Michelle Akhidenor

How we build a team full of killers in our agency: (The secret that got us to $350k/mo) The hardest part about the agency game: Building a team It’s the biggest reason why I've seen mates struggle to scale. Or some burn down… Here's the approach I take: - - - 1. Hire the right people To build a high-performing team, start with your hiring process You can be the best talents in the world but… Your team will crash if they don’t have the traits needed to do what you expect. - - - 2. Establish the rhythm Make sure your team knows what to do every single day: • Tasks • Deadlines • Expectations Don’t let any confusion hold your team back. - - - 3. Knowing your team’s limits Each team member has their own working limits. Some can manage 4 clients… While some can only manage 2. Know what your team members’ limits are and adjust accordingly. - - - 4. Expectation You'd be surprised how many leaders miss the mark here. Tell your team what you expect about everything… Including the trivial things. That’s how you set the standard. - - - 5. Accountability If your team isn’t performing as you expect them to… They need more accountability. Let people know how they’re doing compared to how they should do. Your team isn’t lazy, they just need to be held accountable. - - - 6. Avoid micromanaging Make your team accountable but let them do their jobs. Keep your suggestions and advice at a high level. The key here is to give them an idea that they are trusted. Empower your team and great work will be done. - - - 7. Communication A pattern I notice in successful businesses: They all have effective communication. But it’s much more complicated than you think. Communication isn’t just talking… It's about engaging, listening, and understanding. Great leaders don't just communicate, they connect. They replace assumptions with curiosity. They foster a culture where feedback isn’t just accepted but expected. - - - 8. Recognition People work harder when they’re recognized for their work. It’s super powerful yet often neglected in most businesses. Don’t let it be in yours. Acknowledge and celebrate the behaviors that align with your goals and values.

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🎙️ Unpacking the playbooks of the worlds greatest DTC brands in a new podcast - and I need your help 👇 If you're a connection of mine it will come as no surprise how much I love podcasts. I recorded 400+ episodes sharing the highs, the lows and all the learnings of building my first business. Off the back of the pod we built an incredible community of ambitious likeminded people and i'm lucky enough that so many of them became extremely close friends. Well i'm starting a new chapter in my career (more on that in another post) and with that ....comes a new podcast 😊 Here's why: I love deconstructing businesses (specifically DTC brands) - understanding not just what worked, but why it worked. The strategic decisions that moved the needle and the challenges that shaped their journey. One of my favourite podcasts is Acquired (if you haven't listened to it - stop reading this post and go subscribe on your podcatcher of choice. The Hermès episode is my favourite). I want to create the 'Acquired for DTC Brands'. So what does that mean? Well there's no shortage of tactical content out there but in my opinion nothing that covers the fully story - the pivots, the failures, and most importantly, the playbooks that drive the key decisions. Here's where you come in. 1️⃣ I've created a shortlist of brands I'd like to cover in the pilot episode - each for a very different reason: True Classic Ridge HexClad Cookware Jolie Which of these would be most interesting to you? Have another suggestion - let me know in the comments👇 2️⃣ I've never done long form, highly researched content with multiple guests before and would love some people to hear the 'pilot' episode and provide candid feedback before it goes live. Want to help shape this? Comment "PILOT" below 🎯 p.s. To everyone who i've connected with through podcasting - from guests to listeners who became friends - thank you. You're the reason I can't wait to get back behind the mic ❤️🎤

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For co-founders Sam Holmes and Harvey Armstrong of Prime Time, the secret to scaling isn’t doing it all — it’s knowing when to let go. 💡 “Our goal as co-founders is to make ourselves redundant,” Harvey shared on the latest Millennial Masters episode. Their approach? 1️⃣ Hire around your weaknesses: Focus on your strengths and bring in people who excel where you fall short. 2️⃣ Prioritise passion: If you’re bored of a task, chances are you’re not great at it. Delegate to someone who thrives in that space. 3️⃣ Collaborate: Build a 360° team that complements each other to drive the business forward quickly and effectively. This mindset has been key to their growth, and it’s a lesson for every founder juggling too many hats. 🎧 Don’t miss the full conversation with Sam and Harvey: https://lnkd.in/eKrbnTWx

