The full answer
The first participant is always the hardest — no track record, no testimonials, no coordinator relationships. Fastest paths: 1) Personal network — tell friends, family, your GP that you're now an NDIS provider and ask for participant referrals, 2) Support coordinators — identify 5 coordinators in your area, email them with a 1-page service description, ask for a 15-min call to discuss fit, follow up every 2 weeks, 3) Meta ads — run carousel ads to families with budget $10-15/day targeting NDIS interest and carers, optimise for landing-page form submissions, 4) NDIS Provider Finder — list yourself (free, low-conversion but passive), 5) SEO — 'NDIS services [your city]' ranks slowly but compounds. Most new providers get their first 3 participants through a combination of coordinator outreach and personal referrals, then scale to 10-15 through Meta ads and coordinator partnerships.