Skip the 1,000th iteration of the scented candle and get what you really want for the holidays: career growth, revenue growth, and clarity.
This content originally appeared in the No Best Practices newsletter of 12.11.2022.
The holidays are filled with traditions: Christmas trees, gingerbread houses and…gift guides. Most gift guides are consumer focused (“101 great gifts for moms!”) and the content is driven by affiliate commissioning.
I’m going to flip the script this year and share a gift guide for marketers, media buyers, operators and other assorted eCom folks. Instead of sharing a link to the 1,000th iteration of a scented candle, I’m sharing gift ideas that will help you improve your career or unlock growth for your business.
The links below are 100% affiliate-free and based on recommendations from myself or trusted members of my network. I also included direct input from some of your favorite DTC Twitter personalities like Sean Frank (founder of Ridge), Dara Denney (performance creative mastermind) and Eli Weiss (head of CX & Retention at Jones Road Beauty).
Alex’s Recommendations
For Anyone Who Wants To Buckle Down And Learn Facebook Ads
If your brand depends on Facebook Ads to grow, you should learn about how the platform works. That is the only way to vet agencies and subject matter experts and stay ahead of the platform’s frequent strategic pivots.
A few of my previous posts are a great place to start: How Facebook Ads Work From First Principles, How (Almost) Any Brand Can Make Facebook Ads Work and Some Brands Should Not Run Facebook Ads.
If you want to learn more about how to set up and manage campaigns in Facebook Ads Manager, this course from Andrew Foxwell is a great primer on structuring and optimizing an ad account post-iOS14. You’d be surprised how many brands are working with partners that still recommend pre-iOS14 account structure strategies.
For Anyone Who Wants To Hone Their Strategic Thinking Chops
My MBA program made me a measurably better strategic thinker. I’m much better at breaking down a vague problem into actionable steps and prioritizing them. And I often notice the difference in “solving vague problems” ability between MBAs and non-MBAs.
But don’t worry, you can improve your strategic thinking chops without going into six figures worth of debt! It wasn’t the MBA coursework that sharpened my skills, it was the time I spent practicing for case-style consulting interviews that made the difference.
Ultimately I did not get any offers, because I’m bad at speaking confidently on topics I know nothing about, which is a management consultant’s entire raison d’être. But if you’re interested in developing this skill, start by learning more about the case interview format here and here.
For Anyone Who Wants To Do Meaningful, Actionable Customer Research
When I perform in-depth customer research, I typically follow a three step process:
- Analyze a brand’s transaction data to understand trends in the business and develop an initial segmentation.
- Run an email survey to validate my hypotheses, requesting email addresses from the survey-takers so I can match them back to the transactional data.
- Performing buyer interviews to further refine my hypotheses and create a bank of copy points and customer insights to fuel marketing strategy and creative.
This is a time consuming process, which is why it’s one of my most expensive consulting offerings. But if you’re a founder who wants to in-house this process or perform it yourself, I highly recommend Clarity Call Cheat Sheets as a starting point.
This is a set of templates, how-to videos and customer call demos priced under $150. It’s a simple resource to help make your customer interviews more effective. I think every marketer reading this should put customer calls on their “to do” list for 2023. It’s hard to articulate just how powerful this can be, when done well.
For The Marketer Who Wants To Learn More About Merchandising
If you’re marketing consumer goods, merchandising can make or break your results. Bad product tanks conversion rates. This is especially true for fashion brands, i.e. any brand who turns over their product assortment at least four times per year.
A bulletproof marketer knows how to isolate the impact of merchandising changes from the impact of marketing. That way, if a new product delivery is a total stinker, you won’t be left holding the bag.
To become that bulletproof marketer, you should check out the “Hillstrom’s Total Package” eBook from Kevin Hillstrom aka @minethatdata on Twitter. I would also recommend that you take a look through his blog archive.
For Managers Who Don’t Want To Become An Example Of “What Not To Do”
Unless you’re a total sociopath or incredibly lucky, you’ve probably had a terrible boss (or two, or three). You then vow to do the exact opposite of this person when you manage teams in the future. But, if you’re not careful, you might just become someone else’s “terrible boss”.
To understand the abusive behavior of your favorite corporate psycho and avoid modeling the same, I highly recommend the book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”. This book is also a great resource for founders who want to minimize team turnover.
If people in your company keep getting rewarded and promoted despite displaying multiple behaviors outlined in WGYHWGYT, give yourself the gift of GTFO.
For Marketers Who Want Better Ideas, More Consistently
If you do any sort of creative work, the pressure to generate more, better ideas becomes the sword dangling above your neck 24/7. This pressure can mutate into anxiety and analysis paralysis or–worst case scenario–substance abuse or depression.
But what if you could ask the universe for ideas before you go to sleep and then wake up completely inspired? I promise I’m not about to recruit you for a cult or an Ayahuasca retreat, but there are two things that have helped me achieve this level of creative flow.
