Competitor Analysis: Maria Wendt

At a Glance

Maria Wendt by the numbers

676K

IG Followers

@maria.wendt

100K+

YouTube Subs

Grew in ~9 months

$17M

Revenue Claimed

Digital products (per IG bio)

$1.8M

Personal Income

Published tax return, 2024

~100K

Students

Across all courses

Brand Overview

Who is Maria Wendt?

Tagline

"Make Money & Get Clients Quickly with Maria Wendt"

Positioning

Single mom, faith-first, relatable, anti-guru, radically transparent

Instagram

@maria.wendt — 676K followers, 2,652 posts

YouTube

100K+ subscribers (grew in ~9 months)

Target Audience

Online business owners, coaches, consultants, service providers, course creators. Broader than Bossbabe — not gender-restricted (male buyers visible in reviews). Beginner to intermediate, price-sensitive, niche-agnostic (60+ niches listed).

Trust Mechanism

Published redacted tax return showing $1.8M personal income (2024). Claims $17M total digital product sales. Publishes income proof against "guru" skepticism.

"God. Motherhood. Business. (in that order)" — IG bio. Family-run business with sister Rose co-teaching ads course. Personal blog about divorce, dating as single mom.

Value Ladder

The ascension path: $1 to $5K

Maria's value ladder moves buyers from a $1 tripwire through mid-ticket courses to a hidden $5K coaching offer. The high-ticket backend is deliberately invisible from the main storefront.

$1

Tripwire

2026 Business Gameplan Worksheets

→

$24

Mega-Bundle

24 courses normally $400+

→

$27–$67

Low-Ticket

Individual topic courses

→

$197–$300

Core Courses

Flagship courses w/ 100+ reviews

→

$5,000

Inner Circle

Hidden. Bi-weekly Zoom. ~20 spots. Plans to raise to $10K–$12K.

Product Suite

Full product breakdown

40+ products organized into tiers. Review density on flagship products is exceptionally high.

Tier 1 Tripwires — $1 to $27

Product	Price	Reviews	Rating
2026 Business Gameplan Worksheets	$1	81 reviews	5.0
24 Courses for $24 Bundle	$24	—	—
Insta Ready: Cinematic Reels	$27	103 reviews	4.91

Tier 2 Mid-Ticket — $37 to $67

Product	Price	Reviews	Rating
Selling With Instagram Stories	$37	64 reviews	4.92
Instagram Follower Fast-Track	$67	2 reviews	5.0

Tier 3 Core Courses — $197 to $300

Product	Price	Reviews	Rating
Cash Spike: 2-Day Launches	$197	120 reviews	4.94
Words Into Money: Copywriting	$197	125 reviews	4.96
Coaching Group (lifetime FB group + calls)	$197	131 reviews	4.96
Ads Are For Everyone 2.0	$300	106 reviews	4.93
How To Create Digital Products People Love	$300	193 reviews	4.99
Inbox: Email Marketing	$300	20 reviews	4.95
Content Creation Bootcamp	$300	6 reviews	5.0
Dream Team: Hiring Help	$300	25 reviews	5.0
100K YouTube Subscribers	$300	3 reviews	5.0
I Love Money: Manifesting	$300	2 reviews	5.0

Tier 4 Templates & Toolkits — various prices

40+ additional products including: pre-written emails (427), viral Instagram hooks (1,095), ManyChat flows, funnel templates, copy trackers, mockup templates, ChatGPT prompt packs, and more. Volume-based cross-sell model with "Related Products" on every page.

High-Ticket Maria's Inner Circle — $5,000

Detail	Info
Price	$5,000 one-time (no payment plans — deliberate friction to filter for committed buyers)
Format	Bi-weekly Zoom group coaching (1st & 3rd Tuesday, 3:30pm PST)
Capacity	~20 students per cohort
Access	Lifetime. Full refund available at any time.
Future pricing	Plans to increase to $10K–$12K for future cohorts
Visibility	Hidden from main storefront. Lives on separate Leadpages URL — promoted only to warm buyers via email or social.

Funnel Architecture

How Maria acquires & monetizes

A multi-channel top-of-funnel feeding into a WooCommerce store with heavy cross-sells and a hidden high-ticket backend.

