It Was Ki--ing Her Business. I Gave Her $8,000 Advice for Free. Before That? She Was Invisible.
My minimum agency retainer is $8,000 a month. That is the barrier to entry. If you want my team to build your brand that’s where the conversation starts.
I was going to have to turn her down.
Elena is 50. She has a genuine, beautiful craft.
She makes small-batch, cold-pressed soaps using lavender and rosemary she grows in her own garden.
This isn’t dropshipping junk.
It’s the kind of product that feels heavy and expensive in your hand.
But online? It looked cheap.
She showed me her Shopify store on her phone. The images were tragic.
She had taken them on her kitchen counter. The lighting was yellow and flat. You could see the reflection of her fridge in the packaging.
In a digital world that demands perfection, her brand was screaming “cheap.”
“Mirel,” she said, “I know my product is good. But nobody is buying it. I need you to take over.”
I looked at her. I tried to be gentle. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t afford me.
It was that she shouldn’t hire me.
The "Agency Trap"
I told her the truth most marketers don’t tell.
“Elena, if you pay me $8,000… you are betting the farm on a single campaign. You’re firing one expensive bullet.”
You are in the startup phase. You don’t need one perfect campaign.
You need to test ten different ideas, quickly, to see what sticks.
When you are launching something new, you need volume. You need to produce high-end creatives at a decent pace.
You cannot afford to pay a freelancer $500 every time you want to test a new angle or a new soap scent.
She looked defeated. “So this is it? Unless I learn studio photography? How many months and equipment do I need for that?”
“No,” I said.
“You don’t need to become a photographer. You need to become a director.“
I wrote down a URL on a piece of paper (and a coupon code). It wasn’t an agency referral. It was a link to a Masterclass. Made by two serbian brothers, Ivan and Bojan Zamurovic.
My team gets the same training. I just hoped she was open enough to give it a shot.
Stealing like an artist
I explained who created this.
These aren’t just “tech bros.” They are artists.
Their work was literally sent to the Moon on the Odysseus lander 2, and they are legends on Adobe Stock. Celebrities like Britney Spears use their images.
She looked at the link.
Shook her head.
“Mirel… AI? I’m 50 years old. Let’s be realistic, I will never get into Artificial Intelligence. I don’t code. I don’t want to become a techie. I just want to make soap.“
She was genuinely afraid that I was handing her a tool for computer geeks.
“Trust me” I said. “This isn’t about tech. It is about vision.“
“Look at who made this course. They are artists. They teach you to steal like an artist.”
“To take your product and reimagine it. Without limits.”
“Just give me a weekend,” I said.
“Dive in. Stop trying to hire help, and become the help.”
The "Oh No" Moment
Two weeks later, Elena sent me an email. No text, just a video attachment.
I clicked play.
The video opened with her lavender soap.
Amazingly? Not on her kitchen counter.
It was resting on a piece of weathered slate by a misty, running stream in the mountains.
The lighting was soft, moody, and premium.
Then, the camera moved—a slow, cinematic pan that caught the texture of the organic wrapping paper. The music wasn’t generic stock audio; it was rhythmic, and the beat matched the edit perfectly.
Fuck. I didn’t feel pride. I felt worry.
I called her immediately.
“Elena… please tell me you didn’t hire a production crew for this. Please tell me you didn’t pay an agency $3,000 for this shoot.”
I was sure she had ignored my advice and blown her savings on an expensive agency. Or worse yet, got on a retainer.
She laughed.
“I didn’t hire anyone, Mirel. I made it this morning. It took me thirty minutes.“
“Thirty minutes?” I asked.
“Well, now it does,” she admitted.
“The first week I was slow. I had to learn the tools and understand the method. But the first results were still amazing. And now that I get it? I fly.”
Elena's video from the email. Had to compress it because it was in super high resolution.
She Did The Math and Got Sold
She started listing the numbers. As an agency owner, I know what things cost, so seeing the math laid out like didn’t surprise me.
Here is exactly what it costs to produce one high-end commercial asset like the one she sent me:
Option A:
The Agency/Freelancer Route
Videographer Day Rate: $1,500
Editor: $500
Location Scout/Travel: $500
Total: $2,500+ for ONE video.
Risk: If the ad flops, you just burned $2,500.
