Stefan Stefanov

Making magic happen through Email 🦅👁️

You know retention should be a growth engine.
But instead, it’s mostly a source of stress.

👉 If you’re an agency, you’re juggling more accounts - but the systems behind them are patched together and breaking.
👉 If you’re a brand, in-house retention sounds smart… until you’re buried in clunky ESPs, missing data, and slow handoffs.
👉 Or maybe you're running retention - but something feels off. Results are flat. Ops are messy. Team’s flying blind.

You’re not alone. And the pain is real.

Fragmented flows.
Campaigns delayed.
No clear ownership.
And every “quick fix” breaks something else.

You know it could run smoother. Perform better. Without the constant drag.

Now imagine this:

✅ Your lifecycle automations just work - logic is tight, handoffs are seamless
✅ Campaigns go out on time, on brand, without bugs or bottlenecks
✅ Your team knows what to do, and when - without Slack chaos or last-minute scrambles
✅ Strategy, tech, and execution are finally aligned

That’s what I help agencies and brands build:

→ Retention systems that grow without fires
→ Flawless backend ops across email, SMS, and CRM
→ Consulting that turns scattered teams into calm executors

Whether you need a deep audit, help structuring your in-house retention ops, or a partner who knows what “done right” really looks like:

Send me a DM.
Let’s make retention flow again.

Email Production Manager

Looking for a rockstar email designer.

Would love and highly appreciate your recs or if you are one, just drop me a comment below with your portfolio.

I'm pretty sure you'll love the environment and culture in the place that's recruiting.

Retention systems that run without you | Precision-built ops for growing teams | C.E.G. (Certified Email Geek)

Most people join an agency and wait to be told what to do.

Smart people do the opposite:
They build 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 inside the agency.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁.

Here’s how that actually looks:

𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼-𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Don’t wait for a brief to be perfect. Ask the right questions. Chase down the missing context. Own the clarity.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲.
See a gap in process? Fix it. Notice a pattern in client feedback? Flag it. If no one’s going to hand you permission to lead - take it.

𝟯. 𝗡𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁.
Clients can be vague. Timelines shift. But your job? Deliver great work anyway. Find a way. Be the steady one on the team.

This isn’t about being a hero.
It’s about being a professional.

Especially in Q4 - when speed is high, stakes are higher, and no one has time to babysit.

Want to stand out this season?
Act like the owner before you are one.

Most BFCM inboxes look like a shouting contest.

Everyone pushes louder discounts.
Bigger numbers.
Harder urgency.

But clarity still wins.

What does clarity look like?
- One offer, explained simply
- Clean hierarchy in emails
- Product feed that actually matches the sale
- Disclaimers aligned everywhere
- Codes that work
- Consistent messaging between banner, email, LP, popup

Clarity cuts through noise.
Confusion kills conversions.

If your customer has to think for 3 seconds to understand the offer…
you’ve already lost them.

During BFCM, clarity is a competitive advantage.

#BFCM #ecommerce #marketing #retention

Now is not the time to test.

BFCM is game time. You don’t run experiments during the playoffs.

So stop trying to “learn” right now.
Start applying what you already know works.

✅ Review your test archive.
✅ Double down on top performers.
✅ Tighten execution and QA.

Your edge this week isn’t from discovery.
It’s from discipline.

Play the hits.
Monitor tight.
Stay calm.

Then test again after Q4.

What would you not test this week - even if you wanted to?

The moment BFCM ends, your retention begins.

Customers who bought during BFCM are different from regular buyers:
- They’re offer-driven
- They’re time-sensitive
- They’re browsing multiple brands
- And they often bought without deep product familiarity

If you wait weeks to re-engage them… you lose them to whatever brand nurtures them first.

Your retention strategy must start immediately:
- Post-purchase flows updated with non-discount messaging
- Education content to reduce returns
- How-to-use guidance
- Cross-sell logic
- Delivery updates
- Satisfaction checkpoints

You don’t retain BFCM customers by sending them another offer.
You retain them by onboarding them better than your competitors.

