How A Quiet, Shirt-On Fitness Affiliate Marketer Outsold Everyone For 15+ Years (And How You Can Steal His Evergreen System In 3 Steps)
Yann Brainy
Yann Brainy is the author of IP24, the internet marketer's main tool for creating an info-product FAST to attract and monetize an audience quickly
If you’re tired of publishing content that gets likes on Inschtagram or TikTok but never turns into paying clients, it’s time to stop chasing views and focus on what actually works.
What I’m about to show you is how I built a lead-generating machine — not from a funnel, a webinar, or daily social media posts…
But from one simple, trust-building piece of written content.
A Trojan Horse.
This invisible strategy is what the world’s top affiliates have been using quietly for years — not just to win contests, but to dominate them. While the rest of the internet dances for attention, these legends collect commissions in silence.
And no one embodies this better than Mike Geary — the man behind The Truth About Abs.
You’ve probably never seen him on Instagram. He’s not on YouTube flashing his abs. Yet he’s made millions in affiliate commissions, beat out celebrity marketers in contests, and created a product that continues to convert like crazy after more than 15 years.
He doesn’t post daily.
He doesn’t dance.
He doesn’t build in public.
And yet…
He wins.
Every. Single. Year.
What you’re about to read is not just an analysis of Mike’s system — it’s a breakdown of the 3-step Trojan Horse Method I reverse-engineered from his strategy with a personal tweak (and started using myself with powerful results).
Since implementing this into my own business, I’ve been receiving hyper-qualified, hyper-engaged leads on autopilot — without running ads on social media or chasing likes.
I have also made some changes to fit my business better that I will share with you. Let’s dive in.
This gives me as an Internet Marketer the ability to homeschool my 4 kids and spend more quality time at home instead of burning out trying to please the algorithm god producing daily content on social media.
Now it’s your turn.
Let’s unpack how Mike Geary became the silent GOAT of health affiliate marketing — and how you can ethically “steal” his timeless system.
The Mike Geary Playbook (How a Quiet Marketer Outsold the Loudest Gurus)
Let’s break this down.
Mike Geary didn’t just stumble into success.
He engineered it — brick by brick — using strategies that 99% of marketers today are too distracted to see.
(Mike, correct me if I am wrong, but I think you are one of the most successful case studies of Ryan Lee’s business.)
He didn’t need TikTok.
He didn’t need to “build in public.”
He didn’t need fancy transitions or viral threads.
Instead, he focused on 3 core pillars — the ones I now refer to as the Trojan Horse Trinity.
PILLAR #1 A Product That Sells Without a Face
Most affiliates fail because they sell other people’s junk… or their face is the product.
Mike didn’t fall into that trap.
He created a product with a clear promise and a massive audience:
👉 Lose belly fat and get abs (without gym obsession)
That’s it.
No fancy name. No overcomplicated branding. Just a clear, burning desire solved through a digital product that spoke directly to a hungry market.
It wasn’t tied to him.
It was tied to a problem. And that made it scalable.
He went further and had The Truth About Abs translated into multiple languages.
That turned one PDF into a global income machine.
All his front-end products to generate buyers lead are ebook. It’s either FREE + SHIPPING (F&S) or a price under $10.
That’s why I created my product IP24 to show how you can create a proven info-product yourself.
Takeaway: Choose (or create) a product that solves a burning, specific problem — and one that can scale without your face on it.
PILLAR #2 A Funnel That Works While He Sleeps (Evergreen Like an Oak Tree)
At the heart of Mike Geary’s affiliate empire wasn’t a funnel, a webinar, or a clever ad campaign.
It was an article — a long-form, unassuming sales letter that quietly spread across the internet like wildfire… and sold millions.
Check his website..
If you think this website looks obselete, outdated, you’re probably right, but that doesn’t stop it from being a conversion machine with over 200,000 visitors a month.
A little conservative math …
200,000 visitors x 3% conversion rate (that’s a warm audience he has) = 6,000 sales per month
6,000 x $7.99 = $47,940$/month
..and you need to add his upsell. **coughh coughh, he got 2-3 upsells for each of his ebooks.
