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In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Michael Campanella, a professional photographer and developer of the Folio Blocks WordPress gallery plugin. They explore the plugin's visual gallery options, including grid, justified, masonry, carousel, video, and a unique modular gallery, designed to offer photographers greater creative control. The discussion covers Folio Blocks' deep integration with the block editor, features like taxonomy-based filtering, WooCommerce integration for sales, easy image downloads, and its pricing structure. Michael shares insights on why he built the plugin and highlights its strengths for users needing powerful, modern media galleries on WordPress. Check it out...
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Brian Coords, Developer Advocate at WooCommerce, about his career path, WooCommerce's recent rebranding, and its approach to developer relations. They discuss how WooCommerce balances its open source ethos, support challenges, and global reach, as well as the platform's growing focus on AI and enhanced integration with WordPress Core. Brian also shares insights into upcoming features and the evolving landscape of e-commerce, emphasising WooCommerce's adaptability and strong community connections. If you want to hear how WooCommerce and WordPress are responding to a rapidly changing tech environment, this episode is for you.
Introducing Rob Ruiz Meet Rob Ruiz, a seasoned Senior Full Stack Developer with nearly two decades of expertise in WordPress innovation and open-source magic. As the Lead Maintainer of WP Rig since 2020, Rob has been the driving force behind this groundbreaking open-source framework that empowers developers to craft high-performance, accessible, and progressively enhanced WordPress themes with ease. WP Rig isn’t just a starter theme—it’s a turbocharged toolkit that bundles modern build processes, linting, optimization, and testing to deliver lightning-fast, standards-compliant sites that shine on any device. Show Notes For more on Rob and WP Rig, check out these links: LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robcruiz WP Rig Official Site: https://wprig.io GitHub Repository: https://github.com/wprig/wprig Latest Releases: https://github.com/wprig/wprig/releases WP Rig 3.1 Announcement: https://wprig.io/wp-rig-3-1/ Transcript: Topher DeRosia: Hey everybody. Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m your host Topher DeRosia, and with me today I have- Rob Ruiz: Rob Ruiz. Topher: Rob. You and I have talked a couple of times, once recently, and I learned about a project you’re working on, but not a whole lot about you. Where do you live? What do you do for a living? Rob: Yeah, for sure. Good question. Although I’m originally from Orlando, Florida, I’ve been living in Omaha, Nebraska for a couple of decades now. So I’m pretty much a native. I know a lot of people around here and I’ve been fairly involved in various local communities over the years. I’m a web developer. Started off as a graphic designer kind of out of college, and then got interested in web stuff. And so as a graphic designer turned future web developer, I guess, I was very interested in content management systems because it made the creating and managing of websites very, very easy. My first couple of sites were Flash websites, sites with macro media Flash. Then once I found content management systems, I was like, “Wow, this is way easier than coding the whole thing from scratch with Flash.” And then all the other obvious benefits that come from that. So I originally started with Joomla, interestingly enough, and used Joomla for about two or three years, then found WordPress and never looked back. And so I’ve been using WordPress ever since. As the years have gone on, WordPress has enabled me to slowly transition from a more kind of web designer, I guess, to a very full-blown web developer and software engineer, and even software architect to some degree. So here we are many years later. Topher: There’s a big step from designer to developer. How did that go for you? I’m assuming you went to PHP. Although if you were doing Flash sites, you probably learned ActionScript. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. That was very convenient when I started learning JavaScript. It made it very easy to learn JavaScript faster because I already had a familiarity with ActionScript. So there’s a lot of similarities there. But yeah. Even before I started doing PHP, I started learning more HTML and CSS. I did do a couple of static websites between there that were just like no content management system at all. So I was able to kind of sharpen my sword there with the CSS and HTML, which wasn’t particularly hard. But yeah, definitely, the PHP… that was a big step was PHP because it’s a proper logical programming language. There was a lot there I needed to unpack, and so it took me a while. I had to stick to it and really rinse and repeat before I finally got my feet under me. Topher: I can imagine. All right. So then you work for yourself or you freelance or do you have a real job, as it were? Rob: Currently, I do have a real job. Currently, I’m working at a company called Bold Orange out of Minneapolis. They’re a web agency. But I kind of bounce around from a lot of different jobs. And then, yes, I do freelance on the side, and I also develop my own products as well for myself and my company. Topher: Cool. Bold Orange sounds familiar. Who owns that? Rob: To be honest, I don’t know who the owners are. It’s just a pretty big web agency out of Minneapolis. They are a big company. You could just look them up at boldorange.com. They work for some pretty big companies. Topher: Cool. All right. You and I talked last about WP Rig. Give me a little background on where that came from and how you got it. Rob: Yeah, for sure. Well, there was a period of time where I was working at a company called Proxy Bid that is in the auction industry, and they had a product or a service — I don’t know how you want to look at that —called Auction Services. That product is basically just building WordPress sites for auction companies. They tasked us with a way to kind of standardize those websites essentially. And what we realized is that picking a different theme for every single site made things difficult to manage and increase tech debt by a lot. So what we were tasked with was, okay, if we’re going to build our own theme that we’re just going to make highly dynamic so we can make it look different from site to site. So we want to build it, but we want to build it smart and we want to make it reusable and maintainable. So let’s find a good framework to build this on so that we can maintain coding standards and end up with as little tech debt as possible, essentially. That’s when I first discovered WP Rig. In my research, I came across it and others. We came across Roots Sage and some of the other big names, I guess. It was actually a team exercise. We all went out and looked for different ones and studied different ones and mine that I found was WP Rig. And I was extremely interested in that one over the other ones. Interestingly enough- Topher: Can you tell me why over the other ones? Rob: That’s a great question. Yeah. I really liked the design patterns. I really liked the focus on WordPress coding standards. So having a system built in that checked all the code against WordPress coding standards was cool. I loved the compiling transpiling, whatever, for CSS and JavaScript kind of built in. That sounded really, really interesting. The fact that there was PHP unit testing built into it. So there’s like a starter testing framework built in that’s easy to extend so that you can add additional unit tests as your theme grows. We really wanted to make sure… because we were very into CICD pipelines. So we wanted to make sure that as developers were adding or contributing to any themes that we built with this, that we could have automated tests run and automated builds run, and just automate as much as possible. So WP rig just seemed like something that gave us those capabilities right out of the box. So that was a big thing. And I loved the way that they did it. Roots Sage does something similar, but they use their blade templating engine built in there. We really wanted to stick to something that was a bit more standard WordPress so that there wasn’t like a large knowledge overhead so that we didn’t have to say like, okay, if we’re bringing on other developers, like junior developers work on it, oh, it would be nice if you use Laravel too because we use this templating engine in all of our themes. We didn’t want to have to worry about that essentially. It was all object-oriented and all that stuff too. That’s what looked interesting to me. We ended up building a theme with WP Rig. I don’t know what they ended up doing with it after that, because I ended up getting let go shortly thereafter because the company had recently been acquired. Also, this was right after COVID too. So there was just a lot of moving parts and changing things at the time. So I ended up getting let go. But literally a week after I got let go, I came across a post on WP Tavern about how this framework was looking for new maintainers. Basically, this was a call put out by Morton, the original author of WP Rig. He reached out to WP Tavern and said, “Look, we’re not interested in maintaining this thing anymore, but it’s pretty cool. We like what we’ve built. And so we’re looking for other people to come in and adopt it essentially.” So I joined a Zoom meeting with a handful of other individuals that were also interested in this whole endeavor, and Morton reached out to me after the call and basically just said, “I looked you up. I liked some of the input that you had during the meeting. Let’s talk a little bit more.” And then that eventually led to conversations about me essentially taking the whole project over entirely. So, the branding, the hosting of the website, being lead maintainer on the project. Basically, gave me the keys to the kingdom in terms of GitHub and everything. So that’s how it ended up going in terms of the handoff between Morton and I. And I’m very grateful to him. They really created something super cool and I was honored to take it over and kind of, I don’t know, keep it going, I guess. Topher: I would be really curious. I don’t think either of us have the answer. I’d be curious to know how similar that path is to other project handoffs. It’s different from like an acquisition. You didn’t buy a plugin from somebody. It was kind of like vibes, I guess. Rob: It was like vibes. It was very vibey. I guess that’s probably the case in an open source situation. It’s very much an open source project. It’s a community-driven thing. It’s for everybody by everybody. I don’t know if all open source community projects roll like that, but that’s how this one worked out. There was some amount of ownership on Morton’s behalf. He did hire somebody to do the branding for WP Rig and the logo. And then obviously he was paying for stuff like the WPrig.io domain and the hosting through SiteGround and so on and so forth. So, we did have to transfer some of that and I’ve taken over those, I guess, financial burdens, if you want to think of it like that. But I’m totally okay with