# Boot-Camp GTM Content + Referral Engine — DRAFTS (A2, 2026-07-15) > **HARD RULE:** These are drafts. **Sean sends/posts everything.** Nothing here goes out automatically. > **Voice:** value-first, non-salesy, states what it is in the first ~60 seconds, 80% educational / 20% promo. > **Audience:** complete beginners — consumers just starting their AI journey (NOT AI experts, NOT "employee training for business" as the primary frame). Source: `comms/context-log/2026-07-14-bootcamp-marketing-frame-and-strategy-sean.md`. > **Fill-in tokens** (Sean replaces before sending): `[MEETUP-LINK]`, `[COURSE-LINK]`, `[COUPON-CODE]`, `[LEAD-MAGNET-LINK]`, `[EVENT-DATE]`, `[EVENT-TIME]`. --- ## LANE 1 — LinkedIn 2-Week Daily Post Pack (Phase-1 Anticipation) **Cadence:** one post each weekday, 2 weeks = 10 posts. Mix is **8 educational / 2 promo** (80/20). **LinkedIn link-block workaround:** LinkedIn suppresses reach on posts with a raw external link in the body. For any post that points somewhere, put **"link in the comments"** (drop the link as the first comment right after posting) or use **link-in-bio**. Never paste the Meetup/course URL into the post body itself. **Engagement note:** reply to every comment in the first 2 hours — LinkedIn weights early engagement heavily, and Phase 1 is about warming 11,500 connections, not selling. ### Week 1 **Post 1 — Mon (Educational): "5 ChatGPT mistakes beginners make"** Most people who try ChatGPT for the first time give up in a week — and it's almost never because AI is "too hard." It's 5 small habits: 1. Asking one-line questions. AI mirrors your effort. "Write a marketing email" gets you junk. Tell it who it's for, what it's about, and the tone. 2. Not giving it a role. "You are a friendly dentist explaining a root canal to a nervous patient" beats "explain root canals" every time. 3. Accepting the first answer. The magic is in the follow-up: "make it shorter," "sound less robotic," "give me 3 versions." 4. Never telling it what NOT to do. "No jargon, no bullet points, under 100 words" saves you 3 edits. 5. Treating it like Google. Google finds pages. ChatGPT *does the work* — writes, summarizes, plans, rewrites. Fix these 5 and it stops feeling like a toy and starts feeling like a teammate. *(No link needed — pure value. This post's job is to earn the follow.)* --- **Post 2 — Tue (Educational): "I saved 3 hours today with AI"** I timed it. Here's where 3 hours went last week that AI now handles in minutes: - Turning a messy voice memo into a clean email → 20 min becomes 30 seconds. - Summarizing a 40-minute call recording into 5 bullets → 25 min becomes 1 minute. - Rewriting the same message for 3 different people → 15 min becomes one prompt. - First draft of anything (proposal, post, reply) → the blank page is gone. The trick isn't a fancy tool. It's realizing that "first draft" and "cleanup" are exactly what AI is best at — and those are the tasks that quietly eat your day. What's the one task that eats *your* week? Tell me in the comments and I'll show you the prompt I'd use for it. *(CTA is a comment prompt — drives engagement, not a click.)* --- **Post 3 — Wed (Educational): "One prompt every business owner should know"** If you only ever memorize one prompt, make it this one: > "Act as [expert]. I need to [goal]. Here's what I have: [paste your rough notes]. Ask me any questions before you start." That last line — *"ask me any questions before you start"* — is what separates beginners from people who get gold out of AI. Instead of guessing, the AI interviews you first, then delivers something that actually fits. Try it on your next email, proposal, or plan. The questions it asks you are often more useful than the answer. --- **Post 4 — Thu (Educational): "AI Myth vs. Reality"** Three myths I hear every week from smart people: **Myth:** "AI will replace me." **Reality:** The person using AI will replace the person who won't. It's a power tool, not a robot boss. **Myth:** "I need to be technical to use it." **Reality:** If you can text a friend, you can prompt an AI. There's nothing to install and no code. **Myth:** "It just makes stuff up." **Reality:** It can — which is exactly why you learn *how* to use it. Knowing when to trust it is a skill, and it's learnable in an afternoon. The gap isn't intelligence. It's just that nobody showed you the ropes yet. --- **Post 5 — Fri (PROMO #1): free Meetup announcement** For two weeks I've been posting AI tips for beginners. A lot of you have asked the same thing: *"Can you just walk me through it live?"