Hacker News: awavering

New comment by awavering in "I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots"

awavering — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 03:43:28 +0000

Toothpaste is a particularly high-margin product so it might not be the best example generally. COGS is generally the largest line item for CPG (or non-CPG products), and distribution isn't free either.

Toothpaste manufacturers can probably get away without advertising on FB/Goog, but I'm not sure that would work for other products or brands. It's not make-work to tell people about your product or service, although in markets with limited players you could see how a marketing arms race would drive prices up.

New comment by awavering in "I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots"

awavering — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:51:53 +0000

"that $4.50 gross margin is stuffed into a system of relative inefficiency up and down the economy. much of it in 'nearly useless ads'." is easy to disprove because we know how much these companies spend on advertising (and marketing more broadly) and how much product they sell.

It's more like 25% of their budget.

https://www.statista.com/topics/7725/cpg-industry-advertisin...

New comment by awavering in "Activation Energy is a good model for a lot of things"

awavering — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:05:32 +0000

I like Jamie Wong's take on this too: https://jamie-wong.com/post/the-pit/

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (May 2024)"

awavering — Wed, 01 May 2024 20:03:16 +0000

SEEKING WORK - DATA INFORMED MARKETING & PRODUCT STRATEGY

  Location: Boulder, CO & remote
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: Google, Facebook, and Microsoft marketing stacks.
  Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertwavering/
  Email: albert.wavering@gmail.com
  Calendar: https://app.hellobonsai.com/s/shinyclick/30

Need help putting your product or marketing data to use? Struggling to grow your website/app/marketing? I have over 12 years of experience working with developers and designers to measure and improve marketing campaigns and in-app user flows to acquire and retain paying customers.

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (May 2024)"

awavering — Wed, 01 May 2024 18:14:29 +0000

  Location: Boulder, CO & remote
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: Google, Facebook, and Microsoft marketing stacks.
  Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertwavering/
  Email: albert.wavering@gmail.com
  Calendar: https://app.hellobonsai.com/s/shinyclick/30

New comment by awavering in "Show HN: I've build a stupidly simple invoicing for freelancers and contractors"

awavering — Wed, 01 May 2024 17:25:47 +0000

Not the OP, but I pay for Bonsai because it does a better job of competitors of bringing a variety of tools together in a way that saves me time.

- Scheduling/calendar for client intros and meetings.

- Client info is then available to create a project.

- I track time to a project as I work on it.

- I invoice monthly or at the end of the project.

- Forms for collecting feedback and testimonials.

- Tax tracking for knowing how much I owe the IRS every 3 months.

It doesn't do any one thing outstandingly, but having a single point of reference for all my clients and my business interactions with them is really valuable. I looked at a few similar options (https://www.withmoxie.com/, https://www.waveapps.com/) but Bonsai beat them on functionality and usability.

The main part of Bonsai that I don't use is project management - that always happens in email/slack/asana/monday.

New comment by awavering in "Show HN: I've build a stupidly simple invoicing for freelancers and contractors"

awavering — Wed, 01 May 2024 16:27:42 +0000

Second that, am also on Bonsai.

Scheduling, quarterly estimated taxes, and longevity are worth paying for but I wish it wasn't so steep.

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (November 2023)"

awavering — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 19:44:57 +0000

SEEKING WORK | Product and marketing analytics

Location: Boulder, CO and remote

Website: https://www.shinyclick.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertwavering/

---

Need help putting your product or marketing data to use? Struggling to grow your website/app/marketing? I have over 10 years of experience working with developers and designers to measure and improve marketing campaigns and in-app user flows to acquire and retain paying customers. Past customers include software companies of all sizes: Google, Bonusly, Homechart, and many other non-software companies.

---

Platforms: Google Analytics, Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Search Console, Hotjar, Capterra

Skills: PPC, SEO, Digital Analytics, Marketing Strategy, A/B Testing, Voice of Customer Research & Implementation

---

Interested? Send a description of your project and what you're looking for help with to albert.wavering@gmail.com, or grab some time on my calendar here: https://app.hellobonsai.com/s/shinyclick/30

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Business Ideas for a physically disabled person"

awavering — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 22:33:07 +0000

Sorry to hear that.

