The 2025 Windup: My New Year’s Rant, A Gift for You, and Back-of-the-Napkin Google Ads Math

Happy New Year 🎉

Let's cue the clichés...

“New year, new me.”

“This is my year.”

“I'm gonna get healthy this year.”

Spare me. I’d rather perform seppuku (look it up) than sit through another parade of empty promises.

Let’s skip the resolutions. Most of them don’t stick anyway.

Here’s the real question for the year ahead: how are you going to make what you do matter?

Not just to you—but to the people around you.

Success vs. Significance

Success is about you. Your wins, your accolades, your name on the list. It’s loud, measurable, and addictive. But it’s fleeting. Junk food for the soul.

Significance means being significant to others. The people whose lives you touch. The difference you make in someone else’s story. It’s not flashy, but it lingers. It’s the kind of nourishment that sticks with you long after the moment has passed.

Here’s the truth... you can have success without significance. But it’ll feel hollow. Like standing at the top of a mountain, only to realize you climbed it alone and no one cares you’re there.

What Matters in the End?

Success is a mirage. It’s America’s favorite carrot on a stick—always just out of reach, always pulling you into the next thing, and the next, and the next.

And sure, chasing it can be motivating. Until it isn’t. Until it starts eating you alive.

But when you strip away the titles, the metrics, and the shiny LinkedIn milestones, what’s left? For me, it’s the students I’ve taught. The colleagues I’ve mentored. The clients I’ve helped. The moments I showed up for someone else.

That’s why AdVenture Academy matters to me. It’s where I’ve seen the ripple effect of what I do—students applying what they’ve learned, growing their businesses, and turning their lives around. That’s the kind of impact I live for.

Because when the noise dies down, that’s what sticks.

Success fades. Significance lasts.

So, What Now?

This starts with a reckoning. Not the “new year, new me” lip service—but an honest look at where you’re headed:

Where is this ladder taking you?
Who does it help?
Will you be proud when you get there?

This year, set the goals that matter. The ones that don’t just make you proud, but leave a mark on the people around you.

Because at the end of the year, it’s not going to be the accolades or the numbers that stick with you. It’ll be the moments where you created something bigger than yourself.

Don’t just succeed. Be significant.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

— Winston Churchill

A New Year's Gift to You🎁

For the first 1,000 people, we’re opening the door to something bigger than just learning advertising. This is your chance to sharpen your skills, elevate your craft, and create campaigns that don’t just perform—they leave a mark. All for just $9.95!

Advertising, when it’s done right, isn’t just a skill. It’s a craft. And if you’ve ever wanted to know how to do it the right way—how to make ads that actually leave a mark and make a difference to your life and the lives around you—this is your chance.

Not someday. Not later. Now.

Access all the details here.

Back-of-the-Napkin Media Plan Math (for 2025)

Just numbers and logic you can scribble on the back of a receipt...

Step 1

Start With the Goal
What’s the end game? Let’s say you want $100,000 in revenue.

Product price: $50
Units to sell: $100,000 ÷ $50 = 2,000 sales

Cool, 2,000 sales. Easy enough. Now let’s reverse-engineer the hell out of it.

Step 2

How Many Clicks Do You Need?
Sales don’t just fall from the sky—you need traffic. And to figure out how much, you need your conversion rate.

Landing page converts at 2% (pretty standard).
Traffic needed = Sales ÷ Conversion Rate
- 2,000 ÷ 0.02 = 100,000 clicks

100,000 clicks to make 2,000 sales. That’s your starting point.

Step 3

What’s It Gonna Cost?
Traffic isn’t free. Let’s assume you’re paying $1 per click (not terrible, not amazing).

Ad spend = Traffic Needed × CPC
- 100,000 × $1 = $100,000 ad spend

Wait. You’re spending $100,000 to make $100,000? Yeah, no, that's not gonna work. Let’s fix that.

Step 4

Make It Worthwhile (ROAS)

So, let’s talk ROAS—Return on Ad Spend. People love throwing out numbers: “I need a 2x ROAS minimum!” Cool, but do you even know where that 2x comes from? Or why it matters?

Let’s break it down.

