This week at VOMP Studios - Drove from CA to TX this week for the 6th time in 18 months on Monday-Tuesday. Finally home for the first time in 2 weeks. My Central Nervous System keeps telling me to go back to bed. After this, I’m gonna listen to it.

This week’s riffs for the creative vandals, outlaws, misfits, and pirates of the internet:

• Create Cooler: Spirit Halloween calls an audible that’s a bit… “off-brand”

• Build Better: The cookie-cutter path to a $1 billion valuation

• Earn Easier: The art of the close in copy and sales

• Break The Rules: Derek Jeter launches a production company

• The Hit List: Music to turn up and tune out

From Frights to Festive: Spirit Halloween's Sinister Plot to Haunt Your Holidays

Just when you thought Spirit Halloween was done terrorizing your wallet for the year, they’re back—this time with jingle bells and inflatable snowmen in tow.

That’s right: Spirit Halloween is about to pivot from spooky to holly jolly by converting some of its stores into Spirit Christmas pop-ups.

Because why stop at Halloween when there’s more cash to grab from the next big holiday, right?

Especially when your entire brand name is an antithesis of each other.

Starting With A 10-Piece

They’re rolling out 10 of these bad boys, mostly up in the US Northeast, and they’re packing them with all the Christmas crap you didn’t know you needed - gifts, decorations, and enough inflatable reindeer to fill Santa’s sleigh (and your neighbor’s lawn).

Oh, and let’s not forget the life-sized gingerbread village—because who wouldn’t want to pose for a picture in front of a house made of sugar that will haunt your dentist’s nightmares?

Don’t worry, though... Santa will be there too. Because, of course, he will. It’s Saint fuggin Nick we’re talking about here.

When Corporate Meets Comedy

According to the official PR spiel, the goal is to capture “the spirit of the season.”

Which basically means, “We’re here to squeeze every last dollar out of your seasonal joy—just like we do for Halloween.”

That’s not cynical; that’s just retail genius.

But let’s call a spade a spade here: this is a rub-n-tug on the wallets of US consumerism.

The takeover starts October 18 in May’s Landing, New Jersey, and the rest of the stores will open by November.

So, if you were wondering how fast you can shift from buying fake blood and severed limbs to inflatable snow globes and reindeer sweaters, the answer is…

Faster than you can say “Wait why TF was mommy kissing Santa Clause!?”

They Make All Kinds Of Inflatables Here…

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Spirit Halloween just hit a record number of stores this year—1,525 across the US and Canada.

The company, owned by Spencer’s Gifts (you know that store you always wanted to go into but your mom always said no?), typically lurks in the shadows of vacant storefronts, waiting to pounce on the Halloween-crazed masses for about eight weeks before disappearing into the mist.

And while they’re cagey about revealing their sales figures, we know Halloween is big money in the US.

We're talking $11.6 billion kind of big, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).

But Christmas? Oh, that’s a whole different beast.

Last year, holiday spending hit a whopping $964 billion. 

For the sake of seeing what a crazy fucking number that is in comparison to it being ONE DAY of the year…

$964,000,000,000.

So yeah, Spirit Halloween’s decision to jump on the Santa sleigh isn’t exactly a “festive gesture”—it’s straight-up business savvy.

They know exactly where the big bucks are hiding.

And now, they’re coming for your Christmas cheer—one inflatable snowman at a time.

How Two Cousins Went From Baking Dreams to Building a $1 Billion Cookie Empire

Confession session: I’m a bit of a cookie slut myself. But guess what?

These two guys took their cookie obsession to a whole new level, flipping flour, sugar, and a lot of hustle into a $1 billion-a-year revenue beast.

Yeah, you read that right.

Let’s dive into how Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley turned their cookie dreams into straight-up cookie domination.

Living the Broke AF American Dream

Jason McGowan didn’t exactly start with a silver spoon—or even a mixing spoon.

He grew up in Canada, whipping up baked goods with his older sister, sparking a lifelong love for cookies.

Fast forward to his twenties: Jason moves to the U.S. with an eighth-grade education, no real money, and zero clue what’s next.

How bad was it? He was literally crashing on his buddy’s floor.

But here’s where it gets wild—he taught himself web design and carved out a killer career in tech, even dabbling in some startups like piick.com and ancestry.com.

Talk about a pivot.

He even tossed some investment cash into a business run by his wife’s cousin, Sawyer Hemsley.

That didn’t pan out, but Jason knew there was potential there.

Spoiler alert: he wasn’t wrong.

