Starting with your questions from last time

In my previous newsletter, I talked about the “secret” weapon I’ve been using to improve my life continuously: a weekly Mastermind session with three very good friends of mine, where we learn and advise each other on various topics.

I’ve got a few replies with general comments about it, alongside some interesting questions from you (thanks for not allowing this edition to flop completely).

 

1) How did your group start, and how can I find the right people to create my own?

It all started with an invitation for my friend and ex-business partner, Yuri Moreno. He shared this article about “The Elephants,” a modern Mastermind group (an idea introduced by Napoleon Hill, the author of one of the most-sold books ever).

What’s important to say here, though, is that I already knew everyone from the group: Caio Mattos and Denis Andrade. I already respected them and had a good idea about what it was like being around them. So when Yuri told me they were on board, I already knew it’d be foolish of me not to give it a try.

If I were to create a new Mastermind today, I’ll sit down with myself and think of people that:

• I could learn a lot from more than one area
• Have at least one area of their life where they’re “ahead” of me: fitness, relationships, finances, work, or mindset-wise.
• Someone I’d trust with my money and my wife
• Someone I’d enjoy being around

After I put that list on paper, I’d ask those people if they’d like to create a Mastermind with you. If they say yes, then use the answer to the following question as a map to decide what to talk about.

2) How do you decide what to talk about? Do the meetings always have the same format?

We have two types of sessions: fixed commitments and discussions.

The fixed ones currently are:

• Reset reviews: every month, we share updates on goals and progress around: health, relationships, work, finances, and hobbies
• Book/Documentary Club: every ±6 weeks, we sit down to discuss what we just read or watched. Then every ±3 months, we vote on what we want to read or watch. From documentaries on plant-based diets and e-sports to the most interesting authors I got to know – like Seneca, Victor Frankl, and Franz Kafka – we try to pick reads that will open our minds to something new.
• Game nights: we fill the gaps with simple multiplayer games to wind off and talk shit. We started with Poker, and last week we played Unrailed for the first time (this game is really fun, btw!).

Then we have sessions where it’s all about learning new stuff. It can be something that one of us knows more than the others (I talked about Freud and Phenomenology once, for example), or we bring a guest to teach us something cool and different (let me know if you want to be one of them), or if one of us needs to share a deeply personal problem, then we also have a safe space to talk it through and help. Those are the sessions we bond, I think.

 

3) What about the other things? Like, are there any downsides to having such a group?

Great question. There are also problems involved, of course, although I wouldn’t necessarily label them as bad.

The hardest thing is keeping accountability and having everybody aligned as much as possible. To keep it simple, we created a spreadsheet with all the dates and the theme of each day – and then we put it on paper if someone misses a meeting.

We also created the rule that if just one of us can’t attend, the others will go on without that person. That’s to avoid a situation where one person spoils the commitment of the rest.

Then the other thing is that it’s natural that everybody will not be 100% committed all the time. Only some people will think that the topic for discussion is super interesting. So I guess it’s also about being thoughtful and transparent to each other and enduring when things aren’t going well.

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So, that was it. I hope that is enough information for those who are considering creating something similar and inspiring others who miss being part of a group with like-minded people. If you have more questions, hit reply 🙂

 

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This meme from Anna R. made me spill my coffee:

A brutal “sad but true” moment.

Btw: I plan to bring AI to Easy App Reports later this year. The idea is to provide actionable insights and optimization suggestions based on the data we bring from the app stores and other sources. The thing is that most companies don’t have the fundamentals in place to leverage AI for data analysis. So I see this as a big, juicy, business opportunity if you ask me.

 

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A dope growth hack from a Portuguese fintech

When my partner and I incorporated Easy App Reports as RC5 Lda in Portugal, we got this remarkable letter from Coverflex just a few weeks after we started operating.

I’ve been following these guys on LinkedIn for a while now, as they seem to have a pretty exciting way to run Growth there. I found this letter a perfect example of how startups need to think outside the box and go offline (why not?) to get their customers:

A few components that I found interesting about it:

• Using bold text to highlight business problems and tease the customer
• A calculation of how much value they can create (who on earth wouldn’t want to save 1k euros per year per employee?)
• Clear call to action via the QR code and other links
• Social proof at the bottom

Way to go, guys 😉

 

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How to Google Ads your app

Thomas Petit has the best Twitter account for app marketers out there. This week he went beyond and wrote this guide on how to run Google Ads campaigns for apps. A must-read if you’re getting into the weeds of UA.

 

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📕 Books I’m reading

Love: How to rethink Marketing for Digital Products: I got this book as a gift from Patrick Goldsteen and I have already recommended it to at least five people since I started reading it. This is an excellent book for anyone considering moving into Product Marketing or if you’re a Product Manager who wants to know how to market your product better.

