YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → He Built 300 Designs In The Wrong Niche, Burned It All Down, And Hit $1M In Print On Demand

He Built 300 Designs In The Wrong Niche, Burned It All Down, And Hit $1M In Print On Demand — Transcript

by Chris Heckman · 13,349 words · 1,890 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00What I didn't realize is that there's
0:01going to be hard days, there's going to
0:02be days where you don't make any money,
0:04there's going to be days where you lose
0:05money, there's going to be days where
0:07you don't feel like working on the
0:08business, and having a niche that you
0:11have some sort of relationship to is the
0:14one thing that's going to help you push
0:16through those days. I know it's hard
0:18mentally switching, even if you just
0:20only spend a month in one niche that you
0:22didn't like, or if you've already spent
0:243 months or 6 months or whatever, just
0:26make the switch because it's not as hard
0:29as you think. Yes, it's like tough to
0:31swallow at the beginning where it's
0:32like, "Fuck, it's $1,000 a day is gone."
0:34Yes, it made some money, but it's still
0:35$1,000 a day. Mentally, when you're not
0:37used to those amounts, it's difficult,
0:39but what made me understand that is not
0:42just lost money is when you start
0:45understanding what the metrics mean. So,
0:48I start seeing, yes, $1,000 a day now on
0:51ad spend, but what does my ROAS look
0:54like? What does my CPM look like? What
0:56does my CTR look like?
0:59>> Welcome everybody back to the channel.
1:01Today, we are joined by Antonio.
1:03Antonio, thanks for being here today,
1:05man.
1:05>> Thank you. Thanks for having me.
1:07>> Awesome. And so, we're going to do
1:08lightning round, something a little bit
1:09different this time. I just have a
1:11couple of rapid-fire questions, if
1:12you're up for it. And first question,
1:14I'm sure everybody would love to know,
1:15is what have been your total print on
1:16demand sales so far to date?
1:18>> Yeah, so today we're just over a
1:21million, so 1.1 million. Just reached
1:23that a couple couple weeks ago, so yeah.
1:26>> Now, the immediate follow question on
1:28everybody's mind is how long have you
1:30been running your brand that it took you
1:31to get to that million?
1:33>> A year, just over a year. So, it reached
1:35a year in in March, so yeah.
1:38>> And what what has obviously the million
1:40is top line, like total revenue. What's
1:43been ballpark numbers, like the average
1:46profit margin, like net take home at the
1:49end of the day?
1:50>> So, at the end of the day, it could be a
1:52lot better, but we're averaging about 7%
1:54in terms of margins. I know why it's
1:5710%. I mean, I know why it's 7%. I know
2:00how I could get it higher, but that's
2:02what I'm working on every day.
2:03>> Beautiful. And that's also what we're
2:05going to chat about later on today. Next
2:07question is for anybody who's wondering
2:09like, okay, Antonio could be an expert
2:11at this,
2:12what were you doing in your previous
2:14life a year ago before you started in
2:16print on demand?
2:17>> Yeah, so I went to school for interior
2:20design. That's what I graduated as an
2:22interior designer. I went to school for
2:233 years and I joined a
2:27interior design studio
2:29and I worked there for about 2 years it
2:31was until
2:33I just felt like I needed to be in
2:35control of my own time. And so I just
2:37decided to see what else I could do,
2:39search other opportunities online and
2:41then I found print on demand. So I was
2:43actually
2:44doing
2:46KDP, which is Kindle Direct Publishing,
2:48which is that basically I was selling
2:50coloring books on Amazon and
2:53that just kind of got my feet wet with
2:55the whole print on demand space and you
2:58know, what could be possible, but
3:00it was just hard to scale like a $6
3:02product for me. It was just like I need
3:04to sell so many coloring books that like
3:06it just didn't make sense. And so after
3:08a year of doing that and you know,
3:10having like somehow some success, I was
3:13like, okay, at least I could make some
3:14money with this. What else can I do
3:16online? What else can I do in this
3:18space? And so that's when I found your
3:20course and joined and here we are.
3:22>> You started with KDP with about a year
3:24of experience and then as we're trying
3:26to scale that, we start looking again
3:29for other opportunities. Had you kind of
3:31and to getting it into your mindset a
3:33little bit, when you were working on
3:34that first opportunity, did you try to
3:37like intentionally ignore other things
3:39for the time being cuz you know, YouTube
3:41is always you know, shiny objects
3:43everywhere.
3:45Did you say anything to yourself like
3:46I'm going to work on this for X amount
3:48of time and just ignore other things or
3:50were you still entertaining other
3:52prospects? How were you thinking through
3:53that?
3:54>> I gave myself a year with online
3:57business space and I was like if I can't
3:59make some money, if I can't match what
4:01my other job was paying me, I'll go back
4:03to it. You know, I'll go back to my
4:05previous job cuz I can't like it for me
4:07it was just like taking a step backwards
4:09if I quit this job and then I do
4:11something online and it doesn't work to
4:12the same level that my other job was
4:14working. I was like, I'm going
4:16backwards. So I gave myself a year.
4:17After that year I saw some profits that
4:20were actually more than what my job was
4:22paying me at the time, the one that I
4:23quit. Then I was like, okay, this is
4:25real, we can make something happen
4:27and that's when I carried on. But then
4:28the reason I switched from doing the
4:30coloring books to what we do now is
4:33again that the margins and I was like it
4:35it just it's going to be really hard to
4:37get this to scale properly.
4:40>> Yeah. Then so you jump into print on
4:42demand. Roughly how long did it take you
4:44before you reached profitability to give
4:46everybody a very realistic view.
4:48Obviously you're not profitable from day
4:50one.
4:52>> So we're talking about a Shopify Shopify
4:54store?
4:54>> Yeah, like when you stopped with KDP or
4:57at least we're starting like with print
4:59on demand, what was that like timeline
5:01like for you?
5:02>> I would say until I saw some decent
5:03profits it could have been three to four
5:06months.
5:07Three to four months of like solid work
5:09and also I mean my story is a little
5:11different than some other people but I
5:14had started with a first niche that I
5:16had like no passion for. I was just
5:18chasing, you know, a dollar figure.
5:21That's something we can talk about
5:22later. So I started
5:24>> Do you want to say Do you want to say Do
5:25you want to say the niche? You're not
5:27doing it anymore.
5:29>> No, no, yeah. So I started with this
5:30parenting and relationships niche. I'm
5:33not a parent.
5:35I don't have kids.
5:37I don't have
5:38I'm not married. Do you know what I
5:39mean? So
5:40>> Which can be can be a good niche, you
5:43know, for for somebody who's in
5:45>> Yeah, it can be a good niche exactly and
5:46like I a lot of research and I was just
5:48searching for like something that it was
5:51just like a lot of people can relate to
5:52this.
5:53But I think that was the main problem. I
5:55was like I was over leveraging myself
5:57almost. I was like trying to speak to
5:59too many people at once. And at the
6:01beginning when I had zero knowledge, it
6:03was the worst thing I could do. So, I'm
6:05glad I pivoted from that. And it took me
6:07like 2 months or so to realize that I
6:10needed to do something more me, you
6:12know?
6:13>> Yeah. And for anybody who maybe is
6:16getting into print on demand or maybe
6:17choosing a niche, why would you say that
6:19that's so important? And obviously, in
6:21hindsight it's easy to see now like once
6:23you switch you became profitable. But is
6:25there anything that you starting out
6:28that you didn't quite realize that would
6:29maybe help it land home for somebody
6:31else?
6:32>> Yeah, what I didn't realize is that
6:34there's going to be hard days. There's
6:35going to be days where you don't make
6:36any money. There's going to be days
6:37where you lose money. There's going to
6:39be days where you don't feel like
6:40working on the business. And having a
6:43niche that you have some sort of
6:45relationship to is the one thing that's
6:47going to help you push through those
6:49days.
6:50Because I just I had zero inspiration. I
6:53had zero will to work on designs, to
6:57send emails, to create ads for a niche
7:00that I had no relationship to. Now, when
7:04you have a niche you have a relationship
7:06to, you have something you can identify
7:08with yourself. You don't have to be like
7:10an expert in it. You just have to like
7:12have some sort of relationship to it.
7:14Then it's a lot easier to be like, "Ah,
7:17I feel like [ __ ] but you know, I'm
7:18going to
7:19I'm going to push through and I'm going
7:20to make these designs cuz I like them
7:23somehow. So."
7:24>> Basically, the the passion piece. Was
7:25there anything else that you you drew
7:27upon and talking about those tough days
7:29I feel like is a really important topic
7:31for people to get like the most
7:33realistic point of view. It's obviously
7:35not, you know, what you see on YouTube
7:37like just the the sales and, you know,
7:39Lambos, all of that. What would you say
7:41to Antonio from a year ago as he's about
7:44to face tough days where he doesn't feel
7:46like pushing through. What got you
7:48through?
