Podcasts about R3

Drop 1: Solana's new consensus, Alpenglowhttps://www.anza.xyz/blog/alpenglow-a-new-consensus-for-solanaDrop 2: Robinhood goes to SEC for RWA approvalhttps://coincentral.com/robinhood-seeks-sec-approval-for-rwa-exchange-on-blockchain/Drop 3: R3 as an L2 of Solanahttps://r3.com/r3-signals-strategic-shift-to-lead-the-convergence-of-public-and-private-blockchains-to-deliver-internet-capital-markets-through-collaboration-with-solana-foundation/https://r3.com/the-institutions-are-here-bringing-tradfi-to-defi-built-by-r3-powered-by-solana/Chainlink adds Solana support to CCIPhttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chainlink-ccip-is-officially-live-on-solana-supercharging-the-growth-of-solana-defi-by-unlocking-access-to-19b-of-assets-302458899.htmlCircle cofounder Sean Neville launches Catena, a new fintech AI stack, with funding by a16z https://x.com/cdixon/status/1924827516289859763Kadena launches 50M grants program to propel RWA and AI projects https://www.kadena.io/perspectives/kadena-launches-50m-grant-for-chainweb-evm-ai-and-tokenization-projectsBraza BRL stablecoin USDB to launch on Ripple https://ripple.com/ripple-press/usdb-stablecoin-on-xrp-ledger/Major global banks to explore stablecoin pilot: Citi, JPM, BofA, Wells Fargohttps://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/crypto-stablecoin-big-banks-a841059e?st=199D78Circle Payments Network launches its mainnethttps://www.circle.com/blog/circle-payments-network-cpn-mainnet-is-here-advancing-mainstream-stablecoin-payments-globallyNew Visa whitepaper on Stablecoinshttps://globalclient.visa.com/stablecoinsHong Kong passes stablecoin bill to establish licensing regime amid global competitionhttps://www.theblock.co/post/355202/hong-kong-passes-stablecoin-bill-to-establish-licensing-regime-amid-global-competitionUpdated VARA rulebookshttps://rulebooks.vara.ae/rulebook/rulebooksGENIUS stablecoin bill passes another US Senate hurdle, with expectations to be approved after aother round of debates and final voting https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/05/19/senate-advances-stablecoin-bill-clearing-the-way-for-final-passageNew from Atlantic Council: crypto regulation trackerhttps://www.atlanticcouncil.org/programs/geoeconomics-center/cryptoregulationtracker/TuneTraders anuncia funcionalidade para detectar uso de IA em musica, ancorado em blockchainhttps://br.beincrypto.com/empresa-lanca-detector-de-ia-para-musicas-apoiado-na-blockchain/Amanda Wick's book is out: The Catalysts - The accelerating forces forging the new world financial orderhttps://www.amandawick.com/book. Redes sociais / comms.. https://blockdropspodcast.xyz/.. Instagram.com/blockdropspodcast.. Twitter.com/blockdropspod.. Blockdrops.lens .. https://warpcast.com/mauriciomagaldi.. youtube.com/@BlockDropsPodcast.. Meu conteúdo em inglês twitter.com/0xmauricio.. Newsletter do linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7056680685142454272.. blockdropspodcast@gmail.com

Drop 1: Solana's new consensus, Alpenglowhttps://www.anza.xyz/blog/alpenglow-a-new-consensus-for-solanaDrop 2: Robinhood goes to SEC for RWA approvalhttps://coincentral.com/robinhood-seeks-sec-approval-for-rwa-exchange-on-blockchain/Drop 3: R3 as an L2 of Solanahttps://r3.com/r3-signals-strategic-shift-to-lead-the-convergence-of-public-and-private-blockchains-to-deliver-internet-capital-markets-through-collaboration-with-solana-foundation/https://r3.com/the-institutions-are-here-bringing-tradfi-to-defi-built-by-r3-powered-by-solana/MoreChainlink adds Solana support to CCIPhttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chainlink-ccip-is-officially-live-on-solana-supercharging-the-growth-of-solana-defi-by-unlocking-access-to-19b-of-assets-302458899.htmlCircle cofounder Sean Neville launches Catena, a new fintech AI stack, with funding by a16z https://x.com/cdixon/status/1924827516289859763Kadena launches 50M grants program to propel RWA and AI projects https://www.kadena.io/perspectives/kadena-launches-50m-grant-for-chainweb-evm-ai-and-tokenization-projectsBraza BRL stablecoin USDB to launch on Ripple https://ripple.com/ripple-press/usdb-stablecoin-on-xrp-ledger/Major global banks to explore stablecoin pilot: Citi, JPM, BofA, Wells Fargohttps://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/crypto-stablecoin-big-banks-a841059e?st=199D78Circle Payments Network launches its mainnethttps://www.circle.com/blog/circle-payments-network-cpn-mainnet-is-here-advancing-mainstream-stablecoin-payments-globallyNew Visa whitepaper on Stablecoinshttps://globalclient.visa.com/stablecoinsHong Kong passes stablecoin bill to establish licensing regime amid global competitionhttps://www.theblock.co/post/355202/hong-kong-passes-stablecoin-bill-to-establish-licensing-regime-amid-global-competitionUpdated VARA rulebookshttps://rulebooks.vara.ae/rulebook/rulebooksGENIUS stablecoin bill passes another US Senate hurdle, with expectations to be approved after another round of debates and final voting https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/05/19/senate-advances-stablecoin-bill-clearing-the-way-for-final-passageNew from Atlantic Council: crypto regulation trackerhttps://www.atlanticcouncil.org/programs/geoeconomics-center/cryptoregulationtracker/TuneTraders anuncia funcionalidade para detectar uso de IA em musica, ancorado em blockchainhttps://br.beincrypto.com/empresa-lanca-detector-de-ia-para-musicas-apoiado-na-blockchain/Amanda Wick's book is out: The Catalysts - The accelerating forces forging the new world financial orderhttps://www.amandawick.com/book. Redes sociais / comms.. https://blockdropspodcast.xyz/.. Instagram.com/blockdropspodcast.. Twitter.com/blockdropspod.. Blockdrops.lens .. https://warpcast.com/mauriciomagaldi.. youtube.com/@BlockDropsPodcast.. Meu conteúdo em inglês twitter.com/0xmauricio.. Newsletter do linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7056680685142454272.. blockdropspodcast@gmail.com

Description:In this episode of Kilowatt, I discuss recent advancements in electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy, including a groundbreaking battery swap technology for semi-trucks by CATL, aimed at launching 300 stations in China by 2025. I cover Nikola Motors' auction of hydrogen trucks amid bankruptcy and Rivian's $1 billion investment from VW Group for their R2 and R3 models. The episode also addresses Tesla's Cybertruck trade-in values and regulatory scrutiny of the upcoming RoboTaxi service. I conclude with Tesla's trademark challenges and an upcoming interview with Clockwork Energy on DC fast charging innovations.Support the Show:PatreonAcast+Other Podcasts:Beyond the Post YouTubeBeyond the Post PodcastShuffle Playlist918Digital WebsiteCars With CordsTesla's Robotaxi LaunchSources: CATL's Semi battery swap stationsNikola Motors to auction off Hydrogen Semi TrucksVW Group invests another billion dollars into RivianRivian's R2 advancementsTesla begins taking Cybertruck trade-insNHTSA adjusts autonomous taxi rulesNHTSA has some questions about Tesla's RoboTaxi serviceTesla to have 10 to 12 RoboTaxis to startElon gives us some RoboTaxi newsRoboTaxi headed to Saudi Arabia Tesla denied RoboTaxi trademark*Show Art Created By Dall-eSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kilowatt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Lynn Hellerstein of Vision Beyond Sight speaks with LaWanna Bradford, MPA, award-winning strategist and financial analyst, and serial entrepreneur, to talk about reframing your reality and how the R3 System™ becomes your inner GPS in business and life. Find out the inspiring basics on how to Refocus, Reframe and Reconnect. Go from a mindset of crisis and fear to one of possibilities and “I can do it.” Believe that YOU are the very same possibilities that you are looking for. LaWanna's purpose is helping others grow with purpose and lead with impact, and R3 overlays the spiritual and emotional mindset on the linear landscape of strategy, making people be heard and seen, and celebrating the person, not just the bottom line. Dr. Lynn Hellerstein, Developmental Optometrist, co-owner of Hellerstein & Brenner Vision Center, P.C., award-winning author and international speaker, holds powerful and inspiring conversations with her guests in the areas of health, wellness, education, sports and psychology. They share their inspirational stories of healing and transformation through their vision expansion. Vision Beyond Sight Podcast will help you see with clarity, gain courage and confidence. Welcome to Vision Beyond Sight! Also available on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible and Stitcher.

In this episode of Ambitious, we dive into the difference between being and doing and how mastering this balance can revolutionize your life and business. Joining me is mindset coach Kelly Adams, who shares her R3 framework: release, reset, and rewire, designed to help high-achieving women break free from the constant hustle. We uncover signs of overworking, childhood influences on work behavior, and practical exercises to enhance nervous system regulation. Kelly and I also discuss how to move from a state of constant doing to one of harmony and flow, providing actionable insights and exercises for lasting personal and professional fulfillment. If you're feeling burnt out or trapped in a cycle of endless productivity, this episode is your actionable guide to achieving more by doing less.00:55 The Concept of Being vs. Doing01:46 Meet Kelly Adams: Mindset Coach Extraordinaire06:30 Signs You Might Be Overworking08:23 Practical Exercises for Nervous System Regulation15:29 Understanding Childhood Conditioning and Work Patterns19:08 The Importance of Somatic and Energetic Release29:17 Balancing Masculine and Feminine Energies46:29 Rediscovering Childhood Joy47:12 Identifying and Addressing High Achievement48:13 The Power of Shadow Work49:24 Reframing Rest and Productivity55:06 The Importance of Nervous System Regulation56:28 Breath Work and Somatic Practices01:01:52 Time Blocking and Creating White Space01:04:54 Embodying the Balanced WomanResources mentioned: 4-4-4 Breathwork Method (57:37)4-7-8 Breathwork Method (57:50)EFT Tapping Join Kelly for a 5 day video series to help you unlock limitless potential, rewire your thinking, and attract abundance into your life. Connect with Kelly:InstagramWebsiteTo join the Ambitious Network for free, click HERE. To connect with Kate on Instagram, click ⁠HERE⁠. To apply for ITI, click ⁠HERE⁠.To submit a question to be answered on the podcast, click HERE.