it. Topher: All right. You sort of mentioned some of the things Rig does, compiling and all that kind of stuff. Can you tell me… we didn’t discuss this before. I’m sitting at my desk and I think I want a website. How long does it take to go from that to looking at WordPress and logging into the admin with Rig? Rob: Okay. Rig is not an environment management system like local- Topher: I’m realizing my mistake. Somebody sends me a design in Figma. How long does it take me to go from that to, I’m not going to say complete because I mean, that’s CSS, but you know, how long does it take me to get to the point where I’m looking at a theme that is mine for the client that I’m going to start converting? Rob: Well, if you’re just looking for a starting point, if you’re just like, okay, how long does it take to get to like, okay, here’s my blank slate and I’m ready to start adopting all of these rules that are set up in Figma or whatever, I mean, you’re looking at maybe 5 minutes, 10 minutes, something like that. It’s pretty automated. You just need some simple knowledge of Git. And then there are some prerequisites to using WP Rig. You do have to have composer installed because we do leverage some Composer packages to some of it, although to be honest, you could probably get away with not using Composer. You just have to be okay with sacrificing some of the tools the WP Rig assumes you’re going to have. And then obviously Node. You have to have Node installed. A lot of our documentation assumes that you have NPM, that you’re using NPM for all your Nodes or your package management. But we did recently introduce support for Bun. And so you can use Bun instead of NPM, which is actually a lot faster and better in many ways. Topher: Okay. A lot of my audience are not developers, users, or light developers, like they’ll download a theme, hack a template, whatever. Is this for them? Am I boring those people right now? Rob: That’s a great question. I mean, and I think this is an interesting dichotomy and paradigm in the WordPress ecosystem, because you’ve got kind of this great divide. At least this is something I’ve noticed in my years in the WordPress community is you have many people that are not coders or developers that are very interested in expanding their knowledge of WordPress, but it’s strictly from a more of a marketing perspective where it’s like, I just want to know how to build websites with WordPress and how to use it to achieve my goals online from a marketing standpoint. You have that group of people, and then you have this other group of people that are very developer centric that want to know how to extend WordPress and how to empower those other people that we just discussed. Right? Topher: Right. Rob: So, yeah, that’s a very good question. I would say that WP Rig is very much designed for the developers, not for the marketers. The assumption there is that you’re going to be doing some amount of coding. Now, can you get away with doing a very light amount of coding? Yes. Yes, you can. I mean, if you compare what you’re going to get out of that assumed workflow to something that you would get off like Theme Forest or whatever, it’s going to be a night and day difference because those theme, Forest Themes, have hours, hundreds, sometimes hundreds of hours of development put into them. So, you’re not going to just out of the box immediately get something that is comparable to that. Topher: You need to put in those hundreds of hours of development to make a theme. Rob: As of today, yes. That may change soon though. Topher: Watch this space. Rob: That’s all I’ll say. Topher: Okay. So now we know who it’s for. I’m assuming there’s a website for it. What is it? Rob: Yeah. If you go to WPrig.io, we have a homepage that shows you all the features that are there in WP Rig. And then there’s a whole documentation area that helps people get up and running with WP Rig because there is a small learning curve there that’s pretty palatable for anybody who’s familiar with modern development workflows. So that is a thing. So the type of person that this is designed for anybody that wants to make a theme for anything. Let’s say you’re a big agency and you pull in a big client and that client wants something extremely custom and they come to you with Figma designs. Sure, you could go out there and find some premium theme and try to like child theme and overhaul that if you want. But in many situations, I would say in most situations, if you’re working from a Figma design that’s not based off of another theme already that’s just kind of somebody else’s brainchild, then you’re probably going to want to start from scratch. And so the idea here is that this is something to replace an approach, like underscores an approach. Actually, WP Pig was based off of underscores. The whole concept of it, as Morton explained it to me, was that he wanted to build an underscores that was more modern and full-featured from a development standpoint. Topher: Does it have any opinions about Gutenberg? Rob: It does now, but it did not when I took it over because Gutenberg did not exist yet when I took over WP Rig. Topher: Okay. What are its opinions? Rob: Yeah, sure. The opinion right out of the gate is that you can use Gutenberg as an editor and it has support like CSS rules in it for the standard blocks. So you should be able to use regular Gutenberg blocks in your theme and they should look just fine. There’s no resets in there. It doesn’t start from scratch. There’s not a bunch of styling you have to do for the blocks necessarily. Now, if you go to the full site editing or block-based mentality here, there are some things you need to do in WP Rig to convert the out-of-the-box WP Rig into another paradigm essentially. Right when you pull WP Rig, the assumption is you’re building what most people would refer to as a hybrid theme. The theme supports API or whatever, and the assumption is that you’re not going to be using the site editor. You’re just going to kind of do traditional WordPress, but you might be using Gutenberg for your content. So you’re just using Gutenberg kind of to author your pages and your posts and stuff like that, but not necessarily the whole site. WP Rig has the ability to kind of transform itself into other paradigms. So the first paradigm we built out was the universal theme approach. And the idea there is that you get a combination of the full site editing capabilities. But then you also have the traditional menu manager and the settings customizer framework or whatever is still there, right? These are things that don’t exist in a standard block-based theme. So I guess an easy example would be like the 2025 WordPress theme that comes right out of the box. It comes installed in WordPress. That is a true block-based theme, not a universal theme. So it doesn’t have those features because the assumption there is that it doesn’t need those features. You can kind of transform WP Rig into a universal theme that’s kind of a hybrid between a block-based and a classic theme. And then it can also transform into a strictly block-based theme as well. So following the same architecture as like the WordPress 2025 theme or Ollie or something like that is also a true block-based theme as well. So you can easily convert or transform the starting point of WP Rig into either of those paradigms if that’s the type of theme you’re setting out to build. Topher: Okay. That sounds super flexible. How much work is it to do that? Rob: It’s like one command line. Previously we had some tutorials on the website that showed you step-by-step, like what you needed to change about the theme to do that. You would have to add some files, delete some files, edit some code, add some theme supports into the base support class and some other stuff. I have recently, as of like a year and a half ago or a year ago, created a command line or a command that you can type into the command line that basically does that entire conversion process for you in like the blink of an eye. It takes probably a second to a second and a half to perform those changes to the code and then you’re good to go. It is best to do that conversion before you start building out your whole theme. It’s not impossible to do it after. But you’re more likely to run into problems or conflicts if you’ve already set out building your whole theme under one paradigm, and then you decide how the project you want to switch over to block-based or whatever. You’re likely to run into the need to refactor a bunch of stuff in that situation. So it is ideal to make that choice extremely early on in the process of developing your theme. But either way it’ll still work. That’s just one of the many tools that exist in WP Rig to transform it or convert it in several ways. That’s just one example. There are other examples of ways that Rig kind of converts itself to other paradigms as well. Topher: Yeah. All right. In my development life, I’ve had two parts to it. And one is the weekend hobbyist, or I download cadence and I whip something up in 20 minutes because I just want to experiment and the other is agency life where everything’s in Git, things are compiled, there are versions, blah, blah, blah. This sounds very friendly to that more professional pathway. Rob: Absolutely. Yes. Or, I mean, there’s another situation here too. If you’re a company who develops themes and publishes them to a platform like ThemeForest or any other platform, perhaps you’re selling themes on your own website, whatever, if you’re making things for sale, there’s no reason you couldn’t use WP Rig to build your themes. We have a bundle process that bundles your theme for publication or publishing. Whether you’re an agency or whether you’re putting your theme out for sale, it doesn’t matter, during that bundle process, it does actually white label the entire code base to where there’s no mention of WP Rig in the code whatsoever. Let’s say you were to build a theme that you wanted to put up for sale because you have some cool ideas. Say, page transitions now are completely supported in all modern or in most modern browsers. And when I say print page transitions, for those that are in the know, I am talking about not single page app page transitions, but through website page transitions. You can now do that. Let’s say you were like, “Hey, I’m feeling ambitious and I want to put out some new theme that comes with these page transitions built in,” and that’s going to be fancy on ThemeForest when people look at my demo, people might want to buy that. You could totally use WP Rig to build that out into a theme and the bundle process will white label all of the code. And then when people buy your theme and download that code, if they’re starting to go through and look through your code, they’re not going to have any way of knowing that it was built with WP Rig unless they’re familiar with the base WP Rig architecture, like how it does its object-oriented programming. It might be familiar with the patterns that it’s using and be able to kind of discern like, okay, well, this is the same pattern WP Rig uses, so high likelihood it was built with WP Rig. But they’re not going to be able to know by reading through the code. It’s not going to say WP Rig everywhere. It’s going to have the theme all over the place in the code. Topher: Okay. So then is that still WP Rig code? It