Bonjour Millionaire,

Are you watching the World Cup?

ICYMI: Last week, the U.S. got beaten by Turkey, 3-2.

Never mind that Turkey had already been eliminated, and the U.S. was set to advance.

The outcome “didn’t matter” and yet… Turkey showed all the way up and beat the bigger, “better” team.

Don’t let that happen to your brand this summer.

Or, if you’re an underdog like Turkey, DO.

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ON THIS EPISODE OF GO-TO-MILLIONS 

Are you recovering, or resting?

As a former athlete, I can tell you: Champions are made in the off-season.

Also: I miss lemon Propel. That was my shit.

Summer is NOT the time for teams to check out.

And reminder, I killed Summer Fridays at my last job. (I can be a Super Serious Sealion, when I need to be.)

Which is NOT to say I’m against going OOO.

I’m against teams slacking off June-August.

The business is always open.

Hungry underdogs and challenger brands with nothing to lose are lurking. If you’re not careful, they’ll outwork you.

Marketing’s “slow season” leads right into the world finals aka BFCM.

Here’s how to use these next few months to get stronger, sharper, and more strategic for Q4.

🥅 Make sure everyone on the team understands the priorities.

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is.

Clients have goals.

Customers have high standards.

Your brand has targets and priorities.

We’re all responsible for outcomes.

Summer, when teams tend to get sleepy, is the time to reinforce what we’re doing, why we’re here, and how we do it together.

THEN WORK THE PLAN.

The amount of time spent doesn’t matter. If we finish early, hit the pool.

But, intentions aren’t enough. We have to plan it, then actually DO it.

Pro tip: In service of your priorities, if there are team members who should NEVER be OOO at the same time, make that known.

📣 Culture and work ethic come from the top.

Everyone’s known a manager who tells everyone else to show up, then goes MIA.

Now some of us are in the position to be that kind of boss, and DON’T, WE’RE BETTER THAN THAT!

Let’s be coaches. High-effort is the only approach (imo).

Real boss coach energy is keeping your team accountable, but also picking up slack (and Slacks) when someone’s OOO.

Real boss coach energy is showing how leaders use a slower week to think big picture or to automate or improve a system that isn’t working.

🧘‍♀️ Focus on recovery, not rest.

Rest means you’re off.

Recovery means your team may have slowed down, but they’re still doing the work.

Stretching, training, eating right.

Building up their strength, systems, and plans, so they can go hard again when they need to. Which will be very soon.

The best teams are never not working towards more.

Optimize subscription, membership, the programs that are going to run during BFCM and sustain you the rest of the year.

Try to improve baseline revenue and chip away at recurring revenue ahead of the Q4 influx of new customers.

✅ Tackle your to-do list while you’ve got some breathing room.

Retag the site.

Update the lo-visit pages you've been avoiding.

Hone your AI visibility, so you’re ready when shoppers ask ChatGPT for holiday gift ideas.

Do NOT let your to-do list languish!

There’s always something to do.

Do it when you have the bandwidth to do it thoughtfully.

⚽ Test now, while the stakes are lower.

July 4th is this weekend, then there’s nothing ‘til September.

If there’s an offer you want to test or something you’re curious to try, now’s the time.

It’s cheaper, if you’re wrong.

You’ve got time to rethink or refine it.

Now is when you decide what the rest of the year’s going to be. Check your forecast.

PEAK SEASON PREP

Speaking of forecasting...there are 21.5 weeks until BFCM. We're all doing peak season prep now, while the problems are still fixable - right??

Join me on July 28th to make sure.

I'm sitting down live with Brandon Luft, CEO of Shipfusion, to pressure-test your Q4 plan. We'll walk through demand forecasting, fulfillment blind spots, and the questions every ops team should be answering right now.

So November-you isn't cleaning up summer-you's mess.

See you there 🌹

GO-TO-MEME

We’ve got our work cut out for us.

But, time to do it, if we lock in.

Better get to it.

Your super silly sealion,

Ari