# The 30-Day "First 100" Plan

A daily plan for going from zero users to 100, by hand, in about 60 to 90 minutes a day.

**What "customer" means here.** Pick one definition on Day 1 and don't change it:
- **Paid product:** 100 = 100 people who used the core feature at least once. Your paying target is a separate number (see below).
- **Freelancer/agency:** 100 = 100 qualified conversations. Your client target is 3 to 10.

**Honest expectations.** 100 paying customers in 30 days from zero is rare. 100 real users, 10 to 30 paying, and a clear picture of who buys is a strong month. All numbers below are planning targets, not promises. Your conversion rates will be different; the tracker measures them so you can adjust by Day 10.

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## The daily quota: 20 / 10 / 5

Every working day:
- **20** posts found and logged (tracker, status "Found")
- **10** helpful public replies (status "Replied")
- **5** DMs or cold emails, only to Hot leads or people who replied (status "DM sent")

Plus: answer every reply you got within 24 hours.

Over 30 days (about 22 working days) that's roughly 440 posts logged, 220 replies, 110 direct messages. The plan assumes, for planning only:
- 10 to 20% of replies or messages turn into a conversation → about 35 to 65 conversations
- 30 to 50% of conversations try the product → about 15 to 30 users from hunting
- Launch week, communities and word of mouth add the rest

If your numbers are far below this by Day 10, use the "zero replies" section at the bottom.

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## Week 1 (Days 1–7): Set up the machine and get 10 conversations

| Day | Actions (in order) | Numbers to hit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Run **Demand Hunter** (`skills/demand-hunter`) on your product. Save the Demand Profile and 30 queries. Open `tools/lead-tracker.html`, set your goal to 100. Set up 5 to 10 F5Bot alerts with your best phrases. | 30 queries, 10 alerts |
| 2 | Run the **landing page checklist** (`plan/landing-page-checklist.md`). Fix the top 5 failures. Write your profile bio on every platform: "Building [PRODUCT] for [AUDIENCE]". | Landing page score ≥ 18/25 |
| 3 | First full daily loop: 20 found, 10 replies. No DMs yet; learn the communities. Write each community's rules into the tracker notes. | 20 / 10 / 0 |
| 4 | Daily loop. First 5 DMs to Hot leads. Book your first customer interview. | 20 / 10 / 5 |
| 5 | Daily loop. Run 1 interview with the **Mom Test script** (`plan/customer-interview-script.md`). | 20 / 10 / 5, 1 interview |
| 6 | Daily loop. Rewrite your landing page headline using the exact words people used in posts and interviews. | 20 / 10 / 5 |
| 7 | Review: which queries and communities produced Hot leads? Kill the bottom 30% of queries. Add 5 new ones. | 10 conversations total, 3 users |

## Week 2 (Days 8–14): Hunt hard, learn fast, get to 30

| Day | Actions | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Daily loop. Start cold email (5/day max, `playbook/`). Set up SPF/DKIM/DMARC first. | 20 / 10 / 5 |
| 9 | Daily loop + 1 interview. Onboard every new user personally: a short welcome message from you, not a template. | 1 interview |
| 10 | **Checkpoint.** Open tracker stats. Reply → conversation rate below 5%? Go to "zero replies" below. | Conversation rate ≥ 5% |
| 11 | Daily loop. Ask your 3 most active users: "Who else do you know with this problem?" | 3 referral asks |
| 12 | Daily loop + 1 interview. Publish one useful post in your best community (not a launch; a lesson or a free resource). | 1 value post |
| 13 | Daily loop. Prepare launch assets: 10-second GIF, 3 screenshots, 60-word description, tagline. | Assets ready |
| 14 | Review. Submit to the long-queue directories (`launch/launch-directories.md`, Tier 2). Pick your Product Hunt and Show HN dates. | 30 users |

## Week 3 (Days 15–21): Launch week, keep hunting, get to 60

| Day | Actions | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Claim free profiles: G2, Capterra, SaaSHub, AlternativeTo, Crunchbase. List yourself as an alternative to your top 3 competitors. Daily loop (lighter: 10 / 5 / 5). | 5 profiles |
| 16 (Tue–Thu) | **Launch day.** Product Hunt at 12:01 a.m. PT. Show HN (if people can try it without a waitlist). Indie Hackers story post. Reply to every comment within the hour. | Every comment answered |
| 17 | r/SideProject or your sub's promo thread. Your niche community (mod-approved). DM everyone who commented on launch day with a thank-you and one question. | |
| 18 | Back to the full daily loop. Launch traffic fades in 48 hours; the loop doesn't. | 20 / 10 / 5 |
| 19 | Daily loop + 1 interview with a new launch-day user. | 1 interview |
| 20 | First pricing test: if free, ask your 10 most active users to pay (or pre-pay for a discount). If paid, try one price change on new signups. | 10 pay asks |
| 21 | Review. Which channel gave the most **activated** users (not signups)? | 60 users |

