Get Your Ads Up & Running In 7 Days
Putting The Fun Back in Funnels!
This is following a series exploring Laurel Portié's paid ads strategy. If you are unfamiliar with the strategy and haven’t seen this post first, we recommend starting here.
There's a concept in The Guardian Academy which we talk about as "Enough."
In technical terms we also call it "minimum effective dose (MED)."
But the concept of "enough" has a deeper emotional and personal layer to it.
What is 'enough' to get the ball rolling?
What is 'enough' to make sure that you get everything you want in life?
You may not realize this until you've gone deep on Laurel Portié's ads strategy,
But in many ways it's built on this idea of "enough."
If you were fortunate to attend her Super Duper Awesome Ads Event in Phoenix, March 2024, you'd have experienced the revelation we all had in the room:
That following Laurel's steps gives you "enough" of everything you need to figure out paid ads for your business no matter what you are doing.
It's 'enough' to figure out who the ideal person is for you to be speaking with.
It's 'enough' to figure out the messaging which is going to not only get attention, but lead to conversations.
It's 'enough' to get conversations.
And for many people, the "Phase 1" of her ads strategy is 'enough' to have all the business you need.
If you're the kind of entrepreneur / freelancer who is dying to make a consistent $10k/mo - This Is Enough.
And below we're going to show you, through Laurel's own words, how you can build out "ENOUGH" in just 7 days.
This is the simple process for getting the entire Ads Ecosystem up and running in the next 7 days. All you've got to do is the work Laurel lays out below, in an excerpt from her book Super Duper Profitable Ads.1
Within this process of building out the system, you'll find such gems as How to Create a Great Value Bomb, and How to Make Content to Cold Traffic (topics we'll expand upon in the future).
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.
PUTTING THE FUN IN FUNNELS
Alright, now the real fun can begin!
You didn’t think that I was just going to let you read this book and do nothing, did ya?
In this chapter, I am going to give you a play-by-play on getting this entire system up over the next 7 days. NO EXCUSES.
If you can do each item over the next 7 days, you will be worlds ahead of most of your competitors and you WILL win new clients.
Remember my client Scott I mentioned in chapter 2? This is what he uses.
It’s what my clients put into play to reduce their cost per booked call by 90%!
It’s what my private clients use to book calls with prospective clients for less than $20!
And of course, this is the process I used when I told you earlier that I hit the $1M mark with only $36,000 in ad spend.
In chatting with over 10,000 students over the years, I’ve learned that on average people are spending 4-6 hours per day on social media trying to promote their business! And let’s be honest, a lot of that is probably scrolling and browsing, not real productive action.
They think that more is better, but the reality is that most of those hours are simply wasted. Instead of actual money-generating activities, it usually just becomes aimless wandering.
Be honest…. Can you relate? Do you often find yourself feeling stuck inside social media, but not getting the traction that you see others getting?
Thing is, I’m willing to admit that if I didn’t give myself, or my clients, a daily checklist, we would end up wasting soooo much time on social media, just browsing around and scrolling.
I hope you guys are ready to rock n roll, and I mean today not tomorrow.
This is where the work begins.
I’ll tell you guys something I tell my students all the time, and excuse my language…
“F! TOMORROW”
Right now, I’m giving you the opportunity to get ahead of 90% of your competitors, but only you can set the tone of how fast you will move.
If you wait until tomorrow, there’s already someone doing it today. That compounds over time.
Think about this.
I started my digital business, at the same time with a lot of really awesome people – I didn’t waste time. I got my videos out there – I got on free strategy calls for 100 days straight.
I don’t have more hours in the day than everyone else– but I got my data out there faster so I could see the gaps I was missing in my content. Then I fixed them and my progress kept compounding and compounding.
For those of you who are a little apprehensive about doing ads, I tell my students all of the time… “Ads are just organic content with money on it.”
If you implement what I teach in this chapter, after 90 days you will have the data you need to fix what’s not optimized. Problem is, most people aren’t that patient.
