2023 Year In Review #40

Wins, Pods, Books & Learnings

Author

Tye DeGrange
December 21, 2023

2023 Year In Review #40

Welcome to the 40th episode of the Flywheel newsletter!

Packed Agenda

e40 Bay Area Rap Legend is ringing in our 40th newsletter in style.

2023 was a good year.

  • We made significant improvements to people, processes, performance, and profitability, and we are just getting started.

  • I could not be more grateful for you joining us on this journey and finding value in the weekly growth, performance, and affiliate marketing learnings.

Pod & Newsletter Continue to Grow!

  • We have published our 21st episode of the “Always Be Testing” podcast on Apple and Spotify - the response has been excellent so far, with over 1,000 downloads!

  • The pod officially launched on YouTube!

  • Let me know if you would like to join me as a guest or know someone who would make a good guest.

Recommended Reading 📕, Viewing 📺️, and Listening 🎧

  • My favorite non-fiction book of 2023, The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building" by Matt Mochary 

    • Operational, specific, and helpful for applying rigor to your hiring process. Good perspective from CEO coach in start-up and fast growth tech field.

  • My favorite fiction book of 2023, Lonesome Dove

    • This book is an homage to Texas and the cowboy way of life. It reminds me of my dad. The writing is superb, and the story is very well constructed. I am about halfway through. I can see why the mini-series was like the Game of Thrones of the late 80’s.

  • What I am adding to my reading list: The Art of Possibility

    • The positive reviews and recommendations about how practical and uplifting this book is are reason enough to add it to the list.

    • Tim Ferris tweeted about it, and apparently he reads it regularly

  • Best new business pod of 2023, 9 Figure Operators

    • These guys are funny, intelligent, and accomplished, all running $100M+ revenue per year DTC EComm businesses, and they generously share learnings about operations, fulfillment, marketing, brand, vendor selection, hiring, attribution, martech stack.

    • Life and business Panzerisms and Sean “Frankincense” are 🔥 

  • Fun pod: The Rewatchables (bonus to them for giving The Pelican Brief the love it deserves)

    • It is a funny, insightful tour of beloved movies with color commentary and memorable categories like “most rewatchable scene” and “what aged the worst?”

    • Deep cuts, music, and sports references, a lot of Heat, Al Pacino, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Denzel, courtroom movies, and 80s-90s love

2023 Learnings

  1. Trust But Verify

  2. Focus Wins

  3. Team recognition is critical

  4. Having the tools to do the work is only half the job

  5. There is more than one way to skin a Meta Account

  6. Get Your Feed Right - Your Product Feed is an underrated opportunity for optimization on Google.

  7. Ugly Ads - The prettiest creative is not always the best performing creative. Raw, real, non-aesthetic content wins 90% of the time.

  8. Creators - The brands that prioritize fresh content with UGC, influencers, photoshoots, etc., are the ones that see the most growth.

  9. Automation - If you are anti-automation, you will see diminishing returns at one point or another. Your competitors are using automated campaigns & machine learning, and they will outperform you.

  10. Change - Embrace flexibility and adaptability. Be prepared to pivot your affiliate program's strategy and the broader direction of your company. Stay alert to emerging opportunities in affiliate partner marketing and actively seek collaborations with new partners. This approach ensures that you're consistently aligned with the dynamic landscape of affiliate marketing and can capitalize on fresh avenues for growth and success.

Thanks to the very talented Mike McElhaney, Meagan Jones, and Alexis Arbiz for their learnings and insights.

Have a very Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄, a lovely holiday, and a very Happy New Year!