Funnel X-Ray

01 · Method

How to use it in 15 minutes

Don't read it all at once. Follow the order below, with last month's numbers open next to you.

Desk seen from above, with sheets of paper sketched with boxes and arrows in a funnel shape, a ruler, a compass and a red pencil. — Fig. 01The map on paper

00:00 to 03:00
Look at the map
From memory, mark the steps you already have. Wherever there's nothing, there's money sitting still.
03:00 to 08:00
Take the checklist
20 yes-or-no questions. Your score and your weakest points show up right away.
08:00 to 12:00
Read only your weak points
Go straight to the points the checklist flagged. In each one, read the common mistake and the one-day fix.
12:00 to 15:00
Run the numbers
Put your numbers into the calculator and see how much each fix adds per month. Pick one fix to make tomorrow.

Have these open

How much you spent on ads last month
How many sales you made that month
The price of everything you sell
The list of everyone who has bought from you

One fix at a time. If you change three things at once, you won't know which one worked.

02 · Map

The funnel map

The ad brings people in. The profit lives in what happens after the first purchase.

Every step has a job. The red numbers mark where each of the 7 points in this material sits. Notice the arrow that loops back: people who already bought from you are the cheapest place to start any funnel.

Funnel map. The legend below describes each step.

6Traffic and content. Brings people in. It can run every day (evergreen) or on set dates (launch).
Lead magnet. Something useful, like this, in exchange for the person's contact info.
1Front-end offer. The first purchase. Cheap, and built to pay for the ads.
2Order bump. One more item, added with a single click before paying.
3Upsell. A bigger offer, right after the purchase.
4Downsell. A smaller version for people who said no to the upsell.
5Recurring revenue. What the customer pays every month to keep going.
High-ticket offer. Your highest-value product, for people who already bought and already trust you.
7Past buyers list. Everyone who already bought. They get a new offer and loop back to the start.

03 · Points

The 7 profit points

Black iron funnel hanging in the dark, with a crack on the side where a red thread runs out and drips onto a sheet of paper. — Fig. 03Where the money leaks

Each point is a place where money comes in or leaks out. They all follow the same structure.

What it is, when to use it, a ready-made example for a service business, an info product and a local business, the payoff in the short, medium and long term, the mistake people make most, and the fix you can make tomorrow on your own.

The numbers in the examples are illustrative. They're there to show the math, not to promise results.

Point 1 of 7

A front-end offer that pays for itself

On the map: front-end offer

It's the first thing a customer buys from you. It's built so the sale pays for the ad that brought that customer in. The profit comes from what they buy next.

When to use it

When you run ads and the cost of each sale eats almost all your margin. Or when your main offer is too expensive for someone who just found you.

The math

money in on day 1 ≥ cost per sale

CPL.: What you pay in ads for each lead.
Cost per sale.: What you spend on ads for each sale. Total ad spend divided by the number of sales.
Day-1 value.: Front-end offer, add-on and follow-up offer: everything the customer buys on the same day.

Ready-made example

Service

A social media agency that sells a $2,500/month retainer. Up front, a $297 profile audit, delivered in 48 hours. ExampleWith a cost per sale of $220, the audit already pays for the ads. Everyone who buys the audit becomes a warm list for the monthly retainer.

Info product

Main course at $1,997. Up front, a $47 practical guide, with a $27 add-on and a $197 follow-up offer. ExampleIf the guide's cost per sale is $60 and each buyer spends $70 on average on day 1, the ads pay for themselves. Every course sale is profit.

Local business

A med spa with a $1,200 treatment. Up front, a consultation with a facial for $97, advertised to the neighborhood. ExampleAt $35 per booking and a 60% show rate, each client seen costs about $58. The consultation pays for the ads. The treatment is offered during the visit.

The payoff

Short term: Ads stop being an expense and come back as cash the same month.
Medium term: Raising the budget stops being a gamble. It becomes math: if each sale pays for its ads, more budget means more customers.
Long term: A buyer list that grows every month, made of people who already trusted you once.

Common mistake

Making a cheap front-end offer that has nothing to do with the main offer. Someone who buys a recipe ebook won't turn into a financial consulting client. The front-end offer has to be the first step of the same problem.

