Our First Client Paid $360, Not Five Figures
The headline said a whopping five figures. The invoice said S$360. That is the joke, and the number is real: $150 for a placement post, $300 for a brand exclusive post, a brand exclusive video thrown in free, $450 subtotal, 20% off, S$360 grand total. It came in June 2024, after months of cold DMs, and it was the first time anyone paid for the work at all.
What actually happened
In 2023 we were posting genuinely trashy stuff. Through 2024 the routine was cold DMs, dozens of them, mostly ignored. Then on 14 June 2024 one went out, and on 17 June someone replied with "please share more details". The quote that came back was a Social Media Feature package: a placement post at $150, a brand exclusive post at $300, a brand exclusive video free, 20% off until 31 August 2024. Grand total S$360.
Why $360 was the point
$360 obviously is not huge. What it was, was the first clear signal that somebody outside the account valued the work enough to pay for it, and that changes what you do next in a way an extra thousand views does not. Every rate card after that one was built from this one. The gap between $0 and $360 is much bigger than the gap between $360 and anything that followed.
The advice under the joke
Just start, because the first few videos will look bad anyway, and they always get better. That is the actual message of the post and it is worth more than the invoice. If you want the audience side of the same story, we wrote up how the account got to 10 million monthly views, which is the same lesson with different numbers on it.
Good to know
· The first paid job is a signal, not a salary. Price it to get the yes.
· Cold DMs work at terrible conversion rates, which is fine if you send enough of them.
· Keep the first invoice. It is the baseline every later rate is argued from.
· First videos are bad for everyone. That is not a reason to delay the first one.
FAQs
How much did the first Eventful client actually pay?
S$360. The quote was $150 for a placement post and $300 for a brand exclusive post, with a brand exclusive video free, giving a $450 subtotal less a 20% discount.
Was it really five figures?
No, that was the joke in the post. The real figure was S$360, and the post says so on the next slide.
When was it?
June 2024. The first outreach message went out on 14 June 2024 and the reply came on 17 June 2024.
What is the takeaway?
Start before the work is good. The first paid job matters because it proves someone values the work, not because of the amount.
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