Thinking about hiking Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in a single day? Hold up. In this episode, Brian lays down a no-nonsense warning for anyone dreaming of the Grand Canyon's vaunted “double crossing.” Even ultra-fit hikers have been humbled—or worse—by the brutal demands of this 42+ mile trek with 20,000 feet of elevation change. It's not just long. It's relentless. It's dangerous. And it will expose every weakness you didn't know you had. This isn't fear-mongering. It's reality. And if you're serious about attempting R3, you owe it to yourself to hear this. ***** Please join the Hike Tribe Grand Canyon Facebook group—the official group of The Grand Canyon Hiker Dude Show—by clicking here. Our group is a judgment-free zone full of interaction, information, and inspiration—it's simply THE place to get the best information in advance of your Canyon adventure. Join Brian, Coach Arnie, and most of the guests you've heard on the show in an environment created to answer your questions and help you have the best possible experience below the rim. It's completely free. ***** Bright Angel Outfitters is now Hike Tribe, a community of like-minded hikers dedicated to helping each other hike our best hike. It's about all of us. Let's go get it! ***** To reach Coach Arnie, you can call or text him (yes, really!) at (602) 390-9144 or send him a message on Instagram @painfreearnie. ***** Have an idea for the show, or someone you think would be a great guest? Reach out to Brian anytime at gchikerdude@brightangeloutfitters.com. ***** The Grand Canyon Shade Tracker is our gift to the Grand Canyon hiking community. This incredible interactive tool lets you see when and where you'll have precious shade on your Grand Canyon hike—every route on every hour of every day of the year. Check it out at gcshadetracker.com. Another free resource from Hike Tribe aimed at making your Grand Canyon adventure the best and safest it can be. ***** For more great Grand Canyon content, please check us out on the following platforms: YouTube (@GrandCanyonHikerDude) for informative and inspirational videos Instagram (@GrandCanyonHikerDude) for photos from the trail TikTok (@GrandCanyonHikerDude) for fun and informative short-form videos Facebook (@GrandCanyonHikerDude)    

The Communications and Digital Technologies Department has lauded the current SABC board for its efforts towards stabilising the institution. The department, SABC executives and board members are currently briefing parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts, on the public broadcaster's audit outcomes and financial performance. The department's Deputy Minister, Mondli Gungubele earlier said that since the introduction of the current board, the SABC has shown a significant improvement in its governance. Speaking on what the entity has spent its R3.2 billion bail out on, SABC Board Member, Phathiswa Magopeni says it is important to note that the majority of funds have gone into keeping the entity afloat.

A Future of Finance Interview with Richard Brown, Chief Technology and Product Officer at R3.R3 celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Richard G. Brown, R3's Chief Technology and Product Officer, speaks to Bob Currie about the drivers for Corda's design, how these are changing, and how far the company has fulfilled the targets that it envisaged at formation. The discussion explores the potential for convergence of private and public blockchain ecosystems, thereby potentially making a wider range of higher-quality assets available to DeFi investors and tapping into a large pool of demand and liquidity sitting on public blockchain. But what can we say at this stage about the mechanics of building this cross-chain interoperability?In bringing real-world assets to DeFi, we examine how to retain the simplicity and accessibility of permissionless chains while accommodating TradFi's complex lifecycles and risk protocols.In delivering convergence of public and private ecosystems, we address the difficulties in ensuring that financial institutions, and their regulators, are comfortable in transacting with investors or counterparties operating in a public ecosystem. What are the challenges in delivering the institutional-standard security and finality that these FIs will continue to expect? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A dramatic Monday in Madrid as a power outage across Spain and Portugal cancelled play for the day at the Madrid Open. Join Joel, Kim and Chris at Tennis Weekly HQ as they look back on all the events of the first week where Novak Djokovic lost for the third time in a row leaving us to question (for the umpteenth time) whether he is a serious prospect for another Grand Slam title with the French Open looming. It was also a similar story for defending champion Andrey Rublev who left Madrid with a 1-4 Masters record this year, falling out of the Top 15 for the first time since 2020.It was not all doom and gloom though as Maria Sakkari returned to form of old with a demolition job over Jasmine Paolini whilst Coco Gauff put Sunshine Swing disappointment behind her to set up a tantalising quarterfinal against teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva. The Brits also enjoyed a solid first week with Draper, Fearnley, Norrie all into R3 and Katie Boulter winning her first clay match on the WTA Tour. Emma Raducanu also revealed there is an 'informal agreement' in place with Mark Petchey on her team. And though Carlos Alcaraz wasn't in Madrid due to injury, his new docuseries Carlos Alcaraz: My Way launched on Netflix with the gang discussing what they learned about Carlitos (other than his mum being a really good cook). Joel's Game also makes a return and we question what should be done about Electronic Line Calling in this week's Mailbag as Alexander Zverev follows Aryna Sabalenka and take a photo of a dubious mark on the tennis court during his match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.Roland-Garros Hospitality with Sports, Travel and Hospitality GroupTo guarantee the best seats in the house with ticket-inclusive official hospitality, visit https://bit.ly/4j6RYBzSOCIALSFollow us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, plus email the show tennisweeklypod@gmail.com.MERCHPurchase Tennis Weekly Merch through our Etsy store including limited edition designs by Krippa Design where all proceeds go towards the podcast so we can keep doing what we do!REVIEWS***Please take a moment to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. It really means a lot to us at HQ and helps make it easier for new listeners to discover us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Real-world asset tokenisation is accelerating, particularly within private distributed ledger technology platforms like R3's Corda. But Richard Brown, R3's chief technology officer, believes that the future of financial market infrastructure lies in the convergence of private networks like Corda and public networks like Ethereum and Solana. He joins Lewis McLellan, editor of OMFIF's Digital Monetary Institute, to discuss the opportunity that DLT presents for an overhaul of financial market infrastructure where the openness, liquidity and composability of public networks is combined with the regulatory confidence offered by private networks.

ActionSA has raised the alarm over Eskom's latest update, revealing R3.6 billion was spent on diesel in just 30 days R1.34 billion in the first 10 days of April alone. The party says South Africa hasn't ended load shedding, it's simply masking it with an expensive diesel-powered illusion, all funded by taxpayers. For more on this we are joined by ActionSA Member of Parliament, Alan Beesley.....

ActionSA has raised concern over South Africa's R3.45 billion expenditure on 115 foreign missions in 2023/24, calling it excessive and unfocused. According to a parliamentary reply, the Department of International Relations spent R950m in Africa, R900m in Asia and the Middle East, R813m in Europe, R465m in the Americas, and R325m on multilateral missions. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba spoke to Elvis Presslin to discuss the party's concerns

Thinking about building townhouses or multi-dwellings in NSW? You might be sitting on a goldmine without even realising it. In this episode, host Nathan Battishall breaks down the 2025 Low to Mid-Rise Housing Reforms that have just come into effect. These changes unlock huge development potential in R1, R2, and R3 zones — even in areas that previously didn't allow it. Nathan explains the new minimum lot sizes, height limits, car parking rules, and how they override local council controls. But it's not as simple as ticking a few boxes — setbacks, solar access, and landscaping rules still apply. He also shares smart acquisition tips and the type of blocks that could offer the best returns. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just getting started, this episode is packed with insight you won't want to miss.Topics: ✅ Planning Policy Changes✅ Zoning & Location Rules✅ Development Standards✅ Council Limitations✅ Site Suitability✅ Investment StrategyConnect with Nathan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbattishall/Website: https://duplexbuildingdesign.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this What's Next with Aki Anastasiou interview, Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner discusses how the digital bank improves customers' lives through enhanced banking services. Kallner has been with Discovery since 1996 and began by working on various marketing, actuarial, and strategic projects. In 2006, he was appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer for Discovery Limited and later rose to the position of Chief Executive Officer for Discovery Life in 2016. Kallner also briefly served as the CEO of Discovery SA before being appointed to his current position as Discovery Bank CEO in 2021. In this What's Next interview, Kallner explains how Discovery Bank has achieved such excellent growth and why he predicts Discovery Bank will enjoy R3 billion in generated profits by 2029. He then discusses how banking can improve people's lives, using the recently revealed Discovery AI as a key example of this. Kallner unpacks how Discovery AI will provide customers with a more personalised, seamless, and secure banking experience. He concludes the interview by sharing other additions to Discovery Bank - including the Discovery 911 service and the new additions to the Vitality Money offering.

In this episode of NDO Podcast we visit with Jackie Ressler, Department marketing specialist, about her experience as a new hunter, Cayla and Jackie's turkey escapades from last spring, and why mentoring a new hunter is so important and rewarding.

Summary: In this episode, Justin Townsend and Adam Berkelmans discuss the evolving landscape of hunting in North America, focusing on the rise of food-focused hunters and urban deer hunting. They are joined by AJ DeRosa, who shares his insights on urban deer hunting, the importance of food in hunting culture, and the unique culinary experiences that come with wild game. The conversation explores the challenges and opportunities in modern hunting, conservation policies, and the stories that connect hunters and non-hunters alike. In this conversation, the speakers delve into various topics related to hunting, cooking, and conservation. They discuss the value of bear meat and fat, innovative cooking techniques using indigenous ingredients, and the underappreciated culinary potential of octopus. The conversation transitions into the origins and growth of Project Upland, emphasizing its authenticity and commitment to ethical hunting practices. The speakers also address the challenges facing hunting and conservation today, including the need for a more responsible approach to wildlife management and the importance of acknowledging the impact of lead in hunting. In this conversation, AJ discusses the evolving landscape of hunting, emphasizing the need for the community to embrace scientific truths and adapt to changing practices. He highlights the curiosity of younger hunters, the challenges of recruitment through the R3 program, and the integral role of food in hunting culture. AJ also delves into the political aspects of conservation, arguing that the narrative surrounding hunting has been skewed by partisan politics. He advocates for diplomacy and collaboration among hunters and conservationists to ensure the future of hunting rights and wildlife management. - Leave a Review of the Podcast - Buy our Wild Fish and Game Spices The Art of Venison Sausage Making Guest: AJ DeRosa Instagram Project Upland Instagram Project Upland Website Takeaways: Wild food is reshaping the way we think about hunting. Grouse hunting offers a unique culinary experience compared to big game hunting. Learning to handle wild game properly is essential for quality cooking. Diversity in wild game offers a rich culinary experience. Bear fat is highly valued for its culinary uses. Innovative cooking can elevate traditional ingredients. Octopus is an underappreciated delicacy that deserves more attention. Project Upland originated from a desire to spend more time hunting. Younger hunters are more curious and engaged with ecological issues. The narrative around hunting needs to be reframed. Community engagement is crucial for the future of hunting. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Wild Food and Hunting Culture 05:31 AJ DeRosa: Background and Urban Deer Hunting 09:31 The Evolution of Hunting Techniques 22:11 The Role of Food in Hunting 28:43 Culinary Experiences with Wild Game 29:10 The Value of Bear Meat and Fat 31:05 Innovative Cooking with Indigenous Ingredients 33:05 Exploring the Culinary Potential of Octopus 33:59 The Birth of Project Upland 38:54 The Authenticity of Project Upland 44:59 The Ethics of Hunting and Conservation 51:59 The Future of Hunting and Conservation Challenges 55:32 Embracing Change in Hunting Practices 58:11 The New Generation of Hunters 01:00:19 R3 Recruitment and Its Challenges 01:04:26 The Role of Food in Hunting Culture 01:07:03 Politics, Conservation, and Public Perception 01:12:39 The Class War in Hunting Rights 01:15:45 Building Bridges: Diplomacy in Conservation 01:20:34 The Future of Hunting and Food Culture Keywords: Wild food, hunting culture, urban deer hunting, conservation policy, food-focused hunters, hunting techniques, culinary experiences, wildlife, food culture, hunting, conservation, food culture, recruitment, public perception, politics, wildlife management, new generation hunters, R3 program, community engagement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leah Porter is back for our first Discovery Dialogues episode of 2025! This episode is jammed packed with thoughts on television, podcasts, parades, kids and phones, and giant pumpkins! Before diving in, Andrew Reich joins Gray for a quick explanation of an upcoming public hearing by Harrison County Planning Commission. The Planning commission has proposed a six month moratorium on zoning designations of R2 and R3, high density housing. Also, IMPORTANT: We need shout-outs! Please send us who you think is doing awesome stuff here in Harrison County! Click here to submit your shout-out.THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:The White Lotus on HBOAdolescence on NetflixRadio Lab: GrowthOne Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El-AkkadThe Treehorn Trilogy by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Edward GoreyThe work of Peter BrownEloise by Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hilary Knight