One-day fixno hiring

Open your ads manager and write down how much you spent and how many sales you made in the last 30 days.
Divide spend by sales. That's your cost per sale.
If it's higher than the money that comes in on day 1, pick a piece of what you already deliver (an audit, a module, a short session) and turn it into a front-end product with its own price.

Point 2 of 7

Order bump

On the map: order bump

It's an extra item offered at checkout. The buyer adds it with one click. It costs little next to the main purchase and complements what they've already decided to buy.

When to use it

Any time there's a purchase. It's the simplest fix on the list, because you don't have to convince anyone again. The decision to buy has already been made.

Ready-made example

Service

A $3,000 website proposal. At the end, an optional line already written in: “page copy written by us, add $490”. When you sell through conversations, that line is your order bump. The client just says yes.

Info product

A $497 course. At checkout, a box: “ready-made spreadsheets and templates, add $37”. Example100 sales at a 30% take rate add $1,110 a month, without another dollar in ads.

Local business

A pet groomer with a $90 bath and haircut. When booking: “coat conditioning, add $25”. On a restaurant's delivery order: “house dessert, add $9”. One sentence, one price, one yes.

The payoff

Short term: Average order value goes up in the first week.
Medium term: Each sale covers a bigger share of the ads. The front-end offer pays for itself more easily.
Long term: You find out what customers want beyond the main product. That's a lead for a new product.

Common mistake

Offering an item that has nothing to do with the purchase, or that costs almost as much as it does. A pricey add-on becomes a second decision and kills the main sale. It has to be a one-click decision.

One-day fixno hiring

List what your customers ask for most after they buy.
Pick the item that's least work to deliver and price it well below the main offer.
Set it up as an order bump in your checkout platform, or as an optional line in your proposal.

Point 3 of 7

Upsell

On the map: upsell

It's a bigger offer, shown right after the purchase. It takes the customer further toward the same result, or gets them there faster.

When to use it

When customers, after buying, ask “now what?” or ask for help putting it to work. That question is your next offer asking to exist.

Ready-made example

Service

A photographer who sells an $800 shoot. While the client is looking at the previews: “printed album with 30 more edited photos, $650”.

Info product

They bought the $497 course. On the thank-you page: “want me to review your project in 3 live sessions? $1,497”. Example100 sales at an 8% take rate add $11,976 a month.

Local business

An auto repair shop. The customer came in for an oil change. With the car on the lift, the mechanic shows the worn-out brake pads and offers to replace them on the spot, with cheaper labor since the car is already there.

The payoff

Short term: More revenue per customer on the same day, with no new ads.
Medium term: People who buy the bigger offer get more hands-on support. They become your best case studies.
Long term: Every customer has a next step inside your business, not at a competitor's.

Common mistake

Waiting weeks to make the offer. Trust peaks right after the purchase. After that, people cool off and the same invitation becomes a brand-new sale, with the cost of a brand-new sale.

One-day fixno hiring

Write down the three questions customers ask most after they buy.
The answer that takes the most work becomes your follow-up offer. Put a price on it.
Write a ready-to-send message with that offer and send it to every new buyer on the day they buy.

Point 4 of 7

Downsell

On the map: downsell

It's a smaller, cheaper or split-payment version, offered to people who said no to the bigger offer. You trade a “no” for a “smaller yes”.

When to use it

When lots of people get as far as the proposal and don't buy. Or when you keep hearing “not right now”.

Ready-made example

Service

A consultant pitches a $12,000 project and hears “it doesn't fit right now”. The smaller version: just the project diagnosis, for $2,500, credited toward the full project if they sign within 60 days.

Info product

They turned down the $1,497 live review on the thank-you page. Right after: “want just the session recordings and the templates, without the review of your project? $397”.

Local business

A gym. The customer turns down the annual plan paid up front. The smaller version: the quarterly plan, or the annual plan billed monthly to their card.

The payoff

Short term: Wins back some of the people who were about to leave without buying anything.
Medium term: More people become customers. And customers are the people you can reactivate later.
Long term: You learn the real reason behind the no: price, timing or trust. That improves the main offer.

Common mistake

Discounting the same offer. It teaches customers to wait for the discount and cheapens what you sell. A downsell is a different, smaller offer. It's not the same offer for less.

One-day fixno hiring

Pull everyone who got a proposal in the last 30 days and didn't sign.
Build a smaller version of your offer: part of the deliverable, a shorter timeline or a different way to pay.
Send it to each of them with one direct line: “if the full thing doesn't fit right now, you can start here”.

