I Can't Afford Ads—How Do I Get Leads?

Derek writes: "I'm bootstrapping. I can't afford paid ads. How do I get leads without a marketing budget?"

The belief shift: Marketing isn't about money. It's about attention. You can buy it or earn it.

The trade-off: Time or money. When you're bootstrapping, you trade time.

Scott's Craigslist story: Free platform, but not free—it cost time. Wrote the ads. Posted the ads. Played whack-a-mole with Craigslist's spam filters. Today it's Facebook Marketplace and groups. Same concept.

Other ways to earn attention: Direct outreach (LinkedIn), referrals, partnerships, content creation.

The Visibility Trap: You don't need more money. You need to know who you're talking to. Most people try to talk to everybody—and talk to nobody.

The ladies' night analogy: Before dating apps, bars had ladies' nights. Women got in free. Men paid the cover. That's how paid platforms work—you're paying to access the room where your customers already are.

When you move to paid: Pick the cheapest option. Lowest commitment. Start there.

The prescription: Pick one channel. One audience. One problem. Go deep until you get it dialed in.

Scott's example: This show lives in the muddy mile—people who've launched but are figuring out how to scale. That's the niche. That's going deep.

Got a business question? Ask Scott here: scotttodd.net/ask