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Most agency owners think their clients have it easy. But the gap between how you believe your agency operates and how clients and prospects actually experience it is often wider than you’d expect, and it’s usually the small, everyday frictions that do the most damage. In this episode, Chip and Gini ask if you were on the receiving end of your own agency’s processes, would you be happy? The answer, for a lot of agencies, is probably not. Their point isn’t that agencies should cave to every demand, but if you market yourself as a partner, act like one. The friction can start before someone even becomes a client. Contact forms loaded with qualifying questions scare people away. And back-and-forth emails to find a meeting time have no excuse in 2026. Use a scheduling tool, have a link ready, and make it especially easy for prospects. Once someone is ready to talk, the goal is to respond fast and remove every obstacle. When it comes to the handoff from prospect to client, agencies should have a standard proposal template so they can turn paperwork around in 24 hours, not days. Make invoicing and payments as easy on the client as you would want it to be if you were in their shoes. And when it comes to project management tools, if the client already has one they’re using, just use it. The tool matters less than having one. Key takeaways Chip Griffin: “When someone is at a low point, that is not the time to try to extract stuff from them. It’s a time where if you believe half of your marketing BS that you put out there about they’re our partners, they’re not our clients, well, then act like one.” Gini Dietrich: “We have to think about scope creep, and we have to think about margins, and all of those are very real things. But let’s not cut our nose off to spite our face.” Chip Griffin: “Being easy to work with starts before they’re even a client. I am often befuddled by how difficult agencies make it to get in touch with them for a prospect.” Gini Dietrich: “There are some organizations that have a process that they put clients through, and it’s so rigid that it doesn’t meet the client where they are. And it’s impossible to work with them because of that.” Related How to onboard new agency clients How to do client collections right and get paid faster View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And Gini, I, I’m, I’m easy to work with, right? I mean, you know, I’m not too- Gini Dietrich: You’re super easy to work with. Chip Griffin: Well. Gini Dietrich: I mean, you’re a little cranky, but that’s why I love you. Chip Griffin: I, I, I think listeners know I’m, I’m cranky. They just… If you’ve listened to more than two or three episodes, you’ve probably heard me be cranky about something at someone. Gini Dietrich: Great. I love it. Chip Griffin: Yeah. Yeah. But we are gonna talk about whether or not you are actually easy to work with as an agency for your clients, and frankly for your prospects as well, because I think a lot of agencies believe that they are easy to work with, but their thoughts or their words maybe aren’t matched up with their actual actions. Gini Dietrich: Yes. And, you know, I will say that I learned this lesson when I started hiring agencies and solopreneurs. It’s not easy to work with other agencies. And you’re like, “Oh, that’s not… I thought that that was a good practice.” And then you realize when another agency puts you through it, not a good practice. Like for instance, making them, making you use their project management system when you have your own, bad idea. Sending emails with invoices that go into the void, bad idea. Like there are some practices that I’m like, “Nope, this does not work.” It’s not, you’re not making it easy on me. Chip Griffin: Yeah, and I, I think part of the problem comes from, I think part of the blame goes to people, people like us who are always preaching to agency owners the importance of protecting their time and their margins and- Gini Dietrich: Sure Chip Griffin: and all of that. Yep. And, and I think that, you know, some people listen to that, but they don’t think through, “Okay, well how does that look on the other end?” Gini Dietrich: Right. Chip Griffin: Yep. And, and so yes, you absolutely need to, to make sure that you don’t have scope creep, and you need to make sure that you are protecting your time so you can get work done, and you’re not just getting eaten alive by meetings and calls and all of that. At the same time, you should think, “What does the other person on the other end think? How would I feel if I received this communication or if someone I hired acted in this way? How, would I be happy about it?” And I think if you start to do that, you’ll realize that some of your practices may not be as easy to work with as you think. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I think you’re right. You know, I think about a couple of years ago, probably two or three years ago, it was a Saturday night and a client’s website went down, and the client called me, and the reason I remember this is Saturday night is ’cause I probably already had a glass of wine. And he called me and he’s like, “Hey, our website just went down and I can’t reach anybody.” And I was like, “What do you mean you can’t reach anybody?” He’s like, “I can’t reach anybody at the web firm. Can you help?” And I was like, “Of course.” So I called the web firm, and I finally got ahold of somebody, but I had to go through… I had to email three different email addresses, not a personal email address, and I had to go through their quote-unquote process. And I finally got somebody to call me and they said, “Well, keeping the website up and restoring a backup is not part of our scope of work, and so it’ll cost $2,000 an hour.” And I was like, “I’m sorry, what? But that’s not, that’s not a thing.” And they had taken this client’s… You know, they had… The client didn’t know, the client didn’t know what they were signing, and they did sign a scope of work that, that wasn’t included, and it was $2,000 an hour for emergency type stuff. And I was like, “No, absolutely not.” So their marketing manager and I got on with GoDaddy and we restored it ourselves, which it was not a fun process, but it worked, and that, that forced us to… I think they actually ended up firing the web firm, but which they should have. But, like, that kind of stuff I think is exactly to your point. They had put in a process. They had a contract. They did all the things, but they didn’t think through, like… restoring somebody’s website on a Saturday night is literally a click of a button. It’s not a $2,000 an hour emergency kind of thing. So, you know, yes, you should have a process. Yes, you should have a contract. Yes, you should protect your time, but also don’t do it at the risk of losing a client over something stupid like that. Chip Griffin: Right, and obviously there are some clients, as we know, who will abuse some of these things. So- Of course … there, there are certain times- Gini Dietrich: Of course, yes … Chip Griffin: where you have to be okay appearing to not be as easy as the client would want you to be. So this is not, this is not us preaching, “Say yes to everything that you’re asked to do.” It’s simply make some, make some good judgments here. Now, if this is, this is, the website disappears over the weekend, and it, you know, it’s not something that happens regularly, it’s not the, this client doesn’t generally abuse you, I mean, just get it done, and you can have a conversation after the fact and say, “Hey, that really wasn’t part of the scope of work. You, you know, we helped you as a show of good faith, but we need to, you know, we need to work this into the agreement going forward-” Right … or something like that. Gini Dietrich: Right, right. Chip Griffin: It, you know, when, when someone is, when someone is at a low point, that is not the time to try to extract stuff from them. It’s a time where if you truly want, you know, if you believe half of your marketing BS that you put out there about we’re our, they’re our partners, they’re not our clients, well, then, then act like one. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Yeah. And I think the, I think, you know, we think, we have to think about scope creep, and we have to think about margins, and all of those are very real things. But to your point, let’s not cut our nose off to spite our face. Like, there are some times where you’re just like, “Okay, yeah, sure.” I mean, I didn’t charge the client extra for them calling me instead of somebody on their account team because it was a Saturday night and they knew they could get me. I didn’t charge them extra for that. We just fixed it, right? Like, and that, that creates more goodwill in your relationship and trust in your relationship than being like, “Well, let’s deal with this on Monday.” No. No. Chip Griffin: Yep. And I mean, and a lot of it, a lot of being easy to work with is really the small things. It’s not the, it’s not the big giant stuff. It’s the little bits of friction that just become annoying. So think about how easy is it for clients to book time with you or your team, right? Again, and we don’t want this to be abused, but at the same time, I’ve worked with a lot of agencies where they’re like, “Well, you know, I, I’ve got a half hour two weeks from now for you.” Gini Dietrich: Right. Chip Griffin: Come on. I mean- … you know, if, if this is a client who’s constantly asking for time, okay, you know, maybe. But in general, you should be trying to find ways to make yourself available. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: You should be doing things like making sure that your team is at least acknowledging emails within the business day. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: Even if they can’t solve it, at least acknowledging it makes you easier to work with. Little things like how you handle billing. You alluded to that earlier, but make it easy to handle billing. Make sure you’re finding out early on who should these invoices go to? Do they need to be copied to multiple people? Don’t say, “Well, I’ve got this process and it only goes to one person or whatever.” Make the payment process easy. Make it so that people can pay online, make recurring payments. If they want to be able to change a credit card, let them do that. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: I had a recent experience with someone- You did. … that I worked with for a long time and, and I wanted to change my, my business credit card number that was used for it, and I was told I had to call an operator to do that. I’m like, “That is total BS in 2026. I should be able to do that online. I should not have to get on a phone and read out my card number to a human.” That makes no sense whatsoever. Make it easy for people. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Crazy easy. Like you should make it easy. It’s, it’s funny you say that because about invoices, because we worked with an accounting firm who would mail their invoice, and we use a PO box because I don’t want mail coming to my home and sometimes we got it, sometimes we didn’t. Like I, and they would go, “Your invoice hasn’t been paid for 120 days.” And I’m like, “Dude, I don’t have an invoice from you.” And so I finally got them to email them. Like, this is ridiculous. Don’t mail me the invoice. It’s 2022, for heaven sakes. Chip Griffin: Well, if you want to talk about not easy to work with, the PO box is a perfect example. I had a PO box for almost 30 years that I used for business, and I finally ended up giving it up recently because the post office was becoming extraordinarily belligerent about wanting various bits of documentation. I’m like, I’ve, I’ve had this- Gini Dietrich: Yes … Chip Griffin: post office box for 30 years. Like well you have to show up in person to do this, and so I would show up in person. They’re like, “Oh, no, you don’t have the right stuff.” Gini Dietrich: Yep. Chip Griffin: And we don’t have the right people here today, so we’re gonna have to do it again.” No. Gini Dietrich: Yep, yep. Chip Griffin: No. Gini Dietrich: Yep, yes. Chip Griffin: Like- Gini Dietrich: Mm-hmm … Chip Griffin: That’s, that is nonsense. There are so many ways to verify my identity, the identity of the business, what- like come on. Uh-huh. Also- Yeah … 30 years I had this box. Right. Like, and now you’ve just decided- Gini Dietrich: Mm-hmm, uh-huh … Chip Griffin: that now is the time that you need to do this? Give me a break. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re right. Like the, it’s, I think exactly what you said at the beginning, which is you listen to people like us who say you have to protect your margins, you have to protect your time, you can’t have scope creep, you have to have a process, like all of those things, and those are important. But you also have to be willing to be flexible and nimble to the client’s need within that, right? Like, there are some organizations, agencies I will say, that have a process that they put clients through, and it’s so rigid that it doesn’t meet the client where they are. And it’s impossible to work with them because of that. And I’ve had that experience too as a business owner. Like, you have to be able to be flexible enough to meet the client where they are and still deliver in ways that you know are going to deliver the results you’ve, that they expect. Chip Griffin: Yeah. And being easy to work with starts before they’re even a client. I am often befuddled by how difficult agencies make it to get in touch with them for a prospect. I see these, these web forms that have like a gazillion questions on them. Like, do you have a problem that you have a wild number of contacts that you can’t handle screening them if you just get name, company, and email? I mean, do, do you really need to ask them a detailed set of questions in a form? Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Yeah. Chip Griffin: I don’t, I really, that’s one I just do not understand, and I’ve talked with a few owners. I’m like, “Well, why do you do it?” “Well, just to make sure that we’re only getting qualified leads.” I’m like, “Do you, do you have a problem with this right now, though? Do you have… Are you flooded with so many that you can’t even just hit delete on the ones- Gini Dietrich: You can’t keep up, right, right … Chip Griffin: that don’t work out?” Google to find out if this is someone legit or not? I, I just- Yeah … And the vast majority “No, no, no, no, we just wanna make sure that they’re qualified.” I’m like, “You understand you’re scaring people away.” Every single extra form, item that you put in there reduces your, the completion rate. Gini Dietrich: Yes, Chip Griffin: Don’t do that. Make it easy. Yeah. Make it easy to schedule that first conversation with you. Strike while the iron is hot. If someone reaches out and they wanna talk to you, bend over backwards. I have a different Calendly scheduling link for people who want to reach out to potentially work with me that opens up more blocks on my schedule. Because why not try to reach those people as quickly as you can? Gini Dietrich: Right. Chip Griffin: And by the way, use a service like Calendly to book time. Stop it with these back-and-forth emails. I can meet between here and here, and this and that. That is, like, 10 years ago. We don’t need to do that anymore. Have a nice little Calendly link that someone can use, or whatever service you wanna use, that just makes it easy for someone to book time. You can always say to them as a polite thing, “If you’d rather just give me a range of times, you can.” But you know what? I’ve been doing this for years, and I have yet to have a single person say, “I’m not gonna click on that link” and instead say, “Well, I just wanna give you some windows.” Right. ‘Cause it’s harder for them. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, right. Chip Griffin: Make it easy. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Yeah, I totally agree. I think really understanding, like, think about it too from the, from your client or prospect’s perspective. If I were receiving this, how would I take it? And look at it through that lens to help you understand how you might improve things to make it easier for them. Chip Griffin: Yeah, and when you’ve got someone on the hook and they’re interested, make it easy for yourself to produce the statement of work and the contract, and get them out the door. Have a standard template. Gini Dietrich: Yep. Chip Griffin: Don’t spend- I mean- Yep … a lot of agencies take a long time between when someone says, “Yeah, I wanna do this,” and when they actually start sending the paperwork. You should be able to get that over within 24 hours. Gini Dietrich: You absolutely should, and I think the problem with that is that people wanna write proposals that are, like, in-depth and strategic, and have tactics, and they’re really a plan. Don’t do that. That’s giving away stuff that you shouldn’t be giving away for free. You should absolutely have a standardized template. And truth be told, I put ours into AI, and I said, “Here are all the things that need to stay the same,” and it will pump that out, and then it will customize based on the conversation I had, and that’s it. And I always tell prospects, “You’ll get something from us in 48 hours,” and they get it within 24, and then they’re ecstatic, and they’re happy, and all the things. Chip Griffin: Yeah. And make it easy to complete. Make sure you’re sending it so they can get an electronic signature, so all they have to do is click, click. It’s done in five seconds. Yep. If you send it to them, and then they’ve gotta actually sign something, and figure out how to take a photo of it with their phone and email it to you, why are you doing that in 2026? E-signatures are a wonderful thing. You should be using those. And then once they’ve done that, make sure you have a templated process for onboarding so that you don’t say, “Oh, we’ve signed the agreement. You know, let me get the team together. We’ll, we’ll, we’ll get back to you in, you know-” Right, right. “… a couple of weeks when we’ve had the chance to figure this all out.” You should have an onboarding process so you hit the ground running. You don’t have to have every answer, but you have to be able to show them that you know what you’re doing. So it’s not just about being easy, it’s building their confidence in those early stages. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, for sure. And you know, one of the things that we find, too, is that, of course, because we have the PESO model, it, it is a very standardized process, right? But we find that clients, prospects come to us a lot with a problem. They think it’s a problem. And they all say things like, “We have a measurement problem. We don’t know how to measure.” And that, truth be told, like, that’s most comms teams, right? Most comms teams do have a measurement problem. They don’t know how to measure. And so we have a list of questions that we ask because that’s a symptom, and we’ve, we’ve discovered through all of our work that that’s a symptom. What’s really the problem? And we ask, you know, we start to dig in, and all of a sudden they go, “Oh, now it makes sense that we can’t measure,” right? So you can have a list of questions based on what the prospect tells you. It used to be that I, I haven’t gotten, had this conversation in a long time just because of the way we’ve shifted the business, but I used to hear all the time, “We’ve had four PR agencies, and they don’t do anything. They pitch a bunch of stuff, and nothing ever happens.” And so I had a list of questions based on that, and I– one of the questions was, “What other– Who, who else have you worked with?” Because I wanna know if you’re the problem or if they’re the problem, right? Have a list of questions that will help you understand so that then you can take all of that and throw it into your AI and say, “This is what I’ve diagnosed. These are what the problems are. Please fill out the template that you have,” and it helps you build a structure for your proposal really fast. Like, in two minutes versus two days. Chip Griffin: I mean, the great thing is being easy to work with tends to make your life easier, too. Gini Dietrich: So much easier. Chip Griffin: Most of these things will actually improve your existence. So, you know, rather than fighting it, rather than feeling like I have to just kind of, you know, push in my direction to get people to align with me, if you can find that middle ground, it will likely make things easier. And you opened by talking about project management, and so I think it’s a good place to, to wind down here as well. Project management tools are something that it certainly makes sense for you to recommend to a client if they don’t have something that they’re already using actively. Yes. You should definitely have one that you’re using and, and that is your default that you would like them to use. But if they say, “Hey, I’m already using something else, we need you to be part of that,” then go along with that, because ultimately it’s not which tool you’re using, it’s that you’ve got some way of keeping it all organized. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: And if you can do that, you will make your life easier, you’ll make the client’s life easier, and you’ll produce better results. So, so don’t fight on that. Have it, so that if they don’t have anything, you’ve got a solution. Gini Dietrich: Right. Chip Griffin: You’re not like, “Well, you know, we need to think about it. Let’s try to figure out which one do you like? Should we try this? Do you want, do you want vanilla or chocolate?” Like, who cares? Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Chip Griffin: Just pick one, use it, and move on. Gini Dietrich: Yep. Yeah, totally. Yes. Chip Griffin: There I am being cranky just like you said. You’re welcome, everybody. You’re welcome, Gini. Gini Dietrich: Thanks. Chip Griffin: So with that, I think we will wrap up this episode, but, uh, hopefully we were easy to listen to at least. There we go. On that note, I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And it depends.
