avoid awkward by just not replying. To call di number yourself na courtesy, and e mean say whoever answer dey answer di real question.
Send dem one by one. Group message dey tell ten people say dem dey for list, wey na exactly di thing wey you dey fear say e go sound like.
Wetin “no” really worth?
“No” dey close loop tonight wey for stay open for one month, and e usually dey come with reason attach. Dat reason na di cheapest research wey you go ever buy, because e dey come from person wey like you enough to tell you truth.
Read di reasons, no be to dey count dem. “E too cost for me right now” and “I already get one” and “I no really dey carry laptop” na three completely different piece of information, and na only one of dem be about your price. Ten message wey produce eight “no” with reason don tell you pass wetin hundred views on post go ever tell you.
“No” from person wey sabi you rarely be di end of am too. People dey forward things, na why di last line of di template dey ask whether dem sabi somebody else, and e no cost you anything to leave dat door open.
Di second round, two weeks later
Put date two weeks from now for your calendar and write “round two” on top am. Then send short second message to di people wey never reply, wey go be most of dem, and e no be personal matter. Adults dey miss message. One follow up wey add something new, photograph, finished piece, di fact say two don go, no be disturbance. Na di ordinary way dem dey sell things, and di person wey never send am just dey get fewer answer.
Then write di next ten names. Di list no be launch wey you survive once. Na habit, and di people wey get round three don already see round one and dem remember am.
None of dis dey ask you make you want less or move slow. E dey ask you make you spend di first week of your energy on ten real people instead of on crowd wey never exist, because na from there di first yes dey come, and na di first yes go buy you di mind to go get di next fifty.
Sources
- U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2026
- National Library of Medicine, A causal test of the strength of weak ties
- Federal Reserve Banks, 2025 Report on Nonemployer Firms