  Market Overview: Top 40 Index: Hit an all-time high of 82,378, currently at 81,800. SA markets remain strong despite a US market selloff. Top40 | Weekly | 18 March 2025 Gold: Broke $3,000 for the first time last week, currently around $3,030. Continues to rise amid geopolitical uncertainties. Gold | Weekly | 19 March 2025 Rand: Trading at 18.07, briefly touching 18.0088 earlier. Dollar weakness driving strength, with a target level of 17.80. Key Market Insights: Gold as a Portfolio Hedge: Maintains a 6-7% weighting in portfolio. Recent purchase at $2,865 via GLD ETF in New York. Potential buy zones: $2,800 and $2,850. Dollar Index Trends: Initially targeted 104, broke through to 101. Could drive the Rand towards 17.80. Global Uncertainty & Market Reactions: European tariffs and Ukraine war concerns. Trump-Putin meeting adds to geopolitical tensions. Elevated US market valuations suggest exploring Europe ETFs. Investment Strategies: AI Participation Note by Standard Bank: Tracks the S&P Kensho AI Index. Two options: 100% Capital Protection - Minimum investment of R25,000, capital secured, potential upside. Capital at Risk with 140% Participation Rate - Higher returns if index rises, but losses if it drops more than 40%. Open for investment until March 28, 2025. Renergen* Helium Production Milestone: Finally delivered helium after years of delays. Stock surged from R3 to R9.30, but challenges remain. Phase 2 expansion and NASDAQ listing pending. Retail investors remain cautious due to past delays. Macroeconomic Outlook: Atlanta Fed GDP Now Forecast: Predicts Q1 GDP contraction of -2.1%. Economic slowdown concerns intensifying. Upcoming Rate Decisions: US Fed (FOMC): Unlikely to cut rates. SA Reserve Bank (MPC): Potential space for a rate cut. Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order 00:00 Market Overview and Key Movements 05:47 Gold and Rand Dynamics 12:08 Investment Opportunities in AI 17:43 Renigen's Helium Production and Challenges 20:06 Budget Insights and Economic Outlook    

UFC Vegas 104 turned out to be a typical card. When you look at it on paper, it inspires you to want to load it into a cannon and fire it directly into the sun. But in practice, it delivered a lot of action and plenty of finishes. When it came to the main event, Roman Dolidze was able to scrape together the victory, avenging his previous loss to Marvin Vettori—who somehow managed to forget his cup before the fight. Dolidze wasted no time in calling out Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. Let's check out the results and bonuses while we're here.MMA Vivisection & 6th Round is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.UFC Vegas 104 Results* Roman Dolidze def. Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision (49-46 x3) * Chidi Njokuani def. Elizeu Zaleski via TKO (strikes) (R2, 2:19)* Alexander Hernandez def. Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)* Da'Mon Blackshear def. Cody Gibson via submission (kimura) (R2, 4:09)* Brendson Ribeiro def. Diyar Nurgozhay via submission (kimura) (R2, 1:28)* Kevin Vallejos def. Seung Woo Choi via TKO (strikes) (R1, 3:09) * Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Ryan Spann via TKO (strikes) (R2, 4:48)* SuYoung You def. A.J. Cunningham via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)* Carlos Vera def. Josias Musasa via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 3:16) * Sam Hughes def. Stephanie Luciano via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-27)* Andre Lima def. Daniel Barez via submission (rear-naked choke) (R3, 3:05)* Priscila Cachoeira def. Josiane Nunes via KO (uppercut) (R1, 2:46) * Carli Judice def. Yuneisy Duben via TKO (strikes) (R1, 1:40) UFC Vegas 104 Bonuses * FOTN: None awarded* POTN: Judice, Cachoiera, Vera, LimaThank you for reading this article and listening to the podcast. Please consider subscribing to The MMA Vivisection & 6th Round Post-fight Show podcast Substack to enjoy our premium content. Your paid subscriptions are keeping hope alive that we can continue on with our shows. If you haven't already, please pledge with a paid subscription today. If you have, please share this post far and wide.Thanks for reading MMA Vivisection & 6th Round! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

We are passionate about building joy filled communities of faith, who is very existence inspires individuals to live in abundant Christian life, made up of three key relationships: a deepening relationship with God (R1), a life changing relationship with others (R2), and an engaging relationship with those to believe (R3).

Dave and Jon are back! On this episode, the guys chat all the last R3 night session and the first four R4 matches at Indian Wells. We are an official Underdog Fantasy partner! Sign up here: ⁠https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-match-point-tennis ⁠Use promo code: MATCHPOINT95:55 Shapovalov/Alcaraz12:35 Dimitrov/Monfils17:43 Fils/Giron23:00 Paul/Medvedev29:55 Tsitsipas/Rune36:00 Griekspoor/Watanuki

Message us!Join host Emily Landry, as she talks with Anna Heil, Managing Director of the American Warrior Association (AWA) in Fort Worth. The AWA is a faith-driven nonprofit dedicated to healing moral injury among military personnel, first responders, and their families.Discover AWA's mission, their 5-day retreats for stress relief, and the new R3 initiative (Respond, Restore, Resolve) setting a new standard of care for first responders. Learn how AWA fosters resilience and strength through faith-based healing and practical support in our local communities.Fill out this form to have new episodes sent right to your inbox! Follow Whitley Penn on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X for more industry insights and thought leadership!

Stephen Grootes speaks to Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of the Shoprite Group, about how the retailer achieved a daily profit of R20 million, with profits rising 11.9% to R3.71 billion. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape. Thank you for listening to The Money Show podcast. Listen live - The Money Show with Stephen Grootes is broadcast weekdays between 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) on 702 and CapeTalk. There’s more from the show at www.themoneyshow.co.za Subscribe to the Money Show daily and weekly newsletters The Money Show is brought to you by Absa. Follow us on: 702 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: www.instagram.com/talkradio702 702 on X: www.x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@radio702 CapeTalk on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: www.instagram.com/capetalkza CapeTalk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 CapeTalk on X: www.x.com/CapeTalk See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Un tren de la l

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/7tDzLE-979gRejoice fellow frogs, St. Nick V returns to R3 to talk childhood traumas & how there should be Beer Day at school.Watch the bonus episode on Patreon!  / radioridleyradio  This episode is sponsored by https://www.CourseMotorSports.comUse our link for 15% off - https://bit.ly/4i3FOZp  / chinkysweat 

When Illinois legalized recreational use of marijuana five years ago, it came with a goal to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. “We're addressing the past harms of discriminatory prosecution of drug laws,” Governor J.B. Pritzker said at the time. Many low level cannabis charges would automatically be expunged and legal aid would be made available. Last episode, we looked at two areas where the state spent the largest share of its $500 million in marijuana sales tax revenue: the state budget and R3 funding, a program to invest in communities that have been harmed by violence, excessive incarceration and economic disinvestment. Some of that sales tax revenue also goes toward social programs, like legal aid for cannabis record expungement. Today, we're looking at how well Illinois' expungement program is working. Advocates and people getting their records expunged tell us that “automatic” doesn't apply to everything and the process itself is “too complicated.”

R3 pathways wrap.SG Ball and harold mathews. #rabbitohs

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/47l02r23N60Ridley is joined by friend and fellow comedian Josie Marcellino. Together they talk about Laura Croft's crazy triangle juggs on PS1 and getting kicked out of a Vegas Dennys at Skankfest.Follow Josie:   / josiemarcellino  ‪@JosieMarcellino‬ This episode is sponsored by https://www.CourseMotorSports.comUse Promo Code: FROGMAN15Get more R3 on Patreon!  / radioridleyradio    / chinkysweat 

Join DriveChicago.com General Manager Mark Bilek and Chicago Auto Show Senior Marketing Director Jim OBrill as they broadcast from the 2025 Chicago Auto Show. Paul Eisenstein, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com kicks off the program with his first impressions after last night's First Look for Charity. Ryan Patrick Joyce, Director of Interior Design at Rivian, tells us all about the new R2 & R3 models appearing at the show. Curt McAllister, Midwestern Public Relations Manager for Toyota Motors, North America details the latest version of the 4Runner and 46 other vehicles on display. Patricia Coppola, Product Specialist for Subaru has details about their 2025 display of new vehicles and cute puppies in the Subaru Loves Pets area.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tariffs: here one day, gone the next. How do you plan for that?In this week's episode, we take a deep dive into the major industry trends (and political decisions) impacting wholesale distribution and manufacturing. We examine the latest updates on tariffs, supply chain resilience, and economic shifts, providing insights that can help distributors and manufacturers navigate an uncertain landscape.And as always, we look at how AI is reshaping B2B sales and marketing at a break-neck pace. Key Topics & Timestamps⏳ [00:00] Introduction & Industry UpdatesKicking off with a lighthearted conversation before diving into tariffs, supply chains, and market shifts.⏳ [08:30] Tariffs & Global Trade TensionsChina's trade policies and the latest tariff updates affecting distributors and manufacturers.The “de minimis” loophole—how small package shipments bypass tariffs and why that's a concern for policymakers.The geopolitical chess game between China, Canada, and Mexico, and how it's impacting North American trade.⏳ [21:50] Supply Chain Resilience & The Shift Away from ChinaWhy leading distributors are diversifying their supply chains, optimizing inventory management and shifting sourcing to Mexico and other regions.Insights from a top distributor: how strategic planning can offset tariff impacts.⏳ [35:10] The Impact of Natural Disasters on Supply ChainsCalifornia wildfires and the effect on construction materials and rebuilding efforts.Potential shortages in drywall, plumbing, and roofing supplies due to increased demand.⏳ [48:30] Mergers & Acquisitions in Wholesale DistributionORS NASCO's acquisition of R3 and what it means for the industry.The challenges of growth through acquisition vs. organic growth strategies.⏳ [1:02:40] The Role of AI in Distribution & B2B MarketingThe rise of predictive personalization and hyper-individualized marketing in B2B sales.How AI is helping distributors use ERP data to personalize sales efforts and drive growth.Grainger's investment in AI-driven e-commerce and what it means for mid-sized distributors.⏳ [1:16:10] DeepSeek AI & Cybersecurity RisksWhy major companies are blocking DeepSeek AI due to security concerns.How businesses should approach AI adoption while protecting sensitive data.⏳ [1:32:00] Final Thoughts & Looking AheadThe importance of digital transformation for wholesale distributors.How companies can stay competitive by embracing AI and data-driven strategies.What's coming in next week's episode, including major insights from thought leaders in electrical and HVAC distribution.Leave a Review: Help us grow by sharing your thoughts on the show.Join the conversation each week on LinkedIn Live.Want even more insight to the stories we discuss each week? Subscribe to the Around The Horn Newsletter.You can also hear the podcast and other excellent content on our YouTube Channel.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok.