1

Top of Funnel — Awareness

Instagram (676K) YouTube (100K+) Blog/SEO Facebook Ads ($3M+ total spend claimed)

↓

2

Entry Points — Acquisition

$1 Worksheets (WooCommerce) $24 Mega-Bundle (SamCart + Leadpages) Free YouTube content ManyChat DM automation Blog SEO → product links

↓

3

Core Conversion — Monetization

WooCommerce product pages 50–200 reviews per flagship Related Products cross-sell Category filtering by need In-course upsells

↓

4

Retention & Ascension

$197 Coaching Group (lifetime FB) Course refreshes ("updated for 2026") Repeat purchases (5+ courses per buyer) $5K Inner Circle (hidden backend)

Traffic & Ads

How she drives traffic at scale

Maria claims $3M+ total Meta ad spend with a 60/40 paid-to-organic split. Ads are the primary growth channel, running always-on direct-to-offer campaigns.

60% Paid (Meta Ads) 40% Organic (IG, YT, SEO)

60%

Paid Traffic

Meta Ads — $3M+ total spend claimed

40%

Organic

Instagram, YouTube, Blog/SEO

Ad funnel benchmarks

$118

Avg Order Value

$7–$27

Entry Price Range

~$650K

Est. Monthly Revenue

All traffic channels

Meta Ads (Primary)

Always-on SLO campaigns. Direct-to-offer (no lead magnet). $3M+ lifetime spend. Static + video mix.

Instagram (676K)

Reels, Stories, ManyChat DM automation. "Comment KEYWORD" for lead capture.

YouTube (100K+)

Long-form tutorials (50+ min free courses). Grew 100K subs in ~9 months. Funnels to paid products.

Blog / SEO

Articles targeting "passive income ideas," "automations for beginners," "what is ManyChat." Internal product links.

Facebook Groups

$197 lifetime coaching group. Community retention + upsell environment. First access to launches.

Podcast Appearances

Guest on Lori Harder podcast discussing "the $27 funnel that built an 8-figure business."

Top-performing ad hooks & angles

Value
"24 courses for $24." Primary acquisition offer. Extreme value-price stacking. Achieves $118 AOV through upsell architecture.
Curiosity
"The $27 funnel that built an 8-figure business." Used on podcast circuit and in ads. Curiosity + stat combo. Directly comparable to Bossbabe's SLO model.
Stat
"$17M in digital product sales." Authority anchor in bio and ads. Backed by published redacted tax return showing $1.8M personal income.
Stat
"100,000+ students have taken my courses." Scale proof. Similar to Bossbabe's "146K+ students" — we have the edge here.
Value
"All my courses for $97." Bundle-everything offer for warm audiences. Extreme perceived value vs. price.
Transform
"From $400 total in first 2 years to $4M in year one." Personal transformation narrative. High contrast before/after creates compelling origin story.

Ad strategy summary

Maria runs always-on, evergreen SLO campaigns — no launch windows, no webinar funnels. Ads go directly to paid offers (no lead magnet layer). SamCart handles checkout with order bumps and upsells that push AOV from $24-27 base to $118 average.

Ad creative is founder-led static + video mix. Dominant angles are extreme value-price stacking ("24 for $24", "$10,000+ for $97") and stat-authority ("$17M revenue", "100K students"). No UGC or student testimonials in ads — a format gap Bossbabe could exploit.

Her model validates Bossbabe's direct-to-SLO approach at $17M+ scale. Key difference: Maria uses extreme volume (40+ products) while Bossbabe uses focused methodology (FBB framework).

View Maria Wendt's Active Ads in Meta Ad Library →

Key Tactics

What makes her funnel work

Tactic 01

$24-for-24 Mega-Bundle

24 courses normally valued at $400+ sold for $24. Hosted on Leadpages with SamCart checkout. Organized by buyer need with 60+ niches listed to maximize relevance. Brilliant tripwire.

Tactic 02

Review-Heavy Social Proof

100–200+ reviews per flagship with full testimonials including specific revenue claims ("$8K first month", "$154K by May", "16x ROAS in 48 hours"). All 4.9–5.0 stars.

Tactic 03

Income Transparency

Dedicated /income-claims page with actual redacted tax return. "$17M selling digital products" in bio. Reddit discussions about income claims create organic buzz.

Tactic 04

Family-Run Relatability

Sister Rose co-teaches Ads course. Single mom narrative in content. "God. Motherhood. Business. (in that order)." Personal blog about divorce, dating.

Tactic 05

Course Refresh Marketing

"Completely updated and refilmed for the 2025 & 2026 algorithm." Update videos inserted for platform changes. Drives re-engagement and new reviews.

