Day 52: The Tech Stack Powering My Funnel

Quick check-in on the numbers, then I’ll show you every tool I actually use to run this business—what each one does, why I picked it, and how it all fits together.

Daily snapshot

• Yesterday’s sales: $882

• Ad spend: £347 (~$462)

• Profit: ~$420 (right in the sweet spot of where I like to be)

• Today so far: $421 at 1:30pm — tracking fine as long as the afternoon holds up

The real stack behind the scenes

I was going to share split-test results today, but they need more time. Instead, here’s the exact setup I run daily.

None of this is theoretical—it’s the toolkit that lets me keep the whole machine moving in about an hour a day.

1) System.io — funnels, email, courses, split tests

• What it does: Hosts all funnels, checkout pages, split tests, email automations, and my course delivery.

• Why I use it: It’s fast to build in, reliable, and keeps almost everything under one roof.

• Cost: I’m on the top tier at $97/mo, but you can start free and still launch a fully working, payment-taking funnel.

2) Stape: Facebook Conversions API

• What it does: Sends conversion data back to Facebook so the algorithm can optimise for purchases.

• Why I use it: System.io doesn’t have a native CAPI integration, so I connect through Stape.

• Cost: $12/mo.

3) Zendesk — support desk

• What it does: Ticketing for customer support (lost logins, access issues, etc.).

• Why I use it: Keeps support organized and outsource-ready when I want to hand it off.

• Cost: $11/mo (I didn’t dig into tiers here), but worth it once volume increases.

4) Provely — real-time social proof

• What it does: Shows those small “ from just purchased” pop-ups.

• Why I use it: I’ve tested with/without—having verified proof does lift conversions on the sales page.

• Cost: $17/mo

5) Kinsta: Web hosting (for my legacy blog)

• What it does: Hosts my older content site that still sends organic traffic and leads.

• Why I use it: I could run everything inside System.io, but the blog is established and benefits from a fast, SEO-friendly host.

• Cost: You can host for ~$10/mo; I pay more for speed/reliability.

6) Amazon S3 — course video hosting

• What it does: Streams course videos to students.

• Why I use it: Robust, global, highly available. (You can host videos inside System.io; I prefer S3 for scale.)

7) Vimeo — marketing videos

• What it does: Hosts the public-facing promo assets with a clean player + basic analytics.

• Why I use it: Nice embed controls and a familiar player for ad and page creatives.

8) Loom — quick recordings

• What it does: I record these daily videos in Loom and send short how-to clips to customers when needed.

• Why I use it: The fastest way to show, not tell.

9) Vidalytics — video analytics (trialled)

• What it does: Heatmaps + drop-off graphs for sales videos (great for VSL tweaking).

• Status: I tested it at $24/mo previously; paused for now while I’m not running a VSL.

Monthly software spend (all-in)

Right now I’m at ~$242/mo across the stack.

That spend is what buys me automation, reliability and the ability to run the whole thing mostly on autopilot while I focus on creative and tests.

How it fits together (simple flow)

• Traffic (FB ads + some organic from blog/YouTube)

• System.io funnel + checkout + split tests

• CAPI via Stape feeds purchase data back to Facebook

• Provely boosts trust on the sales page

• Courses delivered inside System.io; videos streamed from S3

• Email automations (front-end, cart-abandon, backend “Spotlight” offers) run in System.io

• Zendesk handles support cleanly

• Loom/Vimeo for content and promos; Vidalytics when I’m optimising a VSL

Why this matters (especially if you’re starting)

• You don’t need a big tool bill to launch—System.io’s free tier is enough to ship a real funnel and take payments.

• Add tools only when a bottleneck appears (e.g., CAPI for ad optimisation, helpdesk when support volume rises).

• Prioritise speed and reliability over saving a few dollars when it touches conversions (hosting, video delivery, support).

What’s next

• Three split tests are running: two on the opt-in page and one on the sales page (the 1927 Caples-inspired variant vs. my control).

• Tomorrow I’ll share early reads on all three and what I’m planning to tweak first.