Characteristics we look for in Sticker Mule team members 

Recently, we decided to codify the characteristics we look for in new team members to help maintain our culture as we grow. Since our inception, we have always hired for a particular type of person although it was never explicit. As hiring became more distributed we spent a while thinking about what it is that unites us.

> Culture is even more important when you're remote.

The importance of culture isn't immediately apparent when you’re small but it becomes quite obvious once you grow. Without care, culture can change quickly; especially when you’re hiring fast. It only takes a few people that do not fit your model to create a cultural change that quickly spreads. That’s why we are relentless about hiring people that strengthen our culture and avoiding people that don’t. 

Culture is even more important when you're remote. Since we spend little time together in person, and in some cases never see each other, a shared outlook helps us understand each other even if we never met. We might come from all over the world, but we all tend to be humble, independent, logical, thoughtful and autodidactic. We try to hire other people that have these characteristics too. 

Here's a glimpse at the characteristics of people we look to hire at Sticker Mule and why:

## Humble
Possesses a modest view of one’s abilities and importance. 

__Why:__ People fail when the disparity between what they can do and what they think they can do becomes too vast. Humility is a prerequisite for improving and in a fast growing company there’s a constant need to scale your abilities as the needs of the company change. 

## Independent
Good to work with but able to get stuff done on their own too. 

__Why:__ Time is finite so it’s important to respect each other’s time by working independently when possible, yet being pleasant to collaborate with when necessary. The best teams, in companies, sports or otherwise, are comprised of talented people that know how and when to interact to achieve a goal. 

## Logical
Strong decision making skills that we can trust. 

__Why:__ Success is the result the sum of our decisions and actions. Decision making skills are incredibly hard to train so we avoid people that lack them. Responsibilities change as we grow, so we favor logical people over those who are merely experienced.

## Thoughtful
Concerned about the well-being of others and the company as a whole. 

__Why:__ People that put the well-being of each other first can be trusted to make optimal decisions. Anyone that is inconsiderate towards the feelings of others is difficult to trust no matter how intelligent, logical or experienced because they tend to optimize for their own benefit. 

## Autodidactic
Willing and able to learn from others and on their own. 

__Why:__ Organizations require new skills as they evolve. People that are unable to self educate run the risk of eventually becoming a burden because it can be hard to place them if our needs change.

## Concluding thought

At Sticker Mule, we hire for two things: skill and personality. It’s hard to pass on a skilled person because their personality doesn’t fit, but if you aim for longevity it’s critical that you do. We intend to be around for a long time. I suspect and hope most of our team will retire from Sticker Mule. 

If you feel like you will fit in well with our team then you should [apply to join us](https://www.stickermule.com/careers). We'd love to hear from you.

We look for 5 characteristics in new Sticker Mule team members to help maintain our culture as we grow. 

How a viral blog uses stickers 

- __About Space Beards:__ Space Beards is a popular Tumblr blog (30,000+ followers) that replaces the hairy beards of celebrities (past and present) with cosmic galaxies created by Joshua Arter.
- __How he uses stickers:__ Space Beards went viral early on. Josh uses galaxy styled mustaches and beards as stickers to continue growing traffic and bringing attention to the popular site.
- __Results:__ Space Beard stickers have driven traffic and awareness for the site as it continues to grow beyond this galaxy.

>It was the perfect storm of internet gold: beards plus space.

At first, Josh Arter's popular Tumblr blog "[Space Beards: The Facial Frontier](https://web.archive.org/web/20140309023539/http://spacebeards.com/)" was just a joke that Josh shared with friends. Those friends said he should start a blog so Josh set up a Tumblr site.

Within a few months, it was featured on major sites including Mashable and The Daily Dot. Then, it was featured as a trending blog on Tumblr Tuesday's "Blogs you should be following."

He knew he was on to something when his traffic took off through organic shares and went viral, "It was the perfect storm of internet gold: Beards plus space."

![SpaceBeards Stickers for a Viral Blog](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/9b77fb9d2e89b8fd39169adb0369c0349b2363e1)

So he took his galactic momentum and set up an online shop with t-shirts, phone cases, and coffee cups.

##Building a constellation
As part of his strategy to keep growing traffic, he printed off stickers with Sticker Mule of the space beards he posted on Tumblr.

When asked about how a digital blog bridges the gap between online and offline worlds, Josh says, "The key is to stay true to yourself. If you have a strong brand, stick to it and keep it consistent across all channels."

Josh wasn't content to just make stickers that were selfishly self promotional. Instead of stickers with a URL or his name, he made the stickers as whimsical as the blog itself. Each design is a die-cut sticker in the exact shape of the beard design. With rich, full color on quality vinyl, the stickers are as original as Josh's blog.

"The Space Beards stickers are essentially the blog logo, but like the characters Space Bearded on the site, each sticker represents a different look at the cosmos, keeping the Space Beards offline brand fresh yet familiar."

"I wanted to give away something others could put up around town to gain organic, local traffic to my site. Friends gave them to their friends, I see them around town and in bars."

> People will walk up when they see the sticker and say 'Hey I love that site!'