On 15 October 2024 Future of Finance hosted a one-day event at the offices of AON in London. Entitled Tokenisation of securities and funds is going to happen. How will you and your organisation survive it?, the event attracted 200 registrants from banks, asset managers, brokers, central banks, financial market infrastructures and FinTechs. This is an account of what they contributed to the six panels that day, as well as what they learned from the panellists and each other.This episode is a summary of Panel 4, titled "How a common platform or unified ledger could unleash network effects in the token markets". The Panellists taking part were Ami Ben-David, Founder and CEO of Ownera; Austen Appleby, Senior Product Manager – Interoperability at R3; Edward Glyn, Managing Director and Head of Global Markets at Calastone; Emma Landriault, Vice President, Incubation and Architecture at J.P. Morgan Onyx Coin Systems; Jørgen Ouaknine, Global Head of Innovation and Digital Assets at Euroclear; and Lisa McClory, Digital Technologies Lead at D2 Legal Technology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cristal Challenge runs until October, with participants picking five local stocks (no ETFs or sub-20c stocks) to hold through the year. Simon's picks include a mix of stable “banker” stocks and speculative plays: Richemont*: High-end luxury giant with strong fundamentals and global market appeal despite challenges in China. Trading near R3,500, with long-term potential boosted by luxury market recovery and stable global demand. Shoprite*: Dominant grocery retailer in South Africa, benefiting from market share growth and diversified business lines like 60/60 delivery. A steady performer with consistent earnings growth and market dominance, trading at a PE of 24. ADvTech*: Education sector leader, well-positioned to meet growing private schooling and tertiary education demands. Education giant trading below its historical PE average, supported by asset-light growth strategies. Calgro M3*: Affordable housing developer, thriving on demand for low-to-mid-income housing in South Africa. Value pick with a PE below 3 and a focus on affordable housing, addressing a critical market need. Purple Group*: Innovator behind EasyEquities, leveraging platform fees and expanded product offerings to drive revenue growth. Growth potential through EasyEquities' platform fees, rising customer base, and additional financial products. Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order  

During the 2025 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, we had a chance to sit down with Cody Gill and From Field to Plate chef Jeremiah Doughty to talk food, getting new people involved in the life-changing power of the outdoors and much more! Doughty is known for his recipes and food photography found on his social outlets, as well as Turkey Call magazine. And, Gill is involved with the NWTF mission through his local chapter, but also dedicates his time to getting people outdoors through his project "West Texas Outfitters."

Munisipaliteite in die Vrystaat vermors meer as R3-miljard rand se water in vyf jaar. Die Instituut vir Rasseverhoudinge sê die regering se beplande ondersteuningsfonds vir slegs swart sakeondernemings, is ongrondwetlik.Ons ondersoek die impak van oorvol klaskamers op die welstand van leerlinge en onderwysers.

Joanne Alves e Marcela Belleza convidam Ana Carolina Malvaccini, R3 de Clínica Médica do HCFMUSP, para falar sobre como fazer o diagnóstico de cirrose: quando suspeitar? como confirmar o diagnóstico?Referências:1. Smith, Andrew et al. “Cirrhosis: Diagnosis and Management.” American family physician vol. 100,12 (2019): 759-770.2. Udell JA, Wang CS, Tinmouth J, et al. Does This Patient With Liver Disease Have Cirrhosis? JAMA.2012;307(8):832–842. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.1863. Bonacini, M et al. “Utility of a discriminant score for diagnosing advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.” The American journal of gastroenterology vol. 92,8 (1997): 1302-4.4. Lok, Anna S F et al. “Predicting cirrhosis in patients with hepatitis C based on standard laboratory tests: results of the HALT-C cohort.” Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) vol. 42,2 (2005): 282-92. doi:10.1002/hep.207725. Ginès, Pere et al. “Liver cirrhosis.” Lancet (London, England) vol. 398,10308 (2021): 1359-1376. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01374-X6. Wilson, Rachel, and Donna M Williams. “Cirrhosis.” The Medical clinics of North America vol. 106,3 (2022): 437-446. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2021.12.001

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps Day 6 of the 2025 Australian Open. He shares his thoughts on the most consequential results of the day, offers a look at the Top Seeds performances, previews the day ahead, and so much more!! Don't forget to give a 5 star review on your favorite podcast app! In addition, add your twitter/instagram handle to the review for a chance to win some FREE CR gear!! Episode Bookmarks: Matches of the Day - 10:15 - Medvedev/Tien - Raducanu/Anisimova - Rune/Berrettini - A trio of American Women go the distance - Musetti/Shapovalov Upsets/Going the Distance - 50:30 Other Results (Women's) - 54:30 Other Results (Men's) - 57:45 Americans/College-Ties/21U Crews - 1:01:45 Tennis Abstract Top 10 entering R3 - 1:06:05 Day Ahead Preview - 1:09:10 Tennis Channel Podcast Network Visit https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/podcasts/ to stay current on the latest tennis news and trends and enjoy in-depth analysis and dynamic debates. Find Cracked Racquets Website: https://www.crackedracquets.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/crackedracquets Twitter: https://twitter.com/crackedracquets Facebook: https://Facebook.com/crackedracquets YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/crackedracquets Email Newsletter: https://crackedracquets.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Duys from Umthombo Wealth discusses Richemont's strong update, which drove the stock to all-time highs, and PPC's new R3 billion cement plant in the Western Cape. Simon Fillmore of Independent Securities shares his market outlook for 2025 and adjacent AI ideas. Simon shares his thoughts on fees – the good and the bad.

Catherine, David and Matt assemble before and after midnight to review another crazy day at the Australian Open. Part one - Men's results. Sinner's slow start against Schoolkate, Sonego stops Fonseca, Fritz's ruthlessness, Musetti and Shelton set up R3 clash, Hurkacz beaten comprehensively. Part two (from 25m07s) - Women's results. Raducanu fights past Anisimova, positive signs for Jabeur, Rybakina beats another teenager. Part three (from 42m54s) - Tien beats Medvedev, crazy late finish, Collins vs the crowd, Sensation of the day, and Day 6 order of play. The Tennis Podcast during the Australian Open will be brought to you by Steve Furgal's International Tennis Tours, your gateway to premium tennis events worldwide. Check out what they have to offer, including discounts on trips to Roland Garros and the Laver Cup, go to Tours4Tennis.com/Podcast.Become a Friend of the Tennis Podcast to receive exclusive access to bonus podcasts, including Tennis Re-Lived episodes, Grand Slam Review Shows, and monthly Live Shows on YouTube. Friends also get access to The Barge, Hannah's Column, and an ad-free listening experience to all episodes of The Tennis Podcast. Talk tennis with Friends on The Barge! Sign up to receive our free Newsletter (daily at Slams and weekly the rest of the year, featuring Matt's Stat, mascot photos, predictions, and more)Follow us on Instagram (@thetennispodcast)Subscribe to our YouTube channel.Check out our Shop - We have just launched a range of caps! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin recaps Day 5 of the 2025 Australian Open. He shares his thoughts on the most consequential results of the day, offers a look at the Top Seeds performances, previews the day ahead, and so much more!! Don't forget to give a 5 star review on your favorite podcast app! In addition, add your twitter/instagram handle to the review for a chance to win some FREE CR gear!! Episode Bookmarks: Matches of the Day - 10:15 - Medvedev/Tien - Raducanu/Anisimova - Rune/Berrettini - A trio of American Women go the distance - Musetti/Shapovalov Upsets/Going the Distance - 50:30 Other Results (Women's) - 54:30 Other Results (Men's) - 57:45 Americans/College-Ties/21U Crews - 1:01:45 Tennis Abstract Top 10 entering R3 - 1:06:05 Day Ahead Preview - 1:09:10 Tennis Channel Podcast Network Visit https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/podcasts/ to stay current on the latest tennis news and trends and enjoy in-depth analysis and dynamic debates. Find Cracked Racquets Website: https://www.crackedracquets.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/crackedracquets Twitter: https://twitter.com/crackedracquets Facebook: https://Facebook.com/crackedracquets YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/crackedracquets Email Newsletter: https://crackedracquets.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 In this episode of the Will Works podcast, host speaks with Lauren Kmetz-Weisman, JJC manager of the Clean Jobs Initiative (CEJA). Lauren shares information about the state-funded program, which aims to develop Illinois' clean energy workforce through training and job placement. The discussion covers CEJA's focus on residential energy audits and electric vehicle technology, the program structure, eligibility requirements, student stipends, and support services. Lauren explains that participants can complete an 8-week bridge program followed by job-specific training, with opportunities for internships and pre-apprenticeships. The conversation includes details about CEJA's target to serve 160 students per year, with emphasis on residents from R3 areas and environmental justice communities. 

NOTE: This is not an official Canon USA show. This is a podcast first and foremost, available in both audio-only or video, and the video is also placed on YouTube. My hope is that by going through all of the AF options one-at-a-time, in extreme detail, you will be able to get more out of the camera system you have. My first show with Rudy Winston, a Technical Marketing Consultant for Canon USA, was back in February of 2022 for "Canon Auto-Focus Explained", so almost exactly 3 years ago. To date, it's still one of the favorite shows that I've done. I find that as photographers our relationship with auto-focus isn't always a great one. It's so easy to say "the camera missed focus", or "it front or back focused". The problem is that's not the case more often than not. Don't misunderstand me, these issues are real - that's why micro adjustments exist. Cameras and lenses are not perfect, and the software that runs anything today can have issues, but focus issues often relate to the end user not having the AF system configured correctly, or not understanding how the system really works. That's how the first show with Rudy came to be, and to say that was popular is an understatement: To date it's had roughly: 453,000 views on YouTube, in addition to all the views in the video and audio-only podcast feeds. But when we recorded that show the R3 was brand new, and it wasn't widely available. So I used my R5 for the menu examples in that show, and while we did talk about the AF settings unique to the newer R3, I almost immediately had people asking for an updated video. Since then, we've seen the R6 Mark 2 and the R5 Mark 2 come out, and again, lots of people have requested an update to cover all of the newer Auto Focus features. My thing is, it doesn't make sense to do a video specific to each camera model, there's too much overlap, so I wanted to wait until the R1 had actually been released - and it was in November of last year, it started hitting stores in Nov of 2024. So today, we are going to do basically the same thing that we did 3 years ago, we're going to go through all of the AF menus, and describe every single command and option for you in detail. For this show I am going to use the new Canon R1 for the menu examples, which needs a little explanation. When I used the R5 last time I had some people complain that I was using a body out of their price range, while others complained I wasn't using the R3. So, let me try to explain my decision making process… The higher end bodies have features the lower end bodies don't - but they also have most, if not all, of the features on the lower end bodies - so to cover as many settings as possible, spanning bodies in all price ranges, the best choice is the higher end body, which today is the R1. Unfortunately, I don't own an R1… so a HUGE thank you to Canon USA for getting me one to use for this show. Now, if you're not a Canon shooter.. DON'T RUN AWAY! While we are using the Canon EOS R1 for the examples today, whatever brand you use: Nikon Sony Panasonic Etc Most of today's cameras will have some equivalent to the settings we talk about… AF option names will change between brands, and even between models in the same brand, some may be more or less granular, or in different places in the menus EVEN for the same brands, but understanding these AF concepts will still help you get the most out of your camera, regardless of the brand. One last disclaimer: I also had some people comment on the last video that they wished I had inserted some B-Roll showing the features in action through the viewfinder, so you could see the AF moving and changing for something like a person running, or a bird in flight etc. Thank you to everyone that made suggestions, but again, with this video, I have made an intentional choice to not do that. There's a few production reasons for that choice, but the biggest thing for me is that I want this video to be as generic ...

