As Facebook rebranded itself to Meta Platforms with the goal of bringing the metaverse to life in order to “help people connect, find communities, and grow business” we can’t help but wonder, what will advertising look like in the metaverse?

Unlike the internet of today, the metaverse is intended to make the user feel present. Some companies are already full steam ahead. For example, Nike, with the help of Roblox, has created a virtual world called Nikeland. 

As of now, Nikeland is free and is modeled after the company’s real world headquarters. Players can compete in a variety of mini games and use real world movements to power online play. You can deck your avatar out in Nike from head to toe, and they plan to allow kids to co-create items. 

Companies like Nike have seen the value of the metaverse to connect with a new generation of athletes and consumers and eventually translate that connection to real world sales. 

Do you like this new development in digital marketing? Let us know what you think!

In this week's issue: 

• How To Manage Your Most Valuable Asset: Time
• Failing forward… How to use failure to find success.
• Opportunity: A secret project. 
• What would you do?
• How a single piece of content can change your life - with Mason Kuhr
• Last Week's Best Bits.

💎 Join Furlough on Discord 💎

How To Manage Your Most Valuable Asset: Time

Have you ever wondered how some professionals always seem on top of their work no matter what? They could have multiple accounts to manage and still, nothing phases them. Meanwhile you feel like you're drowning in a sea of never ending tasks.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Whether you're a business owner or a marketing professional, you can use these time management strategies to your advantage:

1. Eliminate tasks that don't add up to the bigger picture.

Let's look at a new business for example: Sure, it might be enjoyable diving deep into your brand guidelines but ultimately that won't determine if your new business is actually viable. You can do the fun tasks later but first you have to "eat the frog."

2. Meetings don't need to be 1 hour long.

Don't feel obligated to do what everyone else is doing. If you don't have enough content to fill an hours meeting. Make it half an hour, or even 10 minutes if need be. Meetings are supposed to be productive, not full of fluff. 

This takes us onto the next point...

3.  Set a clear meeting agenda.

If everyone knows what is going to be covered in the meeting the session will go smoother. Give your team a chance to add touchpoints to the agenda so they can address anything they feel is relevant. Give your team permission to leave the meeting if it's not applicable to them, so they can focus on the most important goals of the day. The key here is open and understanding communication. 

4. Compartmentalise tasks that don't need to be completed immediately. 

This ones a stress reducer! You don't have to think about absolutely everything you have to do all at the same time. That can lead you to feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. Only focus on what you're doing right now. Try not to jump from project to project in a five minute space. This will only slow you down. 

If you found this useful head over to our Kick Off session today at 2pm EST on Youtube for more gems. 
 

Failing forward… How to use failure to find success.

Have you ever taken an idea and put it into action?

Only to realize that your idea needs to be worked on and changed to make it better?

We've seen this with many startups and we're sure you have as well.
This is basically known as the "right of passage" within the startup world.
At its core, a startup is a guess pending validation. Meaning it only works if there's actually people willing to pay for it.

This was the crossroads we arrived at last week with Essential Startup Bytes' founder Mihai.

Mihai initially wanted to create a newsletter and eventually platform where other founders & interested readers could access essential startup advice in bite sized chunks by authority figures. Covering topics all the way from ideation, incubation, to scaling and building teams. This content would be delivered in quick & concise emails directly to your inbox.

Sounds great right?

But from a business perspective:

• Starting a newsletter from scratch isn't exactly a profitable business model (unless you have a massive audience)

• They haven't made a single sale and have around 60 users subscribed to the free newsletter

• Mihai needs to come up with different ways of monetizing (funnels, courses, programs etc.)

And From a marketing perspective:

• They need to continue growing their audience on social media (which in turn grows the amount of subscribers)

• They need to define who their target audience is (are they speaking to other founders, other students, someone completely different etc.)

• They need to differentiate themselves from other startup newsletters (what value does a subscriber get from paying for their specific newsletter)
   

One of the most valuable takeaways from this session was the discussion between this idea of missionaries vs. mercenaries.

Founders can be grouped using these 2 distinct identifiers.

Missionaries have a mission, a duty to fulfill a need in the market by building their startup to serve that specific audience.

Mercenaries are opportunistic. They have a lust for making money and focusing on driving as much value as they possibly can in their market.

Both definitions have created extremely successful businesses but it's important to understand as a founder where you lie within this matrix.
 

So are you a mercenary or a missionary? Let us know!

Tune in this week as we're going to be diving into the Matrix Gamers Ecosystem (a decentralized gaming platform built on the Binance smart chain).

