Stop & Ask for Directions
Self-taught doesn’t have to mean doing it all by yourself.
For the last six months, I’ve been in full execution mode—deep in the weeds helping a variety of clients untangle their lifecycle marketing and email marketing challenges across multiple MAPs and ESPs. And if there’s one key lesson that keeps surfacing, it’s this: Leverage support teams early and often.
When working in a new platform, there’s a natural inclination to troubleshoot problems yourself—to keep tinkering, mashing buttons, and hoping for the best. But the more green you are, the higher the margin for error.
Instead of spending hours going in circles, stop and ask for directions.
Support teams can act as an extension of your team. Sure, some support teams and humans know the nuances of their platforms better than others, but more times than not, they can get you to the answer you need. And delegation so you can focus on the next best action is a great habit to develop.
BTW shout out to my guy, Varun, who has supported me on nearly 10 cases over the last 4 weeks.
Proactively leaning on these resources doesn’t just get you to the right solution faster—it also helps you avoid the hidden pitfalls that can come from pushing incorrect work live. That can cause long-term, hazardous issues. Especially in our line of work.
So, next time you’re knee-deep in a new tool, do yourself a favor: take a breath, reach out, and ask for guidance. Self-taught doesn’t have to mean doing it all by yourself.
One Last Hoorah for Teaching Lifecycle 0 to 1
Speaking of execution work, I’m about to embark on a very demanding 18-month build-out project in stealth mode, which means I’ll be stepping away from live teaching for the rest of 2025 and likely most of 2026 if this goes the way I hope it does.
So, I’ve decided to do one last cohort of my Lifecycle 0 to 1: Master the Buildout course on Maven this March. And it kicks off next week Thursday and Friday!
There are already three students signed up, and I’d love to get a handful more before we kick off. If you’ve been thinking about leveling up your lifecycle marketing skills, now’s your chance. Again, this is the last time I’ll ever teach it live (for ~ 2 years). Probably.
There are only 5 days left to enroll.