“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”

Tom Fishburne

I was on a call with a founder who’d just blown $50,000 on an influencer campaign.

“Alex, we paid this Instagram model with 2.4 million followers to post about our product. She posted. We got 147,000 impressions. And you know how many sales we got?”

“How many?”

“Twelve.”

Twelve sales. From 147,000 impressions.

That’s a 0.008% conversion rate.

He paid $4,166 per sale.

His product cost $89.

Let me say that again: He paid $4,166 to acquire a customer who spent$89.

Math is undefeated.

“But Alex, everyone says influencer marketing is the future!”

It is. But you’re doing it wrong.

The problem isn’t influencer marketing. The problem is you’re paying for reach when you should be paying for resonance.

Let me explain why 1,000 real fans beat 1,000,000 fake ones.

---

The Conversion Strategy Detection Protocol

Before you spend another dollar on marketing, you need to find where your strategy is broken. Here’s a 30-minute audit that reveals your conversion blind spots.

Step 1: The Traffic Quality Audit

Pull data from your last 30 days:

Traffic Source	Visitors	Conv Rate	Revenue	Cost	ROAS	🚨 Red Flag If
Organic Search	___	___%	$___	$___	___x	< 2% conv
Paid Social	___	___%	$___	$___	___x	< 2x ROAS
Paid Search	___	___%	$___	$___	___x	< 3x ROAS
Email	___	___%	$___	$___	___x	< 3% conv
Influencer	___	___%	$___	$___	___x	< 1x ROAS
Direct	___	___%	$___	$___	___x	< 2% conv

Your Best-Performing Channel: ___ Your Worst-Performing Channel: ___

🚨 Red Flag: If any paid channel has ROAS < 1x, you’re literally burning money.

Step 2: The Influencer ROI Audit

If you’re using influencers, audit honestly:

Influencer Type	Spend	Reach	Clicks	Sales	ROAS	🚨 Red Flag If
Mega (500K+)	$___	___	___	___	___x	< 1x ROAS
Mid (100K-500K)	$___	___	___	___	___x	< 2x ROAS
Micro (10K-100K)	$___	___	___	___	___x	< 3x ROAS
Nano (1K-10K)	$___	___	___	___	___x	< 4x ROAS

Calculate your Engagement-to-Sale Ratio:

• Total impressions from influencers: ___
• Total sales from influencers: ___
• Ratio: 1 sale per ___ impressions

🚨 Red Flag: If ratio is > 10,000:1, you’re paying for eyeballs, not buyers.

Step 3: The Landing Page Audit

Map where your traffic goes:

Campaign	Destination	Page Conv Rate	🚨 Red Flag If
Paid ads	Homepage / Product / Landing	___%	Homepage at < 2%
Email campaigns	Homepage / Product / Landing	___%	Homepage at < 3%
Influencer links	Homepage / Product / Landing	___%	No dedicated page
Organic search	Homepage / Product / Landing	___%	Bounce > 60%

Your Landing Page Count:

• Homepage: 1
• Category pages: ___
• Product pages: ___
• Dedicated landing pages: ___

🚨 Red Flag: If you have 0 dedicated landing pages, you’re wasting paid traffic.

Step 4: The Mobile Experience Audit

Do this yourself. Right now. On your phone:

Element	Pass/Fail	🚨 Red Flag If
Homepage load < 3 seconds	___	> 3 seconds
Add to Cart visible without scrolling	___	Must scroll
Checkout fields thumb-friendly	___	Tiny tap targets
Payment options (Apple Pay, etc.)	___	Credit card only
Can complete purchase in < 60 seconds	___	> 2 minutes

🚨 Red Flag: If you failed any of these, you’re losing mobile customers (60%+ of traffic).

---

The 3-Tier Conversion Strategy Framework

Quick Fixes (This Week: 2-8 hours, immediate impact)

1. Kill Money-Losing Channels

Look at your Traffic Quality Audit:

• Any channel with ROAS < 1x → pause immediately
• Shift budget to channels with ROAS > 3x
• Don’t spread thin—concentrate on what works

Time: 2 hours (analysis + pause) Impact: Stop bleeding money instantly

2. Create One Dedicated Landing Page

For your highest-spend campaign:

• Clear headline matching the ad
• Single CTA (no navigation distractions)
• Social proof (reviews, trust badges)
• Mobile-first design

Time: 4-6 hours Impact: 2-3x higher conversion than sending traffic to homepage

3. Fix Mobile Checkout Friction

Address the fails from your Mobile Audit:

