Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice - Trump Inauguration News, Cryptocurrency Trends, and Amazon NOT Prime

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

In today’s episode, hosts Ryan Alford and Chris Hansen explore the latest in business and marketing news. They kick off with a discussion about the upcoming presidential inauguration and its potential implications for the business world. They spotlight the attendance of high-profile billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, examining how their presence underscores the event's significance.The conversation then pivots to cryptocurrency, where Chris shares expert insights into market trends and the growing optimism surrounding crypto's future. The hosts also analyze recent changes in the banking sector and Starbucks' controversial new policies, blending thoughtful critique with a light-hearted tone. Throughout the episode, Ryan and Chris maintain a dynamic and engaging dialogue, offering listeners both information and entertainment.TAKEAWAYS Current business and marketing news as of January 17, 2025 Significance of the upcoming presidential inauguration Attendance of influential billionaires at the inauguration and its implications for business The relationship between politics and business leadership Discussion on cryptocurrency trends and market sentiment Impact of political changes on the cryptocurrency market Insights into the banking sector and skepticism about reported profits Starbucks' policy changes regarding restroom access for non-paying customers Broader societal challenges reflected in business practices Evolving retail trends and consumer behavior, including sizing inconsistencies in clothing If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a radcast network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over one million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping next and cash and checks? Well, it starts right about now. What's up guys? Welcome to Write About Now. It is our weekly business and marketing news of the week.

here on January 17th, 2025. I'm joined as always with my good friend, Chris Hansen. What's up, brother? What's up, Brian? How are you today, bro? Good. I'm good. Always getting right.

Always right here in good old Greenville, South Carolina, home of the Swamp Private Trail that we're on here at Social House, my company, the best co-working lounge in Greenville. If you're in Greenville, South Carolina, give me a shout out. Just Google social house. We've got a social lounge and club and hang out and co-work. Mixed-use space. It's where our studio is here, the beautiful downtown heart of Greenville, South Carolina.

You know, I don't give Greenville enough love. Trying to do that a little bit more. It's a great town. Come visit. You know, everyone else does. So we love you. Come on. We'll break some more tourism dollars to the city.

It's a beautiful place. Come see the bridge. see the green trees, the foliage, and, you know, stop by and see us at Social House. We love our hometown. What's up, brother? What's cooking this week? You know, just still getting back in that New Year's rhythm, but you're doing good. Yeah, New Year's.

And we've got an inauguration coming up on Monday. President Trump. It's a pretty unique thing. Like, is it, it was like one other time. I forget, I think I read this while back. I should do my history better. I know. But we're in between, like, presidents, like elected, not elected, elected in office. Like, it's a pretty unique situation, right? Yeah, I don't know. I can't think of anything that's happened. I think some random president that I should remember. Someone's going to give me some schooling over that. Yep.

But Trump will be back in office. Whoever's asleep at the wheel will get out. and we'll get on with this thing. Talk about policies, not about elections and everything else. So look, we do have part of the show notes because I thought it was pretty interesting, like all the business-related stuff that's happening in and around the inauguration. Some of the things, and that's the episode is going to be pretty loose. Chris and I are going to kind of flip-flop on a few topics as we opened up the playbook here on right about now. We're going to talk crypto.

So we're going to talk the impacts of the inauguration, financial news, inflation, some store closings, the impact of that, and a few other topics that we'll get into. But we'll start right off the top, the inaugurations on Monday. And I was fascinated on you, Chris, just like the overall list of attendees. Like, it's powerhouse, man. I know that a lot of important people show up for every presidential election, but there's a substantial business flair, business aroma from this inauguration with the people that are going to be there. I'm going to give you the list to get your reaction here.

So which billionaires will attend other than Elon Musk? Well, Tesla, SpaceX, Elon Musk will be. there. His net worth is $423 billion. We have CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who we talked about last week, $205 billion net worth. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, $232 billion. Lots of bees flying around here, you know. Damn, dude. We'll attend. And so Mark, Jeff, and Elon are going to be seated to get together on the platform alongside Trump's cabinet. CEO Sam Altman of Open AI will also be, I love this, man. I'm just going to tell you, is a business guy, haven't always agreed with all of these people,

and you can call it politics, pandering, whatever you want. I like what it signals for business and for what it, and unity on some level. You know, all the other side and what's been happening the last four years, they painted this picture of unity coming in, but it's been. anything but. And as polarizing as I can admit, maybe Donald Trump was at one time or another, I think he learned. And I think he's bringing a lot of powerhouse people together. A lot of people are excited about business. And it's time to get down to brass tax and make America doing business again, big time. So I love this. I don't know what you think about it.

