Chosen theme: DIY Digital Advertising for Solopreneurs. Build campaigns you can run today with clarity, tiny budgets, and gutsy creativity. Expect practical steps, relatable stories, and friendly nudges to experiment, subscribe for fresh ideas, and share your progress.
Start Smart: Define Goals, Audience, and Offers
Replace vague hopes with metrics you can actually celebrate. Choose one objective for your first sprint: email signups, booked calls, or first purchases. Set a time window, a cost target, and a simple success threshold. Share your goal in the comments to stay accountable and inspire other solopreneurs.
Start Smart: Define Goals, Audience, and Offers
Write a one-paragraph profile: problem, trigger moment, favorite channels, and objections. Give your persona a name so your ads feel like messages, not megaphones. Ask readers like you for feedback on your persona, and refine it based on comments and subscriber polls.
Creative That Converts on a Shoestring
Open with the pain in the viewer’s own words, show a quick transformation, then present your micro-offer. Keep it grounded: real screen recordings, real results, and real timing. Drop your script outline below, and we’ll crowdsource tweaks from fellow subscribers.
Creative That Converts on a Shoestring
Use daylight near a window, speak at eye level, and film three takes: calm, energetic, and playful. Add captions with a simple app so silent scrollers still convert. Share your favorite tools, and we’ll compile a reader-powered resource list in the next newsletter.
Simple Channels That Punch Above Their Weight
Search ads for high intent
Target problem-first keywords rather than brand terms. Start with exact or phrase match, small daily caps, and super-specific ad copy. Use a landing page that mirrors the search language exactly. Share a few keywords you’re considering, and we’ll trade suggestions as a community.
Social ads for discovery
On platforms like Meta or TikTok, run low-budget interest or lookalike tests with one clear angle per ad set. Optimize for a low-friction action like adding to email or messenger. Post your best-performing hook in the comments so others can try variations and report back.
Retargeting that feels respectful
Retarget site visitors with helpful content and gentle invites, not pressure. Use frequency caps, rotate creatives weekly, and exclude converters promptly. Ask readers which retargeting message they’d find helpful this month, and we’ll turn the top vote into a template.
Budgeting and Bidding Without Anxiety
Start tiny, scale sanely
Begin with a daily budget you can lose without stress. Run two to three variants for a few days, then shift spend to the winner. Share your initial cap and we’ll suggest a scaling plan you can test this week, no agency required.
Read CPC, CPM, and CTR like a pro
CPM shows how costly attention is; CTR tells if your creative resonates; CPC reveals the real price for a visit. Track all three together to diagnose issues quickly. Post screenshots of your top metrics, and we’ll help interpret them in plain English.
Daily pacing and cash safety
Set account-level spend limits, enable alerts, and review dashboards at the same time daily. Pause when tracking breaks or creative fatigues. Comment with your check-in routine, and subscribe to get a printable pacing checklist for your next campaign.
UTM parameters you can read later
Use a standard format: source, medium, campaign, content, and term. Store examples in a shared note and reuse them. When you open analytics next month, you’ll still know exactly what happened. Share your naming scheme, and we’ll polish it together.
Set up a tiny analytics stack
Combine a basic analytics tool, ad platform pixels, and a lightweight form tracker. Validate conversions by testing them yourself. If something feels off, it probably is. Tell us which tool confuses you most, and we’ll publish a bite-sized walkthrough.
Dashboards and weekly rituals
Build a one-page dashboard with spend, clicks, conversions, and cost per conversion. Review weekly, note learnings, and archive screenshots. This habit compounds clarity. Subscribe to get our free dashboard template and monthly reminder to revisit your numbers.
Test, Learn, Repeat: An A/B Culture for One
Write tiny hypotheses
Frame tests as predictions: “If we use problem-first headlines, CTR will rise because relevance improves.” Limit to one variable, one audience, and one week. Share your hypothesis below so we can vote, refine, and follow along together.
Rough sample sizing for sanity
Aim for enough clicks to see a meaningful difference, not statistical perfection. When in doubt, run longer or simplify variables. Document what would make you stop early. Post your current traffic, and we’ll estimate a balanced test window with you.
Decide: kill, keep, or iterate
Winners get budget; losers get lessons. Save creative, targeting, and notes in a simple swipe file so ideas stack up. Comment with one keeper and one cut from your last test, and invite peers to challenge your decision.
Week 1: Clarity and the first clicks
A language tutor set a $10 daily cap, ran search ads on problem phrases, and offered a five-minute pronunciation audit. CTR beat expectations because headlines mirrored student questions. Tell us your Week 1 plan, and we’ll cheer you on each step.
Week 2: Fixing leaks, not pushing harder
Instead of raising budget, the tutor added a short landing video and clearer proof. Conversions doubled without extra spend. Sometimes the answer is alignment, not acceleration. Share the biggest leak you’ll fix this week, and subscribe for a checklist.