Guide
Find people who are asking for what you sell
People ask for agencies, developers and consultants in public every day. Find their posts within hours, answer with something useful, and reach them while they are still deciding.
The short answer
Search the places your buyers post for the words they use when they need help, check every morning, and answer within the day with something specific to what they wrote. You can do it by hand for free, use alert tools that email you when a keyword appears, or use Hound, which finds the posts, finds the person on LinkedIn and email where they can be found, and writes the first message.
Where buyers ask, and what they write
LinkedIn posts
“Can anyone recommend a good SEO agency?” “Looking for a developer to help us with our app.”
By hand Search LinkedIn, pick the Posts filter, sort by latest, and search “recommend” or “looking for” with your service.
Reddit
“Need help with Google Ads for my store.” “How do I find a web designer I can trust?”
By hand Search r/smallbusiness, r/Entrepreneur and your niche’s subreddits, sorted by new. F5Bot sends free email alerts for keywords.
X
“Who’s a good Shopify developer?” “Any recommendations for a bookkeeper?”
By hand Use X advanced search for “anyone recommend” plus your service, on the Latest tab.
The web and forums
Questions on community forums and Q&A sites from owners stuck on the problem you solve.
By hand Google the buyer’s phrase in quotes and set Tools to the past 24 hours.
Public Facebook groups
Local business owners asking the group who they should hire.
By hand Join the groups your buyers are in and search inside each one. Reply in the group.
Unhappy customers of a competitor
Posts and reviews complaining about a provider like yours, or asking for an alternative.
By hand Search the competitor’s name with “alternative” or “switching from”.
Doing it by hand, step by step
- 1Write down ten phrases your buyers use when they need you. Your last few sales calls and enquiry emails are the best source.
- 2Save the searches above and run them every morning. A post asking for help goes cold within a day or two.
- 3Skip posts that don’t fit: the wrong country, too small to pay you, students, or other agencies looking for work.
- 4Find the person: their LinkedIn from their name and company, and a work email if you plan to email.
- 5Answer where they asked with one useful tip. Message them directly only if it makes sense, and never twice without a reply.
- 6Keep a list of who you contacted and when, so nobody hears from you twice.
Our estimate: about 30 minutes per person by hand, from finding the post to sending the message.
What to say
- Start from what they wrote, in their words, so they know you read it.
- Give one useful idea they can use even if they never reply.
- Ask one small question instead of pitching a call.
- On Reddit, no link in your first reply unless someone asks.
- Keep it short: four sentences is plenty.
Their post
“Can anyone recommend someone to fix our Google Ads? We spend £3k a month and get almost nothing.”
A first message
Saw your post about Google Ads eating £3k a month. When that happens it’s often broad match keywords pulling in searches that will never buy. The search terms report shows it in a few minutes. Want me to tell you what I’d check first?
On LinkedIn, send at most 20 LinkedIn connection requests and 50 LinkedIn messages a day, spread through working hours. That is what Hound does for every customer, and the limits can never be raised.
Tools that help
Keyword alerts
F5Bot watches Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters; Free. Paid from $12.99 a month. Syften watches the web, Reddit, Hacker News, X (paid add-on) and more. Not LinkedIn; From $29.95 a month.
- What it does
- Emails you when a keyword appears in a new post.
- What you still do
- Judge each post, find the person, write and send the message.
Reddit reply tools
Several newer tools read your website and draft replies to Reddit posts.
- What it does
- Finds Reddit posts and suggests a reply.
- What you still do
- Every other channel, the person’s contact details, follow-ups.
Hound
Hound (houndreach.com)
- What it does
- Every morning finds people on LinkedIn, Reddit, X and the web asking for what you sell and checks they fit. For people it can find on LinkedIn it finds their profile and work email, writes a first message about what they said, and sends from your own LinkedIn and Gmail or Outlook with follow-ups. For Reddit posts it writes a reply for you to post. £99 a month.
- What you still do
- Approve each message, or let Hound send. Take the calls.
Questions founders ask
Where do people ask for agency recommendations?
Mostly in LinkedIn posts, Reddit communities like r/smallbusiness and r/Entrepreneur, X, public Facebook groups and niche forums. They write things like “can anyone recommend” or “looking for someone to help with” followed by the service.
Is there a tool where I paste my website and it finds people asking for what I sell?
Yes. Hound reads your website, works out what you sell and who buys it, and every morning finds people on LinkedIn, Reddit, X and the web who are asking for it. It finds them on LinkedIn and email where it can and writes the first message.
What replaced GummySearch for finding leads on Reddit?
GummySearch closed on 30 November 2025. For alerts only, F5Bot is free and Syften watches more sites. If you want posts from LinkedIn, X and the web as well as Reddit, with the first message written and the person found on LinkedIn and email where they can be, that is what Hound does.
Is it OK to message someone who posted asking for help?
Yes, if you answer what they asked, once, and stop if they don’t want it. Read each community’s rules first: many Reddit communities don’t allow links or promotion in replies.
How fast should I reply to a post asking for help?
The same day if you can. A post asking for help is most alive in its first day, and by the next week the person has usually picked someone.
Will reaching out on LinkedIn get my account restricted?
Not if you stay well under LinkedIn’s limits and act like a person. Hound sends at most 20 LinkedIn connection requests and 50 LinkedIn messages a day, at random times in working hours, and those limits are the same for every customer.
Other companies’ details are from their own websites on 23 October 2026 and may have changed since: F5Bot, Syften pricing, GummySearch.
Someone is asking for you right now.
Let Hound find them, and the next ones, every morning.
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