Point 5 of 7

Recurring revenue and continuity

On the map: recurring revenue

It's something the customer pays for every month to keep getting the result. Subscription, maintenance, ongoing support, a group, a club. It's what makes the month start with money already on the books.

When to use it

When the problem you solve comes back: the car gets dirty again, content has to go out every week, the company needs bookkeeping every month. Or when the customer wants to stay close to you after delivery.

Ready-made example

Service

A designer who delivers a brand identity for $4,000. After delivery: “brand maintenance package, 8 pieces a month, $900 a month”.

Info product

After the course, a group with one live session a month and new templates, for $97 a month. Example40 sales a month, with 20% becoming subscribers, gives you 8 new subscribers a month. If each one stays 6 months, after half a year you have about 48 active at the same time: $4,656 every month.

Local business

A car wash with a plan of 4 washes a month for $49, charged to the card. A barbershop with unlimited cuts and beard trims for $129 a month.

The payoff

Short term: You start the month knowing how much is already in.
Medium term: Each month stacks new subscribers on top of the ones who stayed. Revenue grows without doubling sales.
Long term: A business with recurring revenue is worth more when you sell it, bring in a partner or plan the year.

Common mistake

Charging every month without delivering anything new every month. Customers cancel when they forget why they're paying. Recurring revenue needs a monthly reason they can see: a session, a deliverable, a report.

One-day fixno hiring

Ask 5 past customers: “what would you pay for every month to keep working with me?”
Take the most common answer and build a simple monthly offer, with one fixed deliverable per month.
Offer it to existing customers first, before you advertise it.

Point 6 of 7

Evergreen × launch: your cash calendar

On the map: traffic and content

Evergreen is the sale that happens every day. A launch is a sale concentrated around a date, with an open and a close. Neither one is better. The mistake is depending on just one.

When to use it

Use evergreen to pay the fixed bills each month. Use a launch, or a campaign with a deadline, to bring in big cash at moments you choose.

For a service or local business, evergreen is the day-to-day work. The launch is the campaign: a holiday, a season, a new cohort. The cash calendar is the sheet where you decide, for the next 90 days, where every dollar comes from.

Ready-made example

Service

An architecture firm. On evergreen, an interior design ad bringing in quote requests every month. Twice a year, a “book next season's projects” campaign, with a special deal for anyone who signs by the deadline.

Info product

A course sold on evergreen, with the front-end offer paying for the ads every month. Three times a year, enrollment opens for a mentorship cohort with live classes and a deadline. Evergreen covers the fixed costs. The cohorts bring in the big cash.

Local business

A clothing store. Everyday sales through Instagram and DMs. On the calendar: Mother's Day, the winter sale, the store's anniversary and Black Friday, each with an offer prepared 30 days ahead.

Sample cash calendar · 90 days
Source	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3
Evergreen	every day	every day	every day
Campaign	week 3: new cohort	no campaign	week 2: holiday promo
Recurring revenue	day 5: billing	day 5: billing	day 5: billing
Past buyers	no action	week 2: offer to past buyers	no action

The payoff

Short term: You see the hole in your cash flow before you fall into it.
Medium term: Months stop swinging between record highs and zero.
Long term: You decide investment, inventory and ad budget from a calendar, not from the month's panic.

Common mistake

Living on launches and calling the following month a break. Cash drops off a cliff and the next launch gets rushed. Or the opposite: living only on evergreen and never creating a cash spike.

One-day fixno hiring

Open a spreadsheet with the next 90 days, week by week.
For each week, write where the money comes from: evergreen, campaign, recurring revenue or past buyers.
Every empty week is a decision to make today: an offer to past buyers, a holiday or a new cohort.

Point 7 of 7

The sleeping customer list: reactivating past buyers

On the map: past buyers list

These are customers who already bought from you and never got another offer. They trusted you once. Selling to them again costs a message, not an ad.

When to use it

Always. And first of all when cash gets tight, when ads get more expensive or when you have a new product to test.

Ready-made example

Service

A dentist with 800 patients who haven't been back in over a year. Message: “it's been over a year since your last checkup. I've set aside time slots this week for existing patients”. ExampleIf 4% come back, that's 32 appointments, and each one can lead to a treatment.

