This past week has been... a lot. And while there's SO MUCH I CAN SAY, my subconscious/the universe/the ghost of George Carlin are telling me to have patience, so I'mma do that.

Instead, I was fully prepared to be served a slice of humble pie and eat that in today's email with you as my witness.

Turns out, I don't need to.

Last week, I showed you my lil Trust Theory™ (there's no trademark, that's a joke), and how by treating the impressions in our ad accounts like actual people instead of numbers, we could see unmatched results in the year of Dolly Parton when it comes to Facebook ads.

I showed you my experiment with a $1 Awareness ad in combination with a $10/day Sales campaign that was generating a 25x ROAS on hotel bookings.

With everything that's happened since last Monday, I thought for sure I'd have embarrassed myself for today's email.

Wrong :)

Today I'm here to show you that, despite the shitshow of the last 7 days, my UNTOUCHED campaigns have earned a 36.46x ROAS.

Possibly even more impressive, all revenue has been attributed to the Cold ad set, or the one targeting people who have NOT liked/commented/shared anything from this business online in that last 180 days.

Now for that subject line, if you can show me another business that's generated a 25x ROAS in the same timeframe as last weeks screenshots, or hell even a 36.46x ROAS in the last 7 days, I'd LOVE to chat with you and understand your strategies and also pay you $100 for your time.

But if you're not running ads, and you're not sure how this applies to you (or even if it does at all), I have a secret for you.

It does apply to you. It applies to anyone with anything to sell.

And whether you're selling services as a copywriter, products through an ecommerce store, or selling $639/night hotel rooms, it all comes down to one thing — trust.

Because here's what almost everybody is missing — especially in the online business space.

Those instant sales from cold ads? Those viral reels that magically converted thousands? That course launch that made 6-figures from brand new leads?

It's all incomplete information at best, and outright lies at worst.

So many have made fortunes and built entire businesses by selling tactics - "run this type of ad" or "post this many reels" or "use this funnel template".

They even have screenshots that seemingly back up their claims. (☎️: Hello? Yes, FTC? I'd like to report a crime).

It all looks so much like success, that we've completely lost sight of the strategy behind what actually makes marketing work.

And I'm not talking about what worked in 2020 vs what works now.

I'm talking about the fundamental principles that have always worked, but get buried under quick fixes and "proven" templates.

The truth is, these surface-level tactics were never the real driver of results. They were just the visible part of much deeper, more intentional strategies that built genuine connections with real people.

It's why people are tired of being sold to by strangers. It's why they're tired of being promised results from people they've never heard of. It's why they're tired of being treated like walking dollar signs instead of actual humans.

And I get it. Building real trust takes time. It takes patience. It takes actually giving a shit about the people you're trying to reach.

Slapping a $37 price tag on a PDF that should have been a blog post and making 10x return on cold ads is way sexier. But it was a gimmick. And it worked 4 years ago, but now the market has evolved to spot that bullshit from a mile away.

Are some people still profiting with ads and low-ticket offers? Yes! And that's what separates people who market from a place of knowledge and trust, and those who copy funnels from a template.

When you do it right - when you actually take the time to build that trust - you don't have to rely on complicated funnels or aggressive sales tactics to make sales.

You don't have to lie, or put yourself out there in a way that makes you want to puke.

You just have to show up consistently (and I do NOT mean posting daily), deliver the right content intentionally, and treat people like... well, people.

I believe moving forward, that the people who care will be the ones who win. More on that next week.

For now — here's to doing what's in our power to create a better future,

Olivia