How I DM Strangers to Find New Clients (2 Methods + Free Downloads)

Let me be upfront with you: I'm not a marketing expert. I'm a photographer who got tired of waiting for inquiries to come in and decided to actually go find them.

So I started DMing people. Strangers. Potential clients. Referral partners. People whose content I genuinely liked. And I tested two different approaches to see what actually got a response.

Spoiler: most of what I tried first was wrong. I sent messages that were too vague, too salesy, or just... about me. And they got ignored. Completely.

But when I shifted my approach — leading with them instead of me, being specific instead of generic, starting a conversation instead of pitching — things started to change. Replies came in. Conversations started. A few of those turned into real clients.

In my latest YouTube video, I walk you through both methods exactly as I use them — what I say, how I structure the message, and what I've learned from the ones that flopped.

To go along with the video, I made two free downloads:

[→ Free Download: Bad DM vs. Good DM Examples Guide]
Real before-and-after DM examples across four different outreach scenarios, plus the P.A.S. framework I use to write every message.

A spreadsheet to track everyone you message — their name, platform, whether they responded, follow-up status, and where they are in the pipeline. It auto-calculates your response rate and shows you a live dashboard of your outreach activity.

Both are free. No email required — just grab them and go.

If you try one of these methods, drop a comment on the video or send me a message on Instagram. I read every single one, and I'm genuinely curious what works for you versus what doesn't.

We're all figuring this out together.