WE BOUGHT A HOUSE TODAY ... A FREAKING HOUSE 🥳 How crazy is that? Stupid — just flat-out ridiculous — the journey + grace of the last eight years, two months, and seven days.
10 Warning Signs Your Content Writer or Agency Is Full of S*** 🧵
Met with a friend yesterday, and it broke my heart to see their brand having been absolutely taken advantage of by an “SEO writer.” Here’s my best tips to save yourself from that fate …
Number 9 will shock you
So, I wrote something.
And the
@nytimes
published it ...
After five years of trying. 🙏🏿🙏
#LetsGetRejected
(More to follow; I’m buried getting tomorrow’s “Future of DTC” post all set.)
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The Basics (read: Not Basics)
Ecommerce Growth Equation
DTC Metrics, Explained
How Online Brands Can Pave a Path to Profitability
Brand and Performance Marketing
Imagine you are tasked with training Navy Seal level e-commerce growth strategists. You have 90 days to equip them.
Give me the required reading for your training program. (blogs, podcasts, books, all fair game)
Give me the training activities you put them through.
Our AI SMS campaigns are now driving 1.5x–2x more revenue vs traditional texts.
Today, we unlocked the full tool. No account. No demo. No credit card.
It’s f****** magical. And I want you to experience it.
Real talk … to win in B2B, SaaS, or agency content — i.e., to drive traffic, leads & revenue — you only need 10–15 pages organized into three types:
1️⃣ Center(s) of marketing gravity
2️⃣ Industry + trend reports
3️⃣ How-to guides
1,455 days after I fell in love … Friday will be my last day as VP of Marketing at CTC.
Is it cliche to call it the heaviest decision of my career? Sure.
Will I let that stop me from dropping a profanity-laced ode of gratitude and a flex?
F*** no 🧵 + 🤬 x 😍
5 Reasons I Decided to Join a Company I’d Never Heard Of
Or … the biggest bet of my marketing career 😬 ‘cause the headwinds are pounding + everybody’s bigger than us.
Not cancelled:
1. Reading (anything)
2. Learning a new skill
3. Mastering an old one
4. Calling your parents
5. Sending a video thank you
6. Buying local online
7. Playing board games
8. Making blanket forts
9. Cuddling with pets
10. Rediscovering your favorite movie
Additions?
It’s here. It’s glorious.
And it is not for the faint of (numerical) heart.
Everything you ever wanted to know about ecommerce accounting … but were afraid to ask.
My hope is it’s a genuine gift to the ecosystem.
Work started on this beast ~3 months
There’s a very good chance we figured out something crazy on our
@Shopify
site. If this holds til Monday, I’ll drop a Loom explainer and short Google Doc on the technical SEO changes. Or, I’ll just delete this tweet to hide my shame 😬
Last-90 days via
@semrush
Holy s*** … we did it fam. They didn’t believe in us. But God did. Only took 365 + 2 days.
By far the hardest vanity SEO project I’ve ever done. Those f****** “happiest baby” branded searches almost undid me.
BEHOLD ↓ The most comprehensive funnel analysis in DTC history
1️⃣ Full (124 Page) Guide
2️⃣ Step-by-Step LTV Playbook
3️⃣ Notion Database of 45+ Brands
Is the ecommerce funnel dead? Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: No, with a “but.”
Far from linear,
How to name your startup in five easy steps …
1. Pick a noun or verb
2. Remove one or more vowels
3. Replace one vowel with its phonetic equivalent
4. Slam -ify (verbs), -ly (nouns), or -io (either) at the end
5. Make the whole thing lowercase and then wait for funding
Struggling to get scalable results … on Google Shopping?
Here are 10 tips — with examples, cheat sheets, tools, and more — based on ~$184M in [ecommerce] Google revenue this year 🧵
Technically, you still have 0.5% of Q3 left. But don’t worry, if your creative isn’t ready for Q4’s big show … here are 90 examples from 30 ad types.
Prepare thyself of inspirational overload:
0/30 🧵
Busy Saturday:
😅 Relaunched my website
😅 Planned a migration to
@webflow
😅 Moved from MailChimp to
@sendfox
😅 Raised my new client rate to $10k/mon
😅 And dropped a 32-page PDF of exactly how I structure ongoing projects front and center …
Content marketing ≠ copywriting
Both exist to drive growth. Both must serve one master: the ‘almighty’ funnel. And both are born from your market’s hells and heavens. But their goals — their reasons for being — are different …
Content marketing = audience
Copywriting = action
Beyond floored that I’ve joined
@fermatcommerce
as VP of Growth.
Why? Three reasons …
1️⃣ Relationships
2️⃣ Leadership
3️⃣ Product (Need)
——
1️⃣ Relationships
I’ve known
@rabahrahil
going on three years. In that time, he’s become more than a “business”
What makes a great content marketing director?
