SOP · built 2 Nov 2026 from "My Non-Expert Launch" (Jessica Carter)

One launch, eight phases, every box.

She went from 54K followers to a $700K launch of a $37 editing guide in six weeks. The first tab is her playbook as a tick-list, in our words. The second is the same eight phases written for Moran's brand, with a recommendation on what to launch first. Ticks save in this browser.

What happened, in one paragraph

June 2026: she starts posting daily talking-head reels. July: the editing questions in her comments become a free tutorial series. She adds "comment INTERESTED" to the tutorials that took off, a few hundred people sign up in two weeks, and only then does she build the product: phone screen-recordings on unlisted YouTube plus a Canva PDF. August 21–23: early access at $37 for the waitlist. August 24–26: public at $57. One order bump ($9 scripting guide). Doors close. A new waitlist gets a free teaser chapter. Her husband's reaction video goes viral (12M+ views). September 9–12: a 3-day reopening at $67, one price, no phases. Opening day alone did $180K.

54K → 219KInstagram followers, Aug 18 → Oct 10

~3,600early-access waitlist at opening

5,221orders in Season One (6 days)

$701Kgross across 3 products, Aug 21 – Sep 12 (fees $36.8K)

27 + 18emails in the two selling windows

$37 / $57 / $67early · public · reopen (bump $9 → $12)

Her own warning, kept here on purpose: timing, momentum and luck did part of this. The steps are copyable. The number is not a promise.

First decision · which offer gets the launch

Buyers first. Advisors second. The roll-up is never a launch.

1 · Business buying

Season One

Widest audience and the one your 678 YouTube videos already pull (the SBA video is your best performer).
Four scripts are already written: deal math, wealth transfer, take-the-number, deal autopsy.
The backend exists: DFY calls, the program page, the calculator.
Her product was "the process I actually use". Yours is the deal math you actually use.

2 · Advisors

Season Two, same list

Narrower audience, and it is partly the same people: buyers who could not afford DFY become advisors (your own design).
Reopen the mechanics on the list Season One built, with the advisor math and closed-club scripts.
Her Last Call runs exactly this ladder ($27 → $97 → $997 → $5–7.5K call).

3 · Roll-up

Closed-club waitlist only

Investor-facing. No public open cart, no price, no "doors close": no investment solicitation before the lawyer clears it.
Use only the waitlist half of the playbook: keyword, list, build-in-public updates (Jon's dealers with written OK).
The launch skills you learn on 1 and 2 are what run it later.

The money from a $37–$67 product is not the point for you. The list and the proof are. Every buyer gets one honest invitation to the DFY or advisor call at the end of the product, and that is the real return.

Season One · the product in one line

"The Deal Math Guide" (working name): read any listing in ten minutes and know if it pays for itself.

Hers	Yours
Phone screen-recordings of her editing process, unlisted YouTube	Whiteboard / screen-share videos of one deal taken apart (the $1.2M HVAC script is lesson 1), unlisted YouTube
Canva PDF that holds the thinking and links the videos	An interactive page (we build these already: acq-dfy-draft is the pattern) or a PDF; progress ticks, the calculator embedded
Order bump: scripting + talking naturally, $9	Order bump: the listing checklist + LOI template pack, $9–12
$37 early / $57 public	Same. Do not quote a max price before the outline exists (her regret)
Keyword INTERESTED → Manychat → Flodesk form	Keyword MATH → ManyChat or GHL DM automation → GHL form (name + email only)
Stan Store checkout → Notion access page	Whop or GHL payment link → access page the second they pay
Planned bonus: GRWM editing guide, revealed late	Planned bonus: one full Deal Autopsy episode + the cost-of-waiting calculator, revealed day 2 of public
Post-purchase: welcome video + check-in email	Welcome video + check-in email + ONE invitation to a DFY call ("want this done for you?")

Rules that stay: no income claims about buyers, no CIM or seller name on camera, the example deal is made up and the video says so, the SBA rate is checked before recording.

Season Two · advisors, what changes

Audience: the Season One list plus IG engagers. Offer: a paid live workshop ("How acquisition advisors get paid about $30K a deal"), $47–97 with replay, 2-day early access for the list.
Scripts already written: advisor math video, advisor closed-club video. Marc is the only advisor-side testimonial, so the proof bank is thin: collect it during Season One's support.
Order bump: the advisor forecast sheet (the money-in table from /programs).
Backend: the advisor qualification call. Keep the $12K liquid-capital gate; the workshop is where people learn it exists.
Her "more emails between windows" lesson applies hardest here: newcomers from Season One need the backstory before you sell them a side business.

Roll-up · waitlist only

Keyword ROLLUP → a closed-club waitlist. Confirmation email says what it is and is not: updates on the dealer roll-up, no offer, no price.
Content = build in public: the 7-dealer WhatsApp story, the IPO-cost call, the sponsor plan. Only with written OK from Jon, the operator and Mali, and nothing that reads as solicitation before the lawyer says so.
Her lesson 9.2 is the warning: a big curious list is not a ready list. Three times the subscribers gave her the same number of buyers.

Her stack and what it cost (October 2026 snapshot)

Job	Her tool	Her cost	Ours
Product files	Canva PDF + unlisted YouTube	$120/yr + free	Interactive page on Cloudflare Pages + unlisted YouTube
Keyword → link in DMs	Manychat	$25/mo → $165/mo as the list grew	ManyChat or GHL Instagram DM automation
Waitlists, segments, emails	Flodesk	$452/yr	GHL (already paid)
Sales page + checkout + bump	Stan Store Pro (Pro only for the bump)	$99/mo	Whop (bump as an add-on) or GHL payment link
Purchase → buyer segment	Zapier	$133/mo + ~$500 launch overage	GHL workflow or Whop webhook → GHL (already built for Slack)
Access page after checkout	Notion (free)	$0	A page on Pages, same as the program page
Later: full funnel	FG Funnels (replaced Stan + Zapier)	—	GHL does this already

Payment processing took $36.8K of $701K (5.3%). Two $100K estimated-tax payments followed. She has no final take-home figure yet.

Email cadence she actually ran

Window	Days	Emails per day	Total
Season One early access ($37)	Aug 21–23	4 · 2 · 7	13
Season One public ($57)	Aug 24–26	4 · 3 · 7	14
Season Two reopen ($67)	Sep 9–12	4 · 4 · 7 · 3 (closed 10am)	18

Seven emails on every closing day. Each email has one job: the link, an FAQ, a benefit, a buyer's words, a price change, a deadline. Most drafted before opening, finalised and scheduled the night before with fresh testimonials dropped in. Buyers leave the reminder segment the moment they pay. Her regret: too few warm-up emails before Season One, and no "reply with an emoji" to get out of spam.

Content: each format had a job

Format	Job	Her evidence
Reels	Reach new people. Hook = the income updates, body = why the skill matters, CTA = the keyword	One launch reel: 70% non-followers, 232K views, 2,280 follows
Carousels	Reach existing followers; repurpose a reel that worked, or a plain "here's the offer" post	One carousel: 69% followers, 271K views, 384 follows
Stories	Every few hours: an answer, a testimonial, an update, the link	Her main pre-launch channel; she'd add an FAQ highlight earlier
Lives	Day-one celebration, then morning and evening sales updates people came back for	Spontaneous; final-day number held back for the reaction video
Previews	Scroll-throughs, mockups, a walkthrough of the interactive version	She'd show them more often: once is not seen

Capacity was one feed post a day. She'd prepare carousel layouts and partial reel scripts in advance so a day never starts from zero.