The top 99 plus products to sell on your dropshipping stores in 2021. Product finding techniques and product research in general is one of the most important aspects of our dropshipping businesses and in many cases this is the fine line between the products that will sell to the products that won't sell and the overall success of our dropshipping business. That is why we have created this video to help you guys find out what the best selling products are to sell this year, how to find these ideas and generate much more sales and profit this year on your dropshipping business. Quick intro and let's begin. What's up everybody? Hope you all having a wonderful day today. My name is Liran from AutoDS. I'm the content manager and I've also been dropshipping for the last several years and as mentioned in this video I'm going to talk about the top 99 products to sell on your dropshipping stores in 2021 to really make some great sales and make a killing this year with your profiting. One second before we begin I want to remind you guys if you are new to our YouTube channel this is the part where you want to subscribe to always stay updated on all of the latest and all of the hottest topics that we have coming out in the world of dropshipping. So hit that subscribe button and let's begin. Everything that I'm going over is on our blog section on our website so if you guys are not familiar with our blog section write down AutoDS blog on Google and check out all of the valuable information that we are passing on to you guys from dropshippers for dropshippers such as yourselves to help you guys make it to your own success story. So the first set of product ideas that I want to talk to you guys about is the top trending kitchen products for 2021. The kitchen is one of the best niches to sell in the past year. We have noticed a huge boom in sales when it comes to kitchen products and we are sharing exactly which products you should add from the kitchen niche. So in this example that you can see right here in front of me we got pop-up toasters, plastic food containers, cookie cutters, flexible cutting boards, salad cutter bowls, folding trash bins, cup holder hooks, knife sets, advanced blender vacuum mixers, microwaves and accessories to go with the microwaves and that is just for the kitchen Now I want to remind you guys these are product ideas from best selling products for dropshipping. So in other words when you are seeing a product idea like this flexible cutting board that you're seeing here you have over 25 suppliers that are supported on AutoDS so you can search up this product on any one of those suppliers and start adding similar products to the ones that we are showing you guys and this way you will start to notice the sales coming in from these best sellers. So that's just starting off with the kitchen products.  So let's say you tapped into this kitchen niche and you really want to go with let's say the folding trash bins over here so what I'm going to do is I'm going to copy this title then I can head to any one of the suppliers that I want to work with. It can really be any supplier that you guys can think of. In this example I'll just go with AliExpress but again you guys have Walmart and Amazon and CJ dropshipping and Lowe's and Costco and that's just off the top of my head guys over 25 suppliers you know exactly where I'm going with this millions and millions of products to choose from. So AliExpress folding trash bins. Now let's say I checked out this niche I sold a few items and now I want to add as many folding trash bins as I can because this is a hot seller for me. So the first thing that I'm going to do is download and install the AutoDS Helper extension. As you can see on Google I simply wrote down AutoDS Helper and the first result will take me to this extension. What I want to do is add it to Chrome. So as you see right now I'm downloading and installing this AutoDS dropshipping helper extension. Now I'm at the thank you page so I know that it installed successfully. I'm going to head back to the product page on AliExpress now I'm just going to refresh this page because I just installed the extension. And now as you see here there's an AutoDS circle on the bottom right. This is the AutoDS Chrome extension which will help me add these products to my store. One way to do it is with a one click importer so if I just hover over any listing you will see this AutoDS circle on the top left. There's also another extension here so it's kind of blocking it.  If I remember correctly AliExpress holds 60 products on one page so this is the end of page one I want to add all of those folding trash bins to my store. I clicked on the circle now I'm going to click on extract. Now as you see all of the 60 products from this page all of the product IDs got extracted into this little extension over here. Now I'm going to click on export as CSV and as you can see a CSV file was just downloaded onto my computer. Next step is to head over to the AutoDS platform I'm going to click on add products upload a CSV and here I can drag and drop that CSV file that I just downloaded onto my computer from that extension or you can simply click on it to open up your file browser window navigate to that export file double click on it and now the file is uploaded. In this case I'm publishing to all of my stores but you can edit and publish to any store that you want to one store multiple stores or all of your stores. So now that the file is uploaded make sure that your supplier down here is correct AliExpress China click on next and now you're going to start setting your configuration settings for this import process like your product tags what you want to automate like price automation stock automation order automation and so forth click on next set your pricing settings then your shipping and policy settings and finally your item location and finally you can import all of those products all of those 60 products that we had in that CSV file add them as a draft so you can continue optimizing them before putting them on the product section and having them go live on your store or you can simply publish to all of those stores that I just mentioned or you can schedule to add them at a later date in time so in the meantime they will be on your draft page you can continue optimizing them and finally tell AutoDS that you want to add them to your stores let's say tomorrow at one o'clock a.m. in the morning click on next and now we will begin the import process as you can see here item is being added to your scheduled products click here to track the progress so that's how simple it is to add tens to hundreds to even thousands of products at once in just a few clicks that is one of the neat little tricks that I love to use when I am dropshipping using the big numbers rule the more listings that you'll have the more sales that you'll be able to make on your dropshipping business and this is one of the most important things that I can teach you guys now let's go back to that product list because we're talking about a lot of products and I want you guys to save your time that is why you should be using extensions like the autoDS helper to help you add as many products as possible save a whole bunch of time and start raking in those sales and profit as soon as possible the second product idea is the 10 best home improvement products to sell in 2021 so we talked about kitchen products now we're on home improvement products for dropshipping these are the best items that sell under that category and these are where your ideas should start to come from so we're starting from