You're tired of hearing “just build a SaaS” like it's easy, especially when you don't code, don't have a team, and still want something real that can actually make money. It can feel like everyone else has access to some secret playbook while you're stuck trying to figure out where to even begin. In this episode, Omar completely removes the gatekeeping and shows you what it actually looks like to build a real software business in a ridiculously short timeframe using AI. Nothing is hidden. He walks you through the exact tools, decisions, and steps he takes so you're not left guessing or piecing things together on your own. It's clear, practical, and designed to make you feel like this isn't some exclusive club, it's something you can dive into right now. If you've been waiting for proof that you can pull off your own AI-powered software build in a matter of hours, this is it. Click play at the top of the page and see how you can turn your idea into a real product faster than you thought possible. MBA2790 How To Build A Software Business With AI This Weekend. Zero Coding Skills Required. Must-Have Stack to Build Your Own AI App 1. Supabase 2. GitHub 3. Windsurf 4. Vercel 5. Claude 6. GoDaddy 7. Stripe 8. Kit Helper / Optional Tools to support your workflow 1. Wispr Flow 2. Google Forms 3. Chrome DevTools (Inspect Element) Recommended episode to explore: Can You Build A Profitable SaaS In 7 Days With Just AI? My Experiment With Proof! Watch the episodes on YouTube: https://lm.fm/GgRPPHi SUBSCRIBE YouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
How much business are you losing simply because you're not staying in consistent contact with your audience? Most companies don't have a sales problem—they have a follow-up problem. And follow-up isn't about chasing people…it's about staying top of mind with value, relevance, and consistency. That's why my interview with Smita Wadhawan, CMO of Constant Contact, on the THINK Business – What Are You Good At? series hit on a hard truth—consistency is the new marketing advantage. Here are 5 takeaways that stood out: ✅ Mindshare → Market Share People can't buy from you if they forget you exist. Marketing isn't optional—it's oxygen. ✅ Consistency builds trust Trust isn't built in a moment—it's built in the follow-up moments people rarely do. ✅ Simple wins Customers don't want clever. They want clear. They want fast. They want relevant. ✅ Start now—then scale Stop overthinking platforms, funnels, or brand perfection. Start small. Ship. Learn. Improve. ✅ AI is here to help, not replace Use AI to automate repetitive work—so you can stay human where it matters most. Smita Wadhawan Verma Global Chief Marketing Officer | Top 50 CMO | PayPal | Intuit | GoDaddy | Visa | SaaS | HealthTech | FinTech Award-winning Chief Marketing Officer with experience at GoDaddy, PayPal, Intuit, VISA, and SimplePractice — across SMB/consumer, SaaS, HealthTech, and FinTech. Global teams and global leadership at EcoVadis. Scaled and led businesses from a mid-size company to a $32B established brand, with budgets up to $175M. Expertise in growth marketing, product marketing, B2B and B2C marketing, lifecycle marketing, PR and comms. Smita has built and led teams of 150+ people in highly matrixed, cross-functional organizations across the US, Europe, Africa, Japan and India. She has partnered with top agencies like Koto, Instrument, Razorfish, TBWA, Highwire PR — and managed award-winning internal creative teams. Under Smita's leadership, her teams have won Digiday Awards and several Webby Award nominations. Smita is well known as a culture champion and recognized as a highly influential and inclusive C-Suite leader who can inspire teams to deliver outstanding results. Recognized as a 2024 Top 50 CMO in the US. Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience Website: https://jondwoskin.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big! Connect with Jeff Gunsberg:Website: https://title-connect.com Connect with Smita Wadhawan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitawadhawan/ *E - explicit language may be used in this podcast.
You’ll sharpen your daily tech game this week: add names directly to Mail recipient fields, kill those sneaky iOS nickname pop-ups before they embarrass you, and stay alert to Low Power Mode. Long-press your steering wheel button to summon Siri faster, welcome ChatGPT and Perplexity to CarPlay, untangle Apple’s App Entitlements, and stream HLS video right inside the updated MGG iOS app. Don’t Get Caught treating your LLM like a glorified search bar—re-task it as a brainstorming partner, let agents check each other’s work, troubleshoot stubborn email issues, and have it build its own skills using Claude Code and CoWork. Your questions and tips drive the back half: disconnect AirPods from your Mac in one tap with ToothFairy or Control Center, dial in rock-solid remote screen sharing using Jump Desktop, Zoom, and Tailscale, stop your iPhone ringer from accidentally flipping, and plan your escape from Comcast email by grabbing a real domain through Cloudflare, Namecheap, or GoDaddy. Then it’s Cool Stuff Found season—Bartender 6 reclaims your menu bar, the Syntech case protects your Apple Vision Pro, and the Mila Air3 and Honeywell HEPA purifiers clean up your air. Plus a heap of love for Eufy lawnmowers, vacuums, and doorbells, all wired together with Homebridge and Home Assistant. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1142 for Monday, May 18th, 2026 May 18th: Send an Electronic Greeting Card Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Function101 Apple TV Button Remote The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Ben-QT-Add a name to the Mail recipient field 00:03:43 Beware of Nicknames showing on iOS You can disable this! 00:08:08 The lessons we learn about our tech when traveling 00:08:49 QT-Be aware of Low Power Mode. Also App Tamer 00:13:56 Larry-QT-Long Press Steering Wheel Voice Command to activate Siri 00:16:14 ChatGPT and Perplexity are allowed to use CarPlay now 00:18:00 Apple's App Entitlements 00:19:26 Mac Geek Gab iOS App adds HLS video 00:22:35 David-QT-Use an LLM to troubleshoot your email 00:24:33 Re-assign your LLM, re-task it. Treat your LLM like a brainstorming assistant. Claude CoWork (and Claude Code) 00:29:45 Let your agents check one another 00:33:16 Have your LLM create skills for you Reviews 00:36:26 Jamcycler-MGG Review-My Favorite Podcast Sponsors 00:38:02 SPONSOR: Keeper. Right now, Keeper is offering our listeners 60% off personal and family plans at https://Keepersecurity.com/MGG. This offer is only for podcast listeners! 00:39:41 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at https://Shopify.com/MGG 00:41:28 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at https://gusto.com/MGG Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:43:07 Gino CO-How can I easily disconnect my AirPods from my Mac? ToothFairy Or Control Center Or Sound Menu Opt-plus-Mute/Volume keys will bring you to System Settings Sound Pane 00:49:09 Paul-Best Method for Screen Sharing? Jump Desktop Tailscale 00:55:04 Barb-How can I stop from accidentally toggling my iPhone ringer on and off? 00:57:13 Roger-What to do about Comcast email going away? Cloudflare Registrar Namecheap GoDaddy Cool Stuff Found 01:02:21 DLH-CSF-Bartender 6 / Pro / Mega 01:04:53 ATC/PP-CSF-Syntech Apple Vision Pro Case 01:09:25 CSF-Mila Air3 Purifier 01:11:37 n-Greg-CSF-Honeywell Allergen Plus HEPA Large Room Air Purifier 01:12:41 Some love for Eufy Eufy Lawnmower Eufy Vacuums Eufy Doorbells Homebridge Home Assistant 01:24:36 MGG 1142 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network
People trying to return defective hard drives and RAM are finding out why consumer protection laws would be good, GoDaddy accidentally gave someone’s domain name away, and when and how to fix ZFS fragmentation. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with some early episodes Fast Dedup Economics: When Deduplication Beats Buying New Disks News/discussion Toshiba refuses to replace large hard drive that was under warranty — company offers refund at the purchase price, not the higher current retail price GoDaddy Gave a Domain to a Stranger Without Any Documentation Free consulting We were asked about when and how to fix ZFS fragmentation. See our contact page for ways to get in touch.
People trying to return defective hard drives and RAM are finding out why consumer protection laws would be good, GoDaddy accidentally gave someone’s domain name away, and when and how to fix ZFS fragmentation. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with some early episodes Fast Dedup Economics: When Deduplication Beats Buying New Disks News/discussion Toshiba refuses to replace large hard drive that was under warranty — company offers refund at the purchase price, not the higher current retail price GoDaddy Gave a Domain to a Stranger Without Any Documentation Free consulting We were asked about when and how to fix ZFS fragmentation. See our contact page for ways to get in touch.
This episode provides practical advice on advanced SEO, AI engine optimization (AEO), answer engine optimization, technical website optimization, schema, and retention strategies for anyone looking to improve digital marketing visibility in the age of AI. Learn how to harness evolving platforms, implement the latest best practices, and create resilient, audience-focused web ecosystems.In this insightful episode, Favour Obasi-ike, MBA, MS dives deep into the evolution of SEO—comparing the foundations of "old" Search Engine Optimization with the demands and opportunities of "new" Search Everywhere Optimization.Listeners will uncover essential strategies for optimizing content across today's rapidly shifting digital environments, including website best practices, AI integrations, and the importance of technical SEO fundamentals.Favour explains how staying updated and proactive is vital, as algorithm changes and the rise of AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and others are reshaping the discovery and ranking of digital content. Favour also takes questions from the community, responding with real-world examples and tactical advice.Whether you're a business owner, marketer, content creator, or SEO professional, this episode offers actionable guidance for adapting to future-focused SEO. Listeners will learn why website speed, schema markup, secure protocols, and precise keyword versus prompt usage matter more than ever.Favour also discusses why attention and retention are the new KPIs, plus the growing importance of authority, expertise, and trust—in both human and AI-powered search.Who Is This For?Digital marketersBusiness owners and entrepreneursSEO professionalsContent creators and website managersAnyone seeking to future-proof their digital presenceReady to Rank? Book Your SEO & Web Dev Services Today
This week on The Golden Era Podcast, Jake and Joey relive the WWE Women's Division from the week of February 20, 2006 — right in the heart of the Ruthless Aggression Era!
