Every founder goes through it — I’m sure you’ve noticed this.

You have one week where you’re on fire:

  • Sent an email that got you actual ROI
  • Posted on LinkedIn
  • Actually remembered to include a CTA
  • People replied (!!!)

Then life happens. Or a client project explodes. Or LinkedIn tells you your post got 78 views. Or you read someone’s $100K in 2 days launch thread and spiral into “I should be doing more” mode.

Cue: a flurry of half‑baked social media posts, an abandoned newsletter draft, three new Notion dashboards you never look at, and a sudden urge to join another cohort that you definitely don’t have time for.

These are random acts of marketing. And I have beef with them.

Because they feel like progress — but they’re just ​bikeshedding​. They look strategic — but they’re mostly reactive. And worst of all: they drain your energy while rarely moving the needle.

So what’s better?

Strategic experiments with short feedback loops and long-term ROI

Think: marketing with a hypothesis and a way to track results. Not just a half-baked idea a bro marketer gave you permission to “steal” from him.

I have a list of 12 high‑impact experiments you can run in 60 days.

Each one is:

  • Simple enough to execute ​without a team of 12​ or a full funnel diagram
  • Strategic enough to teach you something meaningful — even if it doesn’t “work”
  • Plug‑and‑play enough to start this week, not after you finish your course backlog

We’ll dig into them after a quick word from today’s partner, a solution that helped me take social proof to the next level — and get massive ROI from it.

📣 Brought to you by 📣

​Senja​

“How the heck do you get SO many testimonials?” is a question I get at least once a week. The answer is simple: I ask for them — often!

You know what’s not so simple? Managing them!

I gathered over 300 testimonials, and finding the right one used to be a nightmare. Senja fixed that problem for me.

Right now:

  • My process is streamlined and the testimonials are automatically categorized by product or service
  • My clients love it — the Senja experience is infinitely superior to DMs or Google Sheets.
  • I can share them with a single click and build on-brand walls of love equally easily.

Want a similar experience for you and your clients? Give Senja a shot — it’s free (not a free trial, an actual free tier).

Upgrade your social proof

​

Want your name up here? ​Reserve your slot!​

Why and when to experiment

​Marketing attribution is a fool’s errand​ because you won’t always know what drives the most ROI. In fact, you’ll rarely know which channel and which message sealed the deal.

Experiments help with that. When you shake things up a bit (​add a new channel​ or a new tactic), you might see unexpected growth.

I know you’re busy and you don’t have time to run an experiment a week. I’m the same way. So I try to run a new experiment every quarter. (I’ll tell you what I’m currently running later on).

Why?

Because:

  • ​All channels decay with time​. If my main channels see a decreased performance, I want a back-up before I need it.
  • The more your business grows, the bigger your footprint needs to be. (Unless you’re happy with the current state of affairs — there’s nothing wrong with that; don’t let gurus tell you how much you should be making.)
  • To uncover new opportunities. That’s how I stumbled upon ​Medium​, for instance.

Some of these experiments may turn into permanent tactics (that was Medium for me). Others will flop. Others will bring you some growth but you won’t be able to do them every week/month.

That’s OK. Nothing is permanent in business.

Experiment with a curious, not a greedy, mindset.

OK, let’s dig in.

12 strategic growth experiments

(Pick 1–3. You’re not a robot.)

1. The 20‑minute LinkedIn commenting sprint

  • What it is: Block 20 minutes a day to leave 5-10 meaningful comments on posts your ideal audience already engages with.
  • Goal: increase profile views and DMs by 30%.
  • When to try this: when you’re showing up consistently on social, but growth has stalled. This is about increasing visibility and relevance without producing more content. If you’re already on the platform but it’s not generating warm leads or conversations, this flips your role from broadcaster to participant — and that shift has the potential to convert better.

Pro tip: feeling the LinkedIn burnout creep in? Use these 20 mins to comment on completely new profiles. This way, you tap into brand-new audiences and you replenish your creative juices.

2. Lead magnet glow‑up

  • What it is: Rewrite or reframe your current lead magnet with a stronger, painkiller headline. Test both versions.
  • Goal: Double your opt‑in rate from X% to 2X%.
  • When to try this: when traffic is flowing but list growth is anemic. If you’re getting visitors to your site, or people are seeing your stuff but not subscribing, your offer isn’t doing enough heavy lifting. This experiment is perfect when you’re confident in your traffic strategy but your list-building is lagging behind.

Shameless plug: ​Inbox to Income​ gives you the blueprint for list growth and monetization. So you can experiment strategically, while your newsletter drives both fans and buyers.

3. Premium‑tier price anchor

  • What it is: add a high-ticket tier (3x your current top price) with premium perks. Example: access to course = $100, access to course + a 1:1 session with you = $300.
  • Goal: increase average order value by 20%.
  • When to try this: when you keep hearing “this is such a steal” or closing clients easily. This signals that your pricing ceiling is too low. Adding a higher tier — even if it rarely sells — creates a price anchor and gives your current offers more perceived value. Also great if you want to test demand for higher-touch services without changing your core offer.

4. Onboarding/welcome sequence remix

  • What it is: rewrite your welcome sequence as a 5‑email mini story with cliffhangers and a clear CTA.
  • Goal: increase click-through rate by 25%.
  • When to try this: when your open rate is healthy(-ish) but nobody clicks (or buys). You’ve got attention but it’s not translating into action. This kind of onboarding series builds emotional momentum and guides people to your offer through narrative, not pitch fatigue.

Pro tip: my welcome sequence generates 70%+ open rates because it’s personalized. I got so many questions about it that it turned it into a micro-product. ​Grab it here​!

