From 80 Websites to One.
Lessons from Deepak Taylor, founder of Latest Free Stuff
Deepak Taylor started university running 80 websites from his bedroom. His goal was £5 a day. Enough for a couple of drinks. By the time he graduated, he was making £1,000 a month and never took a graduate job. He has never taken investor money either. Latest Free Stuff now attracts over a million visitors a month, 800,000 email subscribers, and a WhatsApp community of 25,000 people. All organic. All bootstrapped.
Zero Spend on Advertising. Here Is How.
Latest Free Stuff has never run a paid advertising campaign. Not one.
Every visitor, every subscriber, every follower has come through organic sharing. People find a freebie, send it to a friend, post it in a group, share it on WhatsApp. The product does the marketing because the product is genuinely useful.
Deepak's lesson is simple: if you build something people actually want to share, you do not need to pay for attention.
Takeaway: Before spending anything on ads, ask whether your product or offer is inherently shareable. If it is not, fix that first.
Gamification Is Not a Gimmick
When Latest Free Stuff runs a competition, they do not just put up a form. They give people extra entries for sharing on Twitter, posting on Facebook, referring a friend. A campaign that would have had 1,000 entries ends up with 3,000, reaching audiences they never had to pay to reach.
Dropbox did it with storage. Uber did it with ride credits. The mechanic is the same: give people a reason to bring others in, and let the community do the heavy lifting.
Takeaway: Add a referral or sharing mechanic to your next campaign. Even a small incentive can multiply your reach significantly.
Dragon's Den Sent 78,000 People a Minute to the Website
Deepak nearly did not apply. He was an introvert. The idea of standing under lights in front of cameras for two hours was genuinely terrifying.
He applied anyway and prepared answers to a thousand possible questions because he had watched too many founders lose the room by not knowing their numbers.
The episode aired on a Sunday evening. Within a few hours, 350,000 people had signed up to the newsletter. Many of them still use the site today.
The deal with Deborah Meaden did not complete. It did not matter. The exposure was the prize.
Takeaway: PR that puts you in front of the right audience can outperform any paid campaign. Journalist requests on Twitter are free. Start there.
The WhatsApp Group They Should Have Built Sooner
Latest Free Stuff now has 25,000 people in a WhatsApp community. It is bigger than their email list in terms of reach and engagement. People check WhatsApp before they check email. They have had the same phone number for a decade.
Deepak's regret is not building it earlier. If they had started six months sooner, they would have 40,000 members by now.
Takeaway: Whatever new channel is emerging, claim your space immediately. Cross-promote from your existing channels to seed it fast. The cost of waiting is compounding.
Free Samples Are Market Research in Disguise
The brands that work with Latest Free Stuff are not just being generous. They are testing flavours, tracking coupon redemption rates in supermarkets, and converting curious samplers into loyal customers. One client saw 30% of people who received a free sample go on to make a paid purchase.
The freebie is not the end of the funnel. It is the beginning.
Takeaway: If you are launching a new product, a seeded sampling campaign with a follow-up coupon or offer is one of the most measurable acquisition tools available. You are not giving revenue away. You are buying qualified customers.
Just Go and Do the Thing
Deepak's final advice is the same thing he tells every founder he meets. Stop sitting on the idea. The only way to know if something works is to launch it.
He spent years building 80 websites before anyone told him that was a viable path. He applied for Dragon's Den despite being terrified. He launched a WhatsApp group when he had no idea if it would work.
Every time, he just did it.
Takeaway: The gap between people who have ideas and people who build things is not talent or money. It is the decision to start.
Deepak Tailor: LinkedIn
Suds Singh B2B Video Content Specialist London for Interesting Content, LinkedIn.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/uPWTrdHEefU?si=bw-QBMNFsxFHYvT7
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6iT4NDmWvYUGDnb3Qj0S9I?si=2OY98spJT_G0tOnQ4RcF_Q