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𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐞 I'm looking for a content creator to join the Jammy squad as a part-timer, side hustler, or intern. We’re growing fast and gearing up for a public launch in early 2025 🚀 (yes it’s almost 2025) – so this is your chance to get in on the ground floor and create something amazing. Here’s what I care about most in this role: 🎶 𝘈 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. ✨ 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘦𝘯 𝘡 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 – 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 💡 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 – 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. If you're someone who thrives on creative freedom and loves building cool things, this is for you. No adult supervision required. 🏃‍♀️🎥 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲: Send me a short-form video that showcases your skills. Be creative, bold, and authentic – I want to see what you’re capable of and what makes your ideas unique. Let’s make magic together ✨

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There appears to be volatility in the Meta Ads space at the moment. For many DTC brands, this can be extremely concerning. I'm here to tell you why you should take a deep breath and hold the line on Meta: Numbers have been up and down recently — I've seen the stories online and similar trends with customers of FERMÀT. Overall, there seems to be slightly softer efficiency — much of which I attribute to brands simply having money again to spend. But just like the stock market, you don't want to overreact or underreact with short-term moves to count the rise of new competition. Here are 2 things to remember: 1) Optimize your existing strategy — don't reinvent the wheel. Pulling levers in one direction or the other is going to create more volatility than there already is. Work within your current ad spend, and collaborate with existing agency partners to make sure you're taking advantage of any overall trends you're observing. Then, optimize accordingly. Find small edges that will help you stand out in the auction system. 2) On a bad day, Meta is still the king. For a high-growth business, Meta will always be your best bet, no matter if the numbers get rocky. If you told me, "Meta is volatile, I'm going to shift all of my budget to YouTube," that would make me extremely nervous. Bet on Meta stabilizing over another platform being your hero. Does this help calm any nerves you're dealing with? 

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At a fundamental level this piece of content fails because it confuses getting attention for 'marketing' which is what you're supposed to do once you have someone's attention. This post lists 3 things that apparently make this a good piece of marketing, but all 3 are evidence that is bad marketing. Indeed points 1 and 3 contradict themselves - apparently it's jumping on a trend but also not trying to make use of a trend. Either way, "jumping on a trend" is only helpful if that trend helps to talk about your brand, which this does not. Instead it just smacks of desperation for relevance. (Dear marketers, this is not how you do marketing)

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The ‘considered’ personal brand: - Not tick box - Quality > quantity - True thought leadership - Known by the right people - No content for the sake of it - Authentic, but not over-engineered Essential if you’re targeting a more mature audience with a considered offer. (E.g. investor relations, high ticket consulting, bespoke services) The mass market approach is great for selling $27 courses. Doesn’t work for more considered audiences.

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🚀 Fulfilled By TikTok (FBT) is going hard on the incentives for brands to join. 💡 Did you know that TikTok subsidises shipping costs for all FBT orders over £20? This means zero cost to the seller! Plus, starting from October 25th, their standard shipping fee for orders under £20 will drop from £3.48 to just £2.99 across the UK. ✨ This is a fantastic opportunity for: - SMEs to finally access competitive shipping rates. - Brands recently kicked out of Amazon warehouses to find a new platform. - For everyone to maximise profits during the busy peak season. - New sellers to jump on TikTok Shop and scale fast. If you’ve been thinking about joining TikTok Shop, now’s the time! 🌟 #ecommerce #socialcommerce #TikTokShop #FBT #PeakSeason #Fulfillment #DigitalMarketing #TikTokForBusiness

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What was the last thing you did for the first time? I'll start: recently for the first time I... - did an affiliate link partnership for my podcast (Hong Kong Business Owners on Spotify) - started working with a business partner - started preparing my first workshop (How to launch your podcast - 20/06 - DM me to save your spot!) - painted some of my drawings on the rooftop of an artist in Hong Kong Isn't it a fresh way of seeing things to keep a childlike spirit and remind you that it's all a game? Now it's your turn, what was the last thing you did for the first time? #experiment #creativemindset #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurslife

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💿 5&6/8 What if we took the VC term 'Dry Powder' and made a rap song flipping the meaning to the other kind of 'dry powder', and rap about the addiction to raising capital so many founders experience? That was the challenge I posed for myself in creating track 6 on GOAT to Market, aptly named Dry Powder. I love the way this tongue-in-cheek song came together. I was listening to a lot of Pusha T at this time, and you can gather that influence from the beat which goes HARD. As with everything on GTM, every last detail in this song was intentionally crafted -- the lyrics, while clever with puns, follow a relatively simple rhyme scheme. That's because if someone is in that state of deep obsession and focus, they wouldn't have the consciousness to reach into a larger vocabulary. The hook is the same 2 lines on repeat, because if you get into that addiction mode you become unconsciously repetitive. But then the beat intensifies at the end of the song and a second voice begins rapping underneath the final hook. These lyrics double down on how badly the character needs this dry powder. When you hear it in combination with the other elements, it feels like chaos is ensuing and conveys he's spiraling out of control. If you close your eyes and listen you can almost feel the room spinning around you. We even made these vocals pan from left to right speaker to create that drama(listen on your headphones and you'll really get it). The cherry on top is the skit that comes right before in Track 5. The album's Executive Producer Pablo Gonzalez 🏴‍☠️🧠 surprised the hell out of me by putting this together, where he acts as an investor walking the floor at a conference like a drug dealer trying to get a founder hooked on his dry powder. It's hilarious and the perfect setup for the song. Fun Facts: -The hook goes, "It's dry powder I'm tryna get the fast start / the heroine but I don't show the track marks." However I intentionally pronounce heroine as "heroiiine" → This was a double meaning to actually say the character is trying to be the hero / heroine of their own story. Favorite Lyrics: -"At the port of Miami meetin with a Cuban / Kilos at the door, "Hello, Newman"" -"Wanna see your head split / I flip a brick into a billi -- that's a Brexit" → Because if you take your initial building block (or brick) and reach a billion in valuation, you are likely to exit. Brick + exit = Brexit. Enjoy this live performance from CodeLaunch Houston this year! 2 more tracks to go in this BTS series for the 1 year anniversary of GOAT to Market! Hit the 🛎️ to follow along!

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I think 𝗛𝟮 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 is going to see some big Web3 brand activations launch. 🧠 A few thoughts on why: 1. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝟯 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆.        They're now at the 'okay, how does this impact us?' stage.     2. 𝗪𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁.        Selling NFTs is no longer a sustainable strategy for 99.99% of brands. They're getting creative about how they execute.     3. 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟴 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘂𝗽. Every single industry went through a turbulent period mirroring the general economy in the last 2 years. That looks like it's easing up a little bit.     4. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.        The solutions on blockchain are a lot better now than they were in 2021 when brands started playing in this space. Wallet abstraction. Single sign-on. ZK tech.     5. 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲.        Regulation globally is in a better place than it was in 2021.     6. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮.        Even though blockchains are transactional, inherently, brands are starting to realise that there is much more here than they once thought.     7. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 '𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗼' 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗲.        Crypto was, and still is viewed by many as scammy and a fad. But executives at most brands for the most part don't see it as that anymore. When Blackrock and PayPal are playing in this space , why wouldn't you?     8. 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝘃𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀        The $100m deals of 2021 are no more. The deals are more considered and force brands to come to tech providers with a clear idea of WHAT they want to execute.     9. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗦𝗦 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝟯 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲.        Every time a huge name does something in this space that is consumer-facing, execs at big brands perk up. Starbucks, Nike, HUGO BOSS - success or failure - those execs notice.

