Thirty, Thorns & Thriving

Here are some stats for you this week for all my math nerds…

• 36. The number of golf holes I played this weekend. Poorly, I might add.

• 250. The number of trust fun baby hats that are officially en route. Want one? Toss your email on the reserve list here. My guess is these go fast.

• 1. The number of incredible future brides that we celebrated this weekend (my little sis had her bridal shower).

• 30. The number of weeks I’ve been consistently writing Trust Fun.

Thirty, flirty & thriving. We made it baby. Lots going on right now.

Days are flying by. Life is happening fast. Not to quote Ferris Bueller, but also, to quote Ferris Bueller, “If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

But seriously, nothing could be more true. My days (and your days) are spent moving a million miles an hour. We’re growing businesses & our passion projects. We’re building relationships & meeting new people. We’re balancing health & fun. Work & play. Vices & virtues.

Life is equally beautiful & incredibly fast paced, as it is scary & slow. Sometimes, it’s even stressful & unfair. Over the last 30 weeks of Trust Fun, my life has changed a lot.

I lost my job (bad).

I started Trust Fun (good).

My anxiety reached an all time high (incredibly bad).

I moved in with my amazing, smart & beautiful girlfriend (incredibly good).

It’s important to remember that the ‘bads’ are never infinite. They do not define you. You will get through them & the ‘goods’ & ‘greats’ will start rolling in. Just like in the movies, art does in fact imitate life. The good guys (& great guys) will always win.

Remember, roses have thorns. But at the end of the day, everyone calls them “Roses”, not “Thornses.”

Prolific, I know.

Welcome to week 30 of Trust Fun. Thanks for getting deep & riding with me every damn Monday.

Tender love & care

I have a ridiculous amount of respect for people who have built large email lists. Whether it’s a large newsletter, like Elevator, or an e-commerce business like, hmm I dunno, Mugsy, building & maintaining a large email list takes A TON of work.

I know what you’re thinking… “But Cael, once you have a list of a shit ton of emails, won’t it just print money?” The answer, sadly, is no. Maintaining & growing a large email list is like keeping a plant alive. It’s incredibly hard & something I’ve candidly never successfully done.

It needs water, it needs light, it needs good soil, and most importantly, it needs lots of love.

Your email list is no different. People change their emails. People give you fake emails. People stop opening. People report you as spam (please don’t do this).

If you’re not actively cleaning your list (aka giving it that sweet love it so deserves) your email sending reputation can be greatly affected. Yes, that is a real thing that exists. Every domain that is sending emails has a ‘status’ that it must uphold. Low deliverability, low open rates, can lead to the emails your sending to end up in peoples’ spam folder (not good). We hate the spam folder. It’s like detention. Or the penalty box. It sucks ass.

Anyways, when you’re ‘cleaning’ your list, that of course means you’re getting rid of emails, aka, your list is getting smaller.

So, how do you make sure that while you’re deleting bad emails, you’re also adding good ones… Well that’s easy, Revenue Roll.

Revenue Roll is the tool to continually growing your email list sustainably, assuring you’re adding & re-activating GOOD emails. RR is a true competitive advantage in email growth. Not only are they adding good emails from people hitting your site, BUT they’re also identifying & activating emails that Klaviyo/Sendlane would’ve otherwise deleted from your list.

Let’s say a dude named Pasta is on your email list because he added to cart 6 months ago while perusing on his laptop. (Can’t you tell I’m watching the Bruins right now?) Anyways, unfortunately, Pasta hasn’t visited the site in 90 days or engaged with an email so Klaviyo identifies him as a lapsed user & kicks him off your list.

BUT WAIT. Pasta has actually visited your website on his phone in those 90 days… However Klaviyo (who’s a dumb idiot) doesn’t know this, so they delete him. Revenue Roll, on the other hand, knows this. And if you had their pixel firing, would add Pasta back onto your list.

You wouldn’t believe how many people you are probs losing out on these emails… Stop falling behind & talk to my friend Michael at Revenue Roll. He’s adding 100k+ emails every month for brands like Caraway, GoPuff & way more.

First dibs for tfb hats are for those who take a demo with RR.

Appreciate you all a lot. Please don’t report me as spam. I’m just a guy with a laptop. Have an awesome week & go outside.