just changed its labels? Rob: Yeah. Topher: So, it’s not like you’re exporting HTML, CSS and JavaScript? The underlying Rig framework is still there. Rob: Yeah. During the bundle process, it is bundling CSS and HTML. Well, HTML in the case of a block-based theme. But, yeah, it is bundling your PHP, your CSS, your JavaScript into the theme that you’re going to let people download when they buy it, or that you’re going to ship to your whatever client’s website. But all that code is going to be transpiled. In the case of CSS and JavaScript, there’s only going to be minified versions of that code in that theme. The source code is not actually going to be in there. Topher: This sounds pretty cool. You mentioned some stuff might be coming. You don’t have to tell me what it is, but do you have a timeline? When should we be watching for the next cool thing from Rig? Rob: Okay, cool. Well, I’m going to keep iterating on Rig forever. Regardless of any future products that might be built on WP Rig, WP Rig will always and forever remain an open source product for anybody to use for free and we, I, and possibly others in the future will continue to update it and support it over time. We just recently put out 3.1. You could expect the 3.2 anytime in the next six months to a year, probably closer to six months. One feature I’m looking at particularly closely right now is the new stuff coming out in version 6.9 of WordPress around the various APIs that are there. I think one of them is called the form… There’s a field API and a form API or view API or something like that. So WP Rig comes with a React-based settings framework in it. So if you want your theme to have a bunch of settings in it to make it flexible for whoever buys your theme, you can use this settings framework to easily create a bunch of fields, and then that framework will automatically manage all your fields and store all the data from those fields and make it easy to retrieve the values of the input on those fields, without knowing any React at all. Now, if you know React, you can go in there and, you know, embellish what’s already there, but it takes a JSON approach. So if you just understand JSON, you can go in and change the JSON for the framework, and that will automatically add fields into the settings framework. So you don’t even have to know React to extend the settings page if you want. That will likely get an overhaul using these new APIs being introduced into Rig. Topher: All right. How often have you run into something where, “Oh, look, WordPress has a new feature, I need to rebuild my system”? Rob: Over the last four or five years, it’s happened a lot because, yeah, I mean, like I said, when I first took this thing over, Gutenberg had not even been introduced yet. So, you had the introduction of Gutenberg and blocks. That was one thing. Then this whole full site editing became a thing, which later became the site editor. So that became a whole thing. Then all these various APIs. I mean, it happens quite frequently. So I’ve been working to keep it modern and up to date over the past four years and it’s been an incredible learning experience. It not only keeps my WordPress knowledge extremely sharp, but I’ve also learned how various other toolkits are built. That’s been the interesting thing. From a development standpoint, there’s two challenges here. One of the challenges is staying modern on the WordPress side of things. For instance, WordPress coding standards came out with a version 3 and then a version 3.1 about two years ago. I had to update WP Rig to leverage those modern coding standards. So that’s one example is as WordPress changes, the code in WP Rig also needs to change. Or for instance, if new CSS standards change, right, new CSS properties come out, it is ideal for the base CSS in WP Rig, meaning the CSS that you get right out of the box with it, comes with some of these, for instance, CSS grid, Flexbox, stuff like that. If I was adopting a theme framework to build a theme on, I would expect some of that stuff to be in there. And those things were extremely new when I first took over WP Rig and were not all baked in there essentially. So I’ve had to add a lot of that over time. Now there’s another side to this, which is not just keeping up with WordPress and CSS and PHP, 8. whatever, yada yada yada. You’ve also got the toolkit. There are various node packages and composer packages of power WP Rig and the process in which it does the transpiling, the bundling, the automated manipulation of your code during various aspects of the usage of WP Rig is a whole nother set of challenges because now you have to learn concepts like, well, how do I write custom node scripts? Right? Like there were no WP CLI commands built into WP Rig when I first took it over. Now there’s a whole list. There’s a whole library of WP CLI commands that come in Rig right out of the gate. And so I’ve had to learn about that. So just various things that come with knowing how do you automate the process of converting code, that’s something that was completely foreign to me when I first took over WP Rig. That’s been another incredible learning experience is understanding like what’s the difference between Webpack and Gulp. I didn’t know, right? I would tell people I’m using Gulp and WP Rig and they would be like, “Well, why don’t you just use Webpack?” and I would say, “I don’t know. I don’t know what the difference is.” So over time I could figure out what are the differences? Why aren’t we using Webpack? And I’m glad I spent some time on that because it turns out Webpack is not the hottest thing anymore, so I just skipped right over all that. When I overhauled for version 3, we’re now not using Gulp anymore as of 3.1. We’re now using more of a Vite-like process, far more modern than Webpack and far better and faster and sleeker and lighter. I had to learn a bunch about what powers Vite. What is Vite doing under the hood that we might be able to also do in WP Rig, but do it in a WordPress way. Because Vite is a SaaS tool. If you’re building a SaaS, like React with a… we’re not a SaaS. I guess a spa is a better term to use here. If you’re building a single page application with React or view or belt or whatever, right, then knowing what Vite is and just using Vite right out of the box is perfect. But it doesn’t translate perfectly to WordPress land because WordPress has its own opinions. And so I did have to do some dissecting there and figure out what to keep and what to not keep to what to kind of set aside so that WordPress can keep doing what WordPress does the way WordPress likes to do it, but also improve on how we’re doing some of the compiling and transpiling and the manipulation of the code during these various. Topher: All right. I want to pivot a little bit to some personal-ish questions. Rob: Okay. Topher: This is a big project. I’m sure it takes up plenty of your time. How scalable is that in your life? Do you want to do this for the rest of your life? Rob: That’s a fantastic question. I don’t know about the rest of my life. I mean, I definitely want to do web development for the rest of my life because the web has, let’s be honest, it’s transformed everyone’s way of life, whether you’re a web developer or not. You know, the fact that we have the internet in our pocket now, you know, it has changed everything. Apps, everything. It’s all built on the web. So I certainly want to be involved in the web the rest of my life. Do I want to keep doing WordPress the rest of my life? I don’t know. Do I want to keep doing WP Rig the rest of my life? I don’t know. But I will say that you bring up a very interesting point, which is it does take up a lot of time and also trust in open source over the past four or five years I would argue has diminished a little bit as a result of various events that have occurred over the past two or three years. I mean, we could cite the whole WP Engine Matt Mullerwig thing. We can also cite what’s going on with Oracle and JavaScript. Well, I mean, there’s many examples of this. I mean, we can cite the whole thing that happened… I mean, there’s various packages out there that are used and developed and open source to anybody, and some of them are going on maintained and it’s causing security vulnerabilities and degradation and all this stuff. So it’s a very important point. One thing I started thinking about after considering that in relation to WP Rig was I noticed that there’s usually a for-profit arm of any of these frameworks that seems to extend the lifespan of it. Let’s just talk about React, for example, React is an open source JavaScript framework, but it’s used by Facebook and Facebook is extremely for-profit. So companies that are making infrastructural or architectural decisions, they will base their choice on whether or not to use a framework largely on how long they think this framework is going to remain relevant or valid or maintained, right? A large part of that is, well, is there a company making money off of this thing? Because if there is, the chances- Topher: They’re going to keep doing that. Rob: They’re going to keep doing it. It’s going to stay around. That’s good. I think that’s healthy. A lot of people that like open source and want everything to be free, they might look at something like that and say like, well, I don’t want you to make a paid version of it or there shouldn’t be a pro version. I think that’s a very short-sighted way of looking at that software and these innovations. I think a more experienced way of looking at it is if you want something to remain relevant and maintained for a long period of time, having a for-profit way in which it’s leveraged is a very good thing. I mean, let’s be real. Would WordPress still be what it is today if there wasn’t a wordpress.com or if WooCommerce wasn’t owned by Automattic or whatever, right? They’ll be on top. I mean, it’s obviously impossible to say, but my argument would be, probably not. I mean, look at what’s happened to the other content management systems out there. You know, Joomla Drupal. They don’t really have a flourishing, you know, paid pro service that goes with their thing that’s very popular, at least definitely not as popular as WordPress.com or WordPress VIP or some of these other things that exist out there. And so having something that’s making and generating money that can then contribute back into it the way Automattic has been doing with WordPress over these years has, in my opinion, been instrumental. I mean, people can talk smack about Gutenberg all they want, but let’s be real, it’s 2025, would you still feel that WordPress is an elegant solution if we were still working from the WYSIWYG and using the classic editor? And I know a lot of people are still using the classic editor and there’s classic for us, the fork and all that stuff. But I mean, that only makes sense in a very specific implementation of WordPress, a very specific paradigm. If you want to explore any of these other paradigms out there, that way of thinking about WordPress kind of falls apart pretty quickly. I, for one, am happy that Gutenberg exists. I’m very happy that Automattic continues. And I’m grateful, actually, that Automattic continues to contribute back into WordPress. And not just them, obviously there’s other companies, XWP, 10Up, all these other companies are also contributing as