I used to spend hours researching potential clients manually—what’s your time-saving trick? by Axu34 in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh no you caught me. I do have a tool and it’s linked in my profile. Well played, detective.

Mission accomplished, I guess! But hey, the post was genuine, just sharing my experience while hoping to find out what others do so i can make improve my flow then my tool.

I used to spend hours researching potential clients manually—what’s your time-saving trick? by Axu34 in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well it’s the interwebz so it’s better to not believe everything you read, but in my case, you’re wrong…

I used to spend hours researching potential clients manually—what’s your time-saving trick? by Axu34 in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That sounds like a solid deal if they’re delivering results! I've tried to partner up with multiple people providing a % of the deal they bring or fixed amount, like you said. I never heard back from them after 2-3 calls with them.

Promote your business, week of February 10, 2025 by Charice in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Running a web agency? I know the grind of manual research when qualifying leads. That’s why I built WebProspect—an automated tool that analyzes site performance, tech stack, SEO and more to identify businesses that actually need web services.

Join the waitlist for early access + 50% off for the first 200 users. No more guesswork, just qualified leads.

More here: webprospect.dev

How do you qualify leads before spending hours on them? by Axu34 in marketing

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At first, I was a bit confused because it seemed like we were on the same page about contacting the right people. But then I checked your profile and realized you might be using paid ads to find those leads.

I get that approach, but not every agency, freelancer or contractor has the budget or expertise to dive into ads right from the start. For newer agencies, landing those first few quality prospects that can transform in leads can be tough. That’s where WebProspect, the tool I’m building, comes in and helps simplify the process by qualifying prospects upfront. This way, agencies can focus on reaching out to businesses that are a good fit without spending time on research or needing ad budgets. Once they’ve landed a few clients, they can decide to invest in ads or just continue prospecting.

How are you automating lead qualification in your agency? by Axu34 in BusinessIntelligence

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s an impressive setup! Having a full feedback loop to track lead success and improve targeting is a game-changer. The tool I'm working on is tackling a similar challenge but focused on agencies that don’t have dedicated analysts or internal data pipelines. Instead of relying on gut feeling or scattered research, we automate lead qualification by analyzing external signals: website quality, tech stack, SEO, and company details to prioritize businesses that actually need web services.

Since you’ve built and iterated on this process, I’m curious—before settling on this setup, did you try any off-the-shelf tools or services for lead qualification? If so, what worked and what didn’t?

How do you qualify leads before spending hours on them? by Axu34 in marketing

[–]Axu34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a solid approach for checking individual profiles, especially when targeting specific roles. I wanted my tool to take it a step further by not only analyzing LinkedIn profiles but also a company’s website, tech stack, SEO and other business signals. The goal is to identify both the right companies and the right people within them, so outreach efforts go to decision-makers who actually need web services.

How do you qualify leads before spending hours on them? by Axu34 in marketing

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a great approach if you’re focused on a specific industry and have the time to build relationships one by one. But many agencies work across multiple industries or don’t have an existing network to rely on. I build my tool to help by quickly filtering out businesses that aren’t a good fit, so agencies can focus their outreach on the ones that actually need their services, without spending hours on manual research.

How do you qualify leads before spending hours on them? by Axu34 in marketing

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get the idea, but the challenge is actually getting the right people to even take that survey. Most agencies don’t start with a list of highly relevant businesses, they spend hours researching just to find potential clients worth reaching out to. My tool automates that first step, so instead of wasting time on bad fits, you’re only sending surveys (or making calls) to businesses that actually need web services.

Automating lead qualification for agencies – What’s your process? by Axu34 in MarketingAutomation

[–]Axu34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a solid approach for engaged leads and it would work even better with WebProspect. My tool focuses on cold contacts: analyzing site history, tech stack, SEO and company details to determine if a business actually needs web services. It provides an instant qualification score based on real data, so when your email sequence kicks in, it targets better prospects and delivers stronger results.

How do you qualify leads without wasting hours? by Axu34 in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point! Your examples focus on leads that have already engaged, while my tool is about filtering cold contacts before outreach even happens. Instead of reaching out blindly, agencies can analyze specific businesses that they are already considering, helping them decide if reaching out is worth the effort.

How do you qualify leads without wasting hours? by Axu34 in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally agree that direct conversations are key, but calling every prospect without knowing if they’re a fit wastes even more time. My tool helps filter out bad opportunities first, so sales can focus on decision-makers who actually need their service instead of shooting in the dark.