* Yes. I'm running a **free 90-minute AI Boot Camp for Complete Beginners** — no experience needed, nothing to install, no sales pitch. We'll cover what AI actually is, do a live ChatGPT demo you can follow along with, and go through the handful of tools everyone should know. Bring your questions. It's free and beginner-only by design. Details + RSVP in the comments 👇 *(Link in first comment: `[MEETUP-LINK]`. Note "beginner-only by design" — filters out experts, matches the frame.)* ### Week 2 **Post 6 — Mon (Educational): "The 2-minute AI habit that changed my week"** Every Monday morning, before I do anything else, I paste my week's to-do list into AI and ask one question: > "Which of these can be done faster or better with AI, and how?" Two minutes. It flags the 3-4 tasks I was about to grind through by hand — and hands me the approach for each. I'm not automating my whole job. I'm just refusing to do by hand what a tool can do in seconds. Steal the habit. Monday morning, one question. Tell me what it flags for you. --- **Post 7 — Tue (Educational): "How to spot when AI is wrong (without being technical)"** AI sounds confident even when it's wrong — so here's a beginner's lie-detector, no tech required: 1. **Ask for its sources.** "Where does this come from?" Vague answer = don't trust it yet. 2. **Check anything with a number, name, or date yourself.** Those are where it slips most. 3. **Ask it to argue the opposite.** "Now give me the case against this." Watch how fast the "facts" soften. 4. **Use it for drafts and thinking, verify for facts.** That one rule keeps you safe 95% of the time. Confidence isn't correctness. Once you internalize that, AI becomes safe *and* powerful. --- **Post 8 — Wed (Educational): "3 free AI tools every beginner should try this week"** You don't need to spend a dollar to get started. Three free tools, three different jobs: 1. **ChatGPT (free tier)** — your writing, planning, and thinking partner. Start here. 2. **A free AI image tool** — describe a picture in words, get it in seconds. Great for social posts and thumbnails. 3. **A free AI transcription tool** — drop in a voice memo or meeting recording, get clean text back. Pick ONE this week. Use it for one real task you actually have. That's the whole assignment. The people who get good at AI aren't the ones who read about it — they're the ones who touched it. --- **Post 9 — Thu (Educational): "Why beginners are actually at an advantage right now"** Everyone worried they're "behind" on AI — read this. There is no 10-year expert in tools that are barely 2 years old. The playing field has never been this level. A curious beginner who spends a weekend learning the basics is genuinely ahead of a busy professional who keeps saying "I'll get to it." You're not late. You're early. The only mistake is waiting until it feels "less overwhelming" — it won't, until you start. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is this week. --- **Post 10 — Fri (PROMO #2): free Meetup reminder + what you'll leave with** Reminder: the **free 90-minute AI Boot Camp for Complete Beginners** is coming up. Here's exactly what you'll walk away with — even if you've never touched AI: - A clear, plain-English answer to "what even IS AI, and what's it good for?" - A live ChatGPT walk-through you can copy in real time. - The short list of tools worth your attention (and the ones to ignore). - Your questions answered live — no question too basic. No cost, no pressure, no jargon. If you've been meaning to "finally figure out this AI thing," this is the on-ramp. RSVP in the comments 👇 *(Link in first comment: `[MEETUP-LINK]`.)* --- ## LANE 2 — Free 90-Minute Meetup: Event Description + Slide/Agenda Outline *(This event is the recurring weekly-webinar deck too — build it once, reuse it. Phase 4 of the funnel.)