Anna Price Olson

Happi Monday with the latest #beauty news you need to know now!

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🏳️‍🌈 A little late in the game but... Happy Pride! 🌈 ❤️ For so many reasons I love this month and what it represents, and with the work I do I love being able to highlight brands founded by members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 🤝 I am looking to connect with LGBTQIA+ retail brand founders to gauge their thoughts on the state of the retail industry. 💬 Sound off in the comments below if this is you or someone you know! #retail #pride #lgbtqia #queer #pridemonth #cpg #retailindustry #consumer #shopping #brandfounder #networking #linkedin #editorial #article #webcontent

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I wonder if the rise of ChatGPT has anything to do with it, but I'm seeing more and more brands sound less and less unique. What happened to ownable TOV, and how can you create one that cuts through? ✂️ The answer to this is similar to: "How long's a piece of string?" But, there's one thing I would ALWAYS recommend: Having a tight TOV guide. This should cover everything – from the tonal values that make up your brand's voice, to the personas and traits you want to convey, guardrails/words you'd never use, best practice examples, inspiration... the list goes on. Build this and implement thorough (and regular) TOV training with your writing team, and you're onto a winner with carving a voice that will set you apart. 💥 Not sure where to start? TOV is my bread and butter – I'm truly obsessed with it, and helping brands find their own, unique voice. Drop me a DM to see how I can help you and your brand! ❤️ #toneofvoice #TOV #branding

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I received this inquiry on my LI feed from Ali Yan ALi Yan  2:32 AM "Hi, Ann-louise I need a little help. I am currently performing a quality assurance check for the website "writeessaytoday.com" and need about two minutes of your time. Please follow these steps: Click on the following link: Google SERP for Write My Essay Cheap You will be directed to the Google search results page. Press "Control + F" to open the search function and look for "writeessaytoday.com". You should find this website within the top 10 results. Click on the website link. Spend two minutes reviewing the website and let me know if you notice anything that needs updating based on your observation. Thank you for your assistance." Question to the group: Does anyone need me to post my reply to this blatant attempt to get me to work for free? And, by the way, the above website, run by Daniel Patrick, advertises: Now boost your grades with our affordable essay writing service. Buy 100% original budget-friendly essays now written by experienced writers just for you. Only our team has the expertise to write essays for you with GUARANTEED quality and no plagiarism. SAVE YOUR GRADES AND MONEY WITH US.

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Rhode is THE celebrity brand of celebrity brands. But not every brand is as successful as Rhode, so how did they do it? Here's what I've seen: 1. White Space Identification Rhode differentiated themselves by launching as a skincare company instead of another celeb make-up brand. They also didn't immediately move into the make-up space. Instead, they focused on products that towed the line of make-up AND skincare (Ex: Tinted Lip Peptides). Once they found that consumers were receptive to both, they've been able to parlay into the make-up space (like their new blush line). 2. Creative, Creative, Creative Rhode has great creative. Simply put. It's simple. Clean. Aesthetic. Yet flavorful and engaging. It's perfectly aligned with who the brand is at its core. 3. Skincare as a Routine Unlike makeup, which people change up based on occasion, skincare is a daily routine that hinges on consistency. This means customers are more likely to repurchase regularly. By focusing on skincare, Rhode taps into a consistent consumer habit, driving higher customer LTV and brand loyalty. 4. The Coveted PR List The Rhode PR list has become the most talked about PR list in the influencer world. Being on the Rhode PR List signifies your status as an influencer more than your follower count. And as a brand, you know you've made it when your PR gift is more validating to the influencer than to the brand. 5. Hailey's Involvement Hailey is known for being a model with great skin. It's a no brainer that she would launch a skincare company. She holds the title of creative director, which gives credibility to the brand, making it feel authentic and personal to her. She is consistently present in the brand’s narrative, and it never feels over the top. AND the brand succeeds even in her absence from some campaigns. Hailey Bieber, we 💙 Rhode. Why do you think Rhode has been so successful? What do you think about their move from skincare into make-up? P.S. Can LinkedIn influencers get on the rhode skin PR list? Asking for a friend😅 -- Follow Ali Kaltman for more brand breakdowns 💙 #rhode #brandmarketing #branding #marketing #celebritybrands

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Copy is so underrated.

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Why you want this job: -You'll captain a squad of scary-talented writers, content designers and creatives. -You will be my boss. -You'll steer the voice of the world's leading platform for athletes as we grow into our next chapter. -You can make me get you coffee. -It's a company you can feel GREAT about working for. We're motivating the world to be more active, and everyone at Strava is passionate about that mission. -You can make me come to San Francisco to give you your coffee. (You're the boss!) -This team. Seriously. The brains and the passion here are pure idea accelerant. I've done the best work of my career at Strava because of an environment where nothing is off the table, egos are cast aside and everyone has ideas that improve the output. As a creative leader, this place will be your super-shoe, your aero bike, your Hugh Bradner wetsuit. (Bonus if you get those references, though that's certainly not a requirement.) -We have a company-wide Slack channel dedicated to pictures of our dogs, which you can peruse while sipping the coffee I got you. -As usual, Michelle says it better below. If this is you, smash that Apply button. We can't wait to hear from you.