Info product

1,500 past students of a 2023 course. Offer: “updated version plus one live session, $197, only for past students”. ExampleIf 3% buy, that's 45 sales and $8,865, with zero ad spend.

Local business

A restaurant with 2,000 delivery customers on its text list. Tuesday is the slowest day. Message: “Tuesday special: dish of the day with dessert for $19, text orders only”. The idle list becomes the cash for the slowest day.

The payoff

Short term: Cash in days, not months, with ad cost close to zero.
Medium term: You find out who your most loyal customers are and how much they spend per year.
Long term: Each customer becomes worth several purchases. That's what lets you pay more to acquire a new customer than your competitor can.

Common mistake

Sending the same promo to the whole list, with no reason and without separating who bought what. The message that works talks about what the person already bought and offers their next step.

One-day fixno hiring

Export the list of everyone who bought in the last 24 months: platform, spreadsheet, card terminal or phone.
Split it by product purchased and write a short message for the biggest group, with the natural next step for people who bought that.
Send it to the first 50 today and count the replies before sending to the rest.

Metal sieve over dark stone. The fine grains have passed through. Larger stones and one red stone are caught in the mesh.

06 · Audience

Audience tune-up

A good funnel with the wrong audience is just cost. Think about your last 20 leads and check the signs that show up often.

07 · Math

Funnel calculator

Put in your numbers. The math shows how much each fix adds per month.

The fields come filled in with an example. Swap in your own. Take rates are what you measure, or what you want to test.

Old black adding machine with ivory keys and one red key, with the paper tape coming out the top. — Fig. 07The month's math

Your month todaybaseline

Sales per month

Main offer price

$

Ad cost per sale (optional)

$

Order bumppoint 2

Add-on price

$

Take rate

%

Upsellpoint 3

Bigger offer price

$

Take rate

%

Downsellpoint 4

Smaller version price

$

Take rate among upsell decliners

%

Recurring revenuepoint 5

Monthly fee

$

Buyers who subscribe

%

Average months a subscriber stays

Sleeping listpoint 7

Customers on your list

How many buy again

%

Price of the offer to past buyers

$

Simulation resultper month

Today, main offer only$0
Plus the order bump$0
Plus the upsell$0
Plus the downsell$0
Plus recurring revenue, first month$0
Monthly total, with the fixes+$0 over today$0

Value per buyer on day 1

$0 → $0

Compare with your ad cost per sale.

Recurring revenue built up

$0 per month

After 6 months.

Past buyer reactivation · one campaign

$0

One offer to people who already bought, with ad cost close to zero.

Over 12 months, from the fixes alone

$0

Order bump, upsell, downsell and accumulated recurring revenue. Not counting past buyers.

A simulation built on the numbers you entered. It's not a promise of results. Take rates change with the market, the offer and the timing. Measure yours before deciding.

The math, on paper

value per buyer on day 1 = front-end price + (add-on × take rate) + (bigger offer × take rate) + (smaller version × take rate among decliners)Compare with your ad cost per sale. If day-1 value is greater than or equal to it, the ads pay for themselves.

extra per month = sales × (value per buyer on day 1 − front-end price)That's what points 2, 3 and 4 add without a single extra ad.

recurring revenue after M months ≈ sales × subscribers (%) × M × monthly feeIf each subscriber stays M months, after that time you'll have about sales × % × M active subscribers at once.

past buyer reactivation = customers on the list × how many buy (%) × offer priceOne campaign. You can repeat it with every new product or date on the calendar.

The interactive calculator is in the online version: funnel-xray.pages.dev/#calculator. The numbers are a simulation, not a promise of results.

Series · Cases

Cases from the series

The funnels broken down in the videos. The thesis of each one and the terms from this material that show up in it.

FunnelX-Ray

Look at the map

Take the checklist

Read only your weak points

Run the numbers

When to use it

The math

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

When to use it

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

When to use it

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

When to use it

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

When to use it

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

When to use it

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

When to use it

Ready-made example

The payoff

Common mistake

Point 1 · Front-end offer

Point 2 · Order bump

Point 3 · Upsell

Point 4 · Downsell

Point 5 · Recurring revenue

Point 6 · Cash calendar

Point 7 · Sleeping list

Answer all 20 questions.

Who buys at a higher price

Signs of the wrong audience

Answer and send

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