When traveling around Milwaukee, the center of his bearded galaxy, Josh (and now many others) has space beard stickers on his car, laptop, and bike helmet. And when he's traveling, he brings a stash of stickers and puts them up around cities in prominent places.

"Space is infinite, the chances of creating a viral blog just the same, discovering a Space Beards sticker wild on the street is just as fun. People will walk up when they see the sticker and say 'Hey I love that site!'"

Others asked to have their own stickers and placed them in famous spots around the U.S including Seattle's infamous Market Theater Gum Wall.

![Eddie-Murphy-SpaceBeards](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/eae63e21ea97127ed4f03a8f91f722b173a1b063)

##An Ever-expanding Universe

Josh attributes the stickers to increasing blog traffic, stoking interest, and driving sales of his other products like t-shirts.

"Stickers definitely brought in more traffic. In Milwaukee, some of the stickers are used in hip parts of town… The stickers stand out because of their shape and unusual mix of color."

Josh has found other ways to promote his blog and keep it trimmed and fresh.

>Stickers definitely brought in more traffic.

Last November, Josh partnered with a blog about Milwaukee mustaches (yes, there is a blog for everything) for a Movember event. The theme of the party? Facial hair for a good cause! It was complete with custom shirts. The party was an easy way to promote his blog within his community.

At the event, [mustache stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/mustache-stickers "Custom mustache stickers") were available for attendees to pick up to show their beard love and to continue to boost traffic to the site.

An altruistic artist, Josh has shared his artistic power away through a space beards app for iPhone and iPad.

##Why Sticker Mule?
He originally heard about Sticker Mule through a friend. “All he could talk about was quality” and said that they last forever.

Before Space Beards, Josh used Sticker Mule for another blog "[Thanks for the love MKE](http://thanksforthelovemke.tumblr.com/)" — a website that showcases the city of Milwaukee through photos taken by residents to give a more intimate view of the city.

"I love the city and wanted to show it off. It's underrated and a well kept secret."

The stickers he made for the MKE blog have become a common sight throughout the city.

> The quality, reordering, and turnaround time is the best in the business.

"At one of our meetups, we handed out stickers and ran a campaign for people to take a photo involving their sticker and their favorite Milwaukee spot. It ended up being a broader campaign as people threw them up around the city in general.”

With two popular blogs that use stickers to drive traffic, Josh exclusively uses Sticker Mule because of "the quality, easy reordering, and turnaround time is the best in the business".

<ButtonCta text="Try the best in the business for $1" href="https://www.stickermule.com/samples?ref=blog" />

The viral Tumblr Space Beards shares their experience, advice, and strategy for bridging the online/offline gap with readers. 

15 awesome transfer sticker designs 

Since launching [transfer stickers or vinyl decals](https://www.stickermule.com/products/transfer-stickers) we've seen thousands of incredible designs. Transfer stickers are significantly more difficult to create at every stage from proofing to artwork creation to manufacturing. 

The weeding process is extremely intricate and so our teams have worked closely with our customers to produce their designs. And while we've created [videos and guidelines](https://www.stickermule.com/support/how-do-i-design-a-transfer-sticker) to help, Sticker Mule is proud to reproduce and improve on most transfer design artwork for free. We offer unprecedented design freedom and our free proofing process makes ordering a breeze. 

Since soft launching, we’ve already produced transfer sticker designs for hundreds of customers that were turned away from other vendors. 

Here are 15 awesome transfer sticker designs:

### 1. _I'm Local_ by Corey Sweeter



![Im Local Transfer Sticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/2110006d8a5c0da0c1b8e3221b6d0b91f4751afc)



### 2. _Intricately_ by JoAnn Barron



![Intricately Transfer Vinyl Decal Sticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/affd9f7321857bbcfc744cf55060e08603e60012)




### 3. _Impact Ink_ by Giv Parvaneh



![MtVernonTX ImpactINK-Transfer Decal](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/d57f6f7c762af4f6a4a82a49481367af7af109cf)



### 4. _Cody Mack Putters_ by Keith Cansler



![Cody Mack Putters Transfer Sticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/4a8b3a303f52cda4d6040cbd19f7d89c95b0981c)




### 5. _Focus on the Beer_ by Ryan Hannigan



![Focus on the Beer Transfer Sticker Design](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/e77ddb5c1dd0c537dc8e6f52a37505c9b5f448a0)




### 6. _Vox_ by Kim Steins



![Vox Transfer Sticker Design](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/6c6479e31b8744009645381303fd1e559967f15f) 




### 7. _Dove_ by Julia Sprow



![Dove Transfer Sticker Design](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/5bae7210c9efe9b9a9b86daa22606d44e1ee3075) 




### 8. _Honestly Co_ by David Horne



![Intricate vinyl decal](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/a634e2a03a3c004081503b9b6557cf18103ea5ea) 




### 9. _Threatwave_ by Karen Sears



![ThreatWave Transfer Sticker Design](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/e3bfe250ab5506d6df6e1e21063ca0ea43709452)




### 10. _Sasquatch_ by Haden Farrell



![Sasquatch Transfer Sticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/007e73875d47a6cb066fc80a7cd9f1c2f992338f)