I dig it. I mean, I'm, uh, Elon. I like what he's doing. You know, obviously my whole thing, I was telling someone earlier today, like we need people with business experience. And I think this is being talked about a lot more where we have too many lawyers in politics, right? We got too many teachers or whatever. All I know is career politicians. Right. No one's worked in the private sector and ran a business. Therefore, why would you be in charge of handling a budget or any type of management if you've never managed anything in your life?

So I love all these business guys. You know, Zuckerberg, I'm glad he's had an about face, supposedly, right? Yep. It doesn't matter if it's genuine or not. He's removing censorship. That's good. And you want, I mean, these are arguably the largest companies on the planet with the most influence in power. I want them to be in alignment with our president, you know.

Yeah. If anything for national security interests. right we we like you said yeah the cohesiveness 2020 was very you know big tech versus trump it felt like right or even censorship when it came to something like covid for example so it wasn't necessarily just politics right but i like seeing all these guys man i think you know especially you know me being time i spend houston someone like toman fortita like I've seen what he's built there. You know, he's owner of the Rockets,

hotel owner, he wants to do casinos. The guy's a business guy. He's experienced. He was big on TV shows. So it's like people have track records. These are the type of people that I want making decisions. Yeah, smart business people,

you know, that have put aside maybe their differences. I mean, freaking Mark Zuckerberg's got to be hosting a black tie event, like Monday night. Yeah. Bezos and Zuckerberg, their companies, have both pledged a million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund. Again, call it politics, call it pandering, whatever you want to call it.

It helps America that these people are getting along and you can play the fiddle, oh, the rich get richard, all that. I'm sorry, but we want it, it don't always work from the bottom up, you know. I know that a lot of people like to trump that. Pun intended. And I'm just here to tell you that there's a balance in all of this. But we need innovative smart business people being a part of key decisions and removing friction and tension internally. It doesn't mean everybody has to always agree.

But we want the smartest minds talking more about policies that help America and America's people rather than in fighting. That does nothing. There's no good for anyone. Everyone's playing a game. But at least now, we're all playing the same game, right? Yeah. It's called, let's all get ahead.

Yeah, it's called America winning, you know? And like you always say, high tide raises all ships, right? Yep. Yeah, I'm liking where this tide's going. We've got to see it in action. So nobody's waving the flag of victory here, like that every problem. them is solved. That's not what we're doing. I'm just saying I like the direction and the unity that I'm seeing from a lot of smart people. That's what it comes down to. A lot of smart

people. There are a lot of important things for business. I run multiple business. I know how hard that shit is. It's hard. You got to be smart. You got to be lucky sometimes. You got to, you know, know, know how to ride the waves and do all those things. But it takes real chutzpah to manage a budget, manage a company, manage people, and people that have done at the highest level, having say and having influence and having, you know, like we can all, I mean, you can play the victim card all you want. Oh, I mean, we can do that. But I think the upside here is good for all Americans on the whole if you choose to see it that way. country singer Carrie Underworld will perform. You know, NFL. She's done it new in the,

oh, Carrie Underworld. She's everywhere. Who ever knew? American Idol. Now she's doing NFL football, singing at the inauguration. And not to be outdone, the village people. Look, hey, all people, baby. We'll do a YMCA.

It was a Trump rally staple. They'll be performing at multiple inaugural events. I wonder if they'll play YMCA. Oh, no doubt, baby. Yeah. They'll be YMCAing it up. That song stood the test of time, I guess. Yeah, that's been like theme songs.

Yeah, exactly. I know they try to get him to stop playing it. the rallies. So, I mean, as related, so, okay, let's give you some actions of stuff here. Get in with crypto Chris. Our new name for Chris. Right. Yeah.