Option B:
The Traditional DIY Route
DSLR Camera & Lens: $2,000
Lighting Kit & Backdrop: $500
Editing Software subscription: $600/year
Total: $3,100+ upfront.
Risk: Spends 6 months learning how to use the gear before you ever sell a bar of soap.
Option C: Elena’s AI way
Creative AI Masterclass (with the discount I gave her): $90-ish
AI Credits (Trinity AI & Suno): $5
Total: $102.
Second Video: $5!!!
Risk: Virtually zero.
I spent five dollars on AI credits to make that video, Mirel. Five dollars. I can fail twenty times and it still costs less than a dinner out.
Momentum Got Her To The Next Level
Then she showed me something else.
“Mirel,” she said. “I always wanted to send my soap to influencers. But they charge $500 just to post a photo. And half the time? They just take the free product and ghost you.”
“I couldn’t afford the risk.”
So she showed me her new campaign. It featured a woman. Elegant. Natural looking. Holding the soap in a sunlit bathroom. Smiling with genuine warmth.
“Who is she?” I asked. “Did you hire a model?”
“No,” Elena said. “I created her.”
Apparently now the Masterclass teaches also video. Elena used that to create a “consistent brand avatar” (that’s what we call it in our agency). Not by stealing a real person’s face. That’s sketchy. But by generating a unique “digital person” that fits her brand aesthetic perfectly.
She did it ethically. She isn’t pretending this is a celebrity endorsement. She is using a digital model to set a mood. To show the product in use. She made a lifestyle vibe that sells.
“She doesn’t complain,” Elena laughed. “She doesn’t ask for payment.” “She doesn’t need me to ship free products across the country.” “And she is always available for a photoshoot. Even at 2 AM. When my creativity hits.”
Elena went from being unable to afford a single influencer post… to having her own in-house army of influencers. For zero dollars. Just a few AI credits.
"But Isn't AI... Cheating?"
Elena hesitated on this.
But I could tell she had a weight on her chest.
“At first, I felt guilty,” she admitted.
“I was afraid AI creatives will be ‘fake’ or ‘soulless.’ I was afraid I was cutting corners.”
I stopped her right there.
“Elena, listen to me. Big brands—the ones competing against you—spend millions to manufacture their ‘reality.’ They hire teams of retouchers to smooth out skin and fake sunsets.
Is that ‘real’?”
We have to stop fighting windmills. The world is changing.
You can either stand on the sidelines and scream about how it used to be, or you can pick up the tool and create.
For a massive corporation, AI might just be a way to cut costs.
But for someone like Elena, AI is oxygen.
Without it, her beautiful, handcrafted product dies in the dark because she can’t afford the “entry fee” of professional marketing.
With AI+Skill, she has a voice.
This isn’t about the computer doing the work for you.
It’s about the computer removing the technical barriers so your vision can come through.
You need to learn how to be an Art Director.
You need to use today’s tools.
You choose the vibe.
You choose the look.
You tell the story.
AI executes and puts it together.
The soul doesn’t come from the camera lens. It comes from the creator.
And for the first time in history, you don’t need a budget to show your soul to the world.
My Advice to Those who can’t Afford $8,000 creative retainers
I want you to have that same independence. I don’t want you to pay an agency thousands of dollars before you’re ready.
Don’t get me wrong, I like charging $8,000 a month.
But you need to be ready.
Until then…
Instead, A Skill for Business and Life
I want you to be able to test your ideas with high-end visuals that you create yourself.
I want you to feel creative freedom.
Not depending on anyone is the best feeling in the world.
I believe this is the single most important skill a business owner can learn right now.
Don’t bet everything on one expensive gamble.
Learn to create freely, quickly, and beautifully.
Amaze yourself with your own creations.
Much love,
Mirel.
P.S.: thank you for the direct messages. Made my day.
Unfortunately I can’t get back to everyone.
So here’s the coupon I gave to Elena since everyone asking for it. Use it while it lasts.
Code: MIREL80
P.P.S: if you use my coupon, promise you will send me an email with your creations.
Here’s my email: mirel @ anticipal . com
I might not reply, but it makes my day.
P.P.P.S.: you need to add the code yourself at the checkout. If it doesn’t work it will say “invalid” or some error.
BUT
Even without the discount, this is worth more than a college degree from examples people are sending to me.