Three qualities (good), their opposites (bad) + a link at the end to lead the creation of the “the best f****** thing(s) on that topic on the internet” 🧵
NOTE: I’m hiring!
To everyone who pushed me to make the SEO checklist, thank you! In the Docs + 34 min Loom, I used our beauty industry report — already a heavy hitter. But I reapplied all ten steps.
That was five days ago 🤯
WE’RE GOING INTO ESCROW MONDAY 🥳
For a dude who rented a room — literally a single room — from a guy off Craigslist just over eight years ago and didn’t own a table until six years ago ... this is staggering. Just ridiculous.
Went to Canada this week, got sick right before the Xmas party, dressed up anyway … and I’m headed home the Editor in Chief of
@ShopifyPlus
🤓
I cannot say how excited, humbled, thrilled, nervous, and THRILLED — yeah, twice over — I am!
#LetsGetRejected
The best marketing books I’ve ever experienced weren’t about “marketing.”
Instead, they were about advertising, copywriting & customers.
3 must-reads with 3 quotes + 3 lessons from each … that’ll make you go burn your library
📚 + 🧵 = 🔥
The first twelve-and-a-half minutes of
@tferriss
’ interview with Jerry Seinfeld should be required listening for every writer.
You either learn to “push the wheelbarrow full of bricks through the mud” ... or you die.
Over 25 of the best ecommerce podcasts + the best episodes from each.
31 hours & 18 min … compiled, summarized, distilled, and linked — from operational tactics to personal transformation.
Let’s go 🎧
For the vast majority of ecommerce brands … you need a good product with strong margins, a responsive supply chain with favorable payment terms, powerful direct-response marketing, and a compelling reason to buy more (LTV).
Content + community comes after all that.
CTA ≠ a button
CTA = a (1) clear (2) verb-based imperative of (3) the next, smallest, easiest step you want someone to take … driven by (4) an emotional incentive to (5) do it right now.
Think: “I want to [button copy] because [incentive that isn’t a product or service]!”
I know it feels like it, but here’s a list of things you’re not “too late” for:
NFTs and Web3
Squid Game
Lil Nas X
Ecommerce
Learning SEO
Branded TikToks
Podcasting
Going for a walk or run
Compliments
A second language
Playing an instrument
Writing more and better
Starting …
After the most challenging + most growing 20 months of my career … Friday will be my last day at Recart.
I write that without hyperbole. And without a drop of regret.
The growth would’ve been impossible without the challenges.
For both, I’m profoundly grateful.
I’ve been
Came into CTC as a VP in Feb … but it wasn’t til today I signed the “marriage” certificate and officially became a part-owner.
Thought it’d feel anti-climatic. It doesn’t. I keep waiting for the honeymoon to end. It hasn’t.
And the gratitude? It just keeps rolling too.
Email marketing ≠ abandon + post-purchase flows
Email marketing = a give, give, take (2:1) *relationship* mediated by content, build around funnel-stage + buyer type — products, frequency, and total value
Nevermind about waiting out the weekend … here we go into 2020 and way, way, way beyond 😍
Thread pending while I “collect” myself, high-five a million angels, and update my social accounts (see what I did there).
In the meantime … via
@Forbes
Honestly, I’m still reeling from
@david_perell
’s masterpiece.
The strategies, the clarity, the examples, the links, the practicality ...
Above all, it is what it says to do.
Please, do not be fooled by the SEOish title. This is the new standard.
Your last-minute, but-not-too-late, plus you’ll-wish-you-did-this Black Friday ecommerce checklist
🧵 20 must-follow tips
No. 11 is genius + 20 is the closest you’ll get to the real deal …
Ready for 2022? How about an automated ecommerce marketing calendar — Sheet, Zaps, due-date formulas, Asana, how-to video — with 📅 3,062 events filter by …
- Holiday vs Sport
- Holiday Catagory
- Industry (Product)
- Sport Type
- Country (Sport-Only)
Next. Week 🔥
A new MacBook will not make me more productive. A new MacBook will not make me more productive. A new MacBook will not make me more productive. A new MacBook will not make me more productive. A new MacBook will not make me more productive.
(But it’s so smooth and shiny)
Ad creative
✅ Open with the climax
✅ Make your product the hero
✅ Problem, solution, proof
✅ “I want to [verb for benefit]”
✅ Clear copy > clever copy
✅ Build for placement (sizes)
✅ Shoot with space for text
✅ Test the first three seconds and then offers + angles
Everybody throws shade at Bezos and Tobi ... nobody just stands in absolute f****** awe of the fact: their s*** works like 99% of time (it’s miraculous infrastructure and so understated)
Twitter: “Debate me.”
LinkedIn: “Uplift me.”
Facebook: “Enrage me.”
YouTube: “Teach me.”
Instagram: “Tempt me.”
Snap: “Reach me.”
Reddit: “Shock me.”