* ### Event Description (for Meetup / event page) **Title:** AI Boot Camp for Complete Beginners — Free 90-Minute Live Session **Short description (first ~60 seconds of reading it tells them exactly what it is):** This is a free, beginner-only crash course in using AI — no experience needed, nothing to install, and no sales pitch. In 90 minutes we'll answer "what is AI and what's it actually good for," do a live ChatGPT demo you can follow along with on your own screen, and walk through the handful of free tools every beginner should know. Bring your questions — no question is too basic. You'll leave able to actually *use* AI for something in your real life or work, not just nod along about it. **Who it's for:** Complete beginners. If you've been curious about AI but felt overwhelmed or "behind," this is your on-ramp. If you're already an AI power user, this one isn't for you — it's built from zero. **What to bring:** A laptop or phone with a free ChatGPT account (we'll help you set one up at the start if you don't have one) and one real task you'd love AI to help with. **Cost:** Free. ### 90-Minute Agenda / Slide Outline | Time | Segment | Slides / Content | Purpose | |------|---------|------------------|---------| | 0:00–0:10 | **Welcome + "what this is / isn't"** | 1 slide: agenda. 1 slide: "no experience needed, no pitch until the very end, ask anything." Quick round of "where's everyone at with AI?" | Sets the non-salesy, safe tone in the first 60 seconds. | | 0:10–0:25 | **What AI actually is (plain English)** | 3-4 slides: AI as "a very well-read assistant that writes, summarizes, and plans." Myth vs. reality (reuse LinkedIn Post 4). What it's great at / bad at. | Removes fear + intimidation. First-principles, not hype. | | 0:25–0:55 | **Live ChatGPT demo (follow-along)** | Screen-share, no slides. Do 4-5 real tasks live: write an email, summarize a document, plan an event, rewrite something 3 ways, "ask me questions first" prompt. Audience does one along with you. | The core value. This is what they came for. | | 0:55–1:10 | **Tools everyone should know** | 3-4 slides: ChatGPT, a free image tool, a free transcription tool, one automation example. "Pick one this week" homework. | Gives a concrete next step so momentum doesn't die. | | 1:10–1:25 | **Live Q&A** | No slides. Take every question. Capture common ones for the FAQ / future content. | Builds trust; surfaces objections; feeds content ideas. | | 1:25–1:30 | **Soft close** | 1 slide: "Want to go deeper? The full 8-hour AI Boot Camp on Thinkific picks up exactly where this leaves off." Beginner coupon `[COUPON-CODE]`. 1 slide: free lead magnet — "grab the AI Beginner Cheat Sheet, link on screen." | The 20% promo, at the very end, after 85 minutes of pure value. Also captures emails via the lead magnet. | **Close framing (say it warmly, no pressure):** "Everything we did today is yours to keep and practice. If you want the guided, go-at-your-own-pace version — the full 8-hour Boot Camp — it's on Thinkific and I've got a beginner coupon for anyone here. And whether or not you ever buy anything, grab the free cheat sheet on the way out. Thanks for spending 90 minutes leveling up." --- ## LANE 3 — Referral Test Kit (Dana + `[NAME-2]`) — Affiliate 1-Pager *(This is the TEST before multiplying to more affiliates. Keep it dead simple — two friends, not a formal program yet.)* *(**Verify note:** the source doc says "two women (Dana + one)" — the second woman's name is NOT in any source. `[NAME-2]` is a fill-in token; an earlier draft guessed a name, which was removed.)* ### The 1-Pager (send to Dana & `[NAME-2]`) **Subject: Want to earn on every AI Boot Camp student you send my way?** Hi Dana / `[NAME-2]` — you've both seen what we're building with the AI Boot Camp, and I'd love you to be the first two people to help spread it (and get paid for it). Here's the whole deal on one page. **What you're sharing:** A free 90-minute live AI Boot Camp for complete beginners, plus the full 8-hour course for anyone who wants to go deeper. It's genuinely beginner-friendly — no tech background needed — so it's easy to recommend to friends, coworkers, and your own audience without feeling salesy. **How you earn:** - You get a personal referral link. Anyone who signs up through it is tracked to you. - You earn **[COMMISSION]%** commission on every course they buy. - **The part that matters most — the multi-course rule:** if someone you referred later buys *another* course from us (we're building a whole hub of them), **you still earn on that too**. You referred the person once; you earn on everything they ever buy. Your referrals compound. **How to share it (low-effort):** 1. Post your link where your beginner-friendly friends already are (personal social, group chats, your communities). 