surveillance equipment which is DVR cameras DVR systems and all of that all of those surveillance kits they have a high price tag which means we're making a lot of profit when selling items like these so we got surveillance equipment we got drill and screwdriver tool sets we got refrigerator parts and accessories we got toolboxes shower heads we got robot cleaners and also robot cleaning accessories paint touch up pens have been selling really well air purifiers have been going crazy last year we got grout brushes we got ladders and that is another small taste from the best products to sell in 2021 on the home improvement niche now let's tap into the next best selling product niche that we have for 2021 and this is really one of the hottest niches for the last year and this year it's also booming we're talking about fitness products and home fitness especially broke new records and had a huge peak in the last year so let me show you guys some of the best fitness products that you should start selling on your dropshipping stores right now this year the first one is exercise mats and as simple as they sound there's a whole bunch of variations when it comes to exercise mats so you can always find something to sell here the second one is aqua training bags these are like the regular training bags that you know of but instead of filling them up with sand here we're filling them up with water and that's what's going to add the extra weight for our workouts then we got vibration plates which is a lower body workout technique helping you out with your balance and getting some great exercise along the way then we got exercise dice which is a nice game that people like to play rolling the dice seeing what workout you have to do next and it's a really fun game to play with your friends who also love to workout and exercise their bodies then we got lift pulley systems another product with a high price tag that is selling really really well which means you can make some great profit selling this bestseller and it has a whole bunch of variations that go along with it so once again you can always find something to sell next we got battle ropes and I really love this product again a medium to high price tag which means high profits lots of cells different lengths different weights different variations again here you can always find something to sell same thing that goes for the pull-up bar and chin up bars this is those bars that people usually hang in their doorways and they can simply work out their upper backs and their shoulders this way another great bestseller from the home fitness niche then we got twist or arm exercises another bestseller that we noticed going under the radar so we had to share this one with you guys too just these arm twisters that also come in some different variations in different forms each one requires a different amount of power to get the workout done and once again another trendy item from the home fitness niche then we got bike pedal exercises and finishing off with calf stretchers so that is a small taste from the fitness products so that's already 30 product ideas and you can definitely multiply your success once you start finding those bestsellers from inside of them then we got the 10 best home and garden products to sell in 2021 another wonderful dropshipping niche which I absolutely love and you can definitely be sure that I am using this category a lot on my dropshipping stores so starting off with the top 10 home and garden products to sell in 2021 we got memory foam pillows this baby has been selling for a while always no variations coming out this product has been a bestseller since day one and you can still sell it up until this day then we got topiary trees which is a great product for decorating your garden next on the list we got rgb floor lamps which is another great seller with a medium to high ticket price which means we can make some great profit selling this product too then you got glass terrariums which is a very nice home decor product and also a garden decor product which is selling really really well then you got garden statue figurines just as you see them here in front of me in many different shapes and forms and sizes this is another very hot seller which you should start selling on your stores next on the list you got hanging planters this is an outdoor decor product but it can even be used for indoor especially when you're using fake artificial plants but they don't have to be so another great seller right here add them to your stores of course when I say add them I mean add at least 10 of them and if you can add 20 it's even going to be better you'll have more data to analyze see what's going well and continue scaling from there number seven on the list we got crescent moon shelves which is another nice home decor product which can come in a half moon form and even in a full moon form like the circle that we see over here another wonderful decor product which has been trending a lot in the past year and still selling well while I'm recording this video now number eight on the list you got mirror wall stickers which also come in many many different forms another great seller to add to your stores then on number nine we got gardening toolkits anyone who's taking care of their garden needs a toolkit and this is a great place to sell them on your stores they will find it and they will buy them because this is another product where you can't just go to the hardware store they can't go to their local stores and find the same exact toolkit that you can offer in your store so you will have the leverage here you will have the upper hand so another smart thing that you can do here is offer it in different colors so if there are any ladies any women that like taking care of their gardens you can even offer purple ones and pink ones and so forth so you can really differentiate yourself from the customer's local hardware store and really offer something that the customers will buy especially when it is a hot and trendy product like this one last on the list we got flameless tea lights which is another nice decor product to have indoor or outdoor it doesn't matter people usually buy more than the quantity of one even if you're selling a 50 pack or a 100 pack maybe your customers want 200 or 300 candles a lot of them buy in those numbers so make sure to add more than the quantity of one when you're selling relatively cheap products like this one so that sums up the home and garden niche that's the fourth niche to sell in 2021 that i wanted to talk to you guys about now let's move on to the fifth one the fifth niche that i want to talk to you guys about is the top 10 tech gadget products to sell in 2021 so i'm going to click on this to go straight to the blog again i want to remind you guys i'm leaving you the links to all of these articles right below this video so you guys can go ahead and start implementing these strategies right after watching this video so top 10 gadgets to sell in 2021 what are they let's begin first product phone sanitizers so in the past year hygiene became a thing and phone sanitizers became a hot seller still selling hot till now so add them to your stores that is number one number two we got laser and ip l hair removers that's this device over here that you can use on your full body to get a nice shave and it's a nice new laser technology to get rid of that body hair and another great seller medium to high ticket price again i love products that come in medium to high ticket price ranges because once again we are profiting in percentages so if you're profiting 10 20 30 40 on