Retention isn’t a department.
It’s a continuation of BFCM.

The 3 Vital Signs of BFCM Health

🫀 Heartbeat: Approval speed
🫁 Breathing: Stable segmentation
🧠 Nervous system: Deliverability

If any one of these goes unstable, the whole body breaks.

Which vital sign does your team struggle with?

There are three myths that break more BFCM plans than anything else:

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟭: “𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 - 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗕𝗙𝗖𝗠.”
No.
Send strategically.
Use segmentation and exclusions.
Use resends, not spam.

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟮: “𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿.”
Later is where deliverability dies.
Every last-minute change creates a ripple effect through segmentation, flows, codes, disclaimers, popups.

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟯: “𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 - 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝗤𝗔.”
One email destroys trust faster than 30 great ones.
QA is non-negotiable during BFCM.

The biggest performance boost you’ll get this year?
Killing these myths.

What’s the worst BFCM myth you've seen brands fall for?

BIG Disclaimer: 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵.

Every BFCM, there’s always one moment where someone tries to save the day with a last-minute idea.

A heroic resend.
A “small copy tweak.”
A discount change because “our competitor just launched 30%.”
A popup update 10 minutes before launch.

Heroics feel productive.
But they break systems.

The best BFCM teams don’t rely on last-minute brilliance.
They rely on preparation, ownership, QA, and calm execution.

Our internal rule is simple:
No heroics.
Just systems.

If something feels urgent enough to require heroics, the process already failed upstream:
- The brief wasn’t clear
- The timeline wasn’t respected
- The escalation path wasn’t used
- The offer wasn’t finalized on time

Heroics fix symptoms.
Systems eliminate them.

And the calm operator always chooses systems.

A half-used process is a burden.

Not a system.

That little section in the task no one fills out?
That tag no one checks?
That SOP step everyone skips?

Dead weight.

If it’s not being used, it’s not helping.
It’s slowing you down.

Every part of your workflow should serve a purpose - and if it doesn’t, cut it or fix it.

Revisit. Revise. Optimize.
Processes aren’t set-and-forget.
They’re a work in progress. Always.

Do you have a system to make sure you're system is up-do-date?

“The 4 Signals of a Healthy Inbox”

1. Consistency → One offer = same messaging everywhere
2. Relevance → Segments filtered, not blasted
3. Restraint → Controlled resends, no panic sends
4. QA → Discounts, LPs, feeds, timestamps aligned

If these 4 are clean, deliverability follows.

Which signal does your team struggle with most?

Freelancing can be quite fun actually.

Check the first comment for the Freelance Navigator I created - it can help you brainstorm your way through it :)

🔄 Преминот помеѓу фриленсинг и претприемништво ретко е праволиниски. Често носи пресврти, повторни почетоци и нови предизвици – но токму тие промени создаваат простор за раст. Во разговорот со Stefan Stefanov и Milan Savov се истакна токму тоа: и двата патишта бараат храброст, дисциплина и јасна лична структура.

Стефан зборуваше за редовни самопроверки, градење системи и „value first“ пристапот, но и за улогата на фриленс навигаторот – пристап што му помага на фриленсерот да ја разбере сопствената вредност, подобро да ги уреди процесите и посмело да се позиционира на пазарот. Од друга страна, приказната на Милан покажува колку мрежата, учењето и конзистентноста се клучни кога се преминува од индивидуални проекти кон сопствен бизнис.

Патиштата се различни, но пораката е иста: вложувањето во себе, градењето бренд и храброста да се направи следниот чекор ја отвораат вратата кон нови можности. 🚀

👉 Доколку сакате да го испробате фриленс навигаторот, линкот ќе го најдете во коментар.

