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The Debrief — 10 Sections
01 — The Business02 — What's Broken03 — The Growth Plan04 — Making Marc the Authority05 — The 4,50006 — The 20,00007 — The Arsenal08 — How We Operate09 — How We Keep Score10 — Day One
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The Growth Plan

The Growth Plan — Ernest Gilmore × MWA
Section 03
The
Growth Plan
Five initiatives. One target. Every decision I make in 2026 runs through a single filter: does this move MWA from 150–240 cases per month to 180–288? Some of these are fixes. Some are launches. One of them costs nothing and generates results in 45 days. Here’s how I think about all five — in the order I’d execute them.
“The sequencing matters as much as the strategy. You can have five great initiatives and still miss the growth target if you launch them in the wrong order.”
— Ernest Gilmore
01
Primary Engine
● Primary Growth Engine · Q1–Q4
SSD — This Is Where
the 20% Target Gets Won.
SSD is the highest-volume, most digitally scalable practice area MWA has. The economics work — $3,000–$3,400 case value, 10–12% conversion, $400 CPCase target — and the raised fee caps mean the profitability improved at the same time the scaling opportunity expanded. The only thing holding SSD back right now is the PPC failure and the organic decline. Fix those two channels and SSD carries the majority of the 20% growth target. Everything else is upside.
30–40%
Lead volume increase target
≤$400
Cost per case target
8.5:1
Minimum ROI
How I’d Scale It
1
Fix PPC first — then scale
National SSD PPC expansion is on hold because Texas campaigns are over target. That’s the right call. The sequence is: fix Texas CPL, prove the economics work, then scale geographically. I won’t recommend national PPC spend until I can show a clean cost-per-case in the home market.
2
National SEO through content volume
Two blog posts per week is a solid foundation. I’d increase to 8+ per month targeting reciprocal state keywords — states where federal disability law applies but local competition is thinner than Texas. This is the geographic expansion path that doesn’t require fixing PPC first.
3
YouTube as the AI-era organic channel
YouTube content surfaces above AI overviews in search results. Condition-specific explainer videos — “What happens when your SSD claim is denied,” “How the SSD appeals process works” — build national authority while the main site recovers from AI interception. The channel exists. It’s underutilized. That changes in Q1.
4
TV halo effect — measure and amplify
The $400K Roux TV investment drives direct SSD leads AND brand awareness across all practice areas. I’d implement CallRail vanity numbers per TV flight to isolate TV-driven inbound volume, then measure the brand search lift across SSD, VA, and LTD in the weeks following each flight. The halo effect is real. It’s just not measured yet.
Why SSD Carries the Most Weight

Every practice area contributes to the 20% target. But SSD is the one that can deliver the majority of the growth independently — because the demand exists nationally, the digital channels are proven, and the case economics support aggressive investment once the CPL is in range.

LTD has higher case values but longer sales cycles and harder acquisition. VA has pre-filing conversion constraints that limit how fast it can scale. SSD has neither of those limitations. The market is large, the targeting is well-understood, and the infrastructure — DisabilityDenials.com, the TV campaign, the Google Ads account — is already built.

The honest answer on SSD is this: the 20% growth target is achievable from SSD alone if the paid channels get fixed and the organic decline gets addressed. Everything else is insurance — and upside.

The Compounding Effect

“Every SSD case won becomes a client in the 20,000+ database — which feeds the client referral channel. Every SSD victory story becomes a YouTube video, a blog post, a Bianca Bucaram PR pitch. SSD doesn’t just win cases. It fuels every other channel simultaneously.”

02
Launchpad Ready
◎ Ready to Launch · Week 6
Hispanic Market —
Already on the Launchpad.
The Spanish website exists. The test budget is allocated. The channel is identified. Most candidates would say “launch it.” I say launch it — but do five days of competitive intelligence first. Before I spend a dollar of that $5K–$10K monthly budget, I know exactly what other disability firms are running in the Houston Hispanic market, what messages are working, and what positioning gap MWA can own. Then I launch in Week 6. Not Quarter 2.
5–10%
Of total cases by year-end
$7,500
Monthly test budget
Wk 6
Launch date
The Strategy
1
5-day competitive audit before spending
Facebook Ad Library. Spanish-language disability law ads in the Houston metro. What are competitors running? What’s the creative format, the message angle, the call to action? I want to know the landscape before I plant a flag in it.
2
Culturally authentic — not translated English ads
The biggest mistake in Hispanic market advertising is taking an English ad and running it in Spanish. The messaging, the imagery, the tone — all of it needs to be built for the audience, not adapted from the existing campaign. I’ve done this before. The conversion difference is significant.
3
Paid social plus a community anchor layer
Facebook and Instagram get eyeballs. Community trust converts them. I’d pair the paid social launch with outreach to 3–5 Houston Hispanic community anchors — Spanish-language radio, Catholic parish bulletins in high-density zip codes, Hispanic business associations. A $500/month grassroots layer that makes the paid ads convert at 2x the rate because the brand already exists in the community.
Why This Channel Matters Beyond Houston

The Houston Hispanic market is the test case. If the economics work here — and I believe they will, given the demographic alignment with SSD and VA — the playbook scales. Dallas, San Antonio, McAllen. MWA already has GMB listings in those markets.