well. But I’m very grateful that this ecosystem exists and that there’s contribution going back in and it’s happening from companies that are making money with this. And I think that’s vital. All that to say that WP Rig may and likely will have paid products in the future that leverage WP Rig. So that’s not to say that WP Rig will eventually cost money. That’s just to say that eventually people can expect other products to come out in the future that will be built on WP Rig and incentivize the continued contributions back into WP Rig. The open source version of WP Rig. Topher: That’s cool. I think that’s wise. If you want anything to stay alive, you have to feed it. Rob: That’s right. Topher: I had some more questions but I had forgotten them because I got caught up in your answer. Rob: Oh, thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment. I mean, my answer was eloquent. But I’m happy to expand on anything, know you, WordPress related, me related, you know, whether it comes to the ecosystem in WordPress, the whole WordCamp meetup thing is very interesting. I led the WP Omaha meetup for many years here in Omaha, Nebraska and I also led the WordCamp, the organizing of WordCamp here in Omaha for several years as well. That whole community, the whole ecosystem, at least in America seems to have largely fallen apart. I don’t know if you want to talk about that at all. But yeah, I’m ready to dive into any topics. Topher: I’m going to have one more question and then we’re going to wrap up. And it was that you were talking about all the things you had to learn. I’m sure there were nights where you were looking at your computer thinking, “Oh man, I had it working, now I gotta go learn a new thing.” I would love for you to go back in time and blog all of that if you would. But given that you can’t, I would be interested in a blog moving forward, documenting what you’re learning, how you’re learning it and starting maybe with a post that’s summarizes all of that. Obviously, that’s up to you and how you want to spend your time, but I think it’d be really valuable to other people starting a project, picking up somebody else’s project to see what the roadmap might look like. You know what I mean? Rob: For sure. Well, I can briefly summarize what I’ve learned over the years and where I’m at today with how I do this kind of stuff. I will say that a lot of the improvements to WP Rig that have happened over the last year or two would not be possible without the advent of AI. Topher: Interesting. Rob: That’s a fancy way of saying that I have been by coding a lot of WP Rig lately. If you know how to use AI, it is extremely powerful and it can help you do many things very quickly that previously would have taken much longer or more manpower. So, yeah, perhaps if there was like five, six, seven people actively, excuse me, actively contributing to WP Rig, then this type of stuff would have been possible previously, but that’s not the case. There is one person, well, one main contributor to WP Rig today and you’re talking to them. There are a handful of other people that have been likely contributing to WP Rig over the versions and you can find their contributions in the change log file in WP Rig. But those contributions have been extremely light compared to what I’ve been doing. I wouldn’t be able to do any of it without AI. I have learned my ability to learn things extremely rapidly has ramped up tenfold since I started learning how to properly leverage LLMs and AI. So that’s not to say that like, you know, WP Rig, all the code is just being completely written by AI and I’m just like. make it better, enter, and then like WP Rig is better. I wish it was that easy. It’s certainly not that. But when I needed to start asking some of these vital questions that I really didn’t have anyone to turn to to help answer them, I was able to turn to AI. For instance, let’s go back to the Webpack versus Gulp situation. Although Gulp is no longer used in WP Rig, you know, it was used in WP Rig until very recently. So I had to understand like, what is this system, how does it work, how do I extend it and how do I update it and all these things, right? And why aren’t we using WebPack and you know, is there validity to this criticism behind you should use webpack instead of Gulp or whatever, right? I was able to use AI to ask these questions and be able to get extremely good answers out of it and give me the direction I needed to make some of these kind of higher level decisions on like architecturally where should WP Rig go? It was through these virtual conversations with LLMs that I was able to refine the direction of WP Rig in a direction that is both modern and forward-thinking and architecturally sound. I learned a tremendous amount from AI about the architecture, about the code, about all of it. My advice to anybody that wants to extend their skill set a little bit in the development side of things is to leverage this new thing that we have in a way that is as productive as possible for you. So that’s going to vary from person to person. But for me, if I’m on a flight or if I’m stuck somewhere for a while, like, let’s say I got to take my kid to practice or something and I’m stuck there for an hour and I got to find some way to kill my time 9 times out of 10, I’m on my laptop or on my phone having conversations with Grok or ChatGPT or Gemini or whatever. I am literally refining… I’m just sitting there asking it questions that are on my mind that I wish I could ask somebody who’s like 10 times more capable than me. It has been instrumental. WP Rig wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for that. I would just say to anybody, especially now that it’s all on apps and you don’t have to be on a browser anymore, adopt that way of thinking. You know, if you’re on your lunch break or whatever and you have an hour lunch break and you only take 15 minutes to eat, what could you be doing with those other 45 minutes? You could just jump on this magical thing that we have now and start probing it for questions. Like, Hey, here’s what I know. Here’s what I don’t know. Fill these knowledge gaps for me.” And it is extremely good at doing that. Topher: So my question was, can you blog this and your answer told me that there’s more there that I want to hear. That’s the stuff that should be in your book when you write your book. Rob: I’m flattered that you would be interested in reading anything that I write. So thank you. I’ve written stuff in the past and it hasn’t gotten a lot of attention. But I also don’t have any platforms to market it either. But yeah, no, I made some… I’m sorry. Topher: I think your experience is valuable far beyond Rig or WordPress. If you abstract it out of a particular project to say, you know, I did this with a project, I learned this this way, I think that would be super valuable. Rob: Well, I will say that recently at my current job, I was challenged to create an end to end testing framework with Playwright that would speed up how long it takes to test things and also prevent, you know, to make things fail earlier, essentially, to prevent broken things from ending up in the wild, right, and having to catch them the hard way. I didn’t know a lot about Playwright, but I do know how toolkits work now because of WP Rig. And I was able to successfully in a matter of, I don’t know, three days, put together a starter kit for a test framework that we’re already using at work to test any website that we create for any client. It can be extended and it can be hooked into any CI CD pipeline and it generates reports for you and it does a whole bunch of stuff. I was able to do this relatively quickly. This knowledge, yes, does come in handy in other situations. Will I end up developing other toolkits like WP Rig in the future for other things? I guess if I can give any advice to anybody listening out there, another piece of advice I would give people is, you know, especially if you’re a junior developer and you’re still learning or whatever, or you’re just a marketing person and just want to have more control over the functionality side of what you’re creating or more insight into that so you could better, you know, manage projects or whatever. My advice would be to take on a small little project that is scoped relatively small that’s not too much for you to chew and go build something and do it with… Just doing that will be good. But if you can do it with the intent to then present it in some fashion, whether it be a blog article or creating a YouTube video or going to a meetup and giving a talk on it or even a lunch and learn at work or whatever, right, that will, in my experience, it will dramatically amplify how much you learn from that little pet project that’s kind of like a mini learning experience. And I highly encourage anybody out there to do that on the regular. Actually, no matter what your experience level is in development, I think you should do these things on a regular basis. Topher: All right. I’m going to wrap this up. I got to get back to work. You probably have to get back to work. Rob: Yeah. Topher: Thanks for talking. Rob: Thanks for having me, Topher. Really appreciate it. Topher: Where could people find you? WPrig.io? Rob: Yeah, WPrig.io. WP rig has accounts on all of the major platforms and, even on Bluesky and Mastodon. You can look me up, Rob Ruiz. You can find me on LinkedIn. You can find me on all of those same platforms as well. You can add me on Facebook if you want, whatever. And I’m also in the WordPress Slack as well as Rob Ruiz. You can find me in the WordPress Slack. And then I’m on the WordPress Reddit and all that stuff. So yeah, reach out. If anybody wants to have any questions about Rig or anything else, I’m happy to engage. Topher: Sounds good. All right, I’ll see you. Rob: All right, thanks, Topher. Have a good day. Topher: This has been an episode of the Hallway Chats podcast. I’m your host Topher DeRosia. Many thanks to our sponsor Nexcess. If you’d like to hear more Hallway Chats, please let us know on hallwaychats.com.
Melde dich jetzt kostenlos zum Live-Workshop an: https://www.berend-heins.de/workshop-2026?utm_source=organic&utm_medium=podcast In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts werfen wir einen Blick in die Zukunft: Was erwartet uns 2026 im E-Commerce? Ich teile mit dir meine Einschätzung zur Marktentwicklung, den größten Chancen – und den Risiken, auf die du dich jetzt schon vorbereiten solltest. Du erfährst, welche Trends wirklich relevant werden und wie du deinen Onlineshop strategisch auf das nächste Jahr ausrichtest. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts gibt's ein kleines Markt-Update: Ich teile mit dir, wo der E-Commerce Ende 2025 steht – aus meiner Sicht, aus Sicht unserer Kund:innen und mit Blick auf aktuelle Entwicklungen. Du bekommst ein Gefühl dafür, wie du dich strategisch für die kommenden Monate aufstellen solltest, um profitabel zu wachsen. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.
In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts habe ich ein kleines Weihnachtsgeschenk für dich – etwas, das dir wirklich langfristig weiterhelfen kann. Ich erzähle dir, worum es geht, für wen es Sinn macht und warum du damit dein Business nachhaltig auf die nächste Stufe bringen kannst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.