Say you sell a product for $50. That’s your revenue per sale. But you’re not pocketing $50, right? You’ve got:

COGS (Cost of Goods Sold): Let’s say it costs $20 to make.
Other Costs: Maybe you’re spending $5 per unit on shipping, handling, or overhead.

So, every time you sell a product, you’re left with $25 in gross profit ($50 - $20 - $5).

Now let’s figure out how much you can afford to spend on ads without lighting your profit on fire.

Step 4.1

The ROAS Equation

ROAS tells you how much revenue you’re generating for every $1 spent on ads. If you spend $1 and make $2, that’s a 2x ROAS. But a 2x ROAS only works if your margins can support it.

Example:

Gross profit per unit = $25
Target ROAS = 2x (spend $1, make $2)

At a 2x ROAS, you’re spending $12.50 on ads for each unit sold ($25 ÷ 2). This leaves you with $12.50 in profit per sale. Not bad.

But what happens if your ROAS drops to 1.5x?

At 1.5x, you’re spending $16.67 per unit on ads ($25 ÷ 1.5). Now you’re left with just $8.33 profit. Still profitable, but your margins are thinner.

If your ROAS dips below 1.25x, your ad spend eats all your gross profit—and suddenly, you’re losing money.

Step 4.2

Why ROAS Isn’t Everything

Here’s where people screw up: they focus on ROAS without thinking about volume or long-term value.

Example:

High ROAS, Low Volume: Let’s say you run super-targeted ads and get a 4x ROAS. Amazing! But you’re only making 10 sales because you spent just $125 on ads. Congratulations—you made $500. You’re not retiring anytime soon.
Low ROAS, High Volume: Now imagine running ads at 1.8x ROAS. Doesn’t sound as sexy, but you scale to 2,000 sales. You spent $55,555 on ads and brought in $100,000 in revenue. Your profit? $44,445.

See the difference? ROAS isn’t a magic number. It’s just one piece of the puzzle. If your margins are solid and your cash flow can handle it, a lower ROAS might let you scale bigger and faster.

Step 4.3

How to Set the Right ROAS

Your target ROAS depends on:

COGS and Margins: Know your numbers inside and out.
Business Goals: Are you optimizing for profit or growth?
LTV (Lifetime Value): Can you lose money upfront and make it back later?

If you’re running tight margins, you’ll need a higher ROAS to stay profitable. If your product has a high LTV (think subscription models), you can afford to play the long game and aim for a lower ROAS while scaling aggressively.

ROAS is a useful metric, but it’s not the whole picture. Always start with your margins, know your numbers, and reverse-engineer a ROAS target that makes sense for your business. Then, build your media plan around it.

Step 5

Break It Down by Channel
Here’s where things get interesting. Don’t blow the whole budget on one channel. Here is an example...

Facebook: $25,000 (50%)—cheap CPMs, broad reach.
Google Search: $15,000 (30%)—high-intent, ready-to-buy traffic.
YouTube: $10,000 (20%)—trust-building machine.

This is just a starting point. An example. Use what you know about your audience, seasonality, and market trends.

Step 6

Build a Funnel That Makes Sense
Not all clicks are created equal. You need to stack your spend wisely... Here is an example:

Awareness (70%): Get your brand in front of people. Focus on CPM (cheap eyeballs).
Consideration (10%): Retarget people who’ve shown interest. Use testimonials, explainer videos, case studies—whatever builds trust.
Conversion (20%): Close the deal with direct-response ads. Offers, urgency, all the good stuff.

Step 7

Adjust or Die
Here’s the truth... your first plan will suck. It’s fine. Nobody nails this on the first try.

But you need to track everything. CPM, CTR, CPA, ROAS—whatever makes sense for your goal. Then do what every good marketer does: throw money at what works, cut what doesn’t, and repeat until you’re profitable.

Let's Recap Our Back-of-the-Napkin Media Plan

Start with your revenue goal.
Reverse-engineer clicks and costs.
Split your budget by channel.
Funnel your traffic strategically.
Watch the data like a hawk and adapt.

Simple math. Big results. And all you need is a pen, a napkin, and the will to iterate.

For a comprehensive approach to running profitable digital advertising campaigns, I highly recommend you check out the Ultimate Digital Advertising Library. Just saying.

Isaac Rudansky

Founder, AdVenture Academy
training@adventureppc.com

P.S.

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