• Add Apple Pay/Google Pay (one-click checkout)
• Increase tap target sizes
• Remove unnecessary form fields
• Add progress indicator

Time: 2-4 hours Impact: 15-30% improvement in mobile checkout completion

---

Medium Fixes (This Month: 1-4 weeks, systematic improvement)

1. Shift from Mega to Micro-Influencer Strategy

If you’re spending on mega-influencers:

• Cut mega budget by 80%
• Redirect to 10-50 micro-influencers (10K-50K followers)
• Pay for performance (affiliate commission, not upfront)
• Target 8%+ engagement rate

Time: 2-3 weeks to recruit and launch Impact: 3-10x improvement in influencer ROAS

2. Build Landing Page System

Create dedicated landing pages for:

• Each product category
• Each major campaign
• Each customer segment
• Seasonal promotions

Time: 2-4 weeks Impact: 50-100% improvement in paid traffic conversion

3. Implement Traffic-Source-Specific Experiences

Customize pages based on where traffic comes from:

• Influencer traffic → show that influencer’s content
• Email traffic → acknowledge their subscriber status
• Retargeting → show products they viewed
• New visitor → show social proof and best sellers

Time: 2-3 weeks Impact: 20-40% improvement in conversion by matching intent

---

Deep Fixes (This Quarter: 4-8 weeks, competitive advantage)

1. Build a Micro-Influencer Network

Create an always-on influencer program:

• Recruit 50-100 aligned micro-influencers
• Product seeding (free product, no strings)
• Affiliate commissions for performance
• VIP perks for top performers
• Quarterly content cycles

Time: 6-8 weeks Impact: Sustainable acquisition channel with 5-15x ROAS

2. Full Funnel Optimization

Map and optimize every conversion point:

• Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention
• Different content for each stage
• Retargeting sequences by funnel position
• Attribution modeling to understand true ROI

Time: 4-6 weeks Impact: 30-50% improvement in overall conversion efficiency

3. Personalization Engine

Implement dynamic experiences:

• AI-driven product recommendations
• Personalized landing pages by segment
• Dynamic pricing/offers based on behavior
• Predictive intent scoring

Time: 6-8 weeks Impact: 2-3x improvement in returning visitor conversion

---

The Mega-Influencer Trap

Here’s what happened:

My client found a model with 2.4M followers. Her rate? $50,000 per post.

Expensive, but the math seemed to work:

• 2.4M followers
• Average engagement: 3% (72,000 likes/comments per post)
• If just 1% of engaged people buy → 720 sales
• At $89 AOV →$64,080 revenue
• Profit: $14,080

Sounds good, right?

Wrong.

Here’s what actually happened:

The Post:

• Posted at 2pm on a Tuesday
• Caption: “Obsessed with @BrandName! Use code MEGA50 for 50% off! Link in bio 💕”
• Image: Her holding the product (clearly a photoshoot, clearly staged)

The Results:

• 147,000 impressions
• 4,410 likes (3% engagement)
• 127 comments (mostly: “gorgeous!” ”😍” “where’d you get that top?”)
• 89 link clicks
• 12 sales

What went wrong?

Problem #1: Nobody Believed Her

Her followers knew it was an ad. They’ve seen her promote 47 other brands this month. Skincare. Fitness gear. Meal kits. Crypto. NFTs.

She’s not a trusted advisor. She’s a billboard.

Problem #2: Audience Mismatch

Her followers are 78% male, ages 18-24, mostly in India and the Philippines [source].

My client’s product? Premium fitness gear for women in the US, ages 28-45.

Zero overlap.

He paid $50,000 to show ads to people who would never buy.

Problem #3: Zero Follow-Through

The model posted once. That’s it.

No stories. No follow-up. No “here’s how I use it.” No authenticity.

Just: “Buy this thing. Here’s a code. Bye.”

Nobody cares.

---

The Micro-Influencer Advantage

Now let me show you what actually works.

Sarah’s Micro-Influencer Strategy

Sarah sells the same type of fitness gear. But instead of one mega-influencer, she worked with 50 micro-influencers.

Micro-Influencer Profile:

• Followers: 5,000 - 15,000
• Niche: Fitness moms, yoga instructors, running coaches
• Engagement: 8-12% (way higher than mega-influencers)
• Audience: 85% female, US-based, ages 25-45

Sarah’s Offer:

• Free product (worth $89)
• 20% affiliate commission on all sales
• No upfront payment

Total Cost: $0 upfront.$4,450 in free product (50 influencers × $89).

