Ecom Growth Consultant | Follow to Unlock Your Ecom Growth

"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘺𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘵. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺!"
Sky – Founder @ Medicinal Foods (Oct 2025)


🚀 We scale 7–8 figure DTC & Amazon brands on TikTok Shop to $100K+/month GMV.

Here’s how:

• End-to-end TikTok Shop management (listings, affiliates, creators, ads).
• Proven playbooks behind $2M+ GMV generated.
• Direct access to a top creator network driving millions in monthly sales.
• Performance-driven approach designed to turn TikTok Shop into a profit channel, not a gamble.

You get our A.C.E. Framework + the full ‘Anatomy of Success’ operating system.. the same system our creators used to generate €2M GMV... plus our internal tech stack worth €1,340/month, included for free. 


📈 If you’re a brand founder or a CMO tired of burning ad spend or seeing zero traction on TikTok Shop, this is where you flip it.

👉 DM me if you want TikTok Shop to be your next major revenue channel.

Saief Tissaoui

I spent 8 days building The Shortest Path to first $50K/month on TikTok Shop for DTC brands.

(most are doing it completely wrong)

Here's the brutal truth:

→ You're NOT getting bad ROI because your product sucks
→ You're NOT failing because "TikTok doesn't work for us"  
→ You're failing because you're treating it like Meta ads

TikTok Shop is NOT a marketing channel.
It's a revenue operating system.

And after working with & consutling dozen brands on TikTok Shop, I've identified the exact system that separates $0/month brands from $50K/month brands fast.

I just packaged the entire blueprint.

👉 30+ pages.  

Inside you'll get:

✓ The Product-Market Fit Check (7 questions to know if your product will work BEFORE wasting money)
✓ The Cold Start Setup
✓ The 6 Core Systems (Affiliate Magnet, Creator Retention, Creative Testing, Listing Conversion, GMV Max, Weekly Review)
✓ The 90-Day Roadmap
✓ The 7 Cold Start Killers (mistakes that stop brands from hitting $50K/month fast)

This is the system we've used to help brands go from:
→ "We tried TikTok and got burned" 
→ To a fast 5-figure months in 90 days

This blueprint will save you $10K-$50K in wasted learning.

Want it? 

Like + Comment "BLUEPRINT" 
and I'll send it to your inbox.

♻️ Repost this and get it same day

Add +$100K/mo via TikTok Shop | For 7-8 Figure DTC Brands

TikTok went down yesterday.

Over 36,000 users reported issues. 

Videos wouldn't load. 
Feeds froze. 
Login failures.

The timing is interesting
This occurred just 3 days after the January 22 ownership deal closed
where TikTok became majority American-owned

As of now, TikTok has not issued an official statement about the cause or provided enough details on the cause.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱:

Nothing really.

TikTok has had outages before. 
Every platform does.

This isn't the January 2025 ban situation. 
This is a technical glitch that got resolved within hours.

Based on my inbox reaction; many panicked. 
Maybe understandibly so, but here's what this reveals: 

Brands still don't fully trust TikTok as they think they do

If a 6-hour Meta Ads outage happened, no one would question their entire Meta strategy.

TikTok is heading toward +$23B in 2026. 
Short-term technical issues don't change that trajectory.

What are your thoughts?

TikTok Shop Profits are broken. 
Because most brands leave 10-20% on the table 
without even realizing it...

For a brand doing $100K/month, 
that's up to $240K leaked annually..

Those don't come from one big leak. 
Rather from 19 small ones stacking up

Most founders don't see it because they're obsessed with volume milestones.

Volume matters. 
Especially at the start.

But margin leaks compound silently.

So I built an 19-point audit to find every leak.

It covers:
✓ Creator economics
✓ Promotional stacking
✓ Product & bundling 
✓ Returns & customer experience 
✓ GMV Max economics 

Every leak includes:
☐ Checkbox to identify if you have it
→ Why it's costing you money
→ How to fix it

If you're scaling TikTok Shop and want to find where your profit is leaking:

Like + Comment "AUDIT" and I'll send it to your inbox.
♻️ Repost this to help another brand stop the bleed.

I almost missed this update..

TikTok Shop quietly added a Logistics tab inside Seller Center.

No announcement.
Just… there.

At first glance, it looks harmless.
It’s not.

This is TikTok making one thing very clear:

Logistics is no longer a backend detail. 
It’s a growth lever.

