Mining is too relationship-based. This won't work." (He got 25 qualified opportunities in 2 months)
What I taught in last week's masterclass on building an AI outbound system - the full breakdown.
On Thursday I ran a free masterclass on AI outbound, with attendees joining from Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, and even Canada at nearly midnight their time.
I want to share the core of what I covered - because if you’re a founder or consultant relying on referrals, this might be the most useful thing you read this month.
The problem with every acquisition channel (I’ve tried them all)
When I left corporate and started AIPoint, my business ran entirely on referrals. Referrals are great - easy to close, high trust. But they’re not predictable. Some months they flow, some months they dry up completely.
So I tried everything:
→ Advertising. I come from adtech (The Trade Desk, eBay), so I know this world well. It works - but it’s one of the most expensive channels, best suited to established companies with real budgets.
→ LinkedIn content. Free, and it built my personal brand - I went from 4K to 13K followers in 18 months. But content alone doesn’t fill a pipeline predictably.
→ Networking and conferences. I did a lot of this in 2025. Finding the right room with my actual target market was hit and miss.
→ Referrals. Wonderful when they come. Impossible to schedule.
Then I found outbound. Done properly - not spray-and-pray - it’s the only channel where you choose exactly who you talk to: the industry, company size, decision maker, even their tech stack and buying signals.
The day I understood that, I said: okay, now I can build my business.
“This won’t work in my industry”
Two stories from my own clients.
8Ball Global is a consulting business serving the mining industry. When we started, the founder told me: “Ima, mining is very relationship-based. This is not going to work.”
First month: 11 qualified opportunities. Second month: 14. All real conversations with proposals sent. His words afterward: “I don’t know why we didn’t run outbound before.”
Then Robert, who runs an advisory firm. His opening line to me: “I’m antisocial. I don’t want to do social media, and I built this business on cold calling but I never want to cold call again.”
We ran one month. He got 21 qualified opportunities - 440 people contacted through LinkedIn, non-responders followed up by email. He now spends his time doing the only part he actually likes: talking to warm prospects and closing.
The lesson: “my industry is different” is almost never true. What’s different is whether the system is built properly.
What “built properly” actually means
Here’s the funnel I use for every client:
Tight ICP, one target per campaign. The biggest mistake I see: mixing multiple audiences in one list. Your messaging becomes generic, your response rate collapses. One campaign, one audience.
Signal-based prospecting. Don’t just build a list - find the people showing buying intent right now. Website visitors that match your ICP. People attending relevant events. Companies announcing a tech migration. Prospects engaging with your competitors’ content. Timing is half the game.
Qualify before you enrich. Enrichment costs credits. If you enrich an unqualified list, you’re burning money on people who were never going to buy. Score first, enrich second.
Personalize with AI - but own the copy. Most platforms’ AI-generated messaging is mediocre out of the box. The tools are strong; the default copywriting isn’t. This is where Claude Code trained on your business makes the difference.
Go multi-channel. LinkedIn first, email follow-up, and now voice AI as a follow-up layer (never as a cold call - we tested that, response rates are terrible; as a follow-up, it works). People need to see your name several times before they reply. One client told me: “I kept seeing your name everywhere, so I finally booked a call.”
The tool landscape in 60 seconds
For those who asked during the session: Apollo is strong for tech companies but weak on Australian data - use Clay as a complementary source for AU/NZ. Prospeo for cost-efficient enrichment. Instantly or Smartlead for email sending. HeyReach for LinkedIn. Apify for signal scraping. And Claude Code as the brain connecting all of it - ICP definition, qualification logic, personalized copy at scale.
But honestly: the tools matter less than the workflow. AI doesn’t fix a broken process. It amplifies it.
Watch the full session
I recorded the whole masterclass, including the live Q&A: recording link
And the Claude Code skills pack I promised attendees is here.
If you want to build this yourself
I’m running my 4-week AI Outbound Accelerator - a done-with-you program where I build your business brain in Claude Code, set up your ICP and qualification logic, and walk you through launching real campaigns. Small cohort only (5-8 people).
It’s $1,499 AUD, and code MASTERCLASS7 gets you 30% off until Sunday 26th July at midnight: link
What’s the channel that brings you most of your clients today? Hit reply - I read every response.