The Campaign:

Each micro-influencer:

1. Received the product
2. Used it for 2 weeks
3. Posted authentic content (no script, no photoshoot)
4. Shared their honest experience
5. Posted multiple times (feed post + 3-5 stories)

The Results:

Combined Stats:

• Total reach: 425,000 (50 influencers × avg 8,500 followers)
• Average engagement: 10%
• Total engaged: 42,500 people
• Click-through rate: 4.2%
• Clicks: 1,785
• Conversion rate: 8.3%
• Total sales: 148

The Math:

• 148 sales × $89 AOV =$13,172 revenue
• Cost of goods: $4,440 (free products)
• Affiliate commissions (20%): $2,634
• Profit: $6,098

Versus mega-influencer profit: -$45,912

Sarah made money. My client lost $45,912.

Same product. Same market. Different strategy.

---

Why Micro-Influencers Win (Every Time)

Reason #1: Trust

Mega-Influencer: “This celebrity I’ll never meet is holding a product she was paid $50K to hold.”

Micro-Influencer: “Someone like me, who actually uses this product, genuinely recommends it.”

Trust = conversion.

Reason #2: Engagement

Mega-Influencer Engagement: 1-3%

Why? Because half their followers are bots. Another 30% are passive scrollers. Only 10-20% actually engage.

Micro-Influencer Engagement: 8-12%

Why? Because their audience is real people who actually care about their content.

The Math:

• Mega: 2.4M followers × 3% = 72,000 engaged
• Micro (50 influencers): 425,000 followers × 10% = 42,500 engaged

The mega-influencer looks better. But micro-influencers deliver half the engagement for 1/10th the cost.

Reason #3: Niche Targeting

Mega-Influencer: Massive audience. But 90% of them don’t care about your product.

Micro-Influencer: Small audience. But 80% of them are exactly your target customer.

Example:

Sarah found a yoga instructor with 8,200 followers.

• 92% female
• 87% US-based
• Average age: 34
• Interest: Yoga, wellness, sustainable products

That’s Sarah’s exact customer.

Her post got:

• 820 likes (10% engagement)
• 47 comments (actual questions about the product)
• 112 link clicks (13.7% CTR)
• 19 sales (17% conversion rate)

One micro-influencer with 8,200 followers delivered 19 sales.

The mega-influencer with 2.4M followers delivered 12 sales.

Wild, right?

---

The Micro-Influencer Playbook

Here’s exactly how to do it.

Step 1: Find the Right Micro-Influencers

Don’t look for follower count. Look for:

1. Niche Alignment

   • Do they talk about topics related to your product?
   • Is their audience your target customer?

2. Engagement Rate

   • Likes + Comments ÷ Followers
   • Target: 8%+ (anything below 5% = fake followers)

3. Authenticity

   • Do they post genuine content or just ads?
   • Do followers actually comment and engage?

Where to Find Them:

• Instagram: Search hashtags (#yogainstructor, #fitmom, #runningcoach)
• TikTok: Browse niche content, check follower engagement
• YouTube: Small channels (10K-50K subs) with loyal audiences
• Twitter: Use advanced search for niche keywords

Sarah’s Method:

She made a spreadsheet:

• Column 1: Influencer name
• Column 2: Follower count
• Column 3: Engagement rate
• Column 4: Audience match (1-10 scale)
• Column 5: Contact info

She identified 200 potential influencers. Narrowed it down to 50.

Time spent: 8 hours.

Cost: $0.

Step 2: The Outreach (Don’t Be Creepy)

Bad Outreach:

“Hey! We’d love to work with you! Free product if you post about us!”

Delete.

Good Outreach:

Subject: Love your content on [specific topic]

Hi [Name],

I’ve been following your content on [topic] for a while, and I love your approach to [specific thing they do].

I run [Brand], and we make [product] specifically for people like your audience. I think your followers would genuinely love it.

Would you be open to trying it out? No strings attached. If you love it and want to share it with your audience, amazing. If not, no worries—keep it anyway.

Either way, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Best, Sarah

Response rate: 62%.

Why it works:

• Personalized (shows you actually follow them)
• No pressure (they can say no)
• No script (authentic content only)
• Clear value (free product, no strings)

Step 3: The Partnership Structure

Don’t pay upfront. Use performance incentives.

