Three or four numbers, checked monthly. The ones that predict bookings, and your baseline today.
How to use this: you're not a data analyst. Write your baseline today, then fill one column a month and watch the numbers move. The headline number is the first one: did your Manifest actually grow?
1 · Your three or four numbers
Write today's number in Baseline, then add a column each month. Growth lives in the change, not the total.
The number
Baseline (today)
Month 1
Month 2
▲ New names in the Manifest (net new, e.g. 10 → 15)
Opt-in rate (visitors who raised a hand)
Inquiries (ready-to-talk leads)
▲ Bookings (the money)
2 · When you'll check
e.g. "the first Monday, with coffee" · monthly, never daily
3 · What you'll ignore (on purpose)
Vanity metrics, the Vanity Trap measured
LikesFollowersPost viewsImpressionsReach
4 · The honest question
your Second Mate can read your numbers and name this for you
Remember: start with 10 and end with 10, and you were busy but you didn't move the machine. Net new names, not busywork. A few numbers checked monthly beat a dashboard you never open.
Put your Second Mate to work
Two prompts to try now. The full set is in the library, How to Prompt Your Second Mate. Swap the [brackets] for your details.
Read the numbers
This month: visitors [#], opt-ins [#], inquiries [#], bookings [#], Manifest [#] to [#]. Calculate my opt-in rate and stage-to-stage conversion, then read it back in plain English. No jargon.
Find the leak
Here's my funnel: [NUMBERS]. Tell me the single step leaking most along visit, opt-in, inquiry, book, why, and the one thing to change next month.
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