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Brands need to think deeply about the impact of social commerce and craft a strategy around 1/ CPA-based influencer marketing 2/turn your customers into advocates 3/ building long-term relationships with influencer affiliates in-house. No more one-off campaigns that takes months to launch without predictable returns.

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Lessons I learned from working 10+ years in retail: ➡️ Time blocking / scheduling: I've always been pretty "time aware" but working in retail taught me how to view days differently. Learning how to schedule was a weird puzzle with a lot of variables including staff coverage, day of the week, time of year, and more. Of course at the time, I thought this wouldn't translate into any area of my life and I couldn't have been more wrong (lol). Here's what I learned from scheduling: - You can get a lot done in 3 hours - I split everyday into four blocks of time (early morning, morning, afternoon, evening) - What time of the day I do my best work - Everything is a balance TLDR: I learned I don't feel energized in the afternoons #LessonsILearned #Retail -

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My new website is a bodega for five-figure brands that want to become eight and nine-figure brands. On my site you will find the freelancers and agencies that help me build a business with an incredibly high MER and an insane growth rate. I am still working for some Shopify businesses; I can see that certain companies will grow extremely fast and become more corporate. They won’t want somebody like me who doesn’t like to adhere to corporate structure. I’m a startup guy. I like to work and play well with others, but I also want to work in small organizations. So, things will remain the same for the near future, but I could see that I’ll have some significant title/employment status changes at some point in the future. In light of that foreshadowing, I have decided to launch a website. I’m not charging for anything yet. In my opinion, it’s not so easy to find an untapped market these days, a problem nobody solves. Having been the ideal customer for a few years now, I think nobody is solving the problem I aim to solve. What I am creating I do believe it’s somewhat unique: Tool: I looked at the problems I had to solve to bring an American Shopify brand from five to seven and eight figures a month. I don’t know how many of you have been involved in taking a brand from not having its own offices, really many employees at all, at that point to a brand that’s easily recognizable to the most coveted demographic in the world…. American women 25-70( really, it is more significant; I know teens & octogenarians that wear it) Keeping in mind that there’s a lot of stuff I never touched, I pretty much stay in my genre of digital marketing a little bit into customer service as well. Things like returns discounts offer testing, but for the most part, I stay inside of digital marketing; my little palace is a dungeon to the other people in the company, but I like it. Anyway, without further redoing my website, it’s a work in progress. It needs work. Please criticize it so that I can make it better. It’s almost seven days behind schedule already. Someone smart I know asked me the other day to describe what my website will do in as few words as possible. This is what I came up with: “We assist brands in going from making decisions at the kitchen table or in the living room to making decisions in a boardroom without venture capital.” I say that because I’ve driven myself to have the highest MER and YOY growth for every brand I've worked for over the last few years. I never felt like I had to choose efficiency or growth. I always felt you could get both if you just thought it through, executed it, and reviewed the progress and iteration. https://dtcmkg.com

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Hello out there! I started a newsletter. I’ve called it ‘Library Booth.’ Converting the novels I’ve been reading into a dinner party setting. So, if this book was a party, what drink would they serve? What would they wear? What would be on the menu? What would the tablescape look like? What music would they play? First up? Poor Things. And before you ask me, yes it’s a book. Learn more and subscribe here if you fancy it: https://lnkd.in/gsUytkpY

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I am loving this article The Tease editors wrote about Schedulicity's research on burnout and self care as stylists/barbers! I may be in the minority, but I gravitate towards information with numbers! I am so interested seeing these stats and it really helps put into perspective what stylists actually need and want! #ReadTheTease by clicking below! #Burnout #SelfCare #Salons #Stylists #Barbers #Research #overworked

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Kind of a big deal, don't you think? Recently, a senior-level e-commerce position I was working on hit a roadblock when a candidate with a non-compete agreement expressed interest. While I personally never believed in non-competes, it's a widely accepted practice in the business community. Curious to see how this plays out in court. Read more about the FTC's recent rule banning non-competes. #noncompete #business #ecommerce #FTC

