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Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
An Amazon seller doing 7 figures says one strategic addition has doubled her profit
Lisa Harrington started selling clothes on eBay before transitioning to Amazon. Her business selling interior cat doors took off after hiring a PPC coach. She emphasizes investing in coaching and networking for long-term business growth. Lisa Harrington's e-commerce career began in the early 2010s when she started selling clothing, purses, and other items in her closet that she didn't need anymore. She used the eBay profit to launch her first Amazon product — dog harnesses — and sold enough to quit her corporate job in 2016. She eventually created and patented interior cat doors, which have become a top-selling Amazon product and bring in seven figures in annual revenue. Harrington, who's been doing e-commerce for more than a decade, can pinpoint one decision that took her business to the next level: hiring a PPC coach. PPC (pay-per-click) refers to Amazon's advertising platform, where sellers can pay to have their products displayed prominently. Many sellers consider ads an essential aspect of succeeding in the competitive e-commerce space. For years, "I had a very low spend on my advertisement," Harrington told Business Insider. Figuring out how to run Amazon ads wasn't how she wanted to spend her time. "I just didn't have much interest in it. I really wanted to focus on branding and product development, but it has such an enormous impact on your profit and loss statement that you really can't ignore it." The idea to hire a coach came from an industry event. "I remember talking to this woman, and she's like, 'I hire a coach for everything I don't know how to do. It is the fastest way to level up,'" recalled Harrington. She took the advice, found a coach to help her specifically with ads, and, "in the time I've worked with her, my profit has doubled," said Harrington. It took her six months to find the right fit. "Coaches are hard to find. But when you do find one, it levels your business up," she said. Over the last couple of years, her PPC coach has become more of a general business coach. They discuss everything from product development to effective employee management. "She's the only person I can talk to about every aspect of my business. She not only has the expertise but has the background information, so I can spitball with her, solve problems, and come up with great ideas," said Harrington. The full-time entrepreneur and mother of two kids doesn't hesitate to outsource when she can. "I try to get a coach for everything because, thankfully, I've gotten to the point where I can pay people to help me," she said. "That, in some cases, tends to be a cheaper way to learn a skill or a cheaper way to get something done." Harrington is also a member of the elite group of seven-figure Amazon sellers called Million Dollar Sellers. Members must complete an interview and application and pay $7,497 a year to join the group, which grants them access to exclusive events and a robust network of top-tier entrepreneurs. She's adamant that investing in yourself "always pays dividends," she said. "The knowledge that you gain, the networks that you gain, the experience shares that you hear, the tips and tricks that you get access to — not only is that short-term helping your business and helping your profit and loss statement, but you're also learning all of those things, so that if everything fell apart tomorrow, you could rebuild it again." Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
38 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Joby Said to Weigh Deal for Helicopter Ride-Share Operator Blade
By Siddharth Philip and Save Joby Aviation Inc is exploring an acquisition of helicopter ride-share operator Blade Air Mobility Inc, according to people familiar with the matter. Joby has been evaluating a deal for Blade, which sells per-seat helicopter trips from New York City to nearby airports and resort towns, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the details aren't public. The potential acquisition would give Joby, which is developing battery-powered air taxis, a ready-made market for its aircraft.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
X Premium Users Can Now Sign up for Its Coming Text-To-Video Option
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. Elon's going all-in on AI, with his xAI project now seeking to compete with Meta, OpenAI, Google and others, by providing similar generative AI features and tools, hosted within both X itself and the separate Grok AI app. The next big element incoming is xAI's new image and video generation option, which it's calling 'Imagine.' And according to a new splash screen in the Grok app, that's coming very soon. As you can see in this screenshot (posted by Jonah Manzano), xAI is now informing Grok users that they can join the waitlist for 'the fastest image and video generation experience.' I mean, I'm not sure that people really want to fastest tool on this front necessarily, but preferably the best tool for translating their text prompts into actual images and video. Though Elon's confident on that front as well, posting a 6-second video example from xAI's current generation model: Elon's so confident that people will like his new 'Imagine' option, that he's even claimed that X will effectively bring back Vine in AI form via a coming influx of AI-generated clips. Which could be interesting, I guess, but it's not really the return of Vine so much as an introduction of another text-to-video AI tool. Which, functionally, won't be new, given that Google Veo offers the same, while OpenAI, Meta and TikTok are all also developing their own text-to-video models. But still, Elon's always keen to proclaim his version as the best, and the leader of the pack. And right now at least, he could have some claim to that, given the amount of processing power that xAI has seemingly been able to activate via its Colossus data center. According to Musk, xAI is now operating 230k Nvidia H100 GPUs at its various facilities, powering the latest Grok models. Nvidia's chips have become a key component for AI development, and the more you have, the better the performance of your AI systems. For comparison, Meta reportedly has around 350,000 Nvidia H100 chips, though not all are available for Meta AI processing, while OpenAI has around 200k in operation. So right now at least, xAI could indeed have the most powerful AI models in operation, though it seems unlikely that this will remain the case, given that Meta has more capacity, and is developing its own AI chips to expand its systems even further. Though Musk's other business, Tesla, has also signed a new deal with Samsung to develop custom chips, which could eventually see Musk working towards his own variation of the same. Though even then, it still seems like xAI is going to struggle to compete in the wider market, considering the early mover advantages gained by OpenAI, and the near limitless capacity of Meta. I had assumed that Musk's ties with the U.S. government, through his friendship with President Trump, would be the key play on this front, with xAI able to build custom AI systems that align with the requirements of U.S. government customers. But then Musk turned on Trump, and Trump has since threatened to cut all government contracts with Musk's companies. So that, seemingly, has burned that bridge. But then again, xAI did ink a $200 million contract with the Pentagon just two weeks ago, which will see the company provide AI tools to the Defense Department. So maybe all the Elon vs Trump stuff is being overblown, and Musk will still be able to capitalize on his involvement with the government in order to benefit his companies. Without that, however, I don't see why companies would be lining up to do business with xAI, given its various controversies around misinformation, and alignment with Elon's own opinions. Yet, Elon clearly sees this as a key opportunity, and he's now pushing hard to make xAI into a bigger project, and capitalize on the broader AI hype. If that works out, then Elon could be on another big money winner, which will keep the cash flowing into X, Tesla robotics, and more, as he pushes to lead the next tech stage. But as with all of Musk's projects, a lot has to go right for this to work out. The approach seems to be working for him so far, but it always feels like it's barely being held together by Elon's irrational confidence. You can view more examples of Imagine clips here. Recommended Reading LinkedIn Shares Monthly Active User Counts in EU as Part of DSA Compliance Sign in to access your portfolio
