Growth 101
Eleven families. 34 methods. One simple frame.
Every method on the list belongs to one of eleven families. Read the family that fits your stage and strength first, then drill into the specific methods inside it.
6 methods
In-person
Trust scales fastest in physical rooms. The methods here cost time more than money and tend to outperform paid for high-ticket services.
Method 1
Creative Guerilla Marketing
Unconventional, low-cost, in-the-street stunts engineered for word of mouth.
Method 2
Speaking Engagements
Showing up on stage, on a panel, or as a guest expert in front of a curated room.
Method 5
Strategic Networking
Showing up in the rooms where the people who can change your business already are.
Method 7
High-Touch Client Experiences
Dinners, private events, and meaningful in-person moments that make existing clients into evangelists.
Method 28
Lead Events
Workshops, mixers, and small events designed to attract qualified prospects in person.
Method 29
Tradeshows
Attending or speaking at the conferences where your industry already gathers.
8 methods
Owned media
Channels you control. They compound slowly, then suddenly. Email lists, blogs, books, and podcasts outlive every platform shift.
Method 3
Webinars (Live and Evergreen)
Scheduled online sessions that teach a narrow problem and present an offer at the end.
Method 4
Virtual Summits
Multi-speaker online events where you host other experts and capture every attendee.
Method 10
Lead Magnets and Opt-Ins
Free gifts, templates, quizzes, assessments, and challenges that build your database.
Method 12
Substack and Standalone Newsletter
A newsletter you own, hosted as its own brand asset, not buried inside a website.
Method 17
Book Authorship and Publishing
Writing a book that becomes the most powerful authority-building asset a CEO can own.
Method 18
Thought Leadership
Articles, op-eds, LinkedIn long-form, and contributed pieces in major media.
Method 20
Podcasting and Live-Streaming
Hosting a show with the audience and the guests you want in your life.
Method 22
Email Nurture
Newsletters and email sequences that keep leads warm with content, stories, and offers.
2 methods
Earned media
Coverage and credibility you do not pay for directly. Slowest to land, longest-lasting in citation value.
1 methods
Search
Buyers searching for the answer you sell. The longest payback window on this page and one of the most defensible.
2 methods
Paid
Renting attention from a working channel. Paid amplifies a profitable funnel. It does not fix a broken one.
3 methods
Outreach
One-to-one and one-to-few touches. The methods most founders avoid and the ones that close the most pipeline.
3 methods
Automation
Tools that do at scale what you would do by hand. Set up well, they multiply the founder. Set up poorly, they damage the brand.
Method 23
Digital Funnels
Designed paths from low-price or free content to a high-ticket offer or call.
Method 24
Automation and Chatbot Marketing
ManyChat, AI-driven messaging sequences, and DM automation for social and SMS.
Method 25
AI-Powered Outreach
Personalized video and messaging at scale, generated and routed by AI.
3 methods
Partnerships
Other people sending you business. Highest-leverage motion in the playbook for service-based businesses and creators.
Method 26
Referral Programs
A formal way for clients, partners, and friends to send you new business.
Method 30
Community Building
Forums, online and offline groups, and member spaces that you host or own.
Method 33
Joint Ventures and Affiliate Marketing
Formal partnerships and affiliate programs where another brand sells your offer to their audience.
2 methods
Broadcast
Mass-reach paid channels. Floor budgets are real. Use only when unit economics are already proven.
1 methods
Process
The discipline that makes every other channel work. Ignore at your peril.
3 methods
Social
Borrowed audiences with their own algorithms. Pick one platform that maps to your buyer and ignore the rest for ninety days.
Method 11
Social Media
Posting consistently on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, or Snapchat to build audience and trust.
Method 13
Live Social Commerce
Selling in real time on TikTok Shop, Instagram Live Shopping, and YouTube Shopping.
Method 31
Video Promotions
Short-form and long-form video as the engine of awareness and trust.