What the new tab actually does:
• Centralizes TikTok Shipping, Seller Shipping, FBT
• Makes processing time and late shipments painfully visible
• Surfaces issues that directly impact shop health and distribution

Why this matters:

I keep seeing brands with:
→ decent content
→ active creators
→ and flat GMV

And the problem isn’t creative.

It’s ops.

Slow handling, messy shipping flows, unclear ownership.

TikTok doesn’t warn you loudly.
It just stops pushing your shop.

This update isn’t about convenience.
It’s about enforcement.

If you’re still treating TikTok Shop like “just another channel”, you’ll feel this one.

If you’re building it like an operating system, you’re ahead.

After managing TikTok Shops all year, I just finished:
The TikTok Shop 2026 | $100K/month Playbook 🗂️ 

13 pages, 6 sections
And you can have it for FREE.

Comment “2026” and I’ll send it to you.

It’s the exact rules we've used to:

→ reach +$100K/month with realistic expectations
→ set the proper growth systems with no chaos
→ choose the right launch path based on capital
→ Leverage GMV Max Ads for optimal results

+And helps you gain clarity on:

→ How to rate your product-platform fit
→ What progress should look like in 30 / 60 / 90 days
→ How much volume you actually need
→ When to push harder vs when to stay disciplined

This is the only resource you need to understand how TikTok Shop actually works in 2026.

Like + Comment “2026” and I’ll send it to you.

______________________________
♻️ Share this and you'll get the Playbook in the same day

TikTok Shop is not a marketing channel.

It's an entire revenue operating system.

And most brands are setting themselves up to fail because they don't understand this.

Here's what I see constantly:
Brands treat TikTok Shop like Meta Ads, or influencer marketing

→ "Let's throw some budget at it and see what happens"
→ "We'll test it like we test influencer campaigns"
→ "If it doesn't work in 60 days, we'll cut it"

That's not how TikTok Shop works.
TikTok Shop requires:

→ Tight logistics and fulfillment ops
→ Creator training and retention systems
→ Content velocity engines (100-200 videos/month minimum)
→ Listing-level conversion optimization
→ Affiliate economic modeling
→ Algorithmic patience through cold start
→ GMV Max budget allocation
→ Shop management infrastructure

It's not "post and pray."
It's not "let's go viral."
It's not influencer seeding.

It's ops-heavy, system-driven commerce.

If you're planning to "test" TikTok Shop in 2026, stop.

Either commit to building the full system 
or don't start at all.

Half-measures don't work here.

Most business problems aren't business problems.

They're personal problems disguised as strategy.

Early in my career, I wore perfectionism like a badge of honor.
- "I don't ship half-baked work."
- "Quality takes time."

Sounds reasonable, right?
Wrong.

Here's what I learned:
A painting painted over 100 days is usually worse than the 100th painting painted over 100 days.

Speed of execution compounds into quality. 
Not the other way around.

The brands that win aren't the ones with perfect strategies.
They're the ones that ship, learn, and iterate faster than everyone else.

I see founders stuck in "planning mode" for months.
But when I dig deeper, it's never about the plan.

→ "We need more research" = Fear of being wrong
→ "We're building the foundation" = Procrastination
→ "We want to launch perfectly" = Ego protection

Meanwhile, their competitors are three iterations ahead.

The moment I shifted from perfection to velocity, everything changed.

We scaled faster. 
We learned faster. 

Our quality improved because we had more reps.

Most business blocks aren't strategic. 
They're psychological.

If you're stuck right now, ask yourself:
"Is this actually a business problem, or is it a personal problem wearing a business mask?"

The answer will unlock everything.

Meta has more ads live on TikTok than on Meta
Let that sink in...

I was reading Jonathan Snow, DMD's 2026 predictions
And he noticed something that fascinated me 👇 

In the last 30 days, Meta pushed ~$3M in GMV on TikTok Shop
Quietly becoming a Top 50 seller 🏆 

Does Meta need TTS to sell its products?
Of course not. 

If Meta is committing resources there,
that tells you where leverage is forming.

This isn’t about Meta needing TikTok to sell hardware.
It’s about studying social commerce where it actually works.

Right now, TikTok Shop is the most advanced environment for:

- Affiliate-first distribution
- Content that directly converts to checkout
- Creator-driven GMV with fast feedback loops

Meta is inside the system, watching what scales.
And historically, that’s how they move.

