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I gave up on ecom This last month I gave up on my future and fell back into terrible vices I've been very half-assed this last half year in general Like this shit was a backup option Never fully committed or uncommitted and not fighting for each day I let the failures get to me Looking back I quit my corpo job too prematurely, made mistakes with MOQ, lazy as fuck, And feeling like I deserve more even though I've done nothing... Eventually I stopped doing what I told myself I’d do Constantly procrastinating and pushing things aside, zero urgency And so I stopped respecting myself and gave up completely... Now my back's against the wall due to a string of bad decisions. But when you're at rock bottom, the only way is up. I have a newfound sense of urgency that I haven't felt before Moving with speed because it's literally do or die Truly some of these decisions I've made have been retarded but this month has given me ample time to think and learn from them. Not going to have any regrets and will just execute like a madman. Here's where I currently am: 1. converting cold traffic in saturated markets (and cutting all the noise) doubling down on umps, ums, and proper positioning. I still think this is the fastest way to 100k/month indirect ads with brand new positioning based on science and authority I'm now only following one person and their advice religiously. They are my north star If they can do it, I can do it too. And I trust my gut that what they preach can be trusted one thing I am learning is - understand the sophistication level of your audience. see what claims are being made in the market and what your audience has already heard. my understanding is if a market sophistication is low, all that needs to be done is to make ANY ump and as long as you can back it up with authority + social proof youre good but remembering that desire is never created, always channeled, so finding out what the audience wants to hear or what they're searching for if an audience is more sophisticated, they're itching for new explanations or fascinations for their problem 2. stop doubting yourself and your work one of the things that severely fucked with my head was doubting my creatives halfway through i would look at my ad, compare it to other stuff on the market and doubt if it will work BEFORE EVEN TESTING IT no need to explain further but being an autist and just throwing shit at the market and making decisions based on DATA, not emotions is a must 3. statics to validate position -> VSLs I just fired my video editor after 1 week because he was very lazy + bad vibes so I can't see myself making + editing VSLs without validated UMP UMS and positioning so first, focus on static sales letters to test angles faster, then get into long form video cons of this is that it's harder to test headline/image like you would test with vsl hooks/leads and i fucking suck at making advertorials tbh 4. Relaunching old winning product ad I need to dump 700 MOQ for capital, relaunching old winner with ad -> advertorial -> pdp because ad -> pdp no longer converts with colder traffic no plan to scale like crazy or turn this product into anything just dump with email list + scarcity tactics + reviving old TOF winner, then move on I plan to do this within the next month 5. daily ad review 30 min a day, 5 days a week. sit down and analyze my shit or other winning ads. VOD review is necessary to understand what works and what doesn't. First: Just read it out loud a few times. Is it natural? If it sounds dumb and forced it can't be run. If you couldn't say it in real life out loud it ain't gonna work. Checklist: 1. Does the copy flow naturally? Does it make sense? 2. Creative elements cover any important visuals needed to convey the message? 3. Creative is visually appealing? 4. Pacing of the video is slow enough for consumers to understand? 5. Video has a scene change every 2-4 seconds to keep users engaged? 6. Product correctly used/demonstrated? 7. Creative is showing relevant scenery to text on the screen? 8. Hook entice you to read/watch more? 9. Desire of the brief being achieved? 10. Awareness stage, in brief, articulated correctly? 11. Market sophistication, in brief, articulated correctly? 12. Ad identify with the prospect? a. Characters, environments b. Desire to buy a fast car but also has a self-image being bought c. EX: Success, and show he has the cash to burn to neighbors. 13. Go with or against the current beliefs of the consumer? 14. Provide belief to the consumer that this product will work for them? a. Mechanism b. Social Proof c. Product in use 15. Statements in the ad follow a flow of acceptance? 16. Follow the brand's guidelines? it's really time to take this shit seriously

Scaling my first brand - final day All ads are turned off for this product. I've decided to come back to it during Q4 when I have better systems in place It was a good run but these last two months have been very stagnant Complete uphill battle and don't want to run in circles anymore The main thing I've learned is scaling ripped ads is a terrible idea Try to beat your original ripped winner and see where that goes Nothing is learned from scaling something where you don't even know why it worked Only use ripped ads to see if product-market fit exists or even just to see spend to give you a better idea on positioning This is assuming you actually want to build something sustainable. Not pump n dumps And don't overcomplicate the reasons why people buy. Just keep it simple to mass desires. Even simpler look at maslow's hierarchy of needs. I already have another product test running $10 CPCs, $200 CPMS Who cares though, I'm buying valuable data that will help me make my next batch of ads Health, wellness, and beauty niches only from now on with a good unique mechanism that differentiates myself from competitors In my own bubble, drowning out all the noise and focusing on the lever that I know will move the needle the most Speed is most important now

