Anthony | Ecom Email 📧🚀

Is your brand’s email in spam? ❌📧 I've seen a ton of ecom brands' emails in my spam so I decided to make a short 11-page PDF with all the things 8 & 9-figure brands use to make it to the inbox. Comment INBOX + retweet & I'll send it to you (must be following)

@iamshackelford “being cheap is the most expensive thing you can do” is a bar.

I’m ALMOST on the last payment on a tax mistake I made five years ago. In 2021, I made more money than my parents saw in a decade. But growing up, we were "sports poor." We moved every year because the rent went up. My parents' divorce turned money into a source of permanent anxiety. When you grow up that way, your brain is hard-wired to be cheap, even when you’re well off. That "poverty thinking" led me to hire a $500 offshore specialist to handle a seven-figure tax situation. I’ve spent the last four years in bureaucracy hell because of it. The lesson cost me over $1M in overpaid taxes and hundreds of hours of soul-crushing stress. It turns out, being cheap is the most expensive thing you can do when you start playing in the big leagues.

@iamshackelford When will you optimize to attempt to do ONLY what sets you on fire (in a good way)? Or do you think that doesn’t truly exist?

I go in waves of really loving what I do and waves of just needing to get done what I promised to get done. When I can enjoy what I do AND execute on the promises I've made, that's when I'm the happiest. That's when I'm actually in flow, working great, enjoying the work, important problems to solve. For me, the balance looks something like this: 60% is hands on keys execution work. Ads, research, subscription, retention. Actually building and doing the thing. 20% is consultative or advisory. That could be to my teams, my own businesses, or consulting clients. Helping other people think through their problems. 20% is analytical. Forecasting, recommendations, digging into numbers. AI has helped me a ton here because I'm not incredibly fast at math, but I can usually land within the right area. These tools let me get to answers quicker, which means I can stay deep in thought longer instead of getting stuck in spreadsheets. When I can keep that balance, I'm at my best. But it fluctuates. Sometimes it's big builds and I'm 80% execution. Sometimes it's heavy consulting and I feel like I'm not creating or building anything. That imbalance is when things start to feel off. Right now in my current season, I'm close to that 60/20/20 split. But I'm in much more of an executional state than usual. And honestly, that feels good. I'd rather be building than advising right now.

@pratik_satija Sleep quality > wake up time. Been waking up at 4 almost every single work day after we had kids, but realizing lack of sleep leads to lower quality decisions over years. If you’re a night owl work from 10-10, if you’re an early bird work from 6-6. Productive time > hours worked

waking up early in the morning is an absolute cheat code Because I woke up at 6:30am 1) already had a call with a customer on the east coast 2) saw the sun rise (behind the clouds) 3) Got coffee with a friend 4) Talked to my parents back home and it's still only 11:30am. Gonna push myself a bit more and wake up at 5:30am instead

@iamshackelford Toughhh. Our 3rd kid is making that really shine through. For you is it from overstacking your plate or prioritization?

Yo, the worst feeling is knowing that you're dropping balls, but you're trying your best and doing what you can, but still not doing great.

@iamshackelford No one talks about this. Saying “no” has knock on effects depending on where you are. Warren Buffet needs to say No more. Most people should not, maybe be smarter with WHAT they say yes to I.e does it align with my goals and mission. But after 3 kids, I do have to say no more.

Saying “yes” compounds. I think too many people praise one another for saying “no.” In my experience, if you flip to “no” too early then the pipeline starves. There are seasons where “yes” is the right play. This year, I’m in a weird pocket between gratitude for every opportunity I have on my plate and total/complete exhaustion 😅 My calendar is absolutely slammed. I’m at tons of events, juggling a variety of work, and have ongoing calls booked out for months. Ngl I’m borderline burnt. Every yes is taxing my tank. But I’m still choosing to ride the wave because momentum keeps stacking. I won’t pretend it’s sustainable forever. When this season flips, I’ll shift to fewer flights, more deep-work, and time with family. How I’m handling it (for now): • Name the season out loud. • Accept the cost without complaining about it. • Protect sleep where I can. • Keep moving. Shackelfords enjoy the work. I love frameworks. This one’s simple.. Respect the cycle you’re in.

@iamshackelford Energy drinks are like 98%. You must be hydrated as fuckkkkkk

People don’t know so I had to remind em a bit.