In this episode, expert Kayla Ihrig demystifies LinkedIn, sharing practical strategies to leverage the platform for career growth, networking, and personal branding. Discover how to overcome resistance, create authentic content, and build meaningful connections that open doors to new opportunities.Key concepts covered:Overcoming resistance to LinkedInCreating authentic and engaging contentBuilding a strong professional profileNetworking and outreach strategiesLeveraging LinkedIn for career opportunitiesGuest Info: Kayla Ihrig is a writer for HubSpot, GoDaddy, and Success Magazine and a LinkedIn enthusiast. LinkedIn has brought her clients, media features, friends and a book deal, despite having fewer than 4,000 founders. Today she's going to demystify the internet's most misunderstood platform so you can go get your slice of the LinkedIn pie. Website: https://writingfromnowhere.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-ihrig/ The podcast is brought to you by Mint To Be Career LLC. www.minttobecareer.com
This is a recap of the top 10 posts on Hacker News on April 26, 2026. This podcast was generated by wondercraft.ai (00:30): The West forgot how to make things, now it's forgetting how to codeOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47907879&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(01:56): Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47909226&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(03:22): I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with itOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47914165&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(04:49): An AI agent deleted our production database. The agent's confession is belowOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911524&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(06:15): GoDaddy gave a domain to a stranger without any documentationOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911780&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(07:42): Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every dayOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47906253&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(09:08): Why has there been so little progress on Alzheimer's disease?Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47905984&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(10:34): AI should elevate your thinking, not replace itOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47913650&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(12:01): EU Age Control: The trojan horse for digital IDsOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47907130&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(13:27): Sawe becomes first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a competitive raceOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47914350&utm_source=wondercraft_aiThis is a third-party project, independent from HN and YC. Text and audio generated using AI, by wondercraft.ai. Create your own studio quality podcast with text as the only input in seconds at app.wondercraft.ai. Issues or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: team@wondercraft.ai
In this episode, Ray Cochrane unpacks Anthropic’s Mythos model and the Treasury’s emergency meetings with Wall Street, then digs into Apple’s vibe-coding crackdown and a gaming-anxiety study that hit way too close to home. Also covered: Verge’s solid-state motorcycle, UBTech humanoid robot sales jumping 23-fold, Japan’s first osmotic power plant, Finland’s permanent nuclear waste vault, Ghostty landing in Ubuntu, Cloudflare’s EmDash CMS, and a Claude Code skill that talks like a caveman. – Want to start a podcast? It’s easy to get started! Sign up at Blubrry – Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Ray if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes Get 1Password Full Summary Cochrane opens the show by framing Anthropic’s new Mythos model as the AlphaGo moment for cybersecurity. From there, the episode moves through Apple’s pushback against AI-generated apps, a gaming anxiety study with a deeply personal hook, a series of “first to ship” energy and robotics wins out of Finland, China, and Japan, and several developer-tool stories that show how quickly the economics of software are shifting. Mythos, the Detection Ceiling, and Wall Street’s Emergency Response Anthropic’s Mythos model has Wall Street rattled. Operating autonomously, Mythos found and demonstrated the exploitation of a 27-year-old TCP SACK bug in OpenBSD, an operating system famous for being one of the most security-focused on the planet. Per Anthropic’s red team, over 99% of the vulnerabilities Mythos has identified remain unpatched. The researchers’ conclusion is blunt: “the moat in AI cybersecurity is the system, not the model.” The policy response moved fast. On April 7th, Treasury Secretary Bessent and Fed Chair Jerome Powell pulled the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Citi, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley into Treasury headquarters on short notice. All four banks are now testing Mythos internally. Treasury CIO Sam Corcos is also seeking direct access. Anthropic is gating distribution through Project Glasswing, a limited-access program with JPMorgan, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia. Cochrane comes down firmly behind Anthropic’s gated approach. Because a 5.1-billion-parameter open model can apparently recover the core analysis chain for the OpenBSD flaw, this capability is not locked behind Frontier Compute. He wants the critical infrastructure hardened before the public gets keys. However, he also notes the bigger lesson is about human wisdom: people offloading all their thinking to AI lose out on the wisdom that makes any of these tools genuinely useful. Apple Bans Vibe Coding Apps from the App Store Apple has been quietly pushing back against what people are calling “vibe coding” apps. Replit, Vibecode, and an app called Anything all run AI models on the phone and produce working software that runs inside the host app. Apple cites Guideline 2.5.2, in effect since 2017, which requires apps to be self-contained. Replit and Vibecode had their App Store updates blocked. Anything was pulled in late March, briefly restored on April 3rd, and then pulled the same day again. The forcing function is volume. App Store submissions jumped 84% in a single quarter as vibe coding tools flooded Apple’s review queue with AI-generated apps. Cochrane thinks Apple is justified, given the security issues swirling around the Vibe coding ecosystem. Even a beautiful diamond gets lost in a sea of sand, and that flood is exactly what Apple is trying to manage. The company behind Anything is now pivoting to iMessage, desktop, and Android. Playing Video Games to Win Is Linked to Higher Anxiety Cochrane gets personal on this one. Through high school and his early 20s, he was deeply addicted to League of Legends. His dad teased him about it constantly. In the last few years of that addiction, his body would go ice cold and shake every ranked match before. His partner identified it as a panic attack. The moment that happened, he quit. Today, he no longer shakes. The new study lines up with his experience. Researchers Kayleigh Watters and Mikael Rubin at Palo Alto University analyzed a publicly available database of 13,464 adult gamers, most of whom primarily played League of Legends. Players who game to win show higher generalized anxiety but actually play fewer hours, since performance pressure pushes them out. Players who game to relax show strong links between social anxiety avoidance and more hours played. The study appeared in the Journal of Affective Disorders. The headline framing of “playing to win makes you anxious” misses the point. The real finding is more interesting: gaming for avoidance and gaming for competition are both warning signs, for different reasons. Cochrane notes that the League of Legends community’s toxicity has been a running joke for years, and this study suggests the game’s structure may have been manufacturing the anxiety that fueled it. Sponsor: GoDaddy Economy hosting is $6.99/month, WordPress hosting is $12.99/month, and domains are $11.99. Both hosting plans include a free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate. Go to geeknewscentral.com/godaddy for the best pricing and to directly support this independent show. Verge Motorcycle: World’s First Production All-Solid-State Battery Cochrane filled his tank for $60 today, which made this story land especially hard. His mom has driven electric for years and patiently manages a 90-mile real-world range. The next-generation answer is already shipping. Verge Motorcycles, a Finnish company, is the first production vehicle of any kind with an all-solid-state battery. Their 2026 bikes ship in Q1 with a pack from Donut Lab, another Finnish outfit spun out of Verge. The numbers are bonkers. The pack delivers an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, roughly double that of current Tesla cells. It sustains 100kW charging, hits full charge in about 5 minutes in the lab and 12 minutes on the actual bike, and the long-range version covers 600 kilometers (about 370 miles) per charge. Toyota, QuantumScape, and Samsung SDI have all been telling us that solid-state is coming in 2027 to 2030. A Finnish motorcycle company shipping in Q1 2026 just embarrassed them all. UBTech Humanoid Robot Sales Jump 23-Fold UBTech dropped its 2025 annual earnings on April 1st. Humanoid robot revenue hit 820 million yuan, roughly $119 million USD, up 2,203% from 35.6 million yuan the year before. Unit sales went from 3 robots in 2024 to 1,079 in 2025. Shares jumped 14% on the announcement. The customer list is a real industrial deployment: BYD, Foxconn, Geely, FAW-Volkswagen, and Audi. The flagship is the Walker S2, with UBTech targeting 5,000 units in 2026 and 10,000 in 2027. Cochrane is honest about what this means. He does not think we are heading for an extinction event, but worker displacement is a real concern. The US has no universal income or universal healthcare. The people affected are not white-collar managers. They are everyday line workers who already make the least on the ladder. Work efficiency reportedly doubles when these robots arrive, which is a company-side win, but the humans they replace are not getting half a year of gardening leave to retrain. He invites the listener to take on this one directly. Japan Switches On Asia’s First Osmotic Power Plant In August 2025, Fukuoka’s Seawater Desalination Center quietly opened Asia’s first osmotic power facility. It generates about 880,000 kilowatt-hours per year, enough for roughly 220 homes. It is only the second operational osmotic plant in the world, after Mariager, Denmark, in 2023. Osmotic generation uses a salinity gradient: fresh water on one side of a membrane, salt water on the other, and the pressure difference spins a turbine. The clever part is what Fukuoka does with desalination brine. Instead of regular seawater, the plant uses concentrated brine left over from the desalination process. This amplifies the salt gradient and squeezes more energy out of the same membrane. The result is a closed-loop partnership: the desalination facility produces drinking water and leaves brine behind, the osmotic plant turns the brine into electricity, and that electricity runs the desalination facility. Every desalination plant on Earth produces brine, so if Fukuoka’s co-located model works, the same pattern could be replicated across hundreds of plants worldwide. Japan’s Luna Ring Solar Moon Proposal Goes Viral Again Shimizu Corporation’s Luna Ring concept is making the rounds again. The pitch: a 6,800-mile belt of solar panels around the Moon’s equator, beaming microwave power back to Earth. Project lead Tetsuji Yoshida has long argued that a full ring could eliminate fossil fuel dependence entirely. The proposal first surfaced in 2013, has no funding, no government endorsement, and no concrete cost estimate. Shimizu has not put any active development behind it. Cochrane finds the concept fun every time it resurfaces. However, this would have to be a worldwide effort in the truest sense, with treaties, a new generation of launch economics, and microwave power transmission at a scale nobody has demonstrated. Beaming the power back to Earth has always been one of the biggest practical holdbacks. The Luna Ring is inspirational, but not shipping. Finland’s Onkalo Nuclear Waste Vault Opens Finland’s Onkalo facility is the world’s first permanent deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel. Operated by Posiva, the facility is buried about 430 meters down in 1.9-billion-year-old bedrock. It is designed to hold up to 6,500 tons of spent fuel and operate until the 2120s. The construction costs about €1 billion, with operating and closure adding roughly €4 billion more before the program is done. The catch is that radioactivity remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, warned that the copper canisters will eventually corrode, with different scientific opinions on how fast. Geologic disposal remains “fraught with uncertainties,” and we have never validated an engineered system across a 100,000-year time frame. The bet is that the rock and copper outlast the radioactivity. Cochrane sees Onkalo as time-buying rather than a final answer. It is more of a bank holding spent fuel while science catches up. He prefers it to Japan’s ongoing approach of releasing tritium-treated water from Fukushima Daiichi into the Pacific, even though the dilution is well below WHO drinking water guidelines. Burying the waste in an insurmountable containment strikes him as the more honest answer to a problem nobody knows how to truly solve. Ghostty Terminal Lands in the Ubuntu Repos Ghostty 1.3.0 is now available in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS’s universe repository. The install is simply `sudo apt install ghostty`, no PPAs, no Snap, no Nix, no building from source. Ghostty was created by Mitchell Hashimoto, co-founder of HashiCorp. It is GPU-accelerated, uses native Swift on macOS and native GTK4 with libadwaita on Linux, and supports tabs, splits, profiles, ligatures, and the Kitty graphics protocol. Cochrane recently caught Hashimoto on a podcast, where he walked through his agentic coding workflow. Ghostty is being actively built using AI harnesses like Claude Code and Codex. Hashimoto told a story in which Codex fixed a six-month-old bug in 45 minutes, for a total API cost of $4.14. Personally, Cochrane uses WezTerm, but he is excited to see Ghostty become more widely available with a native UI rather than Electron. Borgo: Rethinking Go Using Rust Analytics India Magazine profiled Borgo, a programming language by developer Marco Sampellegrini (GitHub: alpacaaa). Borgo is statically typed with Rust-like syntax, but it compiles to Go and uses the Go runtime and garbage collector. It includes sum types (Option and Result), pattern matching, and full compatibility with existing Go packages. Notably, it removes Rust’s borrow checker and lifetimes entirely. Borgo is not new. It first appeared on Hacker News in 2023, with a RustLab talk in 2024. The 2026 angle is a renewed look at it through the lens of AI coding agents, since type-rich languages like Rust have been showing outsized productivity gains. Cochrane is a fan of Rust and stands by the borrow checker, but he enjoys these exploratory languages for what they reveal about what developers actually want. Caveman: A Claude Code Skill That Cuts 65% of Tokens Developer Julius Brussee built a Claude Code skill called Caveman that forces Claude to respond in stripped-down fragments. No articles, no “just,” no “really,” no pleasantries, no hedging. The tagline is “why use many token when few token do trick.” Across 10 real dev tasks, Caveman mode averaged 294 tokens per response, compared to 1,214 in normal mode. That is a 65% drop in output tokens. The project is MIT licensed with three intensity levels: lite, full, and ultra. Cochrane stumbled across the project online and shared it with a classmate who had been complaining about token costs. The classmate now insists that “the caveman is the only way to live.” Cochrane has not made the switch, but the bigger point lands. If a community plugin can cut 65% of tokens without correctness regressions, the labs are shipping verbose-by-default and charging users for the privilege. He suspects verbose output makes models feel more trustworthy, even when the token math says otherwise. Cloudflare Launches EmDash as a WordPress Successor Cloudflare released EmDash on April 9th, an open-source, MIT-licensed, TypeScript-based CMS pitched as the spiritual successor to WordPress. The big flex is that it was built in 60 days using AI coding agents. EmDash runs on Astro 6.0, either on Cloudflare’s edge platform or on a standard Node.js server. The plugin security model uses sandboxed Dynamic Workers with explicit permissions, addressing the architecture flaw that Cloudflare says causes 96% of WordPress vulnerabilities. Cochrane could not resist pointing out the irony of the name. The em dash has become the trademark giveaway that an AI was involved in writing. He has reservations about whether EmDash will succeed. WordPress is extremely hard to unseat, plenty of “WordPress killers” have come and gone, and the ecosystem is twenty-plus years deep. He is curious to see what comes next but not optimistic. Google Open-Sources the DESIGN.md Format Google Labs open-sourced the DESIGN.md format used by Stitch, their AI UI design tool. DESIGN.md is a declarative file capturing a project’s design system, colors, typography, and spacing in a way AI agents can read and apply. Cochrane has tried Stitch personally and finds it impressive at producing web designs. He has also seen DESIGN.md-style files already start appearing in repositories. He sees this kind of file becoming a new paradigm for agentic design, alongside robots.txt and llms.txt. However, he worries about a side effect. If everyone uses the same standardized format and the same AI tools, the web could become a homogeneous set of sites that all look the same. He is enthusiastic about the standardization but hopes designers continue to push for genuinely unique work. A 13-Liter PC With a Water Loop Built Into the Case Geeky Gadgets covered a build by “Visual Thinker”, a 13-liter mini-ITX case with custom SLA-printed water distribution plates built directly into the chassis. Instead of traditional soft tubing, plates channel coolant between the CPU and GPU blocks and are sealed with TPU and silicone molds. The case supports a full-size GPU and an SFX power supply. No thermal benchmarks, parts list, or pricing have been published. It is a one-off you cannot buy. Cochrane sees this as a sign of where PC building has gone in 2026. Modern mid-grade GPUs run nearly every recent game, so raw performance is no longer the differentiator. He likes seeing builders lean into design and craft rather than just stuffing the most powerful parts into a box. He admits he is the traditional type and built his own machine to maximize parts, but the design-first direction is a healthy evolution for the hobby. To close out the show, Cochrane recommends Pocket Casts as a podcast app. He finds it picks up new episodes very quickly. Big thanks to GoDaddy for over twenty years of keeping this show on the air, and a reminder that every promo code use is like writing a check to the show. The post Mythos: Cybersecurity’s AlphaGo Moment #1862 appeared first on Geek News Central.