each cell you want each cell to have a high average order value and that is one of those products that can take you there the next product on tech gadgets is sleep headphones which is a cool product to cover your eyes help you sleep and also provide music to your ears then we got true wireless earbuds this one doesn't cover your eyes but it's a great seller ever since apple came out with their AirPods a lot of aftermarket true wireless earbuds have started to come out and it's a great product for dropshipping a great best seller with a medium to high price tag then you got mountain river incense holders which is this product that you see right here in front of me it's a decor product that shows you some kind of waterfall or smoke and it's another trending gadget that we see a lot of people buying next you have temperature controlled smart mugs this is a great innovative gadget so it's a smart mug that simply keeps itself warm so for example your coffee will stay warm or whatever it is that you're drinking it usually has a long battery life which is rechargeable with a usb connection so another cool great seller over there next you got charging cord bracelets so instead of your regular bracelets which you guys are all used to these bracelets simply come with usb connections or lightning connections or usb c connections whatever connection your customers need they'll always have it wrapped around their wrist in a bracelet form then you got self cleaning water bottles a neat little gadget which is not just any ordinary water bottle but it also has a self cleaning feature then you got star projector nightlights one of the greatest gadgets that i've seen sold in the last year and still selling hot right now lots of micro niches lots of ways to break down the star projector so check that out and then you also have baby humidifiers so you got your regular humidifiers and you also got your baby humidifiers and that sums up the top 10 gadget products to sell in 2021 that is already 50 products now let's continue on with the list the top 10 pet dropshipping products to sell in 2021 and the pets niche is absolutely one of my favorites it goes on all year long which means all of the seasons that we have in a year which makes this an evergreen niche to sell selling all year long let's begin with the list the first product that's selling well on the pet products niche is pop plungers so they come in different forms different variations different colors search them up on multiple suppliers and check them out then you got novelty pet beds like you're seeing over here great addition to add to your pets you also got dog raincoats people love dressing up their dogs in these raincoats when it's raining outside and even though we have summer coming up in many countries around the world it is raining even right now as we speak and it's also great to have it ready for the next season so your customers pets will stay dry and it's another great seller to have then you got doggy travel bags so you got your regular travel bags and then you got doggy travel bags which have extra pockets to help pack things for your dog and you can also pack your dog in there of course you're not going to zip him up without any air you can see some images here in front of me to see exactly what I mean and when you search it up with your multiple suppliers you'll see exactly what type of doggy travel bags are selling really well and which are good to add to your dropshipping stores then you got cat litter mats coming in different variations different forms not much to say over here besides it being a great seller right now car seat protectors for your pets has been selling ever since day one and it is still a great seller until today you can get a nice example from the number of reviews that we're seeing here so we got 4,000 reviews on this product and 1,500 on this one and remember that not everyone who buys usually leaves a review so it gives you another indication that this product is selling a lot we've also noticed a huge rise in pet grooming products and when we're talking about pet grooming products we're talking about brushes scissors electric shimmers but we can also talk about ties and clips bows ribbons bandanas and so forth then we got pet molar bites to take care of your pet's hygiene another great seller for your pet so check them out with your supported suppliers then we also got pet fur removers this baby is also selling all year long as long as you add them to your store and add at least 10 to 20 product ideas from each idea that i'm giving you guys you will notice those sales that will start to come in then you multiply your success by adding more products that are similar to those that are selling for you these are cute little balls where you can put their dog's treats inside and your dogs will simply play around with these balls until the treats start to come out so it keeps them busy for a long time and also keeps their teeth in check so that sums up the top 10 pet dropshipping products to sell on your dropshipping stores now moving on with the list we're gonna talk about the top 10 gardening dropshipping products to sell in 2021 so we talked about home and garden before but now we're talking specifically about the gardening niche which is peaking right now while i'm recording this video since the sun is finally out again and people are out taking care of their gardens so i'm going to start zipping through this a little bit faster so this video will not take too long so first on the list we got fruit catcher devices then we got solar powered motion lights then we got hanging plant pots which we also talked about in the home and garden niche we also got gardening gloves which come in different sizes in different forms so make sure to add variations we got sprinkler systems which also come in many different forms we got expandable garden hoses another great seller for this niche disposable fly traps string trimmers and also do not forget the string trimmer parts and accessories like their trimming spools and so forth then you got gardening shears and scissors and finishing it off with garden kneelers so that is the gardening niche i'm zipping through it fast but do not forget i'm going to leave a link to the blog that i'm showing you guys right below this video so you can click on each product idea and get the full list that i'm going through then you got the 10 top baby drop shipping products to sell in 2021 another category that really peaked in the last year let's go over the list really quick organic baby wipes then hand and footprint ornament kits inflatable water play mats diaper backpack that also come with changing pads which is another great feature that people like then we also have dispenser for baby wipes so you got your baby wipes and then you got the dispenser for them people seem to love buying this product then we got teething toys which takes care of their teeth and keeps them busy at the same time diaper caddy storage bins self-explanatory great seller for drop shipping led bath toys another wonderful seller for babies parents are buying this product all year long then we got baby play pants self-explanatory great seller and baby monitors where you can use audio and video visuals to see what's going on with your baby while they're in their room without having to get up each and every time this one has also been around for a few years always new features and versions coming out so you'll always have something to sell that is the baby niche now let's move on to products number 90 and up the top 10 storage and organization drop shipping products are