## Week 4 (Days 22–30): Double down, convert, get to 100

| Day | Actions | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Put 70% of your time in the top channel from Day 21. Drop the worst one completely. | |
| 23 | Daily loop. Write the "what happened" post with real numbers (launch traffic, signups, what failed). Post on Indie Hackers and your own channels. | 1 story post |
| 24 | Daily loop. Ask every activated user for one testimonial sentence. Put the best 3 on the landing page. | 3 testimonials |
| 25 | Daily loop + 1 interview. Find the "aha" moment (what users did right before they came back) and make onboarding get there faster. | |
| 26 | Daily loop. Follow up with every lead in "Conversation" that went quiet (1 message max). | All follow-ups sent |
| 27 | Daily loop. Ask for reviews on G2/Capterra from happy users (follow each site's review rules). | 3 reviews requested |
| 28 | Daily loop. Second referral ask to new users. | |
| 29 | Daily loop. Re-run Demand Hunter with everything you learned: new pain phrases, new competitors. | 10 new queries |
| 30 | Final review in the tracker. Write down: best channel, best query, best reply, conversion rates, price that worked. That's your next 90-day plan. | 100 users |

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## The daily loop (60 to 90 minutes)

1. **Alerts and replies (10 min).** Read F5Bot alerts, answer everyone who replied to you yesterday.
2. **Hunt (20 min).** Open your top 10 query links sorted by new. Log every promising post in the tracker with a score.
3. **Reply (25 min).** Write 10 replies to the highest-scored posts with the 4A frame. Each one references a detail in the post.
4. **Direct (15 min).** 5 DMs or emails to Hot leads and people who replied.
5. **Log (5 min).** Update statuses. Set follow-up dates.

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## What to do if replies are zero

Find the first stage where the number drops to zero. Fix only that stage, for 5 days, then re-check.

| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| **You can't find posts** (under 10 relevant posts a day) | Queries too narrow, or using your jargon | Use the pain-word versions (`queries/intent-queries.md`). Search competitor complaints. Go one level broader in audience. Try Google `site:reddit.com` instead of Reddit search. |
| **Posts exist but they're old** | Small niche | Fine. Reply anyway if the thread is open (old threads rank on Google). Add F5Bot alerts so you catch the next one on day 1. |
| **Replies get removed** | Rules, account age, links | Read the rules. Remove links. Remove the product mention. Build karma for 2 weeks in that sub. |
| **Replies stay up but nobody answers** | Replies are generic or pitchy | Lead with one specific detail. Answer fully before any mention. End with a question that's easy to answer. Cut length in half. |
| **People answer but don't ask about the product** | You never mention it, or there's no fit | Add the disclosed one-line mention where allowed. Re-check fit: are these buyers or just people with opinions? |
| **They click but don't sign up** | Landing page | Run the landing page checklist. Most common: headline describes the product, not the outcome; sign-up asks for too much; no screenshot of the product. |
| **They sign up but never use it** | Onboarding | Email each one personally within an hour. Do the setup for them (concierge). Cut every step that isn't required for the first result. |
| **They use it once and leave** | Value or habit | Interview 3 of them (Mom Test). You may be solving a once-a-year problem. Consider changing the audience before changing the product. |
| **Cold emails get 0 replies** | Deliverability or targeting | Send a test to your own Gmail and Outlook; if it lands in spam, fix SPF/DKIM/DMARC and remove links. Then shorten the email to under 80 words and make the ask smaller. |
| **Still zero after 10 days of everything** | Wrong problem or wrong audience | Stop building. Do 10 interviews with people from your best posts. Ask what they already pay for. The answer is usually next door to what you built. |

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## Track these 6 numbers weekly

1. Posts found
2. Replies posted
3. Conversations (two-way exchanges)
4. Signups
5. Activated users (did the core action)
6. Paying customers

Your weekly rates: replies → conversations, conversations → signups, signups → activated, activated → paying. The tracker computes the first three from your statuses.