2. Mention the *free* Meetup first — it's the easy yes. The paid course sells itself from there. 3. That's it. We handle the teaching, the platform, and the follow-up. **What we need from you to start:** just a reply. We'll generate your two links (free Meetup + full course), send you a couple of ready-to-post blurbs, and you're live. Let's test this with the two of you first, and if it works we'll grow it together. — Sean ### Tracking-Link Scheme (mechanics — VERIFIED against Thinkific docs, 2026-07-14) Good news: **Thinkific's built-in affiliate feature natively supports the multi-course rule.** Verified from Thinkific's support docs: - **Availability:** the Affiliates feature is included on **all current paid plans** (Basic and up). Sean: confirm it appears under *Market & Sell → Affiliates* in your admin. - **How attribution works (the part that matters):** when someone first visits the site via an affiliate link, a 30-day cookie is set. If they **create an account within 30 days (same browser)** — even just signing up free, no purchase — that student is **permanently associated with the affiliate**, and the affiliate earns commission on **all of that student's future purchases**. That IS the multi-course rule, natively. ([Thinkific: student-affiliate association](https://support.thinkific.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055324713)) - **Funnel implication:** design the referral flow so referred people **create a free Thinkific account immediately** (e.g., enroll in a free mini-course or the lead magnet delivered as a free Thinkific product) — that locks lifetime attribution. Don't let the affiliate link dead-end at the Meetup page with no account creation. - **Gotchas (first-click, 30 days, per-browser):** attribution is **first-click** — if the person already visited the site before clicking Dana's link, Dana never gets credit, and a second affiliate's link does NOT overwrite the first cookie. Cookie duration is fixed at 30 days (not configurable) and browser-specific (cleared cookies / different browser = lost attribution unless they re-click the link). - **Commission:** one % (or flat amount) per affiliate, applied to **all courses** — you cannot vary commission per course, which is actually convenient for the multi-course rule. Tracked purchases must go through Thinkific Checkout (Thinkific Payments / Stripe / PayPal). - **Payouts are manual:** Thinkific *tracks* what's owed per affiliate but does not pay out — Sean pays Dana/`[NAME-2]` directly. Keep a tiny shared sheet as the payout ledger (columns: affiliate · period · commission owed · paid?). This is for **payment records only** — attribution itself is native. **Redundancy layer (still recommended):** give each affiliate a unique checkout coupon code (`DANA10`, etc.). Coupons exist on all paid plans but are NOT natively tied to affiliates — the code is simply a hard, human-readable proof of who sent the buyer if a cookie ever fails (cleared cache, different browser, >30-day gap before account creation). Pair with UTM links (`?utm_source=dana`) for top-of-funnel analytics on the free Meetup. **Recommendation (updated after verification):** native Thinkific affiliate links are the **primary** tracking (they handle the multi-course rule automatically once the account is created in-window); coupon codes are the **fallback attribution proof**; the spreadsheet is just the payout ledger. No third-party affiliate software needed for a 2-person test. --- ## LANE 4 — Beginner Channel Target List (Ranked by Beginner Density) Ranked by how concentrated *complete beginners* are, and how tolerant each community is of a value-first (not advertising) post. **Golden rule everywhere:** show up as a