Atticus

Building LinkedIn founder-led brands for B2B executives. Responsibilities include:

↳ Conducting in-depth client interviews to extract insights, turning expertise into high-performing LinkedIn content

↳ Building monthly content calendars and strategizing content formats that drive traffic, engagement, and leads

↳ Ghostwriting weekly LinkedIn content and newsletters for clients, generating an average of 5-7 inbound leads a month

↳ Managing 7+ client accounts for B2B CEOs and founders, developing content and marketing strategies that drive weekly engagement and pipeline growth

Marketing Director

System Scalers

Helped B2B and B2C brands drive more revenue with content, marketing strategies, and email marketing systems. Generated $1M+ in attributable revenue. Responsibilities and results included:

↳ Built high-converting email and SMS flows and campaigns, increasing client revenue by an average of 25% across all accounts

↳ Ghostwrote LinkedIn content for B2B CEOs, which generated 100K+ impressions and drove an average of 8 inbound leads per month

↳ A/B tested subject lines, CTAs, and content formats to improve email open rates by an average of 30% and click-through rates by an average of 25%

Copywriter and Marketing Strategist

Firmani + Associates Inc.

Worked with clients in healthcare, professional service, and tech industries. Responsibilities and results included:

↳ Wrote blog posts, press releases, newsletters, and social media copy that increased brand visibility by an average of 3x for clients

↳ Pitched media opportunities that resulted in 20+ high-profile press features in industry-leading publications – such as Forbes, FOX, and NBC

↳ Managed digital ad campaigns, optimizing for ROI and increasing ROAS by an average of 2x

Account Coordinator

Public Relations Intern

Seattle Celtic

As a soccer coach, I planned and led drills during training sessions and created outlines of tactics to be used during games. Through my role, I helped players develop individual and team skills they could use on and off the field. While coaching, I emphasized the importance of communication, teamwork, leadership, improvement, and above anything else, having fun.

Youth Soccer Coach

Planet Home

As a content writer for Planet Home, I conducted research and wrote blog posts on various environmental issues and solutions. I focused on tech solutions and wrote stories related to how technology is helping create a more sustainable future. I also helped brainstorm different ideas to be used in articles, social media posts, and marketing campaigns.

Content Writer

University of Washington Bothell

As a podcast intern, I was tasked with producing and promoting four different podcast episodes for the Common Caws for Sustainability Podcast at UW Bothell. Working with a classmate, we produced podcast episodes related to the topic of sustainable transportation in Washington state. 

Throughout this internship, I reached out to different experts in the field of sustainable transportation and invited them onto the podcast. Each episode consisted of an interview with these experts. I then used audio software to edit and distribute each podcast episode.

Sustainability Podcast Intern

WashPIRG

As an intern with the WASHPIRG Chapter at the University of Washington, I helped lead a campaign to get the university to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2045.  Through coalition recruitment and campaigning, we are still working towards a 100% renewable future on campus, but have made large strides toward accomplishing this goal.

Coalition Coordinator Intern

Arena Sports

As a camp counselor, I led groups of kids through various games and activities.  I also worked on a team that shared ideas and helped one another when problems arose.  I gained valuable communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills during my time as a camp counselor.

Camp Counselor

Content Marketer and Brand Strategist with 3+ years of experience helping B2B brands scale through high-converting content, digital strategy, and email marketing.

A bit about what I do:

↳ Ghostwrite LinkedIn and long-form content for B2B CEOs, consultants, and tech startups – generating a combined 2M+ in organic impressions and average of 8+ inbound leads per month

↳ Build email and SMS campaigns that have driven $1M+ in client revenue across weekly newsletters, product launches, nurture sequences, and automated flows

↳ Spearhead content and communications strategy for a VC-backed marketing agency – supporting thought leadership, executive positioning, and omni-channel growth

↳ Publish newsletters, blog content, and interviews spotlighting stories from a range of industries –  including sustainability, technology, and B2B marketing

I'm always stoked at the opportunity to connect with people working at the intersection of impact, innovation, and storytelling. Feel free to drop me a message here or reach out at connor@connorflynn.co.

Connor Flynn

We book dozens of sales calls a week for clients from LinkedIn outreach. But the other day, our team sat down to brainstorm how we could generate even better results and book more calls, for both ourselves and clients.