How tf are my customers getting my personal phone number and calling me

scaling my first brand - day 50 2.4 ROAS my last day in the corporate world officially entering a new chapter in my life this new chapter involves pushing the boundaries of what I'm capable of attempting to be the absolute best version of myself along with having a clear vision of what needs to be done inputs inputs inputs it's not just getting better at ecom - it's improving in all areas of my life physically, spiritually, socially, mentally visualizing the person i want to become and truly giving it my all because in the long run, i believe being a good, well-rounded person that isn't defined by only their wealth is infinitely times better i had a friend audit my ad account today this guy's an absolute demon, crazy focus and understands the game quick gave me a few pointers, helped me with vision so refreshing to get another pair of eyes to help you out can get rly tunnel visioned after a while now with time, intention + effort = results. creativemaxxing this shit out. vigorous testing. testing until it works. no excuses, just work.

Scaling my first brand - day 102 I have been slower and slower with these updates as there really hasn't been much to cover. I'm operating on a simple schedule, ideation + editing. There haven't been many new things to report. I have 8 VSLs that i'm launching for this product covering a new problem mechanism. This is the official final batch that I will launch and I'm already starting to look for new products to test. Trying to crack VSLs has opened up a completely new look into how i approach creatives, the strategy, and my systems too The main unlock has been the importance of dialing the correct problem mechanism. Your product's unique mechanism is most important. you don't need trendy products, you need new ways to solve people's problem that they have never seen before. a new unique solution mechanism for your product allows you to unlock new unique problem mechanisms that are novel and new to your customers. in crowded markets, this becomes your biggest lever and creates your blue ocean easiest example i can think of are those ultrasonic jewelry cleaners. same product taken but for cleaning retainers. example: problem: my retainer smells like ass! failed solutions: toothbrush, warm water, baking soda, etc problem mechanism: germs still stay on your retainer solution mecahnism: ultrasound to kill off 99.99% of germs (wow, very cool, never before seen, customer says holy shit this is the answer to everything) blue ocean. Honestly I have not felt this guided on what I need to do in a long time. And excited Building my own creatives from scratch, understanding what making ads with intention actually means, focusing on products that solve deep pain points, not relying on ripped ads that leave a hole in your funnel Test new products. Find the correct problem mechanism that makes sense for your product. This is prod-market fit. Then dial in the personas that are impacted by this root cause of problem. only thing now are the inputs. and a lot of them. will report back again soon

Scaling my first brand - day 86 there is some insane power in research some parts of my advertorial i literally copy and paste what a guy on reddit said finishing up three advertorial scripts tonight sleep on it, review with fresh eyes at the gym tomorrow I've realized that if you do not get or understand the exact angle and persona to prompt deep research with, all the data you will get is irrelevant to you. once i actually sat down and took notes on the research, things started to make more sense. on Evolved free there's a document to compile all of your market research that I've been using tomorrow dupe winning ad 3 times, each into advertorial -> congruent pdp and offer immediately after this I'm testing new statics that are problem and solution aware, that go into the same advertorials new mechanisms of problems that feel fresh, can be easily understood, and are specific. instead of just saying, "are your knees hurting as you grow older?" you say, "knee pain is twice as likely to occur due to a shift in your bone density as you age". obviously i made that up, but that is your unique mechanism of the problem. now, your product must have a unique mechanism of the solution that matches the UMS. but imagine now, you just empathized with the customer, made them feel understood, and now you just tied their exact problem to something new, biological, something they may have never heard before and makes them go, "wow, this must be it" then you introduce them your unique solution for their unique problem. a unique mechanism that only your product has. and that's how you create your "category of ones" your product moat I'm learning all of this as i go and execute, but this is all very exciting as I'm slowly starting to understand how direct response marketing works, and i believe this is the foundation of a lifetime skill not just throwing stuff at the wall, continuously ripping stuff wo knowing why it worked (what got me here in the first place) and having the opportunity to try it out on a product that i know has a unique mechanism, solves a product, and has proven product-market fit went on a bit of a rant here but all very exciting stuff