 

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🛠️ Tools I’ve been using

My prayers were listened to: finally, someone solved the problem of dealing with multiple calendars and project management tools. Let me introduce you to Akiflow.

As an independent consultant and entrepreneur who struggles with focusing, it’s easy to get lost in all the different commitments I’m making with multiple people. With Akiflow, that’s no longer a problem. I’ve been using them for about two weeks now, and it’s been a total game-changer. Now I finally have clarity on what should I prioritize my tasks during the day, even if they’re spread in Jira, Notion projects, Trello, and email.

Use my referral link to get $10 in credits (I’ll also get $10). Akiflow is not sponsoring this newsletter, by the way.

 

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💡 Quote I’m pondering

Someone power-hungry makes a new rule at your workplace. It’s unnecessary. It’s counterproductive. It’s an irritant. It removes some of the pleasure and meaning from your work. But you tell yourself it’s all right. It’s not worth complaining about. 

Then it happens again.

You’ve already trained yourself to allow such things by failing to react the first time. You’re a little less courageous. Your opponent, unopposed, is a little bit stronger. The institution is a little bit more corrupt. The process of bureaucratic stagnation and oppression is underway, and you’ve contributed by pretending that it was OK. Why not complain? Why not take a stand? If you do, other people, equally afraid to speak up, may come to your defence. And if not—maybe it’s time for a revolution. Maybe you should find a job somewhere else, where your soul is less in danger from corruption.

12 Rules for Life, Jordan B. Peterson

This is one of the oldest rules in the ASO playbook since the App Store was launched.

It’s so simple, and everybody says they understand it, but it’s 2023, and I’m still finding marketers needing to correct this. It’s so painful. But not you, of course, because you’re a reader of this newsletter 😉

The rule is that one shall not repeat keywords on its title, subtitle, or keywords.

In the example above, we managed to increase the number of keywords in our app by 53%!

And if you think that adding 8 more keywords it’s not a big deal… Think again.

Remember that the algorithm will combine these keywords because users can (and will) use multiple words to describe what they’re looking for. I could search for an “ai video editor”, or an “video editor with captions”, for example. So, every single keyword you add exponentially increases your ASO fingerprint in the App Store.

The same goes for Google Play, except that you might want to repeat keywords on purpose in the description. But that’s a different thing.

I’d say that 95% of the success cases I built when I had my ASO company back in the day were due to this simple best practice. Damn, I even overachieved my app growth OKR when I joined OLX in my first year just by doing this. Getting good results is easier when you understand the mechanics behind the algorithms.

And now you tell me that what I’m saying is too basic.

Yeah, I agree. Still, as I said, I see mistakes like this almost every day.

But if you want hard, then hard it is. Because, building on top of this tip, you can use an advanced tactic to 10x your fingerprint. Yeap. Not another 53%, but 10x. And it’s not an easy one to pull off, for sure.

So, stay tuned because, in the next few editions, I’ll bring part two of this article.

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🇧🇷 No meu curso de ASO eu coloquei todas as minhas dicas, truques, e processos que usei para crescer apps de empresas como OLX, 99, Vivo, PlayKids, Whitebook, e muitas outras. Ele custa ⅓ do que qualquer freela ganha por mês em um projeto e já ajudou muita gente a avançar na carreira (dá uma olhada nas reviews). Dá uma olhada.

 

$100M Offers: a much more interesting approach to The Product Launch Formula

Read post

 

Quote from the book Antifragile (Nassim Taleb)

I am an ingrate toward the man whose overconfidence caused him to open a restaurant and fail, enjoying my nice meal while he is probably eating canned tuna.

If you’re an entrepreneur (or a parent), you’re likely to know exactly what this feels like. Resurfaced using Readwise.

 

🛠️ [AI] Tools I’m playing with

This is an enhanced version of Chat-GPT itself. This tool was recommended to me by Yuri Moreno, and I haven’t logged in on OpenAI since then. What I love about it:

• Having multiple folders to organize my chats
• It offers an easy way to save and organize my prompts
• Access to their prompt repository (not great, but good for inspiration)
• It adds links to related Google Searches along with the answers
• Instead of paying a $20/mo subscription to OpenAI, I can use my API key ($1-$2/mo) and make a one-time purchase to Typing Mind for $39. I’ve been using it for two months, so I’ll save some money next month.

The only downside is that I can’t use GPT-4 in it yet because I need the API key (which is only available for developers who are contributing to the project for now), but I hope that in the coming weeks, that will change.

Yes, I’m still alive.