helpful person first, post value 5–10 times before ever mentioning the Meetup, and always follow each community's self-promo rules. Sean posts all of this. | Rank | Channel | Specific targets | Beginner density | Value-first approach (per their rules) | |------|---------|------------------|------------------|----------------------------------------| | 1 | **Facebook Groups** | "ChatGPT for Beginners," "AI for Beginners," "AI for Business Owners," "Small Business Owners," "Entrepreneurs," + profession-specific (Realtors, Insurance Agents, Accountants) | **Very high** — FB groups skew non-technical, older, exactly the "curious but overwhelmed" crowd | Answer questions in the group for 1–2 weeks first. Repurpose the LinkedIn educational posts as native FB posts. Only share the *free* Meetup, and only where group rules allow (many have a weekly promo thread — use it). | | 2 | **Meetup** | Sean's own group + adjacent "AI," "small business," "entrepreneur," "tech for non-techies" groups in `[LOCAL-AREA]` *(source doc only says "a Meetup group" — Sean confirms the geographic area)* | **High + local** — Meetup attendees self-select as "want to learn in person" | The free Boot Camp IS a Meetup event. Cross-post to adjacent local groups where allowed. Local + free = highest conversion to butts-in-seats. | | 3 | **LinkedIn** | 11,500 existing connections + beginner-professional segments ("worried about being left behind"), AI-for-professionals groups | **High reach, warm** — his single biggest owned asset | Lane 1 pack. This is the anticipation engine. Warmest audience, lowest friction. | | 4 | **Skool** | Own a free "AI for Beginners" community + list in Skool's discovery; adjacent beginner/entrepreneur Skool communities | **High + sticky** — Skool is built for course+community, retains beginners long-term | Stand up a free community as the funnel's "home base." Post value daily, run the free course inside it. Long-term email/community asset. | | 5 | **Reddit** | r/ChatGPT, r/OpenAI, r/ArtificialIntelligence, r/Entrepreneur, r/smallbusiness, r/SideProject, r/SideHustle | **Medium** — mixed beginner/advanced; strict anti-promo culture | Pure value only. Answer beginner questions thoroughly; never drop links unless a sub explicitly allows it. Build comment karma + recognition first. Highest ban risk — tread carefully, read each sub's rules. | | 6 | **YouTube** | Own channel: 5–10 min beginner tutorials, each ending "if you're completely new to AI, check out our free AI Boot Camp" | **Medium-high, evergreen** — searchable, compounds over time | Not a "post and go" channel — it's an evergreen library. Slower to build but every video is a permanent funnel entry. Reuse Meetup demo segments as standalone videos. | | 7 | **TikTok / IG Reels / YT Shorts** | 30–60s practical AI tips (ChatGPT, image, automation) | **High volume, low intent** — huge reach, but casual scrollers | Repurpose LinkedIn tips as 30–60s talking-head or screen-record clips. Volume play. Link-in-bio to Meetup. Lower priority given limited budget/time. | | 8 | **Discord** | Beginner AI / entrepreneur servers; eventually own server tied to Skool | **Medium** — younger, more technical skew | Lower priority for this beginner-consumer audience. Revisit once community home base (Skool) is established. | **Limited-budget priority order (per Sean's frame):** YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook Groups, Skool, free weekly webinars. → **Concretely: start with LinkedIn (Lane 1) + the Meetup + 2-3 Facebook Groups. Add Skool as home base. Let YouTube build in the background.** Don't spread across all 8 at once — pick 3-4 and go deep. --- ## LANE 5 — "Record-a-Beginner" Lead-Magnet Plan (Shot Plan + CTA Framing) **Concept (Sean's):** mic up + screen-record a *real* complete beginner's first 30–45 minutes with AI — their face, their reactions, their confusion turning into "wait, that's it?!" moments. This becomes the webinar/social hook: *"Is this you, or someone you know? Take this free tool."