The Power Of In-Person Networking

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Happy almost 2025! Where did this year go?!

As I look back on 2024, I realize that the majority of my business has come through word-of-mouth, as it always has, but through meeting people in the "meat-space." In-person gatherings have brought in more business this year to Goldstein Media than the virtual and any other medium.

Now, I'm not knocking virtual networking. I do like the Alignable Smart Connects, and I attend them multiple time a week. But as I reflect on 2024, I've noticed that the majority of the business I've closed has come from participating in IRL events.

I have also noticed that these in-person networking events are much more draining on the energy — post event. That being said, when I'm at the event, I'm much more energized than I am on a virtual event. So that's a good thing.

How's 2024 been for you? Have you been doing more in-person networking events? Fill me in.

The Latest From The Entrepreneur's Enigma Podcast

Web Jawn

Pitching Your Podcast to Newsletters: The Key to Building Community (Not Just an Audience)

Today’s contributor is Andreea Coscai, Podcast Marketer at Tink Media and Newsletter & Community Coordinator at Earbuds Podcast Collective So, you want to grow your podcast. As you might already know from your non-podcast-listening friends, it’s a real challenge “to convert” someone to adding shows to their daily routine. It’s possible! But it doesn’t have…

Podcast WorkflowsJoe Casabona

Joe is a good buddy of mine. He's posting or having colleagues post about different business and podcasting tips throughout December. This post is all about getting your podcast into relevant newsletters. There are some great tips in here.

Reddit’s new AI search tool helps you find Reddit answers without Google

The distinction with Reddit Answers is that it sources things directly from Reddit, which means it could be a way to skip Google and get information directly from the source.

Windows Copilot Newsmpesce

Reddit, the "front page of the internet" is developing its own bot to help users query the platform. This is smart, because now users can stay on the platform and not rely on 3rd parties partnerships like Google.

WordPress CEO Rage Quits Community Slack After Court Injunction

Automattic is ordered to undo several of the actions of its CEO Matt Mullenweg in its ongoing legal battle with WP Engine. “It’s hard to imagine wanting to continue to working on WordPress after this,” Mullenweg said in a community Slack message.

404 MediaSamantha Cole

In the saga of Matt Mullenweg et. al vs. WP Engine... the judge in the case has ruled that Matt needs to let WP Engine access the plugin repository and get updates, among other things. Matt after hearing this apparently rage quit a WordPress-adjacent community Slack group in response.

Judge Grants WP Engine Injunction, Orders Mullenweg to Reinstate WordPress.org Access

WP Engine has won a preliminary injunction against Automattic and its CEO, Matt Mullenweg. Earlier today, United States District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ordered Automattic to stop blocking WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org and interfering with its plugins.

The RepositoryRae Morey

This article has more details, and the court documents, on the judge's order.

WordPress Contributors and Community Leaders Call for Governance Reform in Rare Open Letter

A group of WordPress contributors, including long-time core committers and community leaders, has issued a rare call for changes to the governance of the open-source project. The group is urging co-founder Matt Mullenweg to work with the community instead of continuing to act unilaterally.

The RepositoryRae Morey

This is a great move and much needed. Coming from a person whose livelihood depends on WordPress in a large part, this whole fiasco with WP Engine and Matt Mullenweg has had me concerned.

Century-Scale Storage

If you had to store something for 100 years, how would you do it?

Maxwell Neely-Cohen

Warning this is an academic paper. Molly White shared it and summed it up nicely on Mastodon, but I thought I'd share the piece here since it's very interesting.

Mozilla Firefox removes “Do Not Track” Feature support: Here’s what it means for your Privacy

Firefox is removing the Do Not Track setting from version 135 onwards. Mozilla recommends using Global Privacy Control setting as alternative,

Windows ReportVenkat

Granted most companies ignore the request. But Mozilla has been on a downward PR and business spiral for a bit now. This is just the latest from this once great browser maker.

How I Produce a Podcast Completely From my iPhone

Earlier this year, I set out to answer a simple question: can you reasonably record a podcast from your phone? As someone obsessed with gear and high-quality production, I assumed the answer would be no. But after some experimentation, I discovered that not only is it possible, but it can also be a game-changer for podcasters who want to create raw, behind-the-scenes content. Here’s how I streamlined the process into a low-effort workflow anyone can replicate.

Podcast WorkflowsJoe Casabona

My buddy Joe Casabona is always experimenting. This is a neat way to do a solo-podcast.

Walled Gardens and Rented Land - Sounds Profitable

Video’s rise is causing an upswell of prescriptivism re: what “counts” as a podcast, which Tom Webster proposes is a sign podcast apps need to innovate to become more attractive ‘rented land.’

