AI coding / automations will test your patience. Roger that 🤖

Is this Google Ads? What's the ROAS for this Resia ad on my "free MP4 downscaler" website? 🤣

Any downsides using an Anthropic subscription within Hermes instead of Claude Code?

Creative-Maxxing

Journaling is actually peak. Clears the mind and helps document mistakes. Something about physically writing things down. Seems to stick and change behavior. True learning.

What are the best paid communities/courses for learning copywriting, creative strategy, direct response, etc? Communities striving to become better aside from the money. Communities breaking down the "why" for CS, copywriting, etc. Communities with live examples/case studies proving their info isn't noise. I'm in some Discords currently, but most info is slop. Their strategy revolves around AI prompts, fake mechanisms, "tips" to increase MRR, and info that is cycled around here on X. Yes it works, and it's not a bad thing at all (not hating), but nobody ever breaks down the "why" for ANYTHING. They don't give a rip or care about the brand. Without this, it's hard to learn/repeat by myself. I prefer storing knowledge EVEN if AI is the one executing the idea. It just feels right. I don't like feeling retarded. Current communities/courses I've looked into: @ecomuniversity by @karlocreates nkalchemy.io/learn by @nkecom DR Ads Inner Circle by @Satishdtc Copy Dojo by @matthewvolkwyn Any recommendations from those in these groups? I'm open to any advice. Thanks!

I'm slowly getting my brain back after these last 5ish months of health issues. During this time, I lost my intelligence. Like I'm starting from scratch again. Learning DR principles. Business fundementals. Making general logical decisions. I've realized setbacks aren't always a skill or discipline issue. Life throws curveballs you can't control. It sucks. The timeline get's stretched. The goals you expected to achieve by [X Date] aren't accomplished. And you feel like there's nothing you could've done. Watching it fall apart from the sidelines. Most importantly though, just don't quit. Takes some people 1 year. Others 5. Same goals. Different timeline. Let it play out.

I pushed off learning AI, creating workflows/automations, agents, etc for too long. Told myself it was "noise." At the time, it probably was. But now I'm realizing the importance more than ever. Especially when competiting in the US supplement industry. Things are moving WAY faster than when I started. I don't have a team. I can't keep up without optimizing systems for speed. New stores scaling HARD. Big brands stacking more MRR than ever. The gap is growing bigger, but DR knowledge hasn't changed. I'm not a DR demon by any means. But being "good" isn't enough anymore imo. You NEED speed, systems, capital, and strategy. Look on the X timeline. Is the market demanding more copywriters or CS? It's a very interesting change, and it's happening SO FAST. Stressing me out 🥲 The last couple days, I've been building with Hermes to start this long process of learning. It's challenging and feels unproductive most of the day. But once I have the base knowledge/skills/workflows done, I shouldn't need to mess with it often. In no way does this replace my brain, but it executes repeatable processes. If I wanna test fast, it cannot be all manual. Just my thoughts. Open to correction. Thanks.

It's interesting how many supplements certain avatars take daily for a specific problem. When writing copy, I wonder if it's better to explain why other solutions either: 1. Didn't solve the root cause completely. 2. Targeted the wrong root cause. Some natives attack failed solutions so harshly. But some of these avatars clearly don't have a problem popping 5-6 different pills a day. It makes me think these supplements STILL HAD a minor benefit, so it's a net positive to keep taking. Obviously they want something that fully works, but it's not like they are completely pissed off that the previous ones didn't do the full job. Maybe I'm wrong, I've just noticed this in raw research. Maybe they really are pissed off, and that emotion expressed in the copy boosts conversion. I don't have the ad data, so it's all up in the air. What are your thoughts? Anybody noticed this in their ad account?

Life’s been so weird lately. Family members murdered. Friends/mutuals with unexpected surgeries and death. My own health issues trailing on 5 months. Never would’ve expected this 1 year ago. Not depressed, but it feels…numb? Life must just be seasons, idk yet. But the person I was last year is not the same. Everything will be fine, but it needs time. Only with Jesus. Amen.