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Nick Buzz, an ex Meta employee, generated $850K in revenue in just 10 months with a simple design service - Baked Design. With Baked Design, Nick offers productised design services to his clients. 👉 What are Productised Services? Productized services are essentially services packaged and sold like products. Unlike traditional services that are customized for each client, productized services offer a standardized solution at a fixed price. In the traditional context, an agency business meant that you’d get requirements from a client, send a quote, agree on the price and work on custom pricing and timeline for the client. Productised services are very similar in the sense that you provide services such as web design, design, devops etc. to a client but with a fixed scope at a fixed price. Productised service is a kind of service as a subscription or a fixed service (service as a product). ⚡️For instance, Nick offers unlimited design services for $6317/mo. ⚡️Namya Khan builds landing pages at a flat starting price of $2497 with updates delivered every 48 hours and 2x revisions allowed. She has worked with popular creators such as Easlo, Pascio etc. 👉 Are these services really unlimited? "Unlimited" services are a popular marketing tactic among productized service providers. But are they truly unlimited? The short answer is no. Most "unlimited" services come with certain constraints to prevent abuse and ensure sustainability. Common constraints include - ⚡️Limited Concurrent Request ⚡️Prioritization ⚡️Time Limits For instance, Baked Design offers unlimited design services, but clients can only have a certain number of active requests at a time, ensuring manageable workloads and high-quality output. 👉Why do Clients still prefer productised services? Productised services remove the opaqueness that often comes with a traditional service. Clients prefer productized services because they offer clarity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. The standardized nature of these services ensures predictable quality and simplifies the purchasing process, making them an attractive option for businesses looking to streamline operations and focus on their core activities. In case of subscription-based services, clients can pay weekly, monthly or annually and be assured that they have a dependable resource at their disposal - making it a great offering for the client. In case of a one-time purchase-based service, the standardization really helps remove the ambiguity. 👉 Examples of Productised Services ⚡️Design Pickle: Unlimited graphic design for a flat monthly fee. ⚡️WPCurve: Unlimited WordPress support for a monthly subscription. ⚡️AudienceOps: Blog content creation service with a fixed monthly fee. ⚡️Bench.co: Online bookkeeping services for small businesses. Did you like this post? Subscribe to the Builder OS Newsletter to learn about building products, Internet businesses and making money on the Internet. Link in Comments 👇🏻

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The secret to building a £100M+ brand in 2024? Community over clout. Would you rather have 100K engaged fans or 1M passive followers? As the owner of a talent agency, I can tell you the person with 100K is earning significantly more money than the person with 1M. Here's what smart business owners are doing when it comes to community: ★ REFY (Jess Hunt) ↳ Brand trips? They picked loyal customers over paid creators. ↳ REFY gained loads of press for doing so. ↳ Has open applications on their website for PR & events at REFY HQ. ★ Chris Donnelly: ↳ Built a massive personal brand and core community, in 18 months. ↳ Strategy: Share high value every time - and for FREE. ↳ He has created tools based on genuine audience needs. ↳ Has gone deep on community over just brand deals, with ventures like his Creator Accelerator. ★ Melissa's Wardrobe: ↳ Mel makes aspiration accessible, she is the people's princess. ↳ Brings followers behind the scenes with A-list clients like Stormzy. ↳ Turned a blueberry matcha obsession into and iconic Blank Street Partnership. ↳ Maximised community excitement with IRL events. ★ Trinny London (Trinny Woodall): ↳ Built complete trust on social with one sentence: "Only post what I love - no commercial deals". ↳ Built a beauty brand that serves an overlooked demographic. ↳ Hosts global masterclasses better serving that core community. ↳ Transparent about everything - from products to process. The Pattern? Build for your people, not for the algorithm. What I've Learned: ★ Community > Followers ★ Trust > Transactions ★ Long-term loyalty > Quick wins What communities are you part of at the moment? Who is doing it right? Let me know in the comments 👇 ------ ➕ Follow Aphra Kennedy Fletcher for more on creativity, media, and business. ♾️ Repost if this would be useful to your network.

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Digital agency keeping you stacked with busy work? You don’t need an ACCELERATOR… …you need a DECELERATOR! Just imagine: - Switching off at 4pm on Fridays - No more frowns from your partner as you doom-scroll during Netflix wind-downs - Not posting the kids away on tech each weekend so you can catch up on the week - Really having the headspace to ENJOY the results of all that hard work If it sounds impossible, I understand. But the answer is simple enough to achieve in just 30 days. Join the Decelerator and I’ll guide you into a habit that makes switching off easy, because you’re satisfied with your weekly progress. All for the cost of a daily cup of coffee. Get a FREE taster session this Thursday 23 May from 2pm. DM me to grab one of the 6 slots available and in 10 minutes I’ll help you start to switch off.