You might like Amy Hoy, both for her business advice and practice; she has an autoimmune disease that strongly impacts the way she runs her company.

https://stackingthebricks.com/

What kind of analysis have you been doing? Could you write about your process as a way of attracting consulting clients or selling a guide (or both?)

New comment by awavering in "Meta starts rolling out generative AI tools for all advertisers"

awavering — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 18:22:36 +0000

Yep. It's been the standard format for manually building SERP ads for a couple of years now.

There are also Dynamic Search Ads which automate even more of the process of setting up a campaign based on your current website: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2471185?hl=en

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2023)"

awavering — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 21:04:07 +0000

Digital marketing strategy and implementation.

10+ years of experience designing, measuring, and improving cross-channel digital marketing campaigns (SEO, PPC, social, email, etc.) to find and communicate with your target audience.

I've worked on some great projects through HN - get in touch and let's market your product or service!

Location: Boulder, CO

Remote: Yes.

Willing to relocate: No.

Technologies: Google Analytics, Ads, Tag Manager, and many more data and marketing tools.

Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertwavering/

Email: albert.wavering@gmail.com

Website: https://www.shinyclick.com

New comment by awavering in "‘Less than half’ fresh produce sold globally makes any profit"

awavering — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 16:36:03 +0000

I think most people expressing this sentiment are referring to small scale homesteads or hobby farms, which I have found to be a great break from desk time.

New comment by awavering in "‘Less than half’ fresh produce sold globally makes any profit"

awavering — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 16:34:21 +0000

I largely agree, but I think there's room for small-scale operations to grow hard-to-transport food (mulberries!) while preserving local varieties and serving as a genetic repository. In a sense, it's insurance against failures and shortcomings of the global food system - it'd be more efficient to go without, but it's nice to maintain a backup system of plants, systems, and knowledge.

New comment by awavering in "100 Parking Tickets (2004)"

awavering — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 04:40:17 +0000

"Falsehoods Traffic Wardens Believe About License Plates" :)

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Best way to build paid member subscriptions website?"

awavering — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 17:29:25 +0000

A friend of mine uses https://kajabi.com/ and seems to like it.

New comment by awavering in "Counting Ghosts: A case for abandoning web analytics"

awavering — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 16:10:58 +0000

Absolutely, and a good reminder that your web analytics is only one source of data you can use when making decisions. Sites and apps generate so much interesting quantitative and qualitative information that is important to compare and validate assumptions.

New comment by awavering in "Counting Ghosts: A case for abandoning web analytics"

awavering — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 16:08:21 +0000

Articles like this always seem to miss the ways that the big analytics platforms are used in real life by marketing and product teams. If all you are doing is measuring page hits, then Google Analytics is overkill and you should be using one of the privacy focused alternatives. However, if you care about connecting your marketing tactics to larger strategic goals and measuring the impact of your work, a properly configured analytics stack is still really important.

I really like https://www.portent.com/onetrick/ for anyone looking for an intro to how analytics enhances marketing work.

New comment by awavering in "Ask HN: Can I realistically build something that makes money in 6 months?"

awavering — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 15:34:57 +0000

With that sort of timeline you'll need to tap into some existing channels for marketing & sales. What does your network look like? Is there an existing vendor ecosystem you have experience with?

Consulting might help with short-term cashflow at the risk of distracting from your product.

New comment by awavering in "What is permaculture? (2015)"

awavering — Tue, 09 May 2023 23:21:55 +0000

Interdependence with larger agricultural systems. Grains are great to grow at scale and I'm glad I can buy them in a grocery store. Tomatoes are great to grow at home and I'm glad I can do that too.

New comment by awavering in "What is permaculture? (2015)"

awavering — Tue, 09 May 2023 21:12:35 +0000

Also, beans and potatoes _are_ fun to grow.