I look, I'm a marketing guy. I like to give everybody kind of a name, you know. This one may or may not stick, but we may or may not have a jingle made. But what are the impacts? Okay, Trump's coming in off. What's the business impacts? We're going to talk about a few of those. I think starting with crypto, I'm officially back on the train.

I've been off the train for about four years. You can align that with certain things or not, but more just the reality of not wanting to keep up with it every day and seemingly kind of fluttering. But the game's back on. Talk to me, Chris, about what you're hearing, what you're seeing. I know I know we've got some headlines related to that, but what's cooking on the crypto front?

Yeah, Crypto Chris in the house. I think the main, the two biggest things probably that were mentioned, right, is Trump's inauguration. Trump is vocally, you know, pro-Crypto. The crypto community is a huge supporter of Trump. So just naturally the sentiment is very positive around that. And then you have Trump also basically firing, he's stepping down and resigning. I think it's Gary Gensler. Yeah.

SEC head, who is not a crypto guy, not a fan of crypto, very stringent policy. So he steps down the day of the inauguration. So that also is a good sign. So, you know, a lot of assumptions there, right? And then, you know, we talked a little bit before we were talking about XRP. You know, where it is XRP will be handing a lot of the digital payments for a lot of the major institutional banks here probably this year. And I think you were talking about that's went up quite a bit. I don't hold any XRP anymore. Oh, it does.

I'll stop there to just give you a little XRP update. They need the XRP crowds and love. They're a loyal. They are a loyal bunch. And I'm going to name one. Let me give him credit. Callan, he's an amazing, talented, creative guy that was on my team for a number of years. He's independent now.

Like all those good guys do. So, but he told me that XRP. He's one of the fanboys. Oh, my God. He would talk to me for hours about XRP and all the stuff. And look, he had me at hell out. I was just like, because I was trying to get into it. This is three or four years ago.

And so I bought some and sold some and all that. I made a little coin. But then it's been kind of like everything else with the policies, you know, kind of been a little flat line. Just kind of like not doing going up a little, going down a little, all that shit. But nonetheless, When I got back in the game, you know, three or four months ago, I went heavy with XRP sub a dollar, like 77 cents, 90 cents, somewhere in there. And let's just say, I think it's crested three bucks a day for the first time or it's going over.

It's pumping. And all, like Chris said, all the metrics, all the stuff behind is pretty solid. So this is not financial advice. consult your financial advisor, banker, rabbi, priest, whoever you, your wife, your significant other, your husband, whatever, whoever, whenever. But this is an opinion show. We do share what we do, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, you know. If you need to know what not to do with your wife, I can tell you that.

But, you know, but on the crypto front, XRP's pumping. and shout out to Callan for that advice back in the day. Because that is why I kind of jump back in. I knew a lot of the details behind it, and it seems to be validated. Most people in the know think five, ten plus over the next 12 months. So there's my XRP spend. And, you know, it is professional gambling.

So only a bet which you can afford to lose. is what I would say. That would be my advice. Which also there was word that the banks, many of the major banks, will soon be announcing that they can be custodians of your cryptocurrency holding. So if you were, this is probably, you know, for your older people, right, that don't understand technology as much. But for example, if you want to own Bitcoin, I'm sure the banks will have it where you can

even purchase Bitcoin through your bank. bank and they'll be the custodian and they'll hold it for you. So I think as far as mass adoption, that's a step where this is now easily accessible to everyone that uses a bank. So good news. Yes. And so crypto news, seek your financial advice accordingly. But I would say put in what you can afford to lose.

And I think it's, it's definitely. Definitely safer than college football gambling at this point. For sure. Better return. Because I will say you don't see the complete like, okay, a dollar one day, zero the neck swings. I don't see that. You definitely see a lot of sense, you know, it's kind of a fun. I might jump up 10% or down 10% within a week, you know?

Yeah. It's more, it's still a little, a more volatile. and the swings are a lot greater than the stock market, but it's more in line with the stock market than it ever has been as far as the percentage of swings. You just don't see, like, I remember four or five years ago, you'd see 3,000 percent swings in a day. Now, today, like, your biggest gainers might be up 40 or 50 percent,

and I'm not saying that's not significant. That is significant, but it's not 4,000 percent, like five years ago. It was a, and it might be a 3% for six hours. Yeah. It drops back down. So just depends how aggressive you want to be, how involved and active. Exactly. And so crypto is on the upswing.