In this episode, Jared & Stephen talk about the latest FroKnowsPhoto video that puts the Canon R1 against the R3 in the ultimate sensor battle, if the Canon EOS RC is actually a thing and if so, what they would want to see out of it & much more! Text us with any thoughts and questions regarding this episode at 313-710-9729. This is RAWtalk Episode 134!

Joe Thomas & Cam Smart discuss last night's 4-1 away defeat to Fulham as Watford crash out the FA Cup in R3. To donate to The Voices of the Vic in the WD18 Cup fundraiser please visit - https://www.givengain.com/project/voices-of-the-vic-raising-funds-for-4-causes-91935 - your donation no matter the amount will be hugely appreciated. Thank you. Follow The Voices of the Vic Podcast: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheVoicesOfTheVic Twitter/X - https://x.com/voicesofthevic?s=21 Instagram - https://instagram.com/voicesofthevic?igshid=Nzd2YXZoamd1cDM1 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thevoicesofthevic?_t=8oPOlabBIRN&_r=1 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6LWkbl2NkQbl1nTbBSllOn?si=RQQPSoG2TPeeDSWQtIJlYg Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-voices-of-the-vic/id1518372507 Contact us: thevoicesofthevic@gmail.com Thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's Select comes courtesy of Omar Taa'i, aka Taai, a Cairo-based music producer behind Abyusif and Marwan Pablo's collaborative track ‘SMACK THAT'. His prolific discography features tracks with regional hip-hop artists the likes of R3, Alvin, BEGAD, and Xander Ghost. For our Select 301, Taai cooked us a mix of hard-hitting trap beats and instrumental tracks, featuring some of his favourite Egyptian hip-hop tunes.

This is the third episode of Pheasants Forever's 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF's Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, PF's North Dakota Education and Outreach Coordinator Seth Owens, and PF's Video Production Coordinator Aaron Black-Schmidt to recap the conclusion of the group's hunt in the Bismarck area and the start of the hunt in the greater Grand Forks region. Episode Highlights: • Vavra provides the play-by-play to the group's very “birdy” third day of hunting with North Dakota Game & Fish Department's R3 Coordinator Cayla Bendel. Although there were lots of roosters in the air, Vavra hangs the “missed opportunities” banner over the day following some lackluster group marksmanship. • Owens grabs the R3 baton from Bendel on the fourth day to talk about his effort to pass along the state's hunting heritage through education events and his stunning photography. Check out Owens' photography and videography talents on Instagram at @stuff.seth.sees. • Find the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife. And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2024 sponsors • Browning • Orvis • SoundGear • Ruff Land Kennels • Federal Ammunition • Garmin • YETI • Irish Setter onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever's wildlife habitat mission.

Billy Sebell, Executive Director at XDC Foundation, joined me to discuss the latest and great with the XDC Network. Topics:- XDC Network overview- XDC 2.0 upgrades - Subnets and more - RWA Tokenization on XDC - R3 and SBI partnerships - Exchange listings - Crypto market growth, adoption, and regulations Show Sponsor -