Don't just get a free phone number – TextNow has free phone plans for the U.S., too, and optional eSIMs for heavy data use. I catch up with TextNow CEO Derek Ting.Amazon has a wild new Fire TV called Ember Artline. These televisions showcase stunning artwork (when you're not watching TV or playing games) and include a magnetic frame upon purchase. They also have amazing AI features, as you'll hear when I sit down with Aidan Marcuss, Amazon VP of Fire TV, while in NYC.Despite its huge success, GoDaddy isn't resting on its laurels. On what's new, including an AI-powered solution, I have the pleasure of chatting with Amy Jennette, Senior Director of Integrated Marketing at GoDaddy. Tune in!Thank you to Visa, Norton, and SANDISK for your incredible support. Get a huge discount on Norton anti-malware at norton.com/techitout
Notes from James:I wish I had been Kolin Jones when I was 18 years old.When Colin was 19, during COVID, he set up his own private jet brokerage out of a college dorm room. No investors. No jets. No connections. Just a GoDaddy website, an email address, and an obsessive willingness to send 2,500 cold emails a day.Amalfi Jets is on track to do $120 million in revenue this year. And he still doesn't own a single plane.I love how he thought about competition. He literally calculated: my competitor sends 400 emails a day, I'll send 2,500 — that means I'm doing six of his days in one of mine. Do that for a month and I'm four months ahead. That was the whole strategy at the start. Beautiful.And then TikTok changed everything. One video about a client who chartered two jets — one for his wife, one for his mistress — got a million views. 150,000 people hit their website. 15,000 flight requests in a single day. The entire trajectory of the company shifted because of a free video.He also talked about losing money on purpose on his first sale — selling a $24,500 flight for $20,000 to lock in loyalty. Pure Amazon thinking. I love that.And there's a story about a client stranded on the Galapagos Islands whose plane broke down. The client's assistant asked about bribing customs officials. Listen for how Kolin handled it.This is a great template if you're an entrepreneur, a creative, or anyone trying to build something from nothing. Please listen.Episode description:Kolin Jones was 19 years old, in his college dorm during COVID, when he noticed something: commercial flights were grounded, but private jets were surging. He got his pilot's license at Van Nuys Airport — the busiest private jet airport in the world — and launched Amalfi Jets with nothing more than a website, a cold email strategy, and a plan to out-hustle every competitor through sheer volume.James and Kolin break down exactly how the private jet charter brokerage model works, why you can legally set one up today with zero certification or licensing, why Amalfi turns down roughly $1M/week in deals over safety concerns, and what separates a legitimate broker from the hundreds of unregulated players flooding the market. They also get into the social media strategy that transformed the company — why Kolin was initially against TikTok, what changed his mind, and how one viral video created 15,000 flight requests in a day.Plus: what it actually costs to own a private jet, the real economics of flying private vs. first class, why the richest clients show up in jeans and an Uber, what happens when a client punches the pilot mid-flight, and the watch Kolin bought himself the first month Amalfi crossed $2M in revenue.What you'll learnHow a private jet charter brokerage works — and why it requires zero licensing or certification to startThe cold email strategy Kolin used to out-hustle every competitor from his college dormWhy Kolin intentionally lost money on his first few sales — and why it paid offThe real cost of owning a private jet (it's about $800K/year just to park it)Why Amalfi turns down ~$1M/week in business due to safety and legal concernsHow one TikTok about a client's mistress generated 150,000 website visitors and 15,000 flight requests in a single dayWhy Kolin tracks which shirt color makes his videos go more viral (black = +36%)When flying private is actually cheaper than first class — and the math behind itThe Galapagos breakdown story: a stranded client, a broken jet, and a customs bribe requestWhat ultra-high-net-worth clients actually look like vs. the Instagram versionKolin's plans for Amalfi: acquisitions, possible PE partnership, and why he won't go publicTimestamps:00:00 Why flying private ruins you for commercial forever06:00 What Amalfi Jets actually is — and how the charter brokerage model works09:00 The real cost of owning a private jet13:00 The wild west of jet brokerage — zero regulation, zero licensing required16:00 The Galapagos story: broken jet, stranded client, and a near-bribe20:00 Colin's origin story: COVID, flight school, and cold emailing 2,500 people a day26:30 The first sale: losing $4,000 on purpose and the Amazon strategy that built loyalty30:00 How one TikTok about a mistress changed everything36:00Inside Amalfi's content machine — and the clients who punch pilots41:00 When private is actually cheaper than first class — the real math46:00 The tech behind Amalfi: AI fleet optimization, 72K-member app, and social listening50:00 Burying competitors with relevance — and what's next for Amalfi57:00 The first splurge: an Omega Seamaster and what it representsAdditional Resources:Amalfi JetsKolin's InstagramKolin on TikTokAmalfi Jets on TikTokSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Timothy Li, CEO and Co-Founder of LendAPI, has spent nearly a decade trying to solve the same problem: launching a lending product takes too long and costs too much. With LendAPI, he's built a no-code platform that lets banks, credit unions, fintechs, and retailers go from idea to live lending product in weeks, not months or years. Think of it as a GoDaddy-style experience for financial services. Timothy joined me again on the show (he was last on in 2017) to talk about what's under the hood, what the Sunglass Hut deal reveals about embedded finance, and where he thinks AI is actually useful in lending today.What We CoveredTimothy's path from the Fluid college credit app to building LendAPIHow the drag-and-drop product builder works for non-technical usersPython model deployment for credit risk officers inside the same platformWinning Best in Show at FinovateThe Sunglass Hut deal and how it came together in three monthsWhy retailers are moving away from pure-play BNPL providersIntegration options: bank cores, side cores, and direct e-commerce embedThe 300-plus partner marketplace and the SEO strategy behind itDoc AI and single-task AI agents for document processing and underwritingTimothy's experience in the CURQL accelerator and how credit unions differTeaching FinTech Fundamentals at USCThe five consumer verticals with the most opportunity in fintechKey TakeawaysThe build vs. buy debate is essentially over. When Timothy talks to bank CTOs today, the conversation is "can you launch this next week?" not "should we build this ourselves?" Speed to market has become the dominant concern.Pure-play BNPL approval rates are outside a retailer's control and can swing 10 points overnight. Private label embedded finance, built on infrastructure like LendAPI, lets retailers and banks own the underwriting criteria and the customer experience, which matters especially for high-ticket items where the financing decision happens in-store.Single-task AI agents are the near-term opportunity in lending, not fully automated credit decisions. Automating document verification, data extraction, and intake workflows saves minutes per application, and at scale, that compounds quickly.The five consumer fintech verticals worth building in: mortgages, auto, credit cards and personal loans, payments, and bank accounts. If it's in someone's wallet, there's still work to do.About Timothy LiTimothy Li is the CEO and co-founder of LendAPI, a no-code lending platform that launched in 2024 and won Best in Show at Finovate. He previously built Fluid, a credit-building app for college students, and has been building lending infrastructure across multiple ventures over the past decade. He also taught FinTech Fundamentals at the University of Southern California.Connect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into a new study showing AI is literally frying workers’ brains, then unpacks Anthropic’s wildest month ever – from a 1,487% user surge to Pentagon retaliation to a leaked model called Mythos. Also covered: OpenAI kills Sora after burning $15 million a day, OpenClaw’s terrifying security holes, Apple axing the Mac Pro, ARM’s first-ever production CPU, and why King Tut’s dagger was forged from a meteorite. – Want to start a podcast? It’s easy to get started! Sign-up at Blubrry – Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Ray if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes Get 1Password Full Summary Cochrane opens the show with a study that puts a name to something most AI-heavy workers have already felt. From there, the episode moves through one of the most turbulent months in AI industry history, touching on corporate ethics, national security, hardware shortages, and ancient archaeology. AI Use at Work Is Causing “Brain Fry” A study from Boston Consulting Group and UC Riverside surveyed 1,500 full-time US workers and found that 14% experience what researchers call “AI brain fry” – mental fatigue from excessive AI tool oversight. Those affected report 33% more decision fatigue, 39% more major errors, and an increase in intent to quit from 25% to 34%. Notably, productivity peaks at one to three AI tools and drops off at four or more. Cochrane relates this directly to his own workflow, often running two to four tools side by side. However, he pushes back on the doom framing. He argues that context switching across multiple projects and rubber-stamping AI output without review are the real sources of fry. His takeaway: either work more slowly with greater intent, or use the accelerated pace to reclaim free time. Anthropic’s Wild Month: Exodus, Pentagon, and Mythos Claude sessions surged by roughly 1,487% from mid-January to early March, knocking ChatGPT off the top spot in the app store for the first time. ChatGPT uninstalls spiked nearly 300%, one-star reviews exploded 775% in a single day, and a boycott movement called “Quit GPT” has grown to between 2.5 and 4 million participants. The catalyst was OpenAI stepping in to take the Pentagon defense deal that Anthropic had publicly declined. Cochrane is firmly against automated domestic surveillance and autonomous weaponry, noting that the models are not reliable enough for such responsibilities. OpenAI tried to walk it back, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation called their language “weasel words.” Meanwhile, the Department of Defense slapped Anthropic with a supply chain risk label – a national security designation previously reserved for hostile foreign companies. Anthropic sued the Trump administration. Then Microsoft filed a legal brief in Anthropic’s defense, joined by 149 former judges, dozens of Google and OpenAI employees, and nearly two dozen retired generals. On top of all that, security researchers discovered an unsecured data cache exposing nearly 3,000 unpublished Anthropic files, including a model code-named Mythos (also called Capybara). Internal documents describe it as a step change in capabilities, scoring dramatically higher than Opus 4.6 on coding, reasoning, and cybersecurity. Then Anthropic’s source code leaked publicly as well. Sponsor: GoDaddy Economy hosting is $6.99/month, WordPress hosting is $12.99/month, and domains are $11.99. Both hosting plans include a free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate. Go to geeknewscentral.com/godaddy for the best pricing and to directly support this independent show. OpenAI Shuts Down Sora Video App OpenAI announced on March 24th that it is killing Sora, its AI video-generation app. Downloads cratered from 3.3 million in November to 1.1 million by February. The real numbers are brutal: Sora was costing roughly $15 million per day to run against a total lifetime revenue of just $2.1 million. The Sora web and app experience ends April 26th, with the API shutting down September 24th. Additionally, the Disney partnership – a billion-dollar deal meant to validate AI in Hollywood – collapsed completely. Deep fakes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robin Williams appeared almost immediately despite guardrails, and both families protested publicly. Cochrane notes that competitors like Runway, Pika, and Kling are still operating, and suspects Hollywood will pivot to generating scene backgrounds rather than full content. OpenClaw Is a Security Nightmare Cochrane’s personal OpenClaw install started making outbound requests flagged by his ISP – with no changes or new skills installed. He shut it down and plans to wipe the device entirely. The broader picture is alarming. A January 2026 audit found 512 vulnerabilities in OpenClaw, eight critical. Twenty-six percent of community skills contain at least one vulnerability. Oasis Security discovered a vulnerability chain called “Clawjacked” where any website can silently take full control of a developer’s agent. Between March 18th and 21st alone, nine additional vulnerabilities were disclosed, several of which were rated 9.9 out of 10. Cochrane draws a direct parallel to the browser extension era: supply chain attacks hidden as helpful tools. Claude Code Auto Mode: AI Policing AI Anthropic published details on a new “auto mode” for Claude Code after finding that users approve 93% of permission prompts – essentially mashing “yes.” Auto mode replaces manual approvals with a two-layer defense: an input scanner to detect prompt injection and a second AI model that monitors the first and decides whether to allow each action. The safety checker can only see what the user asked for and what the AI is trying to do. It cannot see the AI’s reasoning, so the AI cannot talk its way past the check. However, Cochrane notes it still misses about one in six dangerous actions (17%), and the fundamental question remains: if the base layer can get infected, so can the checker. Qwen Overtakes Llama as Most-Deployed Self-Hosted LLM RunPod’s 2026 State of AI report, based on usage data from 183 countries, reveals that Alibaba’s Qwen has overtaken Meta’s Llama as the most popular self-hosted AI model. Llama 4 has barely been adopted, with users sticking to version 3 because it just works. Additionally, vLLM now powers 40% of all AI endpoints, NVIDIA’s latest GPU usage scaled 25x last year, and nearly 70% of AI image work runs through ComfyUI. Cochrane sees Qwen winning on merit and argues that is how open source should work. AI Data Centers Are Taking All the CPUs Too AI data centers are not just consuming GPUs and memory anymore – CPUs are now being strained too. Intel server CPU lead times have stretched from two weeks to six months. AMD typically occurs at 8 to 10 weeks. Server CPU demand is projected to jump 15% in 2026, but Intel’s output capacity is growing in single digits. The shift from chatbots to autonomous AI agents is changing the hardware ratio, since agents require far more CPU power to coordinate tasks and call tools. TSMC is prioritizing more profitable AI chips over regular CPUs. Cochrane warns that consumers and businesses are effectively subsidizing the AI boom through higher prices and longer waits. AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2: First Dual-Cache X3D CPU AMD announced the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, the first CPU with dual-cache X3D technology. It arrives April 22nd with 208MB of total cache and a 200W TDP – up from the current model. However, AMD is unusually honest, calling the gains “modest,” ranging from 5-13% depending on the workload. Notably, they have not released gaming benchmarks, which is conspicuous for an X3D chip. Cochrane owns a single X3D chip and sees no reason to upgrade. ARM Launches “AGI” CPU After 35 years of licensing chip designs to Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, and NVIDIA, ARM has launched its first production silicon: a 136-core server chip co-developed with Meta as the lead customer. ARM’s stock jumped about 16% on the news. You can pack over 8,000 cores in a single air-cooled rack, or over 45,000 with liquid cooling. Volume shipments begin by the end of 2026. Cochrane appreciates the move but calls the “AGI” branding marketing hype. The bigger story is ARM transitioning from blueprint designer to direct competitor against Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA in data centers – while still licensing to the companies it now competes against. Apple Discontinues the Mac Pro Apple removed the Mac Pro from its website and confirmed that no future model is planned. The $6,999 machine had not been updated since the 2023 M2 Ultra model. Apple is pointing professionals toward the Mac Studio with its M4 Ultra chip, with an M5 Ultra refresh expected later this year. They also discontinued the $700 wheels kit, $300 feet kit, and Pro Display XDR the same week. Cochrane says good riddance – the Mac Studio covers what 90% of users need. Apple’s AI Pin: An AirTag-Sized Wearable Reports suggest Apple is developing an AirTag-sized wearable AI pin with cameras, microphones, and wireless charging. It would clip to clothing or hang as a necklace, running as an iPhone accessory powered by an upgraded Siri with Google’s Gemini AI. A possible 2027 release is expected alongside iOS 27, though development is early and could be canceled. Cochrane ties this to a broader shift: data collection moving from the application layer to physical devices. Apple employees internally refer to the device as “the eyes and ears of the iPhone.” He warns that always-on wearable cameras, combined with existing AI-powered surveillance poles, are pushing society deeper into mass data collection without meaningful consent. Quantum Entanglement Speed Measured for the First Time Scientists at TU Wien’s Institute of Theoretical Physics, led by Professor Joachim Burgdorfer, measured how fast quantum entanglement happens for the first time. The answer: about 232 attoseconds – a billionth of a billionth of a second. The research was published in Physical Review Letters in late 2024 and is now circulating widely. Einstein called quantum entanglement “spooky action at a distance.” Turns out it is not instantaneous – just extraordinarily fast. This measurement technique opens the door to quantum cryptography and quantum computing. However, Cochrane clarifies: this does not mean faster-than-light communication. Entanglement links particles but does not transmit information through space. Bronze Age Iron Artifacts Came From Outer Space Geochemical analysis by French scientist Albert Jambon, originally published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2017, confirmed that virtually all Bronze Age iron artifacts were made from meteorites. The artifacts span Egypt, Turkey, Syria, and China, including beads dating to 3200 BCE and the famous dagger from King Tut’s tomb, dating to around 1350 BCE. The story resurfaced after researchers published new findings this month on fragments of meteoritic iron weapons from China’s Sanxingdui sacrificial site. Bronze Age people lacked the technology to smelt iron ore, but meteoritic iron arrived in a metallic state, ready to be forged. Cochrane closes the episode, noting that ancient civilizations were working with extraterrestrial material before they could produce their own iron – resourcefulness that deserves respect. Cochrane wraps up the show by thanking GoDaddy for over twenty years of partnership and reminding listeners to subscribe, sign up for the newsletter, and reach out via email. The post Agentically Frying your Brain using AI #1861 appeared first on Geek News Central.
