Most people buy a lead list, blast a generic DM to everyone on it, get ignored, and decide "lead gen doesn't work."

Here's what actually works, from grinding this for a while:

1. Segment before you send anything. A list of 500 leads is really 5 lists of 100. Group by intent signal (did they opt in for "make money," "fitness," "crypto"?) before writing a single message.

2. Your first message is not a pitch — it's a filter. Ask one question that only a real prospect would answer. You're not trying to convert on message one, you're trying to find out who's actually alive on the other end.

3. Affiliate commissions come from trust, not reach. A list of 50 people who reply to you beats a list of 5,000 who don't. Prioritize response rate over list size every time.

4. Track everything for 2 weeks before you judge the offer. Most people quit a lead source after 3 days. The data doesn't mean anything until you've got real sample size.

I put together a full breakdown of the segmentation + outreach system (plus a sample lead list to practice on) — it's free, linked on my profile if you want to skip the trial and error.

What's the biggest mistake you made with your first lead list?