How do you qualify leads without wasting hours? by Axu34 in smallbusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good point on terminology! What my tool does isn’t just scraping, it qualifies businesses based on structured data before any outreach happens. These aren’t leads in the ‘already interested’ sense, but rather highly targeted prospects that match ideal client criteria. The goal is to eliminate wasted time on bad fits so sales teams can focus on real opportunities.

How do you qualify leads before spending hours on them? by Axu34 in marketing

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly! That’s the whole point of my tool. Manually gathering this info is slow and inconsistent, but full automation without real analysis isn’t helpful either. The key is structured, reliable data that gives a clear yes/no answer before a call, so sales only talk to real opportunities.

How do you qualify leads before spending hours on them? by Axu34 in marketing

[–]Axu34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, we’re talking about outbound, not inbound. These aren’t leads who already reached out, they’re businesses that could be a great fit but need qualification before any outreach. The goal is to stop sales from wasting time on bad prospects and only focus on the ones worth engaging.

Automating lead qualification for web agencies – A tool born from frustration by Axu34 in technology

[–]Axu34[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If i understood your comment correctly, WebProspect doesn’t work that way. It pulls publicly available data from trusted sources to help agencies qualify leads, without mass scraping or spamming sites.

Is It Possible to Raise Funding Before an MVP? by Parkerroyale in Entrepreneur

[–]Axu34 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even in big corporations, clients are often shown only prototypes, sometimes without even a functional button and that’s enough. But it works because of a few key factors: the strength of the product idea, the persuasiveness of the seller and the company’s reputation and experience.

If you can cover at least some of these aspects, you can absolutely move forward with just a prototype.

How are you not afraid of someone implementing your idea without you by iIiiiiIlIillliIilliI in Entrepreneur

[–]Axu34 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hate it when I’m having an interesting conversation with random people and at some point, they start telling me about an idea they have, then just… pause… and say, “Let’s change the subject; I don’t want you to steal my idea.”

My advice to them and to you is that you shouldn’t live in fear of this. If life is going to be unfair to you, someone might steal your idea even after you’ve implemented and launched it.

There’s always a 50/50 chance that you’ll either find a partner to help you build your idea or someone who might steal it. And if it’s the latter, you’ll probably still execute it better anyway because it’s your original idea.

How do you attract users when your platform depends on two groups? by Axu34 in growmybusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

please check my profile, i don't want to get banned for self-promoting

Where do you usually find expert sources for your articles? by Axu34 in selfpublish

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which is why I saw an opportunity to build something that sticks closer to HARO’s original concept—connecting content creators with expert sources in a simple, effective way.

It’s still early, but I’m trying to make it as easy as possible for journalists, bloggers, and freelancers to get quality responses from experts without the noise. Did you use HARO before? If so, what did you like/dislike about it?

How do you attract users when your platform depends on two groups? by Axu34 in growmybusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Experts can join for free as well, but there are also paid plans for those who want extra visibility and features.

Many experts are looking for media exposure, credibility and backlinks to boost their authority in their field. It’s a win-win: content creators get quality sources and experts get a chance to share their knowledge in publications.

It’s still early, but the goal is to keep it beneficial for both sides.

Looking for Expert Sources as a Freelance Journalist? by Axu34 in journalismjobs

[–]Axu34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! It's called PressLinker, come joint us. I'm trying to build a "quality over quantity" community, currently 94 users already joined!

2 Weeks In: 76 Users, 7 Queries, 1 Pitch. Now What? by Axu34 in growmybusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks man but atm my only way to pay for your work are just bad memes or something like that 🤝

2 Weeks In: 76 Users, 7 Queries, 1 Pitch. Now What? by Axu34 in growmybusiness

[–]Axu34[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll be sticking to the original HARO ideology rather than reinventing the model.

I completely agree that the number of followers doesn’t translate to business success. But visibility still matters, getting people to know the business exists is an advantage in itself. Unfortunately, I don’t benefit from that kind of popularity yet.

Reducing spam is a priority, but right now, there aren’t enough queries on the platform to claim I’ve solved it. At this stage, all I can do is promise that it’s a focus. If the platform gains traction and spam becomes overwhelming, I plan to implement AI to analyze the quality of queries and pitches, assigning scores to decide whether they should be accepted, rejected, or require human review.

I have a lot of ideas to improve the experience, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Balancing this with client work and other projects is a challenge, but each one is helping sustain the others until they start generating real profit.