From: alexhormozi
Achieving business growth and profitability fundamentally relies on effective advertising and lead generation strategies [00:00:02]. These strategies are universally applicable across diverse sectors, including real estate, healthcare, auto, insurance, local businesses, home services, financial services, consumer services, software, e-learning, online businesses, and e-commerce [00:00:09]. The effectiveness of these methods is proven by practical application in various portfolio companies, demonstrating their real-world impact rather than being theoretical [00:00:24].
The Indispensable Role of Advertising
For any business to grow, it is essential that potential customers are aware of its existence and offerings [00:07:04]. Without visibility, purchases are impossible [00:07:07]. A core principle of business growth states that “all else being equal, when you double your leads, you double your business” [00:07:28]. This highlights the direct correlation between lead generation and revenue [00:07:33].
Advertising is critical because if no one knows about your products, no one buys them [00:08:00]. More importantly, the ability to consistently generate leads provides “endless chances to get it right” [00:08:10]. This skill is foundational, as it ensures a continuous flow of potential customers, allowing for adaptation and improvement even with initial imperfections in product or sales [00:09:56]. Leads represent individuals with a problem to solve and the financial capacity to spend [00:09:13]. Advertising is the process of making known, letting strangers discover your offerings [00:09:34].
The Core Four Advertising Methods
There are four primary ways to let others know about your offerings, collectively known as the “Core Four” [00:28:51].
1. Warm Outreach
Warm outreach involves directly contacting individuals who already know you on a one-to-one basis [00:12:20].
- How it was learned: The speaker started their first business by reaching out to 101 friends, asking if they knew anyone interested in fitness, leading to six initial clients for a non-profit [00:11:45]. These individuals later became direct-paying customers, allowing the transition to a real business [00:12:07]. This method saved the speaker from an undesirable career [00:12:28].
- Application for the book launch: It was used by privately contacting friends and inviting them to the book launch event [00:12:51].
- Current uses: Effective for securing the first five customers, subsequent customers, or launching new products within a company division [00:12:57]. This can be done via email, phone calls, direct messages, physical mail, voicemails, or even carrier pigeons [00:13:19].
2. Posting Free Content
This method involves sharing content with people who know you, but on a one-to-many scale [00:15:39].
- How it was learned: After exhausting warm outreach, the speaker created their first public advertisement post in April 2013 on Facebook, detailing their “free personal training project” and linking to a website with client transformations [00:13:45], [00:14:35]. By consistently posting fitness content and testimonials, and messaging those who interacted, the speaker secured 20 new clients at 4,000/month [00:15:05]. This enabled financial stability and further learning [00:15:24].
- Application for the book launch: Content was pre-recorded months in advance, following a rigorous calendar of 17 shorts, 6 long-form videos, and 2200 total posts across Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube [00:15:49]. A key lesson was to maintain regular content while adding promotional posts [00:16:22]. This generated over 400 million impressions [00:16:48] and 194,000 registrations using a “hook, retain, reward” content framework [00:16:54]. This was equivalent to $3 million a month in free advertising [00:17:18].
- Current uses: Applicable on platforms like YouTube, podcasts, SiriusXM Radio, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram [00:17:59]. It’s scalable from one post to 250 posts per week [00:17:51].
3. Running Paid Ads
Paid advertising involves letting strangers know about your offerings on a one-to-many scale [00:21:27].
- How it was learned: After observing a gym owner using Groupon, the speaker tried to replicate the model for their own gym but failed [00:18:22]. A marketing seminar introduced them to Facebook ads [00:19:42]. After a partnership dissolved, leaving the speaker with no clients and limited savings, they ran a simple, text-only Facebook ad offering a free six-week challenge in exchange for before-and-after pictures [00:20:00]. This ad secured 29 members before the gym even opened, generating just enough cash to cover the first month’s rent [00:20:23]. Learning paid ads allowed the speaker to survive and grow their business independently [00:20:48].
- Application for the book launch: Paid ads were run on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok [00:21:37]. Simple ads were created using the “what, who, when” framework from the book [00:21:56]. This campaign spent 2 per lead [00:22:12], pushing traffic to a simple landing page with a 55% opt-in rate [00:22:18].
- Current uses: Paid ads are the fastest way to acquire leads, especially for those with no existing audience [00:22:59]. They work even with small budgets (a few dollars a day) and are highly scalable [00:23:08]. The speaker’s portfolio companies spend over $1 million per week on ads [00:23:14].
4. Cold Outreach
Cold outreach involves privately contacting people who don’t know you on a one-to-one basis [00:26:45].
- How it was learned: During the COVID-19 pandemic, when 30% of gyms permanently closed, the speaker’s gym licensing company faced collapse [00:24:32]. A former job applicant, who had worked at a gym software company doing 480,000 in monthly recurring revenue by May [00:26:01]. Cold outreach saved the company during its hardest time and made it a sellable entity, with outbound sales eventually accounting for over 50% of sales [00:26:21].
- Application for the book launch: Cold outreach was used to secure podcast appearances to promote the book [00:26:58].