This is also one of the few channels where MWA has virtually no competition from firms that have built a trusted brand presence. The disability law market in Spanish-language Houston is genuinely underserved. That’s a first-mover advantage that won’t exist in 24 months.

I’ve led Spanish-language paid social and community outreach programs before — not as a test, as a core channel. The MWA Hispanic market launch isn’t an experiment for me. It’s familiar territory with a proven playbook applied to a new market.

Launch Timeline — Three Phases
Months 1–3
Establish Baseline
Launch Facebook/Instagram targeting Spanish-speaking Houston metro
Test three creative angles: emotional/family, practical/process, authority/credibility
Establish CPL baseline — don’t optimize until there’s enough data
Community anchor outreach begins alongside paid
SSD-primary, VA-secondary targeting
Months 4–6
Optimize and Prove
Achieve 10–12% conversion rate on SSD/LTD leads
Scale winning creative angles, pause underperformers
Optimize Spanish landing pages based on conversion data
VA pre-filing nurture sequence launched in Spanish
First LTD cases from community anchor referrals
Months 7–12
Scale and Expand
Scale to $10K/month if CPL on target
Begin Dallas market test with proven Houston playbook
Target 5–10% of total case volume from Hispanic market
LTD LinkedIn outreach to bilingual professionals begins
PR: Bianca pitches Hispanic business media placements
03
LTD Pipeline
◎ Q2 Launch · 6–12 Month ROI Cycle
Medical Network —
The LTD Pipeline Nobody’s Built.
LTD is the highest-value practice area MWA has — cases worth $10,000 to $50,000+ — and it’s the hardest to acquire through paid channels. The acquisition path that actually works for LTD isn’t Google Ads. It’s trust. And the people who have the most relevant trust relationship with high-income professionals who carry substantial disability policies are their doctors, dentists, and CPAs. MWA already has The Disabled Doctor’s Guide, The Disabled Dentist’s Guide, and The Disabled Nurse’s Guide. This program turns those assets into a systematic pipeline.
25–50
New relationships / quarter
2–5
LTD cases / quarter from network
$10K+
Avg case value
The Dual Opportunity
1
Medical professionals as LTD clients
Surgeons performing procedures, dentists, physicians — all carry substantial long-term disability policies. When they become disabled and their insurer denies the claim, MWA is the firm they should call. The Disabled Doctor’s Guide is the entry point for that conversation.
2
Medical professionals as referral sources
Doctors see patients who become disabled. When a patient’s disability claim is denied, the doctor often knows before anyone else. A physician who refers that patient to MWA is worth 2–5 LTD cases per year — at $10,000+ per case, that’s $20,000–$50,000 in firm revenue from a single relationship.
3
The MWA Physician Partner Program
Beyond referrals — a named partner program with a co-branded digital credential, a quarterly Disability Medicine newsletter written for medical professionals, and priority case status updates. Physicians respond to professional recognition. This program makes MWA the disability law firm that speaks their language.
How the BDM Executes It

The Business Development Manager already exists and reports to the Marketing Director. This program is their primary Q2 objective. The BDM builds the first 25 physician relationships through LinkedIn outreach, using the guides as the credibility entry point.

The 6–12 month relationship development cycle is accepted — because the case values justify it. A single LTD case from this network generates more revenue than 8–10 SSD cases. The patience required to build these relationships is part of the strategy, not a limitation of it.

Monthly: 25–50 new contacts reached. Quarterly: 2–5 relationships producing active referrals. Annual: A physician partner network that functions as a self-sustaining LTD pipeline with no paid media cost.

The E-E-A-T Dividend

“Every physician who co-promotes content with MWA on LinkedIn is an E-E-A-T authority signal. In the AI search era, expert co-authorship from credentialed medical professionals is one of the highest-value citation signals available. This program serves both the LTD pipeline and the organic search recovery strategy simultaneously.”

Existing Assets to Deploy
3 Guides
Disabled Doctor’s, Dentist’s, and Nurse’s Guides — credibility tools already written
White Papers Available
5+ Topics
Lupus/Lyme, MS, Parkinson’s, respiratory disorders — condition-specific authority content
BDM Outreach Target
25/month
First contacts in Houston and Dallas MSAs — physicians, surgeons, and specialists with high disability policy exposure
04
Content-Led
◎ SEO-Led · After Texas PPC Fixed
National Expansion —
Content Before PPC. Always.
Texas dominance is established. The national expansion opportunity is real — disability law is federal, which means a case won in Houston is won the same way in Ohio or Georgia. The mistake would be scaling PPC nationally before fixing the Texas campaigns that are already over target. The path I’d take is content-led: state-specific landing pages, reciprocal state SEO, YouTube authority building. Build the organic foundation nationally. Add PPC when Texas proves the economics work.
State-by-State
Geographic tracking live
20+
YouTube videos by Q3
The Content-First Playbook
1
State-specific landing page sprint
Top 5 expansion markets get dedicated landing pages with local keyword targeting, state-specific legal context, and GMB listings. These pages build geographic authority before we spend a dollar on national PPC. Hennessy executes this as part of the content strategy while PPC is being fixed.
2
YouTube as the national SEO engine
YouTube content surfaces above AI overviews in search results and builds national authority across every state simultaneously. 20+ condition-specific explainer videos — “How to win your SSD appeal in [state],” “VA claim denied: what happens next” — create a national organic footprint that doesn’t depend on fixing Google SGE.
3
GMB optimization across all Texas locations
MWA has 13+ Texas GMB listings with inconsistent review counts and performance. Getting every location to 100+ reviews and consistent weekly posting builds local authority that feeds national brand signals. Small town locations target $150–200K revenue. Large market locations target $300K+. The GMB portfolio is an underutilized asset.
4
National PPC — gated behind Texas performance
The national PPC expansion testing is correctly paused. It resumes when — and only when — Texas CPL hits target in all three practice areas. Scaling a broken campaign nationally doesn’t fix the CPL problem. It multiplies it.
Why Disability Law Is Uniquely Suited to National Expansion