So we mapped out every single touch point and signal you could possibly think of. Here are 17 different signals we came up with to improve your outreach (steal these):

1.) Old closed lost leads – not nows, maybes, etc.
2.) List of no shows from previous 3 months
3.) Content engagement from past 6 months from your LI
4.) Content engagement from competitor accounts
5.) Lookalike leads lists using your best client as the persona
6.) Profile views from the past 90 days
7.) Engagement on company content – LinkedIn, blogs, etc.
8.) ICP who recently changed jobs in the past year
9.) Companies hiring for a specific role
10.) Followers of your company page
11.) Followers of your personal LI account
12.) Followers of competitor company pages
13.) People who attend LI lives in your field
14.) Members of relevant LI groups
15.) Companies you can partner with to joint-sell deals
16.) Employee connections and content engagement
17.) Existing or old email list

You don’t suck at sales.

You just aren't reaching out to the right targets.

-

Struggling to drive predictable pipeline from LinkedIn?

On December 12th, we’re running a live masterclass to help 100 founders build their own AI sales system so they can add $50k/month from LinkedIn in the next 90 days.

Grab your spot and register below ↓

Marketing Director @ Atticus | Building founder-led brands with content marketing that drives presence and pipeline | $1M+ generated for clients from organic content

One of the most underrated reasons to write on LinkedIn right now is to build brand visibility with AI search results. Something most people don't realize:

With more people going to places like ChatGPT and Claude for answers instead of just a traditional Google search, you need to start thinking about how your brand is going to show up in those searches.

Now look, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know everything about how AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) works.

But I *do* know it prioritizes results from websites with a high domain authority.

And because LinkedIn is one of the most credible, high-authority sites on the internet, that’s exactly what AI tools are trained to prioritize.

So if you want to start showing up in those search results when someone turns to ChatGPT?

You need to be building digital proof that you are the person you say you are.

Here’s my recommendation:

- Make sure your message is the same across all channels
- Start posting on LI 3-5 times/week for the next 90 days
- Engage with other niche voices in your space

That’s the type of consistency that builds micro-thought leadership in the short term and AI relevance in the long term.

So if you want to win in the new age of AI search (yes, it’s just going to continue to increase), start showing up on LinkedIn.

Simple as that.

Harsh truth every marketer or creator needs to realize:

Your LinkedIn hook doesn't matter as much as you think it does.

At least, it doesn't after a certain point.

What I mean is, there comes a point where if you’ve been creating for long enough, and if you’ve built enough authority and goodwill in your field, your name itself becomes the hook.

Because at that point, people won’t read your content because of a clever first line.

No, they’ll read your content because they see your name on the timeline and associate it with incredible value.

They read what you put out because *you* wrote it.

It’s the same thing with artists and musicians. Taylor Swift could put out a heavy-metal album, and her fans would still love it because it came from her.

*But* (and here’s the caveat), that only happens once you’ve built enough trust, value, and consistency over an insanely long period of time.

At that point, you earn the right not to need a fancy hook or clever one-liner.

You can’t skip to that part, though. You actually have to get there first — show up every day, share value, say something unique that actually adds to the conversation online.

That’s the ultimate goal with every client we work with.

To turn them into an authority in their field and the most in-demand person in their sphere of influence.

Because with that level of recognition and visibility, that’s when your brand really starts to do the heavy lifting for you, and you'll see the biggest impact.

Yesterday, I was on a call with a client who had been wanting to build a high-ticket offer for the past few months but didn’t know where to start. So we built it for him and mapped out the whole 12-month roadmap on the call:

- High-ticket consulting offer as the first lever
- Cohort-based program once results start coming in
- GTM motion, content engine, messaging frameworks

We didn’t just stop at, “Okay, here’s this thing that you paid us to do.”

No, we gave him the full game plan and long-term roadmap he can follow, even long after our official contract is up.

