Phase 0 — The 6-week pre-build

The event itself is one week. The promotion that makes it work is six weeks. Russell's launch is supported by a registration funnel, indoctrination sequence, three asset libraries, and a backstage community. Here's the build calendar:

Week	What we build	ClickFunnels asset
Week -6	Pick the event title + the audience archetypes (4 reader avatars, like Russell's)	Brand sheet doc
Week -5	Outline 5-day teaching arc + back-end offer	Internal wiki
Week -4	Build registration funnel (free + VIP $97 trial)	2-step opt-in funnel + order form
Week -3	Build VIP/Platinum offer page (the Day 2 close)	Stack-style sales page in CF
Week -2	Write 6-email indoctrination sequence	CF or our ESP autoresponder
Week -1	Pre-launch content (3 videos, 3 emails) + paid ad campaigns warming list	YouTube + email + Meta ads
Week 0	The event runs. 5 days. Daily emails. Live offers.	Zoom/StreamYard + CF order pages
Week +1	Replay window. Last-call sequence. Close offer.	CF replay page + 5-email close seq.

Phase 1 — The Registration Funnel

Russell's funnel: opt-in page → registration confirmation → automated AI phone call → daily indoctrination emails → VIP upsell page. We mirror it.

1. Step 1 — Opt-in page (in ClickFunnels)
   Headline: "We bootstrapped a billion dollar company from scratch — here's how AI lets you do the same in months, not decades."
   Our adaptation: "We've taught thousands of instructors how to scale with AI — here's how to ship your Digital Likeness in 5 days." Single email field. Big CTA. Counter at the bottom showing live registrant count (auto-updates).
2. Step 2 — Registration confirmation page
   Immediately after opt-in: a video from Jon, ~90 seconds. "Here's what we're going to do over 5 days." Pure energy, no offer. Offers VIP upgrade at the bottom — a $97 14-day trial to our software, free with VIP, gets lifetime replays.
   Why VIP upsell here? Russell converts 5–10% of registrants to VIP. At 10K registrants, that's 500–1,000 × $97 = $48–$97K of warm-list revenue before the event even starts.
3. Step 3 — Calendar block email
   Triggered immediately. Subject: "You're in. Block these 5 dates on your calendar (don't miss Day 1)." Adds .ics file. Sets expectation that all 5 days matter and missing them costs you.
4. Step 4 — Confirmation phone call (optional but powerful)
   Russell uses an AI voice agent to call every registrant 24h after sign-up. The bot says: "Hey, this is [name] from Russell's team — just confirming you're in for the AI Secrets Challenge. Did you mark your calendar?"
   Our version: If we have the budget for AI voice (Bland.ai, VAPI, or our own), this is a high-leverage move. ~30% of attendees said it was the reason they showed up live.
5. Step 5 — Backstage Pass community invite
   Send the Slack/Skool/Discord invite a few days before. Russell uses this to seed early conversation, post wins, and build social proof for the live event.

Phase 2 — The Indoctrination Sequence (the 5–7 emails before Day 1)

Pre-event emails do three jobs: (1) keep the registrant warm enough to show up live, (2) tell Russell-style "before/after" stories that pre-sell the offer, (3) escalate scarcity. Here are the exact emails Russell sent in chronological order, each with a one-line description of what we replicate.

Days before	Russell's subject	Job
-6 days	"which one of these is you? (be honest)"	Audience segmentation. 4 archetypes. Reader self-identifies.
-4 days	"we're at 9,212. Zoom is gonna be a problem. :("	Scarcity by social proof. Specific number.
-3 days	"[VIDEO] I need to tell you something before the AI Secrets Challenge starts..."	The "money lens" reframe video. Pre-sells the angle.
-1 day	"the one-person company is real (tomorrow we prove it)"	Bold claim + proof tomorrow. Final pre-event hook.
Day 1 morning	"the world has changed. watch what happens next."	Day-of urgency. Login link.

The full email texts and patterns for each are in the Swipe File. We map our equivalents now:

Phase 3 — The Daily Live Sessions

Each day has a fixed dramatic arc. Russell hits the same beats every day:

1. Pre-show (15 min before) — VIP private session. Higher-ticket attendees get early access + a behind-the-scenes preview. This is also where Todd usually demos new tooling. Use this to reward the VIPs and to seed the day's offer.
2. Cold open (00:00 – 00:05) — Russell on camera, energy at 11. No credentials slide. Goes straight to a chat ask ("type AI in the chat"). Hook within 90 seconds.
3. Frame the day (00:05 – 00:15) — Title slide. The big idea. Why today matters. Calls back to yesterday if not Day 1.
4. Teaching block 1 (00:15 – 00:50) — One framework, taught with stories, demos, and live chat engagement. Compliance asks every 60–90 seconds.
5. Break / chat moment (00:50 – 01:00) — VIP banter, success-story call-outs from chat, audience pulse-check.
6. Teaching block 2 (01:00 – 01:30) — Second framework or live demo (Russell often runs a software demo here, even if it fails).
7. The transition (01:30 – 01:35) — Russell's signature line: "Are you guys okay if I take 10 minutes to share something we made for you?" (Days 2–5 only.)
8. The offer reveal (01:35 – 02:05) — Stack reveal, anchor pricing, disappearing bonus, urgency lock. (Day 2 = the main offer; Days 3–5 = bonus stacks added.)
9. Q&A and chat call-outs (02:05 – 02:30) — Russell calls out buyers by name as orders come in. Public reinforcement.
10. Homework reveal (02:30 – 02:40) — Tonight's assignment. Public commitment ask. "Type 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 in the chat — which one are you doing tonight?"
11. Tomorrow tease (02:40 – 02:45) — Russell drops 2 sentences about tomorrow's reveal. Always positions tomorrow as the climax.
12. Sign-off (02:45) — Catchphrase + login link reminder.

