eCommerce is BOOMING, $100M leads, and AI site builders teardown

Good morning/afternoon/evening to the 7,394 subscribers of the Growth Blueprint!

The top 3 for this weekly bulletin are:

• The eCommerce segment reports extraordinary Q2 results – we got to be safe
• The $100M Leads book (following the $100M Offers)
• AI site builders – myth or reality?

Trying a new format here (similar to a blog post… let me know what you think.)

1. Stellar eCommerce Results

Long story short, the eCommerce space did really, really well in Q2. Or at least that’s what reports claim.

• Shopify reported 31% growth in total revenue and cashflow is in the green. Full report is covered in the links below, but following the plan price change earlier this year + hitting a plateau on net number of stores, this indicates promising results toward the rest of the year.
• Amazon crushing it. Prime Day numbers were record high this year and that carried over the entire monthly report.
• Etsy’s numbers are mostly flat – 0.6% drop year over year. Not too terrible, considering the less than essential nature of the marketplace that usually gets heavily impacted in times of crisis.

Overall, the economy is stable. Q4 is traditionally the strongest shopping season, and we’re already halfway through Q3. If anything is bound to happen, brace yourselves for the coming January (let’s hope we’ll dodge that bullet.)

2. The $100M Leads Book

Alex Hormozi, one of the leading high ticket entrepreneurs of the decade, is launching his new book $100M Leads during a virtual event on Aug 19.

His “$100M Offers” book is one of my top 3 sales book I’ve read (ranking along Sabri Suby’s Sell Like Crazy). Both cover the function of “Grand Slam Offer” (or “Godfather offer”) as a key framework to define a value proposition that cannot be resisted.

You know, the “money back guarantee” backed with an ROI estimate that really crushes it.

It’s a definitive way to rethink the way you sell and pitch – and define a high ticket offer that will carry you over for years to come.

Sign up for the launch event (I’m reading some bonus chapters tonight.)

3. 3 AI Site Builders

I stumbled upon 60sec.site 4 months ago and I got another memo that ZipWP is now taking first applications.

The value prop of launching a site with AI in 60 seconds is strong. I regret not getting a chance to invest in either of these (even after contacting the founders.)

The concept will grow in time… Given enough traction. AI tools come and go, and some die before they can aggregate enough data and capital to build a bulletproof product.

I went on a longer tangent on Twitter expanding on my vision for builders. The ZipWP team provided additional context and ideas on features, tooling, and the philosophy (in the comments). 

Other tools like 10web.io also exist (and claim to do the same.) Gets trickier when you read a client review with pretty mediocre results.

Been an eventful week once again (and I’ve been busier than usual with a heavy finance-backed week and lots of strategy, management, sales, and recruitment calls.) What matters is that the numbers are up and we’re ramping up for Q4!

Let me know what you think of this new format and what you’re working on this month. It may get featured in my social accounts or in the coming newsletters!

Yours,
Mario

✍️ August Business tips –  Monthly business tips alert! From evaluating and refining core topics to strategic channel partnerships and buyer persona definition, have a look at this week’s slide deck to see what I’ve been focusing on this month so far.

✍️ Boosting Holiday Revenue –  Marketing teams, e-commerce owners, and customer experience specialists are preparing for the holiday shopping season. Let’s have a look at how to improve post-purchase experiences through real-time order tracking, personalized follow-ups, impactful loyalty programs, and addressing cart abandonment can drive revenue and enhance customer loyalty.

📄Every Single Amazon team is working on AI – Amazon CEO Andy Jassy emphasized the company’s extensive investment in artificial intelligence during the Q2 2023 earnings call, highlighting its incorporation across all Amazon businesses and its central role in enhancing customer experiences. Jassy’s remarks indicate upcoming generative AI-based improvements for Alexa and a focus on interactive conversational experiences for Amazon Search.

📄Bank of England hikes rates – The Bank of England raised its main interest rate to 5.25%, the highest level in 15 years, with the aim of controlling inflation, while forecasting a quicker decline in inflation to 4.9% by the end of the year.

📄Higher Shipping Costs – Shipping container spot rates experienced the largest increase in over two years, signalling a reversal from a 16-month decline. This rise in global shipping costs has implications for the transportation industry and trade worldwide.

