Let’s Talk About… X

Well, it happened. Elon has re-branded Twitter into X. I can’t say I think it was a great idea.

I’m not surprised, I will say. Anybody who has followed Elon knows he’s had a long-time fascination with “X”. It was the original name for Paypal, in fact. He’s always had a grand vision of creating “the everything app”. Essentially, something akin to WeChat over in Asia. So, on one hand, I wasn’t surprised.

What DID surprise me was the way it all went down. I personally think “Twitter” as a brand is so entrenched into the culture that killing off the bird doesn’t make any sense. Instead, Twitter should have remained a subsidiary or sub-brand under an umbrella of “X”.

As it is, there’s all kinds of confusion on where things go from here. Is “tweet” even a thing we do now? Do we “X” something? That sounds kinda stupid. 🤣 Plus, the domain of Twitter.com is still where you go but there’s that big “X” logo at the top. Just a lot of brand confusion there.

So, it didn’t seem very strategic. It seems like shooting from the hip. And hey… I’ve done that before. 😇 

Plus, I don’t join the s**t-show of losers making fun of Elon Musk. Bunch of ankle biters if you ask me. Sure, Elon shoots from the hip and sometimes just changes his mind in public and can look odd, but I think he’s pretty much the leading entrepreneur of our age. That man has had more impact on our world than almost anybody right now… and I think there’s much more to come. So, the ankle biters can sit there in their little cubicles all they want and play “armchair entrepreneur” all they want. There’s only one Elon. And there’s a reason he could afford to spend $44 billion on Twitter and buy it.

My only advice is… keep using Twitter (or X). Either it dies… or it grows and surpasses anything Twitter would have been. Frankly, I’m betting on the latter option. I don’t bet against Elon.

The platform will grow. The options for creators to build a brand there and earn revenue have gotten much better. The distribution power of Twitter is great.

And that’s my thoughts about X.

And BTW.. you can follow me on X here if you like.

And Threads? LOL. 😆 Look, Threads has a place and it will probably stick around. But, it is not a Twitter (or X) replacement and it never will be. If anything, it is just poaching users from Facebook and Instagram. And user engagement has already nose-dived because, to many… it is boring.

Are You An Entrepreneur… Or Just Working A Job?

Below is a snippet from this week’s feature article on the site. I thought I would share it here because it’s definitely been on my mind this week…

The changes I’m making are about a bit more than just brand names. It also goes to the nature of something I’m realizing yet again. More like… I’m reminded of it again because this is something I’ve written about before.

Being an entrepreneur is about more than just working for yourself. And I think I got way too lazy about it.

I’ve always self-identified as an “entrepreneur”. But… was I really?

When I listen to other entrepreneurs (not all, but many) I hear them talk about their multiple businesses. I hear them talk about spinning up new businesses and taking an “exit” by selling it off and moving onto the next game.

Where these entrepreneurs shine is that they are CREATORS. They think up ideas and they build businesses around them. The business isn’t THEM. It is separate and they look at each business like another of their children. Yet, unlike a child, eventually that point comes where they look for an exit and sell it off and move onto something else.

Entrepreneurship is about CREATION. It is about being an ARTIST and the canvas happens to be a business which solves problems for others and gets paid in return. These works of art (aka businesses) are each their own unique piece.

In contrast, when you become a consultant or a coach, in many ways you’re just creating an alternative JOB. And it can be a very demanding one, too.

And the world of that JOB means you’re not creating anymore. You’re just… working.

In many ways, I’ve come to realize that I wasn’t creating anymore. I was just… working.

In fact, it has become even more pronounced as I began doing client work and becoming the sole provider of that service. Hey, I’m not complaining as I actually PREFER this kind of work to creating courses and such these days. 🤪 But, still… my inner entrepreneur knows full well that I’m trading time for money and I’ve created a new job for myself.

So, not only do these branding and name changes put a little order into things… but I think it also is a way of recognizing each of these projects as the separate companies that they are. Each with it’s own systems.

Then, as an entrepreneur, I can renew myself into looking at each company like a canvas again. Something to create, to nurture, to grow. Not just to work in, but to work on. And eventually… potentially… exit and move on.

With the creative juices flowing, I’ve also got some other ideas for new companies that don’t exist yet.

For one, I know full well that doing credit-based tech work is basically hourly labor and not scalable. So, I am definitely eyeing productized services. The idea is there and it is brewing. More on that later. 😎

Techie Bits

Gridpane is going to be launching a new fully managed WordPress hosting offer called PeakFreq. And they are pretty obviously positioning this as an alternative to Cloudways.

Now, I really like Cloudways. But, like any host, there are some things I wish were different about it. It doesn’t help that Vultr is not available for new signups, either, because I do prefer that to Digital Ocean.

PeakFreq is specifically about Vultr. Gridpane also uses a tech stack on the servers which is indeed more performance-friendly for WordPress, making their hosting usually faster. I also like the personal nature of the GridPane founders and how accessible they are. I always enjoy working with real people. 🙂 

I’ll keep an eye on PeakFreq and let you know if it shapes up as a decent hosting option. For now, I’m still a Cloudways guy. 😇 

In other news, NASA has a brand new website in beta… and it is running on WordPress!

For those using SalesForce, the WPFusion Enhanced Ecommerce plugin has been updated to be able to sync orders and products from WooCommerce, EDD, MemberPress, GiveWP, LifterLMS, and Gravity Forms.

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Book A Call Anytime. Via a private one-on-one call, I’ll make your business… my business. Easy peasy.

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