Plays

Growth plays, graded and dated.

Specific ways to grow, each with how it runs, what it costs to test, when to stop and how strong the evidence is. Every play carries a status and the date it was last checked, because tactics decay.

FreshEarly and uncrowded. Worth testing now.

WorkingProven, and still paying back.

CrowdedWorks, but everyone is doing it, so costs are rising.

BurntStopped working. Kept for the record.

The current 30 are the plays I would run right now. The rest stay in the library: still sourced and dated, but held back because the channel is crowded or the evidence is thinner. Plays move in and out as the checks change.

Show Business Stage Goal Budget Effort

No play matches all of those yet. Clear a filter, switch to the whole library, or book a call and I will tell you which play fits.

The Reddit Presence

Become the expert voice in the subreddits where your buyers ask questions, and the name AI assistants quote.

Fresh

Free. About three hours a week for a quarter.

LinkedIn Ads (Thought Leader Ads)

Boost the Founder

Put ad money behind the founder's best LinkedIn posts, aimed at a named account list, instead of behind a company advert.

Working

Under $1,000 of media over four weeks.

Cold email, LinkedIn, phone

Trigger Outreach

Contact companies the moment they show they are ready to buy: a hire, a raise, an expansion, a key contact changing job.

Working

A few hundred dollars a month in data and tools.

Roundtables, dinners and breakfasts

The Roundtable Series

Eight to twelve senior peers, one problem, once a month. The guest list is your target account list and the invitation is the outreach.

Working

A room and a meal for twelve, often shared with a co-host.

Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, Yelp, TripAdvisor, G2, Capterra

The Review Engine

Ask for a review at the happiest moment, every time, and reply to every review in your own words.

Working

Free, or a few dollars a month for a tool.

TikTok and Meta ads, fed by creators

Affiliates Feed the Ads

Let commission-only creators run your creative tests, then put ad money only behind the videos that already sell.

Working

Samples and commission, then ads only on proven videos.

ChatGPT apps, Claude connectors

Ship Into the AI Assistants

Get your product listed inside ChatGPT and Claude while the directories are new and the early entrants take the usage.

Fresh

No media spend. A few weeks of developer time.

Discord, Slack or WhatsApp communities

The Affiliate Discord

Put your affiliates and creators in one server, with tiers, a sales bar to stay in, and recognition commission cannot buy.

Working

A community manager's time and a rewards budget.

Cold email

Built For You

Instead of asking for a meeting, offer the prospect something you have already built for them: a small tool loaded with their own data.

Fresh

A day to build, plus your sending tools.

LinkedIn and email

Engager Mining

The people liking and commenting on your competitors' and your niche creators' posts have raised their hands. Go and talk to them.

Working

Data tools, or an hour a week by hand.

Website, SEO, product

The Free Tool

Build a calculator, grader or checker that solves one problem for free, on its own page, and collects leads for years.

Working

Under $1,000 and a few days to build.

Google SEO, AI search, review sites

Get on the Lists

Earn a place in the "best X for Y" articles, review sites and roundups that Google ranks and AI assistants quote.

Working

Free. A few hours a week for a quarter.

Launch strategy, founder network

Seed the Connectors

Give the product first to the best-connected people in your niche, and let their recommendation do the launch.

Working

Free product for 50 people and founder time.

Podcast, YouTube, LinkedIn

Podcast as Business Development

Start a podcast whose guest list is your target client list. The invitation is outreach senior people actually accept.

Working

Basic tools and about two hours a week.

Email, WhatsApp, LinkedIn messages

The Nine-Word Email

Revive a dormant list with one line: "Are you still looking for [the thing they asked about]?"

Working

Free. An afternoon to send.

TikTok

The Unhinged Mascot

Give the brand a character with a point of view, post at the speed of the feed, and let the audience make it famous.

Crowded

No media spend. One person posting daily for 90 days.

TikTok Shop LIVE and TikTok Ads

The Live Sale Marathon

Turn a sale into a broadcast: hours of live selling, new launches and guest creators, with ads pushing viewers into the stream.

Working

Ad spend and creator fees for one event.

Instagram

Seed 500

Send the product to hundreds of small accounts whose followers are your customers, track every code, and back the ones that sell.

Working

Product, postage and small fees. Under $1,000.

Meta Ads and WhatsApp

Ad to WhatsApp

Point Facebook and Instagram ads at a WhatsApp chat instead of a form, and let the conversation do the selling.

Working

A two-week A/B test, under $1,000.

Facebook Groups

Users Teach Users

Run a group where customers teach each other to get more from the product, and let it become the reason the next customer buys.

Working

No media spend. A moderator a few hours a week.

