Newsletter Landing Page

Here’s everything the transcript says (and implies operationally) about the Newsletter Landing Page — pulled into one clean spec.

What the newsletter landing page is for

• It becomes the new “front door” to the cohort. Instead of letting people apply cold from YT/LI/website, everything routes to the newsletter first so they get nurtured before they see the VSL / sales assets.
• It’s meant to fix the “too sudden” problem: website → apply → immediate VSL feels like proposing marriage on the first date (Christine’s analogy). The landing page is the entry point that starts the relationship-building.

Positioning / promise (what the page must communicate)

Christine’s example of what the landing page should make clear:

• “Excited to apply to the next cohort? Sign up here to learn more.”
• “We’re kicking things off in March” (or similar timing cue so they understand the next start date)
• The visitor should think:

“I signed up for the newsletter to learn more about the cohort and how to apply.”

Funnel rule: the landing page is a required step (hard gate)

• You asked whether newsletter is a “hard step” before applying.
• Christine: yes — “everything has to go through the newsletter.”
• She calls it a risk/experiment (adds a barrier, may reduce volume) but expects:
• better qualification
• higher conversion
• warmer leads by the time they hit VSL/sales page

Also: she wants to avoid “leakage” where some places still let people apply early while others require the newsletter. So the landing page needs to be the single canonical route.

What to include on the landing page (explicit requirements)

Christine gives you the build brief around ~44:46:

• You (Ruiz) will set up a landing page that’s specifically for people interested in applying
• Message theme:

“If you’re interested in applying, learn more — sign up below”

• Must mention:

“Next cohort starts in March”

• Must “introduce the deadline a little bit more” so people understand there’s a window and urgency:
• “people know: okay, I have to do this to learn more about it before we get there”

Embedded kit signup form - make it extremely easy to input email and sub, prob in the hero section

What happens after someone opts in (expectation-setting the landing page should support)

• For this round, all signups to here will be sent the condensed sales sequence
• Moving forward, signups here will be sent the onboarding/welcome sequence to educate about program, making them easier to convert later on

So the landing page should set expectations like:

1. “You’ll get a short series walking you through our philosophy + how to apply”
2. “Applications open partway through the series” (no need to reveal exact email count on the page unless you want)

Metrics + success criteria tied to the landing page

Christine says the key numbers to watch during this switch:

• Newsletter subscriber count (does it scale to what you’d expect applications to be?)
• Applications will be artificially low initially because you’re stopping cold applications (closing the direct apply route).

If the newsletter gate reduces volume too much:

• Christine says you can “open the faucet again” (re-open general applications broadly via YT/LI blasts, pinned comments, etc.).

REAL PAGE DRAFT BELOW THIS LINE