Most legal services are geographically constrained — a personal injury firm in Houston can’t easily represent clients in Atlanta. Disability law operates differently. LTD, SSD, and VA claims are federal or governed by national insurance contracts. A claimant in any state can work with MWA.

DisabilityDenials.com already has the SEO authority to compete nationally — the organic traffic decline is due to AI interception, not a collapse in domain authority. The content infrastructure is in place. What’s needed is state-specific content that tells Google and AI models that MWA has geographic relevance beyond Texas.

The timing principle here is simple: build the organic foundation now, so it’s generating leads by the time Texas PPC is fixed and national paid expansion is ready. Content has a 3–6 month lag to rank. The work starts in Q1 so it pays off in Q3.

TX GMB Locations
13+
Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, The Woodlands, El Paso, Cypress, McAllen + more
Review Target / Location
100+
Minimum threshold for local authority. Automated post-win review request sequence drives this.
Blog Cadence Target
8+ / mo
Up from current 2/week — national keyword targeting and reciprocal state content
National PPC Gate
TX First
No national PPC spend until Texas CPL hits target in all three practice areas
Initiative 05  ·  The Free Win
VA Nurture — 18 additional cases per month.
Zero additional budget required.
6%
Current VA conversion
8–10%
Target VA conversion
+18
Cases/month at 8%
Why the conversion rate is low

VA conversion isn’t low because the leads are bad. It’s low because the journey to eligibility is longer than the current nurture system is built for. Veterans call before they’ve been denied — before MWA can legally represent them. The existing 4-email drip sequence doesn’t account for a lead that needs 6–18 months of nurturing before they’re eligible to sign.

The result: leads that called MWA, expressed clear interest, and then got lost in a sequence that wasn’t designed for their timeline. That’s not a channel problem. That’s a systems problem — and systems problems get fixed in HubSpot.

Why I start here on Day 10

Every other initiative in this plan requires either fixing something broken or building something new. The VA nurture fix is different: the leads already exist, the platform already exists, and the only thing needed is a better sequence.

At 1,500–2,000 monthly leads with approximately 20% VA mix — 300 VA leads per month — moving from 6% to 8% conversion is 6 additional cases per month. At 2,000 monthly leads, it’s 8 additional cases. Every single one of those cases came from a lead that was already in the system. The cost of acquisition is effectively zero.

This is the answer I give when someone asks what the fastest ROI improvement is. It’s not a new channel. It’s a 9-email sequence that already has an audience waiting for it.

The Sequence Rebuild — Before and After
Before — Current State
4-Email Generic Drip
One-size sequence not built for pre-filing leads
No milestone-triggered re-engagement — sends on a fixed schedule regardless of claim status
No educational content about the VA claims process — leads don’t understand what to expect
Leads who aren’t eligible yet fall through the cracks after 4 emails
No mechanism to identify when a veteran has received their denial and is now ready to sign
After — The Fix
9-Touch Pre-Filing Journey
Email 1: “You’re not eligible yet — here’s exactly what needs to happen first.” Sets expectations, maintains trust.
Emails 2–5: Educational series on the VA claims timeline, evidence gathering, what strengthens a case
Emails 6–9: Milestone-triggered re-engagement — “It’s been 90 days. Have you received a decision?”
Lead scoring updates based on email engagement — hot leads flagged for intake priority
Re-engagement converts warm leads who denied benefits 3–18 months after first contact
What 45 Days Looks Like

“If the new sequence is working, I’ll see it in the open rates first, then the re-engagement clicks, then the signed case count 30–45 days later. I measure at Day 45 with a clear threshold: VA conversion trending toward 7% or higher is green. Flat open rates with no conversion movement is a content problem, not a sequence problem — and I’d know the difference within two weeks.”

The Filter
Five initiatives. Every one of them
runs through a single question:
does this move us to 180–288?
If the answer isn’t yes — or at least a clear path to yes — the initiative doesn’t get funded, doesn’t get staffed, and doesn’t get a spot on the Level 10 scorecard. That number is the filter for every decision I make in 2026.
View the Level 10 Scorecard  →