Playbooks
Growth plans by business type and stage.
Each playbook ranks the moves in the order to do them, with the tool, the effort and the cost against every one.
- Ranked, not listed
- Costs included
- Free to read
77 plans, grouped by the situation you're in rather than the channel you feel like trying. If you have no customers yet, start with growth plan for a pre-revenue b2b saas. If you already have traffic and want the shortlist of software, the tool guides and head-to-head comparisons are the faster route.
Every play carries an effort estimate in hours and a cost in dollars, so you can rule things out before you start rather than three weeks in. Nothing here is gated and nothing is sponsored.
10 playbooks
Getting your first customers
Plans for the stage before repeatable demand exists.
Growth plan for an ecommerce store's first 100 orders
What actually moves a new store from launch day to a hundred orders, in the order to do it.
Read the planPlaybook · Mobile appGrowth plan for an app's first 1,000 users
Eight moves for a launched app with almost no downloads and no budget for app store ads.
Read the planPlaybook · Online coursePlan for a course creator's first sales
Seven moves to sell your first 10–20 seats before you've built an audience.
Read the planPlaybook · NewsletterPlan for a newsletter's first 1,000 subscribers
Seven moves to get a brand-new newsletter to 1,000 engaged subscribers without a media budget.
Read the planPlaybook · LaunchProduct launch week plan
Launch week is 80% preparation done in the two weeks before and 20% execution on the day. Most launches fail on the prep.
Read the planPlaybook · ReferralsHow to launch a referral programme
Most referral programmes fail from bad timing, not a bad incentive. Ask at the moment of delight, not from a generic dashboard button.
Read the planPlaybook · PartnershipsPlan to launch an affiliate programme
An affiliate programme that just exists doesn't generate sales. One that's actively recruited and equipped does.
Read the planPlaybook · RelaunchPlan to relaunch a product that failed the first time
A second launch fails the same way as the first unless the underlying problem actually changed.
Read the planPlaybook · Pre-launchPlan for building a pre-launch waitlist
A waitlist without a referral loop and a hard launch date is just an email list nobody opens.
Read the planPlaybook · RebrandPlan for launching a company rebrand
Most botched rebrand launches fail on communication, not design.
Read the plan8 playbooks
Ecommerce and DTC
Stores, carts, product pages and repeat purchase.
What to do when your Shopify store has no traffic
Most stores with no traffic have a discoverability problem, not a product problem. Here's the order to fix it.
Read the planPlaybook · EcommerceHow to grow repeat purchases for an ecommerce store
Getting a second order is cheaper than getting a first one — most stores just aren't set up to ask.
Read the planPlaybook · EcommerceAbandoned cart recovery plan for ecommerce
Cart recovery is the highest-return hour you can spend on an ecommerce store. Here's the setup that actually recovers orders.
Read the planPlaybook · EcommerceOrganic growth plan for a fashion brand
Fashion is a visual, trend-driven category — organic growth here looks different from most ecommerce playbooks.
Read the planPlaybook · EcommerceBlack Friday and Cyber Monday plan for ecommerce
Most of BFCM revenue is decided in October, not on the day. Here's the plan and the timeline.
Read the planPlaybook · EcommerceHow to grow an ecommerce email list
Email is the channel you own outright. Growing the list properly matters more than any single campaign you send it.
Read the planPlaybook · SocialInstagram growth plan for an ecommerce store
Followers don't pay invoices. This plan optimises for traffic and add-to-carts, with follower growth as a side effect.
Read the planPlaybook · B2B EcommerceGrowth plan for wholesale and B2B ecommerce sellers
B2B buyers want to self-serve the easy orders and talk to a human for the big ones.
Read the plan4 playbooks
Local and in-person
Businesses that sell inside a postcode, not a market.
Growth plan for a local service business
How local businesses win the top three map results and turn calls into booked work.
Read the planPlaybook · Restaurant & caféLocal growth plan for a restaurant or café
Seven moves to fill more tables, mostly by fixing what's already free and underused.
Read the planPlaybook · EcommerceHow to grow an Etsy shop from scratch
Etsy search is its own algorithm with its own rules. Here's what actually moves listings up it.