The Cookie That Took 5 Damn Months

Fast-forward to 2017, when Jason and Sawyer decided to team up and tackle the world of cookies.

But these weren’t your grandma’s oatmeal raisin.

No, they obsessed over creating the perfect cookie, taking five months and endless taste tests with family and friends to land on the golden recipe.

After what probably felt like forever, they were ready to unleash their masterpiece.

They scraped together $68k—mostly from Jason—and opened their first Crumbl store in Logan, Utah.

And guess what? People freakin’ loved it. Like, line-around-the-block loved it.

A Franchise Frenzy

With the dough (pun intended) rolling in, Jason and Sawyer went big.

By 2019, they had franchised more than 15 locations, including one opened by Jason’s own parents.

Guess entrepreneurship runs in the family.

But here’s where they really flipped the script - they took a page out of the fashion world and launched a drop model—dropping new cookie flavors every week and discontinuing the old ones.

Cue the FOMO: Customers got hooked, lining up to try whatever cookie flavor was hot that week.

Then, because Jason’s got tech in his DNA, they dropped an app in 2018 where users could rate flavors, making sure every Crumbl location churned out the same top-tier cookie goodness.

Talk about tech-meets-treats.

The Cookie Empire Explodes

By August 2020, Crumbl had 100 locations.

Fast forward another year? They hit 300. By 2022, they had sold over 300 million cookies and raked in a cool $1 billion in revenue.

If that doesn’t make you wanna quit your day job and start slinging cookies, I don’t know what will.

Today, Crumbl has 862 stores across the U.S., and guess what? They’re going global.

That’s right—your favorite cookie is about to be a worldwide sensation.

And with each store pulling in $1.8 million in revenue, these guys aren’t slowing down anytime soon.

Think Big, Bake Bigger

Jason and Sawyer turned a humble idea into a billion-dollar cookie monster.

Their secret? Relentless innovation, killer marketing, and knowing how to make people drool over a damn good cookie.

If these guys can do it with cookies, imagine what you can do with your big idea.

The lesson here? Think big—or in this case, bake bigger.

*I know there’s a killer “half-baked” pun somewhere in this story. Trust me when I’m saying I’m tired this week because I’ve written 12 versions of them and they all suck so this is what became of it. It’s killing me because it’s somewhere right here.

Remember Your ABCs - Always Be Closing

I came across a post about the art of the close in Alen Sultanic’s NHB group this week. He’s a savant in the game so I highly suggest you read his post about it here.

I’m covering the same topic in my own words but I’m not shy in pointing you his way.

He’s fucking brilliant and it would be a disservice not to share him with you.

Let’s talk about closing—the blood sport of sales and copywriting.

It’s the grand finale of every marketing effort, the final step before you convince someone to pull out their credit card and pay for your magic.

And trust me, if you’re not closing, you’re just another person yelling into the void.

So, how do you master the art of the close?

Well, forget the fluffy nonsense and get straight to the throat.

As the great Perry Marshall says, “Speak to the bleeding neck!”

Here’s the brutal truth: before you close, you’ve got to get your prospect in the right headspace.

They’ve gotta need you to close them. They’ve gotta want to be sold.

No Choice, No Problem

Let’s be real for a second—humans suck at making decisions.

You know it, I know it.

When we’re drowning in choices, we freeze up.

The key to a killer close? Take away those choices. Strip down their options like you’re decluttering their life.

When people have no alternatives, they’re stuck. And no one likes being stuck—especially not with a problem gnawing at them.

What’s the fix for that awful “stuck” feeling?

Simple: give them a choice again—but on your terms.

The only way out of their misery is to follow your lead.

Boom. They’re ready to move.

The Close Formula That Sells Itself 

Every winning close, whether it’s in a phone pitch or in a piece of copy, follows this pattern:

- First, take away their freedom of choice.

- Next, dangle it back in front of them—but this time, it comes with a price.

Here’s the sneaky part: you’re not just offering a product or service.

You’re selling them relief from their stuck state.

You’re offering them a way out.

Think about it—who wouldn’t pay to escape that?

It’s subtle, psychological black magic.

An Example Close Alen Says You Can Steal Right Now 

He banged this out for a client in under 2 minutes, and it’s the perfect demonstration of this whole “pay the price” method:

Pay the Price Close:

“If that’s the [life, business, success, etc.] you want…

Then this is exactly for you.

But we both know that success comes with a price, right?

The price of success is [hard work, sleepless nights, sacrifices]...

The price of success is [trial and error, failure, and frustration]...