Sarah’s Offer:

• Free product (worth $89)
• 20% affiliate commission on all sales (tracked via unique discount code)
• Bonus: Top 5 performers get $500 cash bonus

Why This Works:

• Zero risk (you only pay for results)
• Aligned incentives (they want to drive sales)
• Quality filter (people who don’t believe in the product won’t participate)

Pro Tip: The “Seeding” Strategy

Send free products to 100 micro-influencers with no ask. Just: “We love your content. We think you’d love our product. No strings attached.”

30-40% will post about it organically (without being asked).

That’s earned media. Zero cost. Infinite ROI.

Step 4: Let Them Create (Don’t Control)

Bad Brief: “Post this caption, use these hashtags, tag us, link in bio, use our code.”

This kills authenticity.

Good Brief:

Use the product for 2 weeks. If you love it, share your honest experience. Talk about what worked for you. Show how you actually use it. Be yourself.

If you don’t love it, that’s fine too—just let us know what we can improve.

Why This Works:

Authenticity > polish.

People don’t trust scripted ads. They trust real people sharing real experiences.

Step 5: Track Everything

Metrics to Watch:

1. Reach – How many people saw the content
2. Engagement – Likes, comments, saves
3. Clicks – How many clicked your link
4. Conversions – How many bought
5. ROI – Revenue ÷ Cost

Sarah’s Dashboard:

Influencer	Followers	Engagement	Clicks	Sales	Revenue	ROI
@yogamama	8,200	10.2%	112	19	$1,691	19x
@runcoach	12,500	9.8%	87	11	$979	11x
@fitmom	6,800	11.4%	95	14	$1,246	14x

Top performers got the $500 bonus. Bottom performers didn’t get invited back.

Over time, Sarah built a roster of 30 proven micro-influencers who consistently drove 8-15x ROI.

---

The Hybrid Approach (For Brands with Budget)

If you do have budget for mega-influencers, here’s the smart way to use them:

Use mega-influencers for awareness. Use micro-influencers for conversion.

Example:

• Month 1: Mega-influencer posts (reach: 2M people)
• Month 2-3: 50 micro-influencers post (reach: 400K people, but targeted)

The Strategy:

Mega-influencer = Top of funnel (awareness) Micro-influencers = Bottom of funnel (conversion)

The Results:

People see the mega-influencer post → recognize the brand → see a micro-influencer they trust recommend it → now they buy.

Cost:

• Mega: $50K (one-time brand awareness)
• Micro: $5K in product +$10K in commissions

Revenue: $180K

ROI: 2.8x (vs. mega-only: -0.7x)

---

The Blind Spot That’s Costing You Sales

I was chatting with someone running a Shopify store. Great brand, killer product, solid traffic numbers. But sales? Flatlined.

They’d optimized their homepage, invested in SEO, and tested dozens of Facebook ad creatives. Conversion rate was stuck at 1.3%.

So I asked a simple question: “When was the last time you walked through your own checkout process on mobile?”

Silence.

Then: “Wait… do you mean like, actually buy something?”

Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.

The Bottlenecks You Can’t See in Google Analytics

There are invisible bottlenecks—the micro-moments that kill conversions quietly. You won’t find them in your analytics tool. But they’re felt by your customers in milliseconds.

Here’s what I see all the time:

• Tap targets too small for thumbs
• Coupon codes that don’t apply at checkout
• Shipping costs that only appear after someone enters their info
• “Buy Now” button that scrolls below the fold on mobile
• Auto-playing videos that cover the “Add to Cart” button

None of these show up as red flags in your metrics dashboard. But they’re quietly convincing your best customers to bail—just inches from the finish line.

The 10-Minute Ritual That Saves Thousands

Once a month, block 10 minutes to do this:

1. Visit your own site on your phone
2. Start on Instagram or Google (like a real customer would)
3. Find a product you’d actually buy
4. Go through the checkout flow—taxes, shipping, coupon code, everything
5. Take notes every time you feel confused, hesitant, or frustrated

You’ll spot things you’ve become blind to—janky transitions, clunky modals, unclear product descriptions, slow-loading pages right before payment.

Tools don’t fix friction. Awareness does.

---

Case Study: The Conversion Strategy Overhaul

A direct-to-consumer skincare brand was spending $75,000/month on marketing. Revenue was growing, but profit was shrinking.

The Situation

Their numbers looked impressive on the surface:

• Monthly ad spend: $75,000
• Monthly revenue: $180,000
• Gross margin: 65%
• Looks profitable, right?

