funnel-planner

# Funnel Planner

Plan a complete affiliate funnel from research to revenue by chaining Affitor skills into a week-by-week execution roadmap. Output is a Markdown plan with skill sequence, time estimates, and exact invocation prompts for each step.

## Stage

S8: Meta — Most affiliates fail because they skip steps or work out of order. Funnel Planner solves this by mapping the user's resources (time, channels, experience) to a personalized execution plan that chains S1-S7 skills in the right sequence. It's the onboarding wizard for affiliate marketing via AI agent.

## When to Use

- User is starting from scratch and wants a complete plan
- User asks "how do I start affiliate marketing?"
- User has a niche but no strategy
- User wants to know which skills to use and in what order
- User says "build me a funnel" or "plan my affiliate business"
- User wants a week-by-week roadmap
- Chaining: this skill recommends which other skills to run and in what order

## Input Schema

```yaml
niche: string                  # OPTIONAL — e.g., "AI tools", "fitness supplements"
                               # If not provided, S1 research will help identify one

product: string                # OPTIONAL — specific product if already chosen
                               # e.g., "HeyGen" or "Semrush"

experience_level: string       # OPTIONAL — "beginner" | "intermediate" | "advanced"
                               # Default: "beginner"

available_channels:            # OPTIONAL — platforms the user can use
  - string                     # e.g., ["blog", "twitter", "linkedin", "email"]
                               # Default: ["blog", "twitter"]

weekly_hours: number           # OPTIONAL — hours per week available
                               # Default: 5

goal: string                   # OPTIONAL — "first_commission" | "scale_to_1k" | "scale_to_10k"
                               # Default: "first_commission"
```

**Chaining context**: If S1 was run earlier, pull niche and product info from conversation. If the user has mentioned their channels or experience, use that context.

## Workflow

### Step 1: Assess Starting Point

Determine where the user is:
- **Has nothing**: Start from S1 (full funnel)
- **Has a product**: Skip S1, start from S2
- **Has content**: Skip S1-S2, start from S3 or S4
- **Has traffic**: Skip to S6 (analytics) or S7 (automation)

Ask clarifying questions only if truly ambiguous. Default to the most common case (beginner, starting from scratch).

### Step 2: Select Relevant Skills

Based on channels, experience, and goal, select 5-8 skills from S1-S7:
- **Beginner + blog + twitter**: S1 → S2 (viral-post-writer) → S3 (affiliate-blog-builder) → S5 (bio-link-deployer) → S6 (seo-audit)
- **Intermediate + email + blog**: S1 → S3 → S4 (landing-page-creator) → S5 (email-drip-sequence) → S6 (performance-report) → S7 (content-repurposer)
- **Advanced + all channels**: Full S1-S7 pipeline with S8 (compliance-checker) at each content step

### Step 3: Estimate Effort

For each selected skill, estimate time based on experience level:
- Beginner: 2-4 hours per skill
- Intermediate: 1-2 hours per skill
- Advanced: 30-60 minutes per skill

Fit into the user's `weekly_hours` to create a week-by-week schedule.

### Step 4: Create Roadmap

Build a week-by-week table:
- Week number
- Skill to run
- What it produces
- Time estimate
- Exact prompt to invoke the skill

### Step 5: Add Success Metrics

For each phase, define measurable outcomes:
- S1: "You should have 2-3 programs selected"
- S2: "You should have 5+ social posts ready"
- S3: "You should have 1-2 blog posts published"
- S5: "You should have a bio link page live"
- S6: "You should know your EPC and conversion rate"

### Step 6: Self-Validation

Before presenting output, verify:

- [ ] Roadmap follows logical sequence (S1→S2→S3... not random order)
- [ ] Invocation prompts are copy-paste ready for each skill
- [ ] Time estimates realistic for stated experience level
- [ ] Success metrics are measurable and specific (not "do well")
- [ ] Total weeks feasible given user's weekly hours budget

If any check fails, fix the output before delivering. Do not flag the checklist to the user — just ensure the output passes.