Slowly cracking the long-form game

Scaling my first brand - day 68 after giving myself a day to reaccess I'm going to continue with this product mainly because i still feel like i haven't given it a 100% chance to test everything i have some conviction on what i need to do with this traffic so I'm going to stop posting for a week and implement this hypothesis that i have and will provide you all with the results next week with exactly what i did. I've been thinking recently 1M/month by the end of the year but ofc I have doubts 1m, no way ill be able to do that but in reality, you will only make the amount of money you think you will make you can literally will it into existence through inputs and an unwavering self-belief the term fake it till you make it has never hit harder so i will continue to set my goals so unbelievably high, and force myself to believe that i will achieve them at the same time, trusting in God's plan for me and my future pray like it's up to God, but work like it's up to you

scaling my first brand - day 48 1.2 roas two things that i have struggled with in this last month: 1. making emotional decisions not based on data and logic 2. not having focus on what’s important- too many side quests and what i’ve realized too is, the most basic things like sleep, exercise, and diet cannot be neglected it fries your creativity and energy i will absolutely find success this month with clarify and execution losing is not an option

Scaling my first brand - day 31 1.7 ROAS scammed by supplier promised faster delivery for extra $$$ for stock but delayed for weeks just the game, gotta adapt or die getting into this idea of making your ads not look like ads do some actual scrolling on reels and be conscious of what gets you to stop and what gets you to watch the hook in reality, your hooks probably suck, and mine have too boring, one liner hooks with mid visuals that won't stop the scroll applying this to my thinking now, ultimately when you provide your viewers with a "pleasant experience" meta will favor you another technique is to optimize your burner for your niche/competitors and do organic scrolling, then you get to see what ads are being fed to you (you acting as a potential customer) screen record the ads you think are good and then recreate them later except i can't seem to optimize my burner for the life of me💀 new ads launched, working on BOF ads and still hiring 135 job applicants in one day... everyday feeling like routine and honestly i still have no idea who my target customer is and why my winning ad worked throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall and hoping one of them sticks, only a matter of time

Scaling my first brand - day 81 popped a zyn for the first time in months worst headache ever and i was bedridden for half of the day 😂 God reminding me why i quit nicotine ads are back on and looks like targeting seems to be back in control i am very happy to see that in the UK Aus campaign, another ad has taken over spend (not profitable though), however i still do not understand insane cpcs <0.20 in USA camp the same old winner is still top spender but spend is spread out, we will see how it looks in the next few days and none of the 5 scripted ads took any spend. I'm fairly convinced now that 1. ai voiceover scripted ads simply do not work for this product 2. demonstration, humor, and relatable raw ads spend 3. i have messaging dialed down but not format / sophistication level back at square one again... good news is that i raised prices by nearly 20% yet buying intent still stands just need to crack the code on creatives here on the other hand, i need to increase speed as I now want have 3 products i want to test on the second store