Stories. Reels. Live. Threads.
Same pattern.

So yes => Shop is next.

Whether Meta rebuilds this natively or not is almost irrelevant.
The real signal is simpler:

=> Social commerce is getting bigger.
=> Affiliate distribution is becoming default.

If you still think TikTok Shop is a side channel, you’re already behind.


______________________
🚀 Follow for proven TikTok Shop growth systems
💬 DM me “SYSTEM” if you want clarity on your brand’s next step
🤝 Share this with a founder who’s serious about scaling

2025 wasn’t a “growth year” on LinkedIn for me.
Here are the numbers 👇

• Posts: 118
• Lead magnet posts: 16
resulted in:
• Impressions: 115,713
• Engagements: 4,508
• New followers: 1,492

That’s not what I expected.

But honestly? 
I didn’t 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 better results.

Not because the content was weak
the insights themselves are deep, tactical, and actually useful.

The real issue was distribution, intensity, and intentionality.

16 lead magnets across a full year isn’t serious.
Good content with weak distribution doesn’t compound 

Which is why 2026 looks different:

- More fire🔥lead magnets
- Stronger distribution loops
- Better & more intentional value sharing 

I'll reveal every best insights we have 
No gatekeeping.. 

Wanna help? 
I'd love your thought on👇

1. What would actually make this worth your attention in 2026?
2. Who are the players in this space you think I should follow and learn from?

I’m building this in public. Feedback matters.

Last month, we scaled a personal care product to $200K/month on TikTok Shop.
Here's what's surprising

$100k -> $200k is much easier than 
$0 -> $10k 
It's the famous cold start. 

Here's the exact 3-phase system we used 
to get this same brand out of the cold start
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱
Creators are the core
But we don't start with it. 
We start with infrastructure.

→ Full listing optimization (title, images, bullets, offer structure) 
→ 10-15 core angles and hook variations 
→ Logistics locked in
→ CRM for creator management + a fire cohort
→ Decision framework for who gets samples

Most brands skip this. 
Then they wonder why their creators underperform.
You can't scale what isn't built to convert.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲
This is where most brands fail. 
They think 50-100 videos is "a lot."
It's not.
→ Reach 300-500 videos as fast as possible 
→ 2,000+ creator outreach per week 
→ 50-150 samples shipped monthly 
→ Early retention loops (get creators posting 2-6x, not just once) 
→ GMV Max activation once you hit 200 videos

TikTok's algorithm needs volume to learn. 
Without it, you're invisible.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽
Now you have data. Now you scale what works.

→ Identify top 5-10 creators and double down 
→ Kill underperforming angles, clone winners 
→ Tighten affiliate commission structure 
→ Scale GMV Max on best-performing content 
→ Push to 500-1500 total videos live

This is where growth compounds.
You fully get out of the cold-start 
From there, it's a snowball
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Timeline to the first 5-figures?
Depends on your budget.

→ Massive budgets: 1 month 
→ Standard brands: 3 months 
→ Cash-limited brands: 4-6 months

The phases don't change. 
Only the speed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Most brands expect linear growth.
TikTok Shop is flat → noisy → steep.

If you understand that, you won't panic at Month 2.
You'll trust the system and let it compound.

I was going to share my thoughts on this news, but Ethan Kramer summarized it perfectly

Entrepreneur | Advisor | Fractional Growth Operator | Built & Exited Social Commerce Agency | $150M+ Driven Across TikTok Shop, Meta, Creator & Live Shopping Channels.

🚨 TikTok just made a move that even Amazon hasn’t dared to do and it's going to create ABSOLUTE CHAOS. 👀

But, it's a good thing long term. 🤷‍♂️

What is changing? TikTok is phasing out...

❌ The classic “Shopify + print labels all day in Seller Center” and manually fulfill model
❌ Drop shippers “Shopify + AliExpress” sellers
❌ Small and large 3PLs without approved WMS / ERP integrations

And pushing sellers into:

✅ Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT)
✅Approved, system-integrated fulfillment (WMS / ERP level control)

Why TikTok is doing this?  This isn’t about control for control’s sake.

TikTok is optimizing for three things Amazon doesn’t have to deal with:

1️⃣ Live shopping spikes
One live = hundreds of orders in minutes. Manual fulfillment breaks instantly.

