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YouTube · 12 min · Jeremy Nick × Tim Luong

The $100M Instagram Funnel

People buy when they make three decisions about you — that you're a relatable mentor, that your vehicle solves their pain, and that they're capable of executing. Build the IG funnel backwards from those three decisions: 3 content pillars × 3 funnel layers × 3 lead magnets, with zero cold outbound, conversation-format reels, and a Stories-CTA cap of 2–3/week.

3 × 3 × 3
Pillars · Layers · Magnets
2–3/wk
Stories CTA cap
0
Outbound DMs
Whys before excuse
Jeremy Nick
"The mentor who makes them feel capable wins over anyone else."
Chapter 01

The Three Buying Decisions

Every viewer must conclude all three before they convert. Most operators handle one or two and wonder why traffic doesn't close.

1

Relatable mentor

"This person is like me / could be the right mentor for me."

Driven by psychographics, origin, persona, backdrop, even physical look.

2

Right vehicle

"This method actually solves my pain / gets me to my dream state."

The model itself has to be credible for their specific situation.

3

I'm capable

"I can actually execute this."

The enablement dimension. Most-overlooked. Decides who wins between competing mentors.

💡 The hidden lever
Decision #3 is where most operators lose. Two competitors might be equally credible — but the one whose viewers feel "I can actually do this" wins the buy. Show ordinary people executing successfully. Don't hide your customers' messy first month — show it.
Chapter 02

The 3 Content Pillars

Pick one of each. Never just the niche. Pure-niche accounts cap their relatability and never show the human.

A

Vehicle

The actual offer

Airbnb · pastry · supplements · SaaS · agency · consulting.

B

Extended industry

The wider category

Airbnb → real estate → finances. Captures viewers searching the bigger topic, not just your specific offer.

C

Interest base

A personal-life dimension

Family, fitness, faith, hobby. Makes you a full human, not a marketing avatar. "How we budget as millionaires" / "How we raise our kids as millionaires."

🎯 Worked example — Airbnb
  • Vehicle = Airbnb arbitrage tactical content
  • Industry = real estate / personal finance trends
  • Interest = "How I budget as a millionaire dad of three"
Chapter 03

The 3 Funnel Layers

Slot every post into one of three layers. Most operators are drowning in top-of-funnel and starved on middle.

Top

Get known for

Transformations · personal stories · opinions. The viewer first encounters who you are.

Middle

Get trusted

Business-model breakdowns · case studies · behind-the-scenes. The viewer evaluates whether you really know what you're doing.

Bottom

Get converted

Webinars · lead magnets · DM-keyword CTAs. The viewer takes a tangible step.

Cadence target: 3 top + 3 middle + 1 bottom posts/week per pillar.

Chapter 04

The 3 Lead-Magnet Asset Types

Each magnet sells a different one of the three buying decisions.

1 · Story video — sells YOU+

Pure transformation journey. Zero tactical value. Emotional rollercoaster. The example given: a client did a "0 to $50M" video that was entirely his journey + emotional states — no how-to, no framework. Viewers went on the journey with him and now feel "this person is exactly like me / gets me."

2 · Explainer video — sells the VEHICLE+

Mini free course. Teach the WHAT, not the HOW. Outline the model, the steps in name, the components. Don't deliver the playbook — deliver the map so viewers can locate themselves on it.

3 · Personal proof / BTS — sells ENABLEMENT+

Behind-the-scenes of you (or a client) actually executing. Case studies. Day-in-the-life. The viewer concludes: "if this regular person did it, so can I."

⚠ Don't use lead magnets to close
Lead magnets boost show rate and call intent — not final close rate. The actual close happens on the call or in DM. Don't blame the lead magnet for low closes.
Chapter 05

No Outbound DMs. Ever.

Jeremy explicitly avoids ManyChat-style "DM every follower" automation. Tools like that are easy to spin up and fatal at scale.

✕ The pattern that breaks
Mass-DM your followers → they feel sold to → engagement collapses → content shits the bed → audience believes "this guy is just trying to sell me" → no one books.
Jeremy
"I would rather have a longer conversion cycle but they made the conscious decision to reach out — response rates are higher, booking rates are higher, show-and-close rates are higher."

The inbound DM script

  1. They DM you (triggered by reel comment-keyword, story Q&A, or direct curiosity)
  2. Deliver the lead magnet — story video link or explainer
  3. Ask one qualifying question — "what's stopping you?" / "what have you tried?"
  4. If hot, send the VSL or YouTube long-form (video sells the vehicle)
  5. Book the call
Chapter 06

The IG Algorithmic Retargeting Sequence

Modern Instagram (2025+) does the funnel work for you — if you build the bait.