selling 2021 storage and organization is one of the best niches for drop shipping almost every product that you find in this category fits the drop shipping business model let's begin with the list adjustable wall and door racks closet storage organizer with bins garage store utility hooks patio storage bench i love it medium to high ticket price range great profit stackable can racks bookshelf desk organizer and as i'm going through this list you guys can see and understand why these products are so perfect for the drop shipping business model you can't go to your hardware store or to any local store and find these same exact products you can always find something to sell with great products and these products are proven to work when you read the user reviews you also got over the door shoebags airtight food storage containers shelving storage units also a high ticket price range sorry for the blurry picture and you also got under sink shelf organizers which is another great product that fits the drop shipping business model now moving on to the last one on the niche the top 10 toys and hobbies drop shipping products to sell in 2021 so we've tapped into the best niches in 2021 i went through all of the product ideas let's end with the best toys and hobbies products so the first product that we got on the list is hand operated drones you all know about the drones but the hand operated ones have that extra feature where your hand gestures can help the drone fly and do all of its maneuvering you got remote control cars a very broad niche that's been a best seller since i was a little kid but as you know it's always coming out in new versions new features always a best seller we also got foldable mini drones so you got your regular drones you got the hand operator drones and you got foldable mini drones which is much easier to just put in your pocket take it anywhere you want pop it out and start flying another best seller in the toys niche are digital drawing boards and this is great for kids and for babies who love to draw love to get creative and also love technology tablets this is a nice combination of them both another great seller for the dropshipping business model then we also got building toys and i just want to remind you guys stay away from vero products and trademark and copyrighted products which we are not allowed to resell any company that you guys have heard of in the past or any trademark like mario or pokemon or disney products and so forth so only sell products that do fit the dropshipping business model stay away from what you cannot resell where you are not in authorized reseller then we got dress up and pretend play another great niche to have for the toys and hobbies niche because kids love to pretend play and there are so many different types of costumes that you can choose from on your dropshipping stores next we got plush toys another great seller puzzles toy figurines and again just stay away from known brands and you will make great sales in toys when you'll start to sest out this niche you'll see exactly what's going on which ones you need to optimize delete the poor performers and always multiply the ones that are selling well for you look for more products that are similar to them then we got remote controlled vehicle parts so we talked about remote control cars but another category we can sell a lot of products that not a lot of dropshippers think about are replacement parts to the parts that we are also selling and even not selling so remote control vehicle parts these are things that people are looking for for the remote control cars instead of buying a new remote control car a lot of customers would rather simply buy a replacement part and they would usually buy more than the quantity of one so make sure that you are selling two or more of each and that sums up the top 10 toys and hobbies products to sell on your dropshipping stores and that also sums up the top 99 products to sell on your dropshipping stores for 2021 quick remind you guys every product idea that i gave you guys you need to open up this product niche check out the micro niches that are selling under those categories and add at least 10 to 20 product ideas from each product that i'm giving you guys so for example we talked about under the desk sync organizers so you're gonna add at least 10 to 20 products of that product let me just see it really quick so you're gonna add here it is at least 10 product ideas from this product and that is simply going to do a much better the job than just adding one two or three products once it starts to sell you'll see exactly what's sold what features it has and then sell it in different forms different colors and continue optimizing and multiplying your success from there i really hope that this video helps you guys understand what some of the best dropshipping products are to sell this year for 2021 if you have any questions always let me know right below this video i want to remind you guys again if you are new to a youtube channel this is the type of videos that we are always popping out for you guys when it comes to product findings suppliers and marketplaces dropshipping tips and strategies live case studies success stories and so much more so subscribe to our channel if you haven't already done so and if you want to see new features on autodesk head over to feedback dot autodesk dot com let us know what features you want to see and we will listen thank you for watching see you in the future videos


Okay, we're alive. We're back with Jim. So where are we now, Jim? Well, just left Vourimba. We're entering Abbotsford, a suburb of Sydney. And this is where you are. Abbotsford Public School on your right hand. So is a public school a public school in Australia or is a public school a private school? No. Public school is like the American government schools. Oh, okay. It's a government school. It's not a private school. It's not a school. They're all free and all that. Okay, so we're about 10 Ks from Central Business District to Sydney. And there's a big compass here. Abbotsford Cove. Okay. Does Tony Abba live here? Well, if you want to meet him, I know him well. I can introduce you. No, he doesn't. He lives on the other side of the... across the bridge. And where do the labos live? Oh, that's about, yeah, about 30, 40 Ks. We're not going to try to avoid mixing it up on the beach with the... Ah, yeah. All right. Now that's my guy. No, the other one. Someone else. Sorry. That's the bottle side. Here is his best customer. Yeah, yeah. No respect. The local drunk. Okay. Where do you like to drink, Jim? I usually just chardonnay or a giraffe. Caving in, setting off. Oh, you're not much of a biker. Okay, here I am. This is my house here. Oh, I won't show it on the... Oh, this is lovely. And this is Sydney Rowing Club. This is posh. This is Sydney Rowing Club. Wow, this is posh. And this is the ferry to the city. Oh, if you want to go to city or parameda, look, the ferry's going. Any key? Oh, this is nice. And so how long's the ferry ride to downtown? About half an hour. Okay. To circular key, yeah. And a good type of people are on the ferry? Yes, yes. Not the wrong song? Not the, not the riffraff, no. Not the riffraff? No. Don't look like you're having your riffraff around here. Oh, you don't mind a drink or two here? Yeah, I do. On occasion? And there's a, you know, bands and all that. You'll bend your elbow there? Yeah, exactly. My house is just up there. Oh, very nice, very nice, mate. Oh, this is classy, very classy. It's not classy, I'm working. And this is... This is not classy. My house is there.