..and keep in mind that all the big money is made on the backend for him.
**I bought his ebook and all his upsell to see his funnels but I can’t share it publicly to respect Mike’s business and himself.
This is the Trojan Horse I am talking ’bout.
This single piece of content wasn’t flashy.
It didn’t rely on clever branding or influencer energy.
But it got shared. It got linked. It got people talking.
Why?
Because it did what most marketers forget to do:
It gave value, built trust, and made readers believe that real transformation was possible — without hiding behind a wall of upsells or tech gimmicks.
Mike’s article didn’t feel like a pitch.
It felt like someone was finally telling you the truth about fat loss — and that you could actually do it.
It walked you through the biggest myths about getting abs, explained how food was the missing piece, and revealed simple changes that made results feel achievable.
By the time readers finished the article, buying the full program wasn’t a “hard sell”… it was the obvious next step.
And here’s the genius: this same article has been shared on blogs, email lists, and forums for over a decade — not because Mike begged people to promote it, but because it was genuinely useful and strategically persuasive.
But that’s just the front door.
Once someone get in his world, they entered a quiet, consistent email funnel — not a noisy, high-pressure sequence with countdowns and fake scarcity, but a thoughtful series of messages that educated, reassured, and sold naturally over time.
Mike’s autoresponder didn’t chase conversions… it nurtured belief.
His emails answered objections before they were even asked.
They told stories, shared proof, and reminded readers that change was within reach.
And every email felt personal — like it was written just for them.
What makes this whole system so powerful is that Mike didn’t have to touch it daily.
He wasn’t sending live emails or checking open rates every hour.
Once the funnel was built, it just worked — capturing leads, educating them, and selling the product while he focused on bigger things (or nothing at all).
This is why I call it a Trojan Horse.
On the surface, it looks like a helpful article.
But inside, it carries a complete sales system — one that works in the background, long after the content has been shared.
All Roads Lead To Rome..
Each article has a different target audience or angle, and they all lead to the front-end offer (whether a 7.99$ ebook or free + shipping offer) by clicking on a button to read more at the end of the article.
Takeaway: Instead of trying to build funnels with 12 steps, webinars, and timers, create one high-trust piece of content that people actually want to read — and then connect it to a simple, honest email sequence that sells over time. When it’s built right, that one article can do more than months of posting on social media ever will.
PILLAR #3 The Traffic Machine That Never Burned Out
Most marketers wake up every day wondering where their next click will come from.
They post on social media, they run ads, they try new platforms, and they hustle for attention like it’s a full-time job — because for them, it is.
But Mike didn’t build his success by waking up to an empty calendar and a content to-do list.
Instead, he created a traffic system that brought visitors, leads, and sales to his offer every single day — even if he didn’t show up at all.
And it all started with leveraging other people’s audiences.
1. The Affiliate Army That Sold For Him
Mike wasn’t just a great affiliate — he turned his own product into an affiliate marketing powerhouse by recruiting an army of partners to promote his articles.
But here’s what made him different: he didn’t just tell people, “Hey, go promote my product.”
He gave them everything they needed to succeed — email swipes, banner ads, blog post templates, and landing pages that were already tested and proven to convert.
In short, he removed the guesswork.
He was also among the first to give affiliate 75-90% commissions on his products.
So if you had an email list in the fitness or nutrition space, promoting Mike wasn’t just easy — it was profitable.
That’s why so many affiliates chose to send traffic to him, even when they had their own products. His system converted better. And he paid well.
This created what I call second-hand leverage — a situation where other people are working to grow your business, because you made it easier and more rewarding for them than building their own.
He was using Cl*ckbank to make it easier for affiliate
P.S. If you are building something for yourself and not looking for affiliate, keep reading, I will show you how to get the same effect without affiliate.
2. SEO Content That Earned Its Keep
Mike didn’t waste time chasing likes or experimenting with the latest social trends.
Instead, he focused on writing content once and letting it work forever.