Willkommen bei Back 2 Basics – der Reihe für aufstrebende E-Commerce Händler und ihren ersten Kontakt mit Affiliate Marketing - vom Next Level Affiliate Marketing Podcast. Bist du engagierter Merchant und hast bereits deinen Online-Shop bei Shopify, Woocommerce, Magento oder Shopware, und suchst nun nach einer Erweiterung zum typischen Google, Amazon, Facebook und Apple Marketing-Mix? Dein Host Nawid Company erklärt in dieser Serie klar strukturiert die Grundsteine des Affiliate-Marketingbereichs damit du bestens vorbereitet für die ersten Schritte bist. So wirst mit Back 2 Basics und der Interview-Reihe Time for Learning schnell zum Profi. Die heutige Folge behandelt folgende Themen: - Google Shopping / CSS - In-House - Native Ads - Netzwerkgebühr / Override - Skalierung / Skalieren - Tracking / Transparenz - Werbeexperten - Wettbewerb / Marktbegleiter
In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts sprechen wir darüber, wie du deine Werbeanzeigen in der Feiertagssaison strategisch clever steuerst – ohne in Stress oder Panik-Modus zu verfallen. Du erfährst, welche Kampagnen du jetzt priorisieren solltest, wie du mit steigenden CPMs und schwankender Performance umgehst und worauf du achten musst, um trotz Feiertagstrubel profitabel zu bleiben. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts sprechen wir darüber, wie du deine Werbeanzeigen in der Feiertagssaison strategisch clever steuerst – ohne in Stress oder Panik-Modus zu verfallen. Du erfährst, welche Kampagnen du jetzt priorisieren solltest, wie du mit steigenden CPMs und schwankender Performance umgehst und worauf du achten musst, um trotz Feiertagstrubel profitabel zu bleiben. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts schauen wir uns an, warum sich die meisten Onlineshops ihre E-Mail-Liste selbst zerstören – ohne es zu merken. Ich spreche über typische Fehler im E-Mail-Marketing, verrate dir, wie du deine Newsletter-Strategie auf ein solides Fundament stellst und warum dein E-Mail-Flow viel wichtiger ist als du denkst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Luca Borreani is the co-founder and CMO of ZipChat.ai, a leader in conversational AI that transforms every e-commerce chat into a revenue opportunity. Driven by a passion for digital marketing and innovative automation, he empowers brands to recover abandoned carts, convert browsers into buyers, and provide 24/7 multilingual support. Luca's expertise includes agentic AI, customer journey optimization, and the creation of scalable, value-driven e-commerce experiences for stores of any size. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Luca Borreani joins Robert Plank to demystify agentic AI in e-commerce and how merchants can use ZipChat.ai to automate support, increase conversions, and delight customers on platforms from Shopify to WooCommerce. Luca reveals how smart automation and instant, context-aware responses unlock missed sales, eliminate friction from business hours, and cater to an international customer base. The discussion covers practical integration tips, evolving AI capabilities, the value of early adoption, and why focusing on customer experience leads to long-term growth. Listeners will discover actionable ways to get started with agentic AI without complex workflows and to stay ahead in the rapidly changing world of digital commerce. Quotes: “With AI, you unlock sales opportunities even when your team's offline conversations happen in any language, any time.” “Agentic AI doesn't just answer questions; it takes action, like creating custom coupons and adapting in real time to customer needs.” “The longer you use AI, the greater your competitive advantage; it's compounding technology that keeps getting smarter.” Resources: Connect with Luca on LinkedIn. Conversational AI Agent for eCommerce
Cloud Stories | Cloud Accounting Apps | Accounting Ecosystem
Jarrod Adam is Head of Production & Distribution at The Access Group Explore how Unleashed helps small businesses thrive through AI-driven inventory management, smarter tools, and actionable data that streamline operations and empower strategic growth. Summary Today I'm speaking with Jarrod Adam, Head of Production & Distribution at The Access Group. In this episode, we talk about . . . how Unleashed empowers small businesses with actionable data, AI-powered tools, and integrated inventory solutions. Introduction to Jarrod Adam and his background in product management The story behind Unleashed and its acquisition by The Access Group Overview of the inventory and warehouse management landscape for SMBs Unleashed's value proposition for small businesses and advisors When and why to move from basic inventory in GL systems to dedicated inventory tools Implementation approach and onboarding process at Unleashed Unleashed's ecosystem: integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, Shopify, Amazon & more Evolving supply chain issues post-COVID and solutions like Advanced Inventory Manager (AIM) AI in Unleashed: Evo copilot, AI feed, and intelligent agents Partner Portal for accountants and bookkeepers – real-time client access Use of operational data for advisory services The Unleashed Manufacturing Health Index – valuable for advisory insights Discussion around the manufacturing “haves and have-nots” Closing thoughts on simplicity, design, and real value from software
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Hol dir noch mehr wertvolle Insights mit unseren kostenlosen Ressourcen: 8-Figure Checkliste: www.ecomhouse.com/checkliste ECOM SECRETS Buch: www.ecombuch.de ECOM INSIDER Newsletter: www.ecomhouse.com/newsletter Kostenloser Strategie Call: www.ecomhouse.com/skalierungs-call Wenn du Fragen an Daniel Bidmon hast oder möchtest, dass er und sein Team dir bei der Skalierung deines Onlineshops helfen, dann vereinbare jetzt dein kostenloses Strategiegespräch: www.ecomhouse.com Daniel Bidmon und sein Team aus 35 A-Level Mitarbeitern und exklusiver Meta Business Partner auf höchstem Level, hat seine Agentur ECOM HOUSE GmbH über 1 Milliarde Euro E-Commerce-Umsatz für ihre Kunden generiert. In seinem Nr.1 E-Commerce Podcast in der DACH-Region zeigt er dir, wie du dein Marketing so optimierst, dass du profitabel auf 7 und 8-stellige Umsätze skalierst – mit bewährten Meta Ads-Strategien, präziser Kundenansprache und weiteren Erfolgsgeheimnissen.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Thanks Pressable for supporting the show! Get your special hosting deal at https://pressable.com/wpminuteBecome a WP Minute Supporter & Slack member at https://thewpminute.com/supportOn this episode of The WP Minute+ podcast, Eric Karkovack speaks with Rodolfo Melogli, the founder of Business Bloomer and organizer of the Checkout Summit. Rodolfo discussed the need for in-person WooCommerce conferences and shared his successful blogging journey. He also shared insights on the evolution of WooCommerce, its competition, and the vision behind the Checkout Summit. He emphasized the significance of networking and personal connections in the e-commerce space. Takeaways:Rodolfo's journey into WooCommerce began unexpectedly after a career shift.Business Bloomer has been a vital resource for WooCommerce customization.Rodolfo has been advocating for in-person WooCommerce conferences for years.The Checkout Summit aims to foster real-life connections among WooCommerce enthusiasts.The event will focus on a small, intimate setting to encourage networking.Rodolfo believes in the flexibility and potential of WooCommerce compared to competitors.Rodolfo aims to create a relaxed atmosphere for speakers and attendees alike.The event is scheduled to take place on April 23-24, 2026, in Palermo, Sicily.Important Links:Checkout SummitBusiness BloomerConnect with Rodolfo Melogli:LinkedIn | Twitter/XThe WP Minute+ Podcast: thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Listen to a segment of Eric Karkovack's chat with Rodolfo Melogli, the founder of Business Bloomer and organizer of the Checkout Summit. The event is scheduled to take place on April 23-24, 2026, in Palermo, Sicily.Check out the entire interview on The WP Minute+ podcast: https://thewpminute.com/checkout-summit-signals-a-return-to-woocommerce-events/ Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Rodolfo Melogli about the growing isolation in the WooCommerce and WordPress communities due to remote work and AI, and his mission to “bring humans back” through in-person interaction. Rodolfo shares his journey as a WooCommerce expert, the challenges of working remotely, and the inspiration for organising Checkout Summit, a people-focused, content-rich WooCommerce event in Palermo designed to foster genuine connections, collaboration, and community in a relaxed, inclusive setting. If you've been feeling the effects of remote work and the rise of automation, or simply want a better way to connect with your fellow WordPress peers, this episode is for you.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Liquid Weekly Podcast: Shopify Developers Talking Shopify Development
In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page welcome Roberto Senabre, co-founder of the Shopify app Orbe, to discuss the complexities of Shopify Markets and internationalization.Roberto shares his journey from starting a plant-based leather brand on WooCommerce to becoming a "Shopify Markets fanboy" after realizing the struggles of managing localized experiences. He explains how Orbe solves the critical issue of directing international shoppers to the correct localized storefront without negatively impacting SEO or UX.HookdeckFor more information about the sponsor of this episode, Hookdeck, check out https://hookdeck.com/?utm_source=LWPodcast&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_id=LWAdSlot Find Roberto Senabre Online- Orbe: https://apps.shopify.com/orbe- Twitter (X): https://x.com/robertosenabre- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/senabre/ Timestamps- 00:00 Introduction and Hookdeck Sponsor Ad- 02:40 Welcome and Introduction of Roberto Senabre from Orbe- 05:25 Roberto's Background: From 12-year-old Coder to Merchant- 08:30 The Birth of Orbe and Discovering Shopify Markets- 11:20 The Vision of Shopify Markets: Beyond Just Countries- 13:45 The Pain of "Expansion Stores" vs. Single Store Markets- 19:00 Technical Pitfall 1: Not Using Proper Liquid/JS Routes Objects- 22:45 Technical Pitfall 2: Confusing Markets with Storefronts (The "Rest of World" Mistake)- 26:30 Technical Pitfall 3: Hard-Coding Full URLs in Content- 30:30 Technical Pitfall 4: Manually Editing Hreflang Tags (Don't do it!)- 32:30 Technical Pitfall 5: Using Visual-Only Currency Converter Apps- 33:40 Technical Pitfall 6: Automatic Redirection vs. SEO Crawlers- 35:50 When to Use Expansion Stores vs. Markets- 38:00 Orbe's Tech Stack: PHP, Vanilla JS, and Web Components- 44:50 Dev Changelog Highlights- 50:40 Picks of the WeekResources- Orbe Geolocation: https://orbe.app/install/liquidweekly- Orbe Affiliate Program: http://orbe.app/affiliates/liquidweekly- Hookdeck: https://hookdeck.com/- Common issues on Markets: https://orbe.app/blogs/blog/shopify-markets-mistakes- Expansion stores vs one single store: https://orbe.app/blogs/blog/shopify-expansion-stores-vs-shopify-marketsDev Changelog- New: Unlisted Product Status - https://shopify.dev/changelog/new-unlisted-product-status- Improved concurrency handling in the Cart AJAX API and Storefront Cart -GraphQL API - https://shopify.dev/changelog/improved-concurrency-handling-in-the-cart-ajax-api-and-storefront-cart-graphql-api- Updated online store promotion app store requirement - https://shopify.dev/changelog/updated-online-store-promotion-app-store-requirement- Increased limits in metafield and metaobject definitions - https://shopify.dev/changelog/increased-limits-for-metafields-and-metaobjects- [action required] Bulk operations group objects default changed to false - https://shopify.dev/changelog/bulk-operations-group-objects-default-changed-to-false- Built for Shopify apps get priority visibility across the Shopify App Store - https://shopify.dev/changelog/built-for-shopify-apps-get-priority-visibility-across-the-shopify-app-store- The cartDiscountCodeUpdate mutation now requires the discountCodes field - https://shopify.dev/changelog/the-cartdiscountcodeupdate-mutation-now-requires-the-discountcodes-fieldPicks of the Week- Karl: Chronometer - A free nutrition, calorie, and macro tracking app with a great food library and barcode scanner. https://cronometer.com/ - Roberto: RFC for Shopify Storefront Standard events: https://x.com/benjaminsehl/status/1982862575298838983 - Taylor: Ashland High School Football - Celebrating local team making it to the first round of the playoffs.Sign Up for Liquid WeeklyDon't miss out on expert insights and tips—subscribe to Liquid Weekly for more content like this: https://liquidweekly.com/
