The Smartest Marketer I Know Said This...

It’s Tuesday baby! Are you happy to be out of bed and reading this? Are you working on something that actually makes you happy and excited for more?

After throwing a 20 minute temper tantrum like a 5 year old last Tuesday, my wife surprised me with what I can only describe as the greatest planner of all time. It’s like $30 on Amazon, but was legit the best gift I’ve got in a long time. I think I’m going to gift every Founders Club member with one next week.

If you’re like me you constantly feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get the stuff you want done. How does one possibly balance work, exercise, having a social life, making time for family, and showing up in your relationship? It’s easy to bitch now, but I can only imagine things when theirs children are involved.

Life’s hard. But if it was easy, it wouldn’t make all the wins along the way be so meaningful.

So as I was writing this over the weekend I was thinking of two things:

1) This newsletter is getting bigger and bigger every week - 4500+ readers in the last 30 days - WTF

2) I’ve been writing about ecom & business for three years, how can I continue to be helpful without sounding like a broken record?

I got no response besides THANK YOU for #1 and for #2 I know a lot of you guys are stressed with Black Friday coming up. I know I am.

I HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU

A few weeks ago I met Jay Wright. If the name sounds familiar, its for a good reason. He’s a Facebook marketer legend and has helped 3,000 brands accelerate their growth?through his mastermind community Ecommerce Equation.?

He knows this newsletter is filled with marketers, so I asked if he’d be down to do me a favor and throw a few “small group sessions” with 5-10 brand owners to go over Black Friday planning. Him and his team spend nearly half a billion dolllars a year and have the best BFCM playbook I’ve ever seen.

Jay’s time is super valuable ($3000+/hour), so this is kind of a big deal and I’m lucky he even agreed to this. He’ll cover things like:

• How to create irresistible offers
• How to prime your audience ahead of the campaign
• How to get your ads in front of the right people
• How to stand out in the “sea of sameness”
• How to violate “best practices” to gain an advantage

All for free. In order to attend you need to:

1. Already be generating at least $30k/month in revenue
2. Be actively running ad campaigns to sell your products

If you meet these criteria, this is your chance to get direct access to Jay and learn his battle-tested strategies for making 2024 your best Black Friday ever.

Reply to this email and I’ll connect you with Jay for scheduling.

Time to Maximize Your Holiday Profits ????

The #1 conversation within The Founders Club is owners trying to find the right balance between maximizing profitability, getting through their inventory, and creating an interesting offer to the customer but doesn’t destroy the company’s profit.

The holiday season can be a double-edged sword for many businesses. On one hand, it’s the most lucrative time of the year, with sales skyrocketing as customers flood in.

But on the other hand, if you’re not managing your cash flow properly, you could end up with a lot less profit than you expected. With rising shipping costs, unexpected fees, and stretched resources, you might find yourself in a cash crunch at the worst possible time. True story last year I thought we CRUSHED in Australia. We were ramping spend pretty much every 48 hours and later got a shipping bill from our 3PL in Australia, we racked up a $125,000 bill that we thought was only going to be $50,000… talk about soul crushing.

No matter how much planning you do mistakes are inevitable. I’m going to break down a few of my favorite safeguards that you and your team 100% need to do. Some of this will be very elementary, while others very complex. I hope you enjoy.

1. Create a Cash Flow Forecast ??

Before the holiday madness begins, you need to know where your money is coming from — and more importantly, where it’s going. A cash flow forecast allows you to project both your expenses and revenue accurately.

“Cash flow forecast” might sound fancy, but it’s really not that complicated. At the end of the day, these are metrics you want to be keeping track of:

• Past sales data: Look at last year’s Q4 sales to predict revenue.
• New expenses: Consider any additional costs, like holiday marketing, staffing, or increased inventory orders.
• How much inventory do you actually have to sell.
• Payment delays: Keep in mind that some customers take longer to pay during the holidays, especially B2B transactions. Adjust your forecast to reflect potential late payments.

You can add more metrics if you want, but the main goal here is to map out when cash will be coming in versus when it will be going out. Having a clear understanding of your cash flow during the holiday period is going to help you avoid any unexpected surprises and save you from serious headaches. Our biggest change at CROSSNET this year is that since we are heavy Amazon in 2024, we get paid every 15 days as opposed to every 48 hours from Shopify.

2. Tighten Your Budget ??

In Q4, it’s time to tighten your budget and eliminate any unnecessary expenses. So many people say “next year we’ll do this”. STOP with that BS. Do it now. You got 3 months to save money. Cut the overspending now.

