Happy Wednesday friends,

A little mid-week newsletter for you guys as there are too many things going on in my world that I wanted to share with you all.

First, I’m a firm believer in paying it forward and supporting the day ones who believed in you when you were just starting off. We all have a few people in your life that you look back and you’re like damn I don’t think they even realized it but their support kept me going.

Paul Benigeri, the Co-Founder & CEO of Archive, was the first person to believe in the newsletter and sponsor CROSSED Commerce. At that time two years ago I was banging my head against the wall trying to find a way to make money to afford a wedding ring and build up a savings. If you’re building a new company then you know how hard it is to pull money out of the business. Paul believed in me and I’ll next forget that.

If you guys aren’t familiar with Archive it’s honestly my favorite social media Shopify plug-in. On any given day CROSSNET & Good Sport could be tagged in story & timeline posts from 10-100+ different people. Sure myself or our social media assistant may see them when it gets posted, but what if we miss it or not checking the account at 9PM on a random Tuesday?

Archive solves all of that and saves every single post. On top of that, you can download the content out and then repurpose it (with the creator’s consent of course) in your social media ads. Year over year, we’ve seen UGC content shot on an iPhone to be our top-performing assets. People just want to see people have fun and be off their phone, not “trained UGC actors” recording content.

Well, today Paul solved one of my biggest and most annoying problems with something they call Super Search.

How many times have you searched Dropbox or your desktop looking for that photo that you liked from three months ago? How many times have you had a new graphic designer start and you want to arm them with all your content or even worse that you forgot you already had an asset that worked for that situation so you just wasted money reproducing it. Super Search solves that.

Find the stuff you actually want with Archive’s AI-Powered Super Search now. Remember don’t switch up on your friends and who was there when you started.

Use Promo Code: CC1MOFREE

Alibaba Invited me to Keynote?!

Can’t believe I just typed that. I guess this whole build in public thing is actually working. Well the cats out of the bag and I’m officially keynoting the Alibaba CoCreate conference in Las Vegas on September 7th.

If you’re in Vegas I’d love to hook you up with free tickets to the event and two nights free stay at the hotel.

Get tickets here & use code: CHRISVIP

This is your chance to meet incredible brands, improve your manufacturing, meet new suppliers, and get new product ideas.

When I really think about it, I owe the majority of my success to Alibaba for giving me an opportunity. I grew up in a farm town with no manufacturing, no Shopify, and no entrepreneurship. There was one stoplight and a restaurant that sold chicken tenders and milkshakes. The gas station was 20 minutes out and movie theater was nearly an hour.

The odds of us getting out of that town were very slim. Alibaba made that happen and without them we never would have found a manufacturer who took a chance on three broke kids with a crazy idea.

I can’t wait to share my story on the big stage. It’s an absolute dream come true.

Let’s Hang?

I’m hosting two events in August that I’d love to connect and hang. Next Wednesday we’re hosting a Founders’ Club event in Salt Lake City. Tons of amazing brands like Thread, Kizik, Gym Reapers, Hydrojug, and 40+ more are going to be there.

Earlier in the morning we’re hosting a 20 person wakeboarding session with two boats out on Pineview Reservoir from 10-2PM. I’m giving away two tickets to my newsletter subscribers so just write back.

Finally towards the end of the month we’re spending a week in Toronto. I’d love to organize a few outdoor sessions including some pickleball, cold plunges, and runs through the city. Who’s down?

• Salt Lake City - August 16th

• Toronto - August 31st

Free Workshop Tomorrow 🤝

Tomorrow at 2PM EST I’m hosting a free one hour workshop. I’m capping the group at like 20 members so it will be an intimate session.

I’ll tell you a little bit about what we’re building & struggling with, and most importantly how we’re growing the business in 2023. I’d love to answer any questions and help in any way I can possible whether its advice on ads, retail, or connecting the dots saving money with freight brokers or payment processors.

Respond back to this to hold your spot.

See you tomorrow!

Chris