I know for a fact that 75% of the people who will read this playbook will do nothing with it. And that’s okay.
The only difference between success and staying where you are— is the speed at which you execute after making a decision.
I want to be transparent here -- 9 out of 10 ads I will place will fail. I did a lot of failing to get a handful of winners that took my business to 7-figures.
The first step to success is what I’ll call “Task Zero.” It’s like a pre-checklist item. It’s when you finally acknowledge that more hours doesn’t necessarily equal higher productivity. Time spent in social media isn’t necessarily directly related to generating more money for your business.
However, when you have the right list of high output actions, then you don’t need to spend 4-6 hours each day spinning your wheels.
Here’s a diagram of what we will be doing over the next 7 days.
Take note, we will only be focusing on content for cold traffic this week. We cannot run retargeting ads if we do not have enough people who have watched our cold traffic content.
Don’t worry, we will break each of the assignments down by day with all of the fun details on execution.
Before we get started creating the videos, we have to remember why we are doing these videos. We’re doing these videos in order to hook our ideal clients. Once we get them to watch a certain % of this first video, they will start to get our other content.
Think about this, if we want our ideal clients to watch these videos, then we have to insert another element to keep our not ideal clients out. The best way to do that is by using polarizing content.
I’ll tell you a short story about how I messed this up in the beginning.
While I was at a mastermind with my mentor, Nic, I approached him with a very serious concern. “Everyone who’s applying for my advanced program seems to be a beginner! Why is that happening?”
He took one look at my content and had me change a single word.
He said, “Stop telling people you’ll help them launch their ads.” Tell them you’ll help them “fix” their ads, instead.”
A lightbulb immediately went off and I never had that problem again.
We want to protect our retargeting ecosystem. We want to make sure we are attracting only our ideal clients with our power content otherwise we will end up spending money retargeting people who are not our ideal clients.
Before you jump into the daily actions below, I highly recommend you view this workshop I did recently. It will give the overview of the funnel and some explanation. Then, I’ll walk you through the details in the remainder of this chapter.
The video will give you some context for what we cover in this chapter and it will help you absorb and retain more of the strategy in preparation for when you implement it.
Very few of my students grasp the full scope of this strategy on their first time through it, and that’s okay! As long as you’re willing to study this material consistently, you will become an ads champion, and your bank account will reflect that.
Okay, so now let’s get to work.
THE 7-DAY ACTION PLAN
Day 1 - Create your first value bomb and determine your topics for your 3 power content and conversion multiplier videos
Day 2 - Write and launch Power content video #1
Day 3 - Write and launch Power content video #2
Day 4 - Write and launch Power content video #3
Day 5 - Write and launch Conversion Multiplier #1
Day 6 - Write and launch Conversion Multiplier #2
Day 7 - Write and launch Conversion Multiplier #2
PRO TIPS FOR CREATING A GREAT VALUE BOMB
Just to refresh your memory, a value bomb will be the conversation starter for both your Power Content and your conversion multiplier. It’s the freebie you’re giving to your audience for watching the video but it’s also the gateway to having a sales conversation.
Don’t overthink it. Most of my value bombs are simple google documents. It’s not about how pretty it is, but about solving your prospect’s most immediate problem and then highlighting the next problem that needs to be solved.
The main reason why a lot of value bombs don’t work is because they just help someone solve a problem. They don’t highlight the next problem that needs to be solved.
I’ll give you an example.
One of my best value bombs is my Conversion Multiplier reels strategy that I’m teaching you guys here in this book.
Every week I get over 200 people asking for that value bomb and over 40 people come back to me saying…
“Laurel! That worked so well, but I’m struggling with turning those comments into messenger conversations that sell my product.”
That sounds like a bigger problem I can help them solve, right?
It’s a no-brainer for those who can afford my personalized coaching to apply for my Lean on Laurel program and for those who can’t to join my $7 program where they can get my help on doing that.
This is where a lot of consultants miss the mark and their leads never move into the sales process. They just stay in free content land forever.