I did see, you know, inflation, the numbers were so-so, so interest rates were probably going to hang tight. And we like to keep it on the positive end. So this isn't meant to be Debert Downer stuff. It's been, it's really meant to be more WTF. This is, I'm a business and marketing guy, but I'm not a financial, like, planner expert. Like, I don't pretend to be like, we're going to bring, we bring you knowledge and articles and things and some opinion.

So, but with that said, here's where I start to go, hmm. And just saw the news, J.P. Morgan. just posted record annual profits as major U.S. banks thrive in the final quarter of 2024. J.P. Morgan's net income soared 50% to more than $14 billion in the fourth quarter as the bank's profits and revenue easily beat Wall Street forecasts. Other major banks report of better banner earnings for the year. So we've had a so-so business year. We've had a high interest rate year. And the banks have banked it. Hmm.

I just, what do they say? There's smoke and it stinks and it gets in your eyes. There's usually a fucking fire somewhere. It just smells to me. You know, like, I'm sorry that I'm cynical, but I am. And so when it feels like it's been a meat, mediocre year and the real estate market sort of floundered. And I'm not the biggest defender of real estate either.

But like, but I would just say the bank's making all this money just doesn't smell right to me. What says you? It seems just doesn't make sense, right? When interest rates are high, everyone's kind of tight, running lean. And then it almost makes me thinking that.

huge Chase scandal member when everyone was hacking the ATMs or they could deposit a check for $100,000 and pull out 20 and they really had no money. It's almost like, do they do stuff like that on purpose to write it off and like, you know, claim losses on the earnings? Yeah, exactly. I went through my head, which is crazy, but. Emotional damage. That's where I go.

I just think in a society that we're in, we should all look at it in question, you know, does that make sense when I mean banks were I don't know I just I don't like it I'll say that I'm not a fan of the banking system we'll leave it there we'll give that comment a ding because I think that yeah let's just say my I'm my intuition's normally right for good and bad unfortunately. And I think this is what we should be hearing related to us and this. That's what happens. I think when the banks go up, I think it's that for everyone else, unfortunately. I'm not a bank hater. You know some friends that are bankers. I think it's an inverse relationship. Yes, inverse. It's what's good for them,

isn't always good for us, especially fees. But now, hey, they don't have to make money on the fees. just all these interest rates that are so favorably in their favor. Anyway, we'll leave it there. So impacts from Trump, we've got the market, you know, inflation hanging around, unfortunately, which is helping the banks. I saw this. I thought it was interesting. It comes to us from our good friends at CNN.

Great friends. Starbucks ends its open-door policies. I didn't know they still had this. So Starbucks ends its open-door policies. Starbucks has introduced a new code of conduct for customers. I didn't know. You could actually do that. They start doing that, you know, code of conduct for my clients.

Ending its open-door policy that allowed non-paying individuals to use restrooms or hang out in cafes. Maybe that'll boost my cowork business, you know. They can't hang out at the Starbucks that they're not drinking coffee anymore. the policy aims to prioritize paying customers and enhance the cafe experience. Wow. They actually wrote that in print. Kind of wild. Yeah, exactly.

Go figure. Shouldn't every policy do that? I mean, even as you keep going, it's like you can tell they're targeting a certain demographic that they, that problem. Did everything swung too far? Just like old Zuck getting in line, like, you know. And it says the open door policy face challenges. No shit. Oh, when you started to deny people the bathroom they've been using for the last 20.

Well, no, it's more that the open door, it's face challenges, which is why they've changed it. They said, with non-paying customers, homeless individuals, and those seeking shelter or restroom access. It caused tension among employees and distracted from paying customer experiences. I mean, it's like, did you not see that coming? Yeah. And I get it. People got to go to the bathroom. But it's a business.

Sorry. I have been there. And you know what? I normally do? I'll go buy a cup of coffee or I'll go buy a cheeseburger. I'll go use the bathroom. You know, like, those kind of like your. duty. It's not their duty to run a business at a bathroom for you to use it. Sorry.

And yeah, it's neighborly and nice and all that. And if you know your local and if you're, if you're giving them patronage is throughout the week and they know you and you stop in and you had the emergency, okay, fine. You know, of course. But like, same time. It's not a public restroom. It's a place of business. So, uh, ban says new rules and incentives. Bands in include panhandling, vaping, discrimination, and outside of alcohol consumption. I'm just picturing a bunch of homeless guys drinking beers, like panhandle. Sitting at the table. Yeah.

Sitting at the table listening to a cherry ice vape. Yeah. Yeah. This could be a great S&L skit. You get a song. Playing one of those songs that's so, you know, typical coffee house with the smell of the coffee. training will be provided to employees to enforce the rules. I mean, I'll be honest.

There's a Starbucks in my neighborhood. There's homeless people in my neighborhood. And for the most part, it's the same people I see them every day. They go in. But in my mind, when I read this, I'm thinking Portland, San Francisco, Starbucks, bread and butter, home locations, right? Because this isn't happening in the Starbucks that I go to. Yeah. No, not really the ones I do either. But I'm not in a big metropolis city. And look, I'm not hating on homeless people or people that use it. This isn't a hate bash on any of them. It's just more of the, I don't know, the common sense of business and what. And like, you're a private business. You're allowed to refuse customer service. And yeah. And like, you're not running a public bathroom. Like, that's not their job. And they're not beholden to that. So. And anyone who's on a business with a bathroom.

knows you already, no one wants to clean it anyways. And now you've got a bunch of non-paying customers using it. That's, I mean, that is going to cause disruption to your business. Yeah. And this is where I think we're getting, like, rid of some common, like some things that have crept in that are not, you know, great for business, not common. Not good for paying customers. Not good for overall. Another one would be Amazon ending its try before you buy program.

I didn't really did that. Yeah. It's, uh, it's moving to. Tinder. Sorry. It's all Tinder. I had to go there. Yeah.

Amazon ends Try before you buy program. Can't have that milk or you buy the cow. Launch and closure. Amazon launched the these are the dates. Amazon launched program in 2017.

It'll phase it out at the end of this month. It'll allow prime customers to try up to six apparel items at a time for a week before deciding what to keep in return, i.e., they disc wear it, go to the event, and send it back. Reason for ending, it's stated by them, customers prefer our broader selection of items and faster delivery speeds. Growing lines on AI-powered features like virtual try-on, personalized size recommendations, and improve size charts. size charts. I mean, they didn't say what we know to be true, which is too many people

truly trying before they're buying. I know that I worked at Nordstrom, bro. People would come, just back in the Ed Hardy T-shirt days. Come in and buy like a $120 head-hardy t-shirt on a Friday and then come back Sunday with like, literally makeup and like Cologne. And I'm like,

you're right. That's exactly what people are doing. And I think, to be fair, to Amazon, their sizing is all over the place. They need to improve the size charts. I hope they did. And I know a lot of it was because you had products being manufactured in Asia and they're smaller than most Americans. Yep.

But you ever order like your normal size dress shirt on Amazon and it's for like a child? Oh, yeah. It's like a kids. Well, it's usually child. Look, I mean, you don't. I have a, we have a full episode of me talking about size issues as a child. Like, I bet you. Dude.

Either I get the Bermuda cut off the, you know, or yeah, yeah, I've gone through that. You know, I'm Excel, double XL slim, you know, like that I'm a weird size anyway because I don't have a gigantic fat stomach, but I'm broad-shouldered. So unless it's a, you know, a muscle fit or something like that, it's out to hear, you know, a foot. wider than I am. And so, oh, God. And, you know, I think the Asian size is not the standard. You get an A, if I get an Excel men's made in Asia,

my eighth grade son can't wear that thing. Yeah. So I get it over my head, you know. It's a nice medium. I can't pull that off. But yeah, the side thing is the issue. It's not universal. I knew that Asian triple XL.

Yeah. I'm like 5x in the Asian Excel. I don't know why. You got to really dig to find it out. You have to go to like their little click down link and then it'll tell you, you know, oh, our Excel is men's whatever. But maybe they improve that. But I have to totally agree.

I think the majority of it is people buy stuff and turn it and after they wear it, you know? Yeah, they do. They do. And I think here's what I'm going to say. I want to pick a fight with Amazon. I mean, I like him overall. I really do. Jeff, I love you, man. Jeff Bezos, call me. We'll have you on the show anytime you can talk about any of this. But, but I'll say this. Here's my bigger problem with Amazon. Get rid of the tribe before you by a thumb anyway. So, totally fine. Here's where I have a bone to pick.

