A pre-launch outreach plan, micro-influencers and customer communities, including how Expandi got its first 150 beta users
Stefan Smulders · Expandi
Published September 1, 2022Stefan Smulders, Founder of Expandi.io, shares:
- 3 things we did opposite of competitors
- Linkedin cold outreach playbook (steal competitor)
- Growth through content distribution of winning playbooks
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Stefan Smulders shares Expandi growth lessons around pre-launch outreach, influencer relationships, customer communities, content, and hands-on follow-up.
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“The pre-launch. To put some things in perspective, I think for the ones who are already a bit familiar by using LinkedIn, it's good to know that everything is about safety. A lot of people want to use LinkedIn automation to speed up things, to do more business. And on the other hand, nobody wants to get flagged or in danger using such kind of a tools.”
“global launch. And mid-November 2019, we we launched Expandi on the global market. We were mainly focused on gathering T-shaped marketers, uh growth hackers, agency owners, recruitment agencies, actually people who are managing multiple profiles on LinkedIn, and people who already were using LinkedIn automation for a while.”
“terms of a sale. Um we reached a lot of micro-influencers. And these micro-influencers, they became our best friends. And they gained a lot a lot of revenue for us. I will tell a bit more about that in a second. Also groups and communities. Creating our own closed Facebook group helped us to get the best feedback from customers, but also to”
“personal approach we take to grow Expandi and this became one of the main drivers since uh since the early days which we used to gather feedback from customers to ask questions about what we should build, how we could improve it. And we really engaged there a lot. We make it kind of exclusive. I will show in a bit some examples which uh”
“more than 1 million in affiliate revenue for Expandi. I offered him when the war started to to host his family at my home together with my wife. And the funny thing which came out of this was that uh he managed after a couple of weeks to uh on a magical way to leave the country as well. And Max became to everything he lost our CMO since April. So,”
“3 things we did opposite of competitors”
“I’m going to show you”
“Expandi.io Revenue Growth”
“… tell a great story (661k impressions)”
Video
Free Customer Formula: How I grew Expandi from $0 to $7m in 20 months - Slide Deck
Stefan Smulders is a SaaS Entrepreneur. He is the founder of the world’s safest software for LinkedIn automation — Expandi.io, which was bootstrapped to €3M ARR in just 1 year. Stefan is a father and vegan.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
28 passages
Founder500 Sept 2022 Stefan Smulders Founder Expandi.io Free Customer Formula: Bootstrapped $0 to $7m in 20 months … without spending money on ads.
The roadmap moves from pre-launch through distribution and community. It previews beta acquisition and conversion, LinkedIn outreach and content, then audience growth through playbooks, micro-influencers, and a Facebook group.
Over the Next 20 Minutes: 3 things we did opposite of competitors I’m going to show you PRE-LAUNCH DISTRIBUTION COMMUNITY How we got first 150 beta users $50,000 email that converted beta users to paid Linkedin cold outreach playbook (steal competitor) Content retargeting hack Our first $1m in ARR Growth through content distribution of winning playbooks Make friends with micro- influencers How we got 2,500 in our FB group
The chart tracks Expandi from $0 in November 2019 to $7m in June 2022. Revenue is marked at $3.1m in December 2020 and $6m in December 2021, showing a steep rise after the first year.
Expandi.io Revenue Growth
The pre-launch section groups three milestones: a LinkedIn ban, the first 150 beta users, and the first $50,000. Together they frame how the team responded to an early platform problem and converted initial interest.
Pre Launch I’m going to show you LINKEDIN BANNED 150 BETA USERS FIRST 50K
The examples turn product and market problems into messaging: tailor outreach to buyer profiles, replace broad promises with step-by-step playbooks, and position a platform restriction as a reason to emphasize safer software.
How Industry Problems Became Marketing gold Avatars → personal approach Nobody walked the 10x talk? → step-by-step playbooks Profile banned → World's safest software
The example breaks a connection campaign into an initial request and three follow-ups. Each message adds context or asks a low-friction question, with the follow-ups spaced one, five, and seven days after the preceding step.
Similar Tools (Albacross Playbook) … copy we tested that worked over and over again LinkedIn Connection Request Follow-up Message 1 (1 day after accepting connection request) Follow-up Message 2 (5 day if no reply on message 1) Follow-up Message 3 (7 day after no reply on message 2)
The team offered beta users a discount on an upfront yearly subscription plus help creating content for their sequences. The slide says 62 users accepted, generating nearly 50k euros in subscriptions.
$50,000 Email …not easy! We reached out to our beta users with a special offer: If they get a yearly subscription (and pay upfront) …they’ll get a discount and we’ll help them with content to sequences. We had 62 users accept this offer, which translated to nearly 50k euros in subscriptions
The section previews a playbook, a content retargeting tactic, and a $1m run rate. The examples connect repeatable acquisition steps with a specific revenue milestone.
Distribution I’m going to show you PLAYBOOK CONTENT HACK $1M RUN RATE
The acquisition sequence starts by locating audience-specific Facebook groups, then turns member names into professional profiles, shares useful content, and uses outreach to convert interested people into leads. The slide ties this process to the first $20k of MRR.
