surefoot.me

We are proud of the long-term partnerships we have with brands like Peak Design, Hydro Flask, Brooklinen, OXO, Made In Cookware and more.

We strive to create a culture where superior service is our primary sales strategy, clients and co-workers are friends and hard work is balanced with play.

Our core tenets:

- Partner with brands and companies we believe in, who give more than they take, whether that’s in the way of charitable giving, happiness or health.

- Win with integrity and put people over profit in a world that often forgets how to do those things.

- Refuse to waiver on doing what is best for our clients, even if it means less upside for us.

- Only do what we can do well, providing strategic AB testing and personalization services, and partnering with others when we veer outside the realm of our core competencies.

- Be happy. As they say, life is too short to be anything else.

If our philosophy resonates, please give me a shout at brian@surefoot.me

CEO & co-founder

CROmetrics

As employee #1, I helped grow the company to $3.5MM in annual recurring revenue and wore many hats, handling everything from client management to data analysis, QA and process implementation for clients like Facebook, 99designs, Trulia, General Assembly, Weight Watchers and more. 

As the company grew from two people to 25, I was promoted to Director of Operations, where I led various initiatives, including implementation of back-end systems and automation that facilitated internal efficiency and client success.

Director Of Operations

Test My Marketing

This was the second company I co-founded, which I spun out of a 3-day startup event, even winning a MSN influential new business contest. True story. I’m still surprised the domain name was available. 

We offered an affordable copywriting solution to help businesses craft crisp, actionable and compelling messages before publishing to their audiences. As co-founder, I led all internal operations and marketing and managed a community of freelance marketers.

Co-Founder

Rockbridge Seminary

Directed technology, online and traditional marketing, and finance.

Vice President of Operations

Director of Operations

Operations Manager

Watch Dog Time

This was my first foray into the world of business ownership, an online luxury watch repair business. If you had a broken Rolex, Tag Heuer or Breitling, I had a fix for it.

• directed all matters of finance, marketing, and daily operations 
• handled all customer service inquiries, ensuring timely responses (see what I did there?) 
• bootstrapped company and reached profitability and positive cash flow within 5 months of launch

President & Co-founder

Justice Jewelers

In this role, I found diamonds in the rough (literally and figuratively), as I was responsible for directing the buying team, small diamond buying and jewelry appraising. This is where I got my first taste of the World Wide Web (as it was referred to then), as I  managed our company websites and the Inventory Management System. 

• responsible for planned merchandise spend of $6MM annually
• directed outsourced marketing activities with ad agency
• designed and implemented a system to control purchasing budgets 
• designed and implemented a website for sale of slow moving inventory, which led to increased profitability and faster turn
• designed and implemented a purchasing process to increase inventory turn; turn exceeded industry average by 186%
• earned Graduate Gemology degree from the G.I.A.

Buying Team Manager/Marketing Coordinator/Merchandiser

Growing ecommerce businesses through CRO, UX research, and data analytics.

We're a conversion rate optimization agency for eCommerce brands looking to grow to the next level, but know they need to a better job converting traffic. 

We talk to your potential customers, find out why they're not buying, and fix those issues through a/b testing, personalization, and data-informed UX/UI design.

We help you grow by leveraging: 
-> Full-website conversion optimization
-> Landing page optimization
-> Personalization and segmentation
-> Conversion-focused web design
-> User experience research
-> Website analytics and reporting

We’ve worked with brands you know, like JensonUSA, Osprey, PENN Fishing, and The Shade Store. We’re also fired up about helping growing brands reach the next level. Some brands we've helped make this jump include Hydro Flask, Made In, Mizzen and Main, and Peak Design.

Brian Schmitt

The CRO industry is full of 25-year-olds teaching "masterclasses" after running 10 tests.

I've been doing this since 2001. And honestly, almost all of what I see from newer operators today is straight trash.

Can someone be good at CRO in two years? 

"Good" is a loose term. Can someone do it? For sure.

But if you're coming in fresh at 25 with no business experience, you're not going to be proficient.

You'll end up copycatting wins you see posted online with no strategic thought and zero customer empathy.

I've stepped in for clients after they left younger agencies. Their biggest complaint is always:

"Our tests would win, but we wouldn't see revenue translate."

When I examine their "winning" tests, I find they hit significance in 3-4 days when the sample size wasn't big enough, creating false positives everywhere.

We've found "losses" that were actually wins when re-run correctly and "wins" that were flat or actual losses.

Real experience teaches principles, not tactics.

