Just one thing before we start…
First of all, I want to wish you a happy and successful new year. If you’re reading this, you're ahead of most other people. You're trying to collect any information you can (even from a newsletter) so you can invest it in your growth, and that's something not many people are ready to do! Just don't give up.
I feel a bit more chatty since I'm in NYE mode, but I'll do my best to cut it off.
Let’s dive in:
Convincing users to use the product you charge for feels like begging them to let you take their money.
You spend twice as much effort on social proof, testimonials, and a polished landing page as you do on ads or SEO, so all those users are convinced your product is legit, so they give it a try, right? Well, even on great landing pages, only 3% (or less) of visitors get convinced ever, and that's just how things work.
Today, we'll learn a strategy that automates providing value to our users for free, so they see value first, and then come to our website and convert at insanely high rates. The method is offering a simple, free tool to the users in your niche.
Skip to the next section if you want execution steps only
Short backstory
A while ago, I built an app that helps students with studying. Poor product, bad landing page, no testimonials, not even indexed in Google Search Console. Yet, every single week, I had a few signups that always completed the happy path of the app and left.
The thing is, when I launched the app, I also created two Custom GPTs to help students create study plans and summarise lectures.
Once chat gives its answer, it naturally pitches the product that solves the same problem. Students just used the free tool, got the value, and I got their trust for free. After that, they converted into users themselves without me doing a thing.
The app failed, but I was happier than I've ever been because I discovered the method that to this day brings me the highest-intent users that convert at least 5x more than others.
Let's dive into execution steps.
Step 1:
Build GPTs
Explain your service to ChatGPT, ask it which customGPT topic you can create that relates to your service.
Create at least 3-5 chats, exact same chats, just add different names, so you increase the chance of users finding them by a different name.
Instruct it to naturally pitch your tool, alongside other ones that are useful, add promo codes and discounts only for that chat, so you can track conversion.
Don’t overthink it.
Step 2:
Get at least 30–50 Visitors
Free tools are the easiest thing to market, because you are literally helping people for free, and you help people with them. Put them out everywhere:
put them on Meta ads for $20 total
post them on Reddit in your niche subs
share them like free tools on X, LinkedIn (because they ARE)
The best thing is you don't need users to keep using your chat. You just need them to open it and send one message, and it will count as a +1 user. Their staying or leaving doesn't matter for you; you got your +1 count, so you're in a win-win situation.
Once you get at least 30–50 visitors per chat STOP. The goal of this was just to get enough users per chat so they start being recommended in ChatGPT's custom chat search and recommendations. New chats with 0 users are hard to find on ChatGPT's search, and they don't get recommended. Now that you have visitors, you can leave them hanging and see which one will naturally take off based on which name, description, and logo are most appealing to the users.
After one month, pick the winner and double down.
Step 3:
Scale the Winner With Ads
Now that you know that you have a logo and a name that resonates with users the most, it's time to scale it fully. The best way is to take the winning GPT and run Meta ads. Running meta ads for a free tool is a cheat code funnel for getting more users. No friction. No commitment. Just value. Copy posters that already work, add "FREE, NO EMAIL, NO COMMITMENT," and that's all you need. Get to at least 200+ users, ideally 500+ users and you will start appearing in ChatGpt’s top 5 custom chats in your niche and start driving all the traffic.
Just like that, you secured the most powerful user acquisition tool you'll ever have, that keeps you getting user flow that is:
steady
warm
compounding
BONUS MOVES
Create a dedicated page on your site. Treat chat like its own product:
landing page (FAQ, SEO, link to the GPT )
soft CTA for your app
This builds topical authority AND trust.
If your SaaS fails… monetise the GPT anyway
Even if your main app doesn’t scale, your GPT still has users. You can: partner with another product rent traffic add affiliate links test ideas
No limits here - the audience is the asset.
Eventually gate it behind email Once one of your GPTs goes somewhat “viral”: Offer it free - but require email signup on your website.
You now have the best possible lead magnet.
Just thrust me on this one!
This might seem like a lot of hustle, but I really hope you give it a shot because it will blow your mind. Meanwhile if you're skeptical, I'm thinking about running this as an experiment so you see the results in real time. If you're interested in that, feel free to ping me on X. I'd be more than happy to pull this off once again!
Happy New Year guys, the best is yet to come!
P.S. The only 2 ways of succeeding in marketing are either by honestly helping someone, or by screwing someone up.
Once you realise it becomes way easier :)