@iamshackelford First of all LOVE the message, but also peep on the rare form. You look shredded AND got a toddler build. American girl doll legs going crazyyyy. Respect - Calf deficient California resident

This is for the former athletes turned employee / founder who's grinding right now.. You might be able to relate Every goalkeeper knows: you have 0.3 seconds to decide. After that, you're just a spectator. I learned this at nine years old, standing in goal, not the tallest kid on the field. While others relied on reach, I had to rely on reading the game. On making the call before anyone else even saw the play developing. Twenty years later, I still have that goalkeeper's mentality. As the last line of defense, you learn hesitation is death. You make the call and live with it. There's no committee in the goal. No consensus. Just you and the decision. This shaped everything about how the Shackelfords operate. We say "Shackelfords enjoy the work," but what we really mean is we enjoy the pressure. The moment where everything crystallizes and you either move or watch the ball hit the net. I've never been on a losing team. Not once. Not because I never made wrong decisions. I've made thousands. But because I learned early that being wrong is survivable. Being frozen is fatal. Most people freeze at decision points. They want more data. More certainty. More meetings. Meanwhile, the opportunity is already gone. The ball is already past them. My superpower isn't complex: → Articulate the emotion in the moment → Make a left-to-right decision → Execute without looking back No second-guessing. No paralysis. Just movement. I'm okay making wrong decisions. I'm VERY okay making decisions, period. This is who I am for my wife when life throws curveballs. For my partners when millions are on the line. For my team when everything's chaos and someone needs to call the play. Twenty years of split-second calls taught me that while everyone else is still analyzing, the game is already over. The goalkeeper's mentality: you don't get to think. You get to choose.

@iamshackelford Shit posting Shack back at it again

Locked in Clocked in Day 117

@peterczepiga What are COGS? If they’re not 40-60% you can likely take home $200k but no need to if you don’t NEED to.

You’re a solo founder with a supplement brand doing $2mil/year top line. Healthy repeat purchase rate. Scaling mostly through ads. Which of the below is your most likely take home salary?

@iamshackelford THIS. So overlooked and under appreciated. We call them reply bait emails where we ask people to reply back with a mail:to link and as people reply back to these that’s a positive look on your IP having incoming emails va just outgoing like normal brands typically do.

Across all the brands I know and get access too I still think this gets overlooked. The biggest retention fumble a founder could make is not communicating in plain english: • Plain text email from founder • Text msg from customer support • Plain text email from product These three messages should go out monthly: • “Hey, just checking in.” • “Here's why I made this.” • “Here's what people are saying.” We sent one from Corbin (Brand Manager, BREZ) that said: "Yo I just asked the team, we just got this offer, it's about to drop." That was it. You couldn’t even buy something.. except maybe in the footer. When you're the underdog, ppl want to support you. Hit them with that founder text-only email. Tell them you're a small biz looking to build. People will eat it up. Simple sells. - Our plain text from Aaron or Corbin or my specific family emails drive significant rev + replies. this can be a once a week thing from a campaign perspective and definitely inserted in post purchase and welcome flow.

@CardinalMason It’s just insane because if these info guys were more frugal they could literally have generation wealth. But everyone wants a Ferrari and an open work AP. Make, invest (not spend), save, repeat with a Charlie Munger mentality.

A loooot of info guys are going broke rn. Not sure if you guys are seeing it. Pretty obvious though if you’re paying attention. Dropping like flies. Kinda crazy.

Everyone says, "Cheap clients cause more problems than expensive ones" Bullsh*t We have partners paying $20-50K/month and the work needed to prove you're worth that stupid amount of money is terrifying Cause when you lose a $50K partner, that's organization-shaking.. you're looking at firing departments, moving employees around, pure chaos. And while it sucks to lose a $2K client, you can always replace them and move on. But no.. people think the expensive clients are a headache. I’m telling you expensive clients (especially clients with the same expectations as cheap ones) are WAY more stressful than cheap clients with clear expectations. Think about it like being the starting goalkeeper, the coach will ALWAYS grind them because they’re integral to the system. But the moment they stop giving feedback they become disposable. High-paying clients communicate aggressively because they HAVE to often turn around / save / grind to keep their company growing and because you're literally their lifeline. So next time some random dude tells you "cheap clients cause more problems than expensive ones" Be open-minded enough to pick your OWN poison.. but be aware of the stakes on both ends.

Do you have kids? As a patent of twins and soon to be a third it suckkssssss for everyone around, but there isn’t much they can do sometimes. This could have been the first time this has ever happened for them, and you just have to be the people around to experience it. Kids can be fucking unreasonableeeee.

If your child is screaming on a flight (that’s late with no AC and hasn’t taken off yet @Delta) show it a fucking phone. Brain rot the baby on TikTok until it’s quiet. Is that too much to ask?

@iamshackelford This is so real. I haven’t traveled internationally with the twins so I won’t speak, but how do you feel about the trip in totality? Waste? Still a wonderful trip?