📄Shopify Q2 Financial Results – Shopify reported strong financial results for the second quarter of 2023, with a 31% increase in total revenue and positive cash flow for the third consecutive quarter. The company also highlighted various business highlights, including the release of new products and features aimed at empowering merchants and expanding their global reach.

📄Amazon Beats Analyst Expectations – Amazon’s Q2 2023 report exceeded revenue and earnings expectations, setting a new record for Prime deliveries. The company’s sales for Q2 2023 are expected to be between $138 billion and $143 billion, demonstrating strong growth potential.

📈 IWell, S&P 500 is falling again. About 2% from its closing high, to be exact. What will the future hold? Will China’s exports normalize or further destabilize the indices? 

• S&P: 4,499 (-0.47%)

📈 National mortgage rates rose across all loan types compared to the previous week, as the Federal Reserve increased its federal funds rate after a brief pause, but housing economists anticipate a downward trend in rates once the central bank signals the peak of the cycle. Here’s how it’s been looking since the beginning of 2023:

• 30-year mortgage rate: 7.42%
• 15-year mortgage rate: 6.63%

📈 Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker suggested that the Federal Reserve may pause its current rate-hiking cycle and maintain steady rates to let previous policy actions take effect, with no immediate plans for rate cuts.

• Fed Rate: 5.5% (+0.17%)

📰 This week hosts a lot of diverse and interesting stories: challenging gun control, the continuing saga of former president Trump, and the FDA bringing good news to mothers with postpartum depression. 

• The Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to revive federal regulation of homemade, untraceable “ghost guns,” freezing a previous ruling while challenges play out
• Judge dismisses Donald Trump’s counter-defamation lawsuit against writer E. Jean Carroll for statements she made on CNN
• The FDA has approved the first postpartum depression pill in the US

Welcome back to my weekly selection of Seedblink’s investment opportunities. Let’s have a look:

• Bunnyshell – is securing up to €4M in Late Seed financing to expand its sales to Fortune 100 companies and further.

• Stasher– secures €850,000 to expand their short-term luggage storage solution.
• SmartNanotubes – Raising €1M to scale their chips for gas detection and introduce them to the mass market.

Note: Got a round going that you want to feature – your own business or a portfolio company? Get in touch.

Are you in Eastern Europe this September? Join me and other entrepreneurs in the first-ever Flippa meetup in Sofia, where we’ll be discussing selling an online business, acquiring, or simply what Flippa is all about. Pack your bags, it’s worth it. Have a look: 

• AI Chat Bot – Ask Anything – Flourishing AI Chatbot App with a rating of 4.6 on Apple App Store with 68,000+ Lifetime Downloads Making $5,648/m in Net Profit From In-App Subscriptions
  • Monthly Profit: $4.8K
  • Average Downloads: 14,000/month
  • Age: 7 months

• Ecommerce | Electronics – International brand and Amazon FBA business created in 2016 in apparel, accessories and sports niches (golf equipment).
  • Monthly Profit: $6.2K
  • Profit Margin: 41%
  • Age: 7 years
• Exzam– IOS/Android app. Monthly subscription. Over 4 years of successful work. 60+% regular customers. Net profit of $16,000 per year.
  • Monthly Profit: $1.2K
  • Profit Margin: 89%
  • Age: 4 years

I’m involved with a number of initiatives – here’s what I can do to help you:

🌐 Scalable and secure WordPress? DevriX provides WordPress retainers to SMEs, publishers, eCommerce, SaaS, and more. Our plans start from $1,200/mo to $40K/mo for anything from support through engineering, CRO, performance, security, to fractional CXO services and managing the data stacks of large corps.

🛒 Running on Shopify? Set up Rush now and increase your revenue with post-purchase orders automatically!

🚀 Want to scale and optimize your business? Growth Shuttle offers personalized advisory plans starting at $350/hr. Tap into my personal pool of business know-how and my data warehouse of industry data.

👥 Want access to my blueprints/books and a weekly Slack planning session? Join my Community and grab my Entrepreneurship book. 

💼  Looking for investment opportunities? Check out SeedBlink.

💡 Eager to incorporate my recommended solutions? Track my angel investments. Sharing, applying for open roles, or writing reviews helps a ton.  And anything else I try to publish on my blog and my courses here!