### 11. _Tigger Welding_ by Tyler 



![Welding Transfer sticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/dec2125160b7785b6eb5091f419e969712fbd4a4)




### 12. _TriLion Studios_ by Brian White



![Tri Lion-Intricate-Decal](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/493e6c760524178ea1fedae68b97de2b84ad74f8)




### 13. _Smile_ by Traveling Chris



![Traveling Chris Transfer Design Vinyl](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/ed74361382c621c3f5a279ec8d1ca67891a2949b)




### 14. _I/L_ by Greg Dundas



![IntricateVinylDecalTransferSticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/ce4ab889c3b4a7063ea379914300cda97a1ff4f8)




### 15. _TrainEat_ by Mario



![TrainEat Transfer Sticker](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/5da4c5a98d1bb7beabfaf36351cc6db6d2db9e75)

If you want to try your hand at creating [custom transfer stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/products/transfer-stickers), why not start today with $10 off your first order. Just sign up by clicking the button below.

<ButtonCta text="Get $10 credit" href="https://www.stickermule.com/unlock?ref_id=7980330701&ref=blog" />

Transfer stickers can be tricky to design. Check out these 15 incredible transfer sticker designs. 

How Wordnik used stickers for Kickstarter rewards 

- __About Wordnik__: Wordnik is the world's biggest online English dictionary, by number of words. 
- __How they use stickers__: As a nonprofit, Wordnik is always looking for innovative ways to drive donations and engagement like their Adopt-a-Word program. Most recently, Wordnik has used stickers in different support levels in their Kickstarter campaign.
- __Results__: Wordnik has seen hundreds of words adopted and they raised over $50,000 in their successful Kickstarter campaign to add a million missing words to the dictionary.

> Stickers are a perfect reward for any Kickstarter campaign. 

When Erin McKean stepped off of the TED stage in March 2007, she had done the seemingly impossible: [make the job of a lexicographer sound actually exciting](https://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_the_dictionary).

She gave a vision to the English language that goes beyond the confines of paper and online dictionaries. The way paper and digital interact has to be different than how we think of it now.

That was the start of Wordnik, the world's biggest online English dictionary.

As a lexicographer (for those unwilling to look it up, a lexicographer is a person who compiles dictionaries), Erin worked for years on the New Oxford American Dictionary (which is the dictionary used by Mac OS X and Kindle.) Although dictionaries may seem dull and dry, they are living databases that are the output of thousands of individual decisions, including the actual words being used (and allowed), what goes into updating it, and the format it's published in.

## Making words more lookupable

The problem? The English language is composed of millions and millions of words (and possible words)! Far too many to fit into a paper dictionary. And further to complicate matters, words are being added and created in English faster than dictionaries can be updated. With a few colleagues, Erin formed Wordnik with the goal of making every word in the English language "lookupable" – including the 52% of unique English words that aren't currently in any dictionary.

The philosophy of Wordnik is simple: people learn words best by example and so any word used in a sentence, even in casual use, gets a page. If a word is looked up that doesn’t have any information, not even a sentence, the word still gets a page that is updated as more information becomes available—including the number of times the word has been looked up! "If you’re curious about a word, some information is always better than no information," says Erin. This way people can find out information about a word even before a traditional definition has been written.

> If you’re curious about a word, some information is always better than no information.

One of the hidden gems of Wordnik is its lists feature. It has more than 40,000 lists (see [words that make us hungry](https://www.wordnik.com/lists/words-to-describe-the-taste-of-food) or [crayon colors](https://www.wordnik.com/lists/crayola-old-style)), some hundreds of words long. And while Wordnik is a brilliant place to inspire a writer, the team had an equally smart idea when they launched a Kickstarter campaign.


## Finding one million missing words 
Erin and her team started a [Kickstarter campaign](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1574790974/lets-add-a-million-missing-words-to-the-dictionary/description) to achieve their goal of: __Finding a million words that haven't been included in major English dictionaries and give them each a home on the Internet.__

With a goal of raising $50,000, the Wordnik project set out to [create reward levels for an online living dictionar)](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1574790974/lets-add-a-million-missing-words-to-the-dictionary/description)--something that you can't exactly hold in your hand! Without a physical product, it can be difficult to come up with meaningful rewards for crowdfunding campaigns. 

The Wordnik team came up with brilliant rewards that fit perfectly with their target audience, project positioning, and let their backers participate in the creation! 

![Wordnik custom stickers](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/35d4cd1d1c383198df22a159c84615ee27eb6001)

## Your reward: an excuse to talk about words 

Wordnik found a way to literally put words into their backers’ hands using stickers from Sticker Mule. For backers pledging $10 or more, Wordnik offered a complete set of stickers, including a sticker for the Semicolon Appreciation Society (literature lovers unite!).

At the next level, backers pledging $25 or more could “Adopt A Word”. These backers got the set of stickers, plus a special word adoption sticker with space to add a word of their choice.

> Stickers are a perfect reward for any Kickstarter campaign.

They're a simple, low-cost way to deliver something physical. Stickers can serve as delightful marketing tool that doesn’t feel like marketing. Backers can get involved quickly at any level. With the right design, your stickers will be placed on laptops, notebooks, and other spots that are seen every day.