I’ve been waiting for this feature to get added back for soooo long🙏 You can see how brands REALLY do “creative strategy” instead of doomscrolling on X for new methods. W TrendTrack 💚⚔️

Day 104 & 105 Found my next product and backups if not sourceable. Sent the list to my supplier, waiting for response after their holiday is finished. Going to start posting on X every Sunday instead of daily. During my birthday week, I took a break from "the noise", and it was so peaceful. Once I returned, I felt this immense pressure weighing on every action throughout the day. The feeling of having to perform for everybody who's following me. Haven't been liking that at all. I've have some health issues that I have 2 appointments for today, and 1 yesterday. Been dealing with these since June, and still haven't gotten any answers. The last 6 months I've made the least amount of progress out of my entire 2.5+ years of ecom. Not an excuse, but it's hitting me hard mentally. Goal for today is to build the website and "create" the UMP/UMS explainations worth testing for this product launch. The market is very clear so I'm not going to test avatars like the previous ads I launched. I'm trying to make Hermes my base for all my AI models so I can stop switching between GPT, Claude, etc. Once I get everything configured, I'm going to try building a the website with it. Probably will take more time for the initial attempt, but it should turn into a saveable skill I can use for the future. Going into Q4 I need a model like Hermes to keep my systems narrow and reusable. I can't do/remember everything alone. That's all for today, I probably sound like a downer. I apologize for the last couple of weeks, but lifes been rough. Thanks ✌️

What’s the quickest way to test a valid UMP/UMS for a new product? Any static concepts that do this well? Would like a quicker way than writing an entire native for each test. Thanks!

Day 103 Spent the day learning about unique mechanisms and doing product research. Don't wanna repeat myself about my product qualification, so check my previous post. I've been loving the "Max ads shown per brand" on TrendTrack for product research. I can speed through health/supplement brands and see which ones are scaling hard or adding new SKUs. Makes the process a lot more efficient. I've got a couple products loaded in a spreadsheet, all with good mechanisms, and I'll send them to my supplier later today. I want to pick a supplement that can scale through Q4 and into Q1. There's one product I'm eyeing, but I need a couple more options first. Not going to overcomplicate it, but as the supplement market becomes more sophisticated, the moat around the product itself increases. I don't want to be stuck with some BS. That's all for today, hope everyone else kills Q4 🙂

Day 101 & 102 Yeah...I'm not liking the static image results AT ALL. Going through soft metrics, nothing seems promising. I've been working with this product for 2 months, but it's time to let it go. It was a good run and I proved to myself "any product can work." But at the same time, there's no reason to force yourself in doing so. More focus should be on skill development and building capital, not backing an ego. Going forward, I'll be picking supplements with a good AND real UMS. The avatar should get the "aha" moment when reading my copy, instead of me needing to overexplain the mechanism. This product I've ran for the last two months needed too much explanation around the mechanism, and then it bored the reader. You can get away with it in natives, but it's hard to move to other formats with a complicated mechanism. Therefore, I'll need a product that's unique, but has a mechanism that "makes sense." This is how big brands are scaling with new trending video formats. The mechanism isn't crazy or even thoroughly explained. It just makes sense and it works. Singing ads are a good example of this. Most of the audience is watching for entertainment, but the product is snuck in, and sticks quick. Overexplain the mechanism? Too complicated? They scroll. Not worth the time. That's my big realization for today, I hope everyone else is killing it 🫶

The testing strategy behind this relaunch was influenced by this video: youtube.com/watch?v=MkJOddhK… @nkecom Skip to 13:30

Day 97-100 Short break, but I'm back. Took some time off ecom to deal with life. Still struggling through some things, but I'm clear enough to start up my brand again. Spent today generating 30 static ads for this new launch. (used Higgsfield MCP via Claude, then turned workflow into skill once finished. not a game changer, but 100% faster than manual imo) 3 ad sets, 1 primary text template, and 10 ads for each market. The goal is not conversions, but rather to find the market accepting this product as a valid solution to their problem. The statics + market with the most signals is where I will deep dive into with a second round of statics. The second round will be more focused on the concept/angle that resonates within the market for my product. Repeat the process: Find the signal, dive deeper. The third test is where I write intentional natives for this concept/angle. This saves me from loads of market research / wasting time on an avatar/angle/concept that cannot scale. Made that mistake before and won't repeat it. It will cost me more $, but it's worth saving the time. If the natives don't show life for the "proven" market/angles/concept, then I'll move on to another product. That's all I got for now. Easier said than done. Hope everyone else is killing it🫶

Day 96 The gravy train went dry. Cut the current CBO that's been running for around a week. Like I've said in previous posts, I'm in the process of relaunching this brand with completely new avatars. Most of yesterday was driving, getting medical checkup, and filing paperwork to get LLC/business info transfered into my name. Next couple days are busy for other life stuff, so I'm not going to have anything exciting for a bit. I've been taking my foot of the pedal intentionally, and I don't regret a single moment. Two days ago I had a "recovery day" and woke up yesterday completely wired and amped up. Once that comes back consistently, I'll be a different machine. Didn't end up getting my blood drawn yesterday, but I'm heading to the lab in the next 15 minutes. Hopefully some good results in the next 48 hours. This is supposed to be an ecom journal, but sometimes it's just life. But I made this decision 96 days ago to document the journey. So I am.