The first is reading The Artist’s Way and doing a 12 week guided program to complete the exercises outlined in the book. And the second is…doing less. It’s impossible to maintain your creative energy when you’re forced to wedge 45 minutes of creative time into a day packed with energy draining meetings and fire drills.
Creativity is a muscle that needs rest and recovery time, or it will burn out and become non-functional. If you’re in a situation where creativity is demanded but recovery is never provided, you’re being set up to fail. Leave!
For Anyone Who Wants To Broaden Their Horizons
Like marketing, creativity works best when you feed all stages of the funnel. This means that you’ll come up with the best ideas if you consume a variety of content, not just Twitter guru threads on 5 weird tricks to boost your ROAS. Two recommendations here:
- To write good copy, you need to deeply emphasize with your customers. When you write, you should feel possessed by your subject. A great way to build this muscle is to read fiction so immersive that you question if it’s actually true. My favorite authors for this purpose are Joyce Carol Oates, Janos Szekely and Rachel Cusk, but there are many others.
- To develop original, breakthrough ideas, it helps to have a broader perspective on consumer psychology and the macro trends driving it. Two newsletters I read religiously to stay updated here: The Senses by Future Commerce and SIC Weekly by Ben Dietz.
For Anyone Whose New Year’s Resolution Is “Get My Sh*t Together Operationally”
A hot brand can overcome weak or non-existent fundamentals…for a while. But the wave will crash, and your business will crash with it.
If you had a strong year, now may be the time to invest in a fractional CFO. We’ve turned “marketing” into “growth marketing”, maybe now it’s time to transform “accounting” into “growth accounting”. Abir runs a firm called Upcounting that specializes in guiding brands towards profitable growth, from a hybrid marketer/accountant perspective.
When you start a brand, minimum viable…everything is enough to find initial traction. But as you scale, that “move fast and break things” approach can start to slow you down. Katharine Mckee is one of my favorite Twitter follows, and her firm Morphology Consulting will help you perfect your foundations–SEO, feed hygiene and everything that goes into selling on Amazon.
For Marketers Looking To Test Out Some UGC Content In 2023
If Facebook Ads are your top source of new customer acquisition, this should be your top priority. UGC-style creative has the potential to cut your CPC in half if you’re using traditional, polished “campaign” creative now.
UGC is often positioned as “one weird trick” to “fix” your Facebook Ads performance. That is, of course, a vast over-simplification. You need strong fundamentals to unlock the value here: customer-first scripting, believable actors and engaging content.
There are a few ways you can achieve this. You can either invest time and money to hone in a DIY approach or pay more upfront to have an expert do it for you:
- If you feel confident in your direct response copywriting skills and have some charismatic employees, you can shoot your own UGC in-house. I’m developing a course on how to do this well.
- If your COGS and cost to ship are low (hello, supplements and beauty), you can start a creator gifting program or hire an agency like Kynship to manage it for you.
- If you’d like to cut to the chase and have $5-10K to invest, you can hire a creative agency that specializes in direct response/UGC like Fraggell Productions or Fire Team.
Recommendations From DTC Twitter’s Finest
I asked some of my favorite tweeters to share one resource that helped accelerate their career, and one thing that helps them de-stress during high-intensity moments like BFCM. Here are their replies:
Cherene Aubert @ChereneAubert
(1) One of the best resources that changed the course of my career is this one that taught me about forecasting for e-commerce businesses. I was introduced to this method by Taylor Holiday during my time at Common Thread Collective and we’ve perfected it at Bobbie.
(2) When things are their most stressful work-wise, I have to remind myself to live in day-tight compartments. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Sean Frank @SeanEcom
(1) Colin and Samir interview of Mr. Beast.
All the stuff they do is great. But the Mr. Beast video will make you a better marketer.
We fight to have someone watch a 30 second video.
He has people watching a 30 minute video, 80% of the way through, and sitting through ad breaks.
Youtubers have perfected content and entertainment. Us as marketers just need to emulate them.
(2) I am famous for my consumption of this [Stok cold brew].
I drink at least half a jug every day.
I wouldn’t be sane without it.
Phillip Jackson @philwinkle
(1) I used to run around with my hair on fire with everyone angry I had blown past a promised deadline. That’s when I found The Five Choices To Extraordinary Productivity. The book was just okay — it was the cohort course that changed my life. I learned how to map out who I wanted to be, both personally and professionally, and to block out time for me to fulfill those roles in my life.
(2) One thing that helps me de-stress is to practice daily journaling. I use a trusty Bic Round Stic Pen with a Karst stone paper journal. I prefer the A6 size, and the stone paper means it’s waterproof and tear-resistant. Writing things in longhand forces me to be intentional and slow down, something I sorely need.
Nate Poulin @digitallynativ
(1) Andy Dunn’s Medium Articles: particularly “The Risk Not Taken”, “The Book of DNVB”, “E-Commerce is a Bear”, and “Do One Thing Right”. Also Delivering Happiness by the late Tony Hsieh.