POWER CONTENT FOR COLD TRAFFIC
Over the next 3 days we will write, record and launch your first pieces of power content in the ads manager. I’ve got my little notebook out and I am working through this funnel with you as I am writing this book.
Take note, these videos will be going to cold traffic.
There will be TWO places where we will need copy.
1. The actual video itself
2. The copy for the video ad
You’ll notice that the ad copy is super short. It will only contain the first 3 lines of the overall video copy.
Because you likely need a little refresher on the video framework, I’ve written it above in the diagram for you. For those of you who can’t read my chicken scratch, it’s:
1. Headline
2. Promise of value
3. Call to action for your value bomb
4. Humble brag
5. Repeat your promise of value
6. Video content
7. CTA for value bomb
If you’ve already forgotten what each of those mean, you can go back and reference chapter 4.
Anytime my students are doing this exercise with me, they often ask me…
”Laurel, I still don’t know what to talk about in my video to attract my ideal clients.”
Here’s an easy way to get started.
Think of 3 of the most common problems you solve for your clients. Here are some of the most common video topics for niches I work with.
Fitness coaches:
1. Clients are doing the wrong exercise for their goal
2. Clients are eating the wrong diet for their goal
3. Clients are using the wrong equipment for their goal
Business coaches:
1. Clients are charging too little for their services
2. Clients are using the wrong funnel to attract clients
3. Clients are not able to close clients on sales calls
Done for You Agencies:
2. Clients don’t know the red flags for imposters
3. Clients don’t know the KPIs for success
3. Clients are in the dark about strategies being executed
Leadership/Self Development coaches:
1. Clients are letting employees walk all over them
2. Lack of confidence when giving a presentation
3. They get passed on every promotion
Once you’ve figured out 3 problems your ideal clients face, it’s time to write, shoot and launch videos that will directly tell them you have the solution to their problem.
Reminder: Keep these 3 videos between 3 and 5 minutes
LAUNCHING YOUR 3 POWER CONTENT VIDEOS IN ADS MANAGER
The first campaign we will launch will be our Power Content campaign. We will optimize it for VIDEO VIEWS.
Anxiety people have about launching their ads is centered around two things:
The buttons
Targeting
What if I told you that those two things only matter about 20% combined. The secret to successful ads has nothing to do with either of these things, and everything to do with the content. This is why I will not spend a lot of time on these two things.
Let’s start with breaking down anxiety number one, the buttons.
Let’s say that I create a power content video that says…
“This video will walk you through the process of turning any failed ad into a winning ad in just 24 hours”
I tell Facebook or YouTube to put that video in front of an audience I choose.
But oops, I run it as an engagement campaign instead of a video views campaign. Do you really think no one would watch that video? It would be silly to think that. Yes, certain campaigns are optimized to do more actions than others, but a good piece of content in front of the right audience will ALWAYS win no matter which buttons you choose.
Here’s how I think about it…
Videos go VIRAL all the time organically. Someone sees a great piece of content and then shares it and before we know it, millions of people have seen it. There was no “optimizing” the way the video got out, it just got out.
See what I mean?
Now, onto the next anxiety… targeting.
I keep it really simple, no matter the platform. If you just spend 5 minutes inside the audience manager of any ads platform, you’ll be able to find at least 1 audience you can run your ad to.
All of the ad platforms let you target people based on:
Interests (brands, books, tools, influencers/celebrities.. etc)
Behaviors (business owners, frequent travelers, etc)
Job Titles (real estate agent, ceo, bookkeeper, etc)
Demographics (parents, age, location.. etc)
Right now, I know what some of you are thinking… Well, I’m in the health space and I can’t target anyone who’s suffering from health issues.
Or, “I’m in X niche and they don’t have any targeting options for me.”
I want you to stop looking at targeting as one dimensional. Sure, platforms make it super easy for you to target for certain niches and impossible for others.