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For many of us, life can feel like a constant hustle, with long hours, rising costs, and the pressure to make every paycheck stretch just a little further. And in times like these, having just one source of income? It’s a risk many of us can’t afford to take. But what if I told you there’s a real opportunity out there right now to build a business that works for you, gives you flexibility, and brings in substantial income? That’s where TikTok Shops come in. It’s hard to believe, but TikTok, the app we know for viral videos, is now an e-commerce powerhouse – and the best part? Everyday people are using it to build real businesses. I started my own TikTok Shop, Dry Fruits Bazaar, selling something as simple as dried fruits and nuts. And in under a year, Alhamdulillah, we’re consistently hitting £30k+ a month in sales, with a 30%+ profit margin. Imagine what that kind of income could do for you – not just financially but for your peace of mind, your time, and your freedom. And it’s not just me; many people I’ve mentored have also started their own shops and are seeing incredible results. Like Ruhel, who transitioned from Amazon and now brings in over £20k a month on TikTok, selling simple products. Right now, TikTok is a goldmine – with over a billion active users, people are shopping directly on the platform, and it’s like Amazon in its early days. Those who get in early will see the most significant rewards. So, if you’re tired of the same old grind, ready to build something real, and curious about how you can start your own TikTok Shop – I want to help. On November 12th at 7 pm GMT, I’m hosting a free live webinar where I’ll break down everything you need to know to start and grow a TikTok Shop. I’ll be sharing step-by-step strategies – from finding winning products to scaling up and reaching £1k a day within months. This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme; it’s a proven method that has worked for me and others, but you need to take the first step. Ready to make a change? Click here to save your spot: https://lnkd.in/eQn3sS8Q Let’s take the first steps toward financial freedom, inshaAllah. Don’t wait – opportunities like this don’t last forever.

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Is quality content recirculation the antidote to rubbish content recommendation? If third parties are willing to pay good money for media companies to support the bubble/lifecycle of low-quality content, what would be the value of a business recirculating quality content? What if that recirculation business was owned and managed by premium media brands? What would it take for them to focus on maximising each other’s quality propositions, strengthening the category and themselves? Can it be a solution built on top of the core relationships existing in quality media alliances and premium advertising environments? I have just published a newsletter issue on the topic. Link in the comment below. #media #advertising #marketing #audience #data #userexperience #cookieless #thirdpartycookie #privacy #publishers #content #strategy #subscriptions #adtech #monetisation #contextual #brandsuitability #brandreputation #engagement

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Why did the Nelk Boys brand, Bored Jerky, flop? You’d think with a massive audience, industry giant friends like Dana White, nearly $1B in net profit from Happy Dad Hard Seltzer & Tea, $25M raised in initial funding and a partnership with an NFT giant - they'd be too big to fail. Right? Well they did… badly. This is what happened to Bored Jerky and how it all went wrong for the Nelk Boys: 🥩 Jerky Following on from the success of Happy Dad, Nelk decided to branch out into another consumable market. Beef jerky. 4 available flavors. High quality ingredients. And a collaboration with the biggest name in NFTs - Bored Ape Yacht Club. It was trendy, influencer marketing to the extreme. And then it all went wrong. 💣 Collapse After 3 months on the market, Bored Jerky’s online hype died: → Website visits = 231 per month → Amazon reviews = 138 (mostly negative) → Followers on branded X, TikTok and Insta accounts = 9,500 For a brand owned by some of the biggest YouTubers on the planet and associated with arguably the best known name in NFTs, this was unbelievably bad engagement. So what happened? 🧑‍ Audience Nelk just didn’t advertise their new product. Where Happy Dad is featured in videos and gets a fortnightly post on every major Nelk social channel - Bored Jerky is noticeably absent. Their shared 20M social media followers - were for the most part, unaware that Bored Jerky even existed after its launch. It’s like they’d forgotten about their biggest asset. Their audience. Today, Bored Jerky’s X page sits at just over 6500 followers. (For perspective, the average Nelk instagram post gets over 5000 comments…) 📦 Product  To make matters worse, initial product reviews also tanked. The jerky was “too salty, hard to chew and full of gristle”. Average Amazon reviews sat at just 1 star. And it wasn’t clear from the packaging what the product even was! Since launch, Bored Jerky has addressed these issues. Product reviews are more favorable and they’ve moved away from the Bored Ape NFT design and towards an “All-American” packaging that fits the “gas station snack” aesthetic a little better. But a bad product at launch can be fatal for growth and Bored Jerky just never really recovered. 🏪 PMFC and Distribution Business success often hinges on getting PMFC right. This means aligning your company's product, target market and distribution channels effectively. Something Bored Jerky didn’t do. It took 2 years for them to even begin being sold in retail stores during which time they relied on site sales and Amazon for distribution. (and we know how popular their site is…) By comparison, Happy Dad launched in 150 US stores and shipped online to 30 states. Their failure to match distribution channels with product and audience is a huge reason why Bored Jerky flopped. Nelks product drops just go to show you how important it is to do the little things right. You can be Happy Dad. Or you can be Bored Jerky. It's your choice.