Créer une fiche produit efficaceSi vous tenez une boutique en ligne, vous savez déjà que créer une fiche produit ne se résume pas à remplir deux champs et cliquer sur “publier”. C'est un véritable levier pour donner envie, rassurer et guider vos visiteurs jusqu'à l'achat. Cette semaine, je vous retrouve pour un épisode entièrement consacré à ce sujet souvent sous-estimé et pourtant décisif dans la performance de votre boutique.Celles et ceux qui ont déjà optimisé leurs fiches produits l'ont remarqué : des visuels attractifs, une description claire ou un simple avis client peuvent changer énormément de choses. Et si vous débutez encore ou que vous sentez que vos pages produits ne “fonctionnent” pas autant que vous le voudriez, cet épisode devrait vous éclairer. On va passer en revue les éléments essentiels à travailler pour rendre chaque fiche plus engageante, plus agréable et surtout plus efficace.Écoutez l'épisode pour découvrir : • Les types de photos indispensables pour donner vie à vos produits • Les outils simples à activer sur Woocommerce pour fluidifier l'achat • Les piliers d'une fiche produit claire, cohérente et rassuranteEt bien d'autres points qui feront vraiment la différence.Retrouvez les notes de l'épisode ici : https://elodie-illustrations.net/161
Chaos to Conversions: A Podcast on Launching and Email Marketing
In this episode, Melanie and Branda talk with Alexis from Laugh Eat Learn about the challenges and opportunities of selling products through personal websites versus marketplaces. Alexis shares insights on SEO, email marketing, and the misconceptions surrounding the setup of online shops. Listen in as they talk about the benefits of having control over branding and marketing strategies on a personal website.Tune in as Melanie, Branda, and Alexis Discuss:How selling on your own website offers more control and flexibility.Why buyers prefer a personal shopping experience over generic listings.How your branding should reflect individuality and authenticity.Common misconceptions about taxes and setup related to WooCommerce.Why an email list is essential for repeat customers.Mentioned in the Episode:Settin' up Shop with WooCommerce CourseConnect with Melanie and Branda:Connect with Melanie on Instagram @duxburydigitalConnect with Branda on Instagram @therelevantcollective________________________________________CONNECT WITH MELANIE:www.duxburydigital.cowww.instagram.com/duxburydigitalCONNECT WITH BRANDA:www.therelevantcollective.comwww.instagram.com/therelevantcollective
Brand Inclusions Coming to Google Shopping Ads & Interview w/ PPC Greg | EP. 408This week on Marketing O'Clock: Google adds Brand Inclusion to Shopping ads, Opal's “optimized content at scale” pitch raises SEO questions, and Reddit launches a WooCommerce integration for syncing product catalogs directly into Reddit ads.Visit us at - https://marketingoclock.com/Try Cookiebot - http://marketingoclock.com/cookiebot
In this episode of Matthew Wayne Selznick Creates, I’m pleased to officially release the countdown app with a point of view I brought into the world and have been using myself for many months: What Matters. What Matters does one thing: displays how many days are left until a deadline you set, and presents a single question: “Are you doing what matters?” Listen to the episode to learn why I wanted such a thing to exist, and how to get your copy for Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Don’t want to wait? Buy it now and tinker with What Matters while you listen to the episode! Also: all about my now fully-functional battlesta— I mean, online shop. It’s not quite as pretty as I’d like, and there are things I’d like it to do differently, but you can once again purchase e-books, audiobooks, chapbooks, and yes, software directly from me. Learn all about it, especially the WordPress plugins that make it possible, FluentCart and FluentCRM. This episode was recorded on November 11, 2025. Watch the Episode (No video? Click to watch on YouTube.) Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My creative services for authors and podcasters. Can I help you? Book a free discovery call and let’s find out. My fiction and non-fiction. What Matters is a single-purpose countdown application for Windows, Mac, or Linux. A video walkthrough of what’s cool about What Matters. There are many websites like this one that will estimate your life expectancy. FluentCart is a new shopping cart plugin for WordPress that’s much more cost-effective than WooCommerce. FluentCRM is a marketing / mailing list / customer relationship management plugin for WordPress that makes third party solutions like Kit, Mailchimp, or Mailerlite unnecessary… and it’s much, much less expensive, to boot! Amazon SES makes it possible to send marketing emails for fractions of a penny each. This episode was recorded (audio and video) using my Insta360 webcam via Meld Studio. Support the show with a one-time donation, with my thanks! Thanks to the Patron Members of the Multiversalists Community Thank you to J.C. Hutchins, thank you to Jim Lewinson, thank you Amelia Bowen, thank you Ted Leonhardt, thank you to Charles Eugene Anderson, thank you to Scott Roche, thank you to Harold Johnson, thank you to David Mackler, and thank you to Sam Cherubin. ~ Did you listen to this and decide you like the cut of my jib? Are you interested in directly benefiting from my quarter century of online indie publishing experience? Click to learn more about my services for writers, authors, and other creators! Never miss an episode! Join the Multiversalists community of readers, writers, friends, and fans at the free level. Or (and!), find this podcast anywhere you get your podcasts, or subscribe manually by copying https://www.mattselznick.com/feed/podcast/sonitotum into your favorite podcast app. This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
If you run an online store and you're not focused on increasing your average order value, you're leaving a lot of money on the table.In this video, I'm going to show you how I increased my average order value by over 30% using a strategy that helped me generate more than 3.6 million dollars in extra revenue—without spending more on ads.This isn't theory. It's what I use every single day inside my own brands.You'll see exactly how I upsell to premium products, how I cross-sell items that actually help my customers, and how I downsell when someone says no to the initial offer. I'll also walk you through how I automate the entire process with a tool called OneClickUpsell.This works on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce—any platform where you control the checkout experience. And it doesn't matter if you're not a developer. I'm not either. I still set this up myself with just a few clicks.This one change helped me turn a $21 order into a $174 sale. It raised my average order value to $129. And it's one of the most important things I've done to grow revenue without increasing my ad spend.If you want to get more from every customer you bring in, this is something you need to start doing right now.-------------------About Manuel Suarez:Manuel Suarez, known as the "Marketing Ninja" and a "Best Selling Author" of "Marketing Magic", leads Attention Grabbing Media (AGM), a marketing agency honored three times on the Inc 5000 list. With a team of over 120, AGM specializes in turning attention into profit for a wide array of brands. In 2023 alone, brands managed by AGM exceeded 250 million USD in revenue.Manuel is also the co-founder of NaturalSlim, a self-funded high 9-figure brand. He has elevated thousands of businesses across various sectors and has directed marketing campaigns for industry leaders like Dr. Eric Berg, Grant Cardone, and Daymond John.He is also responsible for two of the top 15 largest U.S. YouTube channels—Dr. Eric Berg and MetabolismoTV—which together have over 20 million subscribers. Over seven years, his strategies have amassed 8 billion views, generated 5 million leads, and earned over 500 million USD in revenue.Follow Manuel Suarez on Social Media:- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theninjamarketer/- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrmanuelsuarez/- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmanuelsuarez- X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/MrManuelSuarez- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmanuelsuarez/Learn More About AGM:- Visit our website: https://www.agmagency.comNeed Help with Your Marketing?- Talk to a Ninja: https://www.talktoaninja.comCheck Out Manuel's Book, a #1 Seller on Amazon:- Marketing Magic by Manuel Suarez: https://a.co/d/gbwHKSf
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette chats with developer Mark Westguard about the new Image Roulette plugin, which randomizes images on WordPress sites while keeping alt text and captions for accessibility. The plugin was inspired by Michelle's need to display randomized Speed Networking conversation cards.They demonstrate how it works, discuss potential eCommerce uses, and share experiences using AI tools like Claude to speed up development. The episode also highlights collaboration, creativity, and fun within the WordPress community.Top Takeaways:Image Roulette Plugin: Michelle's accessibility challenge inspired Mark to create a plugin that randomizes images while preserving alt text and captions. Within hours, he developed a fully functional prototype that later became a public WordPress plugin.Accessibility at the Core: The plugin automatically uses each image's existing media library fields (alt text, title, caption), ensuring accessibility is built-in rather than an afterthought — aligning with WordPress's broader emphasis on inclusive design.Simplicity and Versatility: Image Roulette works via both a Gutenberg block and a shortcode, making it compatible with different site builders. It's ideal not only for random prompts but also for creative and commercial applications, such as eCommerce product showcases.Mentioned In The Show:MooImage RouletteInsta WPClaudeCursorAngieWP World
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Kostenloser Audit: www.ecomhouse.com/skalierungs-call Hol dir noch mehr wertvolle Insights mit unseren kostenlosen Ressourcen: 8-Figure Checkliste: www.ecomcheckliste.de ECOM SECRETS Buch: www.ecombuch.de ECOM INSIDER Newsletter: www.ecomhouse.com/newsletter Wenn du Fragen an Daniel Bidmon hast oder möchtest, dass er und sein Team dir bei der Skalierung deines Onlineshops helfen, dann vereinbare jetzt dein kostenloses Strategiegespräch: www.ecomhouse.com Daniel Bidmon und sein Team aus 35 A-Level Mitarbeitern und exklusiver Meta Business Partner auf höchstem Level, hat seine Agentur ECOM HOUSE GmbH über 1 Milliarde Euro E-Commerce-Umsatz für ihre Kunden generiert. In seinem Nr.1 E-Commerce Podcast in der DACH-Region zeigt er dir, wie du dein Marketing so optimierst, dass du profitabel auf 7 und 8-stellige Umsätze skalierst – mit bewährten Meta Ads-Strategien, präziser Kundenansprache und weiteren Erfolgsgeheimnissen.