Saying that I’ve not been consistent with my content production might be a total understatement by now. But I’m less than 2 months away from buying back my time to continue pursuing my projects (including this newsletter) while I still dedicate a good chunk of my time to my clients.

Here’s how I’m rationalizing my total lack of consistency:

1) I moved to a new house a couple of months ago

It’s a lovely 3-floor detached home on the outskirts of Viseu. Still, only the last weekend, I had the time to organize my new home office properly.

The light of this space is incredible (the window on the left was closed; otherwise, it’d be super bright everywhere), which gives it such a great vibe!

I think that the reason why I get excited about it is that designing an office is where many of my interests in technology, design, and self-improvement come together.

Focus is something I struggle with, so having a place designed with intentionality is key for me to be able to do my best work. There’s a lot of inspiration from channels like Matthew Encina and Never Too Small, which I think is worth mentioning. This is also a project I get to do with my wife: check, check, check.

2) Interim Head of Marketing for Impala Studios

I’m once again doing Growth for apps full-time, which allowed me to learn new tricks and test my current skills. I’m also getting to work with many interesting folks, which is pretty cool.

Interestingly enough, I’m also leading a Marketing team again. I’m still processing it and comparing this experience with my previous one. This is something I definitely want to write about in the near future.

Now that things are progressing, I should gradually return to my consultant role, which will also give me headspace for my projects. There are still a few weeks in front of me, though, and things are far from perfect, so there’s a lot yet to be done.

It’s a pretty special moment when you start to see everything falling into place after months of going through the numbers, bouncing ideas off with people, putting a plan on paper, and then actually going for it.

3) Easy App Reports got to $5,000 Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

We were stuck at $4.2-$4.4 for almost half a year now, so what changed? How did we break the ceiling?

Well, we started playing with ads again – but this time, it’s actually paying off. That means we’re operating on a slightly lower margin, sure, but also that we’re able to sustain a stronger pace of growth.

This project could be so much more though, so if you ask me about it I’d probably start naming all the one hundred things we should be doing in order to make a bigger impact on the market.

Still, there’s a psychological barrier I’m breaking here, which I think might be the most important outcome here. You know, I’ve helped clients go from 6 to 8-9 figures in revenue a year. But, the truth is, I never managed to do that for myself.

The funny thing is, because I could see this product growing as big (if not more) than other companies I worked for in this past decade, now I actually believe I could replicate this success again in the future. Not that I didn’t believe in it before, but now I can see what it takes and what it feels like, which certainly hits differently.

Am I the only one?

From “I can’t get enough of it” to “I can’t stand people hearing people talking about it”

From “this is great and works like magic” to “oh, this is just another gimmick”

From “this will save my job” to “this can replace my job”

From ”the future will be awesome” to “the future might be fucking terrifying”

How are YOU feeling about it, by the way? I always love to get replies to this email, so, you know, don’t be a stranger.

ps: am I doing this meme thing right? 😛

💬 Quote from the book Cashvertising

“When you get someone to think deeply about something, and you persuade them to arrive at a conclusion, they will adopt their decision as a result of their own thinking, protect it, and defend it (against competitors, for example)”

– Cashvertising, Drew Eric Whitman

Resurfaced using Readwise

TikTok made me sign up – but I regret it

AdCreative.Ai: I tried using it for my Google Ads retargeting campaigns, and I must say I was deeply disappointed. While I understand that the issue might be that my expectations were too high, I still think they could do a much better job at not promising what it can’t deliver.
There are certainly many people out there who like AdCreative.ai a lot, by the way, I know. Still, I’m not sure I’m giving it another shot anytime soon.
What went wrong in my case:

The AI-generated texts are… Well, I was going to say not great, but in my case, it was just wrong. After spending a couple of minutes adding context about what Easy App Reports is about, our goal, and who the customers are, I got an unusable placeholder text as output Humm…

You still have to design your creatives yourself. From watching their ads, you instantly get the feeling that it has an AI-powered creative generator – but it just feels like a gimmick.

It’s not clear what size of the images you need to upload, and there’s not much you can do with the cropping.

You can only do one copy option and one image at a time. Not sure how I’d scale that.

Then it outputs 100 different banner options from which 90%+ is either awkward or wrong, so you have to pick what you want to use manually anyway.

As a SaaS entrepreneur myself, I don’t like sharing negative feedback about another tool in public.

As a marketer who writes to other marketers, I feel you’d appreciate the heads-up.

📊 Data viz tip

How to build (good) funnels on GA4: Simo Ahava is a well know figure in the web analytics world. I’m always learning something from him, and this time he goes beyond again by sharing a relatively simple trick on how to build a proper funnel report on GA4, which is pure awesomeness.