At the end of the day, you know your expenses better than anyone (well, you should at least). That being said, there are some “umbrella expenses” that can work as a starting point when you’re trying to trim the fat:

• Review subscriptions and tools: Are you paying for software or services that aren’t essential? Cut or pause anything that’s not helping you move product or support customers.
• Keep marketing efficient: Yes, you need to spend money to make money, but make sure you’re spending strategically. Focus on high-ROI campaigns like email marketing and retargeting. Now’s not the time to be throwing cash at new, untested channels. If you crush Q4, you’ll have plenty of funds to experiment with down the road. Remember shipping costs go up in the holidays & advertising is more expensive. Build out guardails!

Remember, every dollar counts during the holidays. If you can streamline your spending without sacrificing revenue, you’ll be in a much better position to handle any unexpected costs.

3. Negotiate With Suppliers ??

Cash flow issues often arise when your outgoing payments don’t align with your incoming cash. One solution? Negotiate better payment terms with your suppliers. This can help you delay payments until after the holiday sales rush, when you’ll have more cash on hand. We are in a dream situation now where we pay 90% of our purchase order 60 days after we receive it. This allows us to presell inventory before the money is due to the suppliers.

If you’re not sure how to gain leverage in negotiations, here are some simple strategies that go a long way:

• Offer incentives: If you’ve been a long-term customer, see if your suppliers are willing to offer extended terms in exchange for a larger order or future loyalty.
• Be upfront: Don’t hesitate to discuss the importance of cash flow during Q4. This won’t be your suppliers’ first rodeo. They’re already familiar with the seasonal cash crunch and may be more flexible than you think.

The more flexibility you have with your payment terms, the easier it will be to manage your cash during the holiday season.

4. Manage Inventory ??

During the holiday season, especially during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM), understocking can be far more dangerous than overstocking. Running out of inventory on your top-performing products means losing out on potential revenue, and trust me, during BFCM, that’s a mistake you can’t afford to make.

The key is to stock strategically, ensuring you’ve got enough of your best sellers to meet the increased demand without tying up cash in slow-moving products. Here’s how to handle it:

• Use data from previous years: Look at your past sales performance to identify your top-selling items during the holiday season. What flew off the shelves last year? Which products had the highest margins? Prioritize stocking these items first.
• Forecast demand: Don’t just rely on last year’s data. Factor in recent trends, your marketing efforts, and how demand for specific products has changed. If you’re running aggressive promotions on a certain product, make sure you have enough to cover the anticipated surge in sales.
• Prioritize fast movers: Rather than overstocking every item in your inventory, focus on your best performers. Make sure you’re well-stocked on your core products that you know will sell, and be cautious with slow-moving items. This allows you to meet demand without tying up too much cash in products that might not move quickly.

5. Secure Financing ??

The hardest time to get money is. when you actually need it. Get financing approved and lined up, even if you don’t take it. I have a ton of financing connections for lines between $50k-$1M. Shoot me a response if you want an intro.

6. Ensure Shipping Costs Are Properly Allocated: The Hidden Profit Eater ??

One of the biggest and most overlooked drains on holiday profits is shipping and storage costs. As FedEx, UPS, and Amazon hike their rates during the peak season, failing to account for those increases can eat into your margins fast. This is especially true if you’re offering free or discounted shipping to customers.

Remember the cash flow forecast we mentioned earlier? Yeah, well, getting blindsided by these expenses can completely derail it. Trust me, these add up. To make sure that doesn’t happen to you, here’s what you want to do:

• Review carrier rates: Many carriers increase their rates during the holiday season. Make sure you’re factoring in these additional costs when pricing your products and setting shipping fees.
• Offer tiered shipping: Instead of free shipping across the board, consider offering tiered shipping based on the size of the order. Customers who spend more can unlock free or discounted shipping, while smaller orders can carry a shipping fee to help offset your costs.
• Negotiate with carriers: If you’re shipping large volumes, try negotiating better rates with your shipping providers. Even a small percentage decrease can save you a significant amount over the course of the holiday season.

If you don’t account for higher shipping costs upfront, the profits you thought you’d made can quickly disappear. Get ahead of this by building accurate shipping costs into your holiday pricing strategy.

Remember - It’s BETTER to get less sales and more profit, than it is to get more sales and to lose money.

7. Attend Jay Wright’s BFCM Workshop ??

The BFCM rush isn’t a time for guesswork, experimentation, or “winging it.” You need tactics that have been proven to get results. Results that have been replicated across hundreds of brands. Respond back to this email and join my workshop with Jay.

I’ll sign off with this. If you’ve been following along, you know I’m throwing a massive event from Dec 11-14th in Tulum. It’s at a five star resort with 50 brand founders for four crazy days of masterminding and guest speakers. I have ONE ROOM that I’m allowed to give away a $1000 discount for. First one to respond back gets it.

Talk soon!

Chris