Coming to you this time from the actual lush and lavish studios of MWS Media, I observe the twenty-first anniversary of my first podcast, which is also more or less also the 21st anniversary of podcasting itself. In and around that milestone, two podcasting legends have retired, and another ill-conceived podcast award is announced. I have thoughts. Also, an update on my own creative life, including my new website, a hopefully fresh approach to selling stuff on it, and anxiety around creating fiction. This episode was recorded on October 14, 2025. Watch the Episode (No video? Click to watch on YouTube.) Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My creative services for authors and podcasters. Can I help you? Book a free discovery call and let’s find out. My fiction and non-fiction. The 40th podcast was probably The Dragon Page: Cover to Cover. Sadly, I can’t find their first podcast episode archived anywhere..! You can find close to 100 episodes of my first podcasts, as well the complete run of Writers Talking and every episode of Five Minute Memoir (so far), at the cultural treasure that is The Internet Archive. You can also hear every episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick right here on my site, and see all episodes of I Know This Much on YouTube (audio versions aren’t archived anywhere yet). Melvyn Bragg was the host of In Our Time for over a thousand episodes. Marc Maron recently ended his landmark interview podcast WTF. Here’s the open letter I wrote Marc Maron to gently scold his repeated claim to be a podcasting pioneer (and deliver some history, and gratitude). The Golden Globes are honoring podcasts now, sort of. I talk about my new website, which is live… and I mention using WooCommerce, with which I was struggling and which is awful. Since recording, I’ve embraced FluentCart. It’s pretty great so far, and at least until the end of October, 2025, they’ve got a price on a lifetime license that’s hard to beat. This episode was recorded (audio and video) using my Insta360 webcam and my Aurycle A87 microphone (through a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202 audio interface) via OBS Studio. Support the show with a one-time donation, with my thanks! Thanks to the Patron Members of the Multiversalists Community Thank you to J.C. Hutchins, thank you to Jim Lewinson, thank you Amelia Bowen, thank you Ted Leonhardt, thank you to Charles Eugene Anderson, thank you to Scott Roche, thank you to Harold Johnson, thank you to David Mackler, and thank you to Sam Cherubin. ~ Did you listen to this and decide you like the cut of my jib? Are you interested in directly benefiting from my quarter century of online indie publishing experience? Click to learn more about my services for writers, authors, and other creators! Never miss an episode! Join the Multiversalists community of readers, writers, friends, and fans at the free level. You'll also get your choice of one of three of my e-books! Or (and!), find this podcast anywhere you get your podcasts, or subscribe manually by copying https://www.mattselznick.com/feed/podcast/sonitotum into your favorite podcast app. This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Ready to scale your Amazon business? Click here to book a strategy call. https://calendly.com/firingtheman/amazonTired of guessing your way through stockouts, overstock, and Amazon's ever-shifting fees? We sat down with Randy Thebeau—programmer, analyst, Amazon seller, and former 3PL owner—who turned years of warehouse chaos into SKU Compass, a practical system for sellers who want clarity, not dashboards for show. Randy shares how he set a hard revenue target and deadline to quit his bank job, then learned the hard way why spreadsheets crumble under daily sales swings, multi-channel expansion, and the hidden math of bundles and kits.We unpack the habits that protect margins: treating safety stock as non-negotiable insurance, measuring coverage in days (not just units), and setting channel-specific thresholds so FBA stays lean while sales stay steady. Randy breaks down a hybrid approach to AWD and 3PL that speeds replenishment without surrendering your P&L to auto systems, plus a simple rule to cut long-term storage by taking manual control when FBA dips below a 30-day window. We also get tactical on returns triage for higher-ticket products, supplier standards that prevent rework (barcode at the factory or walk away), and why two manufacturers per SKU can save a launch when quality slips.If multi-channel sales have turned your inventory into a guessing game, you'll hear how bundling can push up average order value while SKU Compass handles the tricky component math across Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, WooCommerce, and ShipStation-powered channels. The throughline is simple: right-size your stock, protect cash flow, and make fewer—but sharper—decisions that compound over time. Subscribe, share with a seller who's stuck in spreadsheet hell, and leave a review with your biggest inventory headache—we'll queue it up for a future deep dive.Randy Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/randy.thebeauhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-thebeau/SKU Compass Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566592928758https://www.youtube.com/@SKUCompasshttps://www.linkedin.com/company/sku-compass/https://skucompass.com/Ready to scale your Amazon business? Click here to book a strategy call. https://calendly.com/firingtheman/amazon Support the show
Ecom Secrets mit Daniel Bidmon / E-Commerce, Funnels, Marketing
Thanks Pressable for supporting the show! Get your special hosting deal at https://pressable.com/wpminuteBecome a WP Minute Supporter & Slack member at https://thewpminute.com/supportIn this episode of The WP Minute+ podcast, Matt Medeiros welcomes Brian Coords back to discuss his experiences at Automattic and WooCommerce. They explore the current state of WordPress, the importance of cohesion within the platform, and the role of community feedback in shaping its future. Brian shares insights on the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in e-commerce, the introduction of the MCP (Model Context Protocol), and the marketing strategies being employed to position WooCommerce against competitors like Shopify. The conversation also emphasizes the importance of collaboration between teams and the significance of community contributions in driving innovation within WooCommerce.Takeaways:Brian says working at Automattic is impactful and collaborative.Cohesion in WordPress is essential for its future.AI is becoming a necessary tool in e-commerce.MCP offers a new way to interact with WooCommerce.Natural language processing can simplify e-commerce tasks.WooCommerce is focusing on extensibility and customization.Gutenberg improvements are crucial for WooCommerce's ease of use.Community contributions enhance WooCommerce's functionality.Engaging with the community helps identify pain points.Important Links:Brian Coords' websiteWooCommerce Developer BlogConnect with Brian: LinkedInThe WP Minute+ Podcast: thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
Are your credit card declines climbing and your approval rate dropping? Every failed transaction means lost revenue. In this episode, Maria breaks down how to fix payment declines, boost approval rates, and recover more sales through smarter payment processing strategies.If you run an ecommerce store, sell online, or operate in a high-risk industry, this episode will help you uncover why payments fail — and what you can do to fix it.You'll learn how to:✅ Read and interpret decline codes that actually matter✅ Retry soft declines safely (and avoid hard declines)✅ Fine-tune your fraud prevention tools to stop false declines✅ Use AI and address verification (AVS) to improve approvals✅ Align your MCC and business descriptor with what you sell✅ Optimize transaction routing and use dynamic currency conversion (DCC) for higher approval ratesIf your current payment setup isn't getting enough approvals, Maria explains what to change — fast. Whether you're using Shopify, WooCommerce, or your own checkout, these insights will help you recover lost revenue and keep transactions flowing.