He published articles designed to rank for high-intent search terms like “how to lose belly fat” or “truth about six pack abs” — and over time, those articles picked up backlinks, authority, and traffic that snowballed into consistent visitors month after month, year after year.
While most marketers today post something that disappears in 48 hours, Mike’s content is still live and working for him more than 15 years later.
It wasn’t about virality.
It was about visibility over time.
He built digital real estate — not digital noise.
3. Distribution Over Creation
The final piece of Mike’s traffic machine was his mindset.
He didn’t wake up asking, “What should I create today?”
He asked, “Where can I put my existing content so that more people see it?”
That’s a massive shift.
Instead of creating endless new things, he focused on getting more mileage from the high-performing content he already had. He encouraged others to share it. He repurposed it. He got it featured on other websites. He linked it inside emails, blog posts, and partnerships.
This is where most marketers miss the mark.
They treat their content like a disposable tweet instead of a leveraged asset.
Mike built a few great assets — and then worked hard to distribute them intelligently.
He built a traffic machine that doesn’t burn out… because he doesn’t have to fuel it every day.
And now that you’ve seen the engine, the next step is to copy it.
Before diving into how you can apply this to your online business, here are the problems the Horse Trojan solves can solve in your Internet Marketing business..
#1. You're drowning in content chaos
It’s 6:42 AM. You’ve got one eye on your inbox, one hand on a toddler’s cereal bowl, and your phone buzzing with the notification:
“Your followers haven’t heard from you in a while…”
Great.
Another day, another piece of content to whip out of thin air.
You open Canva.
Blank.
You open Google Docs.
Still blank.
You stare into the void of your content calendar like it’s mocking you with its hunger:
“Feed me more or your business dies.”
Creating content every day?
You don’t have time for that.
You need something smarter.
Something that works while you live your life.
#2. You’re surrounded by the wrong people/leads
You finally get a DM.
They call you “Queen” or “Bro.”
They love your energy. Your vibe. Your free stuff.
But when you mention your offer?
Radio silence. Even shocked.
You’re pitching to a room full of people who showed up for free snacks and left when you passed the hat.
You feel like a street magician performing in Times Square—impressive tricks, big crowd, but nobody’s buying.
You don’t need more eyeballs.
You need buyers who lean in and say,
“This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. How do we start?”
“Your followers haven’t heard from you in a while…”
Great.
Another day, another piece of content to whip out of thin air.
You open Canva.
Blank.
You open Google Docs.
Still blank.
You stare into the void of your content calendar like it’s mocking you with its hunger:
“Feed me more or your business dies.”
Creating content every day?
You don’t have time for that.
You need something smarter.
Something that works while you live your life.
#3. Your revenue has commitment issues
One month you’re up. The next you’re begging Stripe to blink.
You feel like you’re dating your business—but it’s the kind that texts “you up?” at 2 AM after ghosting you for days.
Your income graph looks like a roller coaster designed by someone with a twisted sense of humor.
You launch hard, get a few sales, take a breath…
And then?
The panic creeps back in.
“What if that was the last one?”
“What if next month is dry?”
Or maybe you haven’t made a sale yet..
You don’t want highs and lows.
You want calm. Control.
A system that brings in leads and clients like clockwork—even while you sleep, parent, or take a weekend off.
All You Need is 1 Trojan Horse To Start
You’ve seen how Mike Geary did it: not through flashy tactics, but with focus, leverage, and timeless marketing principles that still work today.
Now let’s make it real for you.
This isn’t a blueprint with 27 tools and 43 automations.
It’s a simple, high-leverage system you can implement even if you’re just getting started.
Step 1: Pick or Create a Product That Solves a Real, Burning Problem — Without Relying On You
Before you build a funnel, write a post, or design a landing page… the most important decision is what you’re actually offering.
Here’s the key:
You don’t need a “perfect” product — but it must solve a problem people are deeply aware of and want solved urgently.
Mike Geary didn’t try to teach mindset, or “how to be healthier.”
He promised visible abs.
He sold to people who looked in the mirror, grabbed their belly, and whispered, “I hate this part of me.”
That’s how specific you need to be.