How tf are my customers getting my personal phone number and calling me

I gave up on ecom This last month I gave up on my future and fell back into terrible vices I've been very half-assed this last half year in general Like this shit was a backup option Never fully committed or uncommitted and not fighting for each day I let the failures get to me Looking back I quit my corpo job too prematurely, made mistakes with MOQ, lazy as fuck, And feeling like I deserve more even though I've done nothing... Eventually I stopped doing what I told myself I’d do Constantly procrastinating and pushing things aside, zero urgency And so I stopped respecting myself and gave up completely... Now my back's against the wall due to a string of bad decisions. But when you're at rock bottom, the only way is up. I have a newfound sense of urgency that I haven't felt before Moving with speed because it's literally do or die Truly some of these decisions I've made have been retarded but this month has given me ample time to think and learn from them. Not going to have any regrets and will just execute like a madman. Here's where I currently am: 1. converting cold traffic in saturated markets (and cutting all the noise) doubling down on umps, ums, and proper positioning. I still think this is the fastest way to 100k/month indirect ads with brand new positioning based on science and authority I'm now only following one person and their advice religiously. They are my north star If they can do it, I can do it too. And I trust my gut that what they preach can be trusted one thing I am learning is - understand the sophistication level of your audience. see what claims are being made in the market and what your audience has already heard. my understanding is if a market sophistication is low, all that needs to be done is to make ANY ump and as long as you can back it up with authority + social proof youre good but remembering that desire is never created, always channeled, so finding out what the audience wants to hear or what they're searching for if an audience is more sophisticated, they're itching for new explanations or fascinations for their problem 2. stop doubting yourself and your work one of the things that severely fucked with my head was doubting my creatives halfway through i would look at my ad, compare it to other stuff on the market and doubt if it will work BEFORE EVEN TESTING IT no need to explain further but being an autist and just throwing shit at the market and making decisions based on DATA, not emotions is a must 3. statics to validate position -> VSLs I just fired my video editor after 1 week because he was very lazy + bad vibes so I can't see myself making + editing VSLs without validated UMP UMS and positioning so first, focus on static sales letters to test angles faster, then get into long form video cons of this is that it's harder to test headline/image like you would test with vsl hooks/leads and i fucking suck at making advertorials tbh 4. Relaunching old winning product ad I need to dump 700 MOQ for capital, relaunching old winner with ad -> advertorial -> pdp because ad -> pdp no longer converts with colder traffic no plan to scale like crazy or turn this product into anything just dump with email list + scarcity tactics + reviving old TOF winner, then move on I plan to do this within the next month 5. daily ad review 30 min a day, 5 days a week. sit down and analyze my shit or other winning ads. VOD review is necessary to understand what works and what doesn't. First: Just read it out loud a few times. Is it natural? If it sounds dumb and forced it can't be run. If you couldn't say it in real life out loud it ain't gonna work. Checklist: 1. Does the copy flow naturally? Does it make sense? 2. Creative elements cover any important visuals needed to convey the message? 3. Creative is visually appealing? 4. Pacing of the video is slow enough for consumers to understand? 5. Video has a scene change every 2-4 seconds to keep users engaged? 6. Product correctly used/demonstrated? 7. Creative is showing relevant scenery to text on the screen? 8. Hook entice you to read/watch more? 9. Desire of the brief being achieved? 10. Awareness stage, in brief, articulated correctly? 11. Market sophistication, in brief, articulated correctly? 12. Ad identify with the prospect? a. Characters, environments b. Desire to buy a fast car but also has a self-image being bought c. EX: Success, and show he has the cash to burn to neighbors. 13. Go with or against the current beliefs of the consumer? 14. Provide belief to the consumer that this product will work for them? a. Mechanism b. Social Proof c. Product in use 15. Statements in the ad follow a flow of acceptance? 16. Follow the brand's guidelines? it's really time to take this shit seriously

Scaling my first brand - day 65 💀 with this, im going back to product testing starting tomorrow i'm still doing testing and creatives for this product, but keeping budget low and stable and doing prod research on the side will probably revisit this product during Q4 im on shopify capital so it's in my best interest to continue generating revenue the hardest part about giving up and moving on is swallowing your ego a lack of clear direction and speed was easily the main reason for this product's downfall i spent many tens of hours working on low lever tasks and some other things that were out of my control too but whatever, you live and learn will continue to post and update

Slowly cracking the long-form game

Scaling my first brand - day 68 after giving myself a day to reaccess I'm going to continue with this product mainly because i still feel like i haven't given it a 100% chance to test everything i have some conviction on what i need to do with this traffic so I'm going to stop posting for a week and implement this hypothesis that i have and will provide you all with the results next week with exactly what i did. I've been thinking recently 1M/month by the end of the year but ofc I have doubts 1m, no way ill be able to do that but in reality, you will only make the amount of money you think you will make you can literally will it into existence through inputs and an unwavering self-belief the term fake it till you make it has never hit harder so i will continue to set my goals so unbelievably high, and force myself to believe that i will achieve them at the same time, trusting in God's plan for me and my future pray like it's up to God, but work like it's up to you

scaling my first brand - day 50 2.4 ROAS my last day in the corporate world officially entering a new chapter in my life this new chapter involves pushing the boundaries of what I'm capable of attempting to be the absolute best version of myself along with having a clear vision of what needs to be done inputs inputs inputs it's not just getting better at ecom - it's improving in all areas of my life physically, spiritually, socially, mentally visualizing the person i want to become and truly giving it my all because in the long run, i believe being a good, well-rounded person that isn't defined by only their wealth is infinitely times better i had a friend audit my ad account today this guy's an absolute demon, crazy focus and understands the game quick gave me a few pointers, helped me with vision so refreshing to get another pair of eyes to help you out can get rly tunnel visioned after a while now with time, intention + effort = results. creativemaxxing this shit out. vigorous testing. testing until it works. no excuses, just work.