1
Viral reel = the net. Catches a wide cohort.
2
Algo retargets engaged viewers with 2–3 of your older tactical pieces ("how-to" content). This is the retargeting layer.
3
Engaged viewers start seeing your Stories — Q&A, BTS, opinion.
4
They DM — usually responding to a story prompt or comment-keyword on a reel.
💡 The implication
Every viral reel needs 2–3 tactical reels live and accessible. If you go viral with no tactical depth behind it, the algo retargets to nothing — the audience cools and bounces. Build the depth before you go for the viral net.
Chapter 07

Conversation-Format Reels

The single highest-leverage creative format Jeremy uses.

The recipe

  • B-roll + on-screen text structured as a real conversation
  • Dialogue feels like something two people actually said to each other
  • Open with a line viewers have personally said or heard
  • Reuse as shoutout creative and as DM-ad creative for paid
Jeremy
"It feels like a conversation they had in their lives. They think, 'I had this exact conversation, but I took the potato route. This person took the route and got results.'"

Why this works: the viewer doesn't feel preached at. They feel seen. The implicit social proof is "someone like me made this choice and won." Far more powerful than telling viewers "you'll be broke if you don't do X."

Chapter 08

The IG ↔ YouTube ↔ Ads Flywheel

Once organic IG is dialed, three channels start lifting each other.

ChannelWhat it does for the system
InstagramCaptures + nurtures cold viewers · feeds algorithmic retargeting · primes traffic for ads
YouTubeIG followers boost early YouTube performance → YouTube grows → YouTube viewers come back to IG to follow
Paid AdsCold traffic now lands on a content-warm IG account · conversion shifts from "shoved down throat" to "invited to free resource" · ad rates significantly improve
💡 Why the order matters
Run paid ads on a cold IG account = burn money. Run paid ads on a content-warm IG account = the same dollar buys a primed prospect who has already met you. Get organic dialed first.
Chapter 09

Psychology Beats Tonality

The closing skill is psychology, not voice modulation.

Jeremy
"Most prospects don't really give a shit what they're buying. They're trying to figure out what gets them to the outcome. Pinpoint their pain, attack their belief, sell."

The reading prescription

  • Buy psychology books, not sales-tonality courses
  • Cognitive biases · belief structures · persuasion psychology
  • Goal: identify the prospect's belief that's blocking action, then shift it

On cold-traffic offers (avoid the mechanism trap)

  • Most direct-response operators frame around mechanism + framework
  • Cold IG audiences need the transformation bridge first
  • Use monkey-see-monkey-do simple model + relatable news article
  • Mechanism comes after they're sold on the outcome
Chapter 10

The 4-Whys Management Protocol

Jeremy's tool for cutting through team excuses without needing to know every function himself.

1
Identify the off-target metric from the weekly data report.
2
Press on it. Ask "why is this number low?"
3
Reject the first excuse ("the leads were bad / the platform changed / the season was off"). Ask "why" again.
4
By why #4, the team surfaces the actual cause — they didn't follow up, they deviated from the script, they skipped a step.
Jeremy
"I don't know anything about IG-DM, but if you report numbers to me and a metric is off, I press on it and ask why four times."
Chapter 11

The 20%-Of-Every-Role Stack

The mistake most aspiring 8-figure operators make: trying to learn 100% of one function.

The right stack

  • 20% of sales — enough to read a call recording and identify gaps
  • 20% of marketing — enough to read ad metrics and ask why
  • 20% of ads — enough to know if your ad team is making excuses
  • 20% of delivery — enough to know if quality is slipping
  • 20% of finance — enough to read a P&L and a cash-flow forecast

Then deepen one function based on what only you can do at scale.

Hiring filter

⚠ The character-trait filter
Jeremy's interview filter: questions that surface character traits, not skills. Drug use + frequent partying = wrong priorities → auto-filter. He doesn't try to perfect the filter — he just refuses obvious red flags. (Adapt the specifics to your culture and context.)
Chapter 12

Truffle Nation Playbook

Direct mapping to TN Offline (₹1.5L–₹3.65L) · Online (₹25K) · Delhi campus.

🌊 The 3 Pillars for TN+
  • Vehicle = "Become a certified pastry pro / open your home bakery / class business"
  • Extended industry = food entrepreneurship in tier-2 India · women's economic empowerment · home-business category
  • Interest base = Karan's family · Delhi kitchen culture · chef-instructor lives · festival cycles
🎯 The 3 Buying Decisions audit+

Relatable mentor — Is Karan/Pooja shown as relatable to a tier-2 woman with ₹50K savings? Or as a distant Delhi expert? Audit every reel for relatability cues.

Right vehicle — Is "TN Offline" framed as the bridge to her actual dream (income · respect · independence)? Or as a course catalogue? Sales-page audit needed.

Capable of executingTN's biggest gap. Show ordinary moms running their bakery from a 200 sq ft kitchen. Day-30 BTS reels. First-month-bakery transformation reels. The "I can do this" content is undersupplied.

📺 The cadence+

3 top + 3 middle + 1 bottom per week per pillar.

