Podcasts about WooCommerce

This week on the Watson Weekly weekend edition, Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky discuss: Shopify pushes its buyback to $5 billion while every other tech giant pours cash into AI. We ask the obvious question: built for the AI era, or built for the next earnings call? Then Apple's new Siri arrives at WWDC running on Google Gemini, a roughly $1 billion-a-year arrangement that sits next to the $20 billion Google already pays to be Apple's default search. And Anthropic drops a memo on three possible AI futures on its way to an IPO, with Rick putting the whole thing on an 18-month-to-two-year clock. The Watson Weekly Weekend episode is sponsored by Avalara. Avalara integrates with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.com

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts sitze ich mit Tobi, Geschäftsführer und Vertriebsverantwortlichen bei uns, im Auto auf dem Weg zu einem Shooting. Tobi hat in den letzten Jahren tausende Erstgespräche mit Shopbetreibern geführt, quer durch alle Branchen und Umsatzgrößen. Was er immer wieder sieht: nicht fehlendes Wissen ist das Problem, sondern fehlender Fokus. Wir sprechen darüber, warum so viele Shops stagnieren obwohl Content, Produkt und Community stimmen, warum endlose To-Do-Listen und neue Ideen der schnellste Weg zu gar nichts sind, und was passiert wenn man sechs Monate wartet bis der Shop "perfekt" ist, während der Mitbewerber einfach loslegt. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin __________

It's June 8th, 2026, and Rick Watson breaks down the week's e-commerce news with his usual habit: put the press release down and look at the calendar.This week: Amazon yanks Prime Day forward to June 23rd–26th and blames the World Cup and America's 250th birthday. Rick isn't buying it. With Q2 closing June 30th and a nervous consumer pulling back, this looks like a P&L decision aimed squarely at Walmart's grocery turf.Then FedEx Freight starts trading on its own as FDXF and the new CEO promises to "leapfrog" the competition. The stock closed down 7% on day one. Rick stress-tests that word against the actual target: 15% operating margin by 2029, up from roughly 12 today. That's catching up, not leaping.This week's episode is sponsored by Avalara. It works with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, helping teams manage compliance faster and scale with confidence. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.com.Plus Anthropic's confidential IPO filing and why "confidentially" is the word everyone's skipping. The growth is real and genuinely insane, but most of the eye-popping numbers are run rate, the real annual figure is $10 billion, and the gross-margin question under 5 gigawatts of Amazon-funded compute is the one nobody can answer yet.And the ShipStation Global merger: WEX and Auctane combine into a 3-billion-shipment Thoma Bravo roll-up. Rick's read on whether welding a freight desk to label-printing software actually holds together.

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: - Awin Roundtable & Think Tank Berlin - Commerce Content - Feed-Qualität / Produktdaten-Feed - Last-Click Attribution - LLMs / Large Language Models - Preisvergleich - Streichpreise

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts sprechen wir über einen der häufigsten blinden Flecke von Gründern: Du bist oft so tief in deiner eigenen Brand drin, dass du den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht mehr siehst und dir alles komplett logisch erscheint. Dadurch wird die Kommunikation im Shop und in den Werbeanzeigen aber häufig viel zu komplex für Nutzer, die auf Social Media extrem beschäftigt sind und nur eine winzige Aufmerksamkeitsspanne haben. Ich stelle dir heute den „Tante-Erna-Test“ vor. Finde heraus, warum du komplexe Sachverhalte extrem simpel herunterbrechen musst und wie dir ein gezielter Blick von außen dabei hilft, deine Besucher in wenigen Sekunden richtig abzuholen. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin __________

Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky sit down to unpack a busy stretch across tech, shipping, and commerce. They open with Anthropic's confidential IPO filing, submitted to the SEC on June 1st, and what it signals about the AI lab's trajectory. After a $65 billion Series H that pushed its valuation to $965 billion, Anthropic now sits ahead of OpenAI on that measure, and Rick and Jessica dig into how it got there: a revenue run rate that climbed from roughly $10 billion a year ago to about $47 billion by May 2026, helped by a developer-first bet through Claude Code that has made it a serious contender for enterprise spend.The Watson Weekly Weekend episode is sponsored by Avalara. Its Agentic Tax and Compliance automates behind-the-scenes work for ecommerce brands, enabling accurate checkout tax calculation, clearer tariff and duty visibility, and fewer customer surprises. Avalara integrates with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.comFrom there the conversation turns physical. USPS and DHL have signed a multi-year contract valued at well over $10 billion, with DHL handling pickup, sorting, and transport while USPS covers final-mile delivery. It lands at an awkward moment for the Postal Service, which posted a $9.5 billion loss in fiscal 2025 and whose Postmaster General has warned of a possible cash crisis within a year absent action from Congress.The last segment covers Salesforce's push to wake up a commerce cloud that had been growing under 2%. The reported Contentful acquisition (somewhere in the $1 to $1.5 billion range) fits a long pattern that runs through MuleSoft, Tableau, Slack, and PredictSpring. Rick and Jessica close on whether the integrated Agentforce suite can hold up against focused players like Shopify.

Bestes Hello E-Mail Angebot über diesen Link: https://hello-email.com/?r=berend In dieser letzten Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts spreche ich mit Florian über die Kehrseite von KI und was das konkret für dich als Shopbetreiber bedeutet. Florian gibt einen nüchternen Überblick: Energieverbrauch und Wasserverbrauch der Rechenzentren, die wirtschaftliche KI-Blase, Arbeitsplätze die in den nächsten Jahren wegfallen, und warum bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen keine echte Antwort auf das Problem ist. Und trotzdem gibt es einen klaren Gewinner. Wer als kleines oder mittelgroßes Unternehmen jetzt auf KI setzt, kann in kurzer Zeit die gleiche Infrastruktur aufbauen, für die große Unternehmen jahrelang Mitarbeiter und Agenturen bezahlt haben. Wer das hingegen ignoriert, wird es schwer haben. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin __________

Rick Watson runs through a busy week in retail. Walmart posted a $177.8 billion quarter, with revenue up 7.3%, U.S. comps up 4.1%, and global e-commerce up 26%, yet free cash flow landed at negative $1.9B as automation capex climbed. Advertising grew 37%, marketplace sales jumped close to 50%, and new shoppers skewed upper-income. At Sam's Club, more trips but smaller baskets.Authentic Brands Group named a new CEO: founder Jamie Salter moved to executive chairman, and former MGM Resorts chief Matt Maddox took over. ABG holds 50-plus brands, $38B in system-wide sales, and 77% of the company behind Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman. Salter floated an IPO within the year.At Google I/O 2026, the Universal Cart follows shoppers across Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail, AI Mode crossed a billion monthly users, and native checkout opened to UCP merchants. Kroger hit $16B in e-commerce with a first profit in sight, wages past $20, two senior exits, and 70 to 80 stores planned. Plus an Investor Minute on Global-e, Insider, and Brown-Forman.This week's episode is sponsored by Avalara. For e-commerce brands, tax compliance grows more complex with every new channel, state, product, and market. Avalara Agentic Tax and Compliance automates the behind-the-scenes work so merchants can offer a smoother checkout, with accurate tax calculations, clearer visibility into tariffs and duties, and fewer surprises when orders arrive. It works with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, helping teams manage compliance faster and scale with confidence. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.com.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts geht es darum, warum die meisten Shopbetreiber KI zwar nutzen, aber den Großteil des Potenzials liegen lassen. Das Problem ist nicht fehlendes Wissen über Tools, sondern die falsche Herangehensweise. Wer von Tools aus denkt, landet im Tool-Hopping. Wer von Prozessen aus denkt, baut echte Effizienz auf. Du erfährst, wie du die Kernprozesse in deinem Shop identifizierst, warum Teil-Automatisierung oft der sinnvollere erste Schritt ist als der Versuch alles auf einmal vollständig zu automatisieren, und wie das am Beispiel einer vollautomatisierten Produkt-Pipeline konkret aussieht. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin __________

What does it take to build a highly profitable software company without venture capital, a massive team, or endless scaling pressure? In this episode, Bryce Adams, founder of Metorik, unpacks how he built a successful business serving thousands of Shopify and WooCommerce stores… with a team of just four people. Listen in as Bryce shares his philosophy around building lean, sustainable businesses that prioritize profitability, customer experience, and long-term thinking over rapid growth at all costs. You'll learn how Metorik approaches customer support, AI adoption, documentation, product quality, pricing, and paid acquisition, along with Bryce's views on the future of WooCommerce, Shopify, and eCommerce software. This episode is packed with practical insights for founders looking to build better businesses with more focus, intentionality, and freedom. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/5xtsdurp Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.  

Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky break down Walmart's Q1 numbers and what they say about where retail is heading. Revenue was up 7.3%, U.S. comps rose 4.1%, and global e-commerce grew 26%, but the more telling figures sit elsewhere: advertising up 37% globally and the U.S. marketplace up nearly 50%. Rick and Jessica make the case that Walmart is quietly becoming a digital services business, pulling in wealthier shoppers with celebrity lines and faster delivery, and backing it all with a $1.7 billion-a-year bet on fulfillment automation that Kroger and others will struggle to match.The Watson Weekly Weekend episode is sponsored by Avalara. Its Agentic Tax and Compliance automates behind-the-scenes work for ecommerce brands, enabling accurate checkout tax calculation, clearer tariff and duty visibility, and fewer customer surprises. Avalara integrates with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.comFrom there the conversation moves to Google I/O and the "agentic" pitch, including a universal cart meant to follow you across Search, YouTube, and Gemini through Google Wallet. Then the happiness index returns for a look at a K-shaped economy, where affluent buyers keep spending (Amex reported 10% growth in card member spending) while a lot of people are cutting back on basics like gas. Rick closes with advice for brands: shrink the gap between deciding and doing. Take out the friction, lean on convenience and automation, and you win the customer.#WatsonWeekly #Walmart #Retail #Ecommerce #GoogleIO

Het boek was af, maar het echte verhaal leek toen pas te beginnen. Arnoud Wokke en Sarah Sporken stuurden hun roman Ping! naar 25 uitgevers en kregen 25 keer nee. Dus richtten ze zelf maar een uitgeverij op. In deze tweede aflevering met de auteurs van Ping! gaat het niet over het schrijven, maar over alles daarna: waarom de Nederlandse boekenmarkt fictie zo slecht beloont, hoe je per boek zomaar twee euro verlies draait, en waarom Bol en Bruna marges van veertig tot vijftig procent rekenen. Arnoud en Sarah nemen je mee van de eerste afwijzing tot een eigen drukker in Groot-Brittannië, een ISBN-nummer dat verrassend simpel te regelen is, en de eindeloze stapel paspoortscans, e-herkenning en transactiekosten die bij ondernemen komen kijken. Over de gasten Arnoud Wokke is techjournalist bij Tweakers, schrijft sinds de eerste iPhone over smartphones en sociale media, en waarschuwt al jaren voor algoritmische verslaving. Tien jaar geleden schreef hij het non-fictieboek I Love/Hate Smartphones. Ping! is zijn eerste roman. LinkedIn: Arnoud Wokke Website: arnoudensarah.nl Sarah Sporken werkt twintig jaar in de GGZ en de afgelopen tien jaar als GZ-psycholoog. Ze ziet sociale media en aandachttrekkende apps steeds vaker een rol spelen bij haar cliënten, vooral bij jongeren. Ping! is haar eerste boek. Website: arnoudensarah.nl In deze aflevering 0:00:00 Arnoud voor de elfde keer aan tafel, en Sarah is nu een succesvol auteur0:01:19 Waarom een uitgever vinden niet zo simpel bleek als gehoopt0:02:28 De socialmediacampagne en de TikTok over Herman van Veen die ontplofte0:12:23 25 uitgevers aangeschreven, 25 keer nee: hoe dat voelt0:18:20 Zelf uitgeven: drukkosten, distributie en waarom je twee euro verlies maakt0:22:15 In dezelfde week naar de KVK: per ongeluk een uitgeverij beginnen0:24:11 E-herkenning, paspoortscans en de bureaucratie van ondernemen0:29:05 Een drukker in Groot-Brittannië en de truc van goedkoop bijdrukken0:33:34 Splinter Chabot, 22 schrijvers die van fictie leven, en hoe scheef de markt is0:38:47 Waarom non-fictie wél een verdienmodel is0:42:46 De webshop als lifeline, en waarom Ping! niet bij Bol of Bruna ligt0:46:21 Het ISBN-nummer regelen: de makkelijkste stap van allemaal0:47:20 De launchparty op 31 mei in Café Contact, Amsterdam0:52:02 Luistervragen: welke acteur speelt Emmy in de verfilming?0:58:00 Favoriete boekpersonage: van Gordianus tot Gollum Genoemd in deze aflevering Ping!, de roman over smartphoneverslaving van Arnoud en Sarah Tweakers, waar Arnoud werkt als techjournalist Mijn ISBN, waar je zelf een ISBN-nummer koopt WooCommerce, de WordPress-plugin voor hun webshop Shopify, eerst overwogen maar te duur bevonden NotebookLM, Googles tool die Arnoud als naslagwerk gebruikte Tips van de tafel Arnoud: voor het uitzoeken van bedrijfsvormen (maatschap, VOF, BV) is een AI-chatbot verrassend handig, dat scheelt veel uitzoekwerk.Arnoud: gebruik NotebookLM als naslagwerk voor je eigen manuscript, het baseert zich puur op je tekst en hallucineert niet.Arnoud: wil je weten wat een auteur aan een boek verdient? Pak de prijs en deel door tien.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bestes Hello E-Mail Angebot über diesen Link: https://hello-email.com/?r=berend In der zweiten Folge unserer KI-Deep-Dive-Serie mit Florian geht es um das Thema, das gerade in aller Munde ist, aber was kaum jemand wirklich versteht: KI Agenten. Florian räumt auf mit dem, was die meisten Shopbetreiber fälschlicherweise als Agenten bezeichnen, erklärt den Unterschied zwischen Automatisierung und echtem agentem Verhalten, zeigt warum Tools wie OpenClaw gerade ein Blick in die Zukunft sind, aber noch kein brauchbares Produkt, und warum Shops zwischen 30k und 500k Monatsumsatz gerade im Vorteil sind gegenüber großen Unternehmen, die das Ganze nicht so schnell umsetzen können. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin __________

Unlock the secrets to making your e-commerce business accessible, profitable, and future-proof in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. If you're a founder, entrepreneur, or digital marketer seeking practical insights on platform selection, accessibility compliance, and AI-powered shopping, this episode is your essential guide.Adam Bell, a veteran web designer with 30 years of experience—who's worked with brands from Melinda's hot sauces to LA-based grocers—shares how the platform landscape has shifted from clunky long URLs to seamless Shopify and WooCommerce sites. He reveals the pivotal moments that transformed online commerce, illustrating how platforms like Shopify have simplified site management, reduced maintenance costs, and boosted sales through AI-driven tools. Meanwhile, he emphasizes that choosing the right foundation is crucial; whether an open-source solution like WordPress for customization or Shopify for ease of use can make or break your growth.You'll discover:When and why to pick Shopify versus WooCommerce or WordPress based on your product scope and team capabilitiesConcrete steps to ensure your site meets accessibility standards, avoiding costly lawsuits and unlocking a broader customer baseThe real costs and benefits of third-party apps, plus how to avoid subscription overload and hidden expensesWhy AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Shopify integrations are game changers for discoverability, SEO, and personalized shopping experiencesHow future trends, from social commerce to conversational search, will shape the way your customers find and buy your productsFailing to prioritize accessibility risks legal trouble and losing loyal customers; missing out on AI-powered discoverability limits your growth potential. As Adam highlights, the opportunity lies in building websites that are not only compliant but also optimized for the emerging AI-driven shopping era—giving you a definitive edge.Perfect for founders, marketers, and e-commerce newcomers, this episode equips you with actionable frameworks, insider tips, and strategic foresight to thrive today—and adapt for tomorrow. Whether you're launching your first online store or refining an existing one, these insights will keep you ahead of the curve.For expert guidance, visit Adam's site at datatv.com—your go-to resource for accessible, scalable web solutions.Why this works:This compelling episode pulls listeners in with a bold promise—master accessibility and AI for e-commerce success—while teasing valuable, specific insights. It speaks directly to entrepreneurs feeling overwhelmed by platform choices and compliance fears, offering them clarity and confidence in adopting future-facing strategies.

Two big retail earnings reports, two very different stories. Home Depot grew total sales 4.8% to $41.77 billion, but comparable sales barely moved (up 0.6%) and net income slipped to $3.29 billion from $3.43 billion a year ago, a sign of margin pressure. Target posted the louder top line, with net sales up 6.7% to about $25.15 billion and comps up 5.6%. The catch: net income fell 24% to $781 million, and the stock dropped nearly 5% after management guided comps down to roughly 1% for the rest of the year.On the tech side, Google and Blackstone are launching an AI cloud company with as much as $25 billion behind it, built on Google's own TPU chips to take on Nvidia and CoreWeave. France's Publicis Group bought the data platform LiveRamp for $2.2 billion in cash, a wager on "data co-creation" for AI agents.And 5 Investor minute stories from the world of venture capital, IPOs, and mergers and acquisitions. The Watson Weekly is sponsored by Avalara. For ecommerce brands, tax compliance gets more complicated with every new channel, state, product, and market. Avalara Agentic Tax and Compliance helps automate the work behind the scenes, so merchants can deliver a smoother customer experience — with accurate tax calculation at checkout, clearer visibility into tariffs and duties, and fewer surprises for customers when their order arrives.Avalara works with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and more, helping teams manage compliance faster and scale with more confidence. To learn more about Avalara's ecommerce compliance solutions, and explore resources built for growing ecommerce brands go to avalara.watsonweekly.com for more details.

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: - Abwertung / Penalty - Back Button - Exit Intent - Google - Organische Suche - Spam Policy - SEO / Suchergebnisse

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts spreche ich mit Jonas, unserem Senior Consultant, über eine Geschichte, die ich wirklich krass finde. Jonas baut während Corona aus einem Bastel-Experiment für die Großeltern einen Flaschengarten-Shop auf. Garage, Wohnzimmer, erste Mitarbeiter über eBay Kleinanzeigen, 20.000 Euro Umsatz im Monat. Dann brennt das Lager ab. Totalschaden. 500 offene Bestellungen. Am nächsten Morgen hat Jonas ein neues Lager gesucht. Und gefunden. Du erfährst, warum 20+ Jahre Unternehmertum und ein Lagerbrand Jonas zu einem besseren Berater machen als jede Theorie, was der Dunning-Kruger-Effekt mit Shopbetreibern zu tun hat, die glauben, sie haben ihr Business im Griff, und wann du dir wirklich Hilfe holen solltest. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin __________

Home Depot just told the market it's treading water, and Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky dig into why the remodeling boom never showed up. People are tapping their home equity to consolidate debt, not rip out the bathroom. Paint and outdoor are fine. Lumber, flooring, mill work? Not so much. So Home Depot is quietly walking away from the consumer and betting the house on pros, HVAC, and a $700 billion market.The Watson Weekly is sponsored by Avalara. Its Agentic Tax and Compliance automates behind-the-scenes work for ecommerce brands, enabling accurate checkout tax calculation, clearer tariff and duty visibility, and fewer customer surprises. Avalara integrates with platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.com.Then: TikTok is now the fourth largest health and beauty retailer in the country at $4.4 billion, and the action isn't even in the videos. It's in the comments. We break down why brands should build the conversation first and let the comment section do the selling.And the one that broke the internet: Everlane sold to Shein for $100 million, down from a $550 to $600 million peak. Common stockholders get nothing. We get into whether Shein actually paid cash for brand equity or just bought itself a respectable-looking front for a not-so-respectable supply chain. Jessica says the quiet part out loud. Rick's head hurts.Plus a quick read on AI maturity from The Lead conference floor, and why the people who are most "AI-pilled" somehow ended up busier than ever.#watsonweekend #homedepot #remodel #tiktok #comments #everlane #shein

What does it actually look like to buy 10 online businesses over 14 years - and still be standing? Not the highlight reel. The chargebacks, the 95% traffic drops, the seller-financed deal you hand back four months in because you simply can't make it work. The slow, painful realization that passive income was never really the point - ownership was. Brock Yates has been buying online businesses since 2012, starting with a $3,000 turtle website he found on Flippa with zero SEO knowledge and zero plan. By the time he quit his day job in Switzerland to go full-time, he had a portfolio of content sites generating more than his salary. Then the Google Helpful Content Update hit. And then ChatGPT changed everything. In this episode, Brock doesn't just share what went wrong - he shares what he actually did to crawl back, adapt, and build something more resilient on the other side. In this episode, you'll learn: Why Brock handed a $220K–$280K e-commerce acquisition back to the seller after four months - and what he'd do completely differently today The one thing every first-time buyer underestimates: the seller's institutional knowledge and what disappears the moment they walk out the door How a 95% traffic drop forced him to rethink content sites entirely - and why the turtle website outlasted everything else in his portfolio The WooCommerce vs. Shopify decision that's shaping his entire content-to-commerce strategy now How he used ChatGPT to build a free tool in 20 minutes that took a brand-new GM vehicle site from zero to 1,000 email subscribers - and counting Why buying a business to "own for 10 years" changes every decision you make from day one The niche-selection mistake that kills most content sites before they ever have a chance to grow Whether you're sitting on a content site wondering what to do next, or you're a first-time buyer trying to avoid the mistakes most people only learn the hard way - this conversation is one of the most honest, practical accounts of what building an online portfolio actually looks like across a decade.

The Watson Weekly for May 18, 2026. Amazon launched a 30-minute delivery to take on DoorDash. eBay shuts down GameStop's bid. OpenAI puts $14 billion behind an enterprise AI play. The Watson Weekly is sponsored by Avalara. For ecommerce brands, tax compliance gets more complicated with every new channel, state, product, and market. Avalara Agentic Tax and Compliance helps automate the work behind the scenes, so merchants can deliver a smoother customer experience — with accurate tax calculation at checkout, clearer visibility into tariffs and duties, and fewer surprises for customers when their order arrives.Avalara works with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and more, helping teams manage compliance faster and scale with more confidence. To learn more about Avalara's ecommerce compliance solutions, and explore resources built for growing ecommerce brands go to avalara.watsonweekly.com for more details.Amazon Now is live. Thirty-minute delivery for groceries and household essentials, starting in Atlanta, Dallas, Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Seattle, with seven more cities queued up. Prime members pay $3.99 an order. Non-Prime pays $13.99. The strategy is direct. Smaller fulfillment centers in residential zones, aimed straight at DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart.eBay's board said no to GameStop. Chairman Paul Pressler called the unsolicited bid "neither credible nor attractive." The rejection wasn't really about price. OpenAI launched the OpenAI Deployment Company, valued at $14 billion, with $4 billion freshly raised under TPG's lead. The investor list reads like a consulting roster: McKinsey, Bain, Capgemini. The mission is forward-deployed engineers embedded inside enterprises to rebuild workflows. We also break down the Watson Weekly's Shopify three-part June webinar series, The Big Green Bag of Promise, with operators from Stanley 1913, Reitmans, and Marine Layer talking honest numbers on enterprise migration. The webinars are not sponsored by Shopify but by Avalara, Domaine, and Pattern, Register here: https://streamyard.com/watch/ibqNx46Z88BfAnd the Investor Minute: Co-pilot Kit ($27M for an AGUI protocol), Cognizant's roughly $600M Australian acquisition, District's $14.7M seed for community marketplaces, Recharge buying Skio for $105M, and PayPal splitting into three new business units.

Nathan Wrigley interviews Marcus Burnette, about his new project, wellplayedwp.com, a membership platform offering a growing library of eclectic WordPress, Elementor, and WooCommerce plugins under a single license. They discuss Marcus' background in the WordPress community, the inspiration behind the project, pricing strategies, and the types of plugins available. Marcus also touches on his educational tech projects, including a classroom library tool and the relaunch of Flip Quiz, a Jeopardy-style classroom game platform. Also check out his work The WP World! Go listen...

Bienvenidos a un nuevo episodio de Potencia Pro, el podcast donde hablamos de WordPress, inteligencia artificial, plugins, negocios online y de cualquier cosa que se nos ocurra mientras Mariano y yo intentamos mantener la compostura. En este capítulo nos hemos metido de lleno en uno de los temas que más están preguntando ahora mismo los clientes: cómo hacer que una IA recomiende tu negocio. Porque sí, ya no basta con salir en Google. Ahora la gente pregunta directamente a ChatGPT, Gemini o Perplexity cosas como: “¿Cuál es la mejor empresa de diseño web en Sevilla?” “¿Qué podcast de WordPress merece la pena?” “¿Qué profesional recomiendas para crear una tienda online?” Y claro, si la IA no sabe que existes… estás fuera del juego. ¿Qué es eso del GEO? Hace unos años todo era SEO. Posicionar en Google y listo. Ahora aparece el concepto GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), que básicamente consiste en optimizar tus contenidos para que las inteligencias artificiales te lean, te entiendan y te recomienden. La IA funciona leyendo cantidades absurdas de información de internet. Webs, artículos, perfiles, foros, redes sociales, documentación… absolutamente todo lo que pueda rastrear. Así que la pregunta importante ya no es solo: “¿Estoy bien posicionado en Google?” Ahora también es: “¿La IA sabe quién soy?” Cómo saber si apareces en la IA La forma más sencilla es preguntándole directamente. Por ejemplo: “¿Cuáles son los mejores podcasts de WordPress en español?” “¿Qué empresas de desarrollo web recomiendas en Dos Hermanas?” “¿Quién es Miguel Ángel Terrón?” Y aquí empieza la diversión. Porque hicimos pruebas en directo y descubrimos varias cosas: Algunas IA recomiendan proyectos que ya ni existen. Otras mezclan información antigua. Y algunas directamente tienen un gusto cuestionable para decidir quién es “el podcaster más guapo”. No diremos nombres… pero ChatGPT nos cayó bastante mejor que Gemini ese día. La IA recuerda cosas… incluso cuando las borras Aquí viene una parte importante. Antes tú cambiabas un teléfono en la web y listo. Google acababa actualizándolo. Ahora la IA puede haberse quedado con el dato antiguo para siempre porque ya lo leyó una vez. Eso significa que: Hay que cuidar muchísimo la información publicada. Conviene mantener datos consistentes. Y es más importante que nunca revisar perfiles antiguos, directorios y redes sociales. Internet ya no olvida. Pero la IA menos todavía. Cómo optimizar tu web para aparecer en ChatGPT y Gemini Aquí van algunas de las claves que comentamos en el episodio. 1. Escribe en formato pregunta-respuesta A la IA le encantan las preguntas. En lugar de escribir: “Somos una empresa de diseño web.” Prueba algo tipo: ¿Qué servicios de diseño web ofrecemos? Y debajo respondes de forma clara y directa. Esto ayuda muchísimo a que la IA entienda el contenido y lo reutilice en respuestas. 2. Usa encabezados que parezcan búsquedas reales En vez de títulos genéricos como: Servicios Nosotros Contacto Haz cosas más naturales: ¿Cuánto tarda una web en desarrollarse? ¿Qué incluye nuestro mantenimiento WordPress? ¿Cuál es el mejor hosting para WooCommerce? Piensa como piensa alguien cuando pregunta a ChatGPT. 3. Añade datos estructurados Los datos estructurados ayudan a explicar a Google y a las IA qué es cada cosa: una empresa un podcast un producto una receta un evento Plugins como Schema Pro o las opciones SEO de Rank Math y Yoast ayudan bastante con esto. 4. Consigue menciones fuera de tu web La IA no solo lee tu página. Lee también: LinkedIn redes sociales foros artículos comentarios entrevistas podcasts directorios Cuantos más sitios hablen de ti, más autoridad tendrás para las IA. 5. Usa datos concretos A la IA le encantan los números, estadísticas y referencias. No es lo mismo decir: “Nuestro sistema funciona muy bien.” Que decir: “Reducimos el tiempo de carga un 42% según pruebas realizadas en 2025.” Los datos ayudan muchísimo a generar autoridad. Cómo medir tráfico desde IA También hablamos de herramientas para saber si ya estás recibiendo visitas desde ChatGPT, Perplexity o similares. Google Search Console Puedes filtrar tráfico y detectar referencias relacionadas con IA. Google Analytics Creando segmentos personalizados puedes analizar visitas provenientes de herramientas de inteligencia artificial. Herramientas específicas Comentamos algunas como: Hall Mangools Search Grader Amino Que empiezan a ofrecer métricas relacionadas con visibilidad en IA. El plugin de Materron: publicar podcasts por WhatsApp casi automáticamente Materron estuvo enseñando un sistema que está desarrollando para automatizar la publicación de episodios de podcast usando audio enviado desde el móvil. La idea es brutal: mandas un audio se procesa automáticamente limpia sonido acelera genera contenido publica el episodio Y todo integrado con WordPress. Todavía está en desarrollo, pero promete muchísimo. El plugin del día: “Gemas Ocultas” Yo traje un plugin bastante curioso llamado “Gemas Ocultas”. La idea es sencilla: Hay tantos plugins nuevos en WordPress que muchos pasan desapercibidos aunque sean buenísimos. Este plugin analiza y recomienda plugins poco conocidos pero de gran calidad para descubrir herramientas nuevas antes que nadie. Muy útil para los que nos gusta probar cosas raras y sentirnos especiales instalando plugins que nadie conoce todavía. Próxima meetup de WordPress Dos Hermanas Además comentamos la próxima meetup en la Ciudad del Conocimiento de Dos Hermanas. La charla va sobre programación con inteligencia artificial y viene un ponente bastante potente de fuera para enseñar cómo desarrollar “como un pro” usando IA. Y además parece que aquello va a oler espectacular porque Mariano recibirá un cargamento de perfumes y aceites esenciales. Tecnología y aroma. Todo junto. Conclusión La IA ya forma parte del posicionamiento web. Y aunque todavía falla muchísimo —especialmente detectando belleza masculina en el ecosistema WordPress— cada vez influye más en cómo la gente encuentra negocios, profesionales y contenido. Así que si tienes una web, un podcast, una empresa o una marca personal, merece la pena empezar a pensar no solo en Google… …sino también en cómo te leen los robots. ¿Te ha gustado el episodio? Si quieres que sigamos experimentando con bots, protocolos y empanadillas polacas, no olvides suscribirte y dejarnos tu valoración. ¡Nos escuchamos en el próximo capítulo! Métodos de contacto Enviadnos vuestras preguntas al grupo de Telegram. Apuntaos al canal de Youtube del podcast https://www.youtube.com/potenciapro Si nos queréis decir algo directamente lo podéis hacer a @potenciapro , @materron, @mpc, o en el grupo de Telegram Y si eres muy muy muy fan del podcast Echa un vistazo a cómo nos puedes ayudar en https://potencia.pro/se-prosperoso/

Nathan Wrigley interviews Giles Beckley, creator of WP Goose (Goose Commerce), a new WordPress e-commerce plugin designed natively for Elementor with a unique desktop app and built-in AI functionality. Giles explains the platform's benefits: custom database structure (not custom post types), streamlined management via the desktop app, security features, and granular styling through Elementor widgets. The episode covers feature highlights, flexibility, and current early-access pricing. There's an invite for early adopters to give feedback and an announcement of plans for a full launch at WordCamp Europe, positioning Goose Commerce as a modern WooCommerce alternative for Elementor users.

¿Cómo transformar una necesidad familiar en un negocio millonario?

Building Repeatables in Claude: Skills, CLI vs MCP and Token Discipline | Go With The Flow Claude Skills, CLI vs MCP and Token Discipline with Ritu Java | Seller Sessions SEO Description Ritu Java and Danny McMillan on building agentic skills, choosing CLI over MCP, plan mode discipline and the short window to ship before token costs reset. Episode Summary Week 4 of the month, Go With The Flow, and Ritu Java is back from her travels. The world has shipped fast since the last episode: Codex 5.5, Claude 4.7, an Amazon Ads MCP and a fresh round of panic over the rumoured removal of Claude Code from the $20 plan (it was a 2% AB test, not a rollout). Ritu and Danny use the noise to make a sharper point: this is the moment to stop chasing models and start building repeatable systems on the platform you have already chosen. Ritu walks through the three eras of PPC Ninja's automation stack. Apps Script bulk file generators three years ago, Netlify hosted UI apps last year, and now agentic skills that her team chats with in plain English to produce upload ready Amazon bulk files. The same shift applies to data: BigQuery accessed through the Google Cloud CLI rather than through MCP, because CLI is leaner on tokens and works better when the job is heavy on data rather than tool surface. Danny mirrors the move with his event-ops CLI for WordPress, WooCommerce, Stripe and FooEvents reconciliation, and his four tier ExtractFlow cascade (HTTP, headless, stealth, agentic) that bypasses the limits of any single browser tool. The second half is a discipline talk. Plan mode every time. Push back on the first plan because Claude over engineers by default. 30% of your time on workflow scaffolding so the other 70% can be real building. The 21 day Claude rule: when a shiny new tool fires the dopamine, wait 21 days before refactoring around it. Left brain tasks (counting, SQL, deterministic logic) belong in scripts. Right brain tasks (judgment, creativity, hypotheses) belong in the model. Mix them inside a single skill. Skills are micro pieces of your workflow, not magic, and Claude can write them for you from an existing SOP. Key Topics The three eras of PPC Ninja automation: Apps Script, Netlify UI apps, agentic skills CLI vs MCP: when to choose each and why CLI is more token efficient for data heavy work Token economics, the rumoured $20 plan change and why it was a 2% AB test The short window before subsidised tokens get repriced Plan mode discipline and the "push back on plan one" rule Danny's 30 / 70 framework: workflow scaffolding vs building The 21 day Claude rule for resisting tool churn Left brain vs right brain task design inside a single skill The PPC Ninja "5 Whys" skill: deterministic SQL plus non deterministic hypotheses Claude.md, Gemini.md, Skills.yaml and the emerging Agents.md standard Skills for beginners: let Claude write them from your SOP Skill cascading: research, article, LinkedIn post, tweets, slide deck in one chain Timestamps [00:01] Welcome back, Week 4 Go With The Flow, Ritu returns from travels [00:17] Codex 5.5, Claude 4.7 and the "no one is writing code anymore" reality [02:01] Ritu on the three eras of PPC Ninja automation [02:42] Era 1: Apps Script bulk file generators in Google Sheets [03:46] Era 2: Netlify hosted UI apps with input fields [04:48] Era 3: Agentic skills, the bulk file skill trained on Amazon templates [06:22] Cloud talking to BigQuery through the Google Cloud CLI [07:00] Danny: what is a CLI and why it matters for token use [08:00] Amazon Advertising MCP vs CLI based access to the same data [09:33] WordPress horrible to drive via MCP, easy via CLI [10:00] Danny's event-ops CLI: tickets, food tickets, WooCommerce, Stripe reconciliation [12:13] ExtractFlow four tier cascade: soft, medium, stealth, agentic [13:46] Why CLI for the heavy stuff, MCP for the soft touch [14:13] AWS CLI: chat to Claude, push HTML blog posts live in two minutes [15:33] The overwhelm problem and the 5,000costbehindthe5,000costbehindthe100 plan [17:35] The $20 plan rumour: it was a 2% AB test, not a rollout [19:38] Build repeatables, not one offs [20:38] Danny: pick a platform and stop chasing benchmarks [21:16] The 21 day Claude rule for new tools [22:16] Plan mode every time, push back on plan one, get the second plan [23:02] Why am I building it, who is it for, what am I building [23:30] The 30 / 70 split: workflow scaffolding vs real building [25:13] Why long six to fourteen hour Claude runs are usually inefficiency [27:12] Compounding 1% a day across a year [27:47] "I build the things that build things" [28:00] Architecture vs apps: filling the gaps between A and B [29:06] Left brain vs right brain task design [30:01] Why throwing 80/20 at a sales drop diagnosis fails [31:33] The PPC Ninja 5 Whys skill: deterministic plus non deterministic in one flow [34:32] Claude.md, Gemini.md, skills.yaml and the agents.md standard [40:53] Beginners: let Claude write the skill from your SOP, use the interview pattern [42:39] Skill cascading: URL to research to article to LinkedIn post to tweets to slides [44:42] Mixing deterministic and non deterministic inside a single skill [45:39] Wrap up, signal to noise, who is it for Key Takeaways Pick a platform and stop chasing models. A new model ships every week. Time spent benchmarking is time not building. Double down on Claude (or whichever you chose), use the 21 day rule, and let the ecosystem catch up to the shiny thing in your feed. CLI for heavy work, MCP for soft touch. MCP loads tools and skills into context and burns tokens. CLI uses programs already on your machine. For data heavy jobs (BigQuery, AWS, WordPress at scale), CLI wins. For light cross app workflows, MCP is fine. Build repeatables, not one offs. Subsidised tokens will not last. The 100planreportedlycostsAnthropic100planreportedlycostsAnthropic5,000 to serve. Spend the window building scaffolding that compounds, not 14 hour vibe coding runs. Plan mode every time, then push back. Claude over engineers by default. Generate the plan, then say "you have over engineered this, although I want it elegant, go back and review." Plan two is the one you start from. 30% on workflow, 70% on building. Each new dependency, MCP, skill or repo you add to your workflow compounds across every future project. Stop building only the apps. Build the things that build the apps. Left brain in scripts, right brain in the model. Counting, SQL, deterministic logic belongs in Python the moment you can offload it. Save the model for hypotheses, judgment and creativity. The PPC Ninja 5 Whys skill mixes both inside one flow. Skills are micro pieces, not magic. Take an SOP, ask Claude to interview you with decision panels, and let it write the skill. Then cascade skills together: URL to research to long form article to LinkedIn post to tweets to slide deck. Notable Quotes "Instead of doing one offs, it is time to build repeatables. The more people can learn that skill now, the better it will be, because a year from now you may not have access to the same tokens." Ritu Java "If you see something and it looks sexy and it has sex and sizzle and your dopamine is screaming to go after it, wait 21 days. Either Claude will have it, or someone will have a repo, and you can combine it." Danny McMillan "Always use plan mode. Never accept plan number one. Tell Claude: you have over engineered this, although I want it elegant, go back and review. Then start from plan two." Danny McMillan "I build the things that build things. I build the scaffolding the team needs so they can build on top of it." Danny McMillan "Spend 30% of your time on your workflow and 70% building. The 30% compounds across every project." Danny McMillan "If we just hand six months of ad, organic, ranking and SQP data to Claude with no structure, it is going to mess up. It will give you an 80/20 you are not satisfied with, because it is not equipped to handle that volume without scaffolding." Ritu Java "WordPress is horrible to work with through MCP. It falls over all the time. CLI can be amazing for certain things." Danny McMillan Resources Mentioned PPC Ninja : Ritu's Amazon PPC software and agency, base for the BigQuery + CLI stack discussed Claude Code : Anthropic's CLI for Claude, the primary surface used in the episode Anthropic Claude : Claude 4.7 referenced as the current model OpenAI Codex : Codex 5.5 mentioned as the rival shipping fast Google Gemini CLI : Referenced as a sibling agent surface (Gemini.md) Google BigQuery : PPC Ninja's central data warehouse Google Cloud CLI (gcloud) : The CLI Claude uses to talk to BigQuery Amazon Advertising MCP : Amazon's official MCP server for ads data, referenced as the MCP comparison point AWS CLI : Used by Ritu to publish HTML blog posts to ppcninja.com from a Claude chat Netlify : Hosting layer for PPC Ninja's previous era of UI based apps WordPress and WooCommerce : Backbone of Danny's event-ops CLI FooEvents : Ticketing plugin that lives behind WooCommerce in the event-ops flow Stripe : Source of the card fee variation Danny reconciles via CLI ExtractFlow / CloudExtract : Danny's four tier extraction cascade (HTTP, headless, stealth, agentic). Open repo Playwright : The default browser automation tier inside ExtractFlow Agents.md : Emerging AI agnostic instruction file standard alongside Claude.md and Gemini.md Sequential Thinking MCP : The MCP Danny invokes when asking Claude to step through analysis Hosts Danny McMillan : Host of Seller Sessions, founder of DataBrill, building AI native tooling and CLI based workflows for Amazon sellers. Website: https://sellersessions.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannymcmillan Ritu Java : CEO and co founder of PPC Ninja, Amazon PPC software and agency. Specialises in automation, BigQuery pipelines and agentic workflow design. LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ritujava Website: https://www.ppcninja.com What's Next Next week: Ritu and Danny pick up routines and the new Claude scheduler. In 8 days: Seller Sessions Live 2026 in London on 9 May. Last week to lock in any final discounts. About Seller Sessions Seller Sessions is the leading podcast for serious Amazon sellers, hosted by Danny McMillan since 2017. Go With The Flow is the weekly automation strand where Danny and Ritu Java work through agentic flows, MCPs, CLIs and skills, in real time, on the same stack their teams ship every week. Episode published: 1 May 2026 Series: Go With The Flow (Week 4 of the month) Keywords: claude skills, claude code, cli vs mcp, mcp model context protocol, claude 4.7, codex 5.5, amazon ppc automation, bigquery cli, agentic workflows, plan mode, token optimisation, claude.md, agents.md, ppc ninja, ritu java, seller sessions podcast, go with the flow

This episode covers the delay of WordPress 7.0 due to performance concerns with collaborative editing, the introduction of a new contributor tool for WordCamp events, insights from the latest State of WordPress Agency report highlighting increasing challenges and agency burnout, and a new initiative at Automattic allowing selected staff a month to pursue independent projects. Additional topics include recent community events, a new theme launch, and issues with WooCommerce subscriptions auto-renewals impacting revenue. The discussion get into the need for specialisation, adaptability, and proactive evolution within the WordPress ecosystem.

In this week's show, Frank La Vigne sits down with data and analytics engineer Wasim Rana for a deep dive into the realities of building, managing, and securing data infrastructure in modern businesses.Together, they explore the critical challenge of preventing data lakes from turning into data swamps, the practical pipeline from raw to curated data—including the increasingly popular bronze, silver, and gold layering approach—and the vital role of governance in today's data-heavy world. Waseem Rana shares insights from his hands-on experience with AWS, Snowflake, and transforming messy datasets into actionable business intelligence.The conversation also takes a look at the evolving landscape of data engineering amid AI advancements, what skills data professionals need to stay ahead, and how future architectures may blend data lakes, warehouses, and vector databases for AI-driven analytics. Whether you're a data engineer, business leader, or just curious about the future of data, this is an episode you won't want to miss!LinksWasim's LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamwasimrana/Wasim's GitHub -https://github.com/wasimranacseWatch on YouTube -https://youtu.be/8oGEEN6BubkPodcast Episode Mentioned:The AI Driven Leader: Rethinking Strategy, Decision Making, and Personal Growth -https://datadriven.tv/episodes/the-ai-driven-leader-rethinking-strategy-decision-making-and-personal-growth/Book mentioned:The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter DecisionsHardcover -https://amzn.to/4crqshxKindle -https://amzn.to/4u8rVPSAudiobook -https://amzn.to/3Qqsc1XTime Stamp00:00 Working as a data engineer03:22 Using AWS for infrastructure06:31 Transforming raw data for use11:14 Discussing data sources and ingestion15:51 Discussing data analysis with AI models16:33 The future of data analytics21:58 Importance of data governance24:44 Evolution of data storage solutions29:34 AI's impact on data jobs31:20 Understanding data architecture importance35:49 Understanding AI creativity and context37:14 Understanding AI's lack of context40:43 Difficulty finding meaningful connections45:14 Using storytelling to drive change47:44 Connecting pipelines to WooCommerce

It is easy to get trapped in the "but I've always done it this way" cycle, but making an impact requires the courage to put a bow on things that no longer serve your bigger vision. In this last Fuck Yeah Friday episode of April, Lesley Logan dives into the power of ending programs with grace to make room for what's next. She celebrates incredible global wins, from conservation success stories to falling crime rates, while highlighting how to embrace being a badass at the boring-but-necessary tasks like bookkeeping.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Positive news and wins happening right now from around the world.The importance of cheering for peers who raise their rates.Navigating tax season and the victory of mastering QuickBooks reports.Reflection on the strategic decision to end the business retreat.Episode References/Links:Winning Mindset - https://beitpod.com/winningmindsetSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questions If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday.Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:44  Hi, Be it babe, you made it to the end of April. You're here. You did it. Oh my god 1/3 of the year wrapped up. We're done, right? So I don't know if that's a win or like, oh my god. I don't know. I'm recording this in February. I'm unclear whether we were, like, wanting this year to get faster or slow down, you know, but hopefully you're enjoying that freedom horse. So I have inspirational posts, then a win of yours, then a win of mine, and a mantra for you. So if you're new to our Friday episodes. It's a short and quick, wonderful episode, and that scratching in the background is my dog literally not comfortable in his bed. Lesley Logan 1:30  Okay, good news from around the world that nobody talks about this is from Winning Mindset. So Australia can become the first nation in the world to eliminate cervical cancer. That's so fucking cool. That is amazing. Pandas are no longer considered at risk of extinction. This is one of the greatest success stories in wildlife conservation.Lesley Logan 1:52  It's amazing. Pandas are, you know what? They're like, (inaudible) to me, they're like, what's happening? Are these bears? What's going on? Portugal is preparing to open Europe's first large elephant sanctuary for elephants rescued from circuses and zoos. So that's interesting. I guess I would have thought that there was an elephant sanctuary already. But also, how many elephants are in Europe because I'm sure that they almost all been brought there. So way to go, Portugal. I love a true elephant sanctuary. The green turtle is no longer considered an endangered species, so that's crazy. Don't let people think that this means that there's no global warming, because there is. It just means that we're doing a better job saving species. The Netherlands are closing prisons that falling as falling crime rates reduce the number of inmates since 2009 more than 20 prisons have closed. That is amazing. I want that for us. I do. Well, I mean by us, I mean in the US, I know we have a lot of people listening all over the place. I have a lot of thoughts on prisons, and I know it's hard because there are some bad people out there, but also, like we're not recidivizing them very well, so we could be doing better. Norway has done the unthinkable, becoming the first country in the world to achieve near zero deforestation rates. I mean, my goodness, how cool is that? Freaking cool. Canada has passed a law that prohibits keeping large great apes and elephants in captivity. I love that. I mean, yes, I of course, I want people to see these animals, but also I want you to travel and see the world. You know, like, we got to a place where, like, the world's coming to us all the time, and I think we need to go see the world. I think that's what makes us more empathetic human beings. So I'm really excited about that. Go Canada. Some Dutch engineers created the world's largest vacuum cleaner, it's 600 meters long, which collects plastic from the oceans and helps restore marine life. I'm obsessed with that. So anyways, some good news, right? Lesley Logan 3:52  All right, so now it's for your win. This is from Amanda Barbee. She wrote, I think this is my favorite one so far, videographer we are learning together just increased her rates because she found her magic number six posts and I forgot how many reels, because I have been offline more, it's only $500 I only need to sell a new package a month. That's amazing. She has some more wins. But I love this. I love when women support women like sometimes when, like, we work with someone and we know our worth, and then sometimes they raise the rates on us, and we're like, right? But really, if our response is, yeah, like, of course, good job. Like, that's the best thing. I love it. When people in my life, services I use raise their rates, I go, fuck yeah, go, girl, get it, you know, like, and then sometimes things become out of my price point, and that's fine. I can still, I can still want to see them win, right? So she also said that she was able to talk to a quick book customer service rep for an hour yesterday, and got positive reinforcement that I am savvy with QuickBooks and with the interface so well, and that I'm a good business person because I've pulled through the same report three different ways to cross reference my blah, blah, blah, and I did it all myself. Thanks for thanks to the reps that they use, I've been able to do it this only one and a half hours without having bookkeeping fiascos. I mean, here's the deal I'm gonna tell you right now, if you are someone who had your taxes all done and this, Amanda said this to me in February, in February, no matter if you feel like you're a baller at QuickBooks or WooCommerce or whatever the tools you have to use, like you're kind of bad as you're very much winning. My team was like, we're just waiting on some things, but our taxes are basically done. We'll just file them in April, because that's when we file our personals. And I was like, oh, I mean, like, I feel like, what an amazing win, because no one wants to deal with that. So if you are dealing with the stuff no one wants to deal with, you are winning, right? Like, sometimes we're like, oh, I didn't do anything this week. All I did was my taxes. You know what? Something people avoid. So way to fucking go. That's a big way that I would put that in the big win category. Lesley Logan 5:50  All right. So now a win of mine. So we have this program that not many people know that we have, every other year do a business retreat for Pilates instructors, and we've done, I think this will be our we just wrapped our fifth one. Want to say it was our fifth. One might have been our fourth. I think it was our fifth. And about three months before it was about to happen, we also had these other ideas of some stuff that we're working on, and I'll share more with you as I can. But at any rate, something like one of my values is authenticity. Another value is transparency, another value is communication. Right? And a lot of people, whenever we have a program, they're like, oh, I can't do this. I'll do the next one. And I knew there's a lot of people saying they want to do a next, the next one. And I just wanted to be honest with people, you know, when I realized that like for us to continue to move forward on some of the things that we're working on, for us to have the impact that we want to make we can't do every single program we've ever done forever. We have to like something has to go. And as much as I love our business retreat that we do in the capacity that we do it, I know that we can't promise that we'll do one ever again. I guess it doesn't mean we'll never do one, but like in the capacity that we do it, the way that we currently host it. It just, it can't continue. And so I wanted, we made that announcement a few months ago, and we just wrapped that amazing last one, and it was such a celebration. I think sometimes when things are the last you like, there's almost like, it's easy for it to almost be like an ending, or like a funeral, you know, like, you're like, oh, like, I watched Suni Lee, like, doing her last floor thing, and the way she was giving herself a pep talk was like, it's yes, it's the last one, but it's a celebration of all the hard work. And so I just want to say, like, our my win is we recognized it was the last one before it was, before it happened, so that we could really, truly give everything we wanted to it. No regrets, no oh, I wish I'd done that before we ended it and I could put a bow on it like that's wrapped, that's a wrap. And I'm proud of the work we did, and I'm proud of the lives we changed, and I'm proud of the people that we coached in that capacity. And I don't know what's next for an idea like that or a program like that in this moment, I don't need to that's a win. That's a win. We can actually be proud of the work that we did and put a bow on it. And I think for my overachievers listening, that's really hard to do, like I always have done it, so I have to keep doing it, and the truth is we don't. So thank you to every single person around the world who came to that program. Thank you for being you. It was really such an honor to do that event. I don't take it lightly. The impact in the world has been incredible. The takeaways that we always hear are remarkable, and I can't wait to see what you do next, truly. Lesley Logan 8:32  All right, your mantra for the week. I have come farther than I would have ever thought possible, and I am learning along the way. I have come farther than I would ever have thought possible, and I'm learning along the way. Yes, you have and you are, you're amazing. You're being it till you see it. Have an amazing day. Lesley Logan 8:51  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 9:34  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 9:39  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 9:43  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:50  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 9:54  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, co-hosts discuss WooCommerce automation with expert James Collins, emphasizing how tools like Zapier streamline tasks, reduce errors, and enhance efficiency through practical automation examples and AI advancements.

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about quilting and creativity with my guest, Maude MacDonald. Maude is a creative strategist and brand designer who helps small business owners craft brands that feel like home — authentic, cohesive, and entirely theirs. Drawing from the success of her own brand, The Retro Quilter, Maude knows firsthand how intentional strategy, clear visual identity, and thoughtful creative direction can turn a passion project into a recognizable, confident brand. She works with entrepreneurs to refine their messaging, elevate their visuals, and create a brand experience that truly reflects who they are. +++++ This episode is sponsored by GoSadi. GoSadi is the all-in-one platform for craft professionals, simplifying pattern management across e-commerce sites like Etsy, Ravelry, Shopify, and WooCommerce. Powered by AI, GoSadi helps designers & businesses streamline listings, manage pattern libraries, and optimize SEO without the need for technical expertise. With a central hub and a personalized Catalog Landing Page, users can easily showcase their designs, push them to multiple platforms, and focus more on creativity. Visit gosadi.com to start your extended 3-month free trial today. +++++ To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.

Elliot Richmond discusses his 20+ years with WordPress, from early b2 days to founding a successful pizza delivery business powered by WordPress and WooCommerce. He shares plans for a pizza plugin and licensing model, and explains his new partnership with Automattic, creating educational WordPress.com YouTube videos. He highlights the flexibility, creativity, and feedback loop of content creation, emphasising both technical and community aspects. He details his low-key production setup and process, and expresses gratitude for the trust and freedom offered by Automattic in his content creator role. Go listen...

In this episode, Derek talks with WooCommerce's Brian Coords about how AI is reshaping e-commerce, from automating tasks to enhancing flexibility for developers and merchants. Brian shares insights on using AI for better workflows and community engagement.

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https://youtu.be/9jLLr7IPej0 Ethan Giffin, Founder of Groove Commerce and author of Closing the Digital Revenue Gap, is driven by deep curiosity, a passion for technology, and a desire to help businesses solve problems that directly impact revenue. With over two decades of experience in eCommerce, Ethan now focuses on helping manufacturers and distributors build scalable digital revenue channels that complement their sales teams and improve overall business performance. We explore Ethan's Revenue Framework for Manufacturers and Distributors, a practical system for building and scaling digital revenue channels in complex B2B environments. The framework guides companies through Discover, Build, Pilot, Activate, and Optimize—starting with cross-functional alignment and strategy, followed by building the right system, testing it with key customers, scaling adoption across the customer base, and continuously improving performance. Ethan explains why B2B eCommerce is far more complex than a typical website project, how “quiet friction” can silently drive customers away, and why successful digital transformation requires long-term commitment, internal buy-in, and the right systems in place. — 5 Steps to Closing the B2B Revenue Gap with Ethan Giffin Good day, dear listener. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and my guest today is Ethan Giffin, the Founder of the Groove Commerce, eCommerce Agency, trusted advisors to manufacturers and distributors, and author of Closing the Digital Revenue Gap. Ethan, welcome to the show.  Very excited to be here, Steve. Very excited to be here. Thank you.  Well, we’ve known each other for quite a few years, probably, I don’t know, five or six years.  2018.  So 2018. So that’s eight. Eight years.  Eight years. Yeah.  Oh my God. Okay.  Eight years.  So we’ve known each other a long time. I think you’ve been on one of the early versions of this podcast as well. But things have changed a lot since then. That was five years ago. And your business has transformed, and you have niched your business dramatically since. So I thought that it would be great to have a conversation and talk a little bit about where you come from, what you’re trying to achieve, what matters to you, and also the system that you developed, which I thought was very impactful for manufacturers. So before we dive into that, tell me about your personal ‘Why’ and how you manifesting it in your business?  How many hours do you have, Steve? How many hours do you have? I think my personal “why” is that I have a deep curiosity about life in general. I've also always enjoyed technology and driving technology, and I've always enjoyed sales. A very odd to put all of that together, but I think that's really has created my personal “why.” I'm just an amazingly curious person and want to continue to learn. And actually love helping people solve their problems that help make them money. It's pretty simple to me in that regard.Share on X If you asked people in my EO chapter, they would say, “Oh, you always ask great questions.” So I just love being curious and helping people.  Yeah, definitely. The area you're working in is very fast-moving, with lots of changes—especially with AI happening and so much innovation in technology. A lot to be curious about. I was personally very curious about the system that you developed. You call it the eCommerce Revenue Program Framework. And we are framework junkies here on the Management Blueprint, and I’d love to learn about what that does for manufacturers, distributors. What are the main pillars, and how does that system work? How do you generate revenue for them? That’s a great question. It’s a great question. So I’ve been building websites for well over 30 years and building eCommerce sites for, I think 22 years at this point. 2004 was my first really in-depth professional eCommerce website. Over that time, I've worked with a ton of different types of organizations, and a lot of common themes started to present themselves. As Groove has continued to evolve, we began to work a lot more with manufacturers and distributors who wanted to create online buyer portals so their customers could come in and buy from them.  And they call it B2B eCommerce, and it’s very different from B2C eCommerce. Generally, you have to be approved to buy. There’s just a lot of things that goes into kind of replacing working with a salesperson, so to speak, in many of these industries. And I just found a lot of common threads. I also found a group of folks who may not be as digitally mature in the eCommerce space as other folks. And I needed to lay out a system that both the CEO, the CFO, the CTO, and the CMO could all understand and work within, and have some level of accountability within that.  Yeah. Just one thing I’d like to mention here. I had a Vistage member when I started my Vistage groups who was running a distributorship, and they really struggled this idea that they wanted to sell online, but they were afraid of upsetting their distributors. They didn't want to be seen as competing with them. So it was a very complex and politically difficult situation. You're probably going to talk about that as well.  Well, it’s a little bit different, right? So the concept of what we’re doing is actually helping someone that has, maybe they’re a manufacturer and they sell to distributors. They’re not selling to the public. They’re selling to an approved group of their customers that are able to come in and buy from them anytime they want 24/7 without human intervention. And so that’s the concept of what we create. So we actually help them create a real digital revenue channel within their organization. And people are like, well, wait, does that mean you don’t need salespeople? No. Most of these organizations have long running sales teams, and actually the sales team can leverage the platforms to help their customers and accounts buy more, so that they can spend more time actually selling than hand-typing in orders and being an order taker.  And so it allows their customers to come in and reorder whenever they want and buy at more frequent intervals and see their pricing, have their payment terms, et cetera. Very different from, say, going to an online T-shirt shop, putting in your credit card, and they ship it to you. Sometimes customers are able to buy on credit, and you’re tracking how much credit they’ve utilized within the ERP system. A very different and much more complex transaction. We think that manufacturers and distributors should have at least 10% of their overall revenue flowing through a digital platform like that. Our average customer is anywhere between $100 million and $400 million in revenue. So that's $10 to $50 million flowing through that channel. And so some industries with more digitally mature customers can go much higher than 10%. And it’s just a much cheaper way to operate.  So let’s say I’m a manufacturer and I manufacture widgets, and these widgets are being distributed through vendors who install these widgets into machines. Retail customers don't really understand our widgets, so we're not selling to retail. We're fully salesperson-based, and we'd like to go online. We'd like to get 10% or 15% of our sales online. What does it take for us to transform our business to partially online?  Yeah. That’s a great question, Steve. That’s a great question. I'm going to walk you through it very simply. I will say most CEOs or VPs of marketing think about a project like this as just a website. That's the wrong way to think about it. This needs to be a true revenue channel within the organization—a true top-down initiative that has accountability from all sides—because it's much bigger than that. If you’re talking about $10, $20, $30, $50, or even $100 million going through a system like this, it's not just about building a website. And that’s a really common mistake that the prospects and customers that we’ve gotten have often done.  Their IT might say, “Oh, we have a WordPress website. Let's use WooCommerce for free.” Or, “I saw Shopify on Jim Cramer. Let's try Shopify.” Most of those direct-to-consumer systems don’t have the right kind of features and functionality, nor is the process to pick the software first. So what we actually tell our customers and prospects is, “Hey, we've got to take a step back.” We have a five-step lifecycle that takes about three years for a company to go from zero to kind of fully digitally transformed in terms of their eCommerce. We start with what we call the Discover phase of the lifecycle. And that is where we work, consult, understand, and build alignment between the sales team, the finance team, customer service, operations team, the warehouse, and the IT team to build this kind of alignment where all the groups of the…Share on X  In that process, we’re helping them to pick a software to utilize, to run all of this, and that will connect to their ERP system accordingly. The next phase in the process is the Build phase, and that is more traditional—like any website—where we architect, design, and build the full system. For a modern manufacturer, that generally takes about six to eight months to go through that process. Some are a little faster, some are a little longer, depending on the organization. But is this because there are thousands of SKUs, or why does it take so long?  Because there’s complex integrations with their accounting and ERP systems. The catalog is often not ready for prime time. Maybe it's in the ERP, but it contains a lot of internal slang and doesn't have photos for everything. They're often missing data or specifications. For instance, sometimes Amazon has better product descriptions and more measurements than the manufacturer's own website. So these are the kind of things that we need to go to. The Discover and Build phases together can take anywhere between eight and 12 months—or longer—depending upon the size of the organization. The next step, the next lifecycle here is called the Pilot phase, and this is something people often forget about. What they don’t do is they don’t pilot these types of systems with a handful of their top customers. Customers that would never fire them, or that are willing to go on a little bit of an R&D journey with them. They don’t pilot these systems and have them start to utilize it in a white-glove way, and they don’t often have the same kind of white-glove service with their internal sales teams to help them get going. So this Pilot phase is very important to start seeing early adoption—both internally and with the customer.Share on X  Sorry to interrupt, but I'm curious—how do you get those customers to actually invest time in piloting a system like that when they already have a salesperson who knows them and their needs?  Well, generally, up to this point, we've internally surveyed and built a system that can handle these customers. Most of your top customers want you to succeed. Quite honestly, they may already be experiencing friction in the sales process currently is holding them back and they may be like, “Oh, I can just go in and press one button to reorder my weekly order—thank God!” Most of the time, they volunteer to pilot the system. In fact, these are the ones that you want to pilot the system, the ones that are willing to do that, and you need to take them through that process with a white-glove level of service, even holding weekly office hours if you need to.  But what you want to see in that pilot is see those customers make not only their first order, but maybe their second, third, or fourth order, depending upon what their typical intervals are. And so we want to get that up and running and get some early kind of wins there and get both the internal team and the customers feeling like, Hey, this is really working for us. And then the next phase after that, we call it the Activate phase. Again, these websites are very different than a direct-to-consumer site, where they usually have an improved list of customers and they’re hidden behind a password. The next phase is the activate phase, and that’s where you want to get all of your customers in the system placing their first and second orders and getting it going. And you want to roll that out.  Generally, it might take you a good 10 to 12 months to get everybody rocking and rolling with this part of the system. But once they do, and once they start making their first, second, third order, you’ve built muscle memory over time. So this activation phase is really important. I was recently talking to the VP of marketing at a $400 million distributorship. He was telling me that they had invested seven figures in building this system, and they spent 18 months connecting it into all their financial systems. Again, $400 million. And they had only done about $200,000 in their first nine months having the system live. And what they didn’t do was they didn’t figure out how to activate their customer base. Because I asked them, how many customers do you have? Well, we’ve got about 180,000 customers.  Well, how many are in the system? 15,000. And next thing, and I’m like, well, you haven’t done yourselves any favor here. So you need a very solid plan to activate. That takes about the first two years, right? The first year is kind of architecting and building the system. Year two is really piloting and activating the system, but by year three, you've got more mature scorecard.Share on X You are starting to find ways to optimize, to reduce friction in the buying process. Maybe you’re introducing more products to your catalog. You’re introducing your customers to more product offerings that you may have, or maybe you’re finding even new industries that you can easily plug into the system and generate more revenue. And we call that the Optimize phase. And that continues to just spin in a flywheel once that’s up and running. That’s fascinating. So I wonder—how do you get the sales team to buy in? Is there an advantage for them, or they feel like sometimes that the digital channel is going to compete with them?  Yeah, well, that buy-in can come from a lot of feelings. I’ve had to stand up in front of national sales meeting audiences and talk about these kind of things. And so I would say, out of the gate, salespeople are nervous that you’re trying to take their commission away. When their customers buy through these systems, they need to get the commission off their accounts as they normally would. Maybe you raise expectations, right? In terms of what you’re looking for them to sell, or their annual quota. Perhaps you want them to sell a little more now that they have this electronic tool—but they need to share in the revenue that comes through these systems. The second part is that, according to McKinsey Consulting, 70% of all digital transformation projects in the mid-market fail to meet their original stated goal. So what happens is that people make wrong decisions, or maybe they pick software before they put alignment together. And so the salespeople, maybe they’ve had a poor experience or two with a CRM rollout, or an ERP rollout, or a previous eCommerce rollout that wasn’t thoughtfully planned. And so you’ve got to figure out how to build that confidence and trust back with folks. And then the last piece is you’ve got to give them a voice in the process. A traditional website project may not include the head of sales for the organization, but for our discoveries, we like them to attend at least the first couple days of that.  So this is a huge project—two or three years working with a client. How important it is that you keep an eye on the pulse of the client, keep listening, and make sure buy-in continues to be strong? Yeah, I think it's very important. One of the best parts about all of this is everything is trackable. We can track which customers have logged in, we can track how frequently they log in. We can track how frequently they buy, and then we can leverage technology to go out and kind of tickle them, remind them—“Hey, it's been a while since you ordered. Why don't you come back and check this out?” It is an ongoing relationship, but that relationship changes and evolves over the course of working together. I think once you get over the kind of discover-and-build phases and into the pilot, the relationship begins to evolve and change. Clients get really excited about milestones, like the first $100,000 in orders that come through the system or the first six-figure order that comes through unattended. There’s a lot of things that you want to think about and celebrate along the way when you’re working together.  Do you find that clients are willing to think long-term and commit to three-year plans where they’re willing to invest time and money into building this channel out over a period of time, as opposed to trying to get a silver-bullet solution that will happen overnight? I think it depends on where they are. From our client’s point of view, if they’ve bought into working with us, they believe and understand that this isn’t just a one-project kind of operation to build a 10–15% revenue channel within the organization. There’s no long-term contracts on our side to do it. It’s kind of broken up into kind of multiple phases and pieces. We actually do that so we can make sure that they’re ready to move on to the next step in that. There is some heavy lifting that comes from the first year of actually building a system and getting all the integration parts working through that —which is challenging. I get questions often about this. There's usually a buying committee that makes decisions on these types of project and expenses, and the CFO is always a part of that conversation. And I think the transparency that we do offer a CFO to say, listen, this is what you should expect over a three-year period.  If both sides do what they’ve agreed to do here, this is what it can get to. And I believe that maybe it might cost them $50 or $60 an order for a human in their call center to actually get the order over the phone and type it in. And kind of follow along with that from an ongoing kind of basis. And it might cost $3, $4, $5 for an order of that scale to come out of an eCommerce system. So there's definitely optimization that happens all the way around. Salespeople are able to do more, and customer service is able to focus on actually helping people, not entering orders.Share on X  Yeah, I was wondering—let’s say my widget manufacturer, we increase, we get 10% into the digital channel in a period of three years, maybe 10-15%. How much of that is accretive to the actual sales in your experience? And how much of it is kind of cannibalizing some of the actual sales?  I think it’s a little bit of both. Customers will generally buy more from you if it’s easier to buy from you. And I think there’s a real optimization in terms of expenses and costs that happens when you bring it all on.  So there’s a little bit of top-line growth and a lot of profitability improvement, margin improvement. Margin improvement.  Yeah. That’s very interesting. So, Ethan, you're coming out with the book Closing the Digital Revenue Gap. What prompted you to write this book, and what is it about?  I felt like I’ve got over 20 years of stories from being on the road. And I felt like it would be a lot of the same challenges would happen over and over again on these types of projects. So I sat down and wanted to really write about these stories, the challenges, and how we made it through them, and give the reader some things to think about as they’re going through challenges like that. And just understand that they’re not alone, that other people, that other organizations have had similar challenges over the year. So I wanted to get that out on paper and have it in a holdable form. Sorry, I don’t have them. I’m still waiting for the hardcovers to come in, so I don’t have one to show you today. But the reasoning is I felt like I wanted to tell my story and the stories of the journey I’ve been on of building these types of sites and systems over the years. Yeah. I’m sure you have a lot of war stories. Can you share one or two with us—something that was really difficult but then created a breakthrough, or a situation where someone was very skeptical and then came around?  Yeah. I think one of the big stories I like to talk about is quiet friction. Every business has quiet friction in it that may affect their customers, and they don't even know it.Share on X So, here where I'm from in Baltimore, they recently passed a law where it costs five cents for every grocery bag that you use at the grocery store, right? There’s one grocery store in the area that carries a handful of my favorite things to make pizza. They carry these special pepperonis, special cheese, like all the things. And I love making pizza. And I’m always so happy when I’m going to this store to get those things because I know I’m going to make pizza, and I love it. Well, with this law coming and happening, most grocery stores that you go to that have a self-checkout will have an option.  How many bags did you use? 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. And the bags are right there. It's on the honor system. Well, this grocery store chain at their self-checkout locks the grocery bags up, and you actually have to go get the self-checkout assistant to come over, swipe his badge, type in a whole bunch of like characters on the touchscreen, and then get a bag out of a locked cabinet and give it to you. And it’s created so much friction with me that I actually hate going to that grocery store now. And it’s kind of ruined the experience of me buying three of my favorite things to do my favorite thing. If I ask most manufacturers to say, think about your business. Is it actually hard to buy from you? Sit and ponder that a bit. What kind of quiet friction do you have within your organization? And most of them, you can see the steam come out of their ears once they realize what’s creating those types of challenges for them. What kind of quiet friction do you have in your company that might not make people like leave immediately, but if somebody else gives them the opportunity to buy what you sell from them much easier without making it a pain in the ass, they might like, kind of gradually move, float away from you. And I think that’s where you start to just like miss compatibility with all of it.  Yeah, I love that you approach it from this angle—it’s the friction. If you remove the friction, the flow of business accelerates. It's like widening a gorge: a lot more flow can go through, and it’s so easy to miss the friction because you don’t see it. It’s something that is holding you back. And if you remove it, the effect is probably cumulative. If you have all these little things that don’t count on their own and they are immaterial on their own, but cumulatively they are absolutely disastrous. Love it. So we live in the AI age, and I can’t avoid asking a question on AI as well: how are your clients, customers taking advantage of AI?  It’s all over the place, right? I would say a lot of our customers are using AI to help with an email here or there. Maybe they have some Industry 4.0-type IoT devices connected in their factory that leverage, or are able to leverage AI for creating dashboards. But it really is generally through the use of software that we’re seeing that kind of happen overall. But one of the areas that we found AI to be fantastically helpful these days is helping to build a public-facing catalog—being able to leverage tools within AI to stock in data from various sources and get that into a structured format that we can leverage and import into a system. So we’re doing those types of projects a lot with folks. They’re still looking for coaching and help in those areas. So AI is still an emerging area, but we’re trying to, like, every day figure out how to leverage AI more and more with what we’re doing.  Is it possible to use AI in optimizing these web properties, these eCommerce systems?  I don’t think so yet. I mean, I think AI can make recommendations about things, but I wouldn’t trust AI to just auto-optimize what I was doing. I would also say that most of the folks, unless you’re really getting 50,000, 60,000, a hundred thousand visits on a single webpage—a million visits on a webpage—you’re not getting enough to statistically create a winner in that. So it’s all about using those types of things responsibly. But we are seeing AI really come to light in terms of the traditional eCommerce search, right? eCommerce search has always been keyword-driven, but we have certain platforms and tools that we plug into sites now that are able to search PDFs and even CAD files and all types of things in terms of being able to answer questions. That’s very interesting. So Ethan, you’ve been running a business for over two decades now, at least. That’s what I’m aware of. We mentioned 2004. I think Groove was started in 2004.  Seven, officially seven. But the precursor days before it was actually Groove.  Okay. Alright. So 2007. Still, it’s coming up on 20 years. So what is, in your experience, the most important question any entrepreneur should be asking themselves?  I would ask themselves if they have niched down enough within their industry. I would say that’s probably one of my biggest mistakes: not niching down fast enough and really focusing on a single area with that. So that would be the thing that I would want to say if I was an entrepreneur, and I have told people that, and to write a book.  Is this partially why you wrote the book?  It is.  Yeah.  Yep. Yeah, I’ve been doing more and more keynote speaking, and I knew I needed a book if I wanted to elevate myself to the next level. So before we wrap up, I can’t hold myself back from bringing this up, but you’re also an accomplished DJ. You started your career DJing, and you still do it sometimes for friends.  Yes.  What did DJing teach you as an eCommerce entrepreneur? How do you see life differently, or the world, or business owners differently because of DJing? Well, that’s a great question, and it’s affected me. I started DJing when I was 15 years old. I’m 51 now. And I do focus now on working with some nonprofits locally here in Baltimore, and I DJ their galas, and we put on a big show. And I would say that, interestingly, DJing has moved into digital. When I started as a DJ, I had 12-inch records that we would put on a turntable, and you’d have to have a dolly and crates of records that you would have to haul around. And now I can have 50,000 songs on my laptop in front of me, and I have these devices that spin like turntables that I can DJ on. And that—quite frankly—that transition for me to go from analog to digital was quite difficult. And I really did my own little mini digital transformation to figure out how to do that, and I was against it for a long time.  It really helped me understand more what our customers are going through as they’re thinking about that and having much more empathy. So it is that transition. I used to work at a nightclub, and we had to bring somebody in from Italy to program the lighting equipment that we had at the time in the 1990s. And now I have a light show that is driven by the waveform in the music, and it manages the lights through AI. I had it set up within an hour of getting the software. And so it’s just been tremendous to understand and see like how that has gone from analog to digital. And it’s been very helpful on the journey to teach our clients how to go from analog to digital as well.  I love it. I mean, that’s such a huge challenge with all this technological evolution going on—to keep up with that, stay fresh, and stay young with the technology, and you’re doing that. So that’s awesome. So if we have in the audience some manufacturers, distributors, or someone who is very passionate about eCommerce and wants to talk to you, learn from you—where can they go, and where can they connect? Where can they get your book? How does it work?  Absolutely. So if this resonated—if this message resonated with any of your listeners—we’re waiting for our first initial batch of books to come in, and I’ve held some back to give away. I would love to offer a complimentary book to any of the listeners of this podcast that it resonated with, as well as offer a free consultation as part of that. And if they go to www.b2becombook.com, they can request a free copy, and we’ll send it out as soon as we get them in. Sounds good. So B2B is B2B, right?  B2B. Yep.  So definitely check this out. And if you enjoyed the show, make sure you subscribe and keep coming back, because every week I get an exciting entrepreneur on the show. And Ethan, thanks for coming and sharing your goodies and wisdom. Thank you so much for having me. I always appreciate seeing you.  That was a great pleasure. Thank you. Important Links: Ethan's LinkedIn: Ethan's website:

In this episode of TWiW, the panel discusses WP Engine's acquisition of WPackagist, recent rapid-fire WordPress security updates, and highlights educational initiatives within the WordPress community. They also explore an agency's strategic use of AI, preview upcoming features in WordPress 7, and cover the expanded functionality of the Ollie theme for WooCommerce. Additional topics include the release of a per-page theme switcher plugin, WordCamp Asia updates, and privacy considerations with Signal. The conversation is, as always, lively with tangents, especially on the growing intersection of AI and WordPress development.