Read the planPlaybook · Construction & tradesLead generation plan for construction and trades businesses
Nine moves for contractors, electricians, plumbers, and other trades whose booked calendar depends entirely on the phone ringing.
Read the plan9 playbooks
Agencies and services
Consultancies, freelancers and studios selling time.
Lead generation plan for a marketing agency
Eight moves for agencies whose entire pipeline is 'whoever a past client mentions us to'.
Read the planPlaybook · B2B consultancyPipeline plan for a B2B consultancy
Seven moves for consultants whose pipeline is currently 'whoever calls after a LinkedIn post'.
Read the planPlaybook · Fitness studioMember growth plan for a fitness studio
Seven moves to fill classes and keep members, built around the fact that most studios lose more members than they gain.
Read the planPlaybook · Dental practiceNew patient growth plan for a dental practice
Seven moves for a practice that wants more new patients without a marketing agency retainer.
Read the planPlaybook · FreelancerClient acquisition plan for freelancers
Eight moves for freelancers whose income swings between fully booked and no leads with nothing in between.
Read the planPlaybook · Recruitment agencyClient growth plan for a recruitment agency
Eight moves for agencies whose new business depends entirely on the same three clients calling back.
Read the planPlaybook · MarketplaceGrowth plan for a two-sided marketplace
Grow one side manually and narrow before you try to grow both sides broadly.
Read the planPlaybook · MarketplacesSupply-side acquisition plan for two-sided marketplaces
A marketplace with no supply isn't a marketplace yet — it's a waiting room.
Read the planPlaybook · ContentAI-powered content creation without publishing filler
The model does structure and drafts. You supply the evidence. That split is the whole method.
Read the plan12 playbooks
B2B and SaaS
Longer cycles, named buyers, pipeline you have to build.
Growth plan for a pre-revenue B2B SaaS
Ten moves, ranked, for the stretch between a working product and your first ten paying customers.
Read the planPlaybook · B2B SaaSGrowth plan for a B2B SaaS with early traction
You have customers and a channel that half works. This is how to make one channel repeatable before adding another.
Read the planPlaybook · Estate agentLead generation plan for an estate agent
Seven moves to generate valuation leads without relying entirely on Rightmove and Zoopla portal traffic.
Read the planPlaybook · SaaSChurn reduction plan for a SaaS product
Nine moves for SaaS teams losing more customers each month than they can replace with new signups.
Read the planPlaybook · B2B SaaSEnterprise pipeline plan for a B2B SaaS company
Eight moves for SaaS companies moving upmarket from self-serve deals into six-figure enterprise contracts.
Read the planPlaybook · SaaSPricing page conversion plan for SaaS
Eight moves for SaaS teams whose pricing page gets traffic but not enough of it converts to trials or purchases.
Read the planPlaybook · Demand GenWebinar lead generation plan
Most webinar leads come from the follow-up emails to people who registered but didn't show up, not from the event itself.
Read the planPlaybook · EventsMarketing plan for a B2B conference or trade show
Most of the value of a trade show happens before the show floor opens and in the 48 hours after it closes.
Read the planPlaybook · ExpansionPlan to grow expansion revenue in a SaaS business
Expansion revenue is usually the cheapest growth lever in SaaS, and the most neglected.
Read the planPlaybook · PartnershipsPartner and integration growth plan for B2B SaaS
Five deep integration partnerships beat fifty shallow ones with a shared landing page.
Read the planPlaybook · ActivationSaaS onboarding and activation plan to fix a weak trial-to-paid rate
Users who don't reach your product's core value in the first session almost never come back to find it.
Read the planPlaybook · Win-backWin-back plan for lapsed and churned B2B SaaS customers
A churned customer who left over a fixed problem is a warmer lead than most of your outbound list.
Read the plan7 playbooks
AI-assisted marketing
Where a model genuinely saves hours, and where it doesn't.
How to get found in ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI search results
Ranking in Google and being cited by an AI model are related but not the same game.
Read the planCourse · 8 weeksAI marketing academy: a free self-paced course
Eight weeks, eight skills, eight things you keep. No signup wall, no certificate, no fluff.
Read the planPlaybook · StrategyHow to build an AI marketing strategy
Not a list of tools. A decision about which jobs a machine does and which ones you keep.