Scaling my first brand - final day All ads are turned off for this product. I've decided to come back to it during Q4 when I have better systems in place It was a good run but these last two months have been very stagnant Complete uphill battle and don't want to run in circles anymore The main thing I've learned is scaling ripped ads is a terrible idea Try to beat your original ripped winner and see where that goes Nothing is learned from scaling something where you don't even know why it worked Only use ripped ads to see if product-market fit exists or even just to see spend to give you a better idea on positioning This is assuming you actually want to build something sustainable. Not pump n dumps And don't overcomplicate the reasons why people buy. Just keep it simple to mass desires. Even simpler look at maslow's hierarchy of needs. I already have another product test running $10 CPCs, $200 CPMS Who cares though, I'm buying valuable data that will help me make my next batch of ads Health, wellness, and beauty niches only from now on with a good unique mechanism that differentiates myself from competitors In my own bubble, drowning out all the noise and focusing on the lever that I know will move the needle the most Speed is most important now

Scaling my first brand - day 66 woke up to a 5 roas thought i was cooking zero sales the rest of the day lost 5k likes on my winner bc i had the camp go thru review again can't save social proof on IG ads either gg spent time w family today as it was Easter new listicle up based on most likely positioning few more ads created doing product research on the side decided instead of getting good at copywriting, i will focus my attention on learning AI and how to prompt better experimenting with operator to help do product research on the side as well not giving up yet. but time is ticking and i need to make shit work

scaling my first brand - day 48 1.2 roas two things that i have struggled with in this last month: 1. making emotional decisions not based on data and logic 2. not having focus on what’s important- too many side quests and what i’ve realized too is, the most basic things like sleep, exercise, and diet cannot be neglected it fries your creativity and energy i will absolutely find success this month with clarify and execution losing is not an option

Scaling my first brand - day 88 i can sit at my chair for 6 hours straight and it will go by like nothing i can't tell if half of it is productive or not I'll be so deep in my head, going down different rabbit holes and ideas to implement I'll have a whole sheet of paper filled with concept ideas or hooks and end up not using like 90% of them it's a lack of focus I'll tell myself I'll focus on this desire and then start working on another gotta be some sort of attention span thing from like an 8 hour work session i have 7 static ads launching can't tell if this is slow or not.. probably is slow.. but i have a perfectionism issue too and too many ideas running thru the head even though i get it down on paper i will go from A -> B -> E -> D -> G -> Z iterations on iterations in the same session different rabbit holes leading to the same 4 flex ads in one adset, using the same advertorials/ldp I'm feeling more and more confident about each of these ads i don't feel the need to spy on competitors for these because top players in my niche operate on a different level than me they have so many more eyeballs they can play around with so many different small hook/headline/thumbnail/etc tests that move the needle small do not blind copy us vs them or feature ads or whatever from foreplay/creativeos it's a waste of time what you are trying to convey, the big idea of your ad is infinitely times more important formatting is just the cherry on top of the cake, but if the whole cake is made of shit it doesn't matter i feel like things are starting to click. just got to focus on the inputs until the results show.

never let your failures define who you are. i've been struggling to find momentum lately in many areas of life, not only ecom but the thing that has impacted me most isn't the current results it's my mindset doubting my ability and confidence day in and day out second guessing if you are the person you say you are that's the greatest danger because eventually your subconscious begins to believe your self hate and it begins to label your failures with your character makes you start to believe the delusion that you are someone that attaches their energy to failures and when that happens, you submit to the walls you've placed on yourself. you stop aspiring to become the person that is waiting for you at the finish line. and accept your self-created fate. the only road that leads to is regret and pain. so do your very best to detach the outputs to you. act as if you are already the person you aspire to be. manipulate your mind. trick your brain with arrogant self-delusion and confidence. constantly reflect inwards and be reminded of your purpose/why. because that's what is needed to make it through the lows. because many end up stopping at the lowest point. most importantly, your time will come, and it will be the most perfect timing. comparison is the thief of joy. so be patient, relentless, and hopeful, because we will all make it in time.