Can your brand truly stand out in the crowded Amazon or e-commerce marketplace? This episode features Kevin King, a master of product differentiation, marketing, and branding, who shares game-changing strategies to elevate your business beyond the basics. Kevin walks us through the creation of his innovative Basecamp Apple Watch charging dock, illustrating how identifying market gaps and blending functionality with aesthetic appeal can help you craft a premium product that demands attention. We then uncover the critical role of visual storytelling and emotional appeal in successful product marketing. Kevin shares compelling real-life examples, including a groundbreaking product launch during Christmas 2015 and the branding triumph of Liquid Death. We dive into the challenges and rewards of rebranding, drawing lessons from Kevin's experience with his dog product line transformation. The conversation underscores the importance of innovative packaging and impactful imagery in driving sales and maintaining a brand's identity. Finally, we explore unconventional marketing strategies that can turn an ordinary product into a thriving brand. Kevin recounts the phenomenal success of a hand sanitizer brand during the 2020 pandemic, revealing how creative tactics like catchy jingles and engaging public interactions led to remarkable sales figures. Whether you are an aspiring Amazon seller or a seasoned seller, this episode is packed with valuable insights and strategies to help you achieve a standout presence in a saturated market. In episode 598 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and Kevin discuss: 00:00 - Product Differentiation Secrets With Kevin King 04:36 - Multi-Functional Charging Dock Design 06:57 - Product Development From Scratch 10:16 - Illustrating a Product's Transformation With Cartoons 10:54 - Product Innovation and Differentiation Strategies 14:33 - Brand Identity Success Through Innovation 15:48 - Premium Bully Sticks Differentiation Strategy 16:50 - Researching and Deciding on Bully Sticks 21:35 - Listing Strategy for Niche Keywords 27:09 - Differentiating Products for Marketplace Success 27:36 - Pet Product Influencer Partnership 31:24 - Building a Brand With Differentiation 35:19 - Hand Sanitizer Market Frustration and Innovation 41:52 - Unconventional Marketing Strategies for Brand Success 42:45 - Successful Million Dollar Marketing  Strategy Transcript Carrie Miller: In today's episode, Kevin King is going to be sharing his secrets on how to differentiate your products so that you stand out from the competition.   Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Are you a six, seven or eight figure seller and want to network in a private mastermind group with other experienced sellers? Or maybe you want to take advantage of monthly advanced training sessions with Kevin King, an expert guest? Do you want to come to our quarterly in-person all-day trainings at Helium 10 headquarters? Or do you want the widest access to the Helium 10 set of tools? For all of these things, the Elite program might be for you. For more information on Helium 10 Elite, go to h10.me/elite. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Seller's podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show. That's a completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world.   Kevin King: You know, a lot of times people don't in the space, don't like to share their products. They're afraid people are going to copy them. I'm afraid like, oh, if I share this, this cool thing I found, I'm going to have a hundred different copiers on it. And that does happen. You know, Bradley's had that with the coffin shelf, you know, here at series, and now there's I don't know how many coffin shelves that are A lot, a lot. Yeah, so it does happen. But I'm going to show you some ways to make that almost impossible today. I mean not to say that someone can't mimic you, because sometimes when people copy, that's a nice way of flattery. But there's a lot of things that you can do to differentiate your product and it's becoming super important. You know the days of when I first started. I know you've been doing this for a while 2015, 2016. You just go to Alibaba. You'd find a product look at Helium 10, see where the gaps are and just stick a different name on there and maybe create a logo, put it on there and put that up and sell it. Those days are long gone. I mean, can that still happen? Occasionally, someone can have success doing that, but it's extremely, extremely difficult. And branding true branding and true product differentiation is where it's at. And some people think, well, I'll just add a warranty or I'll add an eBook to my product or I'll bundle it with something else and that'll make it different enough. And that's usually not enough. And in today's world, you got to change your approach and that's what I'm going to show you today with real-life, real-world examples of my actual products. Some of these I'm not selling anymore for different reasons. Pricing got priced out of the market with raw supplies or something like that. But I'm going to show you exactly what I do and to try to give you some insights and some perspective on how you can approach this differently for what you're doing.   Carrie Miller: Very nice, I'm excited.   Kevin King: When it comes to business, there's really only two things that matter, and when you cut it to the core, that's innovation and marketing. I mean, yeah, there's all the details of finance and money and all this kind of stuff, but really, if you look at any business look at Apple, you look at Microsoft, you look at Tesla, you look at any of these. It's innovation and marketing. Those are the two fundamental things that you should be focusing on first. So, I'm going to start off with innovation. So the first thing I'm talking about is innovation. This is a product on screen called Basecamp. This is an Apple watch charging dock. It also charges your iPhone, charges your iPad. It has a night light on it. This is a really, really cool product that came out in 2015. It was launched in 2015.   Kevin King: So almost nine years ago, right when the first Apple Watch came out, and where this product, how this originated. This is a product that I sold and I actually created this product from scratch. This was my actual product and I created it from scratch right when the first Apple Watch came out. And what happened is I went on Amazon to try to find some ideas for products and I saw that Apple Watch charging docks were trending at the time and most all of them were like these cheap bamboo kind of wooden docks for 15 to 20 bucks, all coming off of Alibaba, with just different names on them. Each one looks exactly the same, just had a different name, and I was like, if I'm going to spend 500 bucks for a watch or whatever the watch costs back then. I don't want some cheap, cheap stand to put it on, I want something that looks cool. So I developed this that I would want and I was like I don't want something where there's cables hanging across my desk, cables hanging across my nightstand, so I want to hide all the cables and I want to be able to charge like three things at once. And so that's what I developed, and so this particular product you can see here has a little light on it.   Kevin King: I later added a Bluetooth speaker to it in a version two. It put the watch up on top, the phone would sit on the side and it had a. The charging was buried inside all the cables. Um, the back actually had two additional USB ports so that you could actually charge an iPad or put something else on the back of it. It had. The cables were all hidden underneath, so you'd wrap the cable around underneath so it's not like just all messing up your, your desktop or your, your nightstand or whatever the night light there you can see it. You can hit that button a few times and adjust it up in different levels. I created a really nice box for it and I had all the different adapters. I was prepared to sell this in the US market, and so I created one charging dock and then had them make the different adapters that go in the end, depending on if it's for the UK or for Europe, or for the US or for Australia the bigger markets. I later added a Bluetooth speaker to it. I changed that nightlight to not just a nightlight but actually a Bluetooth speaker so that you could this is the days before there was beats or any of that kind of stuff so it actually was a cool, cool thing to be able to have your phone sitting there charging and have a little speaker that would play your sound music or your wake-up call or whatever. You can see there are the little nightlights turned on. As an example, these are actually some of my listing photos that you're seeing on this. You can see that it would fit all kinds of different watch bands. I created a really nice box for the outside of it to differentiate it so that when you got it felt like you're paying 80 bucks for this thing.   Kevin King: This was a little video that I had made. I found the way I got this made is I came up with the idea. I found a factory on Global Sources Comm. So I didn't even use Alibaba. I use a company called global sources comm, which is another alternate sourcing place. It's not as big as Alibaba, but you can find some better factories sometimes on there. So if you haven haven't checked that out, check it out. And I found a factory in Shenzhen, China, that would do this and I ended up paying them a thousand dollars for the design and so they had their internal guys do all the design and then the molding and everything. It was expensive. It cost me about 30 grand to do all the molding because it's electrical parts and USB and there's a chip in there. So this is not for everybody, but I spent about 30 grand on that.   Kevin King: We've created all kinds of prototypes and they would send me these files, these 3D rendered files and these like SFP files, I think they're called. And then I took that actual file. So before this was ever manufactured, didn't even exist, there wasn't even a prototype yet. I sent it to a guy in Eastern Europe and he made this rendering from me from those files and this is a video. He made this entire video, this. The product did not exist so I could see it exactly as it was gonna be. He made these 360 degrees, basically before there was AI. AI video of the actual product. You can see this one only has one charging dock on a USB on the back.   Kevin King: I had a second one, but I did this and then I sent this out and did some testing, like what do you guys think of this? And I was able to get the people at one of these big Apple insider blog posts. They're like, when this comes out, let us know, we'll publicize it. So right there I was, like they thought it was cool. So, I had my launch ready to go. Like I said this didn't come from Alibaba, this didn't come from the Iwo market or the Canton fair.   Kevin King: The idea for this, this came from my head, and so I created this from scratch from my head. I've done that for a dog bowl and for some other products as well, and so I also. At the same time, back in 2015, I launched five different brands at once. Some of them were the traditional find something on Alibaba, change it up a little bit, change the packaging, put your logo on it and then send it out. But this one I actually designed from scratch. I think that's where you need to start thinking more and more about is designing things from scratch, and it's not always about a better mousetrap, it's about what the people want.   Kevin King: With today's technology and with the AI, you can do so much that I couldn't do nine years ago when this was launched. That you can do now with iterations and these renderings, that you could have 20 different types of this and do all kinds of testing on PickFu. You can do so much more now with this. So this was the renderings that they would send me. So I would open this up, these EASM files, and I could play around with it on my computer and spin it and everything and say, oh, let's modify this or let's change this, or I don't like where this is positioned, put the logo over here. So this before we even made a prototype.   Kevin King: And then what I did is I did 3D printing. So I had there's a guy in Austin where I live that had like 30 different 3D printers in his garage, literally, and so he had all kinds of different sizes and machines. I just took it. They followed him and he made this. This is a 3d printed uh sample. And then I took this to the Apple store in Austin and I said can, can you open up the drawer of all the watches. Uh, I want to make sure every watch, every band, fits on here and doesn't touch the light, and we'll make sure the cable fits through the, the fits through the, the channel on the back and everything. So, I had a total like piece of crap, basically, but 3d printed, but it's actually at least something that's I can hold and touch and feel, kind of get an idea of how it's going to be. And then we made modifications. So after I tested it with this, then I went through and I made modifications oh, we need to make the cable doesn't quite fit, it's not quite snug enough or it's crimping in the corner. So we went back and I, I, we made some modifications to it and then this was a prototype. So then they do what's a machine prototype? Um, there's a specific name for it, but it's a machine Like it's. They make like 20 of them before they make the mass run, and then I could actually test it and so I took it and that's what we created.   Kevin King: This is one of the product photos for the actual that I used on Amazon that I had taken. This is one in my guest room and so we just put it on a nightstand and just showed it. They're actually charging three different devices and how it works. It works like magic. And for the listing also, I actually showed. You know, I create cartoons. I found someone on Upwork.com that would do this for 50 bucks and I had them actually said I want a before and after. I could shoot this with photography and it would be expensive. So I just had them make a cartoon and say, look, show the before. Because every product you need to be trying to solve pain points. I mean there's three or four different things you want to focus on when you're developing a product. One of those is solving someone's pain point. So you want to show them what it's like before your product and what it's like after your product. So that's what I did here. Instead of using photos, I used these cartoons.   Kevin King: So I show on the left how you got all these cables everywhere and stuff all over the place taking up your whole nightstand just a mess. You're having trouble sleeping over there, the person you know. There're all kinds of little hints all throughout this thing. You got a light that's flashing on it instead of a night light. That's all bright, keeping you up. And then then you got the one on the right. That's like you having a peaceful sleep, everything's organized, everything's nice, and so these are things that you want to think about when you're actually creating your images is show the before and the after. You can do it in photos, you can do it in, or you can do it in cartoons and like this one and this, it worked really, really well. You're going to see another example of this in a minute. So this is the way you can do an example of how you can do innovation.   Kevin King: This product on 2015, Christmas of 2015, I was selling about $30,000, $40,000 a day of it at $89. And then what happened is the reason. I and I did a second version, I did a version two with feedback and put the Bluetooth speaker in, did some other changes, and then in March or April of the next year this is before there was Gatita, before there's any or Helium 10 that had the refund ability, and someone posted on a Facebook group, on the FBA High Rollers Facebook group on Helium 10, saying, oh, did you know that Amazon will refund you for damages and lost items? And so, I was like, oh, that's cool, they lost some of these things when I shipped them in. So, I filed a claim. And when I filed that claim for like 10 missing units, amazon suspended the listing and said, oh, we're going to do what's called a bend check. And they went and they actually said we're going to stop all sales. And we got to do a total inventory across all of our warehouses and I was like no, no, no, don't do that, don't do that, I don't care about the 10 units, just forget it, forget the claim. You're killing, you're crushing me on my momentum. Well, I was down about 10 days while they did this quote unquote Ben check worst decision I ever made and that basically killed the momentum of the product. But I was able to bring it back up, but never back to that level, because there's all kinds of other competition coming in. Um, and I sold this on uh, uh I forget the name of the website. Now it's kind of like a sharper image uh, website for dudes. I sold this in the best buy. I sold it a lot of places, but then the market started changing and I was able to ride this for a couple of years and it was good. So that's a way that you can think about doing innovation. That's an example of one that I did.   Kevin King: Now let's talk about something on the marketing side. On the marketing side, you can differentiate with your packaging. A lot of people do that, you know. You could have just a generic bottle that you see on the right or a really nice bottle on the left and put your differentiating bullet points in your image how they're showing one's made from bamboo and no plastic or biodegrade super-fast. The other one's going to take hundreds of years, and so on. These are great ways you can do it in your, in your image, in your image stack, to actually show the difference. Because it remembers, on Amazon, people, people buy, buy photos. They don't buy products. My buddy, Perry Belcher, is actually the one that actually said that. But they can't touch the product, they can't hold it in their hands, so they're buying based on the photos. So you got to remember that so many people skimp on their photos or they don't spend enough time creating the right photos to create the right emotions. People buy on emotion and they buy on photos, and so by differentiating like this, you can do a lot of cool stuff in your infographics and your stack.   Kevin King: Look at another one. I mean this is someone selling a commodity Liquid Death is water, it's just water. But look what they did with the branding and the way they actually packaged it. They put it into a can instead of a bottle. They had this liquid death name. All the graphics it's just most of the cans are actually oversized. Liquid Death is a great case study if you want to go and look at how someone actually has developed a brand on something that everybody else is selling and actually stand out. Now it's over a billion-dollar company and there's crushing. It's a really, really good case study. At some point I'll go into deep detail on this, but I want to show you one of my products where I did this. I had a brand that was originally called Tailwaggles and I made a mistake on this brand. I filed for trademarks to get brand registry and all that kind of stuff and about three months into the trademark process I get a note from the trademark office saying oh sorry, your name, Tailwaggles, is too close to something else. This is three months after filing and I'd already done the homework, but they found something in the system so I had to change it to Wag Haus. So I had to. Actually, I was already in production on some dog bowls and I actually had to call the factory, said throw away all those old molds and those imprints. We got to change the logo and logo and to change the whole name mid-production. It cost me a lot of money to Wag Haus, but one of the products that I sold under this this is the Wag Haus logo. Here it wore bully sticks.   Kevin King: If you're not familiar with what bully sticks are, they're still popular today. It's a dog treat. It's made out of the penis of a cow, so they use every part of a cow to maximize the value when they when they butcher it for meat and they take the penis and they actually make bully sticks for dogs. It's a very popular dog treat. So, there's six inch versions, there's 12 inch versions. Those are two typical sizes, and it in 2016, 2017. I was doing some research of what's selling on Amazon. I saw that these things are just crushing it. I already had a dog bowl out, so I was looking for another type of product to accentuate my slow feed dog. Well, and bully sticks came up and back then there's Helium 10 didn't have what was just getting going, so they didn't have Magnets and they didn't have Cerebro and all that stuff. So, I had to use this old program called amazing product validator. And so, I punched in bully sticks and look there, I was like boom, big green result thing saying that's a really good keyword, excellent BSR. You know, look at that search 359,000 search volume. I was like, all right, I'm going to do bully sticks.   Kevin King: So I started researching bully sticks and I looked at these. This is another tool back then where it was popular, called merchant words, and these are results from Merchant Words. They showed these search volumes actually are probably not right but it's the best we had back then. We didn't have much more accurate stuff like Helium 10. So it showed 7 million. I was like, all right, all the different keywords are based off of that free range and those are beef bully sticks and bully sticks for dogs and all had some decent search volumes. So I like, all right, I'm going to go into bully sticks as my next product on this brand. So I pulled up and did a search and I see that, um, there's all these different brands that are selling bully sticks and a lot of them, this are selling for around 20 to 30 bucks and it's a pretty much a package like a plastic bag full of 20 30 bully sticks, all for around 30 bucks, so somewhere around a dollar and a half a stick is basically the cost to the consumer for these. And I was like, okay, that looks good. So I started calling some factories and I was like I need to differentiate. I don't want to be just another guy selling 30 bully sticks for 30 bucks. What can you do? What can you make special?   Kevin King: And I started reading all the reviews on all the products and the reviews were coming back with like, oh, these bully sticks stink because you can just imagine it's the part of the cow that you know that area stinks sometimes and so people the it. My house has an odor to it. After my dog chews it or some liquid drips out onto my couch, my dog jumps up on the couch. It's just. And then people were worried about where are these bully sticks from. Is it US cows or is it some? There's a big scare of like Chinese beef back there. Are they Chinese cows? Are they from Brazil? Where are they from? And so, I was like I need to differentiate this product and I don't want to just put it in a plastic bag either. I want to put it in something really cool, and so the way I differentiated the product is I found this through tracking down. I wanted to make sure it was US made US beef, not imported, and I wanted to set it apart. And so, I found this guy who was a classically trained French chef, like worked in Michelin star restaurants and he was up in the New England area and I got in touch with him and said you make bully sticks. He's like oh yeah, I don't, but I don't do them on machines, I hand carve them, we smoke them in a certain way. We have a 15-step organic process that we do. I'm like this sounds perfect. This is like I can differentiate this from all these little cheap bully sticks.   Kevin King: I was like, well, they cost. He said you're not going to like this part, they're very expensive. So, I ended up having to sell three bully sticks, three 12-inch ones for $54 and 95 cents, so 55 bucks for three bully sticks. Now remember everybody else on Amazon selling 30 for 30 bucks roughly. So, I'm like way crazy overpriced. I was like I don't know if this is going to work. You know everybody, everybody always says on Amazon it's all about the price, all about the value. And I'm like I don't know if this is going to work. But I'm like you know what? I think there's people on Amazon that don't care about the price. If you know the avatar of your customer, you know that there's a lot of pet owners that a pet is just a farm animal. You know they keep the dog out in the backyard and it's just a farm animal. But for other people a pet is part of their family, it's their best friend, it's their compadre. I just saw a story my dad just forwarded me a couple days ago about how people take care of their pet's health better than they take care of their own health. And it's true and I was like I can market to that. There's people that have dogs that are willing to spend really good money for their dogs to give them the best. So this is classically trained French chef. That's a good story. It's organic. I'm solving all the problems of the juice because the way he cooks these and he does the smoking and stuff. They don't have all that extra liquid in them, they don't stink. They're organic. It's from the US, I can solve all the review pain points, and this is before all the AI tools existed to analyze reviews.   