Build the plan
Map the few channels that can plausibly reach the buyer at your current budget and stage.
Build channel planStan Consulting · DIY guides
These guides are written for operators who own the marketing decision but do not have a full-time marketing lead to delegate it to. Read them to decide which channels to run, how much budget each one actually needs to produce a signal, and what to build before you spend another dollar on ads.
Quick answer
This pillar covers the strategic decisions a founder makes before opening a single ad account: how to calculate what a customer is worth, how to pick the first channel, how much budget is needed to reach the learning threshold on any given channel, and how to sequence the build. It is written for founders and operators running growth-stage businesses, not for marketing specialists. If you want the framework applied to your specific account and market rather than the framework itself, the Conversion Second Opinion delivers written findings in 72 hours for $999.
Reading order
Strategy work should reduce options, not create more of them. Use this pillar to decide where signal is most likely, what budget can prove it, and what should wait.
Map the few channels that can plausibly reach the buyer at your current budget and stage.
Build channel planTranslate revenue stage and acquisition economics into a budget that can produce useful signal.
Set budget by stageChoose the first two or three channels by speed-to-signal, margin, operational readiness, and buyer intent.
Prioritize channelsSeparate what must exist before traffic from what can be built after the first evidence arrives.
Get specific orderThat usually means the missing input is not a tactic. It is commercial priority: margin, market maturity, sales capacity, offer strength, or the fastest path to trustworthy signal.
The collection
Guide
How to build a marketing channel plan when you have limited budget
A five-step channel planning process for operators with $3,000 to $15,000 per month in marketing budget.
Read guide →Guide
How to set a marketing budget by revenue stage
Marketing budget should be set as a percentage of trailing-twelve-month revenue, with the percentage shifting at each revenue stage. The structure for each stage and where most operators get the allocation wrong.
Read guide →Guide
How to prioritize marketing channels at launch
New businesses cannot afford to test every channel. The structure for picking the two or three most likely to produce signal first, and the order to layer the rest.
Read guide →Limits of a guide
A guide describes the decision sequence. Your business has a specific version of it: a price point, a contribution margin, a buyer who is either actively searching or not yet aware the category exists, a website that either converts at 2 percent or 0.4 percent, and a tracking setup that is either reliable or silently miscounting half the events. The framework will tell you what question to ask. It will not tell you which answer applies to your numbers.
If you have read the guide and the right next step is still unclear, the next step is the Conversion Second Opinion. Written findings, prioritized fix list, 72-hour turnaround, $999, no retainer. The diagnostic reads your actual unit economics, your actual conversion path, and your actual channel mix, and returns the specific sequence that applies to your account rather than the general framework.
Related pillars
The engagement format
$999. 72-hour delivery. Written findings. No retainer.
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