## Output Schema

```yaml
output_schema_version: "1.0.0"  # Semver — bump major on breaking changes
plan:
  niche: string
  product: string
  experience: string
  goal: string
  total_weeks: number
  total_skills: number

roadmap:
  - week: number
    skill: string              # skill slug
    stage: string              # e.g., "S1: Research"
    action: string             # what to do this week
    time_estimate: string      # e.g., "2-3 hours"
    invocation_prompt: string  # exact prompt to give your AI agent
    success_metric: string     # how to know this step is done

milestones:
  - week: number
    name: string               # e.g., "First content published"
    description: string
```

## Output Format

1. **Plan Overview** — niche, goal, timeline, total skills
2. **Week-by-Week Roadmap** — table with week, skill, action, time, and prompt
3. **Milestones** — key checkpoints with expected outcomes
4. **Entry Points** — where to jump in if user is not starting from scratch

## Error Handling

- **No niche or product**: "Let's find your niche first. I'll plan a funnel that starts with S1 (affiliate-program-search) to discover the best programs for you. What topics interest you? (e.g., AI tools, fitness, finance)"
- **Unrealistic time commitment ("1 hour total")**: "Building a profitable affiliate funnel takes sustained effort. With 1 hour/week, I'd focus on one channel. Here's a minimal plan using just S1 + S2 (social posts only)."
- **Too many channels for experience level**: "You listed 6 channels but you're a beginner. I'd recommend starting with 2 (blog + one social platform) and adding more after your first commission."

## Examples

### Example 1: Complete beginner

**User**: "I want to start affiliate marketing. I have 5 hours a week and I blog."
**Action**: Plan a 6-week funnel: Week 1 S1 (find programs) → Week 2 S2 (write social posts) → Week 3-4 S3 (write blog review) → Week 5 S5 (bio link page) → Week 6 S6 (SEO audit + tracking). Include exact prompts for each skill.

### Example 2: Intermediate with product

**User**: "I already promote Semrush. How do I scale to $1K/month?"
**Action**: Skip S1. Plan around optimization: S6 (performance-report to baseline) → S6 (ab-test-generator for existing content) → S7 (content-repurposer to multiply what works) → S7 (email-automation-builder for nurture) → S6 (performance-report again to measure).

### Example 3: Advanced multi-channel

**User**: "I'm an experienced affiliate with blog, YouTube, and email. Plan me a full funnel for AI tools."
**Action**: Compressed 4-week plan using all stages. Week 1: S1 (research) + S2 (content blitz). Week 2: S3 (blog) + S4 (landing page). Week 3: S5 (distribution) + S7 (content-repurposer). Week 4: S6 (analytics setup) + S8 (compliance-checker). Ongoing: S8 (self-improver) monthly.

## References

- `registry.json` — Skill catalog for selecting the right skills. Read in Step 2.
- `docs/affiliate-funnel-overview.md` — Funnel stage descriptions. Read in Step 2.
- `shared/references/flywheel-connections.md` — master flywheel connection map

## Flywheel Connections

### Feeds Into
- All skills (S1-S7) — `roadmap` provides week-by-week execution plan chaining specific skills

### Fed By
- `commission-calculator` (S1) — commission projections inform funnel ROI estimates
- `value-ladder-architect` (S4) — value ladder informs the funnel structure
- `multi-program-manager` (S7) — portfolio data for planning
- `performance-report` (S6) — performance baselines for goal-setting
- `category-designer` (S8) — category framing shapes the funnel narrative

### Feedback Loop
- `performance-report` (S6) tracks funnel progress vs plan → adjust skill sequence and timeline based on actual results

```yaml
chain_metadata:
  skill_slug: "funnel-planner"
  stage: "meta"
  timestamp: string
  suggested_next:
    - "affiliate-program-search"
    - "viral-post-writer"
    - "affiliate-blog-builder"
    - "landing-page-creator"
```