Basic free tools for finding your ICP (anywhere on the open web)

How many clients are enough?

Welcome note:
Outbound-ish is my corner of the internet where I show you how I bend the rules and politely ignore every “here’s what works” funnel bro on the planet.

If you feel like a little outbound could help your pipeline, but you don’t want the villain energy that usually comes with it? You’re in the right place. I break down how I write outreach that feels warm, human, and impossible to ignore.

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Let’s bend the rules together and make outbound feel like inbound energy.

Photo by Microsoft Edge on Unsplash

The #1 challenge most service pros never admit… isn’t finding clients. But

deciding how many clients they realistically need to stay full per contract cycle.

If you’re anything like me, you just need a handful - mini of 2 or max of 4, to stay booked out, well-fed, and sane.

And if you’re in the same range as me, you don’t need overpriced, shiny tools built for big agencies or orgs.

You can make good with some basic free tools I used to find and pitch clients w/o spending $.c on subscription tools.

Here are 2 of my favorite free basic ICP resourcing tools you should try:

- Boolean String
- Search box


Boolean strings are basically keywords + commands that tell the search engine exactly who you want and who you don’t.
You do that with a few tiny words/symbols:
AND → must include both
OR → can include either
NOT or - → exclude

Search box… You know where to find that, right? Lol.

So, here are a few ways you can use Boolean to find your ICP:

1. Pain-scented titles: “solo founder,” “agency owner,” “service providers,” coach, etc.

2. Pain phrases: “engagement is low”, “pipeline is dry”, “nobody responds to my DMs”, “I don’t know who my audience is,”... got it?

Now, pull your strings together using Boolean commands AND, OR, and NOT, and plug it into the search box.

I shared how to find ICP conversations on LinkedIn using Boolean here: https://lnkd.in/d3Nk3yAS

3. Write pain-scented posts.
Use pain phrasing hook, show problem-solving process, share more resources, proof engine (take inspo from this post)


Most people who struggle with outreach don’t struggle with what to say, but with whom to say it. But once you know how to spot the right people, outreach becomes a natural follow-through exercise.

Building and keeping your pipeline filled and warm is not a one-and-done event. It’s done daily with small finds that compound.


I have tried Boolean, and it didn’t work for lead gen. If this is you, share your context with me in the comments, and I’ll help you find your stick point.

The first goal of outreach is to get a reply. I shared “How I write messages that get replies…”

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Thanks for reading Outbound-ish.

In the next edition, I’m diving into how I use simple Google Boolean searches to find clients + the exact cold outreach sequence that helped me get replies, book calls, and close a client in one week.

Stay tuned.

Connect with me on LinkedIn, where I sell like my rent depends on it… becos, it does.