Kevin King: I was having to read reviews, so I was looking at how can I package these different, and so these were some of the packaging ideas I came with. But what I ended up doing is putting them in a cigar box. So I had a custom cigar box. I found a company in Brooklyn, New York, that's close to this guy, so I didn't have to pay shipping across the US or across the world. They'd make these boxes for me. I'd put a sticker on the outside with, like a cool textured label on the outside of it, and then we put them in the cigar boxes. So this is the six inch version. So there's five, six inches and those sold for 40, uh, 44, 95, I think it was. And the 12-inch version was only three sticks and sold for 54, 95. But I packaged it. So when you got it, you felt confirmed. You're like, if you just spent 44 bucks for five of these bully sticks, you're like, did I just get ripped off? But when it comes in the, in the, in the Amazon box, and you open it up, you're like, oh, this is a cool box. It's got a cool texture to it. It's all about the sensation when you feel the box. There's like a little edge on it, like a texture. The label had like a texture on it, so like, oh, this is kind of nice. So it helps justify in the mind that I'm getting value here. These are premium.   Kevin King: I created the listing. This is actually the bullet points and the title for the listing. All the keywords are in there and what I focused on is I couldn't compete on the word bully sticks, because the word bully sticks, as you saw earlier, was super popular and almost everything on that page is cheap, and so I could do a launch. Back then you could do all these coupons and all these giveaways and rank to the top within a day or two. It's crazy stuff you could do back in the day and I would get there. But then as soon as I stopped doing these promotions, I would fall off to page two, page three. But on long tail keywords like bully sticks made in USA or bully sticks no odor or premium bully sticks, those I could stay on page one for and there was enough keyword depth on all those where I could stay ranked for those and it worked because there's enough niche, enough variation in the keywords where it actually worked.   Kevin King: And so, then I created pictures. I went to a dog place, a dog kennel, where my dog would stay, sometimes like hey, can you get permission from some of the owners, I want to come in here and do a photo shoot with dogs? So we did a little cute little dog with a chef hat on, did another dog holding it. So actual, real pictures, not my iPhone, because a lot of other bully stick people were taking their iPhone, just taking a picture of a dog sitting on the ground or something. Just horrible pictures. So I create all these kind of cute pictures. Remember, selling is about emotion and so this creates emotion of oh look, how cute he is. And then I did a whole series of image stacks to show the difference. Because if you see something on Amazon for 50 bucks, you're like and it's three sticks, and you're like this guy's out of his freaking mind, $50, $55 for three sticks. I can just go buy 30 for 30. So I had to show the difference. Remember what I said people buy photos on Amazon, they don't buy products. And so, I showed them in the box to show that these are big. You know these aren't little skinny little things, they're like big honking sticks. I listed all the reasons people wouldn't buy, all the objections basically, and all the things that were important in all my research. You know these are kosher. You know you don't think about that, for a dog, I mean, but some people. That's important to them. So everything that was important I put on here. These are kosher sticks.   Kevin King: I showed the comparison look, ours are full. The other guys they stretch theirs. That's how they can sell 30 for 30 bucks because they're stretched and they're hollow. I showed look, ours are wide, the other guys are skinny. I showed look, ours has no odor, it's glossy and smooth, but the other ones stink. I showed look, ours are with a knife and there's something sitting on the table there. They're hand cut. The other ones are on some nasty ass machine that's never cleaned. So I showed all the reasons why you don't want these cheap ones and why you want mine. And then I showed a comparison of ours versus others just to keep.   Kevin King: I kept driving at home Like you're going through this image stack. You're like, all right, all right, all right, I get it, I get it. I showed them on a scale, like look, this is what they weigh. Don't just trust my, trust me. I mean, yeah, you could Photoshop this, but don't. I showed them. It validates it. So I showed everything. At the top here's some dogs driving through like a fast-food place and they're just getting some cheap, cheap, you know happy meal type of cheap hamburgers or something. And then I show in the bottom if you want Wag Haus sticks, you'd like go into a nice steakhouse where there's a maître d' with a bow tie on a serving these on a platter and just connotates that image and creates that emotion, creates that feel and helps justify why you should give these a try. And then I did another cartoon. I tested different cartoons, so I had another one go from fast food to Wag Haus Premium similar concept. Now it's still in a car, they're inside the restaurant and you look at the sign there. If you look at it, there's all kinds of details. If people blow this up, I know you can't see it very good here on the screen, but on Amazon if they blow it up, they would see. You know other, all these kinds of like making fun of the other sticks all in the menu and stuff. It works.   Kevin King: And then I created, you know a put back. Then I was called EBC but now it's called a plus content. So I created a plus content and I used pretty people. You want to use pretty people. You want to use faces whenever you can, even though you have the dog use and faces. There's science that shows that's a 35% lift in conversion rate when you use faces. A lot of people don't use faces in their photos. They just show the hands or they show the dog. But you need to have people and showing that they're having fun, their dogs happy. You're creating that emotion. I went out. This is before. It was popular to find influencers, influencer. The whole influencer UGC game was just getting going at this time. But this guy I found him on I think it's called Fame Kit. I forget the name of the website. I don't even know if it still exists, but you could go and you could hire people to create UGC.   Kevin King: I'm just going to play you a little bit of this video. I did not script this. I sent this to the guy. I sent him my bullet points to say, hey, this is kind of what I'm looking for. Can you do something? But I'm just going to play the first part of this because it's pretty cool what he did and you're going to see where he actually sniffs these things. He actually pulls them up to his nose yeah, they're right there. He actually pulls them up to his nose and does a demonstration of showing, look, there's really no smell, and I mean it just creates that trust and that yes, it's true. And then he's got playing with his dogs and he just did a really good job. Then I take a look at my reviews. Now these are some of the real reviews that were coming on the products. You know I was getting some fives and fours highly recommended. I would get the occasional one-star review. Someone like this is the biggest rip-off ever Three sticks for 50 bucks. You've got to be freaking, kidding me. But look, I got constant reviews. I had a 4.6, I think, average overall and it just worked really well. And I had one guy I subscribe and save. It had just begun back then, so I was on subscribe and save. One guy I think he did 86 or 87 times on subscribe and save Just kept buying them over and over like every, every. Every time that he would get renewed, he'd buy them. And he'd buy them in between too because he needed more. It just this work.   Kevin King: This is how you differentiate a product, uh, and how you approach a market where it's saturated differently and don't always think it's always about the price. As long as there's long tail keywords, you can do some amazing stuff. There's just a few more the lifestyle pictures the on the right there's my actual dog, Zoe, when she was a little much younger, and what happened is the guys that owned the best bully sticks, which is the biggest brand on Amazon. They saw what I was doing and they're like how's this guy, this guy in Texas, selling $50 for three sticks? We need to reach out to him. So they reached out to me and they said hey, why don't we partner up? Why don't you actually sell some of our stuff? You can basically private label some of our other treats. We've got duck feet and we've got, uh, pig's ears and we've got all these, uh, you know, antlers and all this other kind of stuff. Why don't we, why don't we partner up and you just, you just use your brand and private label from us. We manufacture here in the States, we'll ship it to you. So I tried it and it didn't work. I actually I need to package it differently. So, instead of putting in a plastic bag. I had these custom bags made and we tried this. It just didn't work. But my other bully sticks because of differentiation, the way I marketed it, the opportunities there and appealing to the rabid pet owner wanting to take care of their best friend, their member of their family it worked. This is an example on pets.   Kevin King: Now, if you want to get some ideas, if you're trying to ideate this oh, Kevin, this sounds good, but how do I do this? This is a really good link here that you can go to actually get an idea on how to position. This is a positioning, marketing positioning. I'm positioning the product against everybody else and this five-step process it's free at aprildunford.com that link there. Take a screenshot of this or maybe someone can post it in the chat. And this is a good five-step process to help you brainstorm through and to know how can you truly differentiate your product. So, I recommend you at least take a gander at that or have someone on your team take a gander at that. So, when you're trying to come up with your next product or differentiate what you've currently got, maybe something's kind of on the down and outs right now, but if you just re-engineer that product and come up from a different positioning point of view. You can do really well. So that's a resource for you there. That should be really good.   Kevin King: Now let's take a look at another thing on differentiation how do you turn a commodity into a brand, a commodity? You got Temu coming in that's selling all these cheap things on Amazon. You got Amazon now going to start allowing factories to ship directly from China under this Amazon whatever. It's called Amazon Direct there's a name for it but where they're going to basically have their own version of Temu on Amazon. That is going to kill some people. You're going to see some people go out of business on Amazon because of this, because they're not differentiating. They're just another me too product. There's no differentiation other than maybe the price, and it's who can sell the cheapest price is going to win, and if you're competing on price, you you're playing a losing game. You're going to lose against these Chinese factories. They're going direct because they're going to sell it on Amazon for less than you're buying it from them for. Let me repeat that when Amazon launches this section, which is basically a Temu type of section, your factory will sell it for less on Amazon direct to the consumer for less than what the price they're willing to give you to buy it from them. That's going to happen.   Kevin King: So if you don't differentiate your products or you're not thinking in terms of some of these examples I've given you, you're going to be. You may be in some high water and maybe going out of business, or if you're just starting, you may not have a chance to actually succeed. You've got to approach this game differently now. It's more complicated, it's harder, it's a real business. It takes thought, it takes effort. In some cases, it takes money, but this is how you can do it with a commodity product. This is a periodic table. It's a really good thing take a screenshot of this that when you're creating a brand, it's a periodic table of branding. You always remember most of us from school, you had to learn the periodic table of elements. This is a periodic table of branding and this is some of the things that all go into creating a brand.   Kevin King: A brand is not just a logo. A lot of people think, well, I've got my brand on Amazon. You don't have a brand, dude, you have no brand. This is no brand. This is a logo and a name. A logo and a name does not make a brand. A brand connotates a feeling. It connotates a message. It connotates an identity, an affinity for people. There's a lot more to it, and these are some of the things. Does the type of type style you use matter? Yes, that's part of it. Does the logo matter? Yes, that's part of it, but every brand has a voice, every brand. The name is important yes, but that's not a brand. You've got to go way, way beyond that, and this shows you some of the elements in a really nice, concise way that you need to focus on when you're truly building your brand, and I'm going to show you an example of this right now on how to do this with a commodity product, with one of mine.   Kevin King: We all remember the pandemic of 2020 and hand sanitizer was going nuts on Amazon. It was booming worldwide. Everybody's freaking out need to buy hand sanitizer. Around April of 2020, this was the SQP report, the Search Query Performance report on Amazon. It had just come out as a brand-new kind of thing on Amazon and hand sanitizer was number six, and some partners of mine and one of my other Amazon companies saw this and they're like we should do hand sanitizer and I'm like no dude, everybody and their brother's going to be doing hand sanitizer. This is going to be like hoverboards, going to be like fidget spinners. Everybody's going to be doing it. And they're like, no, we can do it. We got this, this company in India that can make this stuff for us. Yeah, I started doing homework on it. I'm like, well, okay, maybe there's something to it, but let me look into it. So I looked into it and I used some other tools. This is not Helium 10, it's a different tool. It's a private mastermind tool that shows showed me last week's sales volume and on the hand sanitizer it showed this was in April. It showed 129,000 units on Amazon on the word hand sanitizer alone just that single keyword. And then other ones. I was like all right. And then there's all these.   Kevin King: The Polaris, this big market research company, came out and said this hand sanitizer thing, even if the COVID goes away, people are going to change their habits. And yeah, you're going to have a huge bump because everybody's now using hand sanitizer but a lot of places are going to install hand sanitizer machines. It's going to become more pervasive in society. And I was like, yeah, okay, so if this has a big boom, boom up, it's going to go down when COVID goes away, but it's going to probably be higher than what it was before COVID started, just because people have changed their habits or they're more aware of it. That's basically what this Polaris study said. So, I'm like, all right, let's look, let's look school.   Kevin King: Then there's a story came out of this this kid that was in, uh, in in the middle of the United States I think he's in Tennessee or Kentucky or somewhere and he was going to all the dollar stores, uh, and buying out their hand sanitizer and then arbitraging it on Amazon for those crazy amounts. He ended up getting sued by the, by the uh, the state, uh, for price gouging and stuff. But I'm like, all right, and he's just crushing it. And so, you're all this stuff coming out. And then I look on Amazon and this is what was selling, because hand sensors, all the Perel and Germ Sharks, Germ X the two big brands in the US were hard to get.   Kevin King: And then what Amazon did is they created something called the COVID store and they gated, basically Perel. They said all the first responders, all the hospitals need to have access to this, not you people at home. We need to save this for the people that really need it, that are dying in the hospitals. So in order to buy the big hand sanitizers, you had to go into the COVID store and get authorized, and so it took a lot of the competition away on Amazon. I saw that and I started seeing all these like weird hand sanitizer people are making almost like felt like in their backyard coming up on Amazon. Some of it was long shipping times is coming from China and you'd order it and take a month to get to you and it's just garbage. And you look at, look at the reviews on they're just bad and they're selling for like crazy amounts it's $11.59 for these little bottles.   Kevin King: And so I was like, alright, guys, let's do this. We're not gonna use this company in India. We're gonna get proper FDA approval, we're gonna. There were some rules where you could at the time, where you could actually make this without going through all the steps of FDA if you did certain things. We figured out all that's figured out, all the legal side. We came out with a brand name of germ shark. We came out with and this logo. So this is where the name Germ Shark and we started this company. It was me and four other guys. I was handling them Amazon side of things and all the branding and all the marketing. And there's other guys handling all the sourcing and dealing with the factories and all that. And then the other three guys were the money guys and these guys put in about a million and a half bucks, before it was all said and done, of their own money.   Kevin King: Luckily, crypto was doing really well at the time. One of these guys was just making bank selling NFTs and on crypto, so he had a lot of extra cash just sitting around doing nothing. So he threw a bunch of that in and we started this brand, Germ Shark, and I was like, okay, if we're going to sell hand sanitizer in this super competitive commodity, hand sanitizer is like one to three ingredients, it's nothing. Anybody can do it. How do you differentiate a product that everything is basically the same? Yeah, you can put a smell in there or you can do a few things, but it's basically the same thing. How do you differentiate it? So, we came up with some bottles. We said we're gonna do a three pack of these small bottles and I tested it on Pick Fu and so I took R3, the ones that says winter there with the green box around it. Those were R3.   Kevin King: And I tested against these no-name brands, like these Chinese no-name brands, and we won, hands down won. Everybody said we would buy this one. This one looks legit, the others are sketchy. And then I tested against the top brands, like Perel, which is a number one brand in the US, and I got my butt kicked. Perel beat me because that's a bigger brand, people trust it more. So I was like okay, as long as Perel is not on the main Amazon site and they're locked away in this COVID store where nobody can get in there, I can crush it, I can be number one on Amazon until Perel comes back. And when Perel comes back onto the normal Amazon website, I'll be okay in spot number two or spot number three, because I've positioned myself, I've gotten my rankings, I've gotten my reviews. There's still enough depth in the market share that even if I'm spot two or three or four, I'll still make some good money. So we're like all right, let's go forward with this.   Kevin King: So then we create a whole line of products. We ended up going. We saw that there's wipes. We're having trouble. We had the big bottles to refill, like the canisters at, like the restaurants and malls and airports and stuff. We create little toys we actually created with our brand. We created like a little stuffed toy you see the little stuffed shark there. We create little holders. That little kind of turquoise looking thing in the middle is a holder for the clip onto your purse or onto your backpack or something for the small bottles, and then, oh, there's a better picture of it, these little guys here.   Kevin King: We created this kind of stuff, and why did we create this? Not to sell it, but for branding and for promotional purposes. So what we did with it is we went out and we did a campaign to hospitals, and so we reached out to hospitals and we said, hey, we'd love to send you a free gift. Thanks for your service, thanks for everything you're doing. We'd love to send you a free gift. So we made this little brochure here thanking them for everything. And then we sent a package of like 25 in a nice like four-color box, like a gift box. We put some of that little like shredded paper in there that makes it all look kind of fancy. Put them all in there and then we included, like you know, there's some kids and stuff in the hospital. So here's some stuffed toys. You know along the branding. And then what did they do? These are the actual ones getting it. You can see the box there and they started posting it all over social media and we started actually getting sales and this legitimized us. It showed like, look, this is legitimate, doctors are using this and they're showing this stuff off.   Kevin King: We create our A-plus content page and actually did some really good stuff with A-plus and we showed how, for every bottle, every package you buy, we donate a bottle. So we had a cause with it, too is we donated a bottle to charities. We created memes and graphics for social media that would actually show play off of different things. During that time, we ran huge campaigns on this. We did actual physical postcards in the mail. A lot of people was like, oh, the mail is dead, nobody checks the mail, bs. We did these physical postcards through the mail and sent them to hospitals, sent them to people that previously bought sanitizers. We got some lists. We got editorial recommendations because of our branding. People love the branding and the mission that we're giving a bottle for every three sold. And then we did stuff like jingles. We actually created a jingle for the brand because, remember I said, selling is emotional and this is a really good study here. You should take a look at this sometimes.   But sound is the most important thing to our brain, not visuals. So you can be watching a YouTube video and if the YouTube video is grainy or jumping around a little bit, then you might accept it, but as long as the sound quality is good. If the sound quality is good, you can deal with lesser quality video, but if the sound quality is bad, you're going to skip this. You're going to move on to something else and it's an area of your brain called Broca's area, and it's an interesting science. If you take a look at this from a branding point of view, if you can reach Broca's area, you can do things, really amazing things. Think of old jingles like the Oscar Mayer Wiener jingle, if you're old enough to remember that, or some of the old jingles that you see on TV now you know the State Farm jingles or some of the other ones that are out there. That's all branding and marketing and it's creating these visual images. There's a really. There's a lot more to this.   Kevin King: We could go and do a whole presentation just on this, but so we dialed in on Broca's area and to use influence, and so what we did is we created a jingle and then we created a video. I had, uh, one of the amazon companies that does these nice videos. I had a couple of them actually do it. I actually had a contest with pick food to be to be on water. I had four different companies doing and competing and we create these jingles and just this is not the best singing, so don't worry about the singing, but the music in the song. It will stick in your head. I'm here to help you, uh, keep your germs away. I'll bring the bottle to you. I've got the germ charge for you. Rub it, rub it, rub it, rub it. Germ charge protection. Peel your hand, catch the germs away. Brother, strength, the best protection, no matter where you are. It can't be too far.   Kevin King: Anyway, this was a really cool jingle that had all these lyrics to it and I sent this to Bradley here at Helium 10, and he watched it and he was like damn, dude, I can't get that out of my head now. I was like that's the point. So the next time that you want to get hand sanitizer, that comes to your mind. And it worked really well. So we had a couple of them. We also went out man on the street, we had these costumes and we would go down to a park and walk around, give them out and we'd go mess with people and we'd create all this stuff. We went to a grocery store and grabbed grocery carts and had like 10 of these sharks walking into this grocery store and freaking people out and just, we did all this kind of marketing to help differentiate and it didn't sell a lot locally but it helps us create the content that we could put out there worldwide. And it really worked really well.   Kevin King: These were our sales on seven, you know, $40,000 on one single skew on that day. And you can see, we just started crushing it and we started standing out, and this is how you take a commodity and you truly make it into a real brand. These were some sales, the first we started selling in July of 2020. We went live so this is basically the first month. Sales was a million bucks on a brand-new product, and so this stuff works, but you got to come at it from a different point of view. So, what I'm trying to do today is just show you a different way of thinking of this. Can you do everything I did? Maybe, maybe not, but you can start thinking in this direction and start moving in that direction, and that's what we have for you today. Thanks everybody for joining us.  