![Smart kickstarter reward ideas like stickers](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/6b61c1ca6ee9db435af3cede1fd00ce0bc205944)

## More sticky reward ideas
Every project is different and coming up with ways to use stickers for your own campaign might be tough. Here are a few ideas to inspire your own:

__Reward level stickers:__ Reward your smallest and biggest backers with a sticker that shows your logo and their level of support. It creates a sense of community and encourages larger pledges.

__Themed pack of stickers:__ Get more creative than a logo with a set of designs themed to go along with your product.

> People want something they can hold in their hands. Stickers give people an excuse to talk about their love for words and Wordnik.

With the help of 726 backers, Wordnik successfully raised $58,407 (nearly $10,000 more than their goal). The team continues to add thousands of words each day and has made stickers a staple of their promotion strategy to "get the word out". 

> Stickers are an inexpensive and fun way to make people feel good about what you do. I don’t think any of us ever get over our little kid love of stickers.

Today, Wordnik uses five different stickers to promote their efforts, reward backers, and to raise additional donations with the Adopt-A-Word program. Backers and donors proudly display their "I Love Words" stickers at home and on their cars. 

For more creative ideas for using custom stickers, buttons, magnets and more, [check out our gallery of uses](https://www.stickermule.com/uses).

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses?ref=blog" />

Wordnik raised more than $50,000 on Kickstarter. Now they're using stickers to add more than a million missing words to the dictionary. 

How to make company culture stick 

- __About Unified:__ [Unified](http://www.unified.com/) delivers technology and services to connect marketing data sets and optimize investments across the customer journey.  Unified’s software empowers Fortune 500 companies and agencies to drive marketing success in the context of their business goals.  The Unified Platform transforms fragmented marketing data into actionable intelligence and real-time activation. 	 
- __How they use stickers:__ Stickers serve as a cultural element to represent teams, new product releases, and track training progress for new hires. 
- __Results:__ Unified has been named a "Best Place to Work" by AdAge, NYC Business, and others.

> We use Sticker Mule stickers for many different things, and all of them bring a unique aspect of fun to the culture here.

How do you create and continually develop a great company culture? That’s what Jesse Channon found himself asking when he joined Unified. As the SVP of Revenue at Unified, Jesse uses a simple, yet surprising way to bring teams together, recognize great work, and onboard new employees: [custom stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/custom-stickers).

He ditched the stale, conventional methods that other companies use (think trust falls and awkward team building exercises) for a creative method to drive achievement and camaraderie. 

Jesse’s idea to use stickers first came from the many [different versions of the Github Octocat](https://octodex.github.com/).

## Stickers as culture

At [Unified](http://www.unified.com/), stickers are used as a cultural element.

"We use Sticker Mule stickers for many different things, and all of them bring a unique aspect of fun to the culture here. It's a fun internal game."

The company collects and connects fragmented marketing data in actionable insights for Fortune 500 companies. It has grown quickly and serves hundreds of customers. Most recently, they secured $30 million dollars in Series B funding.

That success has meant a growing number of employees. 140 people on various teams are spread across the U.S. in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 

Growing companies and startups often fight over top talent by offering benefits that "one up" the competition (think yoga, free massages, and pet friendly offices). And while Unified offers a range of competitive benefits, it has found that small ideas, like this one, can create a culture that sticks.

Team members place [die cut stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/products/die-cut-stickers) and [transfer stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/products/transfer-stickers) on their laptops, monitors, bags, and coffee mugs to show them off.

> All in all, StickerMule has helped Unified to have some of the best laptop art in the industry.

Jesse and the Executive Team share the five key ways stickers are making a company culture that sticks:

### 1. Team Representation
Many of the teams have designed their own stickers to signify and represent who they are. Some designs are mascots, "totem" animals, and completely random creations. Although the team stickers have clear representation (the sales team's custom sticker is distinct from the account management team's), designers hide easter egg messages and secret meanings known only to their fellow team members.

### 2. Product Releases
Towards the end of a project, Project Managers will design a sticker that best defines the new feature or product and the benefits it delivers to the customer. Many times the initials of team members, or other personal touches are hidden within the stickers. These product releases serve as a way to recognize the work of individuals and teams.

### 3. Training Qualifications
As stickers have filled the laptops of seasoned staff, new hires will soon get their own. A new series of training stickers will show qualifications and accomplishments in several different areas. In particular, these will signify expertise in certain products and areas for the sales and account management teams.

### 4. Office Locations
With four offices, Unified has team members spread out across different cities. It's common for sticker swaps to take place when one team visits another. This can create perspective and encourage conversations about other team members around the world.

Jesse shares, "I'm often traveling back and forth between Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. It’s amazing to see how stickers have spread from one location to another."

### 5. Conferences & Hackathons
Jesse has also seen stickers designed for specific conferences and hackathons (a multi-day event when teams meet to engage, collaborate, and develop). The design may represent the theme of the event, location, and date. 

"It's created a fun environment that makes others ask, 'What is it that they have?'"

> It’s ingrained as part of the culture here, something we’ll continue doing into the future.