It is my pleasure to be your Toastmaster of the day for this wonderful event. I see many guests in the audience and most of you must be curious to know what is this Toastmasters? How can it benefit me? This is what I want to answer in the next five minutes. Toastmasters first of all is a worldwide organization. When you join Toastmasters, you are not joining an organization that exists in a country or a few countries, it exists all over the world. We have 300,000 active members. Toastmasters is available in 149 countries. As of now, there are 15,800 clubs. All right, so it's a worldwide organization available in many countries, but what can it do for you? Toastmasters as an organization existed since 1924 that helps people to build their communication and leadership skills. As an organization, we provide opportunities for you to practice your public speaking skills. And as you may know, public speaking is something many of us fear, if not all of us. People fear public speaking more than they fear death.  And I used to be one of those until I joined Toastmasters. You also get opportunities not only to practice your public speaking skills, but to practice leadership skills, skills that can help you at work because you can take up leadership roles in this worldwide organization starting from your club going up to an area, division, district. The program of learning and developing yourself is self-paced. You decide how fast you want to learn or whether you want to take a break. It's all up to you. We provide an environment that is positive and supportive. All of this will help you to gain a competitive advantage at workplace. If you practice your skills in leadership and communication in Toastmasters, within a year or so, you will find that you have improved yourself at a work in the social environment everywhere. Club is the heart of Toastmasters. And in each club, usually there are around 20 members, can be more, can be slightly less, but 20 is considered an optimum number. Why is that an optimum number? Because we meet just two times in a month, two hours each meeting, four hours in a month. And so these 20 members should get an opportunity to practice the skills within those two meetings. If the club was made up of 100 members, it would be very difficult for everyone to get an opportunity. You get an opportunity to deliver prepared speeches. You get an opportunity to deliver what we call impromptu speaking on the spot. Most important aspect of Toastmasters is that you just don't practice your skills, but you get feedback. What have you done well? Where can you improve yourself? And this is really the area that allows you to develop yourself. And also we can take up roles like the role that I am taking today as a Toastmaster of the day. This helps me also to practice my skills, talking to an audience. Every role that you take up gives you an opportunity to practice your skills. So that, my friends, is Toastmasters.


Hey everybody, this is Christian Buckley with another MVP buzz chat. I'm talking today with Shahan. Hello. Hi, Christian. How are you? Thanks for having me. Doing well. It's great to have you.  Yes. So I'm Shahan Pereira. I'm from Adelaide, South Australia. So I'm a consultant in Microsoft 365 sort of things in a company called Data3. So we implement, we usually look at the projects, do implementations and things like that. So yeah, I'm a consultant at the moment. Very cool. So what's your career been like? Have you been focused on for the last few years this space or what's kind of your background? I started, so my career in IT started back in 2006, of course, as a hell-disk engineer. But I was always passionate for Microsoft technologies and what they do to the world to make it a better place. So I started doing their certifications, got hold of their technologies, and then I moved on to a bit of a senior position in IT, but still doing, but troubleshooting can be things like that. And then in 2012, I moved on to, from helping the internal customers to helping external customers. So yeah, so that was basically project-based things. I looked at, I think from day one, I started looking at Office 365 back in the day. So there's Office 365, moving emails to cloud and things like that. And after coming to Australia in 2016, then my focus changed a bit. I went back to helping the internal users, but I used the technology ability, the focus, to help them in a better way. So it was not just user support, but I managed to do some of the major projects there as well. So that helped me to move in my career to come to this position as a consultant today. So again, I'm back in the fields helping the customers in the projects. So it was pretty much a long way, but I think I'm really happy the place I'm in at the moment. Yeah. Well, it's great.  So what's your focus? Because enterprise mobility covers a number of different areas. So what was kind of your path to becoming an MVP and what's your focus? Yeah. So it was definitely the blog I started writing in 2019. So back in the, when I first started, I didn't have any focus on what should I write. I wrote anything Microsoft 365, which I'm passionate about. My main theme was we are taking things from the internet every day. We look into internet to find out, let's say, what's this error to troubleshoot things. But my idea was why don't I give it back to the community. So I started writing. It can be something about Microsoft's exchange or teams or something like that. I really liked the device management side of it and the identity management part, SUED and Microsoft Intune. So I think I changed the focus after some time. I did a lot of DIY stuff during the weekends when it comes to identity management. So without why not I write about what I got to know. So that's how I changed my focus into Microsoft Intune and actually any side of things. And I got to do a lot of projects as well. So I use that knowledge in my blog writings. So I'm mainly focusing on Microsoft Intune product at the moment and anything that comes with it. For example, it can be Microsoft Defender. And it can be a bit of KQL that goes with log analytics, actually log analytics side of things. So that's what makes me to help me to write when it comes to blogs. And I think that helped me to become the MEP today and to nominate in that enterprise mobility side of things. You know, I've always said that you'll write what you know and what you're passionate about regardless of what other people are writing about and doing. You can't go and look and say, well, you know what somebody else wrote like the definitive blog post on that topic. Therefore, I won't share my experience because you have your perspectives. You have your customer internal or external customer experiences. You have your sense of humor, your visit, your background, your industry knowledge, kind of all those different things. It's going