- Current uses: This can involve knocking on doors, sending DMs, making calls, or leaving voicemails [00:27:18]. Platforms include SMS, DMs, emails, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and physical mail [00:27:32]. It works with a tiny budget, primarily requiring time, contact methods, and knowing what to say [00:27:43]. It’s scalable through automation and other people’s time [00:27:50]. A key advantage is the ability to target specific, highly qualified leads [00:27:57]. The speaker’s portfolio companies perform over 15,000 reach-outs daily [00:28:14].
Leveraging Other People to Get Leads
While individuals can utilize the Core Four methods, the most efficient way to advertise is to have others do it on your behalf [00:30:04]. These “Lead Getters” include customers, employees, agencies, and affiliates [00:29:21]. This approach shifts from high work/low leads/lowest leverage to low work/high leads/highest leverage [00:30:21], enabling massive scale without personal time investment [00:30:57].
1. Customers (Referrals)
Customers can generate more customers, often through warm outreach on your behalf [00:29:40]. The speaker’s previous book, “100 Million Dollar Offers,” sold 467,000 copies with zero paid ads, primarily through customer referrals [00:31:51]. This demonstrates the power of organic word-of-mouth [00:32:17].
2. Employees
Employees can execute the Core Four methods on your behalf [00:32:20]. For the book launch, the “Mosey Media” team created 143 book-specific posts and over 2200 pieces of content in six weeks, showing how internal teams drive content-based lead generation [00:32:23].
3. Agencies
Agencies can be hired to run ads, post content, or conduct outreach on your behalf [00:32:50]. For the book launch, an agency was responsible for clicking the buttons and running the paid ads [00:32:55].
4. Affiliates
Affiliates are independent businesses that promote your products to their audience, often in exchange for compensation [00:29:29], [00:58:13]. They use their own advertising methods to reach their engaged leads [00:58:24]. The power of affiliates lies in their ability to scale revenue significantly with the same amount of work, as they leverage their own audiences and advertising efforts [00:59:09]. For the book event, 23,722 affiliates promoted it through content, ads, and email lists, bringing in over 104,361 registrations [00:33:31]. The speaker’s supplement company generated $1.7 million per month in sales with zero paid ads, using 100 affiliates to handle advertising and selling [01:01:25].
The 100 Million Dollar Lead System
The “100 Million Dollar Lead System” is a comprehensive collection of strategies and playbooks designed to master all eight advertising methods and generate leads on demand [00:37:06]. This system is designed to provide actionable steps to increase replies, opt-ins, conversions, trust, and reduce lead costs [00:37:27].
Components of the System:
- Lead Magnet Mastery: Focuses on creating a complete solution to a narrow problem, given away for free to build trust and increase the conversion rate to paid offerings [00:37:41]. Properly designed lead magnets can 2x, 5x, or even 10x leads while building goodwill in the marketplace [00:38:23].
- First Five Clients Framework: A reliable, low-risk, repeatable, and low-cost method to acquire initial customers, primarily through warm outreach [00:41:55]. It provides exact scripts and a step-by-step process for getting first clients for free [00:43:02].
- Mosey Media Content Method: Reveals the strategy behind building a strong personal brand and generating vast amounts of free media [00:44:49]. It explains how effective content grows audiences, attracts more buyers, and enhances the effectiveness of all other lead generation methods by building legitimacy and trust [00:45:00].
- Cold Outreach Playbook: Details how to generate leads without needing to be visible on camera or constantly creating content [00:48:02]. It provides methods for acquiring contact lists, exact scripts for various platforms (voicemails, email, DMs), and strategies for automating delivery and follow-ups [00:49:09]. This method offers extreme reliability and allows for discreet operations [00:48:12].
- Paid Ads Playbook: Focuses on effectively running paid advertisements, which are described as the closest thing to “legally printing money” [00:51:34]. They work consistently, don’t require an existing audience or reputation, and can be scaled by increasing spend [00:51:42]. The playbook covers where to advertise, how to target the right audience, create effective ads using repeatable frameworks, and gain permission to contact leads [00:52:45].
- Referral Playbook: Aims to generate unlimited free customers by leveraging existing customers to refer new ones [01:03:08]. Referrals are highly valuable as they cost less and yield higher returns [00:55:03]. The playbook teaches how to increase referral percentages without direct asking (e.g., by picking better customers, setting expectations, delivering faster results) and provides specific referral programs [00:56:14].
- Affiliate Playbook: Guides businesses on finding, recruiting, and managing affiliates to advertise on their behalf [00:58:10]. It covers finding ideal affiliates, creating win-win offers, training them to sell effectively, determining compensation, and encouraging continuous promotion [01:00:36].
- Zero to 100 Million Dollar Scaling Roadmap: Provides a strategic outline for implementing the playbooks in the correct sequence, breaking down seven levels of scaling leads and advertising to match the business’s current stage [01:03:40].
Conclusion
The combination of these eight advertising methods — warm outreach, posting free content, running paid ads, cold outreach, customer referrals, employees, agencies, and affiliates — provides a powerful framework for generating leads and scaling a business to a “100 Million Dollar Leads machine” [01:04:48]. Mastering these skills offers “endless chances to get it right” and can lead to significant increases in business value and personal freedom [00:35:56]. The entire 100 Million Dollar Lead System, including the audiobook and journal, is available for free, making this extensive business education accessible to everyone [01:10:25].