Wrong. When we dug in:

• Blended ROAS: 2.4x
• After COGS, shipping, and overhead: Breaking even
• CAC had increased 47% in 12 months
• Profit margin: 2.1% (🚨)

“We’re scaling, but we can’t figure out why we’re not making money,” the founder said.

The problem: They were scaling an inefficient system.

The Detection Phase

We ran the Conversion Strategy Detection Protocol:

Traffic Quality Audit:

Source	Visitors	Conv Rate	Revenue	Cost	ROAS
Meta Ads	142,000	1.4%	$127,000	$52,000	2.4x
Google Ads	38,000	2.1%	$31,000	$18,000	1.7x (🚨)
Influencer	67,000	0.6% (🚨)	$22,000	$5,000	4.4x
Email	24,000	4.2%	$42,000	$800	52x

🚨 Google Ads ROAS below 2x = losing money after COGS 🚨 Influencer conv rate 0.6% = traffic quality problem

Influencer ROI Audit:

Type	Spend	Reach	Clicks	Sales	ROAS
Mega (2 influencers)	$15,000	4.2M	8,400	23	0.4x (🚨)
Mid (5 influencers)	$8,000	1.1M	4,400	41	1.2x (🚨)
Micro (12 influencers)	$2,400	180K	3,200	89	8.9x

🚨 Mega-influencer ROAS: 0.4x (lost $11,000) 🚨 Mid-influencer ROAS: 1.2x (broke even) ✅ Micro-influencer ROAS: 8.9x (profitable)

Engagement-to-Sale Ratio:

• Mega: 1 sale per 182,000 impressions (🚨)
• Micro: 1 sale per 2,000 impressions

They were paying 91x more per conversion for mega-influencers.

Landing Page Audit:

Campaign	Destination	Conv Rate
Meta Ads	Homepage	1.4% (🚨)
Google Ads	Homepage	2.1% (🚨)
Influencer	Homepage	0.6% (🚨)
Email	Product page	4.2%

🚨 All paid traffic went to homepage 🚨 Zero dedicated landing pages 🚨 Homepage conversion: 1.4% vs. product page: 4.2%

Mobile Experience Audit:

• Homepage load: 4.7 seconds (🚨 >3 sec)
• Add to Cart: Required scroll (🚨)
• Payment options: Credit card only (🚨)
• Checkout completion time: 3+ minutes (🚨)

The Problem

They were:

1. Sending expensive traffic to the wrong pages (homepage vs. landing page)
2. Spending 88% of influencer budget on mega/mid with 0.4-1.2x ROAS
3. Ignoring mobile experience (72% of traffic)
4. Over-investing in Google Ads with 1.7x ROAS

The math: Every $1 on mega-influencers returned$0.40. Every $1 on micro-influencers returned$8.90.

They were literally paying to lose money.

The Intervention

Week 1-2 (Quick Fixes):

Killed Money-Losing Channels:

• Paused mega-influencer spend ($15K/month →$0)
• Cut Google Ads budget 50% ($18K →$9K)
• Redirected $24K to proven channels

Built First Landing Page:

• Dedicated page for top Meta ad campaign
• Single product focus, no navigation
• Social proof above fold
• Mobile-first design
• Result: Conv rate jumped from 1.4% to 3.8%

Fixed Mobile Checkout:

• Added Apple Pay, Google Pay
• Increased tap targets
• Cut checkout fields from 11 to 6
• Result: Mobile checkout completion +34%

Week 3-6 (Medium Fixes):

Shifted to Micro-Influencer Strategy:

• Paused all mid-tier influencers
• Recruited 25 new micro-influencers (5K-30K followers)
• Offer: Free product + 20% commission (no upfront cost)
• Built tracking with unique codes

Built Landing Page System:

• 8 dedicated landing pages for major campaigns
• Traffic-source matching (influencer traffic → that influencer’s content)
• A/B tested headlines and CTAs

Concentrated Meta Spend:

• Paused underperforming ad sets
• Doubled spend on top 3 performers
• All traffic → dedicated landing pages

Week 7-12 (Deep Fixes):

Built Micro-Influencer Network:

• Scaled to 50 active micro-influencers
• Tiered rewards for top performers
• Monthly content cycles
• Private community for ambassadors

Full Funnel Optimization:

• Retargeting sequences by funnel stage
• Email flows for landing page visitors who didn’t buy
• Attribution modeling to understand true impact

The Results

Metric	Before	After	Change
Monthly ad spend	$75,000	$62,000	-17%
Monthly revenue	$180,000	$248,000	+38%
Blended ROAS	2.4x	4.0x	+67%
Influencer ROAS	1.7x	7.2x	+324%
Landing page conv rate	1.4%	3.9%	+179%
Mobile checkout completion	42%	67%	+60%
Net profit margin	2.1%	18.4%	+776%

Monthly profit increase: +$28,000 **Annual impact:** +$336,000

The Unexpected Wins

Content library exploded: 50 micro-influencers created 150+ pieces of authentic content per quarter. This became ad creative for Meta campaigns—outperforming their studio content by 2.4x.

