act · playbook library
Own-channel plays
Posts, content and building in public.
In Playbook library
Posts, videos and launches on accounts you control. Slower than replying, but it compounds: every post that lands makes the next offer and the next launch easier.
lead → playbook → own-channel plays → campaign
A cadence you can keep — Showing up on a schedule beats any single post. Pick a rhythm that survives a busy week.
Real numbers, including bad ones — The line people trust is the number that didn't move.
Measure the profile click — Impressions are the platform's metric. Profile clicks and signups are yours.
what it is, in industry terms
Own-channel plays: the motion in one paragraph.
Posts, videos and launches on accounts you control. Slower than replying, but it compounds: every post that lands makes the next offer and the next launch easier.
Content-led growth — also: founder-led content, audience-led · Building an audience on your own account so launches and offers have someone to land on.
Build in public — BIP · Posting the work as it happens, with real numbers, on a steady schedule.
Lead magnet — comment-to-get, gated content · Giving part of the value in public and the rest to people who raise a hand.
Launch — launch sequence · A short, planned burst on launch sites and your own account, with a readout after.
how it works
The loop every play in this motion runs.
Pick the format
build in public, offer post, video, launch, comment-to-get
Draft in the founder's voice
from the voice profile and what already worked on this account
Schedule at the account's best hour
from measured engagement by day and hour
Post, then reply to replies
the reply loop is where conversations and leads come from
Snapshot the metrics
10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day and 7 days after posting
Keep what works
profile clicks and signups per post decide the next format
- Pick the format — build in public, offer post, video, launch, comment-to-get
- Draft in the founder's voice — from the voice profile and what already worked on this account
- Schedule at the account's best hour — from measured engagement by day and hour
- Post, then reply to replies — the reply loop is where conversations and leads come from
- Snapshot the metrics — 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day and 7 days after posting
- Keep what works — profile clicks and signups per post decide the next format
the catalog
Every play in this motion.
Library cards summarize each step (when, channel, what).
Offer post
One post on your own accounts, aimed at one group, at the hour that group is online, with the link in the first reply.
- channels
- X, Instagram, TikTok
- time
- 1 hour a week
- triggers
- Tried it and it failed, Set up, but no results, Taking stock
- steps
- day 0 · X, at your best hour · The offer
- 2 min later · X reply · The link, as a reply
- day 3 · X · Proof post
- day 6 · Instagram or TikTok · Same offer, new channel
- metric
- profile clicks, then visits
- kill
- 3 offer posts and 0 visits from them.
- offer
- One offer, stated plainly, for one group.
Weekly long-form
One long piece a week, built from the question your buyers asked most and what you shipped to answer it.
- channels
- blog, X articles, newsletter
- time
- 2 to 3 hours a week
- triggers
- Taking stock, Doing it by hand
- steps
- mon · notes · Pick the question
- wed · blog → X article · Publish the piece
- thu · X · Pointer post
- fri · email · Newsletter
- sat · TikTok, Reels, Shorts · Cut it into a video
- metric
- bookmarks, subscribers
- kill
- 4 weeks with no new subscribers: change the topic.
- offer
- Your newsletter. The product, once, at the end.
Video check-ins
Short videos on a fixed schedule: a weekly face-to-camera check-in, and an animated explainer of one idea your buyers keep asking about.
- channels
- TikTok, Reels, Shorts, X
- time
- 1 to 2 hours a week
- triggers
- Taking stock
- steps
- mon · TikTok, Reels, X · Weekly check-in, on camera
- wed · TikTok, Reels, Shorts · Explainer animation
- fri · TikTok or Reels reply video · Answer a comment
- monthly · X · Best of, as a post
- metric
- profile visits, then follows
- kill
- 6 videos in one format and none past your account's usual views: switch format (face vs explainer) before you switch topic.
- offer
- None in the video. Link in bio, once.
Share a new customer
When someone pays, post the story: where they found you and why they paid, in your words.
- channels
- X
- time
- 10 min
- triggers
- none in particular: runs on a schedule
- steps
- when they pay · email · Ask one question
- next day · X, your best hour · The post
- metric
- profile clicks
- kill
- None. One post per milestone.
- offer
- None. The post is the proof.
Launch week
A five-post arc around a Product Hunt, Show HN, Uneed or PeerPush launch, ending with the honest week-after numbers.
- channels
- X, launch sites
- time
- one week
- triggers
- Trying again
- steps
- 3 days before · X · Warm up
- launch · 12:01am PT · X · Go live
- launch · midday · X · What you learned
- day after · X · Results
- a week later · X · The week after
- metric
- signups in launch week
- kill
- Ends on day 7. The quiet signups move to win-back emails.
