Mitch's old lead magnet was a free PDF workout template. His new one is a $80 paid 4-week challenge. His 1:1 coaching conversion tripled, and the challenge itself nets him $3,400–$5,200.
The old funnel
Jeremy Mitchell (@coachjmitch) was running the textbook online-coach funnel in 2024–2025:
1. Free workout PDF lead magnet
2. 7-day email drip
3. Booked call CTA
4. $500/mo 1:1 coaching offer
His numbers looked OK but weren't great:
- PDF downloads per month: 420
- Call bookings per month: 18 (4.3%)
- Closed coaching clients per month: 4 (22% close rate)
- MRR added per month: $2,000
The new funnel
In February 2026 he replaced the free PDF with a $80, 4-week OutGrind challenge as his front-end offer:
1. Ad / organic content → paid 4-week challenge ($80)
2. Challenge runs — participants get a 1:1 call CTA in the final week
3. $500/mo 1:1 coaching offer
The new numbers (averaged over three cohorts):
- **Challenge buyers per month**: 62
- **Challenge-to-call booking rate**: 47% (29 calls booked)
- **Coaching close rate on those calls**: 48% (14 clients/mo)
- **Coaching MRR added per month**: $7,000 (3.5× the old funnel)
- **Challenge-revenue keep (Mitch's 70%)**: $3,470/month
Why paid beats free as a lead magnet
Mitch's summary: "Free PDF downloaders aren't buyers yet. Paid challenge buyers are *already* proven buyers. My call close rate more than doubled because the prospect has already exchanged money for a result — they've crossed the hardest threshold in the funnel."
The stack
- Funnel pages: built in-house on Framer
- Ads: $600/month on Meta, targeting fitness-interested men 25–45
- Challenge infra: OutGrind (hosting + payments + verification + payouts)
- Coaching delivery: Trainerize + Slack
Total revenue from the redesigned funnel: ~$10,500/month blended, up from ~$2,000 before.
Published 3/19/2026 · See all case studies