CEO at Surefoot.me | Driving ecom growth w/ CRO, Analytics, UX Research, and Site Design

The most expensive mistake $10M+ ecommerce brands make:

They spend millions on traffic.
But 98% of those visitors leave without buying.

CRO is the lever they ignore.

Acquisition builds reach.
Optimization builds revenue.

Without CRO, your ad budget is a leaky bucket.

Recent wins from Surefoot clients:

 • Free Shipping Threshold → +$516K annual revenue
 • Centaur LP → +8.3% cart adds
 • Category Clarity in the Nav → +$149K annual lift

Different brands. 

Same pattern:
Disciplined experimentation beats design trends.

The most expensive phrase in eCommerce?

“We want to redesign the website.”

Full redesigns do not deliver the ROI you think it will, and it is almost always a waste of time and resources that brands could be putting towards what ACTUALLY drives a substantial impact: 

→ Removing friction where it counts
→ Fixing leaks in the customer journey
→ Tapping into buying psychology
→ Running smart, strategic A/B tests

Chasing shiny new designs is looking for gold at the end of the rainbow. 

Double down on what works and optimize the rest.

Most people think CRO is about button colors and call-to-actions.
It’s not.

It’s about truth.

When we run a test, we’re asking:
“What actually drives buying behavior, not what we think drives it?”

Sometimes that truth hurts.
It shows your $82k redesign was vanity.
It proves your CEO’s favorite headline does nothing.
It humbles teams who “knew” their customer.

But that’s why it works.

CRO turns “we believe” into “we know.”

And once you operate from truth, every other part of your business compounds faster.

When a brand tells me “it should be working,” I know we’re about to find revenue.

“Our PDP should convert better.”
“Our new landing page should outperform the old one.”
“Our loyalty program should increase retention.”

The problem?
None of those sentences include proof.

We’ve run over 9,000 tests across ecommerce brands.
Roughly half the time, the “better” version loses.

That’s not failure.
That’s the tuition you pay for certainty.

You can either spend millions building what should work…
Or a fraction testing what actually does.

If everyone follows “best practices,” who’s left to stand out?


So many CRO audits start with the same sentence:


“We follow best practices.”


And that’s usually the problem.


Because “best practices” mean “what everyone else already tried.”
They’re safe. Predictable. Easy to copy.


But optimization isn’t about copying. It’s about discovery.


Your audience, product, and price point are unique.
Your winning version probably breaks at least five “rules.”


If your pages look like your competitors’, you’re fighting for scraps.


CRO is how you break away, safely.
You earn permission to zig while they all zag.

How's it going today? 

Feeling the anticipation or feeling the heartburn?

Every brand has one assumption about its customers that has never been tested.

What’s yours?
(Serious question.)

Sales and Marketing at CBF Labels

I'm passionate about sharing content & ideas on sales + marketing to help you level up your professional knowledge.

Outside my main role, I've been helping Ecommerce SaaS and AI companies with distribution and promotion.

If you’re looking to advertise to my audience, please send me a message so we can chat further. Thanks!

Jamie Dimond

99% of people get a degree, get a job, then stop learning.

High performers ensure after-hours learning is a habit. They're obsessed with learning and becoming 1% better each day.

I used to waste my lunch breaks while working in finance binge-watching Youtube. My people leader at the time suggested I make a change.

He gave me Ted Talks to watch instead. Later on he assigned me books to read like Carol Dweck "Mindset."

Over the next 2 years I got promoted constantly. 

All the learning changed how I viewed the world. It help me develop EQ instead of IQ. 

Bizarrely, the learning journey also helped me heal from mental illness. 

You don't learn once then earn for the rest of your career. No. Use self-learning to upgrade your career and explode your value.

Am I missing anything?

Credit: Tim Denning ( go follow him )

Working with smart people is great.
But it is not enough.

Because intelligence can solve problems.
But humility and kindness build cultures where problems don’t have to exist in the first place.

Here’s why it matters so much 👇

Kind and humble people:

They make collaboration effortless.
You don’t waste energy defending ideas or egos. 
You build together - faster, cleaner, and with more trust.

They create psychological safety.
When people feel respected, they speak up, share bold ideas, 
and admit mistakes early. 
That’s how teams innovate and grow.

They inspire long-term loyalty.
People don’t leave companies - they leave toxic dynamics. 
Working with grounded, genuine teammates keeps great talent around.

 Ways to practice kindness and humility at work:

Listen more than you talk.
You don’t need to have the loudest voice to have the strongest impact. 
Listening builds connection and earns respect.

Give credit - generously.
Acknowledging others’ work doesn’t diminish your own. 
It multiplies the trust and energy in your team.

Keep learning.
The moment you think you’ve “arrived,” you stop growing. 
Stay curious, stay open, and never let success make you unapproachable.

Kind people build strong teams.
Strong teams create big results.

Credit: Chase Dimond

Most people think social media managers just “post content.”

A nice graphic here, a caption there… and somehow, followers appear.

If only it were that simple.

The truth?
Social media managers are the Swiss army knives of modern marketing.

Behind every single post, there’s:
🧭 Strategy – understanding who you’re talking to and why.
✍️ Copywriting – turning thoughts into emotions that move people.
🎨 Design – making ideas visual, memorable, and on-brand.
📊 Analytics – reading the data, not just the comments.
📢 Ads – amplifying what works (and killing what doesn’t).
💬 Community – replying, engaging, connecting human to human.

It’s not just about pressing “publish.”

It’s about building trust, consistency, and brand recall one post at a time.

So the next time someone says “you just post memes all day,” smile, sip your coffee, and remember:
you’re not just managing social media.
You’re managing perception, connection, and growth.

👉 To every social media manager out there keep the brand alive, one post at a time.

Credit: Bind Reka (go follow him)

Once you understand this, you'll never look at logos the same way

Color psychology in marketing leverages the emotional and behavioral impact of colors to influence consumers

shaping perceptions of a brand and driving purchasing decisions

Colors can evoke feelings of trust (blue), energy (red), or health (green), but their meaning can vary by individual experience, culture, and context

Marketers use color strategically in logos, websites, and packaging to build brand recognition, create atmosphere, and promote specific actions, such as impulse buys or calls to action

Credit: Edgar Bitencourt

Don't hire the smartest person.

The best teams I’ve worked in weren’t full of geniuses.

They had good humans. 

People who worked as a team.

They asked good questions, shared credit, supported each other. 

And they never let ego get in the way of progress.

That’s what builds real culture.
And it all starts with who you hire.

(Credit: Dan Mian)

5 Ways To Build A Great Team Culture:

1️⃣ Hire For Character, Not Just Skills
↳ You can teach tools and systems.
↳ But you can’t teach curiosity, humility or drive.

2️⃣ Collaboration > Competition
↳ Reward those who lift others up.
↳ Knowledge hoarding kills momentum.

3️⃣ Growth Mindset 
↳ Encourage people to ask questions.
↳ It’s how teams learn, adapt & get better.

4️⃣ Keep It Light (But Focused)
↳ Great teams don’t take themselves too seriously.
↳ But they take the mission seriously — and they deliver.

5️⃣ Leave Egos At The Door
↳ Be kind, approachable & low-maintenance.
↳ Being easy to work with is an underrated superpower.

Tolerating a toxic employee is the fastest way to break trust and lose your best people.

Culture isn’t built by perks or policies.
It’s built by people.

Managers may have status.

But leaders create true impact.

Here is what impactful leadership is not:

- Neglecting professional development and training
- Not acknowledging and actioning feedback
- Micro-managing every single detail
- Avoiding difficult conversations
- Favouring people over others
- Setting unclear expectations
- Taking all the credit
- Ignoring team input
- Being inaccessible
- Resisting change

Impactful leadership is:

- Listening actively
- Taking full responsibility
- Treating everyone equally
- Being friendly and approachable
- Empowering everyone around you
- Having difficult but necessary talks
- Embracing change and adapting fast
- Accepting feedback and taking action on it
- Celebrating achievements no matter what size
- Providing clear guidance, especially in difficult times

The best leaders focus on:

↳ Setting the example
↳ How they make people feel
↳ Bringing the best out of everyone

It’s far more than a title.

Know a leader who’s changed your life?
Tag them below to show them they are appreciated! ⬇️

♻️ Repost this to support the leaders in your network.
Credit:  Chris Donnelly

About 35 million people in the US work from home at least part of their week.

We used to think work could only be done one before the pandemic.

Commutes.
Busy offices.
Never-ending days.

But what we’ve learned is that how we work shapes how we live.

Going back to the office means:

→ rigid hours
→ time lost commuting
→ stressing over traffic
→ less time with loved ones
→ no time to focus on health
→ constant office distractions

On the flip side, remote work means:

→ slow mornings
→ flexible schedules
→ time and money saved
→ better focus and efficiency
→ more time for the ones you love
→ space to focus on your health and wellness

It’s not just about a location, it’s about what we get back.

More energy.
More time.
More life.
More.
More.
More.

Sooner or later, I hope more companies will start offering remote work again.