- offer
- Your launch offer, if you have one, stated once.
Waitlist countdown
Two weeks of short posts before you open, each naming one pain the product fixes, with the waitlist link in the reply.
- channels
- X, landing page, email
- time
- 20 min a day for 2 weeks
- triggers
- none in particular: runs on a schedule
- steps
- day 1 · X · Say what's coming
- 2 min later · X reply · The link, as a reply
- days 2 to 13 · X · One pain a day
- on signup · email · Confirm and ask
- day 14 · email, then X · Open the doors
- metric
- waitlist signups per post
- kill
- 7 posts and fewer than 5 signups: the pain you're naming isn't theirs. go back to community answers and listen first.
- offer
- Early access, and a founding price if you have one.
Build-in-public streak
A short post every weekday from inside the work, and one weekly readout with real numbers, so people watch the product get built.
- channels
- X, Threads
- time
- 15 min a day
- triggers
- Taking stock
- steps
- mon to thu · X · Daily log
- fri · X · Weekly readout
- when it happens · X · The bad day
- metric
- profile clicks, then follows
- kill
- 4 weeks with no change in profile clicks: change what the daily posts are about, not how often you post.
- offer
- None in the daily posts. The weekly readout links the product, once.
Ads on creative that already worked
Only pay to amplify a post that already won on its own.
- channels
- TikTok Spark Ads, Meta partnership ads
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- cost per trial
- kill
- Two weeks and 10 or more creatives, cost per trial still above what a customer is worth
Build in public with a public goal
Daily founder posts, with one pinned number everyone can watch.
- channels
- X
- cadence
- daily
- metric
- profile clicks per post
- kill
- Profile clicks per post flat or falling across four weeks of daily posts
"Comment a keyword" lead magnets
Give away a fifth of the value in a post, and send the rest to everyone who comments.
- channels
- X, LinkedIn, Instagram
- cadence
- daily
- metric
- signups from the traced link, per post
- kill
- Three posts and under ten signups in total
Customer proof, amplified
The people who paid are on the page; put their words in front of people like them.
- channels
- X
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- profile clicks per quote post, and signups within 7 days
- kill
- Quote posts under the account's usual profile clicks for three weeks running
Launch, or launch again
No launch is on record: Product Hunt, Show HN and a founder thread are still available.
- channels
- X, Product Hunt, Hacker News
- cadence
- one time
- metric
- signups in launch week
- kill
- One shot; under 50 signups in launch week and the next playbook starts
Offer post and reply loop
Give the result away in public once a week, and turn the replies into conversations.
- channels
- X
- cadence
- daily
- metric
- signups per offer post
- kill
- Two offer posts and no signup from either
Fresh-account organic short video
One new account per app, a daily post, and one variable changed each day.
- channels
- TikTok, Instagram Reels
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- downloads or signups per video
- kill
- Sixty videos across at least three formats with no measurable signups
Ride a trend within 48 hours
When something breaks in your space, say you are building the answer and ship it in public by tomorrow.
- channels
- X
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- signups in the seven days after the post
- kill
- One shot per trend; three attempts with no signups ends it
Waitlist, nurture, webinar and capped cohorts
Collect a waitlist from your own audience, warm it by email, and open in small paid cohorts.
- channels
- landing page, email, webinar
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- waitlist signups, then the share that pays
- kill
- About 100 signups after two months, where 1,000 was the aim
failure modes
Four ways this motion goes wrong.
Posting into silence — Daily posts with no replies and no profile clicks for weeks. · catch itbuild-in-public's own kill rule: profile clicks per post flat or falling across four weeks
Chasing impressions — Formats that spread but bring nobody to the profile. · catch itrank posts by profile-click rate and signups, not reach
Repeating yourself — The same take recycled because it worked once. · catch itsearch the archive before drafting; track topic repeats
Confounded tests — Five other posts go out within an hour of a test slot. · catch itkeep test slots clear, as the article and topic tests do
data to capture
What every play in this motion records.
Same data rules as everywhere in this guide: log every move with the play id and version, the plays that were eligible, and the odds of the one chosen.
record
- every draft with prompt version, slot, variant, decision, edit distance and locus
- each post's metrics at the five snapshot times
- profile clicks and signups attributed to the post through traced links
- the slot, the hour and what else went out within 90 minutes
label
- shipped unedited, edited or discarded
- signups and profile clicks per post
- the 7-day engagement each post reached
trains
- a draft reward model from draft-versus-posted pairs
- an early forecast: does the 30-minute number predict the 7-day number?
- a send-time model per account
test
- one variable per test (hook, length, proof opener), with pre-set win rules
Library playbooks are the 22 on the Playbook Library page. A person always sends the first message to a stranger.