7:48>> Like knowing this the opportunity is
7:51there and it is possible and also giving
7:53yourself a realistic timeline. So it's
7:56not going to happen overnight. It's not
7:57going to happen from this month to the
7:59next. Hopefully it will for you.
8:00Hopefully you crush it and it will. But
8:03just giving myself a timeline and being
8:05okay with not, you know, succeeding to
8:09the level I to my expectations before
8:12that because I myself I told myself I'm
8:14going to give this a year. If within a
8:15year I can't, you know, match my income
8:18or match what I was doing with the
8:19coloring books before or even do more
8:22than that, then then I'll I'll step
8:24back. So you're not like pressured,
8:26you're not rushed into doing something.
8:28You're just like more calm, you're
8:30making sense of all the information
8:31online and you know, that's I think what
8:34pushed like what helped me push through
8:36those days where I like I didn't see
8:38something but I was like it's okay. It's
8:39like now
8:40I have some time.
8:41>> That's great and along the same line did
8:43you have any like thought process around
8:46how much you were willing to invest in
8:48terms of like the ad spend and that sort
8:50of things? Like did you set a dollar
8:52amount where you're like kind of like
8:53with the amount of time? Like I'm going
8:55to invest up to this and then you know,
8:57make a decision from there?
8:58>> Well, I didn't set budget from the
9:01get-go for cuz I had no idea like cuz
9:03with with KDP the budgets were so
9:05little. I was like I'm sure with this it
9:06will be a lot more.
9:08I did I did give myself I worked it out
9:10to about 30% of what the KDP business
9:14was bringing in. So for me at that time
9:16was about like between four and six
9:20thousand dollars per month. So I set 30%
9:22aside of that to put into the ads to
9:24make this work and to be able to live
9:26somehow.
9:28>> There we go.
9:29Yeah. And so when you're starting off
9:32the brand,
9:33uh like the first one. I think this is
9:36such a valuable experience that you had.
9:38Hopefully we can shed some light on for
9:40everybody is you had about 300 designs
9:45talking about this first niche. And so
9:47you come into print on demand, you know,
9:49I need to pick a passionate niche,
9:50something that is giftable, there's lots
9:52of people, it's fun around the holiday
9:54seasons, that sort of thing. And you
9:57come across like family and
9:58relationships. And then we recommend
10:01starting out with like 100 designs. You
10:03tripled that and within the span of a
10:06month or two got up to 300 designs. And
10:10one, could you just talk to like why did
10:12you push like so far beyond like the 100
10:15and how did you do it in such a
10:16relatively short amount of time?
10:18>> Yeah, so the first thing I will say I
10:20have time. Like I was working online
10:22already. It's not like I had a 9-5 where
10:24I had to then get home and I was tired
10:26and I didn't have time to make these
10:27designs. So I'll make that clear. I had
10:29the time to make all of those designs.
10:32And that was like like a year, year and
10:34a half ago maybe, where the AI wasn't so
10:37good, but now I think you could even
10:38push that with the AI. So like that 300
10:41designs to start with, you don't have
10:42to, but I'm saying like if you wanted
10:44to, you probably could even if you had a
10:469-5 in your in your day-to-day. But
10:48anyhow, it was that and I also
10:50understood very early on that it was
10:51just a volume game. It was just a
10:53numbers game where if I can launch with
10:55100 and it could be one best seller in
10:58there, why not give myself, you know,
11:00the the upper hand and launch with 300
11:02and maybe there's two, maybe there's
11:04three, I don't know.
11:05>> For a beginner like for yourself, when
11:07you made your first 100 designs, just
11:09roughly speaking, what did what did that
11:11first batch of 100 design I'm laughing
11:13like thinking of the first Yeah, it's
11:15it's always funny in hindsight. In the
11:17moment you're like, oh these are so
11:19good. But what did those first 100
11:21roughly look like? And then if you were
11:23to start a new brand tomorrow, what do
11:26you think would be the difference like
11:28in terms of your thought process and
11:30maybe how you would go about it and what
11:32you would really aim for in that that
11:34first 100.
11:35>> Yeah, the main difference between the
11:36first 100 that I did to the ones that I
11:38do now is just that the the first batch
11:41is always very surface level, and you're
11:43always trying to just get to that 100
11:46quick and so you can launch the store,
11:48and
11:49and you search on Etsy, you search on
11:51Amazon, and on Pinterest, and wherever
11:53it be. And most of the stuff in there
11:55can be great, you know, you can find
11:57best sellers from that, but I just call
11:59them like these easy designs because
12:01they're very surface level. They don't
12:02really like most of them just won't
12:04really like relate to the niche and what
12:07people are really buying. When I
12:08understood that what people were really
12:09buying was just like
12:11identity more than oh, this design looks
12:14cute. That's when
12:17it made sense for me, and I started
12:19taking more time to to research the
12:21designs and how they relate to the
12:23audience.
12:24>> Do you have an example of that possibly
12:26like from the the parenting niche of
12:27like what's like a a cute design or
12:30surface level? And I think what you're
12:31saying is so spot on. Do you have an
12:33example in mind of like cute versus
12:35identity?
12:36>> So, I mean with I can't really speak to
12:38that niche because that was all surface
12:40level stuff that I launched. What I can
12:42say is like, okay, let's say you're in
12:45the dog niche, and then you see like a
12:47design on Pinterest that just say like
12:50dog lover. Okay, great. That might work
12:52with the the dog lover font. It looks
12:54cool. People might like it. But then,
12:57how about you specialize into that only
13:00you know, like Chihuahua dogs, and then
13:02you put the the Chihuahua dog
13:03illustration at the bottom. I'm just
13:05trying to like just get more into uh
13:07specifics rather than kind of like this
13:10broad concept.
13:11>> It's like thinking a layer deeper. Like
13:13if I'm And almost like putting yourself
13:15in the shoes, and this is back to your
13:17earlier point. It's like put yourself in
13:18the shoes of the person who's in the
13:20niche. What's something that they would
13:21see that would resonate or make them go,
13:24"Oh, that's me." And when they say, "Oh,
13:26that's me." what they're really saying
13:28is oh, that's not 99.9% of other people.
13:31That's
13:32>> Exactly.
13:32>> me in the 0.1% that that actually hits
13:35on. So, you you make 300 designs, invest
13:39like at 1 to 2 months, and then we have
13:42a call where we're like kind of talking
13:44over the niche and everything. And I I
13:47want to give you so many props because
13:49we've had a similar conversation with
13:51people in the past, and it's a tough
13:53call about like pivoting niches. But,
13:56would you mind sharing like what you
13:58one, what that call was like for you,
13:59and then two, what you did as a a
14:01follow-up?
14:02>> Yeah. Well, that call was pivotal. I I I
14:04was at a spot where investing about 2
14:09months into this parenting niche, and
14:11you know, kind of like not seeing
14:13anything really, and not having that
14:15connection with the niche. But, then
14:17having put this investment of time and
14:19also some money into the ads,
14:21where it was very tough for me mentally,
14:23you know, in retrospect. It was like,
14:25man, I've put so much effort in. What if
14:27I just keep going? I'm going to just
14:29push through this like non-relationship
14:31issue that I have with the niche, right?
14:33But, the best thing that could have
14:35happened was that call, and then both
14:38Meg and and you being very direct and
14:40saying like, hey, you know, just just do
14:43something that you like. Even if you
14:44have to spend more time creating more
14:46designs and more ads and whatever, it's
14:48just going to pay off in the long term,
14:49and it has.
14:50And what I will say, if anybody's in
14:52that same position, I know it's hard
14:54mentally switching, even if you only
14:56spent a month in one niche that you
14:58didn't like, or if you've already spent
15:003 months or 6 months or whatever, just
15:02make the switch because it's not as hard
15:04as you think.
15:06For me, it was like, man, now I got to
15:08change the domain. Now I got to change
15:10all the designs and what the site looks
15:12like,
15:13and the tone, and I had to spend time
15:15into this. So, it took me less than a
15:18week. It was like, you know, within 3
15:21days I'm going to get these designs up
15:23and then the site is not even a big
15:25deal. You just have to like connect a
15:27different domain and like it's not a big
15:28deal. So you can make it happen very
15:30quick and then
15:32really see where that takes you.
15:33>> Yeah, so it went from at least several
15:35weeks to launch the first brand and the
15:38first 100 designs cuz you were learning
15:40everything for the first time in many
15:42areas, but then the second one and this
15:45was the piece that it was just awesome
15:46to see. Launch it in literally a week.
15:49Which was took the entire process you
15:52did before, compressed it down to like
15:53five or six days. Well, one like the
15:56effort I think is one piece, but how did
15:58you just make the decision to like,
16:00"Okay, I'm going to burn the boats on
16:02this niche and just like dive into the
16:04next one?" And especially cuz when you
16:06launch the ads on the second brand, I'm
16:09sure you weren't seeing like, you know,
16:11skyrocket numbers from day one. How did
16:14you like approach that? Like just
16:15doubling down again?
