[donkeyd]

Not North America, but my SaaS start-up grew mostly through networking and just cold and luke warm approaches to potential clients. We got a very extroverted team mate that didn't have any from of restraint in approaching people. This guy also had a goodwill factor surrounding him. He really helped in getting us in with a lot of companies.

It also helped that we had a very clearly defined market so we knew exactly who to approach. We also had no real viable competitors, so if they liked our proposition, we were an easy choice. So when we got in, we would set up an account with them, get them started and let them use the app for free for a month. Most would be convinced after that, some wouldn't.

Due to the interactivity, our up-front cost was quite high, but through word of mouth we started getting organic growth, which saved us from spending a lot in advertising.