(2) Play with my kids. I’m fortunate to do what I do mostly from home, so when I need to take a break and remember what’s most important, they are not far away.
Sarah Levinger @SarahLevinger
One app that changed my life: Adspy. Food that saves my sanity when when I’m super stressed: Chai lattes.
Eli Weiss @eliweisss
(1) I read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People as a teenager, and it’s been the guiding light of my career. Everything is about people. Understanding the way humans work gives you a superpower most don’t have.
(2) In a world filled with hustle and grit ideology as an answer to all career and personal woes, I tend to feel the opposite works for me when sh*t hits the fan. I slow down, meditate, light a candle, and have some delicious takeaway Chinese food.
Dara Denny @DenneyDara
(1) The combined existence of YouTube and the idea of “sharing your best stuff for free” completely changed my career. By sharing a POV on media buying and creative, it catapulted my earnings and trust in the industry. Even if you think you are “too junior to share” I can assure you that you’re not. Share your POV, our industry will be better off for it.
(2) I go for a 20-minute walk in my Brooklyn neighborhood every single morning. It keeps me motivated (hello brownstones!) but also gets me some fresh air (rain or shine) every single day. Oh yeah, and it’s free. 🙂
John Coyle @johnjhcoyle
(1) For me Digital Marketer was a pretty huge career game changer. I say all the time that I am super lucky that Ryan Deiss was more magnetic to me than other gurus who were just making courses around some hack that was working right then because I was able to learn true and solid principles of direct response digital marketing.
(2) For me this has always been: doing something that gives my body physical exercise, and allows me to be around people while also allowing me to compete. I used to be a runner, then a triathlete, now I play a lot of basketball.
Chase Diamond @ecomchasedimond
(1) I read something somewhere about the concept of giving away your thoughts/ideas/knowledge to others vs. keeping it to yourself. It essentially talked about the fact that you’d actually gain a whole lot more by sharing, whereas most people have the notion that the more you share, the less you gain.
As a result, I’ve always tried to share as much as I know with as many people as I can. This quite literally has changed my life and thousands of others. Building a following and community around mutually exchanging ideas, tactics, tips, etc has been a game changer.
(2) Lately whenever I’m stressed out, using my Tonal and then hopping in the jacuzzi has been a massive blessing.
Darien Payton @darienpayton
(1) This article on ditching your to-do list.
(2) I couldn’t choose one: Food – Apple pie!, Drink – coffee or water, Hobby – piano or gym
Andrew Foxwell @andrewfoxwell
(1) Greg McKeown, Essentialism
(2) Mountain Biking
Chase Mohseni @ImChaseMohseni
(1) Reforge is the single best course you can take if you’re trying to level up the way you see the world. They teach you how to operate as a real growth practitioner, which is still wildly misunderstood.
2) Been reinvesting in writing in my journal first thing in the morning + last thing at night, while reading something completely unrelated to work.
Matt Lady @mattlady
(1) The eCommerce Influence Podcast. Andrew Foxwell, Austin Brawner, these dudes were actual practitioners versus guru course slingers and their content, membership community, and mentorship supported me in getting my start as a freelancer and consultant media buyer for 3 years before landing a job as a Head of Growth.
(2) A combination of two habits helps my stress tolerance day to day. If I’m feeling overwhelmed and pulled in many different directions, I make sure to take a huge breath in and out and repeat what one of my college professors said “don’t major on the minor”.
I have a tendency to over focus on the details and things that don’t TRULY matter to the end result. Just taking a step back to reset and refocus on what is a priority and what will be the biggest lever and needle mover helps me stay on track.
Rok Hladnik @rokhladnik
(1) The Simon Sinek book Start With Why definitely helped me look at things differently. Even tho it’s very romantic but ya.
(2) Meditation and evening/morning walks. I use the Waking Up app by Sam Harris and I highly suggest it.
Val Geisler @lovevalgeisler
(1) Atomic Habits by James Clear is the best non-business book that will absolutely help you in your career. Everything we do is shaped by and around our habits; Atomic Habits changed the way I saw my work and made me more efficient and effective.
(2) Exercise, in any format. Getting out of my head and into my body reminds me to focus on the long term versus whatever immediate fire is burning in front of me. When things are at their most stressful, giving myself that hour to lift, row, walk, or hit my yoga mat changes the pace for the day.
Simon Paquin @seempaq
(1) Since discovering the Common Thread Co blog, I have continued to be blown away by all things related to e-commerce building. Whether it’s financial information or marketing best practices, it’s a goldmine of information.
(2) When I see too many fires coming up, I always revert to my ‘eCommerce Flywheel Process’ to figure out what to do next. It covers every activity we need to carry out to ensure our execution is successful. Also, brain dumping is great for clearing my mind and refocusing our efforts on what matters most to our customers.