SEO benefit: Landing pages with rich content started ranking for long-tail keywords. Organic traffic increased 23% over 6 months.

Customer acquisition cost dropped 31%: Better conversion rates on the same traffic = lower CAC.

The Lesson

They didn’t need more budget. They needed better allocation.

The same $75,000/month was either:

• Losing money on mega-influencers and homepage traffic
• Or printing money on micro-influencers and dedicated landing pages

The fix wasn’t spending more. It was spending smarter.

Stop paying for reach. Start paying for resonance. Stop sending traffic to your homepage. Start sending it to conversion-optimized landing pages. Stop measuring impressions. Start measuring sales per dollar spent.

---

The Landing Page Secret Weapon

Let me tell you about another blind spot: sending all your traffic to your homepage.

I spoke with a store owner who had a beautiful website, fantastic products, but couldn’t figure out why sales weren’t taking off. The issue? No dedicated landing pages for any of their campaigns.

Why Landing Pages Matter

Your homepage is a general introduction to your brand. It’s designed to handle many types of visitors.

A landing page is focused. It targets a specific offer, product, or promotion, and guides visitors toward ONE clear action.

This singular focus means:

• Fewer distractions for the user
• Higher conversion rates for you

The Stats Don’t Lie

• Companies with 10-15 landing pages increase conversions by 55%
• Businesses with 40+ landing pages get 12x more leads
• Average conversion rate for landing pages: 9.7% vs. 2-3% for homepages

How to Build High-Converting Landing Pages

1. Clear and Compelling Headline Your headline should be direct, benefit-driven, and tied to the campaign that sent them there.

Bad: “Check Out Our Products” Good: “Boost Your Skincare Routine with Our Vitamin C Serum”

2. One Strong CTA “Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” or “Get 20% Off”—make it bold and direct. Avoid multiple CTAs on a single page.

3. Visual Hierarchy Simple, visually appealing, designed to guide the eye toward the CTA. Use white space and clear imagery.

4. Social Proof Customer reviews, testimonials, and trust badges. Include them to build trust and reduce purchase hesitation.

5. A/B Test Everything Your first landing page won’t be perfect. Test headlines, CTAs, button colors, imagery.

Real Results

A surf brand called BlueWave started building dedicated landing pages for their top-selling surfboard models, seasonal collections, beginner packages, and newsletter signups.

The result? 176% increase in conversion rates after three months.

The takeaway: if you want results, direct traffic to a landing page tailored to your audience.

---

The Bottom Line

You have two choices:

Option 1: Rent Reach

• Pay mega-influencers $50K to show your ad to 2M people who don’t care
• Get 12 sales
• Lose money
• Repeat until broke

Option 2: Build Resonance

• Partner with 50 micro-influencers who reach 400K real people
• Get 148 sales
• Make money
• Scale

Stop chasing vanity metrics (follower count, impressions, reach).

Start chasing conversion metrics (engagement, clicks, sales, ROI).

The future of marketing isn’t buying attention.

It’s earning trust.

And you can’t buy trust from a celebrity.

But you can earn it from 1,000 real fans.

In the next chapter, we’re going to talk about the fundamental truth nobody wants to hear: why discounting is slowly killing your business—and what to do instead.

Five things to do this week

1. Build Your Hit List: Find 20 micro-influencers (5K-15K followers) who actually talk to their audience. Look for 8%+ engagement. Put them in a spreadsheet.
2. Send 5 “No Strings” DMs: “Hey, love your content. Want to send you my product. No strings attached. Just think you’d like it.” Do this today.
3. Audit Your “Reach” Spend: Are you paying anyone just for impressions? Stop. Shift that budget to affiliate commissions for people who actually drive sales.
4. Create ONE Landing Page: Pick your best-selling product. Build a dedicated landing page for it. No header navigation. No distractions. Just the offer. traffic from your next email to this page, not the homepage.
5. The “Real Customer” Test: Ask your mom to buy something from your site. Watch her do it. Don’t help her. If she gets stuck, you have a usability problem. Fix it.