No joke - I literally cried when I got back from Japan. Not tears of joy. Tears of exhaustion, frustration, and feeling like the worst parent on the planet. My 1 yo son had his 4th int’l trip, and I turned it into a nightmare. We ripped him from his routine, destroyed his sleep schedule, and dragged him through a country where we were the loud Americans on trains with the crying baby. The Japanese are respectful but quiet. We were anything but. 7 adults.. 1 screaming toddler…. the weight of everyone's stares. We thought we were being smart by leaving the stroller at home. That was literally the worst decision ever because we had to carry him 24/7 and he couldn't fully walk around yet because of how busy / how much foot traffic we had to navigate through. The hardest part was accepting that the travel I loved is gone for now. This new version requires different expectations, different planning, and a different mindset. Seriously, any dads out there have some advice? What are your best toddler travel hacks? Asking for a friend :)

@iamshackelford 6 month attribution window FTW

LOL

@iamshackelford Exodia and Blue Eyes White Dragon FTW

I’ve asked this 5 times already but asking again. What are we using for duel screen set up while traveling?

@iamshackelford Dood, delegating being a dad is so freaking high-level. TAKING NOTES 📝 📝 📝

@email_ant I love this. I’ve hired full time nanny’s to be the husband and dad to my son and wife

If you’re juggling fear of letting your family down, the fear of letting your team down, your child, fatherhood, travel, multiple businesses, etc. it’s never squeaky-clean and it's on you. It's real but it's not more than you can handle. It’s 2025. That raw chaos is your biggest selling point. People connect with real stories, not perfect PR lines. If your feed is nothing but polished wins, you’re lying to yourself (and your customers). Tbh meltdown moments with your toddler mid-Zoom are more memorable than corporate fluff 😂 Some founders think product alone is enough.. “My kombucha’s the best,” or “My skincare sells itself!” That’s cool, but brand loyalty today is about the people behind it. With cheap ads dying off, and consumers wanting to know who they’re buying from. Being publicly visible builds serious credibility, especially if you make something people ingest or apply to their bodies. Why it authenticity matters [NOW] more than ever.. Ad Costs - The quick-win days of cheap Facebook ads are gone. Consumers are pickier and more expensive to reach. Trust - We’re at a place where people actually want to know who’s behind the brand they’re buying from. Having a public-facing founder builds serious credibility. Community - When I mention that I’m a dad juggling a new beverage brand (like BREZ) plus an agency, people want the behind-the-scenes. When I reveal that I’m a dad juggling a new beverage brand plus an agency, folks want to know more. In fact it feels like they want to root for ME, not just the brand. I used to worry about oversharing. Being a dad is crazy. At BREZ, we’ll make mistakes. But the more I open up, the more I connect. People don’t forget your face, your name, or your quirks. Those are competitive assets. Yes, product quality matters, but in a cluttered market, YOU are the difference. Pick one platform, share stories (they can be short), and offer insights from your journey. When lookalikes are everywhere, the biggest differentiator is you.

So why does she need to show the US’s hand pre-maturely, and on some level question their intelligence by saying you OBVIOUSLY haven’t … xyz? “We’re in the middle of talks with China and it’s looking good they’re fair people and I think it’ll be great for everyone” should have sufficed?

@ShaanVP Bruh! This is politics. That's the Press Secretary and her job is to explain to the American people what the administration is doing.

Anyone who’s ever negotiated anything should know: flaunting how great a deal you’re pulling off is stupid as hell. (Especially when the deal isn’t done ) Great negotiators leave the table with the other party thinking they did well

@iamshackelford THIS. Having my twins created MORE drive. Especially when you’re the sole breadwinner. Gotta get it. Plus you’re spot on you start looking at 15-60 minute increments realizing JUST how fast that goes by. Productivity is key.

Having a kid IS NOT your golden ticket to slow down in business. When Kingsley was born, my schedule intensified. There was no more room for wasted time. Now, every hour counts double. I’m not advocating for burnout, but if you’re going to coast using “dad life” as a pass, remind yourself that fatherhood is an opportunity to get better, not lazier. If you truly want to scale back, no judgment. But don’t blame your kid for it. Own it. Being a dad can sharpen your focus.. if you let it. People ask how I manage multiple brands, an agency, and toddler routine all at once. My simple answer is boulders, rocks, and pebbles. I didn’t invent this idea, versions of it float around, but here’s how I use it: 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 - The massive tasks or strategic moves that require my full brainpower. For me, it could be launching a new product line or finalizing a partnership. Boulders eat time and energy, but once you push them over the hill, they build momentum on their own. 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗦 - Important but somewhat contained tasks. They’re not the big, hairy, strategic pillars, but they still matter. Maybe it’s approving a creative campaign that can’t be delegated. Rocks need my involvement, but they’re more manageable. 𝗣𝗘𝗕𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦 - The day to day stuff that needs to get moved, emails, check ins, slack messages, small fire fixes. If you let pebbles pile up, you’ll drown in admin. But if you spend all day on pebbles, you’ll never have the energy for boulders. How I apply it: Identify one critical quarterly BOULDER Schedule dedicated time for ROCKS Fit PEBBLES into gaps or delegate Life is never that neat. A perfect Monday plan can explode if Kingsley gets sick or TikTok gets banned/unbanned. That’s okay. This framework is a guide, not a prison.