Day 115-120: Letting the System Run Over Christmas

Days 115–120 – Letting the system run on Auto-Pilot over Christmas.

Today is the 29th of December. I haven’t recorded an update for a few days because it’s been Christmas, I’ve been away, and I’ve barely looked at anything business-related during that time.

In many ways, this is exactly the point of what I’m trying to build. Being able to step away, spend time with family, and not actively manage things day to day while the systems continue to run.

This update is really a catch-up covering the period since the 23rd of December and a chance to start mentally preparing for January.

We’re also now approaching the end of month four of this 12-month journey, so I’ll be doing a full monthly and multi-month review shortly, looking at trends, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how I want to approach month five.

Performance Over the Last Six Days

Looking at the period from the 23rd through to the 28th of December, revenue came in at just under $5,000.

As expected, there was the usual up-and-down pattern, including at least one day that dipped close to break-even and a couple of days that pushed past $1,000.

This volatility is pretty normal, especially over Christmas, but overall the numbers are encouraging.

During this time, I’ve only been running one campaign. The second funnel remains paused after dropping into Learning Limited, which is essentially the end of the road for a campaign unless it’s rebuilt properly.

That reboot is something I’ll be planning over the next few days so it’s ready to relaunch in January.

Ad Spend and Profitability

With just the original funnel running, I increased the daily budget to £350. Over the six-day period from the 23rd to the 28th, total ad spend came to roughly $2,820.

Against just under $5,000 in revenue, that leaves a profit of around $2,100 across six days. If performance like that were consistent, I’d be more than happy.

This again reinforces the decision to simplify and focus on what’s already working rather than forcing a second funnel that isn’t ready.

Today’s Performance and Budget Adjustment

As of around 11am today, revenue is sitting at $454, which is a very strong start to the day. Based on that, I’ve decided to nudge the budget up slightly again by around 10%.

In general, I’m careful with budget increases and try to keep them within 10–15% per day, even when a campaign is clearly performing well.

While this campaign would almost certainly tolerate a larger jump, I’m still taking a steady approach and adjusting gradually.

If performance doesn’t hold, I can always pull the budget back down again.

Ad Creative Performance

One interesting thing I noticed when reviewing the ads is how well the original carousel creative is still performing.

That carousel has now been running for around three months and continues to deliver low-cost traffic and strong conversions.

I also have an older 12-second video ad that initially performed very well and then dropped off almost entirely.

This is a good example of why having a mix of creatives matters. Different formats rotate in and out of favour as the algorithm shifts and audience segments change.

What’s encouraging is that over this period, most creatives are now sitting at very similar costs per conversion. That usually points to lower competition overall, which is supported by CPMs dropping significantly.

CPM Trends and Market Conditions

Over the last six days, CPMs have dropped as low as £1.40 in places, which is extremely low. I don’t think I’ve ever seen CPMs consistently that cheap.

This suggests that competition has eased off significantly compared to the Black Friday period. That gives me confidence that I can push budgets harder going into January without immediately getting priced out of the auction.

Lower CPMs combined with stable conversion rates are exactly the conditions you want before scaling.

Looking Ahead to January

Right now, I’m deliberately not making funnel changes. It’s the end of December, everything slows down, and the system is performing well enough to leave alone.

January, however, will be different. I’m fully prepared to push budgets more aggressively if these conditions hold, and I’ll also be relaunching the second funnel with a fresh structure, new creative, and better conversion mechanics.

There’s a lot to analyse once this month closes, and January historically performs very well in this market, so I’m optimistic about what’s coming next.

Final Thoughts

Being able to step away for several days and still see consistent revenue and profit is exactly what this whole process is about. It’s not perfect, and it’s not fully automated yet, but it’s working.

The focus now is to finish December strong, review month four properly, and go into January with clarity, momentum, and a plan.