If you're going to be two-day shipping or you're going to tell me that you will have this tomorrow or Friday within the when you go to buy it, that shit better be there nine out of ten times. Let's just say I've ordered four or five things the last month based on, okay, I don't want to go buy it locally because I don't need it today, but I need it tomorrow or the next day. And it tells me, I bought this camera case, you know, we got productions, you know, fucking running an agency here. I needed a rig for one of the cameras. And I needed it Friday. Ordered it last Wednesday.

It said be there Friday. You just casually get these emails on Friday. Ah, not going to come today. It'll be there to you on Tuesday. And let's just say that used to be one out of every 20 things you'd order. Okay. Not going to always get it right. I'm reasonable. Not the unreasonable customer. Not that guy that thinks you're going to get perfect every time. But it's getting to be like three, four out of every 10, 30 to 40% of the time.

We are not hitting the date. And this isn't weather delays. This isn't we got seven feet of snow on the ground here in South Carolina. And I know there's no elsewhere. But, you know, and I'm not expecting it the same day or even overnight. But when you tell me you're going to have it that day and I'm planning on it, you got to get that shit right more than you get it wrong. And it's getting bad. Like two days, no longer two day prime. You bought the prime.

I pay the prime fee for the guaranteed two day. And it ain't guaranteed two days anymore. I was literally reading about this like two days ago and a ton of people complaining about it. And exactly what you just said. And I don't know if it's, I don't know if they did. I think it was someone saying they were going to raise the price of prime, maybe. Yeah. Well, fine.

You can do that. But here's what's happening, Amazon, and it's a slippery slope. You have earned trust with buyers like me because you've gotten this way more right than you've gotten it wrong over the years. With the two day or guaranteeing, you know, one day or three, you know, telling you the day, you got it right 90% of the time. but your brand starts eroding to trust real damn fast when you start getting this wrong more than you get it right and it will have an impact so be careful and you know what's happening

people are realizing if I have to wait more than two days like I don't really need this shit that or I'll just go to the store yeah or here's what's happened Chris Jeff listen carefully you're not going to like this one this is even worse I'm going to Walmart.com app Spent in a lot. I spent more on the Walmart app in the last month that I have in the last two years combined. Because we buy, look, my wife and I are both high level positions, multiple companies.

She's a principal at a middle school working her ass off. We rely on these services, you know. And so Walmart has all these, the retail footprint. I'm getting shit the same day and gladly paying for it. And so it's eroding. It's eroding. Trust and you're going to a competitor. So be careful.

And now look, they're behemoth, doing billions of dollars. They're not going out of business. That's all what Ryan offered to say. All I'm saying is be careful. Because the, the big ones fall hard.

I've watched it. They're out real fucking hard. You've got people now where I saw this last week, you know, showing alleged proof, right? of Amazon marking up prices right before their sales and then marketing down to basically Oh, they totally do that.

100%. And I'm okay. And I could actually, it's a little shitty. But like, I can even like as a business center like, okay, fine. Well,

it's like your choice. Marketing. Right. It's kind of like, all right, dude, you guys want to play that game, fine.

But at least if you're going to play it, come through on the two day shipping. Exactly. Or the, if you tell me three day, like, that's my problem is they're telling me, like if I, let's say it was a Tuesday and they're saying it'll be to you Friday. They're just saying coming to you Friday because they do that now.

It says prime. That's not two day. It's three day. But I, okay. But I know I'll get it by Friday because I need that shit this weekend. And you don't get it to me until Tuesday or Monday. That's a problem. Especially if it's not one out of ten times.

It's three out of ten, four out of ten, which is what's happening now. So I know people are listening and shaking their head on this one because I can't be the only one. It's, they're eroding some trust with me. You're definitely not the only one. And so it, and I'm a forgiving, reasonable guy because I'm running business. I know how it all works. Like, I get it. I'm not expecting perfection, but you got to get it right more than you get it wrong.