16:16>> Uh what I will say is like the learning
16:19compound. So whatever you did first is
16:21like you you start to figure out how to
16:25do the research, how to make the
16:26designs. And so when I switched, for me
16:28it was like, "Well, I already did these
16:30like hundred or so designs for the
16:32parenting niche." So it was like
16:35building on top of that even if it was a
16:36different niche. Pretty much the same
16:38concept. So yeah, like it it became
16:41That's why it took me like about a week
16:43because
16:44of the of the learnings that I had had
16:46initially.
16:47>> That's awesome. And to give everybody
16:48like a like we talked about at the
16:50beginning, you've done now a million
16:52dollars in sales in roughly the past
16:54year or so. Your ad spend, which was the
16:57biggest barrier for a lot of people, uh
16:59like myself included, is like you you
17:02definitely whatever you spent in the
17:04past month or two, you did not start off
17:06with that in the very beginning. So like
17:08what was your your ad spend look like
17:11from like day one? Were you testing like
17:1325, 50 bucks a day? And then how did you
17:15scale things up? And mostly talking to
17:18like the the mental barriers or blocks
17:20of like, you know, spending a thousand
17:22bucks a day, no matter how profitable we
17:24know that it is on the back end just
17:26from watching the numbers, it can, you
17:28know, be uh a tough pill to swallow at
17:30at least in the beginning.
17:31>> Yeah, of course. I started with $25 a
17:34day with just like basic testing
17:36campaigns, 20 to $25 a day. Just testing
17:40a lot of static ads on products that I
17:42saw some clicks on, products that had
17:44some some sort of sales data. So, I
17:46started there.
17:48That just increased very incrementally.
17:50So, then it goes to 50, then it goes to
17:52100, and now I'm at a point where it's
17:54like about $1,000 a day, more or less.
17:57And yes, it's like tough to swallow at
18:00the beginning where it's like, [ __ ]
18:01it's $1,000 a day is gone. Yes, it made
18:03some money, but it's still $1,000 a day.
18:05Mentally, when you're not used to those
18:06amounts, it's difficult, but what made
18:09me understand that it's not just lost
18:12money is when you start understanding
18:15what the metrics mean. So, I start
18:18seeing, yes, $1,000 a day now on ad
18:21spend, but what does my ROAS look like?
18:23What does my CPM look like? What does my
18:25CTR look like? What
18:27And and and really understanding, and
18:29all of this information's in the course,
18:30really understanding what those metrics
18:32mean and what they mean for your designs
18:34and for your audience. So, you see a
18:36design
18:37that has a a really high click-through
18:39rate. That's telling you, hey, like
18:41people are clicking on this design,
18:42there's something there that makes sense
18:43for them. So, what else can I do around
18:46the same line? And you launch that one.
18:48And so, that's like it's like strings to
18:51pull on. So,
18:52it's switching it from, oh, I just lost
18:54$1,000 a day to, okay, now I have
18:57information where I can make more
18:58designs that are going to sell more, and
19:00then I'm going to spend $5,000 a day,
19:02but then I'm going to make, you know,
19:03like whatever, 7,000, 10,000. So,
19:06just that mental switch is is important.
19:09>> And then once you have that mental
19:10switch, like scaling rapidly. Like you
19:13had record months in November and
19:16December after starting the brand like
19:19just earlier that year.
19:20>> Yeah.
19:20>> Uh so what how surreal was that or like
19:23what did that feel like for you knowing
19:24that the December previously or Q4 that
19:27had just passed like the brand didn't
19:29exist and now this Q4 we were putting up
19:32and if you want to share some of the
19:33numbers that you guys were looking at
19:34just high level, I think that'd be
19:36exciting to people.
19:37>> Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think the
19:38the best month was December at 300,000
19:41then November was like I think 150,000
19:44something like that. But yeah, it's it's
19:46surreal. It's surreal to to see those
19:48numbers and it's it's it's more surreal
19:50to see
19:51what is possible. That's really what
19:54changes your mindset is like, "Okay,
19:55this is possible. Like I can I can put
19:58in all this effort and see a return on
20:01the other side and and I did it on my
20:03terms and I did it on my time." It's
20:05it's surreal and it it it just pushes
20:08you to to do more.
20:09>> And I think you hit on a really honest
20:12point in the beginning that's important
20:13for everybody to remember is that you
20:15had like the time in the beginning. You
20:17weren't working like a 9-5 which
20:20obviously comes with its whole other set
20:22of challenges and things to push
20:24through. Like when you have a 9-5, you
20:25have consistent income obviously, less
20:28time but like more feeling more stable
20:31on that end of things. But for anybody
20:33who's like at the point right now where
20:35they're like, "I have my job, I have
20:37like 3 to 4 hours a day if I'm feeling
20:40really good after work might maybe an
20:42hour and then I have like my weekends."
20:44Where would you recommend them
20:46allocating their time and how would you
20:48recommend they like approach like making
20:51the most out of that time cuz I know
20:52you've had some great posts in the
20:53community about like time management and
20:55like productivity and that sort of
20:57thing.
20:58>> Yeah. So
20:59the little time that you're able to do
21:01cuz I know people have families have you
21:04know,
21:05whatever it is but if you just have an
21:07hour a day after your job, just spend
21:10that hour doing five designs, 10
21:13designs, or just as many as you can,
21:15especially with AI now. You can you can
21:16do more than you think you can. And
21:18that's the number one thing. It doesn't
21:19matter anything else. Just the first
21:21thing to do is just do those designs and
21:23launch them. Don't just keep them in
21:24your Canva. Don't just keep them in your
21:26in your folder. Just actually launch
21:28them. And just have one catalog ad
21:31running cuz it's going to pull those
21:32designs and from there you're able to
21:35see what's working and what doesn't. So,
21:37that's that's the one thing. And then
21:39number two, after you're at least
21:41getting out 20 designs a week, maybe 25,
21:45then work on understanding what ads
21:47Well, just seeing online on the ad
21:49account what ads are getting those
21:51clicks. Sorry, what designs are getting
21:53those clicks and launch them on statics
21:55and spend your time doing that. And
21:57those are the two things that I think
22:00helped me
22:01reach the level I have because very
22:03early on I was like very in touch with
22:06the ad account and seeing the the
22:08clicks. And I just understood, okay,
22:10this one design got 10 clicks. Okay,
22:13people like it. Now let's launch it by
22:14itself. So, and I just did that week
22:17over week over week over week over week
22:19until Yeah, stuff just starts working
22:21once you have those inputs.
22:23>> I'm sure for a lot of people listening
22:25to you talk about the ads, rattling off
22:27the the acronyms and different metrics,
22:29they're like, well, Antonio's like got
22:31it figured out. Had you ever run ads
22:34like paid or any kind of marketing,
22:36maybe like through KDP you had some
22:38experience prior to coming in?
22:41>> Well, yeah, I had run Amazon ads, but
22:43trust me like for me it was a complete
22:45new game as soon as I was like seeing
22:48the meta ads account. It was like I had
22:51no idea what it meant.
22:52>> Like a different language.
22:53>> Because
22:53Yeah, it's it's different. It just looks
22:55more complicated. It looks more
22:56intimidating. It's not like I have all
22:59this experience. No, mind you, it was
23:00just one year selling coloring books.
23:02It's not anything out of this world. And
23:04the metrics to me like I remember in a
23:06call I had in the community. It was like
23:08a scale call or something. Not a scale
23:11call like one of those early calls that
23:12there were. I remember I was like I I
23:14told Justin I believe it was. I was like
23:17I have a three row as. What does that
23:19mean? He's like
23:21like I had no clue what what something
23:23meant and what a CTR meant and what a
23:25click
23:26cost per click. I knew the numbers cuz
23:28it's laid out in the community.
23:30>> He's like a $1 cost per click is not
23:31that great. But so it needs to be lower.
23:33So but I didn't like know how to read it
23:36and how to understand it. And I got a
23:38little bit overwhelmed with all the
23:40stuff but I will tell you now it just
23:42comes from time and being the ad account
23:45day over day over day over day and
23:47obviously going through the course.
23:49>> Yeah. And for anybody who doesn't know,
23:51the reason the three row as is funny is
23:53row as stands for return on ad spend
23:56which basically means Antonio you had a
23:59an ad or a campaign where you were
24:01spending $1 to make back three which is
24:05good in in any business. Especially good
24:07in this where we're aiming basically
24:09anything above a two is break even to
24:12profitable. So at a three you're you
24:14have something really there. But the
24:16thing the part that I wanted to give you
24:18a ton of credit for Antonio make sure we
24:20we touched on is that even though you
24:22came in with no prior experience,
24:24getting to the point that you're at now
24:26did not happen by mistake. I
24:29specifically remember on dozens and
24:31dozens of calls Antonio was always there
24:34with his camera on like taking notes,
24:37paying attention, asking really
24:39insightful questions in the chat, and
24:41always had the best way to put it is
24:43like the perpetual like student mindset
24:46but like the excited student who like
24:48wants to be there and like is like I'm
24:50just like one piece like one puzzle
24:52piece away from all this clicking. Like
24:54you can see that excitement and just
24:57literally never any ego at any point in
24:59the process, which just makes it such a
25:02fun person to get to work with cuz every
25:05like piece of feedback, you know that
25:07it's like going to I don't want to say
25:09good cause, but like you know that it's
25:10like actually going to be put into
25:12practice. And just for anybody watching,
25:14like it's definitely not just the time
25:16that Antonio put into it. It's like the
25:18mindset and like Antonio, I'm I'm
25:20curious to hear from your perspective.
25:22How did you approach like whether if
25:24it's a coaching call or wherever you
25:25were learning anything? Could have been
25:27on YouTube. You seem to have like a
25:29pretty unique perspective on kind of
25:32like checking ego at the door and it's
25:33like I'm just I'm a blank slate. Like
25:36let's see if there's anything we can
25:37learn. Is that how you think through
25:38things at all?
25:39>> Yeah. Yeah. I'll I'll think of myself as
25:41the dumbest person in the room. Trust
25:43me. So I'll I'll go to like the I'll go
25:46I'll go to the to the What are they What
25:48are they called? Like the three calls?
25:50The scale call, the
25:51>> Yeah, launch, test, scale.
25:53>> Right. I'll I'll join a launch call
25:55because I don't know like there's just
25:57always something you can pick up because
26:00and especially in a community of what?
26:02Over 700, 800 people now? There's always
26:06a nugget of information that you can get
26:08from from those calls and people just
26:11have different experiences. Like we're
26:13all just like I was an interior
26:15designer, but there's people in the
26:17community that are like doctors. There's
26:20people that are lawyers. There's people
26:21that are like work in finance and people
26:24just have like different perspectives on
26:26things. And so you just pick up
26:28information and just go in with no like
26:31oh like I know more than you. No, like
26:33we all we all know different things
26:35where there's some of them some people
26:36have spent more time doing it, some
26:38people less. Like I assure you that
26:40there's people starting out now that
26:42have picked something up that I still
26:44haven't, you know? And so Yeah, that's
26:46that's that's the that's the mentality.
26:49>> That's beautiful. And
26:51to what Antonio is describing is there's
26:53three different sets of calls in the
26:55community and normally you join like
26:57once you reach 10K you're in the scale
26:59call when you're running your ads and
27:00test. Normally you join the call that
27:03you know you're at that stage that's
27:04where the questions are most relevant.
27:05He joins like not all the time but he
27:08he'll join drop in on all of them
27:10because and I couldn't agree more like
27:12everybody going through has a completely
27:15unique journey and experience and you
27:17never know if somebody who's you know
27:19building their store for the first time
27:21or whatever it is maybe they thought
27:23about something in a way that you know I
27:24hadn't and maybe that's something that I
27:26can just add to my tool kit kind of
27:28going forward. And another interesting
27:31thing that I think you've done
27:33exceptionally well Antonio that I want
27:34to transition to talk about the future
27:36of the brand as you touched on is when
27:38people have their first initial success
27:41and it's different for everybody could
27:43be reaching the first thousand dollars
27:45in sales first ten thousand what it
27:46whatever it may be
27:48there sometimes tends to be and I
27:50definitely felt this as well the thought
27:52process of because I'm now here like
27:55I've reached the point that I was
27:56shooting for when I got started and
27:58because I'm now here it should be you
28:00know pretty flat in terms of effort and
28:03like I've figured things out you know
28:05it's good and it can sometimes throw
28:07people for a whirl when you realize that
28:10the journey to here was like basically
28:12like getting to the top of a mountain
28:14and then realizing that there's a whole
28:16mountain range behind it of like new
28:18exciting challenges.
28:19>> When did you have that kind of
28:20experience? Like was there a moment in
28:22time where you're like I feel like I've
28:24figured a few things out like ideally
28:26this should continue but then you just
28:28got you know smacked upside the head
28:31with with reality and you're like oh
28:33this learning thing like never really
28:34stops.
28:35>> Yeah well I'm there now. I'm there now.
28:37I mean anybody can tell me different but
28:40you do feel like you figure something
28:41out when you make 300k in one month. I
28:43mean that's when you see that you're
28:45like oh well well I've done something
28:46right." Obviously, you know, that's Q4.
28:48Those numbers are inflated in I think
28:51pretty much any business, but I'm there
28:54now and I'm working on being able to
28:58like put out my my inputs into the
29:00business consistently. And my by my
29:02inputs, I just mean number of designs,
29:05number of ads, number of emails. If I
29:07can just keep those three numbers the
29:09same regardless of whether I make 300k
29:12or whether I make 1k. If I just can keep
29:15those three numbers the same, that helps
29:17me mentally. Cuz you can make all this
29:20money or you can make no money at all,
29:22but the one thing that always matters is
29:23is your inputs. Cuz if you drop that,
29:25then you're for sure going down.
29:28>> And let's talk about that. All right.
29:30So, here it is. Here we have the numbers
29:32and if we go across the top here, we can
29:35see total sales just over a million
29:38dollars. First off, congrats. Like
29:40building I think the stat is like 90
29:43It's something absurd. It's like 90 90%
29:45of businesses that do make it never
29:48reach a million dollars in sales.
29:49>> Which when I heard that the first time,
29:51like, okay, that's
29:53pretty interesting. I still don't feel
29:55like a seven-figure business owner. I
29:57feel like I'm still Is that how you
29:59feel? Do you feel like you're still
30:00figuring things out day by day almost?
30:02>> Yeah, every day. Every day figuring
30:04figuring it out.
30:05>> Awesome. So, we've done over a million
30:06dollars in sales and we can see across
30:09here the net profit margin month by
30:11month. So, November, wow, what a great
30:14month. 200,000 at 24% net profit and
30:18then in December 350,000 at 11%. Like
30:23really really awesome months. And then
30:25you mentioned in the past couple of
30:27months you guys have started traveling
30:29and and that sort of thing.
30:31>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
30:32>> And has that like had any impact in the
30:35way we've been able to run the business?
30:37>> I'm traveling now. It is just the one
30:39thing I've always wanted to do and
30:42starting this business like because when
30:44we start out you just think about a
30:46figure is like whether you want to make
30:4810k, whether you want to make 50k in a
30:50month or whatever. And I remember a call
30:52where to me I was like, okay, this this
30:55this makes sense now. When you attach
30:57that figure to what it means to you. So,
31:00whether it's making 10k a month because
31:02you want to travel or whether it's
31:04making 20k a month because you want to
31:06support yourself and your loved ones
31:08or whatever it is, but really looking at
31:11what it means to you and following that
31:13because once I understood that I was
31:16like, okay, well, now I'm just following
31:19as opposed to a figure in my bank
31:21account. Now, I'm just following my my
31:23passion which to to me right now what
31:25I'm looking for is freedom. Freedom to
31:27be able to travel the world and work on
31:29this business while I do it. So, that's
31:32my why right now and when I understood
31:35that I need to follow that instead of a
31:3910k a month income or whatever. It was
31:42weird like it became a lot like I became
31:44a lot easier on myself also. I was like,
31:46well, as soon as I'm able to
31:49like do this traveling thing
31:51which by the way this digital nomad
31:52stuff like is not for me. Like I need to
31:54be based in one place with a routine.
31:56But it's it's cool to try it out anyway.
31:58So, so yeah, I don't know where I was
31:59going with this, but yeah.
32:01>> The 4-hour work week
32:03it's a misnomer.
32:04>> Yeah.
32:05Yeah.
32:06>> I think maybe getting to a point where
32:08the business could have 4 hours a week
32:09work on it, but I can see the as long as
32:12you're only working 4 hours on anything,
32:14it's always just going to be like
32:15pushing along. I think the real sweet
32:17spot is getting to the point where I
32:19could do that, but I really want to be
32:21putting in as many hours like as I feel
32:23like doing. But I digress. So, talking a
32:26little bit about what is the goal for
32:29like the year ahead and to use what you
32:31just mentioned, picturing we're now
32:33talking January 1st of 2027. We're
32:36looking at we we go to Shopify, we click
32:39last 12 months or last year date range.
32:42What's the number that we're seeing
32:43there? And then more importantly, as you
32:46already touched on, why does that
32:47matter? Like what does that unlock for
32:49us? Then we'll talk about how we can get
32:50there.