to be different. And there's nothing wrong with pointing to those other articles that you reference those, call them out. In fact, highly recommend that one, don't plagiarize. But there's just more of a lesson for those that are listening in. But don't plagiarize that. But it's a good thing to call out, to name drop. Like, hey, this person wrote a great blog or created this great walkthrough video of this problem area, and then add your experiences on top of what they've done and build onto that. Yeah, I think that's the sense of the community, right? You help each other. You promote each other in that way. Everyone would get a chance to shine in a way. And also, yeah, as you mentioned, it can be the same troubleshooting method or something like that. Inventing the wheel, that's what I'm thinking. I used to write, I'm still doing that. What was my experience implementing this, let's say, piece of software or something like that, or maybe what involved, what are the gotchas, things like that. Sometimes, when it comes to troubleshooting, there are a lot of articles that says, okay, these are the steps, these are the screenshots. So you know how to do it. But sometimes, there are no articles or there are no information on the internet saying what was my experience involving this implementation. This is now to be a very small one. It can be a company-wide implementation. So you know what things to look at, what are the gotchas and what was my exact experience doing this. So I use a lot of those sort of things in my blog writing. And people, when someone looks at it, yes, I want to give a one-stop sort of experience. So yeah, and also, as you mentioned, I do mentions as well. And I see some in the community, they have mentioned my blogs as well. So which is a good thing. So yeah, that's the community sense. Yeah. It is good to that. That's a great point. It's good to watch for and see where people may mention you and doing other things so that you can go back. And again, this is part of the growing the community is to, when you find those, whenever I find that somebody has mentioned me or one of my articles or a video or something and kind of calls me out and thank the person, connect with them. And sometimes it's great when I find somebody that I'm not following on Twitter or I'm not connected to on LinkedIn and to reach out and thank them for that connection. You definitely want to do that kind of pay it back and then maybe find other ways that you can connect and do some, create new content and stuff around that maybe jointly with people. It's a great way to connect with people. That's right. I think it's all goes back to the same thing. We get from the internet every day, day in, day out. But I think sometimes we forget to probably do a reshare or repost or maybe give a thumbs up to that article. So I think writing back would cover everything up because I'm giving it back to the community. I think everyone, every MVP and everyone who does that job doing the same thing and they're giving back to the community, which is a very good thing. Yeah. Speaking of the community. So how is the community, how's it going in your part of the world? Because I know that a lot of user groups are kind of struggling. Some are coming back in person. So how's that been for you? Yeah. So I think during the past couple of years, it was all, so I'm not holding any user groups. I'm merely a member of the groups most of the time. But it's coming back to in-person events now. In-person, half-in-person, you can still join wire teams if you are working from home, something like that. But yeah, it was all virtual. And things are slowly getting back into place right now. That's something which I want to do as well, because I feel like I'm one of those MVPs who provide the knowledge by writing only, which is something. But there's nothing wrong with that. And some people don't want, look, I've got, one of my kids is a germaphobe and like, I get it. And it's just nervous about getting back in. And other people just prefer just to not have that interaction. And look, there are MVPs still out there. I know a couple personally who all they do is through forums and out on tech community in a couple other places. And they're very active out on Reddit and Discord and tech community. And that's fantastic. It takes all kinds to be an MVP. There's a different path for everybody. Yeah. Yeah. I think when I first thought, when I first, when I first started my blog in 2019, so I was writing the articles, I didn't think about becoming an MVP one day. I just want to want to share my knowledge. And one of my best friends out there, and he said, why don't you thinking about being nominated as an MVP? And I told him it's, it's, it has a lot of work that needs to be done. I thought maybe I need to be a all around it. I need to speak, I need to do a lot of community, community contributions. Then again, I reached out to the community, I talked with some of the MVPs. And they said, no, it doesn't have to be everything. If you are good at something, yeah, just do it and talk to your community program manager in your region and they will help you. So that's the same thing I did. And because I had some solid work already, that helped me get nominated. Yeah, of course. I mean, that's a great point too. It's not just about quantity. It is about quality and impact. The hardest part is probably just, you know, getting the attention of Microsoft. Because now you used to be able to go in and say, Hey, look, I've got a great body of work that I could talk about and I could self nominate. You can't do that anymore. It has to be Microsoft or an existing MVP that refers you into the program. And I have, I've had people come forward to me that I sort of know casually through the, the community like, Hey, can you nominate me? I'm like, I don't know the body of your work. I like, let's have a conversation. And, and then I try to be very honest back as like, I, I think here's what I think that you could do around this to kind of package that to surface that to get Microsoft's attention at the end of the day though. I mean, if we're submitting names, I think it's the best path is if you have Microsoft contacts and they're aware of what you're doing and have them refer you because it has even more weight than we do as MVPs. But then you need to think about what are other MVPs doing and am I doing similar type activities? It's not a one-to-one. There's no checklist as you know. It's not like, Hey, I've done all the things. Therefore, give me my award. It's Microsoft's to give. It's a bit of a black box. We don't know what the process is exactly. But at the end of the day, kind of go back to what you said, like you were initially looking to become an MVP or just doing things in the community. And that's really the secret. Have a little bit of humility, do good things, participate in the community. If it doesn't happen, you've done these good things, you'll have positive impact and you'll get positive benefits out of that. Yeah, that's exactly right. I think when I change the focus to do more in-tune and actual AD side of things, I noticed and then my friend planted the seed about being an MVP. So I checked the structure. So I noticed, yes, before the identity and management, I did management change to the security like very recently. It was all in one bucket. It's mobility and security, I think. So that's when I thought, okay, so I got the stuff already that I've written. And Microsoft have got the structure that well-fitting to my criteria as well. And the community program manager helped me a lot to understand what more things need to be done. And actually, she validated the articles as in, gave me the green light to go to the next step. Obviously, the next step is the product groups are validating my approval. Right, yeah. So the information needs to be, what I've written needs to be accurate as well. So I think I've done my job 100% there to get validated. Yeah. And for somebody that doesn't have, to get to that step and be working with the community managers because they have them around the world representing each of the different regions. And if you don't know who those people are, you don't have that contact. Again, talk to an MVP. And that's a great way to just to get kind of plugged in and referred. And again, I try to be very honest with people about, hey, I just don't think that's the level at which Microsoft will consider you for that. But it doesn't hurt to have that first conversation and take that feedback and think about what more things that you could do to, again, surface those activities. Yeah. Yeah. I think that being an MVP gives you that sense of leadership. And you are basically a community influencer when it comes to technology. And people would rather than thinking twice, they know, okay, this is coming from MVP. So this needs to be correct. The information that you're providing needs to be correct. And I think it's our responsibility always to give the correct information, lead them in the right path as well. Yeah. Well, I need to stop with all my guesstimates then for that. Yeah. Well, sometimes, and you know that too, sometimes it's an educated guess. Sometimes it's, I can't tell you what I think because in my mind, I'm thinking, my knowledge that I have, was that an NDA call or is that public information? And so I have to kind of pull my punches sometimes. But it messes with your head, people. You know, the stuff that we know. Yes. I think I started with a few of it. And yeah, I think you're correct there. Yeah. We have to be extra careful. We can't, you know, guess into like, is that truly a guess or did my suppressing some knowledge that I actually know about roadmap? Yeah. Yeah. You've got to be careful. But well, very cool. Well, Shahan, it was really great to meet you and hope to be down in your part of the world early next year. So we're doing travel budgets and plans right now. But yeah, I'm glad things are opening up. I miss, I miss traveling down to Anzed region. So I'm hoping to be in both New Zealand and Australia in first quarter. So I'll let you know if I'm in the vicinity and we'll have to try and get together. Yeah. Definitely. For folks that want to follow you or find out about you, what are the best ways to reach you? Where are you most active in social? Yes. So obviously my LinkedIn. So you can find me from Shahan Perera 85. And my Twitter handle, Shahan Perera 85. And my Instagram, which is ShahanJ Perera. Excellent. Well, we'll get all that information out in the blog post as well. And thanks so much. Have a great day and we'll connect with you soon. Thank you. Thank you very much.


What I want to know is from these agents that are so-called scared of Zillow is, give me the roadmap of where we are now, point A, to point B, them completely monopolizing the industry and wiping real estate agents off them out. With everything that's going on in today's thinking age in terms of Zillow coming in and becoming a brokerage, EXP making a major, major impact in the real estate game, what's your, this is a two-fold question, all right? One, what's your outtake in that whole development? And two, how do you think agents should be able to, should move forward with this, with everything that's going on today's day in age, where everything changed in real estate?  And I'm like, why? That's only shooting yourself in the foot. Your buyers aren't going to see it and your sales are going to get mad that it's not on Zillow, right? I said, listen to me. Zillow has done nothing but help you, right? Everybody's looking at Zillow like it's this entity that is out to get us and maybe they do have some kind of hidden agenda. And it is wise to be paranoid, I guess, to a certain extent about things, right? And definitely watch it. Like I said, I am so incredibly interested. I'm just drawn to watching all this happen in real time. I'm just love watching the earnings reports, what they're doing, what the acquisitions, they're just so interesting to me and to try to sit back and figure out why people are, why these companies are doing what they're doing. At the end of the day, all these companies, they've got one thing in common, okay? When you look at Google, Zillow, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, their drug of choice is data, okay? They're spending billions and billions of dollars on data. And what is data? Data is literally a virtual human. They're just, they're buying virtual human.  They're buying that either through like your behaviors on their website or running ads or doing this or that. And so what you need to do is you need to think of yourself. We need to think of our real estate business the same way that these large corporations think of their companies, okay? And we need to really pay attention. Nobody's really paying attention to the fact that what they're doing is, is they're collecting data and the amount of data that they have, it ends up being the bottom line of the equity of their company. You know, the data that they have equals what? The customers that they have and the customers they have that are willing to do business with them is literally what the company's worth. I mean, we trade stocks on the future earnings of companies, which is determined by what we think the database of clients are that will do business with them in the future, right? And so we need to be data collectors first and real estate agents second. Every day when we wake up, our main objective needs to be how do we get more data? How do we get to more people in our market, talk to them, see how they're doing, let them know who we are that we're here to help, collect their information, put that information in somewhere that we can build our personal brand with them