## Building a sticky culture
Jesse is proud of starting the sticker craze here. He’s often asked by new hires if he is "the guy with the stickers". Lately, he’s been repurposing Banksy art (he’s a huge Banksy fan) and customizing them to a team.

The stickers have served an external purpose as well. The stickers often are an easy conversation starter. Customers and clients will ask about them in meetings. And sometimes, clients will ask for a sticker of the more original designs.

"It’s ingrained as part of the culture here, something we’ll continue doing into the future."

If you think stickers could help build _your_ company culture, why not start today with $10 off your first order. Just sign up by clicking the button below.

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At Unified, custom stickers serve as a cultural element to represent teams, new product releases, and track training progress for new hires. 

Introducing circle roll labels 

Today, we're introducing [circle roll labels](https://www.stickermule.com/products/circle-roll-labels), the beginning of a major new undertaking for us at Sticker Mule. 

After months of planning, we're excited to announce them and begin the process of becoming the Internet's favorite label printer. 

[![Sticker Mule's Custom Circle Roll Labels](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/e50bdac962cd930fee76a9dd7cdbb943ed71551b)](https://www.stickermule.com/products/circle-roll-labels)

## Better roll label quality
It's significantly more complicated to make and sell roll labels than regular stickers. The manufacturing is harder and the product line is more complex. 

While there's a lot of variety in the roll label market, our initial aim is to satisfy the needs of the many with the simplest possible product line. That means using the best print method and materials. 

Our roll label quality exceeds anything on the market today. We use the latest generation of print technology that's currently unique to Sticker Mule and offer the highest quality materials available to deliver roll labels that are durable, waterproof, and feature a beautiful matte finish.  

To keep things simple while we increase production, we're initially only offering custom circle roll labels but more shapes are coming soon. Our roll labels are ideal for packaging. Their design makes them incredibly easy to apply and they cost 10%+ less than stickers due to the slightly thinner material used to make them. 

## Positive reviews

After doing a limited test on some of [our customers that signed up for deal notifications](https://www.stickermule.com/deals), we've seen positive reviews from customers who are finding it faster and easier to use custom labels in their processes.

> I use my stickers as promotional material as well as in my shipping process, so having the super easy roll stickers really speeds up my packing and shipping process. Great product, thanks!"

With minimum print quantities starting at 50 labels per roll, small handmade stores (such as those on Etsy or Shopify) can get the same quality that larger businesses can order in bulk. 

Our [custom circle roll labels](https://www.stickermule.com/products/circle-roll-labels) are printed in full color with a matte finish on [BOPP material](https://www.stickermule.com/blog/what-is-bopp). Each label has a laminate that protects them from moisture making them ideal for beverage and food applications.

> Love the roll option! Great color and finish on the stickers. Perfect for use in packaging." [Read more...](https://www.stickermule.com/products/circle-roll-labels/reviews/12882)

As with all Sticker Mule custom products, we offer unlimited changes to proofs, fast production and free shipping for roll labels. Although we currently are only producing [circle roll labels in 5 sizes](https://www.stickermule.com/products/circle-roll-labels), in the coming months, we will offer additional sizes and other shapes.

Want to hear about new products and deals before anybody else? 

<ButtonCta text="Sign up for deal notifications today!" href="https://www.stickermule.com/deals" />


New custom circle roll labels are ideal for packaging, production processes, events and more.

Hidden costs of a/b testing 

There's plenty of literature on the merits of A/B testing, but little information on its pitfalls. Most people in ecommerce, tech and startups would have you believe A/B testing is a must do activity when, in reality, it's often unnecessary and counterproductive. 

At Sticker Mule, we recently stopped actively A/B testing and I thought it'd be helpful to explain why. I should preface this by admitting we ran more than 70 conversion tests before making this decision and had only 3 significant winners. I don't know a normal ratio of tests to wins, but I suspect our situation is common. This isn't to say we don't believe in constantly working to improve conversion--we've found different ways, which I detail later. 

![The Hidden Costs of AB Testing](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/64feff7f772f6956dd6752f42069c17b12f845f0)

## The 6 hidden costs of A/B testing

### 1) Time
Resources are finite. Time spent on A/B testing cannot be spent elsewhere. How you use your time determines your growth trajectory. A/B testing is a growth tactic, but it's not always the best use of your resources. 

### 2) Lost conversions
Most conversion tests fail and underperforming variations cause you to lose conversions while they run. These lost conversions are an investment you make to improve your long term conversion rate, but don't forget they are a real cost. 

### 3) Performance
Related to lost conversions, A/B testing tools make your site slower and this also reduces your conversion rate--even for the control. The additional conversions you lose because of this performance hit are another, often ignored, cost of A/B testing. 

### 4) Confusion
A/B tests potentially confuse your team and customers. Customer service may struggle to properly service a customer if they don't know which variation the customer is viewing. You can educate customer service about the various tests you're running, but, regardless, you're making their job more difficult. 
 
### 5) Speed
A/B testing slows down your organization's decision making. Some ideas are obviously good and adhering to a strict A/B testing process reduces your time to go live. Time is finite and the number of improvements you implement per year has a major impact on your growth trajectory. 

