A Fiverr-built product, partner promotions and customer webinars: the playbook behind PPC Ad Lab's accidental SaaS
Robert Warner · Ppc Ad Lab
Published September 1, 2022Robert Warner, CEO and Founder of PPC Ad Lab, shares:
- How a Fiverr gig built BVP for $5k
- PLG and building out additional marketing angles
- Revenue data from internal launch used to attract partners
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Robert Warner explains how PPC Ad Lab turned a small product into repeatable growth by using promotional partners, unique data, customer webinars, ready-to-use campaign templates, and a focused acquisition channel.
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“agency and that's exactly what we did we put the agency up for sale and we sold it last November um but in the meantime I want to cover with you guys today um we call this our accidental SAS we didn't mean to build a sass So for anybody here who's building their SAS with a market changing and world domination Vision we had none of that um we had we I said we didn't even plan to build a SAS we had a problem to solve”
“a really good indicator they're spending money in other marketing services so it's a great qualifier so the people who've been uh Google ads managers franchises Ecom stores digital agencies you know that's been typically our customers so far so let's start with our our beginning what happened so it was late March last year um Joe and I had built a product it was an information product that was selling to our agency customers and one of the commitments that we'd given was that we”
“we'll send another one on Wednesday another one on Thursday and Thursday evening we run the webinar Friday we're doing live Encore and we get and we would typically getting about 250 300 people show up live to these webinars so we get a good crowd and we do replays over the weekend and we close it out on the Monday and as you can see here what we did was we created a page with what we call the founders offer and the big difference”
“literally no idea that these were use cases and to this day people keep bringing us more use cases for the product but that sort of Hiatus few months over the summer was brilliant and it just gave us this time to just gather this thing rebuild re-architect put a slightly more grown-up UI on it that looked a little bit better um and not so on 1980s actual sketch um and you can see what we had this was from one month alone I was at 12 weeks”
“customers per year to us after the launch because the revenue is so valuable to them as well so if you can find the right partners and you can pull a deal off and I would suggest to be bold um you can pull some seriously big numbers in into your business and that's where we move all we've done all year this is literally the only thing we've done is we've run a partner webinar once a month we're running one of our own once every three months um and that's taken us from zero to”
“Built white-label digital agency to team of 35”
“Use cases: Explain the real-world value”
“User heroes: We made our users the hero of the calls”
“Make yourself their priority by being so damn valuable and easy to work with.”
“We only have 1 real channel - webinars”
Video
My $5k hobby project used 1 to many selling to reach $700k ARR in a year - Slide Deck
Robert Warner is the founder of PPC Ads Lab. Over the past 8 years since founding InvisiblePPC, he has leveraged his knowledge and experience to create a unique solution for Google Advertisers—PPC Predict. The service is offered for free, promising an average of 31% improvement in Google Ads results within 30 days (sometimes reaching as high as 350%).
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
21 passages
Robert Warner CEO, Founder of PPC Ad Lab Founder500, Sept 2022 My $5k hobby project reached $700k ARR … And used 1 to many selling to hit the $700k
Rob Warner built a white-label digital agency to a team of 35, became a Google Channel Partner, and sold the agency in late 2021. The background sets up the transition to his software project.
Quick Intro Rob Warner Built white-label digital agency to team of 35 Became Google Channel Partner Sold agency late 2021
The talk traces a path from a $5k Fiverr-built test product to internal validation, product-led iteration, and partner launches. Each stage adds a repeatable way to learn from users or reach new buyers.
Over the next 20 minutes: Fiverr gig built BVP for $5k I’m going to show you how we’ve grown our accidental SAAS BVP Test Launch PLG Partner Launch BVP reveal to internal email list Focus on the Big Idea Weekly group user calls Iterate updates quickly Build out additional marketing angles Revenue data from internal launch used to attract partners 1 week promotion - unique offer and scarcity Sign up 30+ new paying users per partner
The chart rises from $0 in June 2021 to $1,260,000 in September 2022. Its labeled milestones are $144,000 in July 2021, $396,000 in December 2021, $527,000 in March 2022, and $720,000 in July 2022.
PPC Ad Lab Revenue Growth
PPC Ad Lab presents real-time Google advertiser data for any location, aimed at PPC managers, franchises, ecommerce stores, and digital agencies. The interface combines competitor visibility, ad examples, and market-report tools.
What We Do At Real-time Google Advertiser data, any location for PPC Managers, Franchises, Ecomm stores and digital agencies
The first launch starts with a need for a list of plumbers advertising on Google, then tests a Fiverr-built solution and positions it around real-time, complete data. An internal seven-day launch uses a live webinar, replay sequence, and founder offer.
Use cases: Explain the real-world value Let’s start with Section 1 Need: list of plumbers advertising on Google Ads Our BVP Test Launch USER 1 - ME ITERATE TO BVP INTERNAL LAUNCH Problem: No existing SAAS had accurate of complete data Solution: Build a test solution - fiverr gig Positioning: unique benefit - real-time - complete data Use cases: Explain the real-world value of this data 7 day launch: to past agency contacts Webinar: Live, encore and replay sequence Offer: “Founder” offer with discounts and huge benefits
The timeline moves from needing a plumber-advertiser list in March 2021 to hiring a Fiverr contractor in April, improving the CSV and interface in May, deciding to test in June, and launching in July.
My Accidental SAAS March 2021: Needed a list of plumbers advertisers on Google in US cities - couldn’t get one April 2021: Designed a process and hired a Fiverr contractor to built an internal test tool May 2021: Improved CSV and added UI June 2021: Decision to test launch July 2021: Launch
The schedule starts with three registration emails from Tuesday through Thursday, followed by a live webinar, encore, and replay messages. Monday closes with three emails and a countdown, while Sunday has no messaging.