The product can be yours, or someone else’s if you’re an affiliate — but it needs to check three boxes:
Evergreen – The pain won’t disappear next year (e.g., weight loss, relationships, money, back pain)
Scalable – You can reach 1,000 people without changing your message
Detached from You – It doesn’t rely on your personality, your face, or your time
Real Example: A course that helps postpartum moms flatten their belly in 10 minutes a day, without dieting — that’s specific, urgent, and emotionally driven.
You don’t need to become the face of the brand. (You still can be the brand if you want .. like I do)
You need to become the bridge between pain and solution.
Step 2: Create One Piece of Content That Builds Trust and Moves People to Say “Tell Me More”
Now that you’ve got your product, you need a way to sell it without sounding like a salesperson.
This is where your Trojan Horse content comes in.
Think of this as the gateway drug — a single piece of content that offers real value, creates belief, and leads your reader toward the paid solution without them feeling sold to.
Mike Geary used a long-form sales letter that looked like a blog post.
What matters is what’s inside:
>Identify the key pain (e.g., “Why you’re doing everything right but still not losing belly fat”)
>Share 1–2 helpful truths or shifts in perspective
>Tease the bigger solution (your offer) without forcing it
>Invite the reader to opt in for more (or buy in this case): “If you want to see the full strategy, grab my guide here”
This is what turns readers into leads/buyers.
Once they opt in, you deliver a simple email sequence — 5 to 7 emails max — that:
-
Deepens trust (tell a story, share case studies, bust myths)
-
Answers common objections (“Will this work for me?”, “Is it safe?”, “How fast?”)
-
Moves them toward buying (soft CTA, no pressure)
You’re not tricking people.
You’re guiding them.
And they’re grateful for it.
Here’s what Yann Brainy does differently. I’d rather generate leads than buyers because I know I can convert more leads into buyers over a longer period of time, AKA more profitably.
Mike focuses a lot on direct response marketing, and it can be fast & burn sometimes. I prefer to build a relationship with my list and ask them to share my article for me on social networks in exchange for something relevant to them.
Action Step:
Pick one pain point your offer solves.
Write a single, trust-rich piece of content (article) that helps solve part of the problem, then link to your opt-in or product at the end. Over time, write more articles with different angles to reach more people.
You now have a mini-engine working for you — one that sells with depth and honesty.
Step 3: Multiply Your Reach With Distribution and Partnerships (Instead of Creating More Stuff)
Here’s where most people burn out: they keep making new content when the old one didn’t even get seen.
Mike didn’t create new articles every day.
He created one great piece — and then distributed it in 100 different ways.
Your goal is to do the same.
Start with distribution — where can you place your Trojan Horse content to get in front of the right people.
Ideas:
Turn it into a Medium story with a lead magnet link
Post a Reddit thread that summarizes your post and links to the full version
Ask a niche newsletter owner if they’d feature it
Link to it from Quora answers, Pinterest pins, or in niche Facebook groups
Add it to your email signature, bio link, or forum signature
Next, look at partnerships.
You don’t need “influencers.” You need people with trust and access to audiences.
Small bloggers
Email list owners
Niche YouTubers
Podcasters
Fellow affiliates
Offer them something simple:
A rev share (affiliate deal)
A shoutout swap
A bonus offer to make them look good
A ready-to-go email or post they can copy-paste
This is how you scale without scaling effort.
Action Step:
Pick 3 places your audience already hangs out.
Ask: “How can I put my Trojan Horse content in front of them this week?”
And: “Who already has my audience’s trust — and how can I make it worth their while to share it?”
Do this consistently, and you’ll build what Mike built:
A quiet traffic machine that doesn’t care about algorithms.
Quick Recap
Here’s what The Trojan Horse System looks like in action:
Product – One real, urgent problem → solved by a digital offer that scales
Content – One trust-building message → leads to opt-in or front-end offer and email sequence
Distribution – Strategic placement and partnerships → consistent leads and sales
You don’t need to be everywhere.
You need to be focused, thoughtful, and leveraged.
This is the system I now use in my own business — and it all started by studying Mike Geary.