### 6) Focus
Usually, organizations congratulate themselves for investing heavily into conversion. This is evidenced by a Head of CRO or paying consultants. The largest cost is not the salary of those persons, but changing the focus of other team members such as designers, customer support, and developers. The success of a Head of CRO is usually at the cost of making other colleagues less successful in their primary roles. 

## How we improve conversion without A/B testing
Stepping away from A/B testing does not mean we have abandoned efforts to improve conversion. Rather we are improving our conversion through other methods (yes, A/B testing isn't your only option).

You can monitor your long term conversion trend rather easily via Google Analytics to gauge if you're making good decisions. And you can add more precision to this method of conversion rate monitoring by looking at your conversion rate trend by channel. 

With that in mind, we're doubling down on the following to improve our conversion rate:

### Usability principles
Adhering to thoroughly researched [usability principles](https://www.nngroup.com/) generally yields good conversion optimization results. 

### Design principles
In addition to usability principles, there are basic [design principles](http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879/) that tend to improve conversion when followed. 

### The golden rule
"Do unto others..." is a guiding principle for most of our decision making and it works great with regards to conversion optimization.

### Solving problems
Solving actual pain points our customers experience is the primary way we've been able to improve our conversion rate and strengthen our brand. 

## We haven't abandoned A/B testing entirely
I should admit that we still A/B test some ideas. Rather than adhering to a strict A/B testing process, we let our team to A/B test ideas they're curious about. 

To minimize the likelihood of testing too much, we turned off our 3rd party A/B testing tool and integrated split testing into our code base. That means, in order to run a test, we need help from development to set it up. This extra effort discourages running careless tests and has the added benefit of eliminating the performance hit that comes with using a 3rd party tool. 

Finally, we're now able to A/B test entirely different versions of our code which is much more interesting than merely testing basic design changes via a 3rd party tool.

If our approach of improving conversion rate by solving problems rather than using an A/B testing tool appeals to you, you share some of [the characteristics we look for in team members](https://www.stickermule.com/blog/characteristics-we-look-for-in-team-members). 

Feel like you'd fit in well with our team? [Apply to join us](https://www.stickermule.com/careers). We'd love to hear from you.

A/B testing has multiple hidden costs. We decided to mostly stop a/b testing for 6 reasons. 

Brewing interest in Radio Roasters' specialty roasts 

- __About Radio Roasters:__ [Radio Roasters](http://www.radioroasters.com/) is a small batch roastery in Georgia that provides single origin coffees through online sales, stores, and subscription delivery.  
- __How they use stickers:__  In shipments and in stores, Radio Roasters' "brew method" stickers do the job of educating future customers, marketing the business, and letting coffee lovers share their passion.
- __Results:__ The stickers have begun a small and effective word-of-mouth campaign about Radio Roasters.

> I wanted to involve the community and educate people how coffee is made, sourced, and brewed."

Every day, we receive hundreds of new sticker designs for printing. Most of them are artistic or clever. But there are a few that really catch our eye because they blend design with brand marketing.

A set of stickers from Radio Roasters is one of the few that really stand out. Designed by TNKR Design, Radio Roasters' stickers show various brew methods for coffee. Subtly printed on the stickers is the website address and after a quick look we had to learn more about the small batch roastery based in Atlanta.

![Coffee Brew Method Stickers](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/fbeae8473f4b5d7f67ee96ab30241cd323401579)

The man behind Radio Roasters is Chip Grabow. An NPR producer for 15 years, Chip moved to Atlanta to work at CNN. Although he edits scripts at CNN by night, during the day he’s busy roasting specialty grade coffee and building a business.

In 2011, when Chip moved from the West Coast to Atlanta, he was surprised by the small number of specialty coffee shops and roasters. He decided to combine a passion (love for coffee) with a dream (running his own business) to launch Radio Roasters. He had a jump start with the help of some friends who roast in other parts of the country.

## Brewing involvement and education

All new businesses face the difficult decision of branding and marketing. Chip quickly found one answer, "We have a great designer who did our branding and created our brew method stickers."

But marketing wasn't as easy. 

> Great coffee is different.

The answer came from the mission to involve and educate. Carefully sourced beans and small batch roasts are just the start. His goal to educate consumers also includes showing people how to make and enjoy a single cup of coffee.

"From the beginning, I wanted to involve the community and educate people how coffee is grown, sourced, and brewed."

That started with a single page and a few images describing techniques to brew a great cup of coffee with different [brewing methods](http://radioroasters.com/brewing-tips). While making the page, his designer made unique circle designs featuring the method: Clever Drip, cone drip, Chemex, and Aeropress.

Each method features a short paragraph about the method's history and specific steps. The result is unique, "Great coffee is different."

Soon after, the brew method stickers were made.

> Stickers were an obvious way to help. People always love stickers.

![Radio Roasteries Georgia](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/e13b66f450931079ae412f121222f68005c78d3a)

## Broadcasting the goods

A consistent design and unique colors make the set stand out. At local stores like [Sq/Ft Decatur](http://www.sqftdecatur.com/), where Chip's roasts are sold, he places a few stickers next to the bags. The color and design draws attention and, he hopes, subtly begins the education process. Chip adds, "Good design is helpful."