Most scams leave a digital trail. A fake email, a spoofed number, a fraudulent website. You can trace them, report them, sometimes even reverse them. But what happens when the scam has no digital trail at all, because it isn't happening on a screen? What happens when the con is standing right in front of you, making you laugh, meeting your friends, and planning a future with you? My guest today is Tracy Hall. She's an author, keynote speaker, and senior marketing executive with over 25 years at some of the world's most recognizable tech companies including eBay, Virgin, GoDaddy, and Afterpay. She is sharp, successful, and by every measure, exactly the kind of person you'd assume would see it coming. She didn't. And neither would you. In 2017, Tracy woke up to a Crime Stoppers video of an unidentified man being arrested outside a Sydney apartment. That man was her boyfriend of 18 months. Except he wasn't who she thought he was. The man she knew as Max Tevita a Bondi surfer, a finance executive, the person she was building a life with was actually Hamish McLaren, Australia's most infamous conman, a man who had been running long game cons for thirty years across multiple countries, stealing somewhere between eighty and a hundred million dollars from victims around the world. Tracy was his last victim before his arrest. He had stolen her entire life savings of $317,000 and far more than that. This is a story about what happens when the scam isn't a phishing email. It's a relationship. And it will change the way you think about trust, manipulation, and what any of us are actually capable of missing. Show Notes: [1:03] With 25 years as a senior marketing executive behind her, Tracy shares how a year after separating from her husband she began online dating, where she met a man calling himself Max Tevita. [3:25] Presenting himself as a Bondi surfer and chief investment officer, Max spent 18 months slowly and methodically guiding Tracy to invest her entire life savings with him. [5:55] A crime stoppers video changed everything. The man Tracy knew as her boyfriend was actually Hamish McLaren, a professional conman who had been defrauding victims globally for 30 years and stealing an estimated $80 to $100 million. [7:36] A masterful shapeshifter, McLaren adjusted his persona in real time based on Tracy's reactions, including quietly getting rid of his five cars after she called him out on it. [9:54] Tracy breaks down the psychological mechanics of the con, including similarity bias, mirroring, and how McLaren constructed a character she was essentially telling him she wanted. [11:05] Through elaborate "movie sets and scenes," McLaren built layers of authority and confirmation bias over 18 months, making investing her life savings with him feel completely logical. [14:21] Some moments only made sense in hindsight, including a childhood friend accidentally calling McLaren by his nickname "Ham Bone" and his instant, convincing cover story on the spot. [18:22] Humans default to truth, and Tracy explains how that biological wiring makes us uniquely vulnerable to manipulation, especially around emotionally charged stories. [19:29] Every victim got their own version of McLaren barrister, triathlete, business strategist as Tracy describes meeting others who had each been conned by an entirely different character. [22:53] Learning to trust other people wasn't the hard part. Tracy reflects on why rebuilding faith in her own judgment was far more difficult, and how shame dominated the aftermath. [25:21] Through professional help and a conscious daily decision not to let McLaren turn her into a cynical person, Tracy describes how she slowly rebuilt both her finances and her sense of self. [27:05] Understanding the psychology behind scams, cognitive biases, invisible contracts of trust, emotional exploitation is the best defense we have, and Tracy breaks down exactly how it works. [31:33] The medium may be different, but the tactics aren't — Tracy draws striking parallels between her in-person experience and digital romance baiting scams, showing how the emotional manipulation is nearly identical. [34:00] There is no demographic, age group, or intelligence level that is immune. Tracy makes the case that scammers hunt for vulnerability, and at the right moment, we are all soft targets. [36:12] By subtly discouraging Tracy from socializing with friends, McLaren was limiting outside scrutiny and Tracy explains why getting a new partner in front of your personal network as quickly as possible is one of the most important protective steps you can take. [40:24] No digital footprint is a major red flag. Tracy outlines key warning signs to watch for and recommends reverse image searches as a basic but powerful verification step when meeting someone new. [42:08] Every single time Tracy speaks publicly, someone approaches her afterwards with a story they have never told anyone a reminder that silence is exactly what these criminals depend on to keep operating. [43:45] Now fully dedicated to education and awareness, Tracy introduces her memoir The Last Victim and explains how she has channeled her experience into a mission to help others recognize and recover from fraud. Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. Links and Resources: Podcast Web Page Facebook Page whatismyipaddress.com Easy Prey on Instagram Easy Prey on Twitter Easy Prey on LinkedIn Easy Prey on YouTube Easy Prey on Pinterest Tracy Hall The Last Victim Who the Hell is Hamish? Podcast King Con: The Life and Crimes of Hamish McLaren
AI is making it easier than ever to run research, but faster doesn't always mean better. In this episode, we dig into what it really means to democratize research responsibly, and why your team probably needs a charter before someone does something they can't take back.Your team is already running research without you. So the real question is: are you going to help them do it well, or just hope for the best?Ned Dwyer is the co-founder and CEO of Great Question, an all-in-one UX research platform built to bring research to everyone in an organization. Not just the people with "researcher" in their title. He's spent years thinking about how teams can democratize access to customer insights without turning research into a free-for-all, and his talk at UX Con is what first put him on my radar.In this conversation, we dig into one of the more divisive topics in our industry right now: research democratization. Ned makes a pretty compelling case that it's not the all-or-nothing argument a lot of people make it out to be. It's a spectrum, and where your organization should land on that spectrum depends on who you're researching, what decisions are being made, and how much risk is on the table. We also get into AI's role in all of this, from AI-moderated interviews to synthesized insights, and where teams tend to get themselves into trouble when they hand over too much to the machine without any real governance in place.The thing I found most useful in this conversation is Ned's concept of a democratization charter, a practical framework for defining who should be doing what kind of research, with which populations, and under what guardrails. It's something I honestly hadn't thought much about before meeting Ned, and I think it's one of the most actionable ideas we've talked about on the show. If your team is already using AI research tools (and let's be honest, they probably are), this conversation is worth your time.Topics:• 01:45 - Ned's origin story and why he built Great Question• 04:10 - The pressure to move fast, and what gets lost when speed wins• 06:11 - The 80/20 rule: how to use AI without publishing slop• 09:45 - Democratization is a spectrum, not a binary• 12:35 - Where guardrails matter most: vulnerable populations and one-way-door decisions• 13:12 - The case for a democratization charter• 19:00 - AI moderation demystified: closer to a talking survey than a human interviewer• 23:00 - Ned's GoDaddy confession: how rogue research goes wrong• 27:00 - Participant fatigue and insight overload: the new risks AI introduces• 31:45 - Rogue research will happen regardless... your job is to make it safer• 43:28 - The Will Smith spaghetti analogy and where AI tools are headed—Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today's episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today's episode, why don't you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.If you haven't already, sign up for our email list. We won't spam you. Pinky swear.• Get a FREE audiobook AND support the show• Support the show on Patreon• Check out show transcripts• Check out our website• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts• Subscribe on Spotify• Subscribe on YouTube• Subscribe on Stitcher
Christine Jones, former counsel for GoDaddy, answers questions on the legal battle over social media platforms and how to protect yourself under state laws.
Thanks Pressable for supporting the show! Get your special hosting deal at https://pressable.com/wpminuteBecome a WP Minute Supporter & Slack member at https://thewpminute.com/supportOn this episode of The WP Minute+ podcast, Eric Karkovack chats with Adam Warner from GoDaddy. Adam fills us in on the company's community engagement, the Airo® AI suite, and its agency program. The discussion also examines how GoDaddy is integrating AI into its offerings, the importance of personal relationships in business, and the tools available for agencies to manage their clients effectively. The conversation highlights the future of WordPress in the context of AI and the ongoing developments at GoDaddy. Takeaways:Airo® simplifies user experience for website building and other tasks.Building personal relationships is still crucial for customer satisfaction.The agency program at GoDaddy supports growth and improves efficiency.Airo™ Site Designer for WordPress caters to both DIYers and professional builders.GoDaddy Pro Hub offers a centralized location for client management.GoDaddy's tools aim to streamline site maintenance and client interactions.AI integrations are a key focus for GoDaddy's future developments.Community feedback directly influences GoDaddy's product roadmap.Important Links:Airo®:–Reintroducing Airo™ for WordPress: Full WordPress, full control–Try Airo® for freeGoDaddy Agency ProgramGoDaddy Pro HubGoDaddy Agent Name ServiceConnect with Adam: Bluesky | LinkedIn | Twitter/XThe WP Minute+ Podcast: thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Today's episode features a segment from Eric's interview with GoDaddy's Adam Warner. Adam stopped by to discuss the company's AI tools, its agency program, and what the future has in store. Be sure to catch the entire interview over on our WP Minute+ channel. Visit thewpminute.com for all the details: https://thewpminute.com/how-godaddy-is-using-ai-to-improve-the-wordpress-ux/ Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
This week on The Golden Era Podcast, Jake and Joey relive the WWE Women's Division from the week of January 12, 2006 ,when the Ruthless Aggression Era delivered chaos, controversy, and unforgettable Diva moments!