That’s what people want these days. They don’t just want to work with another vendor who will get them XYZ results. They want to work with a partner for the long run. A partner who can see the bigger picture and be there for them through the ups and downs.

I think back to the first PR agency I worked at, where most of our clients had been with us for 10+ years.

Those are the types of partnerships founders and CEOs want to form — a strategic partner who will grow with them through thick and thin.

So if you're building something right now, stop thinking in the short-term. 

Long-term partnerships are where the real value starts to compound.

LinkedIn, I need your help with something:

Over the past year, I've worked with dozens of founders and CEOs to help them build their content engines and founder-led brands from the ground up.

And if there's one thing I've learned, it’s that the biggest indicator a company is serious about scaling their content (and willing to invest in it) is whether they're actively hiring.

It's quite literally the clearest signal you can get.

Because if they're hiring, that means they have the budget, they know they need help, and they're actively looking to solve a painful problem.

Which is exactly why it's one of the best “warm signals” you can use when doing outreach — find companies hiring for roles within your niche, reach out to them, and offer to help for a fraction of the cost with your service.

With that said, here's where I could use your help:

If you've recently seen any companies hiring for marketing, content, or growth roles (or if your company is hiring), drop them or tag them in the comments below.

I'm looking to connect with teams serious about scaling up their content/marketing efforts and see if there’s any way to collaborate.

Appreciate you all. Let me know who's hiring ↓

Yesterday, I was at an event that helps founders build their GTM strategy. As I'm listening to everyone share their ideas, I realized 95% of founders and business owners have no idea who their customer even is. Here's what I saw:

Most founders were swapping out their target customer every other week because they couldn't decide who their ICP was.

They were building offers that were targeting everyone.

But what they failed to realize is that without knowing your ideal customer, nothing else works.

Not your content, not your offer, not even your product.

It's the same thing with early-stage teams publishing content online — founders and execs end up posting for months and get silence, then they blame LinkedIn or their content team for the lack of results.

But the issue isn't the content or channel. It's that they have no clarity on who they actually serve.

So if you really want to make content work for you?

Focus on literally everything else *before* you think about hitting publish.

Because without a clear picture of who your customer is, what you do, and how you help, you're just adding to the noise.

Every founder and business owner knows the importance of content these days. But most of them have no clue where to start or what ideas to publish. Let me solve that for you in two minutes:

For context, I talk to founders and exec teams every week. They all know they should be posting content, and they all know it’ll drive their business forward. But without a doubt, the two biggest objections I hear are that 1.) they have no time to create and 2.) they have no idea where to start.

The solution to the first is pretty simple — hire a content team to handle the grunt work for you (DM me if you need help with this).

The second is a little trickier, but we’re about to solve it in under two minutes.

1.) Open your calendar and look at every call from the past four weeks:

The discovery and sales calls you had, your weekly client meetings, your internal discussions with your team.

You’re telling me there aren’t at least a *few* ideas you can turn into content?

- What problems popped up?
- What lessons or ideas did you learn?
- What new things did you teach someone else?

Every insight is a story, and every lesson is a post. Truth is, ~70% of all my content ideas come from these types of discussions I’m already having.

2.) Write down three things you believe that most people would disagree with:

The stuff you argue about at dinner, the take that would spark a debate at a conference, the “I know this sounds wild, but…” opinions.

These are your POVs, the content that gets people talking and builds your brand.

Look at that, you just went from having no idea what to share to 10+ different content ideas you can publish next week.

Everyone thinks content is hard. And sure, there’s some truth to that.

But you don’t need to spend hours and hours brainstorming ideas or staring at a blank page.

Your daily work *is* your content.

You just haven’t been documenting it.

-

What’s your favorite way to gather inspiration for your content? Let me know below.

taplio

The Battle

Stefan Stefanov

Connor Flynn

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taplio

The Battle

Stefan Stefanov

Connor Flynn

Followers

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);}Stefan Stefanov's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreConnor Flynn's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreStefan Stefanov's LinkedIn Performance