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Why Pretty Little Thing Hasn’t Jumped On This Trend Yet Is Beyond Me… We’re thrilled to announce that we're now working with Jay1! If you’re an influencer or a fan and want to use his music in your YouTube content, it's easier than ever—we offer revenue splits so you still get paid. But that’s not even the most exciting part. Jay1’s latest track, Prettier, is trending hard on TikTok, with organic UGC blowing up around it. It’s becoming a go-to soundtrack for creators, with countless users showcasing their style, makeup, and self-confidence while vibing to the song. And here’s where it gets interesting: I couldn’t help but notice the perfect synergy between Prettier and brands like Pretty Little Thing. The song is practically begging to be the anthem for a fashion or beauty campaign. Imagine the brand power of Prettier backing up visuals of confident women getting glammed up. It’s a seamless match. So, PrettyLittleThing.com (or any brand in beauty/fashion), if you’re reading this—let’s talk. The trend is here, the UGC is thriving, and this song has the potential to elevate your content like no other. Who’s ready to make it happen?

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I would LOVE to talk to some DTC people (share if resonates) Listening to the My First Million podcast (with Shaan Puri, Sam Parr & Ad Professor); over the last months I've been finding out how great of a business idea the Healthy Holistic Homes brand actually is that we've been growing with Miriam Gubovicova over the last 2 years. It's always been kind of a side thing lagging behind but now, I just need to expand a little bit of my focus on this. So far... 👉 We've built @miriamgubovicova & @healthyholistichomes to 55.6K & 75.9K on TikTok 👉 We've now also been growing on Instagram – still low but moving 👉 And we have 2.11K on YouTube (this is our main focus right now) 👉 There's also a great website, a banger quiz & other working lead magnets 👉 Email list is something around 4k but it needs a cleanse https://lnkd.in/dXe9rfX4 https://lnkd.in/d7Q6zNsA https://lnkd.in/dKPZ7Yuw https://lnkd.in/dqCst-MR After realizing what we've been sitting on, we've... 👉 Spoken to some great industry top people & gotten valuable advice 👉 I've stepped down from the HHH brand, and now Miriam is the face 👉 Turned up the content production knob slightly 👉 And this has enabled me to gain a fresh perspective on things So, I realize there's quite a few ways we could take this, but I understand that the product side is where I'm lacking. Do I start affiliating mold remediation & testing services? Start testing & create a database of high quality healthy products? Offer really high-ticket consulting & at-home visits? (which we've done & recorded a couple) Or launch our own product line of clean ______ products? (e.g. clean cleaning products?) So far out most popular videos — where we have the most views both on YouTube & TikTok have been about air purifiers for short-form and mold for long-form. Since we're already producing media that's doing tens-to-hundreds of millions of views for our clients, turning up the intensity on our own content is not a challenge. What's been holding us back the most till now has been the return on investment part — not knowing if the effort we're putting in will ever translate to something tangible. So, this is where we're at — would love to talk to somebody that resonates with what we're building! --- --- --- BONUS CONTENT — Here's a gripe of mine. So, we've generated tens of millions of views on TikTok with our content, but it for some reason NEVER performed on Instagram. However, what planted the seed of our disgust for Instagram was finding our videos (that were stolen from our TT) & seeing them have more views than the original ones. Literally our video, downloaded, from our TT, and posted to Instagram. AFTER we already posted it. And the ours had like sub 1k views and the stolen one had hundreds of thousands or millions. This happened quite a few time and IG refused to take them down 🙃

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