Read the planPlaybook · ContentHow to use AI for content marketing
Where AI genuinely helps, where it quietly hurts you, and the editing pass in between.
Read the planPlaybook · Digital marketingAI digital marketing: what to run, channel by channel
Six channels, what AI genuinely changes in each, and what it quietly makes worse.
Read the planPlaybook · ChatGPTChatGPT for marketing: the workflows that hold up
Seven workflows, the setup that makes them good, and the four jobs to never hand over.
Read the planPillar · AI marketingAI marketing: the complete, honest guide
What it is, what it changes, what it costs, and the parts nobody selling it mentions.
Read the plan5 playbooks
Search and content
Ranking, publishing and the pages that compound.
SEO plan for a brand new website
A new domain has no authority and no track record. The first six months are about not wasting effort on keywords you can't win yet.
Read the planPlaybook · ContentContent marketing plan for a solo founder
You don't have time for a content calendar with 12 formats. Pick one format, one channel, and repurpose everything else from it.
Read the planPlaybook · SEOPlan to refresh old content for more organic traffic
New posts feel productive. Refreshing old ones that already have backlinks and some ranking history usually moves the needle faster.
Read the planPlaybook · Paid SearchPlan for your first Google Ads campaign
Most wasted first-campaign budget goes to broad match keywords and no conversion tracking. Fix both before spending a dollar.
Read the planPlaybook · TrafficGrowth plan for when website traffic has stopped growing
Flat for three months isn't a content problem yet — it's a diagnosis problem.
Read the plan5 playbooks
Pricing, budget and numbers
What to charge, what to spend and how to measure it.
Growth plan for a subscription box business
Subscription boxes live or die on churn, not acquisition. Fix retention before you spend more on ads.
Read the planPlaybook · ConversionPlan to improve free trial to paid conversion
Most trials fail before day 3, not at the paywall. Fix activation first, then the offer.
Read the planPlaybook · EfficiencyPlan to reduce customer acquisition cost
Cutting CAC is rarely about spending less. It's about spending on fewer, better things and fixing the leaks before the ad account.
Read the planPlaybook · FundingMarketing plan for the 90 days after a funding round
The board wants growth. Spend the first 6 weeks proving the engine works before you scale it.
Read the planPlaybook · App retentionRetention plan for a B2C app with high day-1 or day-7 drop-off
Spending more on acquisition into a leaky first session just produces a bigger, more expensive leak.
Read the plan2 playbooks
Retention and referral
Keeping customers and getting them to bring others.
Client growth plan for an accounting firm
Eight moves for accounting and bookkeeping firms whose growth has flattened once the referral network dried up.
Read the planPlaybook · ReferralsReferral engine for professional services firms
Referrals aren't luck — they're a system most firms simply haven't built yet.
Read the plan8 playbooks
Everything else
Useful pages that don't sit in one bucket.
How Amazon sellers can build traffic outside Amazon
Relying only on Amazon search means you never own the customer. Here's how to build a second channel without hurting your Amazon rank.
Read the planPlaybook · OutboundHow to build an outbound sales motion from scratch
Outbound works when it's specific and slow to scale. It fails fast when it's generic and rushed.
Read the planPlaybook · Law firmClient acquisition plan for a law firm
Eight moves for solo and small-firm attorneys whose new client intake depends entirely on the phone ringing.
Read the planPlaybook · Cleaning businessGrowth plan for a cleaning business
Eight moves for cleaning businesses stuck booking one-off jobs instead of building recurring, predictable revenue.
Read the planPlaybook · Photography businessBooking growth plan for a photography business
Eight moves for photographers whose bookings swing between fully booked seasons and dead months in between.
Read the planPlaybook · InternationalMarketing plan for expanding into a new country
Translating your homepage isn't a market entry plan. The buying behavior in the new market is usually different in ways that matter.
Read the planPlaybook · Solo founderGrowth plan for a solo, bootstrapped founder
One channel done consistently beats five channels done occasionally, especially with limited hours.
Read the planPlaybook · Seasonal BusinessMarketing plan for a seasonal business's off-season
The off-season is where next peak season's bookings actually get built.
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