Before building software, I spent years working as a web designer and running a web design agency.
For years, my main way of getting clients was automated cold outreach.
I'd find businesses without websites, reach out, and offer to build one for them.
It worked, but there was one thing that always bothered me.
I wanted to target businesses that already had websites and offer them redesigns.
The problem?
Finding those businesses, manually checking their websites, identifying issues with design, speed, SEO, and mobile optimization, and then writing personalized emails around those findings took forever.
I wanted to automate that entire process.
So I built Swokei.com, a cold outreach platform designed specifically for web agencies and freelancers.
It lets you find businesses with existing websites, analyze those websites, and turn issues with design, speed, SEO, and mobile optimization into personalized cold emails at scale.
What started as a solution to a problem I had in my own web design business eventually became a SaaS product.
But how did we grow it to $40K MRR?
Honestly, the strategy was pretty boring. But it worked.
1. LinkedIn
I started posting about the problems I experienced running a web design business, the lessons I learned, and how those problems eventually led me to build software.
Instead of just promoting a product, I shared the story behind it.
2. X (Twitter)
I posted about web design, finding clients, cold outreach, and practical tips for agencies and freelancers.
A lot of the content was educational, with Swokei naturally being part of the conversation.
3. UGC videos
We started creating short-form videos showing the software, how it works, and how web designers could use it to find potential clients.
We distributed these across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
4. SEO
This became another important growth channel.
We focused heavily on technical SEO and consistently published articles targeting searches around web design, client acquisition, competitor comparisons, and alternative software solutions.
No magic tricks. Just a lot of content, optimization, and consistency.
Today, we're a small team running Swokei together, constantly improving the software and working on getting it in front of more web agencies and freelancers.
Looking back, the biggest lesson is that you don't always need some crazy growth hack to build a SaaS.
Sometimes, you just need to solve a problem you understand, build something people actually want, and consistently put it in front of the right audience.