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I interact with a lot of business owners, from small (~$500k/annually) to very large (~$80m annually). A common theme this year - almost everyone is struggling with growth. Particularly when it comes to paid advertising. We've been able to continue to grow Barbell Apparel's online revenue at ~30% YoY - and that's all planned. We could probably grow a bit faster, but we take the excess profits as dividends instead. It's low stress at this point - but that doesn't mean it's low work. I feel like we've had to be five times as skilled to achieve the same results that were easy 3 years ago. For a very long time - digital advertising was cheap enough, that you could simply buy ads and make up for any mistakes in the rest of your operation. In my estimation, those days are gone, and they aren't coming back. We actually have lower CPAs now than we have at almost any point in the last 5 years - but it was a ton of work to get there. And our marketing organzation is heavily diversified across channels (paid digital, paid influencer, ambassador, organic, owned, etc.) Everything gets tested. Everything gets optimized. That's the what it takes these days. People look at their cost of customer acquisition - and think there's something wrong with facebook, google, etc. but really - that CPA is most likely telling you there is something wrong with your business. And if that's off putting to you, it shouldn't be. If advertising is truly not cost effective anymore - then we're all screwed. But if the problem is in the business itself, that is something within your power to fix. I've audited dozens (maybe hundreds) of businesses at this point - and I almost always find the same or similar problems. Lack of optimization in: the offer, AOV, CLV, funnel strategy, creatives, etc. Once those things get fixed - things tend to fall in line when it comes to CPA, ability to scale, etc. Granted - depending on your company, some of those problems could be very difficult or long term to solve. But you have to start solving them. There's nothing wrong with paid advertising - it's working as well as it ever did. But it's not cheap enough anymore to cover up a bunch of mistakes.

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RE: FORCED LABOR & the UFLPA ❓Did you know... 🙊 If you bought a car in the last five years, it was likely made - at least in part - by Forced Labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region of China? 🙉 The US has tried to crack down on forced-labor imports from China (#UFLPA), but companies - particularly in fast fashion - continue to find loopholes? 🙈 Companies importing goods into the US are losing more and more money every year to product seizures & fines due to finding forced labor in their supply chains... yet, they keep doing it? REPEAT AFTER ME: "Unless a company can prove the provenance of their goods down to the raw materials, and track the journey of those materials from source to shelf (chain-of-custody), sustainable sourcing claims are un👏sub👏stantiated👏" (and... likely made with forced labor at some point in their supply chain) Anywho, here's a very timely #SNL skit that made me laugh/cry 😂😭  . . . . #forcedlabor #supplychain #sustainability

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love to see it! and it's true, as a thrifter myself, i've seen a steady increase in foot traffic at my local goodwill and savers whenever i stop by to shop. not to mention, i've tried my hand at online selling as well. #fashion #resale #thrifting #sustainability

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A lot of people talk about how conversational search and genAI will help out consumers. But one of the things I’m most excited about is how it’s going to make merchandisers’ lives better. One of the hardest things about the job today is trying to figure out what a shopper wanted when they landed on your site, and how hard they had to work to find it. With traditional search, you might only get a few words or a short phrase to figure it out, which isn’t much context. The beauty of conversational search is suddenly the merchant will have so much more information - instead of a couple words, they might have paragraphs or even full conversation transcripts they can reference — much deeper insight into what was going through the customer’s mind while they were shopping. Brendan Witcher goes on to explain how that information can then be used to produce more useful product copy and other CX enhancements. It’s one of my favorite parts of our webinar last week. What do you think?🤔

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OK, I've been reading the official statement from the FTC on the new ban on noncompete clauses (link below) and I have to say, this looks like a pretty BIG deal for authors and publishers. A few highlights: • The FTC is legally banning the practice of noncompete clauses in any new contract--including book contracts. • The FTC is also invalidating any noncompete clauses in any previous contract or employee agreement. The only exception to this is "senior executives" (i.e. publishers and VPs). For everyone else, the FTC has declared "existing non-competes with other workers are not enforceable after the effective date." • The FTC specifically named "independent contractor, extern, intern, volunteer, apprentice, or a sole proprietor" as a worker defined by this new regulation. In other words, any author or freelance writer is included. At my literary agency, noncompete clauses have been a source of negotiation conflict for a l-o-n-g time, even causing us to occasionally decline a contract because of them. The fact that the FTC has ruled noncompetes "an unfair method of competition—and therefore a violation of section 5—for employers to, inter alia, enter into non-compete clauses with workers" -- including any existing noncompete clauses currently in effect -- validates what we've been saying for decades. I'm curious how publishers will respond to this new regulation that makes it illegal to force noncompete clauses on authors. And I'm curious how authors feel about it as well. Feel free to comment if you have an opinion. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://lnkd.in/gmUxb_yG

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Kudos, Glossier, Inc. Grant Program For Black-Owned Beauty Businesses, for at least upping the ante in terms of grant size. I get really frustrated seeing the proliferation of female founder grant programs/pitch competitions with teensy weensy amounts, where we're expected to be grateful and compete for crumbs, while the VC funding banquet lavishes millions, nay, billions on white bro founders. Glossier is awarding four $50,000 grants and one former grantee $100,000 Alumni Award - at least that's not nothing. Details here: https://lnkd.in/e-miZ4yr #FundFemaleFounders #FundBlackFemaleFounders

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