Promotion Overview Tuesday: Webinar registration email 1 Wednesday: Webinar registration email 2 Thursday: Webinar registration email 3 Live Webinar Friday: Webinar encore email & encore presentation Saturday: Replay email 1 Sunday: Quiet day - no messaging Monday: 3 x close emails and countdown
The promotion pairs a July 7 closing date with a Q&A invitation and separate founder and annual-plan options. A comparison table differentiates agency, charter, and charter annual plans through credits, pricing, and bonuses.
2005, My Garage in Seattle
The slide says the concept reached paying users in 16 weeks, with 76 recurring customers, $22k collected cash, $12k MRR, and a $5k build cost. It notes that 9% chose an annual plan, nearly doubling cash collected.
Sales Result Concept to paying users in 16 weeks 76 customers: Recurring $22k Cash: Collected - 9% took annual plan that nearly doubled our cash collected $12kMRR $5k build cost
Weekly calls surfaced new use cases and small usability upgrades, while daily live-chat reviews fed product work. Customer scenarios also created marketing angles, from franchise monitoring to brand protection and outreach workflows.
User heroes: We made our users the hero of the calls Let’s jump in to Section 2 I’m going to show you WEEKLY CALLS PLG MARKETING ANGLES New features: Release updates on a weekly basis - small usability upgrades User scenarios: Users created use cases we never thought of Franchises: Monitoring franchisee compliance Marketing: User created SOPS for outreach using our software Brand protection: See who’s bidding on your brand - and stop it Hookes: User feedback creates future marketing hooks Re-engineer: Our first AWS bill was $8k - rapid re-architect necessary Live chat: Reviewed every live chat daily to look for product opportunities
The slide highlights 1,581 user comments gathered during live training over 12 weeks, from July through September 2021. The examples include feature requests and questions, placing customer feedback alongside the revenue-growth chart.
PPC Ad Lab Revenue Growth 1,581 user live comments Real life feedback from users during live training over 12 weeks Jul-Sept 21
The framework starts with a friendly partner webinar and mutual promotion, then evaluates first-month earnings and live conversion. Those results support recruiting similar partners and repeating one partner promotion each month.
Let’s jump in to Section 3 I’m going to show you PARTNER RECRUITMENT LAUNCH METRICS REPEAT Reciprocate: We promote their offer to our audience Friendly partner: Test the warm webinar with partner traffic Ease: We provide email swipe, messaging etc Earnings per attendee: Month 1 focus Total earnings: Total month 1 commission paid to partner Live conversion rate: % of live attendees who buy before the end of the webinar Referrals: JV’s refer other partners with similar audiences Recruit: Additional partners using metrics from the friendly launch 3 x promos: 1 Partner promotion per month
PPC Ad Lab supplies the email sequence, webinar introductions and outros, and affiliate tracking. The close emphasizes paying partners promptly and generously.
Do the heavy lifting for your partner We provide email sequences, webinar intros, outros, affiliate tracking Pay PROMPTLY and generously
The example pairs a seven-day partner promotion with an affiliate dashboard covering revenue, clicks, referrals, customers, and payouts. It demonstrates the performance reporting available to a partner without relying on small interface counters.
Sales Result First friendly partner result - 7 Day Promotion 76 customers: Recurring $22k Cash: Collected - 9% took annual plan $12kMRR $5k build cost
The agreement offers 100% of first-month subscription revenue and 30% in the second and later months. It also assigns 50% of one-time funnel upsells to the partner, while subscription upsells continue at 30%.
Shock and awe partner Make yourself their priority by being so damn valuable and easy to work with.
Revenue climbs from $0 in June 2021 to $1,260,000 in September 2022, passing $144,000, $396,000, $527,000, and $720,000 at the labeled dates. The chart marks partner promotions near the $396,000 milestone and internal promotions near $527,000.
PPC Ad Lab Revenue Growth Partner promotions Internalpromotions
The roadmap anticipates a September partner launch that could add up to $750k new ARR in seven days, followed by enterprise outbound and an October marketplace product. Paid traffic is planned by November.
September: Biggest ever partner launch expecting up to $750k new ARR in 7 days Enterprise: We have enterprise clients now looking for marketing intelligence and brand protection. Expanding with outbound. October: Splinter product market place launch for user acquisition (by) November: Paid traffic starts Q4 Hammer Time
The recap groups the approach into a Fiverr-built test product, product-led growth, and partner launches. Faster weekly updates and user-created marketing angles feed into short, scarce partner promotions that the slide says can bring 30+ paying users per partner.
In the last 20 minutes: Fiverr gig built BVP for $5k I showed you BVP Test Launch PLG Partner Launch BVP reveal to internal email list Focus on the Big Idea Weekly group user calls - accelerated feedback and updates Iterate updates quickly - new features weekly User generated marketing angles Revenue data from internal launch used to attract partners 1 week promotion - unique offer and scarcity Sign up 30+ new paying users per partner
The closing takeaways identify webinars as the one real channel, describe making that channel repeatable and scalable, and credit customers with creating the marketing arguments.
Takeaways We only have 1 real channel - webinars We’ve processed it to be repeatable and scalable We let our customers create our marketing arguments for us
Robert Warner closes with a thank-you and identifies his role at PPC Lab, leaving the audience with a clear end to the presentation.
Sept 2022 Robert Warner CEO of PPC Lab