Would you like to leverage the efficiency and power of paid advertising to sell your stuff and grow your business?
Here's the thing.
If you've got a business and you're thinking about running ads, whether it's to sell a course, sell your coaching, sell a physical product, an info product, whatever it is ...
I'm willing to bet that you'd really like to make that happen NOW.
The human mindset is like that.
We see a possibility, we want it immediately.1
Our world experience of "get everything we want as soon as possible" makes that all the more real because we're so used to getting everything right away.
This causes two problems.
One - you enter into your ads strategy with an expectation that you're going to get results FAST.
Two - when the results you get don't match up with your expectation, you think you've failed, the strategy has failed, something isn't working and you give up.
We see these problems repeat in a multitude of domains. Advertising included. It holds you back from gaining the real tangible extremely valuable benefit that you can receive from a proven system.
What can you do?
Shift your perspective.
Your goal, especially when you start running ads for the first time (but really anytime you are testing something new), is NOT to make a successful ad ...
It's to collect data.
I know, I know. You want the shortcut. THIS IS THE SHORTCUT.2
The data that you need in order to clearly define the path you are going to take with your ads strategy.
Let me show you what that can look like, with this excerpt from Laurel Portie’s book, Super Duper Profitable Ads3: Laurel’s methodology, program and book are heavy in Guardian Academy principles that she reinvented and improved specifically for her domain - and has become one of the best advertising programs out there.
Anyway, here we go…
90 DAYS TO DATA
When I started out, I made it my goal to talk to 100 business owners over a zoom call over 90 days.
I was going to lure them in with Facebook live videos, the only problem… I needed to figure out how to get these videos in front of those business owners.
Over that next week, I went LIVE on Facebook every single day and I found local chamber groups who would allow me to post my videos as long as I didn’t promote my services, which was cool…
But I kept wondering, how will I make money if I can’t promote?
What I started doing, was just adding a whole bunch of business owners as friends.
AHA! I thought…Surely the requests for me to hop on a free zoom call with them would start piling in as soon as they started seeing my content.
Cue Sad Trombone
That wasn’t the case at all. My videos were hardly being seen by anyone.
I had to figure out a way for my videos to get MORE reach, MORE engagement and most importantly… more conversations with business owners.
I noticed a strategy that was very popular at the time by multi-level marketers. They called them “comment ladders.” They would ask people if they wanted to see how they could work from home and make a “gazillion dollars.”
The comments came pouring in on every single post I saw.
That got me thinking…what if I used the same concept in my videos?
If I gave something away of value during my live video….would my ideal clients comment to get it so that my video would get more reach and most importantly, more engagement?
Sure enough.
Within just 7 days, my videos were getting 50+ comments of business owners wanting everything from advertising checklists to strategy, and they even started raising their hands for a free strategy session.
I was finally starting to get some traction.
Every morning I woke up at 5am and went live. I took free strategy calls during my lunch hour and then planned my next day’s content. The entire process took me about 3 hours a day on top of my normal day job.
I’m telling you this, because I am no one special.
I didn’t have any extra time in my day.
I created a math problem that I could easily solve with the right strategy. It wasn’t perfect. Most of the time I rolled outta bed with bad hair, but I was disciplined in my simple little strategy.
Everyday I planned my videos, added business owners as friends and consistently went live.
It wasn’t until later that summer, when I applied a little copywriting framework that took my video strategy to the next level, that I quickly hit my 100 Zoom call goal, booking myself out with Facebook ad clients who were looking for a more budget-friendly strategy.
A little nuance you may have missed in my story… I only focused on one number. That was getting 100 Zoom calls with ideal clients.
Here is a visual recap of what I did for those 90 days.
Step 1. I went LIVE on Facebook, teaching an ads tactic or strategy.
Step 2. I asked people to comment for a free checklist/cheat sheet that I now call a “value bomb”
Step 3. I reached out to everyone who had commented in Messenger and asked them a few questions to help them diagnose an ad problem they were currently having.
Step 4. I proposed a free ad audit with everyone while giving them the checklist or cheat sheet they were asking for under my LIVE video.
Step 5. I had free 15-20 minute Zoom calls with people who booked.
Step 6. I sent everyone who asked to work with me a PayPal link
The steps above are actually a sales funnel, it’s just not the typical sales funnel that most gurus talk about. That exact sales funnel made me my first and second six figures and didn’t cost me a dime.
People make excuses that they don’t have “this or that” and that’s why they aren’t successful, but the secret to success really depends on 2 things.
1. Being specific in your goal and having a measurable number attached to that goal
2. Only doing the activities that lead to that goal over and over again.
I did the same exact things for 90 days, over and over again.
When something didn’t work, I optimized it and tried it again. I didn’t change my goal, nor did I change the specific activity. I focused on optimizing the activity that I was doing, over and over again until I got the result I wanted.
Because of the 90 days of consistency, I now have data that reveals a winning formula that I can replicate again and again.
The lesson?
Don't make successful profitable ads your goal.
Make consistency for 90 days your goal. (This is making the process your goal)
You WILL succeed. You WILL get data.
And you will find the right path if you follow through.
If you'd like a useful FRAMEWORK for that consistency with your ads strategy, Laurel has a very low barrier/cost of entry program built from TGA principles, Ad Coaching for $7.3
Laurel Portie is a Guardian and has been a student of our founder for the last five years. Recently, they did a free training condensing everything Laurel has learned and implemented into five days. All five days are available for free here:
The TGA “Out Of Print” Business Development Books and Letters are available by clicking here for paid subs. A lot of marketers try and resell this stuff, just get it here.
The pre-req or “Starter/Self Stay Guide” to understand marketing and sales through the lens of TGA principles can be found right here.
Social Media: Check the Guardian Academy Instagram for aesthetically pleasing stuff and exclusive video clips. Twitter (Or X) for more frequent updates and insights.
Forthcoming Event and Experience Dates can be found by clicking here. Nothing compares to being in the right room with the right people. It doesn’t have to be our room with us - just get yourself in proximity to the right people, places, and things for you.