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The Path (the spine of everything below)

Every reel, every profile choice, every CTA exists to move a stranger one step along this path:

1. FIND        Viewer finds the creator via an Instagram Reel or TikTok
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2. PROFILE     Viewer visits the profile and sees a clean, credible account
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3. CLICK       Viewer taps the bio link — a YouTube deep link opens the app
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4. NURTURE     Viewer watches YouTube and gets 7+ hours of nurture
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5. WARM        Viewer now trusts the creator and is ready to buy when the offer launches

Earning the click to YouTube is the primary path. But not everyone clicks, and plenty of warm people just live in the feed. So short-form also runs the full brand on its own: it gets them found (admirable), makes them like you, proves you're credible, and builds trust over time, so the feed nurtures and the click compounds it.

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PHASE 1 — The Foundation (KLT)

Goal: Every reel serves one job, moving someone through the four stages: Admirable, Likeable, Credible, Trustable. Short-form covers all four, and also hands the click off to YouTube to go deeper.

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1.1 — The four stages (people buy in this order, no skipping)

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Stage	What they think	Reel type that builds it
1. Admirable	"This person is impressive"	Story / transformation, vision
2. Likeable	"I'd enjoy being around them"	Lifestyle / personality, opinion
3. Credible	"They can get me the result"	Value, authority / in the room
4. Trustable	"Buying feels safe"	Proof / client wins, testimonials

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1.2 — The rule

We don't want to skip stages. The common failure is posting pure value or proof (credible / trustable) to people who don't yet admire or like you. Lead with reach and personality, then layer in credibility and proof so the whole feed moves people forward, and reinforce it all with the YouTube hand-off.

1.3 — Brand must be in check before posting

[ ] Profile clean and proof-heavy (Phase 3 + SOP 0)
[ ] 3 unique mechanisms locked (the one-of-one claim)
[ ] ICP defined (one specific person)
[ ] Perception / pole chosen (what people should instantly think) </aside>

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PHASE 2 — The Job

Goal: Three things, in order, all pointed at the hand-off.

Get found. Reels reach cold strangers at scale. Nothing else in the funnel does this as fast. This is the main place new people enter.
Nurture the warm. A big chunk of your audience lives in the feed and never clicks through. Short-form has to move them through all four stages on its own, with proof and credibility, not only reach.
Drive the click. Point the right people to the bio link → YouTube for the deep 7+ hour nurture. The feed and the click work together: the feed warms them, YouTube closes the gap.

Mental model: Reels and TikTok = the front door and a full nurture layer of their own. YouTube = the deep trust engine. Stories = conversion. Short-form both feeds YouTube and carries the brand itself.

Health check: if reels get views but no profile clicks, fix the profile or CTA. If the audience is warm but never buys, you're probably missing credible and trustable content, add more proof.

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PHASE 3 — The Profile

Goal: Step 2 and 3 of the path live here. Every reel sends people to the profile first, and the profile's job is to earn the click. If it's broken, all the reach is wasted. (Full detail in SOP 0; essentials here.)

3.1 — The non-negotiables

Username: clean, name-first, no numbers or underscores
Photo: clear headshot, same across every platform
Name field: full name + keyword (credibility + searchability)
Bio: who you help, proof, one CTA line pointing to the link. 2-3 lines
The link: one link only, a YouTube deep link so it opens the app, not the in-app browser. During a launch, swap to the VSL page
Verification: worth it, it's a subconscious trust signal

3.2 — Highlights

95% clients and wins and the remaining ~5% just life and miscellaneous stuff.

3.3 — The rules

One link, one CTA. Every extra option splits attention and lowers the click on the one that matters.

Use the YouTube deep link, not a normal URL. A normal link opens Instagram's in-app browser where the viewer is logged out and can't subscribe. The deep link opens the app, and the whole hand-off depends on this

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PHASE 4 — The Reel Types

Goal: Run a deliberate mix that covers all four stages. Reach and personality get them in; credibility and proof make them buyers. A page that only does one type stalls.

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4.1 — The types

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Type	Builds	What it is
Story / transformation	Admirable	A narrative arc, before → after. Highest reach
Opinion / contrarian	Admirable + Likeable	An against-the-grain take that sparks a reaction
Lifestyle / personality	Likeable	Who you are off the clock; values, habits, BTS
Value / educational	Credible	A sharp tip or framework that solves one problem
Authority / "in the room"	Credible + Admirable	Clips of you speaking to a group or at an event
Proof / client wins	Credible + Trustable	A client result or transformation you delivered
Testimonial / client clip	Trustable	A client talking about how it felt to work with you
Reaction / care	Trustable	Your genuine reaction to a client win (the "this person cares" signal)

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4.2 — Notes per type

Story/transformation: the strongest reach format, people are wired to follow progress. Best for getting found. Expect some unqualified viewers; the deeper content filters them.
Lifestyle: the stage most people skip. People won't take in your value, or click through, until they like you.
Value/educational: give a real, usable tip. You can still leave a gap and point to YouTube for the full breakdown, but the reel should deliver enough to prove you know your stuff.
Proof / client wins: a major part of the mix, not an afterthought. Client results, before/afters, and screenshots are what make people believe you can do it for them too. Post these regularly, with permission.
Testimonial / reaction: clients talking about how it feels, and your genuine reactions to their wins, build trust nothing else can. The reaction format kills the "they're too busy to care about me" objection.
Don't fully copy a format. The audience knows who started it, so your effort builds their brand. Borrow the idea, change the surface.

4.3 — The mix rule

Every month, confirm the mix covers all four stages: reach formats (admirable), personality (likeable), value and authority (credible), and proof, testimonials, and reactions (trustable). Proof-heavy content should be a consistent, ongoing part of the feed, not a once-in-a-while post.

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PHASE 6 — Posting & Repurposing

Goal: Stay consistent and get maximum mileage from every asset.

6.1 — Cadence

1 reel/day is the baseline while finding the format. Post the same content to TikTok. Quality of hook beats raw volume, but volume is non-negotiable early.

6.2 — Repurposing (where some reels come from)

Some reels can be pulled from YouTube long-form if YT content can be insanely high quality, take the retention spikes (see YouTube doc Phase 7).
The YouTube hook is its own reel.
Re-cut top performers with new hooks and re-post; a proven idea works more than once.
This also reinforces the hand-off, the reel is literally a clip of the place you're sending them. </aside>

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✅ Definition of Done (short-form is "running")

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