The truth is hard and always needed

Hey there,

I just wanted to take a second to say hi and let you know I’m thankful for you.

I’m feeling super grateful right now on my flight home to Miami. I’ve spent the past 10 nights sleeping in hotel rooms, away from my family, meeting hundreds of people across New York, New Jersey, and Boston. The fact that I get to travel the world, help people, break bread with incredible entrepreneurs, and get paid to do it is honestly a dream come true.

Sure the travel sucks. The early mornings. Sitting next to people who apparently haven’t showered in days (currently seat 16B flight AA 1196). But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Yesterday I did something I’ve never done in business. We broke Google Hangout because we had over 300 people registered for our one hour chat with Anne Mahlum, the founder of legendary pilates studio Solidcore who exited for $100M.

I have never been on a more impactful call in my entire life. The hundreds of people who showed up were absolutely rattled as she just dropped advice, hard truths, and facts about running a business. Here were my favorite:

1) If you’re doing the same job you were doing six months ago you’re business is never going to grow

2) Find out your strengths and double down on them. What are you a 9/10 at? For me I think it’s writing & sales. Where are you a 1-3/10 at? Hire for that immediately.

3) Don’t waste your time trying to improve at stuff you suck at. Lets pretend my graphic design skills were a 3/10 and I spent a year learning Photoshop and getting better and at best doubled my efficiency and became a 6/10. That still sucks. Who the fuck wants to work with a 6/10. Hire for a A player instead. Can’t afford it? Hire an A player part time. They will do the job quicker & better.

4) A players can change the direction of your business more than pinching pennies. Anne said she would have doubled the CEO she hired’s salary every single year he was so valuable to the business.

5) Remember you’re building a team, not a family. If you don’t perform for the team you get cut. You’re replaced. That’s life. We’re running businesses not a charity and unconditional love can tank a business.

6) Put your employees in the best position to succeed. Everyone should know the mission and lead with brutal honesty even when its tough.

This week I decided not to sponsor the newsletter. Its been going out for the past three years weekly and I’ve been blessed to have the Walmarts, Sendlanes, Revenue Rolls, and Bill.com’s of the world line up to sponsor it weeks in advance. This week I’m doing something different. 

I’ve been blessed to build an audience and readership of this newsletter to nearly 50,000 people. None of this happens without my co-founder & brother Greg, who’s been a massive part of the success of the business. CROSSNET actually got its start on Twitter, long before we had any dollars to spend on Facebook ads. 

Greg just launched a new business called Blast Off, which specializes in helping entrepreneurs create a personal brand and he’s crushing it. I’ve been working with him for the past six months and he’s:

• Helped me compose hundreds of tweets

• Received 50 million impressions on my content

• Grew my following from 4,000 to 33,000 nearly overnight

• Land massive retail deals for CROSSNET

• Helped me land over $250,000 in sponsorship money

• Inbound interest for The Founders Club has never been higher

So if you want to grow your personal brand, get more eyes on your company, or even sell a product, here’s how Blast Off works:

1. Greg and his team interview you and match you with a copywriter. 

2. The team will create & post daily tweets that are approved by you on a content calendar

3. The secret sauce of Blast Off is that Greg owns a network of some of the world’s largest Twitter accounts. He uses these accounts to share audiences and maximize visibility on each post. Think of it as if ESPN’s Instagram shared the NBA’s Instagram post every time they posted. They are completely separate accounts with overlapping audiences, rising each other’s tides. 

Blast Off is legit taking off faster than any online business either of us have ever started. If you’re serious about creating content, building a personal brand, and growing online then you need to talk to him.

Message me for an intro or hit Greg up directly at [email protected].

He has no idea I’m sending this email so make sure you send him some love.

That’s all I got this week. If you have somebody in your life that you haven’t told them you love them in a while, shoot them a call or text. I promise you won’t regret it.

Talk soon newsletter fam!

Chris