This episode features part one with Stephen Sowell - the R3 program director for Delta Waterfowl.  Stephen is involved in some incredible projects at colleges and universities right here in our own back yards. So listen up and learn how you can get involved to help recruit , retain , and reactivate waterfowl hunters throughout North America.    If you enjoy the Rolling Thunder Podcast , share it with a friend , leave us a rating , and write a review!   We'll see you on the next one.

Host Dr. Jerad Henson is joined by co-hosts Katie Burke, Derek Christians, Dr. Mike Brasher, and Matt Harrison in the new studio. They welcome guest Rob Southwick from Southwick Associates to discuss what motivates people to hunt, sharing new research on hunter personas for R3 and other insights from his 35 years of experience in understanding and analyzing hunting participation and trends data. Rob highlights the importance of engaging people in hunting and fishing for conservation efforts and enhancing future opportunities. Tune in to learn more about the driving factors behind hunting participation and how this can impact wildlife conservation.www.ducks.org/DUPodcast

Today, I'm talking with Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe. RJ was on the show last September when we chatted at the Code Conference, but the past 10 months have seen a whirlwind of change throughout the car industry and at Rivian in particular. This year alone, the company unveiled five new models in its lineup and also just announced a $5 billion joint venture with Volkswagen. We got into all that and more.  If you're a Decoder listener, you've heard me talk to a lot of car CEOs on the show, but it's rare to talk to a car company founder, and RJ was game to talk about basically anything — even extremely minor feature requests I pulled from the forums. It's a fun one. Links: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe isn't scared of the Cybertruck | Decoder VW will invest up to $5 billion in Rivian as part of new EV joint venture | The Verge Rivian blazed a trail with its adventure EVs — can it stay on top? | The Verge Rivian R2 revealed: a $45,000 electric off-roader for the masses | The Verge Rivian surprises with R3 and R3X electric SUVs | The Verge Rivian puts its Georgia factory plans on pause | The Verge Rivian's R1 vehicles are getting a gut overhaul | The Verge Rivian R1S review: king of the mountain | The Verge Rivian's long, narrow road to profit | WSJ Tesla's Share of U.S. Electric Car Market Falls Below 50% | NYT Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23965790 Credits:  Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices