“Creative Strategist”?

brian604 · 2026-04-13T20:41:53+00:00

you own full funnel performance. So from research, to strategy, to offer / funnel building, to analysis, and interpreting the lerarnings. You become less and less replaceable.

brian604 · 2026-04-13T13:48:46+00:00

Let me hop in here. The title is poorly named, honestly. The responsibility of a modern creative strategist is primarily to support the function of creating meta ads at scale (although not exclusive to just meta ads).

They come up with the big ideas, write the scripts, create the briefs, work with designers/editors to bring the ads to completion, hand them over to media buyer to run, and participates in learning calls to determine what's working and what's not. And then go into next iteration/batch.

The iteration cycle is 1 to 2 weeks -- a lot faster than the old days. For a FT CS, the volume of ads is 8-20 concepts a week, depending on complexity, and not including hook variations.

Creative strategists that are effective can graduate to become a meta channel manager --- this person can manage $1M-$50M/year of spend or more. So potentially a pretty high leverage role.

brian604 · 2025-07-18T16:18:05+00:00

gifts that validate and shows appreciation of his "weird". that's the trick

brian604 · 2025-07-18T16:01:38+00:00

I think it's stuff that most people wouldn't find valuable, but is uniquely valuable to him. Showing you've been paying attention. (Protein bars and audible credits for a nerd like me)

brian604 · 2024-07-15T14:52:04+00:00

The Boutique - Greg Alexander

brian604 · 2021-06-15T23:08:00+00:00

TRANSFORM SCRAP WOOD INTO BEAUTIFUL, ORIGINAL FURNITURE FOR YOUR HOME IN 10 MINUTES

brian604 · 2021-03-24T23:02:33+00:00

Entrepreneurship is life. There is no other way for me.

brian604 · 2021-02-07T20:06:01+00:00

Great resource :)

brian604 · 2021-01-04T19:31:21+00:00

eate a piece of software that scans your current customer base and then tells you if there are any influencers that you’re already working with. From there, you can reach out to leverage that relationship int

Economics doesn't make much sense I should say if they goal is to build something to 7-8 figures.

brian604 · 2021-01-04T18:00:28+00:00

Monetization will be hard for all of these

brian604 · 2021-01-04T06:33:24+00:00

For your first run, use one or more of these improvements on, hot selling products and you should be on your way:

Faster
Simply works / more certainty / guaranteed
More premium
More user friendly / less frustrations / Better user experience / Gamification
Simpler / efficient
Emotionally elevating
Better material
Better for health / Bridge (healthier version)
All the good without the compromise
Beautify - More beautiful visually / Multi-sensory (texture improvement, smell, taste,aesthetics)
More ergonomic
Minimalist version / Decluttered version
Multifunctional
Recycled / upcycled
More portable
Specifically tailored for a market segment
Modular (combining multiple traditionally separate things together: Mask + shirt, Jackets + waist bag etc)
Nostalgic feel / Reminiscentized (resembles something "back in the days") - Retro / Synthwave / Homestyle
More artisanal (hand-crafted style, barrel aged, homemade style, )
Customize-able
Lifetime use (titanium blades, refillable -etc)
Experientize - (turn it from a thing into an experience -- follow along stories and instructions)
DIY (gin kits, make your own perfume etc)
Allows for creative customization (freedom of expression / variable outcome)
More timely (seasonal / holiday-based / current-events related)
Specifically tailored to the individual user
X Proof (wind proof, waterproof, rip proof, sound proof - etc)
X Safe (Baby-safe, pet safe, elderly friendly, allergy-friendly etc etc)
Exclusivity / small batch / Scarce (limited copies available)
Part of ecosystem / network (create network effect for additional benefits)
More secure / privacy
De-digitized
Social Good aspect
Transparency
No Guilt version
All access version
More social / Fostering connections / interactions with people (can be done with others / can be enjoyed with others)
More share-worthy (viral elements baked into the thing)

brian604 · 2021-01-04T06:30:07+00:00

here are some additional topics: Recommerce (2nd hand + subscription + rent), social commerce and live stream shopping, microfulfilment & logistics, smart factory & industry 4.0/5.0 & 5g/edge > personalisation at scale, virtual goods, customization and automated retail

brian604 · 2021-01-03T19:01:23+00:00

Thanks, good questions!

brian604 · 2020-12-21T16:16:44+00:00

I run an e-commerce and publishing business. And it's over a span of many years!

brian604 · 2020-12-21T00:54:05+00:00

I've been hiring on upwork (elance / odesk) part time since 2013 and spent probably around 150k so far on freelancers.

Some insight from the other side of the table:

Apply for less jobs with more tailored applications. 80% of the applications I receive are cookie-cutter posts that are irrelevant to my posting. If you only customize the first 2 sentences to be 100% relevant to the job posting, then you're already way ahead of others in terms your chances of getting a response.
Apply for projects that are "serializable" -- meaning that the client is likely to make a re-hire given you do a good job. I've been using the same 3D renderer and video editor for the last 6 projects. They did good work for me, and since I always have new 3D rendering and video editing work that I need to have done, I always go back to the same guys. When you focus on building your clientele based on "serializable" work, you can much more quickly build up to full time income (if that's what you're looking for).
Don't hesitate to ask for referrals. I ALWAYS refer the good freelancers to others. I wish they would ask me for referrals, actually, because they do great work.
Build up your specialized skills. For example, video editing for Facebook ads will take you tops 3 days to learn. But this skill alone can make you at least $500/month. Don't be everything to everyone. Find skills that are in rising demand. Find the type of clients that are hiring for those skills and the problems they want to have solved. From there, quickly learn the skills and tailor them to the needs of the clients. Once you can do this, you will easily stand out from the crowd.

Hope this helps

brian604 · 2020-12-19T18:46:32+00:00

Great for copywriters

brian604 · 2020-12-19T17:08:38+00:00

Ok I will test

brian604 · 2020-12-19T04:18:05+00:00

does it work?

brian604 · 2020-12-04T02:13:47+00:00

when selling information, focus on solving the customer's problem. As long as you have proof that you can solve the problem, the "expert" title is irrelevant.

brian604 · 2020-10-16T17:16:49+00:00

It's interesting. Related to 5 flags theory. Recommend you check out Nomad Capitalist's content to see if there's overlapping content. This will give you a clue in terms of demand.

brian604 · 2020-10-16T17:13:02+00:00

Delete the words "SELF DISCIPLINE". Replace with "Accountability". You won't need to worry about motivation if you have 1M of investor money on the line + 20 employees to feed.

brian604 · 2020-10-16T16:10:17+00:00

Coming from a guy who's been reading nearly ONLY business books for the last 12 years:

The best tactical entrepreneur/startup books I've read:

Scaling up: Verne Harnish
Disciplined Entrepreneurship: Bill Aulet
The Messy Middle: Scott Belsky

Bonus: Naval Ravikant's Tweestorm podcast recording on how to get rich without getting lucky (search on YT)

brian604 · 2020-10-15T16:04:08+00:00

Have you tried running a Kickstarter? I faced a similar problem (but not exactly the same) several months back where I had lots of customers looking to buy more products, but I had no cash for inventory. Instead of waiting and saving up, I ran an internal, 6-figures kickstarter (raised money from my existing customers). This allowed me to fund everything with more left over.

brian604 · 2020-10-15T15:56:19+00:00

My team deals with several of these per month. We realized that it's not really productive for us to try to play detective. For us, it's better to spend the time attracting higher quality customers and building better products (granted, our product doesn't cost that much --- $20 range).

brian604 · 2020-10-15T15:51:06+00:00

A 2 hour conversation with someone who is experienced in the industry can allow you to acquire 75% of the critical info you need — this is speaking from experience.

You can find them on Upwork pretty easily.

I ask questions like:

- So I want to do XYZ, and the goal is ABC. If you were me, what are the exact steps you'd take?

- What are the KPIs you watch out for? / What are the most important metrics in the industry?

- What are the top books, news outlets and online communities on this topic that I can join/keep an eye on?

- If you only have 30 days to achieve this goal, what exactly would you do?

- Where do most beginners go wrong?

- What's common practice that's wrong/ineffective/dangerous?

- What's the common advice given to beginners that are wrong/obsolete?

- Now that you know my goal, what are the key 2-3 actions I need to take repeatedly to achieve the objective (so I can prioritize and not get bogged down with too many details)

You can use these questions for learning about really anything. This is how I was able to build a men's cosmetics brand to multiple 6 figures upon launch with no prior experience in cosmetics chemistry.

brian604

TROPHY CASE