5. Newsletter cross‑promotion tour

  • What it is: partner with 4-10 creators who serve complementary audiences and swap newsletter shoutouts.
  • Goal: grow your list by 10%.
  • When to try this: when your own audience is warming up but growth has plateaued — or when you simply want to speed up growth. This is a low-effort, high-quality way to grow without ads. Perfect when your offer is working, your content is solid, and you’re ready to expand your reach without reinventing the wheel.

6. Repurpose instead of creating from scratch

  • What it is: take one long-form piece of content and turn it into 10+ pieces across platforms. ​Read the full playbook on content repurposing here​.
  • Goal: triple your total impressions without creating net-new content.
  • When to try this: when you’re burnt out on content but want to stay visible. If you’ve written gold and it’s buried in your archive, this gets it working for you again.

7. Build a referral system

  • What it is: set up a simple “refer 3 friends, get a bonus” system using a tool like SparkLoop or manual tracking. (You can scroll to the end of this email for an example.)
  • Goal: 1% of your subscribers send a referral.
  • When to try this: when people love your stuff but growth is slow. If you’re getting compliments, replies, and high open rates but not growing, this turns goodwill into action.

8. $10/day self-liquidating offers (that eventually turn into free growth)

  • What it is: use Meta/Google/LinkedIn ads to sell a low-cost offer (<$50) with a budget of $10/day. Then add them to a funnel where you eventually (or immediately) pitch them a high-ticket offer. Ideally, the ads pay for themselves (with the sales you make) and the high-ticket conversions are pure profit. ​Read more about self-liquidating offers here​.
  • Goal: grow your audience for free. Or turn a profit if you pair it with a high-ticket offer.
  • When to try this: when you need a new growth channel that doesn’t involve you spending ages on social media — paid growth is faster than organic growth.

9. Bundle 2-5 of your products

  • What it is: combine two or more offers into a discounted “starter kit” and cap availability.
  • Goal: 80% of bundles sold within 60 days.
  • When to try this: when people hesitate to buy but keep circling back. You’ve got interest, but they’re stuck in indecision. Bundling removes the “either/or” friction and makes the next step easier.

10. Podcast guest blitz

  • What it is: pitch and appear on 10 podcasts, then drive listeners to a targeted opt-in page.
  • Goal: 200 new subscribers with high email engagement.
  • When to try this: when you’re craving depth over reach. Podcast listeners are long-form lovers — they’re more likely to convert, buy, and stick around. This is a great fit when you’ve already got a dialed-in offer and want to build warm trust at scale.

11. Social proof sprint

  • What it is: gather and organize testimonials from all the work you’ve done in the past three months. Use them on social media and on your landing pages. This is the hill I’m willing to die on: social proof is the biggest growth lever you can pull.
  • Goal: boost conversion rate by 15%.
  • When to try this: when you’re doing great work but it’s invisible. This builds social proof and helps potential clients see themselves in your story.

Bonus: use a solution like ​Senja​ to organize your testimonials into walls of love, videos, and more.

12. High‑ticket add-on

  • What it is: add a high-ticket tier to your low- or mid-ticket offers. For example: $150 for a course and $1200 for the course + several sessions with you to guide clients through implementation. ​More examples and how-tos here​.
  • Goal: increase revenue by 10% within 60 days.
  • When to try this: when you want additional revenue without adding to your product stack. You can do a mini-launch with this new tier, targeting people who had previously expressed interest in the product but never bought.

What I’m currently experimenting with

I’ve tried all these experiments, either for my business or for my clients’ businesses. They’re low-lifts but, make no mistake, you still need a solid foundation for them to work.

One last piece of advice: do NOT try them all. Do 1-3 at a time and, if you pick more than one, make sure two of them are not ongoing. For instance, you can change your welcome sequence in a couple of hours, the same day you run ads.

On the other hand, running a cross-promo campaign, a podcast guesting blitz, and a self-liquidating offer at the same time might be too much when you’re ​a one-person show​.

Right now, I’m in full cross-promo mode, working with friends and partners to tap into each other’s audiences.

Previous experiments I’ve done recently:

  • I started using ​Senja​ and it completely changed the way my social proof looks. Plus, I spend much less time collecting and organizing testimonials.
  • LinkedIn commenting sprint (on new accounts) — it worked well for me and I’ll likely do it again soon.
  • Changing my ​welcome sequence​ boosted my open rate and my conversion rate significantly.

My next experiment will likely be a self-liquidating offer.

What about you? Which of these sounds appealing?

🔦 Community Spotlight

Let’s cancel your marketing guilt trip — with the brilliant Dr. Michelle Mazur.

The free Market Like an Expert course gives you full permission to ditch the “you should…” advice and finally market your way. In 7 days, you’ll know what to keep, what to quit, and how to stop second-guessing every marketing move. ​Get it here​.

Most marketers give advice. Pete shows you what he’s actually doing.

The Growth Models daily newsletter is a behind-the-scenes look at what’s working right now — in real-time.

Every day, Pete shares the tests he’s running, the systems he’s building, and what’s working (or flopping) across SaaS, digital products, and high-ticket offers.

No polished theory. No guru vibes. Just raw, proven insights from someone building growth systems that print money — and showing his work as he does it.

👉 Subscribe here:​ https://growthmodels.co​

⚡️ I wrote (part of) a book!

My friend Sinem Gunel put together an amazing eBook to help you reach your first $10K month. Each chapter is written by a different author and it’s chock-full of strategic advice and things that actually work.

I’m beyond proud to have my work featured in this project. ​Grab a free copy of $10K Secrets here.​