If a company doesn't want to offer remote—others will happily take their best employees.

Because people want options (whether in-office, hybrid, or fully remote)

So let's be flexible and give people options & choice!

Credit: Dominick Namis

Uncomfortable truth.. 

Work is NOT a family

A red flag we don't talk about enough? 

🚩 Companies that say "family" when they really mean "team" 

(Especially the big ones) 

I have worked in cultures like this, and I know how toxic it can be

This is a lesson I learned the hard way, but you don't have to

The "work-family" mindset : 

🚫 Blurs the lines between home and work 
Saying "no" feels like a betrayal and creates burnout
 
🚫 Makes feedback feel personal and targeted
This can drive internal divisions and personal attacks 

🚫 Sets unrealistic expectations 
People don't owe anything to the company except what they're paid for 
 

Work is important, but it's not on par with your family 

No matter how collaborative and supportive your team is 

Here's what a healthy workplace looks like:

● There are clear boundaries 
↳ A real work-life balance is nurtured and encouraged 

● Everyone maintains their perspective 
↳ Work comes first in the office, but life comes first outside

● There is a focus on respect, not "love." 
↳ You don't need to be family to trust and support each other 

Your family loves you unconditionally and is your support system 

Your team respects you and works with you toward shared goals 

P.S. Have you been part of a "work-family" culture? 

Credit: Hamza Rauf Khan

The fastest way to learn anything?

Start before you're ready.

Here's what most people do: 

→ Research for months 
→ Plan every detail 
→ Wait for the "perfect" moment 
→ Never actually begin

Meanwhile, the people who succeed are already figuring it out.

You can't learn to swim by reading about water.
You can't learn to code without writing messy code. 
You can't learn to sell without making awkward pitches.

The real education happens when you're doing the work.

Every successful person has this in common: 

→ They started with incomplete knowledge 
→ They learned by making mistakes 
→ They adjusted as they went 
→ They got better through repetition

The market is the best teacher. 

Customers are the best feedback. 

Experience is the best education.

Planning has its place, but action has the power.

Your idea doesn't need to be perfect. 
Your plan doesn't need to be bulletproof. 

Your skills don't need to be complete.
You just need to begin.

The road reveals itself as you walk.

Сredit: Noemi Kis✨

Most of your audience is not ready to buy.

The goal of marketing is that when they are ready to buy, your brand is top of mind.

Credit: Dmurr68 on Twitter/X

And the award for most creative resume goes to...





Credit: Libby Moyer

Marketing is a humbling profession.

Sometimes the idea you’re certain is going to work doesn’t work. Or the idea you know definitely won’t work for some reason does work. Or the thing that used to work stops working. You need to continuously learn, re-learn, and un-learn.

Credit: mkobach on Twitter/X

After two successful exits (Google & Zynga)

you need THIS "Decision Layer" to win deals 👇



What I call "Layer 3"

Let me explain:


1️⃣ Surface Layer (Table Stakes)
→ Company data
→ Basic tech stack
→ Team structure
→ Recent news
→ Public metrics


But this is where most stop.

Because it's easy to automate this research.

If you want your outreach to land?

You need to hit these layers:


2️⃣ Strategic Layer (The Context)
→ Growth vectors
→ Tech architecture
→ Market position
→ Competition map
→ Customer sentiment
→ Investment areas
→ Product roadmap


And how you really stand out?

Layer 3 "Decision Layer" data:

3️⃣ Decision Layer
→ Stakeholder dynamics
→ Internal processes
→ Budget ownership
→ Success metrics
→ Career motivators
→ Risk tolerance
→ Change appetite



👀 The reality in my experience?

95% of sales teams never reach Layer 3.

Because it requires:

→ Systematic thinking
→ Pattern recognition
→ Deep industry knowledge
→ Cross-functional understanding
→ Technical acumen

Most teams are under pressure to deliver.

And can't create the space / resources to hit layer 3.



But...

Those who master all 3 layers?

They don't just sell. They consult.


That’s how you’re seen as a strategic advisor in your deals.

That’s how you up your ACV and your win rate.

Credit: Jeff Chen

Without SEO, your brand is invisible.

This visual says it all:

Without SEO, no one can see your brand.

No one can listen to your message.

And no one will speak about your value.


SEO isn’t just about ranking on Google—it’s about visibility, trust, and communication.
If your ideal audience can’t find you, you don’t exist in their world.

So before you invest in flashy ads or branding, make sure your SEO foundation is solid.

It’s time to let your brand be seen, heard, and talked about!

Credit: SUMANT SINGH

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