2️⃣ Affiliate + creator chaos
Sudden virality destroys fulfillment SLAs if ops aren’t automated.

3️⃣ Trust at scale
Late scans, massive amounts of refunds, tons of disputes, missed deliveries, and fraud kill buyer confidence faster on TikTok than anywhere else.

So TikTok made a call:

“We don’t trust humans. We trust systems.”

That’s the shift.

Why this is actually GOOD long term

✔️ Faster delivery
✔️ Higher conversion
✔️ Better buyer trust
✔️ More predictable scale
✔️ Serious operators win

This move raises the floor of the marketplace which in a way is it's biggest strength but also it's biggest weakness. 

And yes — it also cuts out a massive chunk of low-quality sellers who were never built to scale. That’s not a bug. That’s the point.

IMPORTANT CONTEXT: I do not expect all categories are going to be treated equally. For example - likely exemptions:

✅ Collectibles
✅ Card breaking
✅ One-of-one items

I'm sure I'm missing more but you get the idea... 

Why these categories? 

❌ Can’t use FBT cleanly
❌ Require delayed or manual allocation
❌ Are already trust-driven

Do yourself a favor. Don't freak out. Plan. Expect: 

• Category-specific rules
• Stricter SLAs
• Less flexibility

 —but not a shutdown.

Will some sellers get exceptions? I bet they will... but only if they:

💪Have strong fulfillment performance
💪Hit SLAs consistently
💪 Are integrated at the system level
💪 Work with a reliable and trusted partner and have a dedicated rep supporting 
💪 Don’t rely on manual workflows

AKA Performance buys flexibility. Manual ops do not.

RECAP: Operational advantage is becoming a platform moat.

Brands that prepare now will dominate 2026.

Short-term pain. Long-term quality/trust. That’s the trade. 📈

Here's what most DTC brands still don't understand 
about the next 5 years of commerce:

Creators will be the most important part of your distribution stack.

TikTok Shop is where you build those relationships. 
Then scale them across your entire marketing mix.

The brands that move now lock in unfair advantages.

The shift is already happening.
Entertainment → discovery → checkout.
Creators are the new shelf.

And TikTok Shop is the testing ground before this model spreads everywhere.

We've spent 18 months building systems that find, activate, and retain the right creators at scale. 
The patterns are clear now.

But here's what keeps me up at night for brands still waiting:
The cost of delay compounds every month.
→ Creator relationships that deliver repeat content get more expensive to build from scratch
→ Review velocity and social proof gaps widen against competitors already live
→ On-platform search share locks in for early movers
→ Affiliate momentum becomes nearly impossible to manufacture from zero state

Early movers aren't just generating revenue. 
They're locking in distribution assets that late entrants will pay 3x for later.

2026 will be the inflection year for TikTok Shop.
Is your brand positioned to capture it?

$100K/month to $200K/month in 4 months.
With just 180 active creators.

Most brands do the same GMV with 400-600 creators.

Here's why that matters:
More creators = More samples = lower margins.
We play the volume game. But we do so efficiently.

The brand we worked with is in personal care. 
Competitive vertical. Crowded space.

But here's what we built:
→ A creator vetting system that filters for conversion, not reach
→ A retention engine that keeps performers posting 4-6x more 
→ A listing optimization loop that turns traffic into buyers
→ An offer that keep on raising AOV

The result?
→ 180 creators outperforming what most brands do with 500+
→ Lower samples bleed, higher net margin
→ Predictable, compounding growth

Most Brands brag about creator count.
We optimize for revenue per creator.

That's the difference between activity and efficiency.

If you're managing 300+ creators and still stuck at $100k/mo, it may not be a volume problem.

You have a system problem.

"𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 100% 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩"
Said by a smart & really capable fellow operator in the space

Wanna access your TikTok Shop 2026 Playbook?

Read the post 👇

PS: will close it by the within short few days.

If you run a service business:

You might already have referrals and word-of-mouth working in your favor.

The problem isn’t trust or reputation; it’s consistency.

Some months are full.
Other months are quieter.
And there’s no switch you can flip to smooth things out.

That’s where outbound should help; but most cold email fails because it’s treated like a tactic, not a system.

I run Lotus Leadz, where we build predictable email outbound channels that sit alongside referrals and word-of-mouth; not to replace them, but to support them.

The goal isn’t volume or vanity metrics.

It’s steady, qualified conversations that help fill the gaps between referrals and give you more control over pipeline.

If outbound feels like something you’ve tried or avoided; and you want it done properly, feel free to DM me.

Korede Olotu

Yesterday, I lost two jobs.
On the same day.
Right at the start of a new year.

I won’t lie – I panicked.

I updated my CV.
Created new profiles on job platforms.
Went through my LinkedIn, portfolio, and social profiles late into the night.

I didn’t sleep until around 3am.

Somewhere in between all that, I prayed and asked God to take over – because some moments remind you that control is mostly an illusion.

What’s strange is that alongside the fear, there’s also clarity.

I’m starting a new business.
I suddenly have time – real time – to focus on it properly.
Time to take my health seriously.
Time to learn, earn a few certifications, sharpen my skills, and slow down instead of constantly reacting.

I don’t have everything figured out.
I’m not sure what this month will look like.

But I do know this:
I’m choosing not to rush past this moment.

Sometimes a forced pause is an invitation to rebuild better, even if it doesn’t feel like it yet.

Service Business Owners: We add a predictable email outbound channel alongside referrals and word-of-mouth

I sent 19,500 cold emails for a window installation company.

Not SaaS.
Not info products.
A physical, local service business in Colorado.

Here’s the exact setup ⏬
Emails sent
 → ~19,500
Infrastructure cost
 → ~$562/month
Max emails per inbox/day
 → 40
Sending tool
 → Instantly.ai
Results
 → 45 sales opportunities

What actually worked (this matters)
 → short, skimmable emails (3–4 lines max)
 → one clear idea per paragraph
 → local fabrication + installation messaging
 → transparency angle (no legacy markups)
 → named case studies
 → social proof without hype (4.9★ ratings)
 → asset-based CTAs (photos, pricing guides)
 → “Want me to share…” instead of meeting requests
 → case studies in Email 2, not long stories
 → breakup emails asking for referrals, not pressure

Cold email worked here because we didn’t treat it like cold email.
These businesses live on referrals and word-of-mouth.
They’re naturally skeptical of outbound.

So we didn’t pitch.
We didn’t educate.
We didn’t convince.
We reached the right people.

Some replies weren’t “tell me more.”
They were:
“Hey, I know your business. I have a project in Denver and need relaxed roman shades.”

That only happens when targeting and infrastructure are right.
Outbound didn’t replace referrals.
It surfaced demand that already existed.
That’s why this stayed predictable, not experimental.

Nobody really tells you what changes when you start your own thing.

When I was employed or freelancing, structure was baked in.

Someone checked in.
Deadlines existed whether I liked them or not.
There was always a next task waiting for me.

Now it’s different.

There’s no supervisor.
No one asking for an update.
No one reminding me to check the CRM or clean up a spreadsheet.

If I don’t do it, it simply doesn’t happen.

That part hit me harder than expected.

You realize you’re reporting to yourself.
You’re your own manager.
Your own motivator and biggest fan.
Your own accountability partner.

And some days, that’s the hardest job in the company.

Not because the work is hard.
But because no one is watching.

No one cares if you skip today.
No one asks why you didn’t follow up.
No one forces you to keep things organized.

It’s you versus you.

What I’ve learned is this:
running a business isn’t about feeling motivated.

It’s about building structure where a boss used to be.

Setting your own deadlines.
Checking your own work.
Holding yourself to a standard even when no one else sees it.

That’s the real transition.

And honestly, if this part feels uncomfortable, I think that’s normal.

It means you’re actually in it now.

“Qualified leads” wasn’t the problem.
My offer was.

Last week, I reached out through a campaign.
She replied. Showed interest.
Asked me to explain how it works.
I sent the details.
Silence.
So I followed up.
Called her.

We spoke for more than 7 minutes.
Those 7 minutes weren’t a pitch.
She calmly explained to me why my offer wouldn’t work for her and why it probably wouldn’t work for a lot of company owners in her industry.

She’s been in window treatment & installation for 40 years.
Her business runs on referrals. Deep relationships.
A tight network she’s built over decades.
She doesn’t need “more leads”.

Around the same time, a cleaning company founder said something similar to me:
“I don’t have time to chase qualified enquiries.”
That line stuck.
Because neither of them had a demand problem.
They had a process and positioning problem, and my offer wasn’t meeting them where they already operate.

