---
title: "The seven levels of advertisers"
description: "A roadmap used to scale portfolio companies from a few million a year to $100,000,000+."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-leads/the-seven-levels-of-advertisers/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# The seven levels of advertisers

> A roadmap used to scale portfolio companies from a few million a year to $100,000,000+.

Alex Hormozi's framework, from $100M Leads, pp. 375 to 381.

Framework 44 of 46 from [$100M Leads](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/100m-leads/index.md) by Alex Hormozi. Category: Lead generation.

## The steps

1. **Level 1.** Your friends know about the stuff you sell. Primary action: warm outreach.
2. **Level 2.** You consistently tell everyone you know. Primary actions: warm outreach and posting content.
3. **Level 3.** You get employees to help you advertise.
4. **Level 4.** Your product gets consistent referrals, aiming for 25% or more of customers.
5. **Level 5.** You advertise in more places, in more ways, with more people.
6. **Level 6.** You hire experienced executives to run departments without you.
7. **Level 7.** Reserved for after a billion.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: The Roadmap - Putting it All Together, pp. 375–381

The roadmap describes seven levels of advertiser, from telling friends about your offer at level 1 to hiring battle-hardened executives at level 6. Each level has a primary action, such as warm outreach, then posting content, then hiring people to advertise, then building referral goodwill. Hormozi pictures the $100M+ lead machine, in which a third of customers come from referrals and an executive team drives growth without him, and says that takes five to ten years even when you know what to do. It took him and Leila more than ten years of best effort to cross their first $100M in net worth.

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/100m-leads/the-seven-levels-of-advertisers.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/100m-leads/the-seven-levels-of-advertisers-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/100m-leads/the-seven-levels-of-advertisers.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/100m-leads/the-seven-levels-of-advertisers-dark.png