Favour Obasi-ike, MBA, MS delivers a tutorial on why Pinterest is a search engine, not social media, and how to connect it with Google Search Console for SEO impact.Pinterest is the least skipped ad platform while YouTube is the most, and Pinterest ads cost two to thirty cents versus dollars elsewhere.He covers claiming your business account, how earned media works exclusively on Pinterest, and why a pin lives three to five months compared to an Instagram post's 19 to 72 hours. Favour shares a client case study where organic image impressions grew from 54.1 million to 154 million in three months with zero ad spend, with Pinterest ranking in the top three linking sites.The conversation covers MCP servers, Google's crawl budget drop from 15 to two megabytes, why 67 percent of searches result in zero clicks, and why GoDaddy is not scalable.Mark recommends WordPress, and Shira shares how evergreen content generates leads years after posting.Book SEO Services? Save These Quick Links for Later>> Book SEO Services with Favour Obasi-ike>> Visit Work and PLAY Entertainment website to learn about our digital marketing services>> Join our exclusive SEO Marketing community>> Read SEO Articles>> Subscribe to the We Don't PLAY Podcast>> Purchase Flaev Beatz Beats Online>> Favour Obasi-ike Quick Links>> Start Recording your Podcast with Riverside Today | Sign Up with My Affiliate Link HereTimeline and Timestamps[00:08] Introduction — Pinterest SEO Marketing on Clubhouse.[02:53] Pinterest: least skipped ad platform vs. YouTube.[04:02] Pinterest is a search engine for images.[07:04] You cannot be on ChatGPT if not on Google.[08:15] Claiming your Pinterest business account.[10:02] Earned media — only Pinterest offers it.[12:05] Pin lifespan: 3–5 months vs. Instagram: 19–72 hours.[19:00] Tuna on WebMCP and AI impact on SEO.[21:56] Google crawl budget: 15 MB down to 2 MB.[23:35] 67% of Google searches result in zero clicks.[33:09] Why GoDaddy is not scalable.[40:03] Mark: WordPress — own your website.[58:45] Pinterest + Google Search Console: the perfect blend.[60:30] Case study: 54.1M to 154M impressions organically.[73:49] Shira: evergreen content still generates leads.[79:50] SEO scorecard tool — 10 questions, instant report. 93:01] 97% of Pinterest searches are unbranded.[95:32] Pinterest and Amazon partnership.Memorable Quotes"Pinterest is the least skipped ad platform. YouTube is the most — people pay to skip ads.""If you drop the P, it's interest. Pinterest is interest, literally.""You build a house on land you don't own." — Mark, on closed-source builders."Keep putting out your message, even when nobody's watching, because someone is." — Shira"67% of Google searches don't result in a click. That's a culture shift." — TunaFAQs AnsweredIs Pinterest social media?On the personal side, yes. On the business side, it is a visual search engine where you own 100% of your data through a claimed account.What is earned media?When someone saves your paid pin and revisits it later, you earn impressions without spending again — dividends on your ad spend.Why not GoDaddy?It lacks code injection, scalable pop-ups, and flexibility. WordPress is recommended for full ownership and SEO control.How long does Pinterest SEO take?It depends on domain authority and consistency — no fixed timeline, but articles linked to Pinterest accelerate results.Key TakeawaysClaim your website on Pinterest Business. Track Pinterest as a linking site in Google Search Console. Pins live 3–5 months versus hours on Instagram. 97% of Pinterest searches are unbranded. Own your site on WordPress. Evergreen content compounds and generates leads long after posting.KeywordsPinterest SEO, Google Search Console, earned media, Pinterest ads, visual search engine, domain authority, crawl budget, WordPress, claimed accounts, unbranded search, evergreen content, zero-click searches, SEO scorecard, MCP servers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Think of this as your weekly creator business therapy session. Welcome back to Call Her Creator, where we break down the biggest social media updates in plain language so you know exactly what to focus on for growth. In this week's Weekly Scroll, we cover: • The new Instagram Reels design tests and what they mean for reach • The storytelling content format Instagram is quietly rewarding • Why Reels are becoming the center of the Instagram app • Pinterest's massive growth and why creators should pay attention • New AI tools for creators including Stanley AI • The easiest viral Reel format to post this week If your Instagram reach or views have changed recently, this episode explains exactly why and what to do next. New episodes of The Weekly Scroll drop every Thursday. Thank you to my sponsors: Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo Collective, use code CHC and get 50% off : www.collective.com/chc Brevo, use code CREATOR50 and get a 50% off discount: www.brevo.com/creator Shopify: www.shopify.com/chc Stan: Try StanleyIG today and let him scrape your socials for your next VIRAL idea. TRY IT TODAY! Club enfluence: Reels trends, Canva Templates & content drops: JOIN HERE
Chris breaks down the backlash to Ring's Super Bowl “Search Party” ad, which aimed to help find lost pets but reignited privacy concerns over AI-powered neighborhood surveillance. He also explores the surge of AI-themed Super Bowl ads, Apple's delayed Siri overhaul, rising DDR5 RAM prices driven by AI demand, SpaceX's Crew-12 launch, and the record-breaking sale of a rare Pokémon card. -Want to be a Guest on a Podcast or YouTube Channel? Sign up for GuestMatch.Pro -Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Chris if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes Get 1Password Full Summary – Main story — Ring Search Party: Chris summarizes Ring's first Super Bowl ad (viewed by “over 120 million”) which promoted “Search Party,” a feature that lets users upload a photo of a missing pet and alerts neighborhood Ring cameras if they spot it. He explains the ad was intended as wholesome but provoked fast backlash: viewers and privacy advocates (including the ACLU and lawmakers) warned the tech could be repurposed to track people. Chris recounts Ring's prior controversies (police partnerships, an FTC settlement in 2023 over employee access to videos) and says the ad brought those issues back into focus. He reports that four days after the ad, Amazon canceled a planned integration with Flock Safety (Amazon called it a resources-and-timing decision). He notes Search Party is opt-in for pets but emphasizes the potential scale of surveillance when aggregated across millions of Ring devices and that the underlying AI capability isn't going away. – Super Bowl AI ads and Anthropic vs. OpenAI: Chris says AI-related ads made up about 23% of Super Bowl commercials. He describes Anthropic's debut ads (titles like “betrayal, deception, treachery, and violation”) positioning Claude as ad-free for paying users and taking a shot at OpenAI's ad plans; Sam Altman criticized those ads as dishonest. He mentions Svedka ran a primarily AI-generated Super Bowl ad and that Anthropic saw a ~6.5% traffic jump and an ~11% rise in daily active users after the game. Chris frames the ads as a sign the AI assistant wars have moved to mainstream consumer marketing and raises the question of whether AI assistants will be ad-supported or paid/ad-free. – Sponsor spot: A lengthy GoDaddy sponsorship read with pricing and offers: economy hosting $6.99/month for a year with free domain, email, and SSL; WordPress hosting $12.99/month with same inclusions; domain names $11.99; GoDaddy website builder offers a 30-day free trial for certain plans. Chris urges listeners to use the provided promo links to support the show. – Apple March 4 event and Siri delay: Chris reports Apple confirmed a March 4 product launch (iPhone 17e, MacBook Pros with M5 Pro and M5 Max, an 8th-gen iPad Air and a 12th-gen iPad). He says the AI-powered Siri overhaul planned for iOS 26.4 hit testing snags and some features were pushed to iOS 26.5 in May and iOS 27 in September. He notes Apple claims Siri improvements are still coming in 2026 but have been repeatedly delayed, and frames Apple as focusing on hardware and on-device processing. – DDR5 RAM price surge: Chris covers a global memory shortage driven by AI data-center demand. He explains manufacturers shifted production to high-bandwidth AI memory with much higher margins, reducing consumer DDR supply and forcing adoption of DDR5. He gives figures: DDR5 64 GB kits rose from around $200 in mid-2025 to over $1,000 (a ~300% increase across six months, with another ~50% spike in the last month). He says inventories have fallen to about eight weeks and analysts don't expect meaningful relief until late 2027 or 2028. He warns PC builders and buyers to brace for higher upgrade and system prices. – SpaceX Crew-12 launch: Chris recounts NASA Crew-12 as a replacement following an earlier medical evacuation that left ISS short-staffed. He reports SpaceX launched four astronauts on Feb. 13 aboard a Falcon 9 with the Dragon capsule Freedom (liftoff at 5:15 AM EST) and docked on Valentine's Day. Crew named: NASA commander Jessica Mayer, NASA pilot Jack Hathaway, ESA mission specialist Sophie Adadott, and Russian cosmonaut Andrei (Andrei Fedoo/Fedu — host stumbles on the name). The mission is planned for eight months; the Falcon 9 first stage landed back at pad 40. Chris frames the launch as good news and notes ongoing reliance on SpaceX. – Pokémon card/collectibles auction: Chris discusses a record trading-card sale. He refers to Logan Paul and the Pikachu Illustrator card (one of 39 ever made). He mentions earlier reports of card sales (at first saying a card sold for “like six and a half million dollars,” then later saying Logan Paul sold one for “sixteen point five million dollars”) and then details a live auction via Golden in which the card sold for “sixty million four hundred ninety two thousand dollars,” called a new Guinness World Record for the most expensive trading card sold at auction. Chris notes Logan Paul bought his PSA 10 card in 2021 for $5.2M, the auction had about 97 bids, and the buyer was venture capitalist Adrien Scaramucci (who had the card placed on a $75,000 diamond necklace). Chris comments on collectors vs. investors, how wealthy buyers and influencers can drive pricing, and cautions that most fans shouldn't expect to find such returns. Show Links Ring Search Party – Official Feature Page Ring Super Bowl Ad Sparks Privacy Backlash Super Bowl 60 AI Ads: Anthropic, Svedka, and the AI Marketing Push SpaceX Launches NASA Crew-12 to the ISS Apple Confirms March 4 Event — Cheaper iPhone Expected DDR5 RAM Prices Surge Over 300% Amid AI Demand Logan Paul Pokémon Card Sets Record at Auction The post Ring Search Party Sparks Privacy Backlash #1858 appeared first on Geek News Central.
In this episode of Call Her Creator, we're talking about a shift so many ambitious women are feeling right now: leaving traditional corporate paths and building careers that actually feel good to live. My guest is Brianna Doe, CEO of Verbatim and a creator economy strategist who has seen both sides up close, from corporate marketing rooms to creators building real businesses online. We unpack what modern professionalism really looks like today, why so many women are rewriting success, and how to build a career that aligns with your life instead of draining it. Brianna shares the mindset shifts behind a corporate exit, how to avoid burnout while staying ambitious, and what it takes to build sustainable success as a creator or entrepreneur. We also dive into creator economy strategy, what makes a creator attractive to brands, the biggest mistakes creators make when pitching partnerships, and how to start building multiple income streams before you make the leap. Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/callhercreator Thank you to my sponsors: Work with me: Speaking, Social Media Management and my famous, Social Media School: https://enfluencestudio.com/ Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo Shopify: www.shopify.com/chc Stan: Try StanleyIG today and let him scrape your socials for your next VIRAL idea. TRY IT TODAY!
An insight isn't a fact. It's a hidden truth. You're not done once you get that data. Keep digging. Ask why. And get that human connection with your audience. Fara Howard, former CMO of GoDaddy and experienced marketing leader, joins us on the #ShinyNewObjectPodcast to dig into what makes actionable insights, how to retain humanity in storytelling, and why no one can call themselves an expert in data driven marketing right now. Find out why iteration is the key to success and failing is just part of the process.
The Year of the Horse: How to Align Your Life and Business for Your Most Successful Year Yet Have you been feeling stuck, burnt out, or like you're falling behind in your life or business? You're not alone — and the truth is, it might not be about working harder. It might be about understanding your season. In this episode of Call Her Creator, Katelyn Rhoades breaks down the powerful symbolism behind the Year of the Horse and how ambitious women, entrepreneurs, and creators can use this season as a framework for clarity, alignment, and sustainable success. You'll learn how the transition from last year's “shedding” energy into a new season of forward movement can help you refocus your priorities, rebuild momentum, and move toward your goals with intention instead of burnout. Katelyn also shares practical strategies for aligning your life and business, including how to identify what's weighing you down, how to build stamina instead of hustle, and how to confidently take imperfect action toward the next level of your growth. Plus, she explains how to calculate your personal year numerology number as a simple reflection tool to better understand the theme of your current season. This episode is perfect for creators, entrepreneurs, and ambitious women who want to stop feeling scattered, regain clarity, and make this their most aligned and successful year yet. Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekatelynrhoades/ Thank you to my sponsors: And don't forget — the Dare to Post Challenge is happening now. Post once a day for 30 days, grow your account, and earn a share of the $100K prize pool. I'm doing it too, and I want you in it with me. Work with me: Speaking, Social Media Management and my famous, Social Media School: https://enfluencestudio.com/ Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo Shopify: www.shopify.com/chc
Building on the "Still Standing" blueprint by Cee-Lo Green, this episode deconstructs the Platform Exit Paradox. We address the looming loss of the Chain of Custody and why your "Soulmate" (your voice/IP) is being kidnapped by algorithms and sold back as Digital Sludge. In this episode, we cover: The Intelligence Tax: Why paying GoDaddy and Google makes you a "Boutique Tenant". Digital Proof of Life: Using the "Pen and Pad" as a forensic DNA match against AI replication. The Master Signal: How to extract your community from "Rented Soil" and move them into The Vault. "If you don't own the record, you didn't exist." It's time to move from social visibility to Notarized Sovereignty.