In this episode, we unpack bundles and bulk discounts and how they can nudge customers to buy more and boost revenue. Katie Keith, Founder and CEO of Barn2 Plugins, shares why most stores struggle to increase average order value and how her new Shopify app bridges the gap between different discount strategies. She also provides a masterclass on discount pricing psychology, setting tiers, and when to choose volume bundles over bulk discounts.Topics discussed in this episode: Why many stores struggle to increase AOV. What the difference is between WooCommerce and Shopify discounts. How to match your discount strategy to your target customer. What makes the right moment to test and adjust your offers. How to avoid a cluttered and confusing product page. Why you must know your minimum acceptable profit margin. What role psychological pricing plays in setting tiers. How a fixed price offer can convert better than a percentage. Why discounts aren't right for all types of products. What flexible targeting options are available for discounts. Links & Resources Website: https://barn2.comShopify App Store: https://apps.shopify.com/barn2-bundles-bulk-discountsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiekeithbarn2X/Twitter: https://x.com/katiekeithbarn2Get access to more free resources by visiting the show notes at https://tinyurl.com/3skdcmaw______________________________________________________ LOVE THE SHOW? HERE ARE THE NEXT STEPS! Follow the podcast to get every bonus episode. Tap follow now and don't miss out! Rate & Review: Help others discover the show by rating the show on Apple Podcasts at https://tinyurl.com/ecb-apple-podcasts Join our Free Newsletter: https://newsletter.ecommercecoffeebreak.com/ Support The Show On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EcommerceCoffeeBreak Partner with us: https://ecommercecoffeebreak.com/podcast-sponsorship/
In this episode of Cache Up, host Michelle Frechette chats with Joe Dawson, co-founder of WordPress Accessibility Day. They discuss the event's origins, its 24-hour global online format, and the importance of accessibility in web design for people with disabilities and aging users. Joe explains the logistics behind providing live captions, ASL interpretation, and paying speakers. The conversation highlights the volunteer-driven nature of the event, the need for sponsorship, and ongoing efforts to improve both digital and physical accessibility in the WordPress community and beyond.Top Takeaways: The Origins and Growth of WP Accessibility Day: WP Accessibility Day started in 2020 as an online accessibility-focused event and was significantly shaped by the pandemic, which allowed the team to attract international speakers. Founders Joe Dolson, Amber Hinds, and Bet Hannon built a volunteer-run organization that has grown into an annual, fully online 24-hour event, enabling global participation.Commitment to Accessibility for All: The event emphasizes true accessibility, not just compliance. It includes live ASL interpretation, live captions, and translated content (currently in Spanish, French, and other languages), ensuring participants with various disabilities and language backgrounds can fully engage. Accessibility is seen as a benefit for everyone, including those with temporary or situational disabilities.Valuing Contributors and Maintaining a Sustainable Model: WP Accessibility Day pays its speakers and translators to honor their time and expertise, despite being a volunteer-led nonprofit. Sponsorships and donations fund professional captioning, sign language interpreters, Zoom infrastructure, and post-production, balancing high-quality accessibility services with organizational sustainability.Real-World Impact and Awareness: The conversation highlights how accessibility challenges extend beyond the web to physical spaces and everyday life. Joe and Michelle emphasize the importance of listening to feedback from people with disabilities, including temporary ones, and addressing barriers proactively. The event and its materials serve as both an educational resource and a demonstration of inclusive design practices in action.Mentioned Links: WP accessibility dayid24Bet HannonAmber HindsVitaly FriedmanSmashing MagazineJoe A Simpson Jr
Episode 350 of TWiW, hosted by Nathan Wrigley, tackled key topics in the WordPress ecosystem, including updates on RT Camp's GoDAM plugin, Site Spotlight site reviews, and upcoming features in WordPress 6.9. The panel discussed WordPress's marketing struggles, the “cool kids” debate, community events calendar conflicts, and recent layoffs at major agencies like 10Up. Notable news included Shopify's new WordPress plugin and WooCommerce's POS app launch. Accessibility initiatives and innovative plugins were also highlighted, reflecting the ongoing evolution and challenges in the WordPress community.
In this episode, nurse-turned-baker Precious shares her journey of launching "Cakes in a Jar" with WordPress and WooCommerce, blending her Zimbabwean roots with a vibrant online brand.
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Olly Bowman about his new WordPress plugin, ShutterPress, designed for photographers to easily sell prints and digital downloads through WooCommerce without the hassle of creating individual products for each image. Olly explains how the plugin streamlines gallery and product management, supports password protection, watermarking, and future features like CDN storage, print service integration, and AI-powered image recognition. Whether you're a professional photographer or want an easy gallery solution, ShutterPress offers both flexible display options and e-commerce functionality.
In this Throwback episode, Amazon brand-building expert Kevin shares advanced strategies for established sellers aiming to scale to eight figures and beyond. He emphasizes the shift from selling generic products to building authentic brands, leveraging Amazon as a distribution channel rather than the sole platform. Kevin discusses creative tactics for collecting customer data—like compelling insert cards and personalized experiences—and highlights the importance of nurturing an engaged email list. The conversation covers email marketing best practices, the challenges of today's Amazon landscape, and actionable steps for long-term brand growth both on and off Amazon.Chapters:The Shift to Real Brand Building on Amazon (00:00:00)Discussion on the end of "me-too" products and the need for genuine brand building to scale on Amazon.What Makes a Real Brand (00:01:41)Explains the difference between a product and a true brand, using search volume and customer recognition as benchmarks.Owning Customer Data & Creative Inserts (00:02:37)Importance of collecting customer data, using creative insert cards, and leveraging off-Amazon channels for customer relationships.Pet Brand Example: Insert Offers & Birthday Campaigns (00:03:27)Detailed example of using free sample offers, pet registration, and birthday postcards to build loyalty and collect data.Email Marketing Challenges & Deliverability (00:07:40)Covers issues with email engagement, deliverability, and strategies to stay out of spam folders.Email Frequency & Value-Driven Content (00:09:18)Best practices for email frequency, balancing value and promotions, and the importance of testing.Testing Offers & Audience Warmth (00:10:42)The need to test different offers and tailor messaging based on audience familiarity with the brand.Actionable Takeaways for Amazon Sellers (00:12:01)Summarizes three key actions: build a real brand, create an email list, and provide value to your audience.Top Billion Dollar Seller Summit Speakers (00:13:45)Kevin names top speakers/attendees to follow for Amazon growth insights: Brandon Young, Casey Goss, and Josh Hadley.How to Connect with Kevin (00:16:33)Kevin shares the best way to contact him—primarily via Facebook.Links and Mentions:Tools and WebsitesShopifyWooCommerceAmazon Prime now Prime VideoTaxJarBillion Dollar Seller SummitRecommended SpeakersBrandon Young on LinkedInTranscript:Josh 00:00:00 You talked a lot about how important brand building is on Amazon now, as our audience primarily has established Amazon businesses, they've already found success, but they're looking to go to eight figures and beyond. You know, what do you see going on in the Amazon space right now? And some of the advice and strategies that you would recommend to establish sellers right now?Kevin 00:00:23 Yeah, that's a tough one because some of them are going to need to pivot, and it's going to be a little bit of a hard pivot because in the past on Amazon, there's a lot of people that built successful businesses and even exited successful businesses just basically finding opportunities. Sticking a name on it, you know, on a label on it and selling it, then selling that to an aggregator. But that's those days are pretty much over. I'm not going to say it doesn't happen. It could still happen here and there. And then there's a lot of people, as you know, that may have started with a small amount of money, and that's way more difficult now.Kevin 00:00:52 Not that you can't do it, but, you know, I always say, I always hear stories that people say, yeah, I started with 500 bucks and now I got an eight figure business. And I always say, RBS, you might have started with $500. That may be true. But two weeks later, your uncle gave you ten grand. Or somebody. You got a credit card or you did something. There's just no way it did. That just flat out does not happen. from 500. There was something else along the way. It might not be the money out of your pocket, but there's something else along the way in those days are much more difficult now. And as Amazon's you know Amazon's everything is more towards rewarding brands. You know the brand registry the brand analytics the all the different you know the advertising thing. Everything is there trying to reward those brands. It's because they're trying to clean it up as well. They don't want just this hodgepodge, flea market on there. They want, you know, people.Kevin 00:01:41 They're coming for brands. And a lot of people think they're a brand and they're really not. I say that if you don't have at least 3000 searches a month on your brand name on Amazon, on Amazon, because Amazon is so big, you're not a brand. If people are not looking for you, buy that that brand name and typing that in and you can see it in brand analytics and it's got like 3000 searches a month or more, then you're actually not a brand. You're just a product. And so that's where a lot of people get confused. And a brand is not a logo. A brand is not a name. That's part of it. But a brand is what emotion is a feeling. It's an evolution of something that people feel identity towards this or a passion towards this, or it represents something that they believe in or that they feel. And that's where a lot of big sellers are making mistakes. you know, you see all these, these, Chinese brands on Amazon, that strange brand names like Z, X, T, Y, or whatever can even pronounce a damn thing, right? That's not a brand.Kevin 00:02:37 I mean, they're doing that because it's easy to get a trademark on that. They can. Those things can fly through, the trademark process really easy so they can get the brand registry and all that. But those aren't aren't really brand names. so I think you need to switch more toward brand and you need to switch to more towards they need to they need to own their customer lists. you know, on Amazon, you don't get that data anymore. You used to be able to download that data. And so if you're selling, FBA, FBA on Amazon, you don't get that data. If you're doing FBM, you can still get it. And there used to be a loophole like with tax jar that got, I think just recently got shut down. A lot of privacy issues there. But you need to figure out ways to actually get that data and whether that's switching over, you know, if you're selling on Shopify or WooCommerce, start using Amazon Prime. the new, ship with Prime, whatever it's called Shopify shipping.Josh 00:03:25 Shop with Prime. Yeah.Kevin 00:03:27 Yeah. Where the Amazon will fulfill it for you off your, Shopify store. So you get that extra customer service level. Plus you get the customer data, plus anything you're selling on Amazon. It's just a huge market. You've got to figure out ways to try to get them into your ecosystem with, creative inserts and creative marketing stuff. I mean, like, one of the things that we do with one of my brands, for example, I have a pet brand of dog treats, and whenever someone buys these dog treats off of Amazon, you know, they spend 30 bucks to buy these dog treats. We will have a really cool. It's not just like a business card, but like something that really gets their attention. into the in the package and it says, hey, get a sample of all of our treats and we'll do a zero plus free plus shipping offer. So it's like if we have, for example, if we're selling bully sti...