32:51>> I was able to reach just over a million
32:53in the first year where I'm I'm still
32:56learning a lot and I know I will learn a
32:57lot more over this year. So to me it
33:01just makes sense to double that. So if I
33:02can get to 2 million in this year, it's
33:05like I'm doing something right. Like I
33:07just want to mentally be able to push
33:09forward and be able to reach that
33:11figure. And to me what that will mean is
33:13being able to travel if and when I want
33:16to and just being able to just have the
33:19freedom to move around and and stay at a
33:22different place for a couple of months
33:24if I want to. And and just be more free
33:27really. That's what I'm looking for.
33:28>> Beautiful. All right, so we're aiming
33:30for
33:312 million by the end of the year. And
33:33looking at the good news, really good
33:35news, is
33:36if we if we go back to January and
33:38February of last year, obviously the P&L
33:41or scorecard here only goes back to
33:43March, but there really wouldn't be
33:44anything cuz that's when we were in like
33:46the previous niche. So we are already
33:49well ahead of schedule, which is which
33:51is nice to see.
33:52What would you describe right now and we
33:54can go through the specific stats. What
33:56would you describe as the number one
33:58blocker, like number one opportunity to
34:00to reaching that point?
34:02>> It's my ad spend inefficiency. Pretty
34:05certain that's what it is. Because when
34:07I look across my numbers in general,
34:09that's the one that stands out to me.
34:11I'm spending about 10% over what it what
34:14it should be. So I haven't figured out
34:17yet how to bring that to the right
34:21range, which is like 35%ish.
34:24So what I think I should be doing is in
34:27the ad account just being more decisive
34:29and launching better ads. Yeah.
34:32>> I think you're you already hit the nail
34:34on the head, but we'll let's take a a
34:36closer look. So, what Antonio's
34:38referring to is here, let's just look at
34:40February. So, in February generated
34:42$84,000 in sales, spent $34,000 in ad
34:46spend. And as we talked about before, if
34:48this number is a 2.5 or a 3, then you
34:51know, definitely not uh complaining with
34:54like for example here, spent $60,000 in
34:56the month of November. And that was at a
34:582.8. So, here our our problem is like
35:02were we able to spend any more like at
35:04that ROAS? Here, we're talking about
35:07basically how do we increase the ROAS?
35:09Two things that I think are already
35:10accurate is what are the ways that ad
35:13start spending inefficiently? It's one,
35:15if we're launching ads that don't
35:16perform well, which you know, it sounds
35:19obvious, but it bears repeating. And
35:20then second is when we're testing, not
35:23cutting as quickly as we possibly should
35:26be.
35:27This is where like it's great that you
35:29have such like a constant learning
35:31mindset because I think this is one of
35:33the things that's easy to pick up when
35:35we're starting out, which is we don't
35:37want to spend overspend on anything
35:39that's unprofitable. And when that's
35:41like our only campaign running, it's
35:43very easy to be like, okay, I should be
35:45I I'm just losing money right now. Like
35:47I should turn it off. Easy call to make.
35:49But then once we have months where we're
35:51stringing, you know, $200,000 in sales,
35:54$350,000 in sales,
35:56it almost feels like we're doing ourself
35:59or the brand a mis- disservice by like
36:02cutting back on ads. I don't know. At
36:04least that's been something that's held
36:06me up at certain points. Does that
36:08resonate at all for you, Antonio?
36:10>> Yeah, exactly. I'm too lenient on ads
36:13that
36:14you know, for some reason you think they
36:16look great and it's a good concept and
36:18then you just let it go a little bit
36:20over what you would usually let an ad go
36:22and then that's when these things start
36:23happening. And so, for me right now is
36:25like I'll be launching somewhere around
36:2820 ads a week and then you know some of
36:31them will work but the vast majority
36:33sometimes doesn't and that that's where
36:35I'm not decisive enough and I'm like
36:37okay well let's just give it like two or
36:39three more days to see if it does and
36:40then that's when I'm like below a two
36:42hours so.
36:43>> That's perfect self-awareness and I
36:45there's definitely things we can do
36:47there. So just knocking out the rest of
36:49the numbers make sure there's nothing
36:50else that we should be diagnosing. So
36:52overhead as a percentage revenue is
36:54currently 5% which at 84,000
36:58and we try to keep this number in like
37:00ideally less than 3%. So there might be
37:04like a few subscriptions we can knock
37:06off but really this number like when we
37:09just double revenue just double revenue
37:12this drops down to 2 and 1/2%. Assuming
37:14that we're not you know adding on
37:16anything else. This number here this
37:19bucket this is the email revenue these
37:22are some beautiful beautiful numbers 40%
37:25of revenue coming from email. That is
37:27why like this problem is such a huge
37:30opportunity to solve because you just
37:32have a raving fan base and a really
37:34interesting note is when you started out
37:36you didn't have any of this. Like you
37:38had zero email revenue and it was like
37:4110% or so for the longest time. What
37:45what really started to change it wasn't
37:47even in Q4 that it changed it was from
37:49July to August you jumped from 15 to
37:5235%. What what happened here?
37:55>> I just decided to sit down in one
37:57weekend watch John talk about flows and
38:00do them myself. That's all that
38:02happened.
38:02>> Yeah that and that tracks you went from
38:047,000 flow revenue to 19,000
38:08and the reason that's so crazy is that
38:10there wasn't really a big opportunity
38:13for the email list to grow a ton just in
38:15the course of a month. Now it was good
38:18months but this was largely the same
38:21list going from this month to that
38:22month, but you managed to add an
38:24additional $12,000 in revenue. Plus, it
38:27looks like we also discovered the magic
38:29of sending email campaigns.
38:32>> Yeah,
38:33exactly. Yeah, so if if you scroll down
38:35and you see to you see the first month
38:37that I sent emails, you see everything
38:38was 000.
38:41And then as soon as I was like, "Okay,
38:43let me figure out what an email campaign
38:45is." That's when the email just started
38:48working for me and bringing in that
38:5030 plus percent of revenue from email is
38:55when you understand that you basically
38:57like those cost customers, you don't
38:59have to like
39:00pay for them on meta. You just have them
39:03cuz they signed up through your pop-up
39:04form. As much revenue as you can push
39:06from email just makes your life easier.
39:09>> Yeah, and if we could distill down your
39:11to be reductive for a moment, if we
39:13could distill down something that I
39:15think is like your very unique ability
39:18that you do so well, and I would
39:20attribute a lot of success that you've
39:23had to is going from this number to that
39:26number right there. Like when you figure
39:29something out and not to, you know, put
39:32you on the the
39:33hot seat for a second, but when you
39:34figure something out and you've realized
39:37that it is a really important area of
39:39the business, doesn't matter if you've
39:40never done it before,
39:42you go hard.
39:44You're not going from and what's very
39:46normal and and understandable to see
39:48here would be okay, Antonio's never sent
39:51an email campaign in his entire life
39:52most likely, certainly not on this
39:54brand. And then, okay, now he's
39:56experimenting with it. I would truly
39:58count it a huge win if you sent even one
40:00or two emails this next month. Or three
40:03to four would be like blowing the roof
40:04off. The fact that you go from zero to
40:0712 plus setting aside an entire weekend,
40:10which email campaigns are like the
40:12one-offs, and then the flows are the
40:14automations. So, he started sending 12
40:17email campaigns plus he set aside an
40:19entire weekend to knock out the entire
40:21flows having never done he was watching
40:23tutorials completely from scratch and
40:26just figured it out when something
40:28clicks you just go all in and you don't
40:31really question what you know or what
40:32you don't know it's just like a I'm
40:34going to figure it out regardless and
40:35I'm going to take massive action.
40:37>> I learned that is like directly tied to
40:40the profitability of the business and it
40:42helps it a ton and so I want my business
40:45to be profitable so the least I can do
40:48is sit down for one weekend set up the
40:51flows that are in the course and then
40:54figure out what an email campaign means
40:56and then do those and do more of those
40:59and do them consistently because that's
41:01that's helping me reach my ultimate goal
41:03which is always there which is my
41:04freedom and being able to travel that's
41:06never lost on me and all these inputs
41:08are directly tied to that.
41:10>> And that's a really key takeaway as well
41:13is that he doesn't just have like a a
41:15navy seal mindset or David Goggins
41:17mindset whatever you want to call it
41:19it's constantly looping back to the why
41:22like why is this worthwhile and like if
41:24you don't have that then sitting through
41:27an email tutorial John did a great job
41:29but sitting through email tutorials for
41:31a whole weekend is you know not not the
41:34most fun thing I mean depending on the
41:36mindset but it's the most worthwhile
41:38thing when you stay connected to that
41:41but that's awesome so transitioning back
41:43to now February and January the ads and
41:47we are launching like in February
41:49launched 123 80 in January and something
41:53we talked about in interview with Chris
41:54Hall is about like the ABC analysis
41:58essentially grading the quality of the
42:00ads that we have been putting out and
42:02like we all know like and it also
42:04applies to designs and emails or really
42:07anything in life it's like there's
42:08getting it done and then there's did I
42:10give this 110% of my best effort? Or was
42:13I even in a spot where I was able to do
42:16that? And it's like, you know, life gets
42:18in the way, travel, that kind of thing.
42:20And that's one of the things that can
42:21have the biggest impact that is kind of
42:23tough to track on a scorecard. But if if
42:25we were to just give ourselves an honest
42:27grade of these, say the ad creatives
42:28that we've launched in the past 30-60
42:30days, where would you rank them
42:32generally speaking in terms of like this
42:34was 10 out of 10, the absolute best that
42:36I'm capable of compared to like, you
42:39know, I checked the boxes, you got it
42:41done, that sort of thing.
42:42>> Yeah, for me is always about, you know,
42:45check checking just just enough boxes.
42:47Like just doing the 80% because I I
42:50could be a perfectionist and, you know,
42:52take really my time to make the email
42:54beautiful and, you know, to make the ad
42:57campaign super optimized and to make
43:00those designs like really the right
43:02colors.
43:03But what really matters is just
43:06getting it 80% there and making sure
43:08it's live. I had a huge problem with
43:11this of like making stuff and keeping it
43:13a folder on my desktop and being like,
43:14yeah, it's good there. Let me just add
43:16some more and so then I'll be ready to
43:18launch them on the ads. And no. So just
43:22if you have five to launch, launch those
43:23five. If you have
43:25one email campaign a month, send it out
43:27even if it's just text, send it out
43:30because it's it's a feedback loop then.
43:31It you just see, okay, this email
43:33campaign, okay, well, it did 10. Why did
43:35it do 10? What did people buy? Okay, now
43:37let's do more of that. And so if you get
43:39caught and uh I need to make this 100%
43:42110% then it gets harder to send to just
43:46be able to do it consistently for me at
43:48least.
43:49>> I agree. Like and what we've gone
43:51through is
43:52basically everything else on here. We
43:53have the inputs. We have overhead
43:56roughly where we want it to be. It's
43:58going to drop as we scale. Email is
44:01crushing it. Email has no concerns.
44:04Conversion rate and average order value
44:06have both also been like very solid.
44:08Ideally, conversion rate we could bring
44:10up a tiny bit, but it's in a a pretty
44:12good spot overall, especially when we're
44:14doing close to six figures a month. So,
44:16really comes down to this is the last
44:18piece. We have the ads that are getting
44:20launched. It's really what is our
44:22process for pruning and then graduating
44:25the ones that are performing the best.
44:27It's honestly really just comes down to
44:29like media buying. It's which media
44:31buying is
44:32the like when you're actually in the ad
44:34account, like what are the campaigns
44:35you're making? That whole side of
44:36things, which honestly matters,
44:38especially in the beginning, matters the
44:40least out of anything, I would say. It's
44:42like the designs and actually making
44:44sure you have good products. But, at
44:45scale, it can start to matter more and
44:47more. So, what are we doing right now?
44:49Like what is your Take us through like
44:51maybe a week in terms of your workflow
44:53of like launching the ads and then like
44:57when are you checking back in? And then,
44:59do we have like clear criteria of what
45:01we're going to leave, what we're going
45:02to bump, that sort of thing?
45:04>> Yeah, so my ad account is pretty simple
45:07compared to
45:08I've seen a a few people that have a lot
45:10more campaigns built out, but for me is
45:12it's very simple. It's just a testing
45:13campaign. All I do there is
45:16launch static ads that I've seen get
45:20over 10 clicks on my catalog ad and
45:23designs that I've seen sell through my
45:26new designs email that I send out every
45:29Tuesday. So,
45:31I do those two things and from those two
45:33places, I pick up designs that have
45:36something that that could potentially
45:38scale to a winner. So, I pick up those
45:40designs there. I launch them weekly on
45:42the ad account. I try to do 10 to 20 of
45:45those on the testing campaign, so it's
45:47just a simple single ad set, $25 a day,
45:5010 ads in there. And so, I launch those.
45:53And so, once that goes for I believe I
45:56give it like
45:584 to 5 days um see if they return some
46:01positive ROAS. like and what I mean by
46:04that is like it just got some purchases
46:06at over a two ROAS.
46:09Uh when it gets like 10 purchases, then
46:10I send it to my scale campaign, which is
46:13just one single ad set in there.
46:15Uh it's a campaign uh budget
46:17optimization, so I set the budget at the
46:19campaign level, and um I put all of
46:22those ads that got more than 10 sales
46:24into that campaign. So, that's really
46:27what the workflow looks like. So, the
46:29most important thing for me is having
46:31those two places where I pull designs
46:33that have something going for them,
46:35which is my catalog campaign and my new
46:38designs email that I send every week.
46:40>> R- Right now, we're just targeting
46:42United States. Is that correct?
46:43>> Yeah.
46:44>> Okay, so just US, and then uh so we have
46:46two campaigns. Basically, one is like
46:49our our playground, and then one is the
46:51the kids who beat up the other kids on
46:53the playground and won, and now now they
46:55get to go to the the scale the big
46:56leagues for the playground brawl. We're
46:58going to drop the metaphor now.
47:00>> It's funny because I call them benches,
47:02which is my like my players that are in
47:04the bench, just playing like a sport
47:05metaphor. And then my scale campaign is
47:07called the field. So, whatever players
47:09are working well and like are fit, I put
47:11them on the field. That's how That's how
47:13I think about it.
47:14>> I like that a lot better. There's no
47:15kids beating up each other in in that
47:17one. Uh
47:18yeah, perfect. So, in the past 30 days,
47:21do you know rough ballpark, what has
47:23been the return on the testing campaign
47:25compared to the scale campaign? Cuz what
47:27what I want to try to figure out is is
47:29it our testing process that where
47:32there's an opportunity to become more
47:34efficient, or is it the scale campaigns
47:36have just kind of been running all
47:38along, but not been as profitable as
47:39we'd like them to be?
47:41>> I think it's the the first thing you
47:43said. So, the scale campaign is the one
47:45that consistently performs well enough.
47:49And so, the testing campaign, which is
47:52where I try to see if new products are
47:55worth scaling, that's the one that just
47:58performs very, you you know, normal.
48:00Like around a two, it barely goes over a
48:022.2. So, yeah.
48:03>> And then, what's the the scale campaign
48:06ROAS been at? Just ballpark. Is like Is
48:08it a 2.5 consistently?
48:10>> Yeah, I would say it averages that.
48:12>> Cuz if we have one campaign that's at a
48:14two, one that's at a 2.5,
48:17and our average is around a two, are we
48:19actually spending more on the testing
48:21campaign right now than we are on scale?
48:23>> I know I'm doing it the other way
48:25around.
48:25I'm spending more on the test campaign
48:27than on my scale campaign.
48:28>> Oh, we are. Okay. Well, that's an easy
48:30fix. Just don't do that.
48:32>> Yeah.
48:34Yeah.
48:35>> I'm just kidding. What are If you could
48:37just rattle off a couple more numbers,
48:38it would would help me a lot. What's the
48:41average daily budget right now for
48:43scale? And then, what's the average
48:44daily budget for testing?
48:46>> Oh, man. I'll have to log into the
48:48account, but I just
48:50top of my head, I think on the scale
48:53it's at about a $200 per day,
48:56and the test
49:00probably spends double or even triple
49:03that.
49:03>> Yeah, this is really good. All right.
49:05So, this is strictly a media buying
49:07thing, then. And I I'm guessing that on
49:10the scale campaign side, we're hesitant
49:12to bump that up too aggressively while
49:15one, the account doesn't feel like it's
49:17overall that profitable, but two, like
49:19once we start bumping up from like two
49:20to $500 per day, it can feel like
49:23results get a little even more unstable
49:25than they've been.
49:26>> Yeah, sometimes sometimes I bump it too
49:29much, and then it just comes back down
49:30to a two, the scale campaign. So, that's
49:33why I'm hesitant sometimes on increasing
49:36it too much.
49:37>> Yep, totally got it. Last question is
49:39What are the types of ad creatives that
49:41we're launching right now? Is it mostly
49:43the the flat lay static mock-ups?
49:47>> Yeah, flat lay static mock-ups are the
49:50The majority of it. Like 80% of the ads
49:52I launch is that because they're just
49:54new designs that haven't really been
49:57tested besides on the email. I see a
49:58couple purchases
50:00and on the new arrivals catalog, I also
50:02see a couple of purchases. So, I just
50:04test them first as a plain static, the
50:06basic copy from WeScale. Then, if those
50:09designs prove to be working and by that,
50:13I just mean they got more than 10
50:14purchases or so, then I test out
50:16different types of ads, whether they're
50:18grid ads, whether they're lifestyle,
50:20whether they're like, I don't know, just
50:21like different types of flat lay, you
50:24know, with different
50:25angles. So, copy, I'll test a lot too.
50:28So, yeah.
50:29>> Yeah. Okay, great. Couple of things in
50:31there. I would prioritize in in terms of
50:34testing. Number one, ad creatives around
50:37our all-time best sellers. So, using
50:40things like the WeeVee flow that we
50:41talked about on mastermind call again
50:44couple of weeks ago. Which for anybody
50:46obviously who doesn't know what that is,
50:48it's basically a workflow where you drop
50:50in a design and then it pushes it out
50:53through a bunch of different ad
50:54creatives. But, that would be step one
50:57is and we're seeing good signs with this
51:00in our ad account is taking your
51:01all-time best sellers and then putting
51:03new creative spins on them. And when I
51:06say the creative, I mean mostly the
51:08actual ad itself. The ad copy, we can
51:12honestly hold that constant. We can
51:13experiment with that. But, it's really
51:15the ad creative that fatigues by far the
51:18fastest, way more than ad copy. So, I
51:21would love to see you start introducing
51:22those as tests, just taking like your
51:24top five or 10 all-time best sellers and
51:27having roughly 30% of the new ad
51:30creatives we're launching coming as
51:32variations of those best sellers. Then,
51:35the other 30% of ad creatives we're
51:37launching being exactly what you're
51:39already doing. It's the flat lays,
51:41basically new potential winning designs.
51:43So, keep doing exactly that. And then
51:45with the last 30, just using that as
51:48kind of like a wild card to like when
51:50and I know from working with you and it
51:52seems to be true for a lot of people,
51:54having 30% be wild cards where we're
51:57just testing new stuff. Like it could be
52:00maybe we got hit with an ad on
52:01Instagram, something on Meta. So that we
52:03kind of break out of our own echo
52:05chamber of just testing, rinsing and
52:07repeating. And even if none of those pan
52:09out to be like massive successes, it's
52:12still a huge win because it's given us a
52:14whole new perspective to bring into the
52:16ad account of like what works and what
52:18doesn't, even if that's solely to
52:21reinforce the types of ads that we've
52:23already been making. It's just a great
52:25way to make sure and like especially
52:26when this is the number one opportunity
52:28to make sure that we are constantly like
52:31reinventing the way we're thinking about
52:32it. So that'll be number one is on the
52:34ad creative side. Then number two is
52:37with the account structure. So right now
52:39we just have testing and scaling, which
52:40I love the simplicity of it. It is so so
52:43much easier. Like everybody listening
52:45can imagine. Imagine if Antonio had to
52:47rattle off like 10 different campaigns.
52:49Basically it becomes way harder to
52:51optimize. So I love airing on the side
52:53of simplicity.
52:54>> I do have retargeting as well. I wanted
52:56to mention that.
52:56>> Oh, perfect. Yeah.
52:57>> That's That's the three.
52:58>> Yeah, beautiful. Leave that exactly
53:00where it is. So first thing is after the
53:03ad creatives is out of the the scale
53:06campaign that you have right now,
53:08have you duplicated and tested with
53:10manual bids and cost caps?
53:12>> Yeah, I have. They worked pretty well
53:15during Q4, but lately haven't been
53:17working so well. So I just turned them
53:20off.
53:21>> Yeah, I would try doing a refresh. So So
53:23manual bids and cost caps for anybody
53:25who doesn't know, like if you're just
53:27starting out, you can safely ignore
53:28this. This is once you get past like
53:30100k in sales. But for your benefit,
53:33Antonio, it
53:34those behave very differently in Q4 than
53:37they do typically the rest of the year.
53:39And so
53:40the way that they're set up in Q4, I
53:42normally don't expect them to continue
53:44without some adjustments. So, what I
53:46would recommend as a test is take the
53:49your current scale campaign and
53:50duplicate that one and make it cost cap
53:54and then do a bid cap. So, two
53:56variations, start them at about $100 a
53:58day each budget, and then set the bid
54:01level or the cost level super low. Like
54:04if you were at say $25 per day was your
54:06spending threshold, start it at like 15
54:09and then slowly walk them up. And these
54:12campaigns are going to be there for the
54:14days where you know, the main scaling
54:16campaign is just having an off day,
54:18might be able to scoop up a couple of
54:19extra purchases. And when I look at the
54:22ad account, I really bundle those
54:24together. Like we have testing and then
54:25I see scale and I really consider scale,
54:29cost cap, bid cap all as one just with
54:31like because it's the same ad, same
54:33everything just with different
54:34optimizations. So, that'll help bring
54:36additional scale. And then
54:39I know for for the niche, it might not
54:41seem like a a worthwhile thing to go
54:43international, but I would still test it
54:45out. I think you'd be pleasantly
54:47surprised. Like History Tease for
54:49example, it's all US history, it it does
54:52really well internationally as well. Uh
54:54which is completely counterintuitive.
54:56Like I I barely know who Abe Lincoln is,
54:59you know, somebody in Australia knows US
55:01history, it's mind-blowing to me.
55:02>> Yeah, yeah.
55:03>> Maybe I'm just uncultured, but um
55:05basically testing out international and
55:08the only reason I'm recommending this is
55:10you already have email dialed in, you
55:13have everything else dialed in.
55:15This is just one of the lightest lift
55:17ways that we can bring a lot more
55:18efficiency to the ad account. It's by
55:20adding in worldwide. And then the third
55:22and final thing would be the way that
55:24we're testing, we can just make it more
55:26regimented.
55:28We should almost be able to set up rules
55:29in the ad account and just let it run.
55:31We're not going to set up rules or
55:33automations cuz there's a ton of value
55:34in us being in there and seeing things
55:36for ourselves, but basically writing out
55:38our criteria and then just using that
55:41every time we log into the ad account,
55:43specifically within the testing
55:44campaign. Cuz once we have that, it's
55:47never left up to chance or, you know,
55:49how much we're traveling or that sort of
55:51thing, and we schedule it in advance on
55:53our calendar. So, it's 1 hour. I'd
55:56recommend at least two or three times
55:58per week. You don't need more than
55:59three, but those are the times and I I
56:02typically do this on a Wednesday
56:05and then a Friday and then maybe a
56:06Saturday or Sunday. I always check at
56:09least once Saturday or Sunday and then
56:11Thursday or Friday. Basically, whatever
56:12works for your schedule, but just make
56:14sure that we have 1 hour time blocked.
56:16To make this even easier for myself, I
56:18like putting my rubric in a Google Doc
56:21and attach it to the calendar event. So,
56:23then when I click on the calendar event,
56:25open up the Google Doc, open up Ads
56:27Manager right next to it, and then I
56:28literally I open up the test campaign
56:30and just run through the checklist. And
56:32you're you're not a like emotional
56:35decision maker by any means, but
56:38I'm I'm like you where I almost air too
56:39much on the side of like, "I'll figure
56:41it out even if it runs on profitable for
56:43a day or two." Like, how big of a deal
56:44is it? Like, you know, I'm going to get
56:46it turned around, but it's like I can
56:48start that turn around right right here
56:49and now. There's no reason that I need
56:50to like make it harder on myself. It
56:52really comes down to when the criteria
56:55feels at all fuzzy, it makes it so that
56:58the whole process can kind of unwind.
57:00So, and you already have like we could
57:02go through what the criteria are. Like,
57:04they should be able to run for at least
57:0624 to 48 hours. They normally don't need
57:08much longer than that at two to three
57:11purchases on a design and something
57:14that's under a dollar cost per click. I
57:16know that I'm having pretty good
57:18confidence about it. And then at that
57:20same time,
57:21say I've launched and we're doing about
57:23five to 10 ads per ad set $25 a day.
57:26When I say I launched like five of those
57:28ad sets, within 48 hours, there's a
57:31really good likelihood that I'm going to
57:33be cutting two to three of those entire
57:35ad sets and then just plucking out the
57:37winning designs and moving them into the
57:39others. So, using like the graduating
57:42and cut process, I I use it every single
57:44time I'm optimizing because it's like
57:47every dollar that I'm able to take away
57:49from a losing ad and put it towards what
57:52could potentially turn into a winner.
57:54Obviously, it's going to make me more
57:55money, but two, it's also going to speed
57:56up the process of clarifying if that
57:58actually is a winner and that's another
58:00day that I can get it over to the scale
58:02campaign.
58:02>> That's my problem. I have no structure
58:04around that, you know? Like I could have
58:06and I and I launch I'll launch an ad set
58:09of like 10 designs today and I'll launch
58:11another one tomorrow and then the day
58:13after. So, then it becomes like a little
58:14messy in the ad account and like well, I
58:16can see when it was launched and when it
58:17was last Saturday, but
58:19to your point, if I was to launch five
58:21of those ad sets on the same day and
58:23then two days after or three days after,
58:25I see how they're doing,
58:27it would just be a bit more regimented.
58:29So, yeah, I need to be more structured
58:33on how I do that. I'm very like I'll
58:35drop in, I'll look how it is, I'll
58:36change the budgets. Then the next day
58:38I'll drop in again and then yeah, I'm
58:40not I'm not that's that's the one thing
58:41I'm not very proud about of my structure
58:43around my how I do my ads and how I
58:45check them.
58:46>> No, I I you're doing doing a great job.
58:48I I think the may maybe this will be
58:51helpful. The thing that stand that is
58:53kind of my anchor to my week or to my my
58:56schedule is I know that Thursday,
58:59Friday, when I'm approaching the
59:00weekend, I know that if I don't have the
59:03ad account in a good place, I'm like
59:05completely wasting the huge opportunity
59:07that weekend. Cuz for anybody who
59:09doesn't know, Saturday, Sunday,
59:11especially, are the best ad days of the
59:13entire week. Mondays and Tuesdays,
59:15people are back to work, less people on
59:16social media.
59:18It It depends on the ad account and the
59:20niche, that sort of thing. But in my
59:22mind, I'm like, if it's like Wednesday
59:24night and I know that I have done zero
59:26effort or prep it that weekend. I know
59:30that like tonight I need an hour set
59:32aside where I'm doing that or I'm just
59:34waiting another 10 days before I can
59:37really like start seeing a bunch of
59:40progress in the ad account. Then when I
59:42do that math it's like, okay, well if I
59:43continue at this rate I really only get
59:45like three shots this entire month to
59:48like really make any progress in the ad
59:49account. Then it's like, okay, I need to
59:51be making moves right now. So just using
59:53the weekend as kind of my anchor point
59:56in that routine
59:57and then working backwards from that has
59:59served me well.
1:00:00>> Yeah, it drives more urgency that way.
1:00:02>> And and a way that I would come up with
1:00:04your operating system cuz I could share
1:00:06like what, you know, I look for in the
1:00:08ads but honestly it's way better if you
1:00:11are just able to start with codifying
1:00:14what you look for in the ad account is
1:00:16go into I've been using Claude for this
1:00:19and ask it basically and you can
1:00:22honestly share the transcript of what we
1:00:23talked about but one of my favorite
1:00:25things to do is say this is the goal. I
1:00:27want to create a one-page SOP for my ad
1:00:32testing process specifically around when
1:00:34we're cutting and bumping and what the
1:00:36rules are. I want you to ask me
1:00:37questions to flush out the SOP. And you
1:00:41give it high-level like I launch you
1:00:44know, three to five ad sets with 10 ads,
1:00:46$25 per day budget, let it run for 48
1:00:49hours. Ask me the rest of the questions.
1:00:52And then by the end of it you'll have a
1:00:54one-page Google Doc and then you just
1:00:56start using that. And honestly just
1:00:57having something that you're basing your
1:00:59decisions off of miles away from having
1:01:02nothing. And then each week when you're
1:01:04when you're using that you'll tweak it
1:01:06and you're like following the your
1:01:08rubric essentially and you're like, I
1:01:10don't know, I should apply that rule
1:01:11here but it doesn't feel right because
1:01:12of this. And then you just go back and
1:01:14you update the document. Like what was
1:01:16that? Like why did you decide? Like
1:01:18maybe, you know, cost per click on this
1:01:20ad was 20 cents and it got 50 of them
1:01:23even though it didn't get a purchase,
1:01:24technically I should be cutting that,
1:01:26but this feels like something I should
1:01:28let continue run. Then it's like, okay,
1:01:29let's take that circumstance. Let's add
1:01:31that into our our rubric.
1:01:33>> Yeah.
1:01:33>> Yeah, so that it updates it in the
1:01:34future. Like, it'll start to build up
1:01:37the that knowledge base over time for
1:01:38you.
1:01:39>> Yeah, that's great. I will do that. I
1:01:41will do that because it just removes all
1:01:43emotion from it, which is what doesn't
1:01:46really help.
1:01:47So, thanks for the saying thanks for
1:01:49that um point.
1:01:51>> Oh, absolutely. And then I mean, the
1:01:53reason that that'll be effective is
1:01:54because you're already doing these
1:01:57pieces down here. So, that that's what
1:01:59makes it so worthwhile. You're already
1:02:01well on your track for 2 million in the
1:02:04year, and like with email revenue being
1:02:06as high as it is, conversion rate,
1:02:08average order value,
1:02:10dude, I'm I'm really excited for you.
1:02:12How are you feeling about the year
1:02:13ahead?
1:02:13>> I'm very excited.
1:02:16I want to keep doing
1:02:18I'm fighting hard not to do do something
1:02:21else, do something different, do
1:02:23something exciting. I just want to like
1:02:25do more of the same and do more of the
1:02:27same but better also. Only now I'm
1:02:30starting to really understand what the
1:02:31niche wants, what the audience wants,
1:02:33what they resonate with cuz with a year
1:02:36of data, you know, you can do so much.
1:02:39And
1:02:40like I I spent some time in January this
1:02:43year kind of picking apart all of the
1:02:45analytics from Shopify, from the ads,
1:02:47and understanding what gets what gets
1:02:50the clicks, what gets the purchases, and
1:02:52really why does that get the purchases?
1:02:54And And my goal is to do more of that,
1:02:57more of that, and and do it better. So,
1:03:00I'm at a point now where I'm profitable
1:03:01enough I can at least have some leverage
1:03:04with my time by hiring, you know, some
1:03:07people to help me with some parts of the
1:03:09business. So, that that for me is
1:03:11progress, too. That being able to get my
1:03:14time back somehow because when I
1:03:16started, I spent a lot a lot of hours
1:03:18every day into the business and now I
1:03:21feel like I'm doing more of the same but
1:03:23just spending less time and and doing it
1:03:27better and better over time. So, yeah.
1:03:29>> And you you said the magic B word, the
1:03:31boring. This is the the sneaky the
1:03:34sneaky like learning curve that I never
1:03:37expected is
1:03:39the learning curves normally feel like,
1:03:41oh this is a big problem. I don't know
1:03:42how to solve this. Those are the ones
1:03:43we're expecting, like we're ready for.
1:03:45The ones that I was never ready for is
1:03:47like when it there's no like big problem
1:03:50in my face. Like yes, there's little
1:03:51things but I know I can overcome them.
1:03:53Those are the ones we're looking out
1:03:54for. The ones that kind of sneak up
1:03:56behind you is when it's just like
1:03:58I I feel like I'm over this. I feel like
1:04:00there's so many other exciting things
1:04:02out there and it's like and it's so easy
1:04:05to like almost like the movie Inception,
1:04:07if you've ever seen that. It's like when
1:04:08the idea is planted in your own head,
1:04:10you don't think to question it. It's
1:04:12like things that are external problems,
1:04:14those are very easy like I got to
1:04:15overcome that and like I'm a tough
1:04:17person, smart, whatever. I'm going to
1:04:18break down that wall. But when it feels
1:04:20like it's our own idea, it becomes hard
1:04:23even identify it as something to, you
1:04:25know, steer clear of.
1:04:26>> More more more of the same, more of the
1:04:28boring stuff because it's it's just what
1:04:31what has proven to work up until now and
1:04:33so why not do more of it?
1:04:35>> Yeah.
1:04:36I don't know if Steph Curry found every
1:04:38one of the 100,000 free throws he
1:04:41practiced and practiced entertaining but
1:04:43I mean, that's why he he is who he is.
1:04:46Awesome. Well, thank you so much Antonio
1:04:48for not just your time today but sharing
1:04:51your very refreshing mindset. From what
1:04:54I take from this, it seems like you have
1:04:56a very unique knack of approaching each
1:04:58day as like a blank slate and it's
1:05:01whatever I'm going to learn today like
1:05:02ego, whatever happened in the past
1:05:04literally doesn't matter. It's just like
1:05:06whatever is going to help me put the
1:05:08best step forward. Thank you for sharing
1:05:09that with us and uh excited to see where
1:05:11you go and where your brand goes over
1:05:13this next year.
1:05:14>> Absolutely. Well, thank you. Thank you
1:05:16for setting this up. Thank you for, you
1:05:19know, doing this type of content for,
1:05:21you know, people like me a year ago
1:05:23where I'm like, I don't know if I trust
1:05:25this enough to spend all my, you know,
1:05:28time, effort, money into this new new
1:05:30venture. But when you see it from people
1:05:34that have gone through it, uh not just,
1:05:37you know, coaches, but actual students
1:05:39that have gone through it and have had
1:05:40some sort of success, then it it it
1:05:43becomes a much easier decision to take.
1:05:45So, thank you for that.
1:05:47>> Well, thank you. And for everybody else
1:05:49watching, thank you for tuning in. If
1:05:51you have any questions for Antonio,
1:05:53please be sure to comment down below.
1:05:54We'd love to hear from you. But other
1:05:56than that, thanks everybody. We'll see
1:05:58you soon.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of He Built 300 Designs In The Wrong Niche, Burned It All Down, And Hit $1M In Print On Demand by Chris Heckman, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 13,349 words across 1,890 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.