* ### Why this works (the strategy in one line) Beginners don't relate to an expert being smooth. They relate to *another beginner* being nervous and then delighted. The transformation-on-camera is the whole pitch — it sells the feeling of "I could do that too" better than any feature list. ### Shot Plan **Casting:** a genuine beginner (someone who has truly never used ChatGPT — Dana/`[NAME-2]` may know someone, or pull from the Meetup). Authentic reactions only; do NOT coach them to perform. The real "oh wow" is the asset. **Setup (keep it cheap and real):** - **Screen recording:** capture their actual screen (any free screen recorder). This is the "proof it's easy" track. - **Face cam:** phone or webcam on their face for reactions. Faces + reactions are non-negotiable — that's the emotional track. - **Audio:** a cheap lav mic on the beginner. Clean audio matters more than video quality. - **Optional:** Sean's voice off-camera guiding gently ("okay, now just ask it to..."). **Beats to capture (the 30–45 min arc):** 1. **Cold open — the nervous start.** "I've honestly never done this." Face on camera. This is the relatability anchor. 2. **First tiny win.** A simple prompt returns something useful. Catch the surprise. (This is your best clip.) 3. **A stumble + recovery.** They get a bad/confusing answer, then fix it with a follow-up. Shows it's forgiving, not scary. 4. **A "whoa" moment.** One genuinely impressive task (turn their voice memo into an email, or make an image of their idea). The share-worthy peak. 5. **The reflection close.** "I thought this would be hard. That was... actually fun." Their words, unscripted. This line becomes the ad. **Editing / deliverables from one session:** - **1 hero clip (60–90s):** nervous start → "whoa" moment → happy reflection. This is the webinar opener and the paid-social/organic hook. - **3–5 short clips (15–30s):** each a single reaction/win. For Reels/Shorts/TikTok. - **Full cut (5–8 min):** the honest before/after journey. For YouTube + the Meetup intro. ### CTA Framing **Primary hook line (over the hero clip):** > "This is [Name]'s first-ever 30 minutes with AI. If this is you — or someone you know who keeps saying 'I should really learn this' — here's the exact free session we walked them through." **The CTA itself (soft, value-first):** > "Take the same free tool [Name] used — grab our AI Beginner Cheat Sheet, no cost: `[LEAD-MAGNET-LINK]`" — and/or — "Come do it live with us at the free 90-minute AI Boot Camp: `[MEETUP-LINK]`." **Framing rules:** - Lead with the *person*, not the product. The beginner is the hero; the tool is just what helped them. - "Is this you or someone you know?" is the share trigger — people tag friends. Keep that line. - The lead magnet (free cheat sheet) is the low-commitment CTA that captures the email (funnel Phase 3). The Meetup is the higher-commitment CTA. Offer the easy one first. - Never oversell the transformation — let the beginner's genuine reaction do the selling. Authenticity is the entire mechanism. --- ## Verify / Next Steps (per task card verify pattern) 1. **Review — DONE (A2 verify pass, 2026-07-14 PM PT).** Every lane checked against the voice rule: states what it is in first ~60s ✓, non-salesy ✓, value-first ✓, 80/20 (LinkedIn pack is 8 edu / 2 promo; Meetup promo is only the final 5 min) ✓. Two fabrications caught and fixed: the second referrer's name (source only says "Dana + one" → now `[NAME-2]`) and the Meetup geographic area (→ now `[LOCAL-AREA]`). 2. **Mechanics verify — DONE (Thinkific support docs, 2026-07-14).** Lane 3 rewritten with verified facts: affiliate feature is on all paid plans; a student who **creates an account within the 30-day first-click cookie window is permanently associated with the affiliate and earns them commission on all future purchases** — the multi-course rule works natively, no manual attribution needed. Payouts (not tracking) are manual. Key funnel requirement: referred people must create a free Thinkific account via the link to lock attribution. 3. **Sean** — fill tokens (`[NAME-2]`, `[LOCAL-AREA]`, `[MEETUP-LINK]`, `[COURSE-LINK]`, `[COUPON-CODE]`, `[LEAD-MAGNET-LINK]`, `[COMMISSION]%`), confirm *Market & Sell → Affiliates* appears in your Thinkific admin, then send/post. Nothing here is outbound until Sean approves. *Not addressed (correctly, per task card):* Sean's personal life-insurance call list is his own agenda — no outreach lane built.