YouTube

The Founder Video

One founder, one camera and a script that says what everyone else in the category will not.

Working

A few days and a few thousand dollars.

YouTube Ads

The Demo Worth Watching

Make an ad long enough to prove the product and good enough that people choose to keep watching, and bid so you pay mostly for the people who do.

Working

Production plus under $1,000 of test media.

The Voice With Permission

Let a small team speak for the brand in public, in real time, without waiting for approval.

Working

No media spend. A small team for a quarter.

Snapchat Ads

The Sponsored Lens

Build an augmented reality Lens people want to send to friends, and pay to put it in front of a whole country for a day.

Working

A few thousand dollars for a targeted Lens test.

The Founder Feed

Turn the founder and the team into the company's media channel, posting what they know from the inside.

Crowded

No media spend. Two to three hours a week each.

Pinterest Is Search

Treat Pinterest as a search engine for things people plan to buy, and publish pins that answer the searches.

Working

No media spend. An hour a day for a quarter.

Pinterest Ads

Boards to Basket

Advertise where people are already planning what to buy, and follow them from the idea to the product.

Fresh

Under $1,000 over four to six weeks.

X Ads

Sponsor Who They Watch

Put your ad in front of the video your audience already chose to watch, from the creator they trust.

Working

A few thousand dollars for a promoted video test.

Reddit Ads

Be in the Thread

Place ads inside the Reddit conversations where people are deciding what to buy in your category.

Fresh

Under $1,000 over four weeks.

Snapchat

Shoppable Stories

Open a shop on your Snapchat profile and sell from the Stories your followers already watch.

Fresh

No media spend. Daily Stories for a quarter.

Product, email, messaging

The Two-Sided Referral

Reward both the person who invites and the friend who joins, in the currency of the product, at the moment people are happiest with it.

Working

Rewards paid only on success, plus a few days to build.

Launch page, email, social

The Waitlist Launch

Open a waitlist where referring friends moves you up the queue, so the launch markets itself.

Working

A landing page and a referral tool, a few hundred dollars.

Press, LinkedIn, newsletter

Data PR

One surprising number from your own data, pitched to the press and posted everywhere.

Working

No media spend. A day a month.

Website, SEO, community

The Template Library

Let users build on your product and publish what they made. Each template is a landing page, a search result and a reason to sign up.

Working

A few weeks of your team's time.

Google SEO, AI search

The Comparison Hub

Publish honest comparison pages and "best X for Y" roundups for buyers who are already shopping.

Working

No media spend. A few days per page.

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

The Micro-Influencer Swarm

Hundreds of small creators who actually talk to their audiences, instead of one famous name who rents you theirs.

Working

Product, postage and small fees. Under $1,000.

Messaging Commerce

Move repeat customers onto WhatsApp: catalogue, broadcasts, orders and support in the app they already live in.

Working

Per-message charges and a provider fee, a few hundred dollars.

Discord, Slack, Circle, Facebook groups, events

The Customer Community

Give customers a place to belong and help each other. It cuts churn, creates referrals and hands you content.

Working

A platform and a community manager's time.

Founder-led sales, proposals

Paid Pilot, Not Free Trial

Replace the free trial with a short paid pilot, or an annual contract with an opt-out, so "customer" is the default.

Working

No cash cost. The pilot pays you.

LinkedIn, X, Threads

The Early Commenter

Borrow the audience of the accounts your buyers already follow by leaving the most useful comment under their posts.

Crowded

Fifteen to thirty minutes a day.

Original research, PR, newsletter, LinkedIn

The Annual Report

Survey your buyers once a year and publish the numbers. It becomes press coverage, a year of content and a lead list.

Working

A survey tool, respondent incentives and a quarter of one person's time.

Referral and affiliate partnerships, co-marketing

Who's Got My Customers?

Find the businesses that already serve your buyers and pay them to send those buyers to you.

Working

Referral fees paid only on real customers.

Trade shows, conferences, side events

The Conference Play

Go to the industry's conference without a stand: book the meetings before you arrive and host the breakfast next door.

Working

Travel, and a room and breakfast for ten to twenty people.

The sales conversation, in person, email, messaging

Ask at the Till

Make the referral ask part of the sale: ask who else you should help at the moment the customer says yes.

Working

A script, and rewards paid only when a friend buys.

Email, app, community, product launches

Early Access Instead of Discounts

Replace blanket discounts with members-only early access to launches and drops. Fans buy first and you keep the margin.

Fresh

One launch held back for members for 48 hours.

Start here

Which plays fit your business? A free growth plan answers that.

A 30-minute call first. If it fits, two calls in one week and a written growth plan you keep.

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