But it also creates a sudden interest in making (and drinking) coffee in new ways.

Casual coffee drinkers often only know one or two methods of brewing coffee, such as a standard drip coffee maker. These stickers show four lesser-known methods that improve the richness and taste, which open the door for "the switch" to take place.

The Switch has been described as "when a particular mix of events and emotional energy exists, a customer will choose a different product to use." 

Although small and simple, the stickers are, in part, accomplishing that job — giving a casual, novice, or even "pro" coffee drinker an opportunity to choose Radio Roasters' coffee over their old favorite.

Add to that the fact that stickers are easy to hold and use just about anywhere.

Chip explains, "People love stickers as a kid. You love collecting them and holding on to them."

## Tuning in for more

The bulk of his business is built around a subscription service to encourage customers to buy and have on hand only the freshest beans and to consistently try new varieties. Customers can pick from different coffee origins and bag sizes.

Coffee changes by the season and so each quarter, Radio Roasters features a different origin or variety. When customers buy through his subscription service, they get stickers thrown into each shipment.

> Cool brands are always the ones who give you cool, free stickers."

As the subscription business has grown, the stickers have had a growing impact. A customer might place a sticker on a notebook they bring to work or they'll place it on a coffee mug they bring to a meeting.

"We’ve had people ask our customers, 'How do I get these stickers?' We always tell them to say, 'You have to order Radio Roasters Coffee'. Recently someone saw a Radio Roasters sticker on a colleague’s laptop and asked about it. So they gave them an extra shot because they knew he liked coffee."

As the subscription business grows online, Chip is looking to expand to other stores in and around Atlanta. Stickers have been a pragmatic, economical way to naturally pull people towards Radio Roasters.

"Although we’re just starting, the stickers have definitely increased interest. We’ve had a great response on Instagram. People comment and ask where they can get them. We tell them 'you have to order!'"

"They respond, 'I know where I'm ordering next time!'"

If *you* want to try ordering with Sticker Mule, get started with $10 off your first order. Just sign up by clicking the button below.

<ButtonCta text="Get $10 credit" href="https://www.stickermule.com/unlock?ref_id=7980330701" />

Radio Roaster's "brew method" stickers educate future customers, market the business, and let coffee lovers share their passion. 

Prerequisites for rapid growth 

![Illustration of growing plants](https://cl.ly/2V3z1C1Z2k0f/prereq_blog.jpg)

To date, we’ve been fortunate to grow by focusing on our passion for manufacturing, design, software development and customer experience. This attitude let us grow for 5 years without a single person in marketing. Last year we started building a marketing team and noticed our growth curve bend.

> Our team is still small and, while there are obvious benefits to staying that way, there’s also long term risk associating with ignoring opportunities to grow faster.

Our team is still small and, while there are obvious benefits to staying that way, there’s also long term risk associated with ignoring opportunities to grow faster. Without outside investors forcing growth on us, we’ve been able to create an environment where talented people seem to enjoy working (our [eNPS](http://community.netigate.net/employee-net-promoter-score-how-engaged-are-your-employees-11861.html) is [90](http://cl.ly/2U2q3f3Q1J23)!). If we accelerate growth, it’s important that we don’t diminish the environment & culture that enables us to do great work.

Given our hesitation to make changes that could negatively impact our culture, we identified a few areas where we need to improve to grow faster. As we start 2016, to grow faster, we need to:


### Prioritize effectively organization-wide
Our future is determined by the projects we pursue. Time spent doing less valuable activities is not spent doing more valuable ones. The better we get at prioritization the faster we will grow.

### Minimize average time to go live
We spend resources upon starting a project and don’t get a return until we go live. It’s wasteful for good ideas to sit idle and worse to invest time in a project that get’s shelved or stalled.

### Learn to scale job responsibilities
New responsibilities accumulate quickly in fast growing organizations. We need to be flexible when it’s necessary to adopt new responsibilities or adapt to a new role.

### Identify, recruit and fill key positions
We can’t do anything without the right people. So our potential is constrained unless we identify significant roles and fill them with the best people.

### Develop an effective hiring processes
To hire at scale we need exceptional recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes and a commitment to caring about the success of new people. Productivity and morale deteriorate when companies hire without a plan.

### Raise standards
We must be committed to mastering new skills while continuing to improve where we already excel. People learn from each other and a deterioration in standards can quickly spread as we grow.

## Concluding thoughts
While these principles are particularly relevant to our current situation I suspect they’ll continue to matter indefinitely. Prioritization and execution speed are easily the two biggest determinants of long run growth.

Beyond that, it comes down to filling the right positions with the best people, enabling them to succeed and encouraging everyone to stay flexible so that the organization can quickly adapt to change. Finally, a commitment to constantly raising standards is perhaps the best safeguard to the decay the most organizations experience as they age.

If you agree with these principles and are seeking an organization where talented people enjoy working, [we are hiring](https://www.stickermule.com/careers?ref=blog).

We've identified a few areas where Sticker Mule (and other companies) need to change or improve in order to grow faster. 

Growing beards and a brand with Texas Beard Co. 

