Aristide Basque is the co-founder of SHIFT AGENCY, a creative agency focused on data-driven customized advertising – showing only what people want to see to convert them. He’s well known in the eCommerce industry for his skills with Facebook Advertising.
Where did the idea for Shift Agency come from?
I started my agency after I was able to launch a watch company & grow it to $1.3M in sales within 6 months just by using Facebook & Instagram advertising. It allowed me to learn skills ranging from email marketing to conversion rate optimization. I then wanted to launch a company with Dorian Reeves, who is my co-founder. He was very good with people & creative and I was very good with data, the agency model was perfect for us.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
My typical day starts at 7 AM. I wake up, get ready to start working on my computer. I then go to the office in Montreal around 8:30 AM. First thing I do is look at Trello and make myself a list of tasks in terms of priority. After that, I just execute as many tasks as possible. Usually, I have 2-3 calls throughout the day, these allow me to breathe & connect with other people (working on the computer can become very draining after some time).
How do you bring ideas to life?
We usually have a list of ideas & projects we want to implement and every week we discuss which one we should prioritize as well as which one we should wait before doing. If we choose an idea, we then transform the idea into tasks for us to bring it to life.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Since I ventured myself in entrepreneurship, I see quality becoming way more important than quantity and I think it’s awesome. When people could just massively post 100 pictures on Instagram and get 10K followers, a lot of greedy people were making money by selling low-quality products. I feel like it weeds out the entrepreneurs that are not helping the world for those who truly have an impact. With SHIFT, we started multiple Instagram accounts for causes that mean something to us. These topics are climate change, social movements, changes in what we eat, helping others evolve, and much more.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
The habit I believe makes me the most productive is to use Trello. This software really helps me have my tasks in front of me at all times and know exactly what I need to do.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell myself to stop & think more about the future. Sometimes, I just take so much action that I forget where I’m going. Going fast is as important as going in the right direction and I’ve definitely learned that by now.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Twitter serves no purpose except for following Donald Trump.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Have a free flow mastermind session with your co-founder.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
In the beginning, try every idea that you have until you find something that works.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I don’t even see anything as a failure because I’m happy to be where I’m at. I think it doesn’t matter if you fail or succeed, I fail or succeed every day and it doesn’t bother. I just want to keep going up.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I have so many. Create your own coworking space. I think big companies like WeWork won’t be as good as we think, people want to be part of local co-working space.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Going to a music festival. Let’s remember that life is a recollection of all our good moments.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Trello and we use in an agile way. We have a list of tasks, repeatable tasks, ideas, tools, etc. There are so many ways to adapt it to your business, but it’s essential to have something like Trello or Asana.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I recommend reading “The Millionaire Fastlane” because it really makes you want to be an entrepreneur. It’s not so much about the lessons, but rather the images.
What is your favorite quote?
“Our life echoes in eternity.”
Key Learnings:
- Stay organized with software like Trello
- Find out your strengths
- Take massive action
- Nothing is a failure, just keep going up
- Always have new ideas to implement
Connect:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.