Pinterest: “DIY me.”
Tumblr: “Curate me.”
TikTok: “Do all that … in the first five seconds. But also, do it while you dance.”
If you have content worth discovering … please read this.
Keys to unlock organic growth:
1️⃣ Originality + accessibility
2️⃣ Capture (existing) demand
3️⃣ Technical SEO checklist
Skip to the third if you’re an ecommerce brand.
30 email newsletters to help you become a better …
- Writer
- DTC Operator
- Retailer
- Marketer
- Thinker
Plus, 5 bonuses 🎁 and one Gmail cheat to keep your inbox under control
Never use an article when a section will do.
Never use a section when a paragraph will do.
Never use a paragraph when a sentence will.
Never use a sentence when a phrase will do.
Never use a phrase when a word will do.
Be. Utterly. Ruthless.
In a job interview, if you literally just *regurgitate* and then slightly riff on something from our website … I’ll smile. And you’ll instantly rise to the top.
Seriously, it’s wild how few people actually say the words ecommerce, growth, and marketing.
🚀🚀 IT’S ALIVE 🚀🚀
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(And now, a thread)
Once upon a time, I was a nobody.
A little over five years ago, I found myself unemployed and unemployable.
That’s not hyperbole.
Turned 40 today 🎂 and I know five things. That’s it.
So, here they are …
5️⃣ Pain = growth
4️⃣ Parenting’s a long game
3️⃣ Consistency wins (always)
2️⃣ I’m not enough + not alone
1️⃣ Grace is one-way love
I have never worked so f****** hard on something in my professional life.
All that s*** you wish you f****** knew about your ecommerce brand or DTC arm in order to forecast and push past $25M-$50M — including the tech to guide you … it’s coming in a few weeks: for <$2k
1️⃣ Be active
2️⃣ Be social (i.e., ABC)
3️⃣ Be questioning
4️⃣ Be sharing, other people’s stuff
5️⃣ Be “tagging”
6️⃣ Be visual
7️⃣ Be polarizing
8️⃣ Be nostalgic
9️⃣ Be threading
🔟 Then … be about you
Me: “I’m VP of Growth at FERMÀT”
Everyone: “Wow, that’s phenomenal! They’re everywhere. Definitely gonna grab a time to connect!”
92.7 seconds later → Everyone: “Wait. So, what does FERMÀT do?”
Me … (more to follow)
This blew up 🤯 and a number of you asked for an actual checklist. I’ve already begun building it — with a bunch of examples.
But my inner marketer can’t resist: if the original hits 1k likes or 200 RTs … I’ll drop it *for free* as a “Make a copy” Google Doc.
10 Warning Signs Your Content Writer or Agency Is Full of S*** 🧵
Met with a friend yesterday, and it broke my heart to see their brand having been absolutely taken advantage of by an “SEO writer.” Here’s my best tips to save yourself from that fate …
Number 9 will shock you
If you want to scale, hire yourself out of a job as soon as you can … especially the things you do best.
Why hiring for skills I don’t have has been my biggest mistake. And how you can avoid it.
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Here comes the most …
- Ridiculously easy-to-use
- Ridiculously comprehensive
… thing we’ve ever built.
Don’t have your holiday text strategy locked in?
Don’t worry. We got you.
If all you do is visit the lander to screenshot the strategy … I’m totally cool with that ↓
Don’t “test” your site before Black Friday. Buy from it.
At least twice.
Here’s a checklist ↓
☐ Get out your credit card
☐ Open 2 incognito browsers
☐ Pretend to be …
Buyer 1: Shop for yourself
☐ Use Safari on desktop
☐ Start with a Meta ad URL
☐ Landing page ➞
The greatest gift you’ll ever give your marketing is to say:
“Stop. Let’s get the foundations right first, especially all the parts no one will ever see: positioning, guidelines, and infrastructure.”
Go slow to go fast.
I’m 11 years sober today.
If you’re struggling:
- Ask for help
- Get & stay desperate
- Do what you’re told
Then, just put one (stumbling) foot in front of the next.
Those are the only ingredients I know … that create miracles.
Whatever your table might be … here’s to you putting one foot in the next, showing up, doing the next right thing, getting what you don’t deserve too, and loving the little (but-not-really-so-little) things.
I’ve got a giant (ungated) guide on ecommerce accounting inches away from done.
Probably drops tomorrow.
↓ Opening lines …
In any business, money is the only objective truth.
Its rules are as simple as they are binding.
More in. Less out. And you win.
Unfortunately, most
Consistency is superpowers. If all you do is show up day-in and day-out having done the thing you said you’d do ... you’ll beat 99.9% of everybody else.
Confession: I live on the professional precipice of one fear, “I’m not smart enough, I‘m not experienced enough, and I’m not skilled enough to be a VP of Marketing.”
This week it’s absolutely haunting me.