Join us in the #Furlounge this Tuesday @ 2pm for some high-level marketing insights!

If you're a founder looking to get your startup boosted, then send a message to one of the community managers in the Furlough discord to join the waitlist (Spots are LIMITED).
 

Opportunity: A secret project...

Community member and entrepreneur Anze, is looking for partners to help him realise his new business vision. To protect the originality of the business he is unable to share the exact idea, however, we do know it's going to be a digital product. The deal would involve a 50/50 split so if you're interested in this elusive opportunity, reach out to him directly at #1024 on our Discord. 

Meme of the week: 

P.S. We don't recommend this as a marketing strategy...

This weeks big win: 

We're giving Charles Lange a warm welcome to the Furlough Core Team! Charles has officially been brought on board to spearhead project management across our teams. Project management is a huge factor when it comes to performance so we're excited to make an impact there. 

What would you do?

If you were faced with the choice...

To go back 10 years in time with all of your knowledge you know right now...

OR fast forward 10 years with $25 million in your chequing account, what would you do?

As digital marketers, we think most people would go back in time because of the endless opportunities available.

This was an idea we played with this week when Clouds Coffee Company's founder told us that he was 16 years old and still in high school.

There's something so inspiring around young entrepreneurs that really motivates you to want to give them as much value as possible.

Because ultimately they’re going to shape the future of this exciting space.

What they do: 

• Clouds Coffee Company is looking to bring in a new generation of caffeine enthusiasts.

Who they are: 

• Ben Cloud (the founder) is using his brand to support entirely natural and certified organic farmers as well as mental health & suicide prevention causes.

But with all the great things Clouds Coffee Company is doing, there's a TON of room for improvement:

• From understanding their target market
• From prioritizing their growth strategy (benefits of running paid vs. going all in on organic)
• From building their backend processes (email marketing flows, gathering UGC/customer reviews etc.)

Since there's so much to be done we're super excited to see the growth behind this company and Ben himself.

If you've got any suggestions in terms of different strategies to grow via paid & organic efforts, let us know in the #ecommerce chat we would love to hear them!

Until then, come check out this week's Brand Audit session featuring Body & Botany (an elevated botanical personal care company).

Join us in the #Furlounge this Thursday @ 2 pm to listen in on some high-value insights!

If you're a brand looking to get your 2022 action plan, then send a message to one of the community managers in the Furlough discord to join the waitlist (Spots are LIMITED).

How a single piece of content can change your life - with Mason Kuhr

If you're still hesitating to jump on the TikTok train, this might change your mind. 

We spoke with TikTok-preneur Mason Kuhr, who's amassed 115K followers and launched his own successful fitness ecom brand. Kuhr got into the space originally as a form of self expression. A huge self growth enthusiast, he started making fitness content that he felt would have helped him years ago. He began to grow as he released brutally honest content which resonated with the TikTok consumers. 

Check out the highlights from the stream: 

How to create good content:  

"If you filter yourself you can't come up with ideas." 

Some content creators find success by jumping on trending sounds and themes but Mason found that sharing his perspective and opinions felt much more authentic in his case. To put this in context, the first time released this type of content he gained 7k followers from one video alone.

How often should you really post?

We hate to be the bearers of an anticlimax but this TikTok-preneur had no posting strategy. His post frequency ranges from about 5-6 videos a day. The key is to create content when you can provide something of value. 

The low down on TikTok Ads:

Kuhr started small: With only $20 in ad spend using three ad sets. 
The result? A notification from TIkTok saying his ad spend was too low. 

So he upped the budget to $100 a day under the health and fitness category. 

Once he got enough page views he created a lookalike audience - and is now killing it.  




What you should do if you're following stops growing? 

"switch your paragdym from consumption to creation." 

Here's the thing, you will hit plateaus.

Mason was stuck at 70k for a while but he encourages everyone to keep going. Instead of focusing on the numbers and getting stressed try to focus on your own personal growth. 

Kuhr's Book recommendations:

1. Atomic Habits
2. The Power of Now.
3. The Way of The Superior Man.
4. 100 Million Dollar Offers.

The reality is action beats everything. 

The continuing growth of TikTok creators means that competition is rising, so if you want to get in the space, start now. 

Last Weeks Best Bits

Get ready to experience this weeks best bits from our community:

ECOMMERCE: Get this tool to track activities across all your marketing channels.
STRATEGY: How do you plan your monthly goals as a business owner?
UI-UX: One Simple Psychology Framework To Improve Your Onboarding.

Have a great week and we hope to see you in our Kick Off today at 2PM EST!