Just this week as I am writing this chapter I did an ads workshop and someone asked…
“I have an anxiety course, how do I target people with anxiety? The ads platform doesn’t have ANY interests or tools that I can target for people with anxiety.”
Before I answered her question directly, I took the audience back to the old days, when I worked in TV. We couldn’t “target” specific audiences. The BEST targeting that I could do was:
- Play toy commercials during Saturday morning cartoons
- Play women’s product commercials during afternoon soap operas
- Play beer commercials during sporting events
See where this is going?
For hundreds of years…whether it's been through newspaper, radio, television or billboards tens of thousands of businesses have had successful advertising campaigns without the specific targeting options that these social platforms have given us.
So, how do I use social media to find certain audiences that can’t be targeted based on certain niche problems?
We find the PEOPLE.
It took me less than 5 minutes to google and find out that most of people who suffer from anxiety in the U.S. are women.
So, right there, that cuts out HALF of the U.S. population.
The next thing I read is that the age group that it mostly affects is 33-44 year olds.
So now we are left with only a few million women in the U.S.
We can take it even further.
The 3 industries that anxiety mostly affects are:
1. Education
2. Social Services
3. Community Services
So now, all we have to do is throw in some of those industries into the targeting, and BOOM–
We are targeting based on the PERSON.
The ads will take care of the rest.
I’ll repeat a statement I’ve already said in this book, but I’ll say it again,
Targeting begins with your video ad.
Your video has to attract your ideal client. It will find its way to your ideal client one way or another (just like viral videos do.)
Now that we’ve eliminated two of the biggest anxieties people have with launching, it’s time to launch these video ads in the ads platform of your choice.
My favorites at the time of writing this book…
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Remember, you don’t need a large budget. I run each of these videos for only $5/day.
If you’d like to follow me step-by-step in setting them up, just go to:
LAUNCHING YOUR CONVERSION MULTIPLIERS TO COLD TRAFFIC
Pat yourself on the back. Right now you should have your 3 Power Content videos running to a targeted audience. As we speak, it’s gathering new eyeballs on your content and creating an “invisible list” of people watching your video
Next up, we are going to launch our conversion multipliers. These are those 60 second reels that promote your value bomb.
The goal of these conversion multiplier videos is to start conversations.
Remember, the conversion multiplier is giving away a value bomb.
The call to action is for them to comment below the video to receive that value bomb.
We are going to use the SAME targeting we used to launch our Power Content videos.
So right now, you should have these 2 campaigns going.
Campaign 1: Optimized for Video Views
Audience | $5/day | Power Content Video 1
Audience | $5/day | Power Content Video 2
Audience | $5/day | Power Content Video 3
Campaign 2: Optimized for Engagement
Audience | $5/day | Conversion Multiplier Video 1
Audience | $5/day | Conversion Multiplier Video 1
Audience | $5/day | Conversion Multiplier Video 1
TGA Principles Applied
The real value of Laurel's Ads Strategy is not that it's a great video ads strategy for getting clients and making sales.
Those are byproducts of what makes this system so valuable.
The real value is that by following the process Laurel lays out, you will figure out all the "next best step" pieces that you need in order to get to the point where you can reliably consistently run paid ads and always get the results you need.
Because doing THAT requires understanding who you're speaking to, where they are coming from, what the challenges/problems/desires are that they want to figure out, how to catch their attention, take them to the next step, have a conversation with them, and ultimately lead them into your program/service/product.
If you already know all those things, you can apply that understanding to this system and get nearly instantaneous results.
But most people need to work through that.
And this process of doing "enough" with Laurel's ad strategy gets you all the understanding you need, with the least risk possible, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
You've just go to do the work and take each step one at a time.
After you get started through this 7-day process, you'll continue with The 7-Day Flywheel (but there's no use proceeding until you've done the first 7 days).
When you're ready, join Laurel Portié's Ad Coaching for $7 program5, where you can learn step-by-step how to apply this ad strategy starting today.
Laurel Portié 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.
You can get the full five-day training for free here
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