How we got first $20k of MRR … in a sort of surprising way Searched for the right Facebook groups where our audience is located. Scraped their names using Phantombuster Turned their names into LinkedIn profiles Made awesome content to get in touch with them Turned them into leads by using Expandi (The safest LinkedIn automation that works 24/7 in the cloud)
From 527 connection requests, 380 were accepted and 185 people responded. The slide reports a 72% acceptance rate, 49% response on follow-up, and 42% booked demos, showing how the team tracked movement from outreach to meetings.
Linkedin Connect Request to 527: 380 accepted and 185 responded to message 72% Acceptance 49% Response on follow-up 42% Booked demos
The example message sequence is presented as the source of a 47% response rate, based on 185 responses from 380 accepted connections. The screenshots show a personalized invitation to discuss the tool and arrange a demonstration.
… a look at that first message we sent (185/380, 47% response rate)
The tactic identifies people who liked or commented on a relevant LinkedIn post, then uses that shared interest as the opening for a follow-up message. A detailed guide is offered as the next step for interested readers.
The Best Content Retargeting Hack on LinkedIn Scraping everyone who liked and comment on ugljesa’s post with Expandi
The walkthrough shows how to copy a post link and use it as the basis for a personalized outreach note. Referencing the prospect’s interaction with the post makes the connection request specific to their interests.
The Best Content Retargeting Hack on LinkedIn
The dashboard shows MRR increasing month by month from November 2019 through June 2020. New sales, reactivations, and upgrades add to recurring revenue, while downgrades and churn offset part of the increase; June is labeled at $83,745 MRR.
Expandi.io Revenue Growth
The slide links the $1m ARR milestone to a mix of founder-led outreach, reusable LinkedIn playbooks, manual content distribution, micro-influencers, and community groups. It presents growth as a coordinated set of channels rather than one tactic.
Expandi.io Revenue Growth $1M ARR … we used our own tool Using Expandi for Outreach Creating playbooks of LinkedIn growth hacks Manual content distribution Reaching Micro influencers Groups and communities
The final section turns to distribution, micro-influencers, and a Facebook group. The examples preview how content reach and a shared community can reinforce acquisition.
Let’s jump in to Section 3 I’m going to show you DISTRIBUTION MICRO INFLUENCERS FACEBOOK GROUP
The analytics chart shows sessions rising throughout the period and reaching 60,000 in January 2021. Growth accelerates in the later months after a relatively gradual start.
We Hit 60,000 Sessions in Jan 2021
A message from a prospective user asks to test Expandi and compare it with another tool. The example illustrates how conversations with niche voices can lead directly to product trials and feedback.
Micro Influencers
The LinkedIn Outreach Family group reached 2,500 members. The screenshot presents it as a dedicated place for people interested in LinkedIn outreach to connect around the topic.
Facebook Group hit 2,500 Members
The example pairs a guide to LinkedIn outreach strategies with a claim of 100k views. It frames practical, reusable content as a way to earn broad attention and engagement.
How to Get 100k Views on 1 Linkedin Post
A post promoting a Founderpath founder story is used to illustrate the value of a compelling narrative, with 661k impressions called out. The example connects a founder-focused story with broad social distribution.
… tell a great story (661k impressions)
The deck broadens distribution beyond Facebook to Quora, LinkedIn, GrowthHackers, and IndieHackers. A step-by-step guide gives group members a reason to engage with and share the content.
Hundreds of Comments on Each FB Group Post We increased the amount of distribution channels and we had: Quora LinkedIn posts Growthhackers IndieHackers FB groups.
The analytics view associates traffic with direct visits, LinkedIn, GrowthHackers, and Facebook. The slide’s point is that adapting content for several relevant channels can bring in a more targeted audience.
We Got Super Targeted Users … by repurposing content on Linkedin, niche sites, and Facebook
The slide shows three video conversations with potential influencers and names the participants. Its understated takeaway is that building these relationships involves direct, personal outreach rather than an effortless campaign.
Influencers …not easy! Ilya Azovtsev from Lempod (left), Houston Golden from BAMF (middle), and Max Makarenko from Docsify (right)
The group’s 2.5k-member milestone is supported by several promotion routes: site pop-ups, blog banners, outreach templates, newsletter mentions, and ebooks. The accompanying message combines a clear invitation with social proof.
FB Group to 2.5k Members …The LinkedIn Outreach Family! Website POP-UPS and CRO Blog articles banners LinkedIn message templates Newsletter mentions Ebooks soft approach 60% activity
This build adds examples of the group’s active community and a website invitation alongside the earlier member-growth promotion. The multiple entry points keep the community visible to people discovering the content and product.
FB Group to 2.5k Members …The LinkedIn Outreach Family! Website POP-UPS and CRO Blog articles banners LinkedIn message templates Newsletter mentions Ebooks soft approach 60% activity
The recap links pre-launch beta conversion, distribution through outreach and content retargeting, and community growth through influencers and a Facebook group. Together, the three stages explain the deck’s path from early users to recurring growth.
I just showed you: 3 things we did opposite of competitors PRE-LAUNCH DISTRIBUTION COMMUNITY How we got first 150 beta users $50,000 email that converted beta users to paid Linkedin cold outreach playbook (steal competitor) Content retargeting hack Our first $1m in ARR Growth through content distribution of winning playbooks Make friends with micro- influencers How we got 2,500 in our FB group
Smulders thanks the audience and identifies himself as Expandi’s founder. The final card closes the presentation by returning to the speaker and company behind the growth story.
September 2022 Stefan Smulders Founder of Expandi.io