Tactic 06

ManyChat-Powered IG Funnel

"Comment KEYWORD and I'll DM you" strategy. Teaches this strategy AND uses it herself. Automates lead capture at scale from Instagram engagement.

Tactic 07

Volume + Cross-Sell Model

40+ products = constant cross-sell. Related Products on every page. Reviews mention buying 5+ courses. Internal course-to-course recommendations throughout content.

Tech Stack

What she's built on

WordPress + WooCommerce Primary storefront & delivery

Elementor Page builder (v3.34.4)

SamCart Checkout (some offers)

Leadpages Landing pages

WP Rocket Performance / caching

CusRev Review collection & display

useproof.com Social proof notifications

ManyChat Instagram DM automation

Facebook Groups Community / coaching delivery

CloudFront CDN Asset delivery (Leadpages)

PayPal (PPCP) Payment processing

Head-to-Head

Maria Wendt vs. Bossbabe

Dimension	Maria Wendt	Bossbabe / Natalie Ellis
Model	High-volume low-ticket ($1–$300) + hidden $5K backend	Curated premium positioning
Products	40+ individual courses & templates	Fewer, more focused offers
Max Price	$5K Inner Circle (hidden); $300 on storefront	Higher-ticket programs
Brand vs. Personal	100% personal brand	Brand-first, Natalie supports
Audience	Broad (all genders, 60+ niches)	Female entrepreneurs specifically
Design	Functional / conversion-focused (WordPress/Elementor)	Editorial / elevated aesthetic
Trust Mechanism	Published tax returns + 1,000s of reviews	Community stats, media features
Social Proof	On-page reviews (quantified, specific revenue claims)	Testimonials + press mentions (Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur)
Messaging	"Make money online" / "passive income"	"Freedom-Based Business" / anti-hustle
Instagram	676K followers	~3M+ (Bossbabe)
Tech	WordPress / WooCommerce	Custom pages / SamCart
Entry Point	$1 worksheets / $24 mega-bundle	Worksheets / lead magnets
Community	$197 lifetime FB group	Higher-value community model

Strategic Takeaways

What this means for us

↑

What Maria Does Well (Consider Adopting)

1
Review density 100+ reviews per flagship product is extremely powerful social proof. Bossbabe should invest in structured review collection.
2
Tripwire pricing The $1 worksheets and $24 mega-bundle are brilliant entry-point funnels that build buyer lists fast.
3
Income transparency Publishing proof builds enormous trust, especially against audience skepticism.
4
Course refresh marketing "Updated for 2026" messaging re-engages existing buyers and signals relevance.
5
Category-based product navigation Letting buyers self-segment by need (ads, Instagram, email, etc.) reduces decision friction.

★

Where Bossbabe Has the Advantage

1
Brand equity Bossbabe's brand recognition and Instagram following (~3M+) dwarfs Maria's personal brand (676K).
2
Elevated positioning Maria's functional WordPress/Elementor design feels less premium. Bossbabe's editorial aesthetic commands higher perceived value.
3
Higher-ticket execution Maria's $5K Inner Circle is basic — bi-weekly Zoom Q&A with ~20 people. Bossbabe can offer a far more polished, comprehensive high-ticket experience.
4
Focused methodology "Freedom-Based Business" is a clearer, stickier framework than Maria's course catalog approach.
5
Media credibility Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur features vs. Maria's self-published income claims.

▶

Competitive Gaps to Exploit

1
High-ticket gap Maria's $5K Inner Circle is just bi-weekly Zoom Q&A with ~20 people — minimal structure, no curriculum, no methodology. Bossbabe can offer a premium, structured experience (mastermind, retreat, 1:1, proprietary frameworks).
2
Design & brand premium Maria's generic WordPress/Leadpages design can't command premium pricing. Bossbabe's editorial aesthetic justifies higher price points.
3
Messaging differentiation Maria's "passive income" / "make money online" messaging is crowded and commoditized. "Freedom-Based Business" is more defensible and aspirational.
4
Tactics vs. operating system Maria teaches 40+ individual tactic courses. Bossbabe can own the integrated strategic operating system that ties it all together.
5
Methodology stickiness Maria's model is a course catalog — no signature framework. The FBB framework is stickier and creates stronger brand identity.
6
Hidden backend weakness Maria's Inner Circle is hidden from her storefront — most of her audience never sees the ascension path. Bossbabe can be more intentional about surfacing the full value ladder.