Tips Tuesday – Kadence Accordion Block, Power Word for 2025, Ecomm FAQs Page 

Tips this week include:

• The power word for 2025
• A store of how I’m implementing that word
• Why video will be my go-to for all marketing
• New FAQs page to help you sort out which e-comm help/platform you need
• Why a customer bought every course and guide I have
• Testing WP 6.7.1 and why we’re still not updating
• New video tutorial on how to use the Kadence Accordion block

Welcome to December, y’all, and the hurry, scurry to finish out the holiday season!

Plus, it’s time to look forward to how we are setting ourselves up for a grand 2025.

Time for a Change

Pivot.

That seems to be the power word for many of us right now.

It’s time to make a big pivot in our online business, including what we offer and the way we make money.

That goes for me too.

This week I want to share my story of how I’m pivoting, and maybe it will help inspire you to make the changes you need to make too.

Letting Past Ways Go

I took some much needed time off this past holiday weekend. And I want to share with you a big life change I made.

As many of you know, I am a music composer. I played 8-9 instruments in every kind of band and orchestra you can think of. And I was in the music business for decades, mainly writing background music for commercials and shows, and even kids music. I had airplay in 14 countries at one time, including the U.S. on shows like Saturday Night Live, The Young and the Restless, and Ellen. I also worked as a sound engineer in pro studios for time. And I ran sound for various local music events.

To say music was my life would be an understatement. Composing was why I drew air.

Back in the 80s when synths and home recording gear became available, I went all in because I could play all the instruments, acoustic and synth, and do all of the production myself. I had a whole room full of instruments and gear and that was heaven to me.

But, being in the biz changed music for me. 

I used to write whatever moved me. And then I started only writing what was commercially viable. And I kept going deeper down the technology hole to the point that my time in the studio was all about production and not about making sounds that fed my soul.

Over the years I started losing interest in it. I told myself it was because I had written thousands of pieces of music and I was just written out.

The truth is, I was written out, as far as making “music”. But my love of making sound was still alive, just muted for a while.

When I sold my house in Nashville about 8 years ago, I also sold off about half of my studio, including the majority of my instruments and gear, including road gear. All of it went to a dad who was in a band and wanted his kids to be in band. I had every instrument his kids wanted, and the road gear he needed to start that band with them. My heart was full.

And I only kept the minimum of what I needed to make music.

But, I barely played anymore, and that has remained true for these last 8 years, except for taking up cello.

The fact is, I have no desire to be deep into the old tech setup or the music biz.

I just want to make sounds that I enjoy. 

And playing my cello gave me that experience, to some degree. But I could never devote the time to get beyond the technical aspects of it and make real music with it, so I sold it.

The Torch Still Burns

My dad and his family were all in the music biz to various degrees too. They had a pro band. Some played behind famous folks. Some played in the orchestra. Most gigged locally until they started having kids and then gave it up for a “real” job.

They caught that music fire from their mother, who lit that same fire in me.

Earlier this year, my aunt passed away. She was nearly a replica of my grandmother. And oh my gosh could she ever play and sing!!!!! She mainly focused on gospel. And you would feel the presence of the Lord in the room when she opened her mouth in praise!

She passed that musical torch to her kids.

And one of them kept it burning bright, just like I did. He can also play any instrument he picks up, plus he composes, and is a pro audio engineer to this day.

And he passed that torch to his kids. And one of them is keeping it burning bright. He plays every instrument, composes for himself and others, and performs. In fact, his band has opened for such acts as Coldplay.

Me and that young cousin met at my aunt’s funeral and instantly recognized the torch we both carry for the spiritual connection we have to music, and how it came to us. Plus, philosophically, we are a perfect match. We chat at least once or twice a week. I just LOVE this kid. He feels more like a nephew than a cousin once removed.

Passing the Torch

For over a year I’ve thought about selling what remains of my music studio. But once gone, it’s gone, and I was just not ready for that part of my life to be final, and over.

But now, I have someone to invest in.

And I sold my entire studio to my young cousin.

The keyboard workstation is exactly the same one that the keys player in his band uses, and it has all of the sounds he prefers.

Plus now, he will have enough gear to permanently have his home studio set up and not have to tear it all down when he goes on the road, as his road gear will be separate.

And he will be giving one of my guitars to one of his young nieces who has also caught on fire with music since my aunt’s passing.

The song will go on.

It’s in our blood and in our hearts.

And I am SO grateful to know that I can be a part of passing that torch to the next 2 generations.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Now, don’t think for a minute that this story ends there.

And I’m not giving up on returning to my passion, which is making sounds that move me.

My young cousin is all into the new way of doing things with the computer being at the heart of it all.

He does hip hop and loops and samples and such, so he knows his way around that tech.

We are in the process of creating a super streamlined setup for me to make soundscapes.

And that gives me a way to return to exploring what interests me the mosts – the spiritual connection to sound.

Soundscape Videos

For the last 2 years, my creative side has been LIT UP by AI imagery, both with stills and then making videos where I build ASMR soundscapes of crackling fireplaces, snowy winds billowing, rain, and crickets, and such.

And this weekend I released a bunch of new videos of Christmas snow globes and villages that are enchanting. But, they have no sound. They are TV screensavers.

Plus, I returned to making a few ASMR ones with a Christmas theme.

And I’ll be creating a new stream of income for 2025 with relaxing and/or lo-fi vids that are super long and have luscious soundscapes.

A Little Help, Please

Right now I’m trying to get enough subscribers to monetize the YouTube channel where I have all of these videos.

If you visit, could you please support me by letting the majority of the video run, even in the background (they look GREAT on TV). There are both short and long ones.

And please give them a Like. 

If you can, please Subscribe to the channel. That’s what will help me qualify for the Partner Program.

You can see these videos on my Deeper Seeker YouTube channel.

I REALLY appreciate your help with making this new endeavor get off to a great start.

Video, Video, Video

That’s my big pivot for 2025. 

I was going gang busters with video 2 years ago and posting 10 a week for BlogAid and AI Discover Hub.

ALL of my marketing for eCreators Hub will be video – everywhere I can post it.

I just don’t believe blogging will get me the eyeballs I need like video will, so that’s why I’m going all in on it.

And a bunch of them will be faceless videos too!!!

If you are considering a major pivot for 2025, seriously consider finding a way to incorporate video.

Ecommerce Tips

New FAQs Page

I think there’s still some confusion over what each e-comm platform does, and what courses and guides and platforms you need to pivot in that direction.

So, I created a new FAQs page on eCreators Hub that will help you understand what you need to accomplish your goals.

Plus, I’m always happy to do a consult with you to help you pivot into new streams of income. 

I’ll help you find more money in it too.

Did I Miss the Sales?

Nope!!!

All courses and guides on the eCreators Hub are still at their introductory launch prices.

That will end after the holidays.

And the DIY SEO course is going to focus heavily on AI SEO for 2025. I have a discount on that course that is so low that I’m not making it public – reply to this email if you want the code.

She Bought Everything I Had

Over this past weekend I noticed a sale on the 2 Printify-related Guides.

And that customer contacted me to let me know that these are THE BEST tutorials she has ever seen.

She came back and bought every other course I have available on eCreators Hub because of it!!!!

What she said was that she was already going to put in the sweat equity of building her stores herself. Why not save the time of endlessly searching for tutorials that are outdated or don’t cover everything when she could just get the course or guide and be done with it.

And, she will have the peace of mind in knowing that EVERYTHING is covered and done right the first time.

That includes how to list her products on her WordPress site where folks can make their purchase right there.

WordPress Tips

Testing WP 6.7.1

Last week, WP rolled out the 6.7.1 maintenance release that fixed some serious bugs in 6.7, especially with images.

I’ll be testing it this week and looking at what bug reports remain, as they didn’t fix everything yet and a 6.7.2 release is in the works.

But, some of the issues reported are real outliers, meaning those bugs only showed up in certain circumstances, most of which we don’t have.

I’ll let you know when I think it’s safe to update and I will be sending special instructions to my site audit Hub clients and Webmaster Training members.

Kadence Accordion Block Tutorial

Hey, did you like that new FAQs page on eCreators Hub?

Want to know how I created it?

It was with the Accordion block in the free version of the Kadence Blocks plugin. 

And that block can be super tricky to use!!

I see folks use up the 2 accordion title/content areas that appear by default, and then add a new Accordion block instead of adding more title/content pairs to the one block they have.

And, I see blocks that are set to full width, or left aligned all of the time too.

Plus, I see no click references so you don’t know which title/content pair you’re on, or all of them stay open when you click instead of collapsing and such too.

So I made a Kadence Accordion Block Tutorial for you on exactly how I created and styled the block for my FAQs page. It covers all of the things I mentioned above, and more.