Or you need to fix your date system. And every one of those is not related to snow in Kentucky. I'm sorry. You know, I get at the time of year. trial. Look, there's hurricane. There's always a weather issue. So we can use that in the 10%, but it can't creep to 30 or 40. Or you need to send me a damn note. How about this, Chris? Send me a note that we told you Friday. They have all the AI. They have all the money, all the tech. Send me a note the moment you know that's no longer going to happen like you told me it was going to

happen. And you can cancel the order or keep it. Right. Would you succeed or cancel? Because part of the decision in buying the product was determined on when you were going to get it. True. I'm on a soapbox on this one, man. There you. Because I think it's real. It is.

Like, and look, I deal with this too. I hate it. If I tell a customer, I want to do what I say I will do or I want my people to do it. And we don't always have that, you know, happen. And when I don't, I hate it. but I got to own up to it. But not what. Amazon doesn't do anything.

They just send you a note the day you're supposed to get it, usually at 9 o'clock at night where you can do nothing else. You're paralyzed. I'm expecting it Friday. The deliveries come so damn late in the day now that you're still hoping for it. It's seven. I'm sitting there with my wife. One of us might be expected package.

And we're still holding out hope at like 815. Because damn, to give them credit, those fuckers will show up. You know, 8.15, 8.30, you might can still get it. And we're still holding out hope. And the tracking will still say, on time, on delivery, whatever it is. And then about 9.57, so I'm like halfway asleep watching TV. We're sorry to inform me. This will be there on Tuesday.

Thank you. In and out. You know, like no ability to, it just says, you will now get it Tuesday. It doesn't say you can cancel or doesn't say you can do anything. And I know on the back end, they're good. out of like I could cancel it once it got here and they'll refund my money, but you counted on it, you know, you assumed it. And they got to all the way.

It's an emotional letdown every time for sure. And so it's a roadie. They've built, like if this is a bank account, withdrawals and deposits, they got a big, they've come through way more. But we're getting to a point of where I didn't think I'd ever be with them with eroding those deposits of withdrawal. of trust. Shame.

I've got to say about that. Shame. I need that toilet paper to arrive on Friday like they said it would. We got problems at the Alford house. We got six dudes in the house. I mean, you know, six people, five dudes, we need some TP. I don't even talking about TP, but like, you know. But like, sometimes I'm doing this, you can do this.

It got an event on Saturday night. You've done this far, I'm sure. That's just living on Friday. You're like, oh, good. I don't have to go to the store. It's the brand I bought from them before, so I know the size fits. Not the other thing,

not the Asian 5X, but something you've bought before. New shirt, don't have to go out to the mall. All the reasons you do e-com. And Friday. That's 100% when I use it. And 100%-

9 p.m. comes around and you get the email. We're sorry to inform you. This will be delivering on Wednesday. And I'm like, you son of a. Like, because the Saturday, the next night,

Now I've got to go to the mall. I got to go to do with a riffraff. I got to go by Spencer's and some kid with an ugly t-shirt on, blowing bubble gum in my face. I'm just like, you know, I got to go deal with that. I don't want to deal with that. Then you get home. You know, like my case, my buddies.

I buy seven more things that I don't need, some kind of popcorn brand I've never heard of. I mean, you know, that's what happens when you go to the mall. And then you're going to return the shit that's getting shipped to Amazon that's coming too late. Exactly. Like I got back to Mexico and there was all this like, you know, beach. clothing and shit I'd order that came too late. Same thing.

It said, oh, yeah. And then it came, you know, like the day I flew out. And I come home and I took it. This is just a pain in the ass now. I got to go ship all this back because I'm not going to ever wear this. Yep. So there's my 10 minute ran on Amazon. Had nothing to do with try it on.

But it set it up for me perfectly, Chris. I've been waiting for that one. And I hope, I think that's relatable, though. I think there's a lot of nodding of the head. So Jeff, call us. We'll bring you on. You can explain how you're using AI and robots and everything else to get this right. But Walmart, Uncle Sam, Sam Walton, you know, get more of my business.

Had more spray paint delivered the same day than I could count. Been doing some, you know, kind of a couple different little hobbies now that like ease my mind. Fixing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they don't want to give that out. The sides of great. Lovely Greenville, South Carolina, graffiti farm.

No. No. Fixing up old golf carts. I've been reimagining, whatever you want to call it. Like, are you barming and refurbing or like this? Yeah, buy refurb. I haven't sold a couple of them that I've got yet, but I've got them refurb. And they're looking pretty nice.

So I started a YouTube channel on flipping golf carts or something. That sounds like a good YouTube channel. Right. Yeah. So I'd watch it. Yeah. I come up with a clever, like something like related golf like name. Like, yeah.

Better than flipping carts, but something like that. People, that would be a, that would be a total, well, switcheroo, you know, mine switch. Because you think you're going to see golf carts like flipping. Which is common. Let's be honest. There's a whole series of pages dedicated to dudes flipping golf carts on golf. Hey. I actually call it flipping birdies.

Flippin birds. And I didn't mean that to anyone. That'll probably get banned off there. Actually, no, we're not censoring anymore. So, yeah. But anyway, I digress. I think that's all we have time for today, as much as, you know, I got on my Amazon rant, but the last thing that was kind of on our list,

one in five job postings are faker unfilled. So be careful out there if you're looking for a job. I will admit, you know, I always read stuff like this and I go, have we ever done that? I've never done it purposefully. But here's what's happened. I have posted several jobs where, okay, business changes or I promote someone and then it never gets filled because we made it internal decisions.

decision. But it's also hard as a small team when you get a lot of reaching back out and communicating to everyone, even when you don't, and we try to do better than most at this, it's hard. Like keeping up with every single thing. I mean, when we're, you know, seven to ten people in this office. And again, I'm not justifying it. I'm just admitting that it can be difficult in trying to do the, you know, the right thing and trying to keep up with every single person and every follow-up and all that. So it's hard sometimes. But I don't think I've ever purposely posted a job for it to be an absolute fake that I was not going to not going to feel. But it's obviously on the rise. I don't know

what it says. It says example. I don't know what or why. It doesn't say necessarily why people would do it. So I don't know what it would motivate the company. Maybe get candidates that they look at but aren't planning to hire. Yeah, like a database of potential. Or to look like they're growing. Look at all. We have 21 open positions. Yeah, that's true. Fake the sentiment.

That's true. That could be a tactic. Yeah. Make it seem like a growing exclusive company. Yeah, exactly. All this talk about inauguration, politics has got me thinking about our sponsor. Independent Center. Independent Center.org.

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But I think for the most part, I am. And sometimes I don't even get it all. That's why we partner with the Independent Center. They cut through the noise. They bring it straight to why something matters, removing the politics, removing the right and the left, keeping it straight down to center, independent center.org. Go sign up for the newsletter. Chris and I support them. You should support them just because they're going to give you free news.

It's free. Go sign up. Get free insights, surveys, all kinds of knowledge about what's happening on the policies and not the politics. Independent Center. dot org official sponsor of right about now. Chris, you know, do you ever wake up and you're a little groggy? You're like, I mean, it happens. You know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, it's like you need a little more pep. I mean, look at you. You're a walking figurine model, but we know it happens to you. I get tired sometimes. Yeah. fatigue hits. It does. And look. And, but I bet you, but do you want sugar?

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Exponent, official energy drink of Ryan Offord. And right about now, we appreciate them. And you will too. Go give them a shout out. Chris, any final words today as we close things out? Everyone have a great weekend. Get active. Get some sun. Move your body. Hey, move your body.

Yes. Chris and I do another show, Vibe Science. It's not always complicated, is it, Chris? It's like the simple things. Yeah. Simple things. Water, sleep, good food. Exactly. So keep it simple, but keep it real.

Hey, I appreciate Chris Hansen. good friend, good contributor to this show, couldn't do it without him. Go to Ryanisright.com. You'll find highlight clips, links to Chris and I social media, anything and everything related to the show, the sponsors. Hey, look, this is how this works. We give you free content. Hopefully you enjoy it.

A lot of people seem to, but support the sponsors. Go support Chris on Instagram. You know, he's got a reputation uphold. We need some likes and followers. Come on, man. Kidding. Guys got more attention than he deserves. Nah, he deserves it all.

He's the salt of the earth. Just like you are, we appreciate you for making us number one. This has been right about now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit Ryanisright.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening. This is the story of the one. As a maintenance supervisor at a manufacturing facility,

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