Want to know exactly how I grew my Instagram to 200K+ followers without guessing what to post every day? In this episode, I'm breaking down the exact system behind that growth: the Core 5 Framework. This is the simple, repeatable content strategy I've used for years on my own account and with clients to build audiences, create engagement, and turn Instagram into a real sales machine. If you've ever felt overwhelmed trying to figure out what to post, chasing trends, or posting randomly and hoping something works, this episode is for you. I'll walk you through the CORE 5 types of posts every business needs: You'll learn how these five categories work together like a social media sales cycle, how often to post, and how to create a weekly plan you can follow without burning yourself out. This isn't about trends or viral hacks. It's about a proven framework that actually works long-term. Plus, I'll share how you can take this strategy even further inside Social Media Sales School, where I teach the full step-by-step system, caption formulas, content calendars, and tools to make Instagram feel easy instead of overwhelming. And don't forget — the Dare to Post Challenge is happening now. Post once a day for 30 days, grow your account, and earn a share of the $100K prize pool. I'm doing it too, and I want you in it with me. If you're ready to stop overthinking Instagram and start posting with confidence, press play. Thank you to my sponsors: • Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo • Collective, use code CHC and get 50% off : www.collective.com/chc • Brevo, use code CREATOR50 and get a 50% off discount: www.brevo.com/creator Get inside Social Media Sales School: If you're getting views but not sales, you don't need more content.You need a simple system that connects content → conversations → customers. Inside, I'll show you exactly what to post each week, what to say in Stories, and how to convert followers into buyers without feeling salesy. My clients are reaching millions of people. They're growing their pages by the thousands: SIGN UP HERE
We discussed a few things including1. Their career journeys2. Miami ecosystem3. Austin/Texas ecosystem4. Trends, opps and challenges for entrepreneurs and startup communities5. Outlook for 2026 Melissa Medina has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, operator, investor, community leader and philanthropist. A native to Miami, she is CEO & Co-Founder of eMerge Americas with a mission of helping transform South Florida into a global tech hub. The eMerge Americas signature event, launched in 2014, is a global tech conference held annually at the Miami Beach Convention Center - this year's event is on April 22-24. With Melissa's leadership, the eMerge Americas conference now attracts more than 20,000+ attendees from over 50 countries. In addition to the annual conference, eMerge organizes year-round executive summits, innovation challenges, startup pitch competitions, masterclasses, webinars, a world-class global accelerator program, as well as publishes venture activity and investment insights reports.Melissa is also a Partner at Medina Ventures, an early-stage venture fund, as well as the President of the Medina Family Foundation, which has a mission to fund local initiatives that focus on mentoring children and empowering families. Melissa was named by the South Florida Business Journal as one of the “2023 Power Leaders in Technology.” Melissa also sits on the Board of The Miami Foundation. She is passionate about transforming Miami into a global technology hub and supporting Miami-based non-profits who seek to empower tomorrow's leaders. Most importantly, Melissa is a mother and most passionate about her 5 children.------Experienced in economic development, public policy, and venture capital, Paul O'Brien puts a focus on shaping the systems that enable entrepreneurship and innovation. He leads legislative and coalition strategy for Founder Institute, around issues impacting startups, capital formation, and civic infrastructure, and as publisher of Startup Economist.With a passion for media innovation and investment, Paul seeded MediaTech Ventures, a media industry venture development group. Former Venture Partner in Meaningful Ventures, O'Brien is Founder and Director of Funded House and Director of Founder Institute for Texas. Historically, a seasoned marketer with an early career at Yahoo! and HP. From there, Paul led the early growth of startups such as Outright.com (Acquired by GoDaddy), Zvents (Acquired by eBay's Stubhub), and MicroVentures (Venture Capital). Paul has an unusually strong technical background considering the role he tends to play today; he built websites in the '90s and continues to engineer and produce content at seobrien.com. He was featured in the book, Online Marketing Heroes, and frequently speaks at startup and media conferences.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast
Why does great Instagram content get engagement but still not lead to sales? In this episode, Katelyn Rhoades sits down with buyer psychology expert Anna Rumbold to uncover the real reason your content isn't converting, and it's not your hooks. We'll break down the hidden psychology behind buyer behavior, how doubt quietly blocks sales, and why messaging and positioning matter more than viral reach. You'll learn how to craft content that speaks to your audience's true priorities, remove unspoken objections, and create authentic messaging that builds trust and drives action. This conversation is packed with practical strategies for content creators, entrepreneurs, and marketers who want to turn followers into paying clients. If you've ever felt like your audience loves your content but doesn't buy, this episode will help you close the gap between engagement and real conversions. Find me on Instagram: @thekatelynrhoades Find Anna Rumbold and join her telegram: HERE Thank you to my sponsors: • Stan: Join the Dare to Post Challenge-a 30-day challenge designed to help Creators turn their dream into actual momentum. If they complete the challenge earn a share of the $100k prize pot: Use this link • Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo • Collective, use code CHC and get 50% off : www.collective.com/chc • Brevo, use code CREATOR50 and get a 50% off discount: www.brevo.com/creator
Bob Mountain rejoins the domain industry with new role at D3. About one year after retiring from GoDaddy, Bob Mountain is back in the domain industry as the Chief Commercial and Revenue Officer for D3 Global. On today's show, Bob explains why he believes in D3's mission of marrying the DNS with blockchain technology. He […] Post link: Bob Mountain climbs the blockchain- DNW Podcast #573 © DomainNameWire.com 2025. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
David Starr is the President and Founder of Cumulus26, which helps companies succeed in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and other facets of Azure. He's had a multi-decade career at Microsoft, Godaddy and others in senior technical leadership roles. He's spoken at industry conferences and delivered technical training courses and many other things. Mentioned In This Episode Episode 311 Episode 149 LinkedIn Making HIPAA and HITRUST compliance easier Azure for Executives Elegant Code Elegant Coder X Account Plural Sight Plural Sight Course Mastering the Marketplace Episode 99 Cumulus26 AmpUp - for Microsoft Markeplace Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.
This week on Call Her Creator, I'm getting personal. For a long time, I believed success meant constant hustle, endless availability, and always being “on.” From the outside, my business was thriving. But behind the scenes, I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and missing moments with the people I love most. The wake-up call came at my son's baseball game when I realized I was so focused on work that I missed one of his biggest moments. That day changed everything. In this episode, I'm sharing my honest story of stepping into my “soft girl era” as a business owner and mom. Not soft as in giving up. Soft as in calm, intentional, and no longer wearing burnout like a badge of honor. I'm walking you through the 10 practical changes I made to slow down, protect my peace, set boundaries, and redesign my business so it supports my life instead of consuming it. If you've ever felt torn between wanting a big, successful business and wanting to be fully present for your family, this episode is for you. You don't have to choose between ambition and presence. You just have to build differently. And if you're ready for your own reset, check out my 6-Week Reinvention Challenge. It's designed to help you slow down, get clear, and realign your goals with the life you actually want to live. Thank you to my sponsors: • Stan: Join the Dare to Post Challenge-a 30-day challenge designed to help Creators turn their dream into actual momentum. If they complete the challenge earn a share of the $100k prize pot.: Use this link • Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo • Collective, use code CHC and get 50% off : www.collective.com/chc • Brevo, use code CREATOR50 and get a 50% off discount: www.brevo.com/creator Social Media School : ENROLL NOW
In today's episode of Call Her Creator (powered by Stan), I'm sitting down with the incredible Shannon Gillette. She's a wife, boy mom, one of the top Realtors in Arizona, founder of The Gillette Group at Real Broker, and she's been featured on HGTV. Oh, and she's built an Instagram brand that's closing real business with nearly 100,000 followers. But here's what I love most: Shannon didn't start with a platform. She started from scratch in 2015 with no money, no clients, and zero followers. Now she leads a top-producing team selling hundreds of homes a year, and she credits one thing more than anything else. Instagram stories. This is not a fluff conversation. Shannon breaks down the systems, decisions, and behind-the-scenes effort that helped her build a personal brand that converts attention into income. We talk about how she treats Instagram like a reality show (not a commercial), why she posts five stories a day, how she uses video hooks to stop the scroll, and how she creates content that attracts the right people instead of trying to appeal to everyone. If you're a creator, entrepreneur, or service provider who wants to grow your audience and actually turn that growth into revenue, you're going to love this one. -Follow Katelyn on instagram -Follow Shannon on instagram Thank you to my sponsors: Stan: Join the Dare to Post Challenge-a 30-day challenge designed to help Creators turn their dream into actual momentum. If they complete the challenge earn a share of the $100k prize pot.: Use this link Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo Collective, use code CHC and get 50% off : www.collective.com/chc Brevo, use code CREATOR50 and get a 50% off discount: www.brevo.com/creator
Bob Parsons is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran. He earned the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry for his service in Vietnam. After returning home, Parsons used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Baltimore, graduating magna cum laude, and later received an honorary doctorate from the university. In 1984, he founded Parsons Technology after teaching himself computer programming, growing the company to nearly 1,000 employees before selling it to Intuit in 1994. In 1997, he launched Jomax Technologies, which later became GoDaddy, building it into the world’s largest domain name registrar and a global leader in web services. Parsons is currently the founder and CEO of YAM Worldwide, overseeing a diverse portfolio of businesses that includes PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf), real estate, marketing, finance, and hospitality. Alongside his wife, Renee, he co-founded The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, supporting causes such as veteran assistance, education, medical care, and homelessness. He is also the New York Times bestselling author of Fire in the Hole!, which chronicles his journey from combat veteran to successful entrepreneur.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Command Control Power, the hosts discuss the hustle of their busy January, including managing clients during holiday breaks. They share insights on employing external support teams, retaining work efficiency without a full-time replacement, and offering priority support services for high-demand clients. They dive into domain management stories, highlighting positive and negative interactions with GoDaddy. The hosts also explore the hidden functionality of Apple's backtrack feature and share frustrations about the all trails app. Join them for a mix of practical advice, tech tips, and candid commentary on managing IT work and client needs. 00:00 Introduction and Holiday Recap 00:44 Managing Client Support During Holidays 02:09 Outsourcing Support Services 03:40 Implementing Support Team and Workflow 07:07 Client Feedback and Adaptations 08:59 Priority Support and New Services 13:31 AI and Automation in Client Support 20:26 Domain Management and SEO Challenges 30:58 GoDaddy's Unexpected Favor 32:53 Navigating Domain Transfers 37:35 Apple's Hand Warmer Idea 38:22 Apple TV Screenshot Trick 40:18 Apple's Backtrack Feature 46:34 Frustrations with AllTrails App 54:37 Conclusion and Patreon Plug
In this high-energy and deeply personal episode, Mimi and Wonne return to navigate a week marked by both grief and humor. The duo kicks off with a lighthearted debate over thin-crust pizza and the nostalgia of birthday freebies before shifting to a somber tribute to Mimi's late aunt, a famously "pro-black" figure who passed away on MLK Day.The conversation takes several sharp turns, covering everything from the absurdity of AI-generated Rampage Jackson videos to a viral PSA from a local figure about the "dirty" reality of dating unprotected in Milwaukee. Between discussions on "grief sex" , the YMCA's lyrical subtext, and the struggle of hosting a website on GoDaddy, the hosts deliver their signature blend of raw honesty and "demon time" wit.Chapter Timestamps00:00 – Technical Difficulties & The Return of Mimi's Wig 12:15 – Pizza Debates: Rocky's vs. Thin Crust "Crackers" 24:40 – Somber News: Losing a Pro-Black Icon on MLK Day 45:10 – The "Outback" Betrayal: When "Taking Someone Out" Goes Dutch 1:02:30 – Unpacking the YMCA: Hidden Meanings and Gay Club Codes 1:20:15 – GoDaddy vs. The Sibius Vibes: Moving the Business Forward 1:35:45 – AI Rampage Jackson & The "Niggler" Controversy 1:52:10 – Public Service Announcement: The "Burnt" Reality of Milwaukee 2:05:00 – Demon Time: Closing Out with Final Thoughts To get more of the Hoecially Awkward experience, join our Facebook group to engage with other fans and get exclusive content. Plus, don't forget to check out our website and social media channels for more updates. If you want to show some love to Mimi and her new baby, you can find a link to the meal train in the Facebook group. Thanks for listening!email to HoeciallyAwkward@gmail.comInstagram to Hoecially_Awkward
Welcome back to The Weekly Scroll. In this episode, we're breaking down the most important social media updates from the past week and what they actually mean for creators, business owners, and brands building on Instagram and Threads. This week brought confusion, security concerns, and a wave of new features being quietly tested across Meta platforms. Instead of panic headlines or surface-level updates, this episode focuses on what's real, what's noise, and how these changes connect to a much bigger shift in how social platforms want us to show up online. In this episode, we cover: Why so many Instagram users received unexpected password reset emails and what Instagram says actually happened Conflicting reports around a potential data leak and why situations like this create prime conditions for phishing and scams The bigger lesson around digital hygiene for creators whose Instagram is tied to income, leads, or brand deals Instagram's reported testing of a new “Top 5” Stories feature and what it signals about private sharing and exclusivity Why Instagram continues to push content away from public feeds and deeper into Stories, DMs, and smaller circles Threads testing Live Chat inside Communities and why Meta is prioritizing real-time conversation over passive engagement What this means for creators who teach, coach, or lead communities The content format quietly performing best on Instagram right now and why clarity and connection are outperforming trends This episode isn't about fear or chasing every new feature. It's about understanding the direction platforms are moving and adjusting your strategy accordingly. If Instagram or Threads play any role in your growth or income, this is one episode you don't want to miss. Resources mentioned in this episode: Club Enfluence: Weekly viral Reels ideas, content prompts, and Canva templates
Your Instagram profile is the first impression that decides whether someone follows you, trusts you, or clicks away — and in 2026, bios matter more than ever. In this episode, I break down exactly how to craft an Instagram profile that attracts the right followers, not just more followers. If your growth feels stuck or your audience isn't converting, your profile may be the missing piece. Inside this episode, you'll learn: How to write a clear, converting Instagram bio that tells people exactly who you help The keywords Instagram uses to understand and categorize your profile What contact information actually builds trust (and what to remove) How to optimize your link in bio so it supports growth and sales Simple profile tweaks that instantly improve clarity and confidence By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to update your Instagram profile so it works for you — attracting aligned followers and creating momentum before you even post. Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekatelynrhoades/ Thank you to my sponsors: Stan – the all-in-one creator platform powering this podcast (start your free trial: https://join.stan.store/katelynrhoades Work with me: Speaking, Social Media Management and my famous, Social Media School: https://enfluencestudio.com/ Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo
What good is reach if you don't have resonance? In this transformative episode of Business of Story, host Park Howell sits down with Jay Acunzo to explore why clarity isn't enough for brand stories and how to transform expertise into influential public voice through premise development. --- ABOUT JAY ACUNZO --- Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and public speaking coach who helps experts become stronger public voices. He's written books about creativity and storytelling, and he's traveled the world giving keynotes to marketers and managers, dentists and designers, leaders and landscapers. His clients include bestselling authors, mainstage TED speakers, startup founders, and seven-figure coaches and consultants. Brands like Salesforce, GoDaddy, Zillow, and Mailchimp have trusted Jay to support some of their most visible projects. He began his career in sales and marketing at Google and HubSpot, and his own journey as a speaker has been featured in 3 different books. Jay's philosophy challenges conventional marketing wisdom: don't market more, matter more. Think resonance over reach. Don't be the best, be their favorite. --- WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER --- ✓ What a premise really is (and why it's different from a tagline, mission, or niche) ✓ The resonance over reach philosophy and why it creates more business impact ✓ How resonance works (using physics to understand the urge to act) ✓ The narrative argument framework: six beats that move audiences from skepticism to action ✓ Laddered messaging structure: We Want → We Need → We Hope ✓ Story 2.0: Why process alone isn't enough (you need practice and posture too) ✓ The critical difference between clarity and strength in brand storytelling ✓ How to develop your premise through iteration (not instant perfection) ✓ Why focus is something you pick, but clarity is something you build ✓ Real examples: How Jay helped Anne Handley refine her premise for ASAP: As Slow As Possible ✓ Premise examples from James Clear, Simon Sinek, Michelle Warner, and more ✓ How to apply premise thinking to products and services (StoryCycle Genie case study) --- KEY FRAMEWORKS REVEALED --- NARRATIVE ARGUMENT (6 Beats): What are their goals? What's their current approach? What are the problems with that approach? What root cause do you see? What change do they need? How do they implement it? LADDERED MESSAGING (3 Phrases): • We Want: Meet people where they're at • We Need: Your premise/philosophical change • We Hope: The grand transformation STORY 2.0 (3 P's): • Process: Story structure and frameworks • Practice: Regular creation and refinement • Posture: Seeing yourself as a storyteller --- MEMORABLE QUOTES --- The goal is not to market more, it's to matter more. What good is awareness if you don't have affinity? What good is reach if you don't have resonance? Don't be the best, be their favorite. Clarity doesn't mean strength. Clarity doesn't mean efficacy. Focus is something you pick. Clarity is something you build. --- ABOUT BUSINESS OF STORY --- The Business of Story podcast helps business owners and marketers master the art of storytelling to grow their brands and create meaningful impact. Hosted by Park Howell, creator of the StoryCycle System and ABT Framework, each episode features expert guests sharing proven strategies for business growth through authentic narrative. Whether you're building a brand, leading a team, or developing your public voice, Business of Story delivers the frameworks and insights you need to make your message matter. Topics: premise development | resonance over reach | brand storytelling | thought leadership | narrative argument | public speaking | IP development | expert positioning | influential voice | business communication | content strategy | keynote speaking | Story 2.0 | clarity vs strength | laddered messaging
Agent Name Service could increase demand for domain names. Could AI agents use the Domain Name System to improve trust and discovery? That's the idea behind Agent Name Service, a proposal from GoDaddy. On today's show, James Bladel explains what it is and how it could become a reality. James, VP of Corporate and Government […] Post link: Agent Name Service – DNW Podcast #568 © DomainNameWire.com 2025. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact editor (at) domainnamewire.com. Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
Being a solo creator looks freeing on the outside, but behind the scenes it can feel overwhelming, isolating, and exhausting. In this episode of Call Her Creator, I'm pulling back the curtain on the parts of creator life no one talks about: burnout before it happens, decision fatigue, working alone for hours on end, and the pressure of being the only one responsible for everything. If you've ever felt tired but unable to slow down, unmotivated but still showing up, or lonely while building something you love, this episode is for you. I walk you through: How I manage my time when everything feels urgent The systems and routines that help me avoid burnout as a solo creator How to reduce decision fatigue so you're not mentally drained by noon What to do when isolation starts creeping in How to protect your work-life balance without sacrificing your goals This isn't a hustle-hard episode. It's an honest conversation about sustainability, boundaries, and building a creator business that supports your life instead of consuming it. You don't need to do this alone, and you don't need to burn yourself out to succeed. Listen in if you're ready to work smarter, protect your energy, and keep showing up without losing yourself in the process. Join the club: https://stan.store/katelynrhoades/p/join-my-membership-2adub Thank you to my sponsors: Stan – the all-in-one creator platform powering this podcast (start your free trial: https://join.stan.store/katelynrhoades Work with me: Speaking, Social Media Management and my famous, Social Media School: https://enfluencestudio.com/ Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo
In this riveting episode host Myrna Young sits down with Michelle "Mace" Curran, a distinguished fighter pilot for the USAF Thunderbirds, to discuss transforming fear into a powerhouse for personal and professional growth. Michelle shares her inspiring journey from overcoming self-doubt and gender bias to becoming a role model in a predominately male-dominated field. Her narrative is filled with lessons on leadership, resilience, and the importance of confronting fear to reach new heights. As she navigates through tales of near blackout experiences and the obstacles of gender expectations, Michelle offers valuable insights into harnessing fear as a tool for empowerment.Throughout the episode, Michelle emphasizes the importance of reframing perspectives toward fear, sharing the mental strategies she employed to tackle imposter syndrome and self-doubt. She delves deep into her personal experiences, revealing how moments of fear and embarrassment redirected her to embrace vulnerability and cultivate mental toughness. Beyond her unique experiences in the cockpit, Michelle's narrative is a universal blueprint for anyone facing self-doubt, illustrating the profound impact of perseverance and courage. This episode is a must-listen for those eager to unlock their full potential and lead authentically in every arena of life.Key Takeaways:Fear as Data: Michelle emphasizes that fear should be viewed as a data point rather than a stop signal. Courage in Vulnerability: Embracing vulnerability is a powerful catalyst for growth. Strategic Action: Before making significant changes, such as career shifts, it's essential to examine financial and skills gaps, leveraging network resources for support.Empowering Women: Michelle encourages more women to step into roles traditionally dominated by men, providing inspiration to break barriers.Michelle Mace Koren's Website: Home - Michelle MACE CurranThis Episode is Sponsored by:AuraFramesFor a limited time, visit AuraFrames.com and get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code TRANSFORM at checkout.GoDaddyWith GoDaddy Airo, you can build a business without having to know a thing about starting a business. Just visit GoDaddy.com to get started. To advertise on our podcast, visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/TransformyourMindor email kriti@youngandprofiting.com See this video on The Transform Your Mind YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@MyhelpsUs/videosTo see a transcripts of this audio as well as links to all the advertisers on the show page https://myhelps.us/Follow Transform Your Mind on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/myrnamyoung/Follow Transform Your mind on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063738390977Please leave a rating and review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transform-your-mind/id1144973094 https://podcast.feedspot.com/personal_development_podcasts/
In this powerful episode, host Myrna Young dives into mental health and personal development with Dominic Lawson, a storyteller and podcast producer committed to transforming mental health narratives. Together, they explore the critical importance of empathy and positivity in combating the stigma associated with mental wellness in the Black community. Dominic shines a light on his podcast "Mental Health Rewritten," which focuses on rewriting mental health stories through engaging storytelling and expert insights.They address the impact of racial and generational trauma, emphasizing therapy as a vital tool for healing and growth. This episode highlights the ongoing fight for mental health awareness and the breaking of silence around depression, anxiety, and emotional wellness within marginalized communities. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that empowers listeners to transform their mindset and embrace healthy relationships and self-improvement on their mental health journey.Key Takeaways:Dominic Lawson's podcast "Mental Health Rewritten" aims to reshape discussions around mental health by incorporating accurate definitions and expert opinions.Despite societal progress, there remains a deep-seated stigma surrounding mental health conversations in the Black community. Lawson argues for the power of storytelling as a tool for empathy, highlighting how personal narratives can dismantle cultural barriers to mental health treatment.Racial and generational trauma within marginalized communities continue to perpetuate mental health challenges, emphasizing the need for comprehensive healing approaches.Resources Dominic Lawson on Instagram: @therealdominiclawsonPodcasts:"Mental Health Rewritten""Black is America"Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.This Episode is Sponsored by:AuraFramesFor a limited time, visit AuraFrames.com and get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code TRANSFORM at checkout.GoDaddyWith GoDaddy Airo, you can build a business without having to know a thing about starting a business. Just visit Godaddy.com To advertise on our podcast, visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/TransformyourMindor email kriti@youngandprofiting.com See this video on The Transform Your Mind YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@MyhelpsUs/videosTo see a transcripts of this audio as well as links to all the advertisers on the show page https://myhelps.us/Follow Transform Your Mind on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/myrnamyoung/Follow Transform Your mind on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063738390977Please leave a rating and review on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transform-your-mind/id1144973094 https://podcast.feedspot.com/personal_development_podcasts/
What does it mean to flourish? According to author Daniel Coyle, flourishing is “joyful, meaningful growth — shared.” But how do you achieve that enviable state? The answer lies in Dan's forthcoming book, “Flourish,” which you can pre-order now on Amazon, Audible, or Bookshop.org. Highlights: (5:11) Life isn't a treasure hunt; it's more like treasure creation (14:15) The $90 million deli that said no to Disney (20:40) Your brain's two attention systems (58:00) The rule of the beautiful mess (65:07) Why you should open yellow doors Sponsored By: GoDaddy | Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Aura Frames | Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code IDEA at auraframes.com The Next Big Idea Club | Know someone who devours great nonfiction? Get them a year of the best new ideas and take 20% off with code PODCAST at nextbigideaclub.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In our divided nation, there's one thing many of us seem to agree on: winter sucks. A recent study found that nearly half of Americans would skip winter if they could. Yet not everyone dreads the cold months. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz has spent years studying these winter-lovers, and she's arrived at a surprising truth: people who thrive this time of year aren't just born that way — they've learned to see the season differently. So can you. (This episode first aired in January 2025.) Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code IDEA at auraframes.com GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Most people think confidence is about believing you'll succeed. Mark Manson knows better — it's about being comfortable with failure. After writing one of the best-selling nonfiction books of all time and spending nearly two decades studying human psychology, the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck has cracked the code on why Gen Z is struggling with relationships, why therapy culture might be making us worse, and why your emotions are a system that needs managing just like your business. In this raw conversation, Mark breaks down the alarming statistics behind today's confidence crisis, why dating apps are optimizing for all the wrong things, and how adopting labels as identity actually amplifies your problems. We dive deep into the hidden costs of success, why the happiest country in the world has low expectations, and the brutal truth about why 20-25% of Gen Z has cut off at least one parent. He reveals why AI therapy is both promising and dangerous, the single question that exposes red flags on first dates, and why marrying well is the highest leverage decision of your entire life. But this isn't just about what's broken — it's about what actually works. Mark explains why failure is the only currency that matters, how to stop being a people pleaser without being a dick, and why your bank account reflects the difficult conversations you're willing to have. If you've ever felt like you're chasing happiness instead of meaning, or if you want to build real confidence that comes from action instead of affirmation, this episode will change how you think about success, relationships, and the problems you're willing to have in your life. Thanks to GoDaddy for sponsoring this video! Head to https://godaddy.com/codiesanchez to get started with GoDaddy Airo® today ___________ 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:16 The Paradox of Being Likable 00:05:19 The Dating App Crisis and Modern Relationships 00:07:45 What Real Success Actually Means 00:09:16 The Happiest Country: Low Expectations in Finland 00:11:28 Social Skills: The 80/20 of Happiness 00:13:21 Confidence is Comfort with Failure 00:15:14 Building Failure Muscle: From Small to Big 00:24:07 The Post-Exit Existential Crisis 00:27:33 Stop Labeling Yourself: Identity and Mental Health 00:45:07 Emotions as a System to Manage 00:48:37 The Why Game: Peeling Back the Onion 00:49:45 Therapy Culture and Cutting Off Family 00:53:48 ChatGPT as Therapist: The Malignant Narcissist Problem 00:56:27 Building Purpose: AI That Challenges You 01:02:40 AI Limitations: Brilliant Idiots 01:06:21 Choosing a Life Partner: More Than Romance 01:09:37 The Best First Date Question 01:11:18 Everything Comes with Bullshit 01:12:17 What Pain Do You Want? ___________ MORE FROM BIGDEAL
Most people think marriage is about love. James Sexton knows better — it's about survival. After handling 2,000+ divorces over 25 years, this legendary divorce attorney has seen it all: the affairs that start with attention instead of sex, the gestures that can end marriages, and the brutal truth that 53% of marriages end in divorce. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, James breaks down why half of all marriages fail and what the other half is doing right. From the real reason people cheat (hint: it's not what you think) to why Instagram is an infidelity-generating machine, James reveals the patterns that predict divorce with scary accuracy. We dive into the economics of relationships, why prenups are actually love letters, and how a dog can teach you more about marriage than any therapist. He shares the craziest prenup he's ever seen (10 pounds = $10,000 less in alimony), why "happy wife, happy life" is terrible advice, and the one question that softens even the most bitter couples. But this isn't just about what goes wrong — it's about what goes right. James explains why second marriages have better odds, how to fight fairly without weaponizing intimacy, and why the male equivalent of flowers might be exactly what you think it is. If you've ever wondered why some couples make it while others crash and burn, or if you want to save your relationship before it ends up in a lawyer's office, this episode will change how you think about love, commitment, and the bravest thing any human can do. Thanks to GoDaddy for sponsoring this video! Head to https://godaddy.com/codiesanchez to get started with GoDaddy Airo® today. ___________ 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:51 Is Marriage Still Worth It? The Lottery Analogy 00:04:48 The 86% Remarriage Rate and Second Marriage Energy 00:05:53 Red Flags: How to Spot a Marriage Heading for Divorce 00:07:55 The Throw Pillow Test: Small Gestures That Say I Love You 00:12:50 The Weaponization of Intimacy: Why You Can't Take It Back 00:15:31 Dogs, Love, and the Bravery of Accepting Loss 00:18:48 Why James Isn't Jaded: Staying Romantic After 2,000 Divorces 00:23:42 People Stop Doing the Things That Kept Love Alive 00:24:41 The Two Biggest Problems: Not Knowing What You Want and Can't Express It 00:30:50 The Shaving Story: Positive Reinforcement vs. Criticism 00:33:28 Flowers and Nudes: Understanding What Your Partner Actually Wants 00:39:20 How Affairs Really Start: It's Never About the Sex 00:41:10 Instagram: The Infidelity Generating Machine 00:52:20 Prenups: Everyone Has One, Either Yours or the Government's 00:58:28 The Craziest Prenup: Ten Pounds Equals Ten Thousand Dollars 00:57:21 Democratizing Prenups: Making Marriage Contracts Accessible 01:03:54 Premarital Education: The Barrier to Entry Marriage Needs 01:23:35 Everyone's Sleeping With the Nanny: The Real Reason Why 01:10:34 The Weapon Analogy: Being a Divorce Lawyer and Believing in Justice 01:17:01 Poetry, Beauty, and Crying at Your Son's Wedding 01:19:36 Final Thoughts: Who Should Read This Book and Why ___________ MORE FROM BIGDEAL