I went back to the table after those conversations.
Not to scrape better lists, not to write “stronger copy”.
But to rethink:
- how the offer fits into their day
- how much work it creates after a reply
- how it supports referrals instead of fighting them

Since then, I’ve been getting more interested replies.
I’ve been able to get on more calls after following up.
No deals closed yet.

But I’ve cleared a real hurdle.
That invisible block where conversations don’t move forward.
Now they do.

Still learning, still early.
Grateful for the honesty; it made the system better.

Referrals didn’t dry up.
Your pipeline just has no system.

Most service businesses don’t “lose” demand.
It just becomes unpredictable.

Some months are packed.
Some months feel weirdly quiet.
Nothing changed. It just slowed down.
And usually the answer is:
“We rely on referrals.”
Which works.
Until it doesn’t.

The real issue isn’t effort.
It’s that there’s nothing running in the background.
No system creating new conversations when referrals go quiet.
No control over when installs show up.
No buffer.
So you wait.
Not because you want to.
Because that’s how it’s always worked.

The shops that stay busy year-round don’t replace referrals.
They support them.

They run a simple outbound system that:
- reaches designers and builders every week
- starts conversations before work dries up
- smooths out the slow months
- keeps the calendar from swinging

Nothing flashy.
No “growth hacks.”
Just a boring system that works quietly.

Referrals bring trust.
Systems bring consistency.

What does your business actually rely on today?

When the email says "I'm interested!" but the phone call feels like you're talking to a complete stranger who has never heard of your brand.

Most home service businesses don’t stall because of demand.
They stall because everything still runs through the owner.

I noticed the pattern talking to operators

Strong reputation.
Years in the industry.
Referrals still coming in.

But the business feels fragile.
Missed calls.
Unfollowed leads.
Quiet weeks that “shouldn’t” be quiet.
Not because the work isn’t there, but because there’s no system catching it.

Here’s the hard truth:
You don’t scale a service business by being better at the trade.
You scale by building systems that don’t rely on you being present.

Most owners are still the:
- lead filter
- follow-up engine
- decision-maker
- bottleneck

That works at a certain size.
Then it quietly breaks.
This is where pipeline systems matter.
Not flashy marketing.
Not more ads.

But boring infrastructure that:
- captures demand consistently
- follows up when you’re busy on jobs
- brings opportunities to you instead of you chasing them
- works alongside referrals, not against them

When outbound and follow-up are installed properly, they don’t feel like “sales.”
They feel like support.
Support for your calendar.
Support for your cash flow.
Support for your sanity.

If every opportunity still flows through you, growth will stop exactly where your time runs out.

The fix isn’t more hustle.
It’s fewer things depending on you.

If you run a service business, you likely rely on referrals and word-of-mouth to generate work. This is beneficial and should be maintained. 

However, many business owners face a challenge with consistency. Some months are busy while others are slow, and finding a reliable way to balance this without hiring salespeople or investing in ads can be difficult.

Referrals are powerful due to the trust they build, but they come with two main limitations:
- You cannot control when they arrive.
- You cannot scale them on demand.

This unpredictability does not diminish the value of referrals, but it highlights their nature.

Email Outbound, when executed properly, is not intended to replace referrals. Instead, it serves to:
- Fill the gaps between referrals.
- Create options.
- Provide a controllable second channel.

Unfortunately, many service businesses attempt outbound once and then abandon it. This often occurs because it is:
- Treated as a one-time tactic.
- Implemented without the right email infrastructure.
- Directed at the wrong accounts.
- Written like generic sales copy.

Here, we do not alter your sales approach. We maintain your referral flow and avoid making you seem overly "salesy."
Our method involves installing outbound as a quiet, parallel system.

This approach is most effective for service businesses that:
- Deliver quality work.
- Receive referrals or word-of-mouth leads.
- Desire more control over their pipeline.

It is particularly beneficial for:
- Project-based service businesses.
- Niche B2B service providers.

The objective is not about volume or a specific number of calls each week. Instead, it focuses on:
- Consistent conversations.
- Fewer quiet months.
- Reduced reliance on referrals.

When outbound is implemented correctly, it becomes a stable and predictable growth channel, which is exactly what you want.

Most professional service firms are fighting for leads they’ll only ever win once.