- __About Texas Beard Co.:__ Started in February 2014, Texas Beard Company makes high quality, all natural, man-made beard products.
- __How they use stickers:__ With just two types of stickers, they have been able to label their entire product line including beard oil, balm, and wax products. Promotional logo stickers have also been a great tool to spread brand awareness. 
- __Results:__ What started as an experiment is now a busy company adding new products and fulfilling hundreds of orders a day for their happy and bearded customers. 

> I saw an opportunity, did my research, and started creating what became our first two products."

Great entrepreneurs look for opportunity and try to get ahead of the next big thing. And yet, at times, the best ideas are staring you right in the face...or, in this case, on your face. That's how Ryan Olson, a bearded software developer, started and founded Texas Beard Company.

![Texas Beard Co Stickers](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/82e4ca79ccb9972fbc38cb2f547dd744ab083809)

"I saw an opportunity, did my research, and started creating what became our first two products."

Together, owners Ryan, Aaron, Adam, and Shayne (all coworkers and friends) formed Texas Beard Company. Since then, handmade beard care products have become a full-fledged business with thousands of happy customers. As happy Sticker Mule users, we chatted with Ryan about the experience and the company. Here are the lessons he has to share:

Here are his three lessons:

1. Shape your business out of your own needs and expertise 
2. Launch fast and make it yourself
3. Delight & Surprise for Brand Awareness

## Shape your business out of your own needs and expertise 

Except Adam (the "token beardless guy" on the team), Ryan, Aaron and Shayne are their own best customers. They researched different ingredients and their benefits. Next, they tested the formulas on themselves and made changes to what became beard oil and beard balm.

They created the product and formula that Ryan had been looking for on Day 1. Next, they reached out to friends and other coworkers to get their feedback. They gathered comments and feedback on the products' scent and use, and then launched the product line officially.

> It was a bit of an experiment to see if we could move product.

As software developers, Ryan and the guys work by day at an e-commerce software company developing tools and resources that allow other small businesses to launch stores. That experience gave them a huge jumpstart out of the gate and helped them build the store overnight.

"It was a bit of an experiment to see if we could move product. We had the experience building online stores but not running one."

![NightCapBalm](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/db2806de2f55130f078553d94be99d4fe278bd92)

## Launch fast and make it yourself

It can be tempting for new, small businesses to get stuck on the "startup checklist" and delay building the actual business. It’s easy to spend too many hours building a website, creating a logo, branding, finding the best suppliers, and best prices. All are important, but they can drain a business of its momentum if done slowly. Texas Beard Company is a great example of why it’s important to work out of your expertise so that you can move fast and start selling.

Aaron, the artistic one of the bunch, designed a logo that perfectly captured the brand, its products, and its target customers. Next, the team ordered glass droppers and tins. To bring the branding and the product together, they used Sticker Mule to create custom [beard oil stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/beard-oil-stickers "Custom beard oil stickers") to label their beard care products.

Ordering custom stickers and using them as labels gave them the ability to order as needed at the start. From the beginning, the logo and stickers have become a prominent part of the entire production process.
All of the products use the same sticker for labeling. This single use has made it easy to keep branding consistent. Best of all, it has allowed them to save thousands by placing bulk orders for a single design and making reorders quickly.

> It was a creative solution for packaging. We used one sticker for all four uses."

Texas Beard Company has taken "do it yourself" to the extreme. All of the products are handmade by family members out of a home garage and has completely overtaken two rooms of the house. Although it started as a weekend project, making the oils and balms is now a full time job for two people.

At the start, Ryan recalls visiting Farmer's Markets to generate sales and awareness before online sales took over. "It was time consuming, but it was important. Customers were able to smell the scents and try it out. It's a lot easier online though to make sales."

## Delight & surprise for brand awareness

With nearly all sales coming through the online store, Texas Beard Company has found a way to still engage with customers and spread the brand without the in-person connection at a Farmer's Market. "We put promotional logo stickers in with every order. It's a nice surprise for customers when they open up the box."

> Stickers are a nice surprise for customers when they open up the box."

The stickers have helped with brand awareness too. While many customers will naturally tell their friends, some will need your help through stickers, referral credits, or other creative ways. If your product meets a need and creates happy customers — like Texas Beard Company — it's important to make it as easy as possible for them to share their experience. "People put the logo on their [cars](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/car-stickers), [coffee mugs](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/waterproof-stickers), [hard hats](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/hard-hat-stickers), or [laptops](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/laptop-stickers)." The business has expanded beyond Texas and sells in every state and more than 26 countries.

![Beard Oil Stickers](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/e31f92a0425326592137ccedb0b3f72eb5d1d701)

## What's next 

In the past year, the team has created new scents (including a seasonal scent), added mustache wax and other grooming products. As Texas Beard Company grows, so does its customer’s love for the brand. The team is now making t-shirts, trucker hats, and more. While the business continues to grow naturally, Ryan, Adam, Aaron, and Shayne plan to delight customers in new ways and with new products.

There are countless ways to delight _your_ customers and grow your brand using stickers and other custom printed products. Check out more ways Sticker Mule can help your business grow.

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses?ref=blog" />

Texas Beard Company uses custom stickers to label their entire product line including beard oil, balm, and wax products. 

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