  • Top: graduate transformation reels · Karan's pastry-school journey · opinion reels ("Why most baking courses scam you")
  • Middle: business-model breakdowns ("How a TN graduate prices a wedding cake") · graduate case studies · Delhi kitchen BTS
  • Bottom: masterclass invite · "comment PROGRAM for the brochure PDF" · DM-keyword for booking call
🧲 The 3 lead magnets+
  • Story video — Karan's TN origin documentary, 20-min, zero tactical, emotional
  • Explainer video — "How a TN grad goes from ₹0 to ₹2L/month" (the WHAT, not the HOW)
  • Personal proof — BTS of a real graduate's first 30 days running their bakery
📨 DM mechanics+

All ManyChat outbound DISABLED. Inbound keyword automations only.

Inbound script: deliver lead magnet → "what's stopping you from starting?" → if hot, send graduate story video → book consultation call.

🎬 Conversation-format reels+

Karan + chef-instructor scripted conversations on real student doubts. Open with a line a tier-2 mom has personally said:

  • "She told me she can't bake at home — here's what I told her."
  • "My husband doesn't think this is a real career — here's what I asked him."
  • "₹1.5L feels like too much — here's the math she didn't see."
📈 Ads & flywheel+

Conversation-format reels become primary paid creative. Run ads only after IG ecosystem is dialed. Pair every IG masterclass push with a Karan YouTube long-form to activate the IG↔YT loop.

🧠 Internal — 4-Whys + 20% stack+

4-Whys ritual in weekly TN team metrics review. Karan refuses the first 3 excuses; the 4th why surfaces the actual bottleneck. Hiring rule: 20% of every role for every ops/marketing hire.

Chapter 13

Other Project Plays

ProjectApplication
Treat for Tails3 Pillars — vehicle (joint health) + industry (pet wellness) + interest (founder's actual dog). Conversation-format reels = founder + vet on common pet concerns.
Nerve Pain Pink Salt3 Buying Decisions framework drives landing-page audit. Conversation-format short videos for compliant ad creative (UGC actor pair).
Sales Academy4-Whys as a standalone management-training module. Psychology-over-tonality positioning reinforces the existing NEPQ skill.
BakeBetter / Cogni / AiroLead-magnet 3-type structure adapted for SaaS — founder origin video + WHAT explainer + customer-execution proof.
Chapter 14

15-Step Build Checklist

Tick these as you build. State persists between visits.

  • Define your 3 content pillars on paper. Write 5 example post titles per pillar.
  • Audit existing IG content — slot every recent post into Top / Middle / Bottom. Find the starved layer.
  • Build top-of-funnel pipeline — 1 transformation + 1 personal story + 1 opinion reel per week.
  • Build middle-of-funnel pipeline — 1 model breakdown + 1 case study + 1 BTS per week.
  • Build bottom-of-funnel pipeline — 1 lead-magnet promo + 1 webinar invite + 1 DM-keyword. Cap CTAs at 2–3/week.
  • Create the 3 lead magnets — story video + explainer + personal proof.
  • Disable ALL outbound DM automation. Inbound keyword only.
  • Develop conversation-format reel template — B-roll + text, real-conversation structure.
  • Set up viral-net + tactical-retarget pairing — every viral reel needs 2–3 tactical reels live.
  • Stories CTA discipline — 2–3/week max. Q&A stickers + DM keywords.
  • Build inbound DM script — magnet → qualifying question → VSL → call.
  • Pair every IG launch with a YouTube long-form to activate the IG↔YT flywheel.
  • Layer paid ads ONLY after organic dialed — cold viewers experience ecosystem before CTA.
  • Implement 4-Whys ritual in weekly metrics review. Refuse first 3 excuses.
  • Read 1 psychology book per quarter. Skip sales-tonality courses.
Chapter 15

Watch-Outs & Gaps

Explicit warnings

✕ Outbound DM blasts
Burns audience, kills response/intent, makes the brand "feel sold to."
✕ Selling on the mechanism for cold IG
Lead with transformation + relatable news article + monkey-see-monkey-do simple model. Mechanism comes later.
✕ Story fatigue
More than 3 CTAs/week tanks the inbox.
✕ Paid ads before organic dialed
Burns money on un-warmed traffic.
✕ Lead magnets as closers
They prime the call, they don't close it.
✕ Tonality before psychology
Voice gimmicks don't shift beliefs.
✕ 100% of one function
Operators need 20% of every role.
✕ Accepting the first excuse
4 whys to bottom.

Topics promised but thinly treated

  • Specific numbers behind the "$100M funnel" claim — directional, not detailed
  • Webinar mechanics — referenced as bottom-of-funnel, no structure given
  • Concrete story-video runtime, hooks, structure — said to be transformational, no template
  • Conversation-format reel template — separate YouTube referenced, not detailed here
  • YouTube ecosystem mechanics — flywheel mentioned, mechanics skipped
  • Ad-creative iteration cycle — DM-ad creative referenced, no system
  • The 7 GHL-setting tools tested — mentioned, not listed
  • Specific reading list — Curt Vildale named for tonality, no other books cited
  • Onboarding flow for the 4-Whys protocol — implied, not codified