That’s the quiet mistake.
I saw this clearly while working with a window installation firm.
Most contractors in that space are stuck competing on price.
Homeowners. One-off jobs. Facebook Marketplace energy.

This client wanted out.
They didn’t want more small repairs.
They wanted fewer, larger, repeatable commercial projects.

Here was the real problem.
They had the crew.
They had the expertise.
But their calendar was inconsistent.
Why?
They relied on word-of-mouth from General Contractors
who only called when their “usual guy” was unavailable.

So we didn’t “run lead gen.”
We built infrastructure.
Instead of chasing homeowners, we ignored them entirely.
We went straight to:
General Contractors
Property Developers
Architects
Heads of Design
Commercial decision-makers in their region

The pitch wasn’t:
“Need a window installer?”
It was:
"We’re a reliable subcontracting partner who shows up, hits timelines, and makes GCs’ lives easier."

That framing mattered.
Behind the scenes:
- tight ICP definition
- clean email infrastructure
- low-volume, targeted outbound
- consistent follow-up
- CRM hygiene
- No spray-and-pray.

60 days later:
35 qualified project opportunities
a shortlist of partners who now reach out on every new build

The lesson is simple.
In the professional service space, your best “leads” aren’t people who might need you once.
They’re partners who need you every month.

That’s how you escape price wars.
That’s how pipeline becomes predictable.

If you’re a window, remediation, or installation firm and you’re tired of chasing one-off jobs, this is the system I’m building right now.

Happy to explain how it works.

I’m in a few private FB groups for home service owners (window installers, cleaners, trades).

I keep seeing the same questions.
“How are you getting more work right now?”
 “Ads aren’t converting like they used to.”
 “Our lead installer just left.”
 “We need more commercial jobs.”

The replies are always the same:
 • “Run more ads”
 • “Post more on socials”
 • “Referrals”

All valid.
But they’re all reactive.

When home service owners reach out directly to their ideal customers - property managers, builders, designers; the results depend on how the message is framed.

What doesn’t work:
 • Leading with your service
 • Explaining your process
 • Asking for a call too early
 • Sounding like a vendor, not an owner

What actually works:
 • Speaking to problems they’re already dealing with
 • Showing you understand their workflow and timing
 • One clear outcome, not five features
 • A simple, low-pressure first ask

The campaigns that work don’t sound like marketing.
They sound like one business owner talking to another.
That’s the difference between “no replies” and “let’s talk.”

If you’re a home service owner testing outbound and not seeing replies, comment “OUTBOUND” or DM me.

Happy to share what I’m seeing across different trades.

New month.

Remembered a post about how it took 6 months to sign the first client after starting an agency.

That perspective helped.

It’s easy to forget that early on, most of the work is learning, refining, and getting better, not collecting wins.

So I’m taking that into this month.
Still showing up.
Still improving the offer.
Still learning from every conversation.

No rush. Just progress.

Happy new month LinkedIn fam

The "Referral Trap" is the most dangerous place a service business can stay.

If you’re running a trades business, you’ve probably built your reputation on doing good work.

The "old way" was simple: do a great job, get a referral, stay busy.

But in 2026, relying only on word-of-mouth is a gamble.
It’s the difference between owning a business and being owned by your phone.

I've talked with a few owners who are dealing with the same three headaches:

The Lead Quality Gap: You get 20 calls, but 18 are "price shoppers" who don't have the budget for quality work.

The Speed to Lead Trap: You’re on a ladder or under a sink. You miss a call. By the time you call back 20 minutes later, they’ve already booked your competitor.

The Silent Phone: Winter (or summer) hits, and suddenly the phone that was ringing off the hook is dead silent. Your crews are sitting on the bench, but payroll is still due on Friday.

Here’s the reality: The companies scaling to 10+ trucks aren't "luckier" with referrals. They’ve just built a predictable engine that doesn't depend on them.

We took a service business that was 100% referral-dependent and built them a system that started 35 quote-ready conversations between Oct and NOv. 

No "pay-per-lead" junk. No "home-advisor" tire-kickers.

Just a direct line to the people who actually sign contracts and need repeat work done.

If you’re ready to stop "hoping" for a busy next month and start planning for it, let’s talk.

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Saief Tissaoui

Korede Olotu

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taplio

The Battle

Saief Tissaoui

Korede Olotu

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Saief Tissaoui's LinkedIn Performance

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