Sounds Profitable - The business of podcastingTom Webster

Another good read and goes directly to my last issue of Marketing Junto. Tom Webster is one of the smartest podcasting pundits out there. This is a long, but good, read.

The open social web is the future of the internet. Here’s why I’m excited.

It puts control back in your hands.

Werd I/OBen Werdmuller

I'm excited as well. I'm glad to see Bluesky and Mastodon flourish. I have to admit, Bluesky is easier to use, but I still like how Mastodon is currently distributed and not lagging like Bluesky is with that.

ChatGPT now understands real-time video, seven months after OpenAI first demoed it | TechCrunch

OpenAI has finally released the real-time video capabilities for ChatGPT that it demoed nearly seven months ago.

TechCrunchKyle Wiggers

This looks pretty cool.

Character.AI has retrained its chatbots to stop chatting up teens

It’s part of a larger suite of changes to the service.

The Verge

This is a good split between children and adults. Maybe other AI companies will follow suit.

Microsoft Recall screenshots credit cards and Social Security numbers, even with the “sensitive information” filter enabled

Despite promising to filter personal data out, Recall still captures it.

Tom's HardwareAvram Piltch

Well this isn't good. Watch out for this "feature."

OpenAI fires back against Musk, claims he wanted an OpenAI for-profit | TechCrunch

OpenAI has fired back at billionaire Elon Musk, publishing a series of mesages that the company claims show Musk’s lawsuit against it is misleading.

TechCrunchKyle Wiggers

This could be a made-for-tv movie. Elon is a 💩

Where are the country’s most vibrant tech and startup communities?

Introducing Technical.ly’s Map of Innovation Ecosystems.

Technically MediaChristopher Wink

This is pretty cool and I'm happy to see Philadelphia at #12. My city made the list!

E-E-A-T Quick Wins — Whiteboard Friday

Itamar shares E-E-A-T quick wins that you can utilize to help your website appear more credible in the eyes of users and Google.

MozItamar Blauer

I love Moz's Whiteboard Friday posts. This is another good episode to watch. E-E-A-T is crucial to ranking online. Learn it... Live it.

Decoding Google’s E-E-A-T: A comprehensive guide to quality assessment signals

Unpack the complexity of Google’s quality assessments with a deep dive into E-E-A-T’s influence on content, domains, and entities.

Search Engine LandOlaf Kopp

Another good guide on E-E-A-T!

The State of Digital Agencies in 2024: Big Challenges, Bigger Optimism, and Is Remote Work Here to Stay? - SparkToro

Introductory note from Rand: This extraordinary research was put together by the brilliant Paddy Moogan, who’s had a long career in marketing agencies,

SparkToroPaddy Moogan

Paddy Moogan has had a long career in the SEO world. This is a longer read, but well worth the time.

Bridgy Fed, a project to connect the open social web, is now becoming a nonprofit | TechCrunch

Bridgy Fed, which is working to connect the social network Bluesky with the wider fediverse (i.e., the open social web), which includes sites like

TechCrunchSarah Perez

This is great news. The more interoperability between decentralized platforms the better!

WordPress-Related or WordPress-Adjacent

To Log Into WordPress, You Now Have To Agree Pineapple on Pizza Is Good

Longtime WordPress contributors ask: “Where are the adults in the room?”

404 MediaSamantha Cole

Seriously, this is real! WTAF!

Yes, Pineapple On Pizza Is Great, But That’s Not The Point - SethGoldstein.me

Seriously, how old are we? Instead of having people swear they have nothing to with WP Engine they now have to proclaim their love for pineapple on pizza

SethGoldstein.meSeth Goldstein

My take on the pineapple question.

Top 5 WordPress Articles for Freelancers 2024 - The WP Minute

I recently caught up with Eric Karkovac to look back at his most influential WP Minute articles from 2024. As our resident voice for WordPress freelancers, Eric brings a unique perspective - he doesn’t just write about WordPress, he actively builds client sites and runs his own business. This combination…

The WP MinuteMatt Medeiros

A great interview by Matt Medeiros with Eric Karkovack who writes about WordPress and web design topics for The WP Minute and other publications.

SOTW 2024: WordPress For Everyone - The WP Minute

At this year’s State of the Word, Matt Mullenweg handed the stage to Matias Ventura, the lead architect behind the open-source WordPress project, to highlight the pivotal moments in the project through 2024, while looking ahead to to the future of the platform. Albeit a bit slow moving, the Gutenberg…

The WP MinuteMatt Medeiros

TL;DR edition of the State of the Word 2024 presentation.

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Web Finds & Other Cool Stuff I Find

That's It For This Week! Keep Rocking It!

-Seth

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