Becoming Head of Marketing for a Multi-Million Dollar E-commerce Company

Six weeks ago, I became Head of Marketing for a multi-million dollar e-commerce company.

Four years ago, I was just the freelance copywriter sending over a $1,000 audit and hoping I wouldn’t get laughed at.

In between those two points:

• I obsessed over skill.
• I overcommitted and dropped standards.
• I got my retainer cut.
• I shut down a business.
• I recommitted to craft.
• I overdelivered again.
• And eventually, I was trusted with more.

This isn’t a “10 steps to success” post.

It’s what actually compounded.

Lesson 1: Decide What You Want to Be Dangerous At

I’ve been a professional writer for about 15 years.

Not famous.
Not wealthy.
But committed.

I haven’t made “F-you money.”

What I have done is stick with one core skill long enough for it to matter.

Money can blind you early on. You start asking:

• How do I scale this?
• How do I charge more?
• How do I monetise faster?

Instead of asking:

What would it take to become genuinely excellent at this?

If you look at virtuosos — people who get disproportionate rewards — you rarely see three years of effort.

You see ten.

Minimum.

I’ve been doing direct response and marketing seriously for about five years.

That’s not mastery.

That’s apprenticeship.

And that mindset keeps you sharp.

Lesson 2: Be Young in the Skill (And Act Accordingly)

When I got serious about copywriting, I knew I wasn’t good.

So I studied.

I joined communities.
I read everything I could.
I watched videos.
I applied what I learned in my own businesses immediately.

Most of it didn’t stick.

But a few frameworks did:

• AIDA.
• Interrupting the conversation in the prospect’s mind.
• Desire triggers.
• Webinar structures.
• Classic direct response principles.

You don’t need to absorb everything.

You need enough to move the needle.

What separated me wasn’t talent.

It was hunger.

I showed up to every live session.
I wrote thoughtful feedback for others.
I stayed active.
I asked questions.

Effort closed the gap where skill was missing.

Lesson 3: Get Paid to Play

One of the most repeatable strategies in my career has been this:

Find a way to get paid while you’re still learning.

When I wanted to be a writer, I realised I couldn’t eat poetry.

So I wrote:

• Romantic poems for clients.
• Blogs.
• Academic essays.
• Dissertations.
• Case studies.

Was it glamorous?

No.

Was it training?

Absolutely.

Every project sharpened structure, persuasion, research, tone, deadlines, and client psychology.

Then I did the same with marketing.

I didn’t wait until I felt ready.

I applied what I was learning in real businesses.

That’s how skill compounds — in public, under pressure.

Lesson 4: One Client Can Change Everything

When I quoted $1,000 for my first audit for the client I now work full-time with, I thought he’d reject it.

He didn’t.

So I obsessed for three days.

I researched his entire niche.
I broke down competitors.
I pulled apart funnels.
I rebuilt positioning.

I didn’t just complete the work.

I tried to dominate it.

It blew him away.

Here’s something I’ve seen across industries, marketing, landscaping, air conditioning, CRO, email:

You don’t need 50 clients.

You need one or two relationships where you become indispensable.

The internet pushes scale.

Courses. Coaching. Digital products.

I’ve sold over £100,000 in courses and at least double that in coaching.

But that machine requires constant priming. Content. Attention. Visibility.

You get forgotten.

With clients, goodwill compounds.

Trust compounds.

Competence compounds.

The upside can be asymmetric.

Lesson 5: Excellence Is Sequential

About a year and a half ago, my retainer was cut.

Officially: cost reductions.

Unofficially: I wasn’t doing my best work.

I was running multiple ventures.
Trying to do everything at once.
Splitting my focus.

Life is a pie chart.

You cannot be excellent at five things simultaneously.

Excellence is sequential.

If you’re responsible for growth and you’re getting cut, the uncomfortable truth is this:

You’re not paying for yourself.

I was gutted.

But mostly at myself.

Lesson 6: Narrow the Focus When It Matters

In 2025, I shut down one of my businesses.

I reorganised my time.

I recommitted to what I actually wanted to be dangerous at:

Writing.
Marketing.
Persuasion.

I released two books.
Finished another for 2026.
Showed up properly for the client.

Then we took over paid ads alongside email.

And we crushed it.

When you influence revenue directly, the relationship changes.

That’s when the conversation shifted.

Lesson 7: Applied Obsession Beats Credentials

He told me recently:

“When I gave you paid ads, I knew you didn’t fully know what you were doing. But I knew you’d apply yourself.”

That’s the real lever.

Not titles.
Not certifications.
Not posturing.

Applied obsession.

If people trust your work ethic and your standards, they’ll give you responsibility beyond your résumé.

And responsibility precedes title.

Eventually he said:

“I want to grow this properly. I want you to set the marketing.”

Now I’m six weeks into the role.

It’s a bigger game:

• 30-day gross profit vs CAC.
• Subscription churn.
• Creative velocity.
• Scaling without breaking cash flow.

But it’s built on the same principle as that first audit:

Whatever you’re doing, do it properly.

Lesson 8: Depth Compounds

Most people:

• Chase status too early.
• Jump before trust compounds.
• Optimise for visibility over skill.
• Overestimate their value while underestimating the craft.

If you stay.

If you sharpen.

If you accept being “not quite there yet.”

If you overdeliver when it matters.

Rooms change.

Opportunities appear.

Not because you chased them.

Because you became useful at a high level.

Final Thought

I didn’t become Head of Marketing because I had a grand strategy.

I became Head of Marketing because:

• I picked one core skill.
• I stayed with it.
• I got paid to practice.
• I overdelivered early.
• I corrected course when I drifted.
• And I kept turning up.

The title came later.

The opportunity followed utility.

And the utility came from a simple decision:

Get really good at one thing.
Apply yourself relentlessly.
And don’t leave before it compounds.

That’s it.