And the price of success? Losing [time, energy, money] because you weren’t [prepared, skilled, smart] enough.

The real problem is that it takes YEARS of grinding through the tough stuff to get there.

So here’s what I’m going to do for you: I’ve already paid that price.

I’ve been through the sleepless nights, the failures, and the frustration—so you don’t have to.

What’s left for you? Just one thing. Book a call.

We’ll talk. I’ll tell you what’s holding you back, why you’re not [winning, succeeding, crushing it]… and more importantly, I’ll show you exactly how to fix it.

At the end of the call, you’ll walk away with a clear roadmap to hit [your goal]. The only question is: do you want to do it alone, or do you want me to guide you?

The choice is yours.

But here’s the kicker: we both know you’re smart enough to see that the real price of success is time.

So, are you going to spend years paying that price, or are you going to spend 45 minutes on this call?

The decision’s obvious. Book it, and let’s get moving.”

Not pushy at all. It’s logical with the perfect dose of empathy.

The Big Picture 

It’s all about control.

You take away their choices, make them feel stuck, and then—boom—you give them a way out. For a price.

That’s the art of the close, pure and simple.

Use it in your copy, on your calls, or wherever you need to seal the deal.

Next time you're stuck on closing, remember - take away the choice, then hand it back with a nice fat price tag. Easy as that.

From the Diamond to the Director’s Chair

Derek Jeter (my favorite athlete of all-time) is back in the game—this time, the Hollywood game.

The former Yankees captain, girl dad of 3, Hall of Famer, and Fox Sports analyst just launched Cap 2 Productions, his new production company.

And if you thought his dominance ended at baseball, think again.

Jeter’s not here to dabble in the entertainment biz—he’s ready to hit for the cycle, Hollywood style.

Cap 2 is set to deliver family-friendly documentaries and scripted sports-related content, the type of stuff streamers and networks are absolutely drooling over right now.

Think of it as an extension of what Jeter already built with The Players’ Tribune, the athlete-focused digital platform he co-founded back in 2014.

Just like he knocked expectations out of the park with that venture, he’s betting Cap 2 will do the same.

A Game Plan for Success

“This isn’t just some random company,” Jeter said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“This is an extension of what’s been built over the last 10 years.”

He’s not just name-dropping here—Cap 2 already has a lineup of projects in development with major players like ESPN and Apple.

Jeter's keen eye for quality and storytelling has him laser-focused on producing content that inspires, educates, and motivates.

Not every project is strictly baseball-related either.

While you can expect a lot of home runs (literally), Cap 2 is also expanding into more diverse territory, like the upcoming History’s Greatest Warriors series with the History Channel.

Joining the Athlete-Hollywood Trend

Jeter’s not the only athlete making waves in Tinseltown—he’s joining a growing roster of sports legends getting serious about production.

Names like Tom Brady, LeBron James, Serena Williams, and Lionel Messi all have production companies up and running, and Jeter is throwing his cap into the ring to compete with the best.

Not a bad list to be on, right!?!?

For these former athletes, success in Hollywood is all about leveraging connections and giving the people what they want—exclusive, behind-the-scenes stories from the world of sports.

Jeter’s Cap 2 has a huge advantage here.

As one of the most respected names in sports, he’s got access and insight that your average production house just can’t match.

And let’s be real—having Jeter’s name attached opens a lot of doors in Hollywood.

A New Era for Sports Content

Sports content has never been hotter, and Cap 2 is ready to capitalize on that momentum.

Netflix, Peacock, Prime Video, ESPN—they’re all hungry for docuseries and behind-the-scenes stories from the world of sports.

Think of hits like Quarterback or Drive to Survive.

Jeter knows the playbook, and he’s eager to show how athletes don’t just make headlines—they make stories.

But Jeter’s not rushing into anything.

“You want to build a foundation from the get-go,” he said. “Cap 2 is not going to be successful just because I’m a part of it, it’s going to be successful because of the projects we’re involved with.”

Jeter’s Steady Approach

Unlike some Hollywood rookies looking for a quick win, Jeter is taking a long-game approach, and that’s probably why his production company is already poised for success.

He’s committed to staying intimately involved in every decision, ensuring Cap 2 delivers quality, meaningful projects that stick with viewers.

So, while he may have hung up his cleats a decade ago, Jeter is far from done making history—only now, he’s writing the script.

Cap 2 Productions: Get ready.

Derek Jeter’s taking Hollywood by storm, one pitch—er, project—at a time.

Different creative pursuits call for different music to jam to. Here’s what I jammed to this week on The Vomp Playlist: