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Welcome to the eCommerce Podcast
with me, your host, Matt Edmundson.

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Now, the eCommerce podcast is all about
helping you to deliver eCommerce wow.

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And to help us do just that, I am chatting
today with Omar Zenhom from Webinar

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Ninja, and we are gonna dig into his
story about how a successful entrepreneur

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learned what it took to succeed.

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But before we jump into that,
let me suggest a few of the, uh,

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eCommerce podcast episodes to listen
to from our back catalog that I

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think you are gonna enjoy as well.

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Uh, podcast number one, try Jared
Mitchell's conversation, uh, where we

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talked about an e-commerce success story.

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He's such a legend, Jared, you're
not gonna wanna miss that one

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if you've not heard it already.

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Or even if you have.

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Check it out.

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He's like I say, top bloke, uh,
and the other one, Haikki Haldre.

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This is going back a few seasons,
but still a fantastic conversation.

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Still one of the most listened to
podcast episodes, uh, three top

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tips, uh, for startup success.

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So you're not gonna want to miss
that conversation with Heikki.

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Now this episode is brought to you
by the fantastic eCommerce Cohort,

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which helps you practically to deliver
eCommerce wow to your customers.

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If you are not sure what the eCommerce
cohort is, well, let me tell you, it is

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a mastermind group that you can join,
but it's a mastermind group with a twist.

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With a difference.

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It works on the idea of weekly
sprints, short sort of easy, digestible

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content that you can use to build
and grow your own online business.

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There is expert coaching.

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There are topics covered
and deep dive into.

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You can share your work, you
can get peer accountability.

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There is all kinds of stuff that is going
on in there, all designed to help you

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just grow your eCommerce business.

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The cool thing is it's pretty lightweight.

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It's light touch, uh, and so you can do
it at your own pace, but you are gonna

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be in a community of like-minded people.

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So whether you are just starting
out an eCommerce or if, like me, you

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are a well established eCommercer,
you've been around a while, uh, then

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I encourage you do check it out.

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Honestly, you're not gonna
want eCommercecohort.com.

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I think it's brilliant.

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I'm gonna be in there, that's for sure.

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So do check it out eCommercecohort.com
or any questions, just email me matt

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eCommercepodcast.net with any questions.

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I'll try and I'll try and answer them
as best as I can, which by the way,

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nicely leads me onto our website.

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If you wanna see our back catalog,
check all of those things out,

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head over to eCommercepodcast.net.

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Now.

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Without further ado, here is
my conversation with Omar.

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Well, it's great to be here with Omar.

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Now, Omar is the co-founder and
CEO of Webinar Ninja, which has

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to be one of the coolest names,
uh, for a company on the planet.

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He, uh, founded the company in 2014
and has since grown to become one of

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the world's leading webinar platforms.

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I have used Webinar Ninja.

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Uh, over a million people, including
me, have attended a webinar on

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Webinar Ninja and here, and the
company was named one of the fastest

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grown SAAS companies back in 2018.

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But as we are going to learn, business
hasn't always been sunshine and

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rainbows, we're gonna get into his story.

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Uh, but in addition to his work at
Webinar Ninja Omar is also the host of

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the hundred dollars MBA show, and he was
kind enough to have me as one of the 1300,

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uh, episodes, which is now on iTunes.

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It was the iTunes, uh, best podcast
in 2014 has been download an insane

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amount of times over 90 million
times and ranked as a top business

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podcast in over 30 countries.

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. Wow.

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I have slight podcast envy, slight podcast
fandom start and whatever you call it.

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Omar, thank you for joining me.

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It's great to have you, uh, and after,
uh, being on your show after read in

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those stats, I'm, I'm stoked, man, that
you, you've taken the time to join us.

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Thank you so much for being here.

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I'm happy to be here, Matt.

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You're a legend.

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Now you are in fact a legend from, uh,
dialing in from Sydney, uh, Australia.

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Uh, and I'm, I'm just amazed at the
technology which allows us to do this.

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Uh, now we're using a platform
called Riverside, but obviously

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you've been in this game for a
little while with Webinar Ninja, this

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whole video sort of streaming thing.

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How did you.

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How did you do that?

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Did you just wake up one day and
thought, you know what, I'm just

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gonna conquer the world of webinars.

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Uh, not exactly.

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Actually, I kind of stumbled into it.

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Um, before I became a full-time
entrepreneur, I was a high

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school and university educator.

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I was a teacher.

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I taught students five times a day.

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Uh, and uh, that's what I
did all my for 13 years.

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Um, so teaching was my jam
and this is what I love to do.

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When I made the transition into
full-time entrepreneurship, uh, I was

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just in love with the concept of being
able to teach at scale with webinars.

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Um, I was running a lot of
webinars to grow our community

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at the a hundred dollar mba.

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And I just hated all the other, uh,
options out there for running webinars.

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Uh, but not only that, uh, you
know, when people start writing

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webinars start to realize, you
know, there's a lot of moving parts.

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There's other pieces of software you need
to have them all Franken signed together,

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whether it's landing page software or
recording software or video software, or

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the streaming software or email marketing.

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And there's all this other
stuff that goes into it.

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Um, so I actually, we'd spend
two hours every week to run my

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webinar, to put it all together.

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Uh, initially I actually ran,
I ran a, uh, a pro a product.

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I launched a product called the
DIY webinar guide, to, and I

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documented every step of the way of
me putting these webinars together.

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And that product was a total flop.

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Like nobody bought it.

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I actually had two sales and one sale
was a chargeback, so it was not even.

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So, and the second sale was, was like a
sympathy sale, was a friend of mine who

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was just interested in what I was doing.

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Wow.

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But what that taught me was, uh, was
basically what Ben Horowitz calls,

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uh sometimes you have to create a
bad product or create a good one.

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It taught me that people don't
wanna know how to do it, they

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just want it done for them.

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They want, they don't wanna do the work.

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So, uh, I started, you
know, messing around.

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I'm a very amateur, uh,
engineer or developer.

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I put together, um, you know, a very
simple PHP uh, HTML kind of app where I

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ran my own webinars with the people that
are running my webinars or on my webinars

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are asking what I'm using for this.

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And I just said something
I slapped together.

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And then they asked me, Do
you, can I buy this thing?

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Can I buy the software you're using?

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I was like, Oh, okay.

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Learning the lesson from the first
failure, you know, you know, don't work

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four months on something and not be
sure and have, you know, idea validation

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that people actually want this thing.

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Yeah, I pre-sold it.

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I actually put, uh,
together a landing page.

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And I, uh, put up the mockups of
the design of the, of the, of what

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I thought would be a good solution.

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And I told people this would be
ready in about, uh, four months

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if you wanna put down some money.

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Um, I can, I basically created my
own Kickstarter and, uh, you know, we

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sold out 150 spots in 48 hours and we
realized, okay, this is striking a nerve.

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People hate their webinar solution to the
point where they're willing to put money

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down on the promise of something better.

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So yeah that kind of gave us validation
and gave us some funding to kind of

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get going and, uh, the rest is history.

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That's fascinating.

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So, uh, I'm just gonna oversimplify here.

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You, you, you so, cuz so many
stories for entrepreneurs come

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out of, I was doing this, it was
annoying me that I had to do this.

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So I came up with a solution
where I didn't have to do that,

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and lo and behold, somebody else
wanted to buy that said solution.

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Right.

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It's a, it's a real simple
sort of story arc, isn't it?

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That we, that we read a lot about.

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Yeah.

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Uh, in entrepreneurs.

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So I'm, I'm curious, Right?

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I, I just want to go back a little
bit and clarify a few things.

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So, you are a teacher, right?

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You're a high school.

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What did you teach, if
you don't mind me asking.

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Taught English as a second language.

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Okay.

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You should talk to my wife.

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She also has that same qualification.

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Loves it.

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Teaches refugees and asylum
seekers here in the uk.

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And just, is her, is her thing incredibly
rewarding, as you would call it?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Unbelievable.

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So here you are, you, you've got
your, um, we call, do you call

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it a TEFL, is what we call it.

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Yeah.

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Actually taught, uh, uh, the, uh,
TSOL degree part-time to earn money on

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the side and all that kind of stuff.

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Brilliant.

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There you go.

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So you are doing that, but
did I, did I hear right?

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You are also at the same time doing
the a hundred dollars MBA show?

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Well, actually, um, from 2002 to 2012,
the, the last 10 years of my career as

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a teacher I was building, I guess side
hustles is what they would call it today.

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You know, I would build experiments.

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I had smaller businesses, eBay stores,
e-commerce stores, um, and I was basically

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learning entrepreneurship by doing.

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I read a ton of books.

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I get my hands on, you know, this is,
you know, from 2002 to 2000 and like

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I would say, 10, The concept of an
online course was not even available.

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Like, so I, Yeah.

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What I had to, my, at my disposal were,
were just the classics books that I

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could find on the, in the library or
books I could find in a bookstore.

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And that, and just through trial
and error, I kind of learned,

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uh, well business is all about
and a PNL and how to, uh, have a

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profitable business and marketing
and sales and all that kind of stuff.

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And then I also learned, uh, what kind
of business I want to be in and what

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business I don't wanna be in, what
kind of entrepreneur I'm gonna be.

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Um, and I was fortunate enough
to be able to do that while I

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was in a job, uh, for 10 years.

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Mm-hmm.

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But, uh, 2012, that period.

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I was doing quite well as a teacher
and I was getting promoted and at the

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time I was the chair of the department.

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I was acting chair actually, because
the person who was in that position

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went to a different campus and I was
doing that person's job for about,

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uh, you know, a year and a half.

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And I was wondering, Hey, when am I gonna
get this promotion and when am I gonna,

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you know, be able to be the official chair
and get the raise and all that stuff.

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So I went to my supervisor, the dean
of the university at the time and she

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basically just leveled with me and
told me, uh, I know that the director

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wants to make an outside hire for this
position, so I'm sorry, but basically

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we've just been stringing you along.

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And at that moment, exactly, my
frustration just outgrew my fear.

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Uh, and I just thought
anything is better than this.

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I felt so powerless.

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I felt like, I don't have
control over my destiny.

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I put in all this work and time and effort
I've given, I've given this institution so

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much that I can't take with me, you know?

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And uh, I just decided I'm going to,
you know, resign and, and, and become

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a full-time entrepreneur at that point.

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So and was it at this point
you started your podcast or was

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that a bit further down line.

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So why a hundred dollars mba?

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What was the reasoning behind the title?

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Yeah.

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Um, actually while I was kind of in
that, in that transition phase, I

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was really insecure about being an
entrepreneur and starting a business,

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even though I've been, I built some
smaller businesses on the side.

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Uh, so I thought, let me
go back to, to school.

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Let me get my MBA.

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Uh, I went to Wharton Business School,
uh, which is great business school, and

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00:12:00,930 --> 00:12:04,840
I was really thrilled that I was able
to attend, and I only did a semester

228
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,760
because in that semester I learned,
uh, that uh, you know, everything

229
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:11,240
they're teaching is kind of outdated.

230
00:12:11,420 --> 00:12:14,480
And, uh, really I was
wasting a lot of money.

231
00:12:14,510 --> 00:12:17,480
I could, I could have invested that
money into building a business and

232
00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,080
failed and still got more out of it.

233
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:19,800
Mm-hmm, you know.

234
00:12:20,290 --> 00:12:25,960
Um, and the average, uh, you know, Master
of Business education, uh, are, uh, is

235
00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,950
is about a hundred thousand dollars.

236
00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,970
So that's, Uh, a fun spin to it.

237
00:12:32,970 --> 00:12:37,610
I thought I'm gonna sell a course, uh,
a community for a hundred dollars and,

238
00:12:37,610 --> 00:12:40,170
uh, teach just enough to get started.

239
00:12:40,270 --> 00:12:44,770
And really, I felt like a lot of people
were in my shoes where they just felt

240
00:12:44,770 --> 00:12:48,010
like they needed to do something to
feel like they have permission to start.

241
00:12:48,300 --> 00:12:49,730
So I wanted to give them that something.

242
00:12:51,490 --> 00:12:52,689
That's really interesting.

243
00:12:53,100 --> 00:12:54,370
So why podcasting?

244
00:12:54,370 --> 00:12:57,250
I mean, why did you, why did you
decide, Well, I'm gonna do something

245
00:12:57,250 --> 00:12:58,250
called the hundred MBA Show.

246
00:12:58,250 --> 00:13:02,569
I get, uh, why you call that now,
but why, why the podcast Medium?

247
00:13:02,579 --> 00:13:04,850
Because this is, this is a while ago.

248
00:13:04,850 --> 00:13:06,770
This isn't when podcast was super trendy.

249
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:07,730
Yeah.

250
00:13:07,819 --> 00:13:12,525
So, It's an interesting story because
it's, it's, it's, uh, filled with

251
00:13:12,525 --> 00:13:17,324
failure, because, uh, that's most
interesting stories are Yeah, yeah, yeah.

252
00:13:17,324 --> 00:13:17,685
Yeah.

253
00:13:17,795 --> 00:13:21,965
I, um, I went to this conference
in Las Vegas at the time.

254
00:13:21,965 --> 00:13:27,605
It's called, it was called Newdia Expo,
and it was 2014 January at the time I got

255
00:13:27,605 --> 00:13:31,564
to meet all my heroes in blogging and in
podcasting and all that kind of stuff.

256
00:13:31,564 --> 00:13:33,564
And, and YouTube was kind
of blowing up at the time.

257
00:13:34,225 --> 00:13:39,839
And, uh, I learned about podcasting
and always wanted to do it.

258
00:13:39,860 --> 00:13:43,160
And at the time we were doing video
interviews for the hundred dollar

259
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,599
MBA program and at the conference
people were telling me, Oh, you

260
00:13:46,599 --> 00:13:48,839
can just rip the audio from the
video and there you go, a podcast.

261
00:13:48,839 --> 00:13:51,959
Obviously that's not really the
best way to do a podcast cuz that's

262
00:13:51,959 --> 00:13:54,800
not what's built for, it's not
built for the the audio experience.

263
00:13:55,300 --> 00:13:59,290
But we did that and we started a podcast
called People Who Know Their Shit.

264
00:14:00,009 --> 00:14:03,300
Excuse my French, uh,
and we did 46 episodes.

265
00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:05,100
Unfortunately, the podcast was shit.

266
00:14:05,510 --> 00:14:08,780
Um, and we didn't, we didn't
really knock it outta the park.

267
00:14:08,780 --> 00:14:12,100
You know, I, I wanted to start a podcast
because I wanted to build an audience

268
00:14:12,350 --> 00:14:17,460
of doers, of creators, of coaches, my
people, so that I can be able to learn

269
00:14:17,460 --> 00:14:20,580
from them what they're struggling with,
and build solutions and help them out.

270
00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,569
And that's really why I wanted
to have that kind of audience

271
00:14:23,569 --> 00:14:24,810
through the podcasting medium.

272
00:14:24,810 --> 00:14:29,209
And I loved podcasting as a listener
cuz I feel like it's a very intimate

273
00:14:29,209 --> 00:14:30,490
relationship with your audience.

274
00:14:31,060 --> 00:14:32,960
But the podcast was just a total flop.

275
00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,440
It just really didn't do well.

276
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:35,040
We really tried.

277
00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,760
Our har our hardest was 46 episodes.

278
00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,160
We ran it for about six months, and
at that time, Nicole and I, um, were,

279
00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,360
we did a road trip, uh, to do some
freelance work, uh, to New York.

280
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,200
We went, we drove from San Diego to
New York, and we had some time with

281
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:54,650
the open road to just examine like,
why are doing so bad, you know,

282
00:14:54,650 --> 00:14:56,010
like, what, what's going on here?

283
00:14:56,699 --> 00:15:00,050
Um, and we realized, you know, the
podcast was an interview podcast.

284
00:15:00,579 --> 00:15:06,170
It was, you know, a format that really
doesn't lend itself to our strengths.

285
00:15:06,540 --> 00:15:09,795
We realized in that moment, like, We're
not really leveraging our strengths.

286
00:15:09,795 --> 00:15:14,275
Like both Nicole and I have
great, uh, experience as teachers.

287
00:15:14,275 --> 00:15:15,875
We both have Masters of education.

288
00:15:15,875 --> 00:15:17,235
We should be teaching on this podcast.

289
00:15:17,235 --> 00:15:18,475
Why are we doing interviews?

290
00:15:18,475 --> 00:15:19,195
That's not our strength.

291
00:15:19,195 --> 00:15:19,515
Mm-hmm.

292
00:15:19,925 --> 00:15:26,155
. Uh, on top of that, um, Nicole was a
big fan of, uh, the podcast, Coffee

293
00:15:26,195 --> 00:15:30,755
Break Spanish and Coffee Break French,
which are language learning podcasts.

294
00:15:30,945 --> 00:15:31,435
Yeah.

295
00:15:31,435 --> 00:15:34,355
That will teach you a
language lesson every.

296
00:15:35,050 --> 00:15:38,990
And, uh, we thought no one's really
doing this with business, like teaching

297
00:15:38,990 --> 00:15:43,189
a small business lesson and just teaching
them something to do today so they

298
00:15:43,189 --> 00:15:46,590
can move forward in their business or
their, their life as an entrepreneur.

299
00:15:47,079 --> 00:15:51,030
Uh, and that's kind of how the idea of the
a hundred dollar mba, uh, show was born.

300
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:56,870
Um, and I think the best thing I
did before we launched is, and that

301
00:15:56,870 --> 00:16:01,594
kind of cultivated the idea of how
we're going to form the show and

302
00:16:01,594 --> 00:16:03,995
how we're going to make it sound
and look and all that kind of stuff.

303
00:16:03,995 --> 00:16:06,275
As I really just got honest with myself.

304
00:16:06,665 --> 00:16:11,675
I went to iTunes, uh, our, you know,
Apple podcasts, and I looked at the

305
00:16:11,675 --> 00:16:16,900
top 10 business podcasts and I asked
myself at the time was like, Tim Ferris

306
00:16:16,900 --> 00:16:20,280
just launched, uh, you know, Jordan
Harbinger and the Jordan Harbinger

307
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,140
show, they, they launched their
podcast in 2007 before the iPhone.

308
00:16:24,220 --> 00:16:24,780
Right?

309
00:16:24,959 --> 00:16:26,620
How am I gonna compete with these guys?

310
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:28,540
How am I gonna compete with
the Pat Fins of the world?

311
00:16:28,540 --> 00:16:32,540
Or John Lee Dumas, who's like on fire
constantly and like, revolutionized

312
00:16:32,540 --> 00:16:34,060
the podcasting world with his program.

313
00:16:34,060 --> 00:16:36,900
Like the dude is like, all he does is win.

314
00:16:36,900 --> 00:16:38,220
Like, I gotta be real.

315
00:16:38,220 --> 00:16:38,420
Yeah.

316
00:16:38,420 --> 00:16:41,100
How am I gonna, uh, differentiate myself?

317
00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:44,900
And I thought to myself, I may not
be the best marketer or have the

318
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,920
biggest brand, but I'm, I'm pretty
sure I can teach better than all

319
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,240
of them because of my, just my,
my experience and my, my skillset.

320
00:16:51,850 --> 00:16:54,320
So that's kind of where I
leaned into, where I leaned

321
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:55,440
into what I can do differently.

322
00:16:56,010 --> 00:16:58,880
Um, and in fact, when we won best
of iTunes, you know, Apple told

323
00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,760
us, the reason why we won is that
we added to the genre of business.

324
00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,079
Like we, we offered something
a little bit different.

325
00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:07,000
So that was kind of the story.

326
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,319
We launched the podcast in
April, uh, in August of 2014.

327
00:17:10,970 --> 00:17:14,800
Um, and uh, we just kept on
working on making sure it's a

328
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:16,359
great show and, and built upon it.

329
00:17:16,810 --> 00:17:20,119
Uh, you know, and that December,
that year we won best of iTunes and,

330
00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,960
um, we've been trying to grow and,
and help our listeners ever since.

331
00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:25,419
So it's been, uh, it's been a great ride.

332
00:17:26,339 --> 00:17:27,169
Fantastic.

333
00:17:27,670 --> 00:17:32,440
Well, well I've got hear a few
notes already, Omar, in terms of

334
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:33,760
stuff that I want to get into.

335
00:17:34,250 --> 00:17:38,920
Um, you talked about, um,
validating your ideas, uh, which

336
00:17:39,070 --> 00:17:43,000
I think is quite important thing,
um, and validating funding.

337
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,480
You've talked about leaning in
stuff that you are good at and

338
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,200
stuff that, uh, makes you different.

339
00:17:48,585 --> 00:17:51,695
There's a whole lot of stuff to get
into, so we are gonna be right back

340
00:17:51,695 --> 00:17:53,855
with Omar in just a few seconds.

341
00:17:53,855 --> 00:17:55,095
Don't go anywhere.

342
00:17:55,355 --> 00:17:56,015
Hey there.

343
00:17:56,015 --> 00:17:57,175
Are you a business owner?

344
00:17:57,605 --> 00:18:01,415
Here at Aurion Digital we know
firsthand that running an eCommerce

345
00:18:01,815 --> 00:18:03,295
business can be really hard work.

346
00:18:03,785 --> 00:18:07,775
As the online space gets more
competitive, it is becoming even more

347
00:18:08,055 --> 00:18:09,455
challenging to stay ahead of the curve.

348
00:18:09,625 --> 00:18:10,935
We totally get it.

349
00:18:11,025 --> 00:18:14,335
So we wanna help you succeed by
offering a wide range of service.

350
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:19,409
From fulfillment, marketing, customer
service, and even coaching and consulting,

351
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,090
just so that you can do what matters most.

352
00:18:22,439 --> 00:18:26,770
Save yourself the time and the money,
and let us handle the day to day tasks.

353
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,689
This way you can run your business without
having to worry about the boring stuff.

354
00:18:31,100 --> 00:18:32,010
So what do you say?

355
00:18:32,010 --> 00:18:33,570
Are we a good fit for each other?

356
00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:38,009
Come check us out at auriondigital.com
and let us know what you think.

357
00:18:45,939 --> 00:18:51,345
Okay, Omar, just before we, um, we
were talking about your, your sort

358
00:18:51,345 --> 00:18:54,545
of journey into entrepreneurship,
we were talking about the, the

359
00:18:54,545 --> 00:18:55,865
podcast, which I'm a big fan of.

360
00:18:55,865 --> 00:18:58,385
And if you don't actually subscribe
to the a hundred dollars MBA

361
00:18:58,385 --> 00:18:59,705
show, do it because it's great.

362
00:18:59,705 --> 00:19:03,505
It's it's bite size content, which
is just super practical and helpful.

363
00:19:04,115 --> 00:19:09,370
Um, how, how have you, how
have you taken all of these

364
00:19:09,370 --> 00:19:12,450
lessons, um, uh, over the years?

365
00:19:12,450 --> 00:19:14,850
You know, we talked about a few,
like validating ideas, leaning

366
00:19:14,850 --> 00:19:15,730
into things that are different.

367
00:19:15,730 --> 00:19:19,970
How have they sort of shaped you into
being the entrepreneur that you are now?

368
00:19:22,649 --> 00:19:23,530
That's a good question.

369
00:19:23,719 --> 00:19:28,330
I think that through the ups and downs,
through the hard lessons, I start to

370
00:19:28,330 --> 00:19:32,850
realize that, you know, it's what Derek
Siver says in his book, Anything You

371
00:19:32,850 --> 00:19:35,969
Want, when you're an entrepreneur,
you get to build your own utopia.

372
00:19:35,969 --> 00:19:37,969
There's no one way to do something.

373
00:19:37,969 --> 00:19:39,330
There's no right and wrong way.

374
00:19:39,550 --> 00:19:43,209
You gotta do what's best for you, what's
best for the way you wanna live your life.

375
00:19:43,709 --> 00:19:47,610
You know, you don't have to raise
money, you don't have to be self-funded.

376
00:19:47,610 --> 00:19:50,120
You don't have, like,
there's no one way to do it.

377
00:19:50,639 --> 00:19:52,230
And that's the beauty of business.

378
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,070
So in the beginning, you're, you're
always trying to find the answer

379
00:19:56,070 --> 00:19:57,870
and there's no real, the answer.

380
00:19:58,010 --> 00:20:01,110
All it is, is that you gotta figure
out what you want and you gotta

381
00:20:01,110 --> 00:20:02,350
build the business around that.

382
00:20:02,985 --> 00:20:07,245
And that's really important because,
uh, when you build a business, you're

383
00:20:07,245 --> 00:20:10,325
basically married to your customers
for as long as you have this business.

384
00:20:10,325 --> 00:20:13,445
So you better really enjoy these
people, enjoy their company,

385
00:20:13,445 --> 00:20:14,765
enjoy what they talk about.

386
00:20:14,905 --> 00:20:16,245
You gotta really love it.

387
00:20:16,655 --> 00:20:21,005
Um, and as long as you do, you,
you'll, every day's gonna be exciting.

388
00:20:21,005 --> 00:20:23,485
Every day's gonna be fun,
even through the challenges.

389
00:20:24,070 --> 00:20:27,840
I would recommend you do find
something like that, because otherwise

390
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:28,920
it's just not gonna be worth it.

391
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:29,880
It's gonna be so hard.

392
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,200
You're gonna go through
so many challenges.

393
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,040
You're gonna be like, Oh, I'm just
gonna, you know, do something else.

394
00:20:34,730 --> 00:20:37,840
So that, that's the biggest lesson I
learned is that like, you gotta just

395
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:42,040
make the decisions that's best for you,
um, and, and, and be okay with it, and

396
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,520
be okay with, you know, understanding
that there will be trade offs and you're

397
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,320
gonna make the trade offs that are,
that are, uh, suitable for your life.

398
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:51,330
That's super powerful, right?

399
00:20:51,330 --> 00:20:54,930
Because especially in the modern world,
with the advent of all the digital

400
00:20:54,930 --> 00:20:59,770
courses that we have and all the online
information, uh, it almost becomes like,

401
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:04,370
I need to copy this person if I want
to be deemed successful in my own head.

402
00:21:04,370 --> 00:21:07,409
So if you follow someone I know
like Vaynerchuk, you're gonna

403
00:21:07,730 --> 00:21:11,290
approach life like you, you're
almost like a Vaynerchuk disciple.

404
00:21:11,290 --> 00:21:13,570
Do you know what I mean, and
you kind of feel like that's

405
00:21:13,570 --> 00:21:14,620
the way you have to do it.

406
00:21:15,350 --> 00:21:18,379
Um, and this is where a lot of
people sort of fail, isn't it?

407
00:21:18,379 --> 00:21:21,300
Because they're trying to do it
in a way that they think somebody

408
00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:25,340
else would do it rather than run
their business their life in a way

409
00:21:25,340 --> 00:21:26,739
that actually makes sense for them.

410
00:21:27,209 --> 00:21:27,699
Yeah.

411
00:21:27,699 --> 00:21:31,139
And also if you don't do that,
you're just gonna blend in with

412
00:21:31,139 --> 00:21:32,179
everybody else trying to be Gary.

413
00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:34,699
You know, you, you're gonna be vanilla.

414
00:21:35,189 --> 00:21:39,060
Um, and the best way to kind
of prevent that is to be okay

415
00:21:39,060 --> 00:21:40,300
with just being who you are.

416
00:21:40,300 --> 00:21:45,815
You know, I was fortunate enough
to grow up in the, in America where

417
00:21:46,005 --> 00:21:49,215
both my parents were immigrants,
they both came from Egypt.

418
00:21:49,285 --> 00:21:52,935
I was born in the States, but
my parents migrated, uh, you

419
00:21:52,935 --> 00:21:54,015
know, in the late sixties.

420
00:21:54,555 --> 00:21:59,255
And growing up as an immigrant,
uh, family, uh, you quickly

421
00:22:00,255 --> 00:22:01,855
recognize, Oh, we're different.

422
00:22:01,855 --> 00:22:04,855
Like, you know, it's, it's, it's
hard to grow up in an environment

423
00:22:04,855 --> 00:22:07,135
where you look different, you sound
different, your parents look different.

424
00:22:07,135 --> 00:22:09,135
You have different culture,
different language at home.

425
00:22:09,625 --> 00:22:12,375
Um, and I, I feel like
it's been a blessing.

426
00:22:12,965 --> 00:22:16,455
I was, I grew up in that environment
because I'm comfortable with

427
00:22:16,455 --> 00:22:18,215
not being like everybody else.

428
00:22:18,215 --> 00:22:20,415
I'm comfortable with being strange.

429
00:22:20,945 --> 00:22:22,535
Um, and being an outsider.

430
00:22:22,754 --> 00:22:24,975
And as an entrepreneur,
you are an outsider.

431
00:22:24,975 --> 00:22:28,655
Like if you ever hang out with
family or friends that are not an

432
00:22:28,855 --> 00:22:31,375
entrepreneurship, they just think
you're weird, you know, strange.

433
00:22:31,905 --> 00:22:34,975
So I feel like I, I grew up that way.

434
00:22:34,975 --> 00:22:36,415
I feel very comfortable that way.

435
00:22:36,445 --> 00:22:40,815
I, I, I, somewhere around 10, I
realize I'm a, it's not worth me

436
00:22:40,815 --> 00:22:42,455
trying to make everybody like me.

437
00:22:43,180 --> 00:22:44,810
Because it's just not gonna happen.

438
00:22:45,300 --> 00:22:46,690
Um, so you gotta be comfortable with that.

439
00:22:46,690 --> 00:22:48,890
You just gotta be comfortable with the
fact that I'm just gonna be myself.

440
00:22:49,070 --> 00:22:52,490
I'm, I'm not gonna resonate with
everybody, which is a good thing.

441
00:22:52,490 --> 00:22:55,810
That means you're gonna resonate
very strongly with your people, with

442
00:22:55,810 --> 00:22:59,450
the people that actually, uh, really
need to hear what you have to say.

443
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,010
That's really, I've never
thought about it like that.

444
00:23:03,140 --> 00:23:06,330
Uh, having immigrant parents,
you obviously resonate well

445
00:23:06,330 --> 00:23:07,570
with your tribe, don't you?

446
00:23:07,820 --> 00:23:11,890
Uh, and, uh, bringing that into
business I think is, is, uh,

447
00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:13,250
yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

448
00:23:13,350 --> 00:23:19,090
Can I ask, um, in the advent of,
uh, the, sort of the time that we

449
00:23:19,090 --> 00:23:24,010
find ourselves living in, were you,
if you don't mind me asking, was

450
00:23:24,010 --> 00:23:25,730
racism a big issue for you growing?

451
00:23:28,020 --> 00:23:31,770
Um, looking back at it, I
probably would label it as people,

452
00:23:31,770 --> 00:23:36,805
maybe I experienced racism, but
at the time, I just thought, you

453
00:23:36,805 --> 00:23:39,685
know, that's, that's just the price
you gotta pay as an immigrant.

454
00:23:39,715 --> 00:23:43,165
Like, you know, like growing up,
my family, you know, my parents

455
00:23:43,165 --> 00:23:47,085
just like work hard, put your head
down, do your best, you know, if

456
00:23:47,365 --> 00:23:51,445
somebody says something, you know,
or you're not liked or whatever.

457
00:23:51,935 --> 00:23:52,695
Doesn't matter.

458
00:23:52,705 --> 00:23:54,175
We have an opportunity here.

459
00:23:54,475 --> 00:23:57,535
You know, growing up in that environment
where your parents sacrificed

460
00:23:57,535 --> 00:24:00,295
so much, they left their family,
their friends, their livelihood.

461
00:24:00,295 --> 00:24:05,095
My mom had to do her university degree all
over cuz it wasn't Egyptians, the Egyptian

462
00:24:05,095 --> 00:24:08,055
degree wasn't recognized in the States
for her to be a registered dietician.

463
00:24:08,305 --> 00:24:11,495
So like the amount of sacrifice
they have to go through, you know,

464
00:24:11,795 --> 00:24:15,780
and seeing that as a child, you
realize, I really can't complain.

465
00:24:15,930 --> 00:24:18,940
I can't, I can't sit
there and make excuses.

466
00:24:18,970 --> 00:24:21,260
I just gotta do what I'm
supposed to do and that's it.

467
00:24:21,830 --> 00:24:24,220
So I didn't have time to be a victim.

468
00:24:24,330 --> 00:24:27,220
I didn't have time to think about,
Oh, this is not fair and whatever.

469
00:24:27,220 --> 00:24:30,580
But I just got along with it, you know,
and just dealt with the fact that maybe

470
00:24:30,580 --> 00:24:31,940
I was disadvantaged, maybe I wasn't.

471
00:24:31,940 --> 00:24:32,260
I don't know.

472
00:24:32,945 --> 00:24:36,455
Looking back at it, yes,
probably that was the situation.

473
00:24:36,875 --> 00:24:41,575
But, um, I'm happy that my parents kind
of just had the attitude just like,

474
00:24:41,695 --> 00:24:43,775
don't worry, don't even think about that.

475
00:24:43,775 --> 00:24:44,895
Just do your best.

476
00:24:44,895 --> 00:24:45,135
Yeah.

477
00:24:45,135 --> 00:24:47,295
And, uh, the rest will fall into place.

478
00:24:48,300 --> 00:24:49,430
Have you read the book?

479
00:24:49,430 --> 00:24:51,350
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell?

480
00:24:51,350 --> 00:24:51,790
Yeah.

481
00:24:51,980 --> 00:24:52,980
I love Malcolm Gladwell.

482
00:24:52,980 --> 00:24:53,550
A great book.

483
00:24:53,550 --> 00:24:53,950
Yeah.

484
00:24:53,950 --> 00:24:54,230
Yeah, yeah.

485
00:24:54,230 --> 00:24:57,590
And so just as you were talking then,
the whole premise of his book wasn't,

486
00:24:57,590 --> 00:25:01,830
it, was the, the idea that, um, people
who take disadvantage and turn it

487
00:25:01,830 --> 00:25:06,550
into advantage for themselves, uh, and
he covers a lot of people like with

488
00:25:06,550 --> 00:25:10,510
dyslexia who end up disproportionate
at large proportion of people who have

489
00:25:10,510 --> 00:25:11,830
dyslexia and end up as entrepreneurs.

490
00:25:12,129 --> 00:25:15,750
And it's interesting how, um,
those experiences for you kind of

491
00:25:15,750 --> 00:25:18,975
shaped your your approach to just
is, No, we need to be different.

492
00:25:18,975 --> 00:25:21,175
We need, we need to stand out,
we need to, and that's okay.

493
00:25:21,175 --> 00:25:22,095
We just get on and do it.

494
00:25:22,095 --> 00:25:24,695
And, and that shaped your
entrepreneur sort of life.

495
00:25:25,345 --> 00:25:28,085
Um, This is the eCommerce podcast.

496
00:25:28,095 --> 00:25:30,165
So let's talk about
eCommerce a little bit.

497
00:25:31,705 --> 00:25:34,405
I'm just getting carried away
at all these, just listening to

498
00:25:34,405 --> 00:25:35,365
your story, it's fascinating.

499
00:25:35,635 --> 00:25:38,245
Have you, um, have you dabbled
in the world of eCommerce?

500
00:25:38,355 --> 00:25:42,245
Yeah, I had my own, uh,
custom tailored clothing line.

501
00:25:42,245 --> 00:25:43,485
It was called Zenhom Designs.

502
00:25:43,485 --> 00:25:49,365
I had that business for about four
years before I gave it up in 2012.

503
00:25:49,795 --> 00:25:52,365
This was early days of 2008, 2012.

504
00:25:52,365 --> 00:25:55,645
This is before even
Shopify or even WordPress.

505
00:25:55,645 --> 00:25:57,205
At the time I had a Magento site.

506
00:25:57,205 --> 00:25:57,485
Yeah.

507
00:25:57,815 --> 00:26:03,170
Um, and a lot of people don't realize that
you can really, if there's a need in the

508
00:26:03,170 --> 00:26:08,050
market, you can have a mediocre experience
and people, because they're so desperate

509
00:26:08,050 --> 00:26:11,730
for what you have, they're willing to
go through hoops to buy what you have.

510
00:26:11,870 --> 00:26:15,730
And that, that's the type of business
I had had a, the, the, the product

511
00:26:15,730 --> 00:26:19,130
was, uh, men like me, I'm six five.

512
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,410
It's very hard for me to buy dress
shirt in a, in a department store.

513
00:26:22,410 --> 00:26:24,400
I can't go to Harrods or
Macy's and buy a dress shirt.

514
00:26:25,225 --> 00:26:27,754
I usually have to get a custom
tailored or go to a special store,

515
00:26:27,754 --> 00:26:28,875
and it's never really perfect.

516
00:26:29,405 --> 00:26:31,715
So I used to custom
tailor my own clothing.

517
00:26:31,844 --> 00:26:36,274
Um, at the time when I was teaching, I
was teaching in Dubai and that was very

518
00:26:36,274 --> 00:26:38,355
normal to tailor clothing in, in Dubai.

519
00:26:38,365 --> 00:26:43,395
So I actually was that way that business
started, is that I would just wear the

520
00:26:43,395 --> 00:26:47,205
clothes that I would get tailored when
I would go back home to the states to

521
00:26:47,205 --> 00:26:49,545
visit my family, my friends and family
be like, Oh, that's really nice shirt.

522
00:26:49,545 --> 00:26:52,565
That's a really nice, uh, you
know, uh, top you got there,

523
00:26:52,665 --> 00:26:53,845
you know, where'd you get it?

524
00:26:53,845 --> 00:26:55,165
Its like, Oh, I actually made it myself.

525
00:26:55,165 --> 00:26:57,925
And then a couple of my friends would
be like, Oh, can you make me one?

526
00:26:57,925 --> 00:26:59,685
I was like, Okay, you lemme
get your measurements.

527
00:26:59,685 --> 00:27:00,325
Things like that.

528
00:27:00,774 --> 00:27:03,205
Um, I would ask the tailor, like,
what do you, what do you need?

529
00:27:03,205 --> 00:27:04,325
What measurements do you need?

530
00:27:04,355 --> 00:27:04,965
Mm-hmm.

531
00:27:05,044 --> 00:27:08,725
. Um, and then that kind of snowballed
to the, their, their friends found

532
00:27:08,725 --> 00:27:11,685
out and they asked me to do it and I
realized, oh, this is a lot of work.

533
00:27:12,195 --> 00:27:13,635
Maybe I should start charging for this.

534
00:27:13,845 --> 00:27:18,235
So I started a, a small e-commerce store
where literally this was the process,

535
00:27:18,235 --> 00:27:23,235
and this sounds so archaic, but literally
people would download a PDF from the

536
00:27:23,235 --> 00:27:27,635
website that would have a cutout, uh,
tape measure where they put together

537
00:27:27,635 --> 00:27:30,675
and measure the plate, the things I
told 'em to measure, like their neck and

538
00:27:30,675 --> 00:27:33,754
their sleeves and their, you know, the
wrist size and all that kind of stuff.

539
00:27:33,754 --> 00:27:40,055
And, Um, they would email me their, you
know, the, their measurements and then I

540
00:27:40,055 --> 00:27:43,735
would custom, they would choose from a few
colors, and then I would custom tailor it.

541
00:27:43,735 --> 00:27:46,375
I would send it within two
weeks, they'd PayPal me the money

542
00:27:46,755 --> 00:27:48,095
and, and that's pretty much it.

543
00:27:48,095 --> 00:27:51,615
That was, that was the first version of
it before I actually had a, you know,

544
00:27:51,615 --> 00:27:55,895
inventory and stock and people would,
uh, order online and things like that.

545
00:27:55,895 --> 00:27:58,855
So, uh, it was, it was very
humble days in the beginning.

546
00:28:00,195 --> 00:28:01,805
That's quite fun though, isn't it?

547
00:28:01,805 --> 00:28:04,764
And I, I, I remember with my own
eCommerce journey, the sort of

548
00:28:04,764 --> 00:28:05,925
the humble days in the beginning.

549
00:28:06,195 --> 00:28:10,004
I quite like those, the madness of it
all and the just the figuring it out.

550
00:28:10,004 --> 00:28:10,165
Yeah.

551
00:28:10,165 --> 00:28:13,524
And you do look back on it and you
kind of go, There's no way that

552
00:28:13,524 --> 00:28:15,485
would work now, but that's okay.

553
00:28:15,555 --> 00:28:16,405
That's okay.

554
00:28:16,995 --> 00:28:17,485
. Yeah.

555
00:28:17,675 --> 00:28:21,524
I quite enjoy the fact that it,
it, it kind of did, you know?

556
00:28:21,585 --> 00:28:25,524
And, um, it's just, it's just, it's
interesting that simple things like

557
00:28:25,595 --> 00:28:27,725
a PDF download with a tape measure.

558
00:28:27,835 --> 00:28:28,325
Yeah.

559
00:28:28,575 --> 00:28:32,475
Um, That's, that's quite insightful
because actually you are going,

560
00:28:32,525 --> 00:28:36,155
there's a problem that they, they,
you know, these guys are gonna,

561
00:28:36,155 --> 00:28:38,555
they're not gonna have a take measure
that they, you so I'm Oh, exactly.

562
00:28:39,425 --> 00:28:41,915
Really I just, even
simple things like that.

563
00:28:43,054 --> 00:28:46,915
I'm surprised how many sites don't do
things like that in the modern day.

564
00:28:46,925 --> 00:28:48,475
Do just the simple kind of,

565
00:28:48,534 --> 00:28:52,235
You know, the ingenuity that you need
now they have it like down to a science.

566
00:28:52,235 --> 00:28:55,595
They know, like they ask you your
t-shirt size and they ask you like

567
00:28:55,595 --> 00:28:58,115
all the different brands that you've
bought before and they match you to

568
00:28:58,115 --> 00:28:59,554
the size based on the brand sizing.

569
00:28:59,554 --> 00:29:04,554
And like, it's great, I mean, I, I, I
stalked a few custom tailored clothing

570
00:29:04,554 --> 00:29:08,550
lines and one of 'em were sponsors
of the show one time called, um, Uh,

571
00:29:08,550 --> 00:29:11,070
they're called, uh, for God right now.

572
00:29:11,070 --> 00:29:11,470
Lost.

573
00:29:11,470 --> 00:29:13,070
I lost, I lost their name in their head.

574
00:29:13,070 --> 00:29:13,389
My head.

575
00:29:13,389 --> 00:29:16,030
But, um, they, um, Proper Cloth.

576
00:29:16,030 --> 00:29:17,909
They're called Proper Cloth and, um, Okay.

577
00:29:17,970 --> 00:29:19,830
And, uh, they're just brilliant.

578
00:29:19,830 --> 00:29:22,584
Like now that they have
an amazing experience.

579
00:29:22,584 --> 00:29:23,745
Way better than what I had.

580
00:29:23,745 --> 00:29:26,105
But, um, I really enjoyed e-commerce.

581
00:29:26,105 --> 00:29:29,544
There's something about selling a physical
product that's special, seeing it out

582
00:29:29,544 --> 00:29:33,625
in the wild, seeing somebody wear your
clothing that you never met before or

583
00:29:33,625 --> 00:29:34,945
something that you've, you've created.

584
00:29:35,435 --> 00:29:39,745
Uh, there's something about the idea of
exchanging goods for, for money and then

585
00:29:40,385 --> 00:29:44,705
building that relationship and having
them come back and buy more from you.

586
00:29:45,014 --> 00:29:49,145
It's a different animal than software
or services or things like that.

587
00:29:49,145 --> 00:29:55,615
And, it, it's, it's interesting because
most people go into eCommerce in

588
00:29:56,095 --> 00:29:59,534
early in their entrepreneurial career
because that's what they've envisioned

589
00:29:59,695 --> 00:30:01,935
businesses like selling something
for money, you know, like

590
00:30:02,085 --> 00:30:03,294
a physical thing for money.

591
00:30:03,294 --> 00:30:07,895
It's the, one of the, the oldest ways to
sell, or oldest ways to start a business.

592
00:30:08,274 --> 00:30:11,534
And, and there's something
about that that's very, you

593
00:30:11,534 --> 00:30:12,545
know, rewarding in my book.

594
00:30:13,385 --> 00:30:13,785
Yeah.

595
00:30:14,115 --> 00:30:15,405
Yeah, I totally agree.

596
00:30:15,475 --> 00:30:16,245
I totally agree.

597
00:30:16,335 --> 00:30:20,165
So what happened to your,
um, E-Commerce store?

598
00:30:20,165 --> 00:30:22,045
To Zenhom Designs?

599
00:30:22,395 --> 00:30:27,765
Yeah, so this is a very interesting story
because that experience really taught me.

600
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,440
It's really important to know
what business you're getting

601
00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:32,840
into before you start it.

602
00:30:32,929 --> 00:30:39,120
So I started, like I shared my story, why,
how I started it, but why did I start it?

603
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:40,520
It was just an opportunity.

604
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,080
I just saw an opportunity in the market.

605
00:30:42,629 --> 00:30:43,720
I thought, this is cool.

606
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:44,520
People want this.

607
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:46,360
Let me try to make a business out of it.

608
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:50,040
I was, you know, really interested
in having a successful business

609
00:30:50,940 --> 00:30:55,040
and that's unfortunately not a good
enough reason to start a business,

610
00:30:55,210 --> 00:30:57,090
uh, in, in my opinion at least.

611
00:30:57,090 --> 00:31:02,425
Because, like I said, you're going to
be very, very close to these people.

612
00:31:02,425 --> 00:31:06,425
You're going to eat, breathe, live
this every single day of your life,

613
00:31:06,425 --> 00:31:09,545
and if you don't love it, you're
gonna start resenting the business.

614
00:31:09,545 --> 00:31:10,585
And that's what happened to me.

615
00:31:10,915 --> 00:31:14,985
Um, I realized very quickly my customers
were more passionate about my customer.

616
00:31:14,985 --> 00:31:17,265
My customers were more passionate
about my products than I was.

617
00:31:17,405 --> 00:31:20,505
You know, they were eager to know
what's the next style, what's

618
00:31:20,505 --> 00:31:21,465
the next things coming out?

619
00:31:21,515 --> 00:31:23,425
Oh, you know, let me know what's going on.

620
00:31:23,425 --> 00:31:23,905
And I'm.

621
00:31:24,845 --> 00:31:26,905
I'm not even that hyped up about this.

622
00:31:26,905 --> 00:31:27,985
What, what's going on here?

623
00:31:28,475 --> 00:31:32,705
Um, and it taught me a big lesson about,
you know, I really need to serve people

624
00:31:32,705 --> 00:31:35,345
that I'm already a part of that community.

625
00:31:35,345 --> 00:31:38,025
Like, I'm not a fashion person,
I'm not a fashion designer.

626
00:31:38,025 --> 00:31:41,865
I'm not somebody who's even like, you
know, I put some thought into what I

627
00:31:41,865 --> 00:31:46,665
wear, but I'm not really, uh, you know,
uh, cultivating a wardrobe, you know?

628
00:31:47,085 --> 00:31:54,900
But so what happened was really I decided
that I wanted to just end the business,

629
00:31:54,900 --> 00:31:57,420
because I had a lot of inventory.

630
00:31:57,490 --> 00:31:59,900
I sold it in in bulk at trade shows.

631
00:32:00,570 --> 00:32:04,980
I was considering selling the business,
but it was my own personal brand and

632
00:32:04,980 --> 00:32:08,620
they would need rebranding and they
would devalue the whole thing if they

633
00:32:08,620 --> 00:32:10,060
took over and all that kind of stuff.

634
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,300
And I was just at peace with
the lesson I learned and I was

635
00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:14,420
at peace with the business.

636
00:32:14,420 --> 00:32:19,380
And what was shocking to me was I was so
worried about closing the doors because

637
00:32:19,380 --> 00:32:20,660
I was like, Oh man, people are gonna.

638
00:32:21,775 --> 00:32:25,085
Be upset and my customers are gonna
resent me and they're gonna, you know,

639
00:32:25,185 --> 00:32:26,765
I'm really gonna disappoint people.

640
00:32:26,765 --> 00:32:29,165
And that's really why I kept
it going for as long as I did.

641
00:32:29,905 --> 00:32:31,645
And when I did close the doors.

642
00:32:32,475 --> 00:32:33,195
Nothing happened.

643
00:32:33,195 --> 00:32:37,155
Everybody was okay and they just
went and found another solution

644
00:32:37,155 --> 00:32:38,395
or bought clothes somewhere else.

645
00:32:38,695 --> 00:32:42,075
And I realized, wow, like at
the end of the day, people are

646
00:32:42,075 --> 00:32:42,915
just worried about themselves.

647
00:32:42,915 --> 00:32:44,915
They're not really worried about,
you're not really thinking about you.

648
00:32:45,135 --> 00:32:48,635
You might as well build a business
that serves you and your, your,

649
00:32:48,745 --> 00:32:50,355
your passions and your needs.

650
00:32:50,885 --> 00:32:54,355
Um, so that way you are
actually happy in the process.

651
00:32:54,525 --> 00:32:56,575
So that was a big lesson for me.

652
00:32:57,985 --> 00:33:01,730
Now you see, that's fascinating because
one of the questions I get asked a lot,

653
00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:07,690
um, by, uh, eCommerce entrepreneurs is,
How do I know when, when it's not working?

654
00:33:08,290 --> 00:33:08,730
Right.

655
00:33:09,260 --> 00:33:13,770
Uh, because you do, there's
a lot of, uh, uh, instruction

656
00:33:13,980 --> 00:33:14,930
is probably the right word.

657
00:33:14,930 --> 00:33:17,450
There's a lot of instruction out there
about resilience, about keep going,

658
00:33:17,450 --> 00:33:19,690
you know, Edison, 10,000 tries and all.

659
00:33:19,690 --> 00:33:22,970
And so there's this belief that if I
just keep going, if I just keep going,

660
00:33:22,970 --> 00:33:24,330
eventually breakthrough's gonna come.

661
00:33:24,710 --> 00:33:28,450
And of course you have to, There's a real
interesting intention isn't there with

662
00:33:28,450 --> 00:33:33,730
this, um, the persistence versus, versus
knowing when actually to call it a day

663
00:33:33,730 --> 00:33:35,810
on whatever it is that you are facing.

664
00:33:37,055 --> 00:33:40,965
So for you, am I understanding this
right for you, you, you knew it was time

665
00:33:40,965 --> 00:33:45,925
to call it a day when, um, it should,
you just, it wasn't there for you.

666
00:33:45,925 --> 00:33:48,245
There was a passion that just
wasn't there for that business.

667
00:33:48,245 --> 00:33:49,405
It wasn't serving you.

668
00:33:50,985 --> 00:33:51,405
Yes.

669
00:33:51,715 --> 00:33:53,765
That, that, that's a good way to put it.

670
00:33:53,915 --> 00:34:00,830
I would also just add for me, I
didn't feel like it was my calling.

671
00:34:00,980 --> 00:34:05,070
I didn't feel like I was doing
what I was meant to do, or I was

672
00:34:05,070 --> 00:34:07,150
adding unique value to the world.

673
00:34:07,150 --> 00:34:10,270
I know that sounds grandiose, but like
I really, I really felt like there were

674
00:34:10,270 --> 00:34:11,470
other people that could do this better.

675
00:34:11,730 --> 00:34:14,429
You know, I don't feel that
way now about my business.

676
00:34:14,429 --> 00:34:15,870
I feel like this is
what I should be doing.

677
00:34:15,870 --> 00:34:17,030
I'd be doing it anyway.

678
00:34:17,030 --> 00:34:18,470
You know, like, um, yeah.

679
00:34:18,900 --> 00:34:21,429
A lot of people say, you know,
you should just keep going.

680
00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:24,389
I, I say choose a business
that you just can't stop.

681
00:34:24,389 --> 00:34:25,900
Like, I can't not.

682
00:34:26,529 --> 00:34:28,255
I can't imagine not doing what I do today.

683
00:34:28,255 --> 00:34:33,935
Like I would, I would do it even if
I didn't have to, you know, So in

684
00:34:33,935 --> 00:34:36,014
some form, in some, in some fashion.

685
00:34:36,185 --> 00:34:39,614
So that's, that's really how
I felt at the time where, you

686
00:34:39,614 --> 00:34:40,534
know, and I still feel that way.

687
00:34:40,534 --> 00:34:42,054
But is that the idea that.

688
00:34:43,455 --> 00:34:46,545
I wanna be able to do something
where I feel like when I'm all done

689
00:34:46,545 --> 00:34:49,745
and dusted and I'm, I'm not in this
world anymore, I felt like I left

690
00:34:49,745 --> 00:34:51,505
something that really made my mark.

691
00:34:51,505 --> 00:34:53,945
I felt like I've left something
that really has something of, of

692
00:34:53,945 --> 00:34:56,784
value to the world, and I didn't
feel like that was the thing for me.

693
00:34:56,845 --> 00:34:57,785
And that's okay.

694
00:34:58,345 --> 00:34:59,825
Sometimes you gotta fail.

695
00:34:59,825 --> 00:35:03,425
Sometimes you gotta fall on your
face and, and learn through mistakes

696
00:35:03,425 --> 00:35:05,265
and learn through those experiences.

697
00:35:05,525 --> 00:35:09,325
And I wouldn't take it away for a moment
because, uh, I learned some amazing

698
00:35:09,325 --> 00:35:14,435
things outside of the failure, like I
learned, you know, how to, you know, do my

699
00:35:14,435 --> 00:35:16,075
accounting and how to do my bookkeeping.

700
00:35:16,075 --> 00:35:18,115
I learned, you know, what customers need.

701
00:35:18,115 --> 00:35:18,795
I learned about copy.

702
00:35:18,825 --> 00:35:22,075
I started my blog the first time when
I had that e-commerce store and I

703
00:35:22,075 --> 00:35:24,315
was doing, you know, uh, newsletters.

704
00:35:24,315 --> 00:35:27,235
And so there's things you learn along
the way, like when you leave a job,

705
00:35:27,255 --> 00:35:28,795
you take skills from that old job.

706
00:35:28,795 --> 00:35:30,695
Same thing with an old business.

707
00:35:32,575 --> 00:35:35,395
So how would you define your business now?

708
00:35:35,395 --> 00:35:38,275
So you, the, you know, you, you've
got this business now, which is, is

709
00:35:38,275 --> 00:35:41,875
generating, uh, this sort of life for you.

710
00:35:41,875 --> 00:35:44,275
You know, it's your calling, your
sense of purpose, your mission, you

711
00:35:44,275 --> 00:35:45,475
know, all different types of language.

712
00:35:45,475 --> 00:35:46,475
How would you define it?

713
00:35:46,475 --> 00:35:47,275
What, what does it look like?

714
00:35:48,950 --> 00:35:53,770
For me, it, when people ask me, Can you
like boil down your bio in one word?

715
00:35:53,830 --> 00:35:58,610
And for me it's, I've always been a
teacher and that's what I do now, but I

716
00:35:58,610 --> 00:36:00,930
just do it in the form of my business.

717
00:36:01,030 --> 00:36:03,170
You know, I, I teach on the podcast.

718
00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:07,890
I help people become great teachers
through webinars, through our software.

719
00:36:08,340 --> 00:36:12,730
Uh, I teach on the webinars for our
members and, and through our sales, uh,

720
00:36:12,730 --> 00:36:18,125
demos and all that kind of stuff, uh, I
teach my team when I'm coaching them and

721
00:36:18,125 --> 00:36:22,365
helping them and, and through meetings
and are all hands, or through evaluations

722
00:36:22,365 --> 00:36:24,165
who are doing like one-on-ones, you know?

723
00:36:24,165 --> 00:36:27,924
So I just teach in different
forms and that's really, that's

724
00:36:27,924 --> 00:36:29,125
been my calling all my life.

725
00:36:29,515 --> 00:36:30,884
I just wanna do it on my own terms.

726
00:36:31,295 --> 00:36:33,884
Um, and I, entrepreneurship
was that vehicle for me.

727
00:36:34,145 --> 00:36:37,085
And, um, I'm really grateful
for that, that I, I was able to

728
00:36:37,085 --> 00:36:39,845
kind of find that later in life
and, and turn that into that.

729
00:36:39,845 --> 00:36:45,270
But for me, um, you know, I, I really
wanna empower as many people as

730
00:36:45,470 --> 00:36:49,470
possible to use their area of expertise
or knowledge, their experience, even

731
00:36:49,470 --> 00:36:51,190
if it's just a bit of experience.

732
00:36:51,190 --> 00:36:54,150
You know, I always say it's easier to
learn something from somebody who's just

733
00:36:54,150 --> 00:36:57,630
a few steps ahead of you than somebody
who is, you know, years or decades

734
00:36:57,630 --> 00:37:01,630
ahead of you because, uh, they, they
remember how it is to be a beginner.

735
00:37:01,630 --> 00:37:05,544
A lot of people ask me, Hey, I wanna learn
how to start a podcast like, I don't even

736
00:37:05,745 --> 00:37:07,065
remember, man, how to start a podcast.

737
00:37:07,725 --> 00:37:11,065
You know, it's been eight years,
you know, so the world was different

738
00:37:11,065 --> 00:37:12,305
back then when I started a podcast.

739
00:37:12,305 --> 00:37:12,625
Yeah.

740
00:37:12,625 --> 00:37:14,745
So asked if we started one last
year or something, you know?

741
00:37:14,745 --> 00:37:18,834
So, um, and, and I wanna do that
through, you know, our, our software

742
00:37:18,884 --> 00:37:21,865
Webinar Ninja through the podcast
and just help people take those first

743
00:37:21,865 --> 00:37:25,265
steps and realize maybe I can do this,
Maybe I can build something for myself

744
00:37:25,265 --> 00:37:26,894
and, and add value in my own way.

745
00:37:28,345 --> 00:37:34,170
So how would you, um, I, I How
would you take then that teacher

746
00:37:34,170 --> 00:37:38,490
within you, and you look at the
eCommerce market in general mm-hmm.

747
00:37:38,820 --> 00:37:45,020
. Um, what is missing that you see from
that, that you, that you feel like,

748
00:37:45,020 --> 00:37:49,660
guys, listen, eCommerce entrepreneurs
wake up there's an opportunity here.

749
00:37:50,830 --> 00:37:55,930
Yeah, and we have, we have a lot of
our, uh, members at webinar ninja,

750
00:37:55,930 --> 00:37:59,590
a lot of our users of the software
that are in eCommerce and its because

751
00:38:00,020 --> 00:38:02,230
they, they've heeded to my advice.

752
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:09,279
So I believe eCommerce, uh, there's
so much opportunity when it comes

753
00:38:09,370 --> 00:38:12,640
to content marketing, when it comes
to trust building, when it comes

754
00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:14,319
to teaching as the new selling.

755
00:38:14,730 --> 00:38:18,399
Uh, there's so many people that come
to me and they and, and they say, Oh, I

756
00:38:18,399 --> 00:38:23,439
sell custom uh, I sell organic honey for
my honey farm on my e-commerce store,

757
00:38:23,439 --> 00:38:28,680
but I'm not really sure how to sell this
thing or use webinars or use a blog.

758
00:38:28,750 --> 00:38:30,959
I was like, Dude, are
you kidding me right now?

759
00:38:30,959 --> 00:38:31,720
Are you kidding me?

760
00:38:32,919 --> 00:38:36,330
I should be finding out all the
different ways I can use your honey

761
00:38:36,359 --> 00:38:41,890
with your honey cookbook, with your blog
posts, with your Live Honey Cook Show.

762
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:46,370
Like there's so many ways to use
content to show people how to use

763
00:38:46,370 --> 00:38:47,450
your product in different ways.

764
00:38:47,450 --> 00:38:51,089
And there's so, and this is so
underutilized, so underutilized,

765
00:38:51,089 --> 00:38:53,129
and the bar is so low in e-commerce.

766
00:38:53,660 --> 00:39:01,730
If, if you're e-commerce store today, Uh,
had a live video or webinar, had a Q and

767
00:39:01,730 --> 00:39:06,350
A or something once a week showing people
how to best utilize your products or

768
00:39:06,350 --> 00:39:11,589
services, uh, whatever you're, you know,
even if you have a, um, you know, a varied

769
00:39:11,669 --> 00:39:15,549
store with different products, you can
feature one product this week, this week

770
00:39:15,629 --> 00:39:19,470
we're gonna be talking about, you know,
um, this product line that's in our store.

771
00:39:19,580 --> 00:39:22,549
Here are some of the great ways
that people are using, use clothing.

772
00:39:23,030 --> 00:39:26,270
Here, here are some great, you
know, some of our customers, let's

773
00:39:26,270 --> 00:39:28,190
look at the pictures they have
on Instagram using our clothing.

774
00:39:28,380 --> 00:39:31,990
This person wore to the prom, this
person wore to a wedding, whatever.

775
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,750
There's so many ways to utilize this,
and by the way, this is nothing new.

776
00:39:35,750 --> 00:39:38,590
It's called QVC, it's called
Home Shopping Network, right?

777
00:39:38,620 --> 00:39:42,670
This has been around forever, but,
and now you have the ability to do

778
00:39:42,670 --> 00:39:46,920
that live to, you know, thousands
of people from the comfort of

779
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:48,360
your living room if you wanted to.

780
00:39:48,500 --> 00:39:51,720
And you can share your screen and
you can show your products in, in,

781
00:39:51,720 --> 00:39:53,759
in, on the, on the, on the website.

782
00:39:53,950 --> 00:39:57,000
A lot of your customers
kind like your products.

783
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,520
They've seen 'em on Instagram,
they've seen 'em on the web, maybe

784
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,000
they've seen on the website, but
they just need to be walked through.

785
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:03,400
Hey, this is actually quite simple.

786
00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:06,480
Did you know that if you buy three
products to get free shipping,

787
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:08,240
some people don't know, tell them.

788
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:08,640
Mm-hmm.

789
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:13,110
, you know, so, uh, one of the things
I, that I did well in the beginning

790
00:40:13,110 --> 00:40:14,750
cuz I came from the blogging world.

791
00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:20,550
When I went, when my e-commerce
stores, um, I, uh, actually used like

792
00:40:20,550 --> 00:40:23,270
a VIP club kind of model, so mm-hmm.

793
00:40:23,350 --> 00:40:27,990
, the VIP club model was basically they
pay an annual fee and it was like $200

794
00:40:27,990 --> 00:40:32,715
a year and they would get free shipping
on all their products, but also, They,

795
00:40:32,715 --> 00:40:37,835
they were a part of a, basically a
community of basically super fans of

796
00:40:37,835 --> 00:40:41,715
our products and people would, these
people have something in common.

797
00:40:41,715 --> 00:40:43,795
You can get them together on calls.

798
00:40:43,795 --> 00:40:45,355
You can get them together in forms.

799
00:40:45,355 --> 00:40:49,715
You can have them have special content
that you ha they have contact with you

800
00:40:49,715 --> 00:40:54,395
or ask you questions or learn more about
what's coming next in your, in your store.

801
00:40:54,805 --> 00:40:58,315
Uh, they get exclusive access or
early access to your products.

802
00:40:58,315 --> 00:41:02,040
There's so many ways to turn
your eCommerce store into

803
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:03,360
a more than just a store.

804
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:04,240
It's a community.

805
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:05,080
It's a movement.

806
00:41:05,110 --> 00:41:09,400
People are just excited about what you
have because you're, you're not just

807
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:13,440
showing them the product, you're showing
them how to, how it fits in in their life.

808
00:41:15,170 --> 00:41:15,660
Yeah.

809
00:41:15,660 --> 00:41:16,540
That's really powerful.

810
00:41:16,940 --> 00:41:17,700
Teaching is a new selling.

811
00:41:17,700 --> 00:41:18,259
I like that.

812
00:41:18,270 --> 00:41:22,540
So have you have, you come across
the concept live selling, um, which

813
00:41:22,540 --> 00:41:26,580
is the buzzword I hear a lot about
now in, in the world of eCommerce.

814
00:41:26,580 --> 00:41:29,660
This in effect being
QVC on your own website.

815
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,960
People come to your website, there's
a live stream going on, you have a

816
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:34,280
question, you can interact with people.

817
00:41:34,890 --> 00:41:37,320
Um, it does seem to be a big thing.

818
00:41:37,770 --> 00:41:43,320
Um, so in terms of content marketing,
What are some of the easy ways

819
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:47,160
to get started with that um,
for an e-commerce entrepreneur?

820
00:41:47,430 --> 00:41:49,880
People really underutilized blogging.

821
00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:53,440
Blogging is still one of the most
powerful ways to get traffic to your

822
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,160
website because of the power of SEO.

823
00:41:55,630 --> 00:42:02,240
Even though we're in the digital age with
video and audio, uh, text SEO is still the

824
00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:03,960
most powerful way for people to find you.

825
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,440
When people search, they type on
Google, um, for the most part.

826
00:42:07,850 --> 00:42:14,825
So, publishing really great articles on
your blog as a e-commerce store, and it's

827
00:42:14,825 --> 00:42:16,225
gonna take some time for you get momentum.

828
00:42:16,225 --> 00:42:18,825
It's, it is gonna take more
than two or three blog posts.

829
00:42:18,855 --> 00:42:21,745
I always say put in, put in at
least a year of work once a week,

830
00:42:21,855 --> 00:42:23,665
a blog post, so you got 52 posts.

831
00:42:23,975 --> 00:42:28,570
I have blog posts that, um, that
served me, that I wrote eight years

832
00:42:28,570 --> 00:42:32,690
ago, you know, that, uh, didn't get
traction until six or seven years

833
00:42:32,690 --> 00:42:36,290
after because it just takes some
time for things to kind of move on.

834
00:42:36,580 --> 00:42:38,410
Um, and that's not typical results.

835
00:42:38,410 --> 00:42:42,049
You probably can, you know, SEO
often is, is the results are quicker.

836
00:42:42,049 --> 00:42:43,930
But the point here is,
is that it's evergreen.

837
00:42:43,990 --> 00:42:46,490
You write it once and it serves
you for the rest of your life.

838
00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:51,549
Two, people don't just go from,
I don't know anything about your

839
00:42:51,549 --> 00:42:53,870
product to I wanna buy it now.

840
00:42:54,109 --> 00:42:56,069
There is a process of education.

841
00:42:56,069 --> 00:42:59,930
There's a process of them
envisioning themselves and

842
00:42:59,930 --> 00:43:01,130
their lives with your product.

843
00:43:01,430 --> 00:43:04,410
You know, if you think about buying,
if you bought anything, any physical

844
00:43:04,410 --> 00:43:08,170
product in your life, you went through
a process before you actually bought it.

845
00:43:08,170 --> 00:43:11,050
You know, even if it's something
that you feel like a necessity,

846
00:43:11,050 --> 00:43:14,210
like an, like a, like a, like the
iPhone or like a mobile phone, right?

847
00:43:14,380 --> 00:43:18,770
At some point you evaluated your
options, you looked at what's out

848
00:43:18,770 --> 00:43:21,570
there, you thought about which
even, which model do you want?

849
00:43:21,980 --> 00:43:24,050
Uh, do how much storage do I need?

850
00:43:24,390 --> 00:43:29,100
All these things are things you're
Googling and things that you can

851
00:43:29,100 --> 00:43:32,020
show up for in your own products
or services in a blog post.

852
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,620
And if you educate them, if you help
them, they're gonna be like, Oh,

853
00:43:35,620 --> 00:43:36,780
cool, what else does this site have?

854
00:43:36,780 --> 00:43:37,700
They're gonna look around.

855
00:43:37,700 --> 00:43:39,300
Oh, they have accessories for iPhones.

856
00:43:39,370 --> 00:43:39,860
Cool.

857
00:43:39,860 --> 00:43:40,260
What?

858
00:43:40,260 --> 00:43:40,820
What do they have?

859
00:43:40,820 --> 00:43:42,940
Oh, when I get my iPhone, I'm
gonna definitely come back here.

860
00:43:42,940 --> 00:43:45,980
People don't wanna shop around, they
wanna just go back to where they know.

861
00:43:45,980 --> 00:43:48,660
Yeah, and this is an
incredible way to get started.

862
00:43:48,710 --> 00:43:54,260
So just get consistent with blogging
is my my personal opinion because

863
00:43:54,260 --> 00:43:55,860
it's very underutilized in e-commerce.

864
00:43:56,190 --> 00:43:59,980
Uh, as I see, I go to a lot of e-commerce
stores cuz I like to shop online.

865
00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:02,380
And their blog is like an afterthought.

866
00:44:02,380 --> 00:44:05,260
It's like there's 12 posts
and never really maintained.

867
00:44:05,260 --> 00:44:08,500
And, and, and it's okay to have
fun with it, have some personality.

868
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:11,500
One of the best pieces of advice
I have for you is like, find

869
00:44:11,820 --> 00:44:12,700
somebody who's funny on Twitter.

870
00:44:12,890 --> 00:44:17,129
Find a, find a maybe a part-time comedian,
somebody just stand up in your community

871
00:44:17,129 --> 00:44:20,850
and get them to write your blog posts,
like get them to copyright for you.

872
00:44:20,850 --> 00:44:22,730
They're gonna make your blog fun.

873
00:44:22,730 --> 00:44:24,930
People are gonna wanna read your
newsletters and be like, this

874
00:44:24,930 --> 00:44:27,330
is interesting and it's gonna
get you some free publicity.

875
00:44:28,355 --> 00:44:29,925
Yeah, it's very, very good.

876
00:44:30,395 --> 00:44:31,125
Very good.

877
00:44:31,185 --> 00:44:33,605
And just finding out the
questions that people have and

878
00:44:33,605 --> 00:44:34,925
answering them in your blog post.

879
00:44:35,255 --> 00:44:37,765
Uh, just it's a simple strategy.

880
00:44:37,765 --> 00:44:40,605
We've been, uh, pounding that
drum for years and it still works.

881
00:44:40,615 --> 00:44:41,884
It still works super well.

882
00:44:42,455 --> 00:44:46,525
Uh, Omar, listen, I have so
enjoyed, uh, conversation.

883
00:44:46,525 --> 00:44:48,525
I feel like I'm just
getting started honestly.

884
00:44:48,525 --> 00:44:49,805
I appreciate it's late for you.

885
00:44:49,805 --> 00:44:52,645
And you've been doing podcasts all
day, so you're, uh, you getting

886
00:44:52,645 --> 00:44:53,565
towards the end of your day.

887
00:44:53,565 --> 00:44:55,205
Well, how do people connect with you?

888
00:44:55,205 --> 00:44:57,595
How do they reach out to
you if they want to do that?

889
00:44:57,705 --> 00:44:58,315
What the best way?

890
00:44:58,315 --> 00:44:59,685
Um, I'm most active on Twitter.

891
00:44:59,895 --> 00:45:03,205
Uh, my handle is theomarzenhom on
Twitter, so you can find me there.

892
00:45:03,695 --> 00:45:05,185
Uh, follow me, I'll follow you back.

893
00:45:05,205 --> 00:45:06,685
And, uh, love to help in any way.

894
00:45:06,685 --> 00:45:08,565
You can go ahead and, uh,
ask me questions there.

895
00:45:09,875 --> 00:45:12,695
You see, you're most active on
Twitter, I find that's fascinating.

896
00:45:12,825 --> 00:45:16,535
Um, I'm, I, I'm not active on
Twitter and I really need to

897
00:45:16,535 --> 00:45:17,735
become more active on Twitter.

898
00:45:18,145 --> 00:45:22,325
Ha When you, Are you like on there
like, three or four times a day.

899
00:45:22,325 --> 00:45:23,605
How you, how are you managing Twitter?

900
00:45:23,605 --> 00:45:24,085
I'm just curious.

901
00:45:24,355 --> 00:45:25,565
Yeah, no, totally.

902
00:45:25,775 --> 00:45:28,245
So I actually like Twitter the most.

903
00:45:28,785 --> 00:45:32,965
I'm actually not on Facebook or, or,
um, I'm on, I have a profile, but

904
00:45:32,965 --> 00:45:36,765
it's not on my phone and I'm, I really
don't mm-hmm uh, frequent it a lot.

905
00:45:36,945 --> 00:45:39,285
I'm on Twitter maybe
three or four times a day.

906
00:45:39,285 --> 00:45:42,205
And the reason why I like Twitter
is because I like conversations

907
00:45:42,205 --> 00:45:43,725
and it's all about conversations.

908
00:45:43,725 --> 00:45:48,485
It's all about helping and answering
questions and, and adding a different

909
00:45:48,485 --> 00:45:50,125
perspective on people's conversations.

910
00:45:51,134 --> 00:45:56,154
And it's just easier to, for me
to contribute cuz I don't have to,

911
00:45:56,154 --> 00:45:57,115
there's not a lot of production.

912
00:45:57,115 --> 00:46:00,795
You know, with Instagram we gotta
pick a photo and filter it and make

913
00:46:00,795 --> 00:46:02,154
it look nice and put a caption.

914
00:46:02,154 --> 00:46:04,194
And if I put a video, I
gotta put captions on that.

915
00:46:04,194 --> 00:46:06,634
It's like, I just don't
have time for that.

916
00:46:06,634 --> 00:46:08,634
So it's like, okay, it's Twitter,
I can jump in, I can answer

917
00:46:08,835 --> 00:46:09,674
questions, I can type things.

918
00:46:10,085 --> 00:46:13,075
Uh, there's a lot of funny things out
there and it's all about who you follow

919
00:46:13,075 --> 00:46:18,315
and I, I, um, I highly recommend you
just be very vigilant about who you

920
00:46:18,315 --> 00:46:22,105
follow, follow people that you think
have good conversations and, and are

921
00:46:22,105 --> 00:46:23,665
followed by people that you like as well.

922
00:46:23,665 --> 00:46:26,545
And that, uh, to me it's,
it's the platform that I

923
00:46:26,545 --> 00:46:27,945
like to spend the most time.

924
00:46:28,965 --> 00:46:29,645
Fair play.

925
00:46:29,645 --> 00:46:30,525
Yeah, fair play.

926
00:46:30,675 --> 00:46:34,205
I, I've thought for sure you'd have
been an Instagram reels kind of a guy.

927
00:46:34,205 --> 00:46:35,445
I'd have thought you'd
have killed it on that.

928
00:46:35,445 --> 00:46:36,815
But you know, nevermind.

929
00:46:38,215 --> 00:46:42,045
So we will put a link to Omar's
Twitter bio in the show notes as

930
00:46:42,045 --> 00:46:44,925
well if you want connect with him,
he would love to connect with you.

931
00:46:45,335 --> 00:46:48,565
Uh, so Omar, from me to
you, I appreciate it man.

932
00:46:48,725 --> 00:46:50,285
Thank you so much for
being on the podcast.

933
00:46:51,005 --> 00:46:52,485
Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it.

934
00:46:52,495 --> 00:46:53,285
My pleasure Matt.

935
00:46:54,025 --> 00:46:55,150
So there you have it.

936
00:46:55,150 --> 00:46:56,750
What a fantastic conversation.

937
00:46:56,940 --> 00:46:58,270
Omar's a legend, isn't he?

938
00:46:58,270 --> 00:46:59,470
Absolutely brilliant.

939
00:46:59,470 --> 00:47:02,790
Really, really, really enjoyed that one.

940
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:04,710
So thanks again Omar, for joining me.

941
00:47:04,740 --> 00:47:05,550
You're a legend.

942
00:47:05,930 --> 00:47:10,430
And also, let me give a big shout out to
today's show sponsor eCommerce Cohort.

943
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:15,030
Uh, do head over to eCommercecohort.com
for more information about this new

944
00:47:15,030 --> 00:47:21,410
type of mastermind slash community slash
online learning slash all the things

945
00:47:21,410 --> 00:47:23,130
you need to grow your business online.

946
00:47:23,130 --> 00:47:24,850
Yeah, go ahead, learn, join.

947
00:47:25,010 --> 00:47:26,090
We'll see you in there.

948
00:47:26,460 --> 00:47:30,730
Uh, but do subscribe also, uh, wherever
you get your podcast from because

949
00:47:30,730 --> 00:47:34,450
we've got some great conversations
lined up and I do not want you to miss.

950
00:47:35,015 --> 00:47:35,795
Any of them.

951
00:47:36,015 --> 00:47:40,945
And in case no one has told you
today, you my friend are awesome.

952
00:47:41,215 --> 00:47:44,675
Now, the eCommerce podcast
is produced by Aurion Media.

953
00:47:44,675 --> 00:47:48,995
You can find our entire episode,
uh, our entire episode back catalog.

954
00:47:49,105 --> 00:47:50,835
I, I think that sounds right in my head.

955
00:47:51,515 --> 00:47:54,315
Basically all the episodes
we produce, they're online.

956
00:47:54,525 --> 00:47:56,755
Uh, you can find them on your podcast app.

957
00:47:56,755 --> 00:47:59,795
You can also find them on our
website, eCommercepodcast.net.

958
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:03,710
Now the team that makes this show
possible is Sadaf Beynon, Josh

959
00:48:03,710 --> 00:48:05,980
Catchpole, Estella Robin and Tim Johnson.

960
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:10,140
Our theme song is written by
me and my son Josh Edmundson.

961
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:14,220
And if you would like to read the
transcript or show notes, head over to

962
00:48:14,220 --> 00:48:19,340
our website, eCommercepodcast.net where
you can also sign up for our newsletter.

963
00:48:20,030 --> 00:48:21,140
So that's it for me.

964
00:48:21,140 --> 00:48:24,085
Thank you so much for joining me today.

965
00:48:24,085 --> 00:48:25,525
Have a fantastic week.

966
00:48:25,795 --> 00:48:26,965
I'll see you next time.

967
00:48:27,865 --> 00:48:28,605
Bye for now.