Run the looking-for, new-versus-old, warning-signs, north-star and selfie ad frameworks

1. Looking for a handful of clients

Why it works. The line at its heart — I'm looking for a set number of a certain kind of buyer who want a certain outcome — is called one of the most classic direct-response ads there is. It works in any niche; it worked 70 years ago, it works now, and it will likely work tomorrow. One practice here: when something new launches, this is almost always the first ad made. It also works well for organic audiences. It gets stronger when you say who you are not looking for, as specifically as you can, which adds credibility, and when you give a compelling reason why you are looking. Use it if you are just starting to run paid ads or to earn from an audience you already have.

Opening seconds. A person in front of a whiteboard, which reads as teaching and so as value — an "educational ad". A teaching setting works better for more complex products.

How to apply it.

• Film in a teaching setting: a chalkboard, whiteboard, screen, anything tied to learning. Looking like a teacher signals authority and works best for complex, new or higher-priced offers.
• Open with the one-liner, filled in for your business, in this order: how many you are looking for and what kind of buyer; the outcome they want; the pain they do not want to go through to get it; your reason for doing this; your proof; and, if they are interested, an instruction to keep watching.
• Explain why you are taking only a few. To build strong case studies, to prove your offer works, because you are new to the area, because you are starting out and will do everything to win — any of these, as long as it is believable. The truth is preferred.
• Say why yours beats what is out there. The difference should raise your product above the rest, and you back it with proof.
• Share the risk with the buyer. Promise to win together, with some part of your pay tied to performance. It lowers their risk, shows you mean to deliver, and draws more people.
• Send them to your assistant. Tell them to click, apply, and expect a call from your assistant to confirm they fit. Mentioning an assistant added authority and made the ad feel genuine.

2. New versus old

Why it works. It is a classic teaching framework; many make these, few make them well. It suits advanced or complex products especially, and over a long enough time it makes you the default authority in your space, so it builds a brand and sells at once. Marketing and sales share one aim, working through different channels (one to many against one to one): educate the prospect enough to decide. Teaching ads can do much of that work, especially when what you sell is brand new. If you are new, you are judged on the quality of the information rather than on a brand; if you are established, it works even better.

Opening seconds. The same whiteboard setting as section 1.

How to apply it.

• Film in a teaching setting and call out your exact buyer in under five seconds. The whiteboard signals teaching, and naming the buyer filters for qualified prospects only.
• Make a big claim with details: a large increase in the same context — same market, same kind of lead. A big jump with nothing else changed makes people curious.
• Blame all their pain on their outdated model. Be as specific as you can about the problems they are likely facing, and pin every one on the old way. If they recognize the old way and the problems, they will want to hear how you solved them.
• Reveal the new way and tie it to one simple metric. Wipe the old graph, draw a line or turn the page, then write the new unit you charge by — a price per result, such as per customer who walks in. Explain why your way is better on that simplified measure.
• Drive it home with a case study or a hypothetical. Walk through the math of one scenario; it makes the promise believable and stands in for proof.
• Add one line of proof for authority. One number is enough, as long as it is compelling.
• Reverse the risk, if possible: if they do not make money, you do not get paid.
• End with a call to action that previews the process: in the example, click to apply, your assistant confirms they qualify, then a 15-minute call to run their numbers. It keeps you in a position of authority, holds the frame that this is by application only, and shows you want only qualified leads.
• Close with your hook. A template is offered to start from: I'm looking for five of your buyers, at roughly their current level of a key metric, who want a tenfold outcome by swapping their old model for your new mechanism; name your one proof figure and the risk reversal; tell them to click to apply, and that your team will check fit and show them the math.

3. The warning signs

Why it works. It depends on understanding the prospect's problem, and the answer, better than they do; it leans on expertise. It is close to the origin-story ad on SOP 114, turned over: instead of showing how you got the result despite terrible circumstances, it lays out the circumstances and says they are the reason the prospect has not got the result. Each added detail — each figure or problem they probably suffer from — builds pressure, until by the end they think this person has just described their business and might be able to fix it. You show expertise through how specifically and relevantly you describe the problem, so that they conclude you must be an insider. The pain or problem angle repeats in any niche. Be specific: list every problem as precisely as you can, keep building pressure, then release it with a call to action.

Opening seconds. The whiteboard setting again, with the headline naming the warning signs.

How to apply it.

• Stand at a whiteboard and address your exact buyer in the first sentence, offering to show them the warning signs that they will never reach a milestone they care about. The setting projects authority; the tightly specific call-out filters for qualified prospects.
• Establish authority with one very large credential. A single big one is enough to keep them listening.
• Rapid-fire the prospect's specific pains, each tied to a number from their own business, so that with each one they think "this is me".
• Introduce your new solution and give it a name that is not obvious. Explain it in one sentence, and how it turns all their problems around. The plain, descriptive name first considered was too obvious and killed the curiosity, which is why a less obvious one was chosen.
• Send them to a lead magnet or a video sales letter. If the prospect needs more information before they buy, tell them how to get it — in the example, opt in, watch a seven-minute video, then book a 15-minute qualifying call.

4. The north star metric

Why it works. You choose one "north star" figure and predict the prospect's pain from it. It can be anything, as long as it predicts: the way a man's neck and wrist thickness can predict his body fat. Pick a figure that does the same for your buyer. Then list the pains that ring true for them, and blame them all on the old way of doing things, which holds the figure back. That shows why the outcomes they want are out of reach for now. Then offer your model as the fix and invite them to learn more.

Specificity is the difference. For one kind of small local business, the example lists distinct, very specific problems about nothing but the background music — the complaints that cancel each other out, the equipment failing mid-session, the licensing letter, the ads that interrupt a free music app. Most people might never think of them; an owner in that trade would. Be that specific.

Opening seconds. Another teaching video. The note beside it: if something works, keep doing it, which might be a better lesson than any single hook.

How to apply it.

• Start with a direct call-out and a nightmare. Name the buyer and their biggest pain in one breath: they are stuck, and it is probably because of the one figure you are about to name.
• Establish authority in one sentence. That is plenty before attention fades.
• Lay out a ladder of outcomes by the figure. Below one level of the metric a result stays out of reach; each higher level opens a larger one. Prospects find themselves on the ladder.
• List the specific pains at each level. The narrower your focus, the more examples there are. Think in math; think in moments.
• Show how your new method moves the north star figure, in one clear sentence — for example, that charging per result keeps value above price, so profit grows without hitting the old ceilings.
• Give the next step, step by step: in the example, they opt in, a seven-minute video walks through the numbers, and then they apply for a 15-minute call to see whether the model fits their business. Spelling out that short journey removes friction and makes the call the obvious release for the tension you built.

5. The short selfie

Why it works. It is very short, so you can make many with little effort, alone, in a range of settings. The time limit forces you down to the only words that matter. These ads rely on the rest of the funnel carrying the information: treat it as an ad for your lead magnet more than an ad that sells. It sells the next step and nothing more, and it can work well at the top of the funnel. In the example, the camera movement, the house behind the person on camera, a nice car and the casual selfie style are thought to have done much of the work, along with one line of the script.

Opening seconds. Selfie style, low-fi, walking, with a large house in the background.

How to apply it.

• Let the setting sell. Open while moving: walk and talk in front of something that makes you credible on the subject you are covering. The example used a fancy car and house, which made sense next to helping businesses grow; it was used only briefly, because it was not the brand wanted, but it is effective.
• Open with an if-then pain statement: if your key figure has not passed a certain level, you will never reach the result you want. The specificity draws in the right prospects.
• Introduce your solution in one sentence. Name it without explaining it; the lead magnet does the explaining.
• Show proof that someone worse off than them got better results than they have. In the example, people in their twenties built large businesses. That age contrast implies bigger, older businesses can do even better. This was the line that did the heavy lifting. The same move is older: a meal plan once sold as so easy that children and people who spoke no English followed it, before asking whether the prospect could. The prospect thinks: if they could do it, so can I.

6. The beats of each example, in order

Framework	Beats, as annotated
Looking for a handful	Call-out, dream outcome, hook, the old way and the other providers, us and proof, us against them, the offer, call to action, next steps, dream outcome and speed, second call to action
New versus old	Call-out, hook, the old way (twice), pain or problem, opportunity, dream outcome, proof, opportunity, specifics, a hypothetical example as proof, dream outcome, specific pain, opportunity, dream outcome, throwaway jokes, first call to action, second call to action
Warning signs	Call-out, hook, proof, specific pains and problems (repeated), specific pain, opportunity, lead magnet or video sales letter, first call to action, second call to action
North star	Call-out, hook, proof, specific problems, dream outcome, dream outcome, dream outcome, dream outcome, proof, specific problem, opportunity, then an unmarked call to action
Short selfie	Hook, mechanism, proof, call to action

7. What this page does not decide for you

• Which north star figure fits your buyer. The test is that it predicts their pain; no way of finding one is given. Not established on this page.
• What counts as a believable reason to take only a few clients. Believability is the test; the truth is preferred. Not established on this page.

8. The checklist

Framework	The step it turns on
Looking for a handful	The one-liner: how many, who, what outcome, what pain avoided, your reason why, proof, keep watching
New versus old	Blame their pain on the old model; reveal the new way on one simple metric
Warning signs	Specific pains, each tied to a number, until they think "this is me"
North star	One figure that predicts their pain, and a ladder of outcomes by that figure
Short selfie	Proof that someone worse off than them did better, and a next step only
Setting for the first four	A whiteboard or other teaching setting
When to use the looking-for ad	When just starting to run paid ads or to earn from an audience you already have

9. What this page does not cover

The first five frameworks, the parts every framework carries and the checklist for any ad are SOP 114. The remaining frameworks are SOP 116 and SOP 117. Multiplying a winner is SOP 113. Lead magnets are SOP 13 — Choose and build a lead magnet.

Pricing models and ad budgets are not covered on this page.