The best outreach methods to get GoHighLevel Clients (2026 RANKED)

Summary

Kai Stone ranks client-acquisition methods for selling websites and GoHighLevel services to local businesses, especially contractors. His main recommendation for beginners is to start with direct outreach to generate cash and sales experience, then use paid advertising—particularly Meta ads—to scale.

Recommended acquisition playbook

• Start with direct, person-to-person outreach. Stone favors cold calls because they create a real conversation and, in his view, produce warmer leads than Facebook DMs. Cold email is another strong option, provided deliverability is handled well.
• Build a repeatable outreach channel before scaling. Beginners should focus on one or two methods that work, rather than spreading effort across many channels or spending heavily on ads too early.
• Use Meta ads to scale once the business can afford it. Stone describes the goal as building a system where each dollar spent generates more than a dollar in return, while noting that ad performance is not guaranteed.
• Add referrals and content as supporting channels. Referrals can improve acquisition economics, while niche-focused content can build trust and bring in highly qualified leads over time.

Outreach methods and Stone’s assessment

Method Assessment and practical guidance Cold calling One of Stone’s preferred beginner channels. It builds sales experience through direct conversations and can produce warmer leads than messages. He says successful businesses he has observed often begin with cold calls or other direct outreach. Cold email Stone rates it highly—“S-level”—and says he wishes he had done more of it. The main operational challenge is deliverability: even a strong message is ineffective if it does not reach the prospect’s inbox. Meta ads His preferred method for scaling once the business has money to invest. The objective is positive return on ad spend, not a guaranteed outcome. Personal branding / YouTube Slow but reliable when content is tailored to a specific customer niche and demonstrates expertise. He recommends publishing one or two YouTube videos per week. Even a small audience may be valuable if it consists of ideal prospects. Door-to-door / business visits A practical early-stage option. Research local businesses’ websites and Google presence, make a prospect list, and visit businesses in person. Stone says this approach brought him roughly three or four initial clients. Customer referrals Useful but slow, particularly for beginners who have not yet built a strong service track record. Ask during onboarding or integration: “Who else do you know who needs a service like this?” Stone says his partner Mike commonly obtained two to five names per client; referrals sometimes produced an additional customer. Partner referrals Potentially valuable, though Stone says it never worked for his business despite receiving at least 10 referrals through partners. Example: a web-design provider and a local ads provider refer clients to each other when customers need both services. Facebook groups / Marketplace Potentially slow but reliable, based on others’ results. Test two or three post variations in groups in a market where you are genuinely local. Example offer: a free website for the first several businesses that respond. Stone acknowledges he did not test this thoroughly himself. Facebook DMs Can work, but Stone does not consider them a top-tier strategy. He prefers channels that lead to a direct conversation. Google search ads Avoid as a beginner because competitive non-branded terms can require substantial budget and expertise. Stone says his own Google campaigns focus on people already searching for his company by name. LinkedIn DMs Poor fit for contractors and blue-collar businesses in Stone’s view; potentially more suitable for sophisticated markets. Newsletters Too slow to rely on as a beginner’s primary acquisition channel, especially for local-business audiences such as contractors. Physical mail Stone advises beginners to avoid it because it takes time to identify prospects, find addresses, and send materials. YouTube ads Stone says he has not used them and offers no firsthand assessment. He cautions that ads are unlikely to help much without good content and a personal brand, particularly when selling to local small businesses.

Examples and metrics cited

• Stone claims his business earns about $552,000 per month selling AI websites to contractors through GoHighLevel SaaS, and says the business has operated for about three years. These are presenter-reported figures, not independently verified in the subtitles.
• He says his community has about 2,000 members and that he has observed members testing many acquisition strategies.
• He describes selling community access for $700 and other products or courses priced at $1,500; he says some customers purchase after consuming free content without speaking with him.
• He cites a community member, Brady, who reportedly makes $100,000 per month selling Google reviews to local businesses using cold mail as his only outreach channel.
• He references an example discussed on Alex Hormozi’s channel of a business reaching about $20 million a year selling websites with a cold-calling team.

Key takeaway

For an early-stage agency, Stone’s practical sequence is: learn to sell through direct outreach, test a small number of channels, ask satisfied clients for introductions, and invest in Meta ads once there is enough budget to scale. Treat personal-brand content and referrals as additional long-term sources rather than relying on them as the only near-term pipeline.

Presenter and sources mentioned: Kai Stone (presenter); Mike, Brady, James Smith, and Alex Hormozi are referenced in the video.