Phase 4 — The Daily Email Engine

Russell's team sends 4–7 emails per day during the event. This sounds like a lot; it is. The math: at his volume, email moves more revenue than the live event itself. Here's the daily template:

Time	Email	Purpose
11:00 AM	"the world has changed. watch what happens next." — Day-of-event	Login link reminder. Day's hook.
10:00 PM	"[Day N] Replay - what's coming tomorrow"	24h replay window + tomorrow tease.
Late night	Homework email from a team member (e.g., "Hey, Ben here. Quick check-in.")	Implementation accountability.

For our launches, we run the same cadence. Different sender per email type. Jon sends the Day-of emails; a team member ("Hey, [Name] here") sends the homework/community check-ins; Jon sends the replay emails.

Phase 5 — The Day 2 Offer Reveal (Deep Dive)

This is where the launch makes or breaks. Below is the full Day 2 sequence as we'll run it, mapped 1:1 to Russell's structure.

Phase 6 — The Replay Window + Last Call (Days 6–8)

After the live event ends, the offer stays open until Monday midnight (3 days). Russell runs a 5-email last-call sequence during this window:

Day	Subject (template)	Body angle
+1 (Saturday AM)	"the 5 ways to make $3,000 this weekend (with what you already know)"	The side-hustle reframe. "Make your money back this weekend."
+1 (Saturday PM)	"people who posted this morning are already getting leads"	From a team-member sender. Real wins from the community.
+2 (Sunday)	"[REPLAY + LAST CALL] you've got the weekend - but don't sleep on this"	Replay reminder. Stack reminder.
+3 (Monday AM)	"final 12 hours — replays + bonuses come down at midnight"	Hard deadline. Specific countdown.
+3 (Monday PM)	"the door closes in 4 hours"	The FOMO push. Single CTA.

Phase 7 — Post-Event (Days 8–14)

For non-buyers: continue to Daily Seinfeld emails (1/day for 14 days, then drop to 3/week). For buyers: kick off onboarding immediately. Russell's MarketingSecrets onboarding starts the night of the close — a "welcome to Platinum" email with the first sprint video.

• Buyer Day 0 (Monday night): "Welcome to [Program]. Here's your login. Here's your first sprint." 12-min video. Zero friction.
• Buyer Day 3: "How's it going? Reply with one word." Personal-feeling email; sets up further support.
• Buyer Day 7: First live cohort coaching session. Public attendance reinforces the community feel.
• Buyer Day 14: Showcase first wins. Public testimonials from cohort. (Also content for next launch.)

The ClickFunnels asset checklist

Every funnel piece we need to build. Each maps to a step above. If anything is missing, the launch leaks.

Asset	CF page type	Status
Free registration page	Opt-in funnel — Step 1	build
Registration confirmation + VIP upsell	Order form + 1-click upsell	build
VIP-only Day 0 portal	Members area (or dedicated Skool space)	build
Daily live event landing page	Webinar funnel — Step 2 (broadcast room)	build
Replay page (24h-windowed per day)	Conditional CF page + countdown timer	build
Day 2 offer / order page	Stacked sales page + order form	build
Disappearing bonus order form	Time-conditional order bump	build
Last-call replay (3-day window after Day 5)	Conditional CF page	build
Buyer onboarding portal	Members area	build
Backstage Pass community	Skool / Discord / Slack	build

The team checklist

Russell's live event is run by a small core team plus a community manager. Here's the minimum we need:

Role	What they do
Host (Jon)	Teaches, sells, does the live demos.
Co-host (technical)	Handles software demos. Can run a live build.
Chat moderator	Surfaces questions to host. Calls out wins. Pins links.
Community lead	Runs Backstage Pass before, during, after. Sends the "Hey, [Name] here" emails.
Tech producer	Runs the stream (StreamYard / Restream / Zoom). Owns sound/light.
Email/CRM operator	Triggers daily emails. Watches sequence health.

Key metrics to track

Metric	Russell's reported figure	Our target
Cost per registration (Meta ads)	$26	$15–$30
Show-up rate Day 1	~30–35%	≥30%
VIP conversion (registration → $97 trial)	5–10%	≥5%
Registration → Platinum ($2,997)	~1.5–3%	≥1%
Cost per attendee shown live	$75	≤$80
Avg cart value after upsells	~$3,500–$5,000	≥$3,000

At 5,000 registrants × 1.5% Platinum conversion × $2,997 = $224,775 from one launch. Plus VIP trials at ~$48K. Plus continuity. The economics hold at much smaller scale than Russell runs at.

When NOT to run this