from that point forward, right? How can we run ads online to collect data so that we can then use that data to build more personal brand? How can we collect more and more and more data of people in our market? Because again, let's go back to market share. That is the definition for me of market share. I want as much market share as I can get. The reason why I'm able to sell 100 properties a year and still do things like this and coach and do videos and podcasts and all that stuff is because I have enough data, right? I have enough data of potential clients and customers and prospects in my local real estate market. I have enough of their data that I built personal brand with that produces 100 deals a year without me having to chase business. Now, if I wanted to get aggressive with real estate, I have a completely passive real estate business. I am so focused on the coaching and building this other monster, this global brand, right? My real estate business is 100% passive in terms of getting deals. Once I get the deal, I'm going to work the deal. I spent a lot of my morning this morning, you know, checking on my deals and talking to clients and stuff. So I mean, I'm still working in the deals, but I do nothing to get the deals. They come to me and tell me what they want. And then I help them get it. That's the kind of business you want. And it all comes from collecting data. It doesn't matter what Zillow. What I want to know is from these agents that are so-called scared of Zillow is give me the roadmap of where we are now, point A, to point B, them completely monopolizing the industry and wiping real estate agents off the map. Give me the play by play of how that actually happens from where we are right now. Because it's not even on the radar for me. Maybe I'm naive or I'm missing something, but I see nothing even on the horizon that tells me that, sure, you may have somebody out there. Sure. There's a lot of people out there that are like, yeah, it would be real nice if I could wipe out real estate agents and make all them billions. Of course, there's probably a lot of people that say that, but give me a play by play. Give me a roadmap. And I may eat my words in 30, 40 years. I don't know, right? I don't know how all this is going to play out. I'm just saying, give me the roadmap from here. What does it look like? You know what I mean? Ricky, as you're building your foundation, you mentioned that you want to become a global entity in terms of your growth. What does that look like for you? There's a lot of different things, right? So I have a global brand, okay? So just through social media, I've got followers all over the world, which is incredible. I have people reach out to me from all over the world. And I've built really incredible relationships with these people. And you know, listen, relationships is the name of the game. You never know where a relationship is going to lead you in terms of an opportunity. And here's the punchline. You don't build relationships and help people just because there might be an opportunity for some kind of favorable monetary outcome. What you need to think of, this is when you're really going to go to the next level, because there's stages to this. When I first realized that I needed to be more about the relationship over the transaction, when I got back in the business, I couldn't go cold turkey and just say, okay, I'm getting away from high pressure. I'm just going to go all low pressure. I went 50-50. Sometimes I was like, hey, you want to buy or sell? And sometimes I was just like, hey, is there anything I can do to help you? I was 50-50. And so it took me some time to morph into where I was more like 75-25. And then I was like 90-10. And now I'm a complete 95-5. 95-5 is where I want to be. I want to be 95% low pressure, 5% high pressure. I want to build that relationship and know when to strike. But at the end of the day, when you get to that point, then you're still striking. And this is what I want the takeaway here. You're still striking. And so that strike still means that you're still there for some kind of monetary or something for you to gain kind of deal. And so what I'm saying is once you get to that level, and then you realize that there's an even higher level of this whole thing, whereas you help people that have no chance at all to do anything for you, that's when you see your business really explode. When you start helping just anybody, regardless if they can help you or not, that's when you see things take a turn and really explode in your life, in your business. So there's steps to it. I never tell any of these high pressure guys when they start looking at my stuff to just go cold turkey and start doing everything exactly the way I do it, just dabble in it and then kind of progress and take it to a new place. I want to know, what made you decide to share so much knowledge? Like, why not just keep some of that secret to yourself? Why decide to just release your education and just want to share your education with the people or with other agents? You know what, man? I think it's because when I started doing that, people told me that was the most retarded thing to do in the world. They told me that that was the worst thing that I could have. There were so people in my office were mad at me for giving away the secrets. You know, they're friends and family. They didn't understand it. They didn't understand it. But see, here's what I knew that they can't wrap their mind around. They didn't know what I had really been through, right?  And what I learned through that, bro, listen, one of the biggest lessons I learned was that closings happen every single day, right? No matter what the market does, closings happen every day forever, right? If you look at 911.com crash 2008, the pandemic, right? Nothing but massive amounts of closings during the scariest times in history, right? And in our lifetime. One thing that I realized, man, is that business is 100 million percent unlimited. You cannot do every single deal ever that's available to each and every agent. Every agent can be like the number one agent.  There's only so much, right? There's only so much. And I beg to differ. I just beg to differ, man, because I look at it on more than just what we do this year. I mean, too, like, let's take it a step further. I look at more than just what's available this year. I'm looking at the future growth of the industry.


Alright, is there new life in fang stocks here now with John Eade, president of Argus Research. John, we've seen a couple of sell-off in fang stocks over the past couple months, but Netflix with their latest earnings adding 5.2 million subscribers in the quarter. Expectations were for 3.2 million. Is there new life in fang? Well, terrific quarter for Netflix, Scott. I think they're really benefiting from their international expansion. Also their original programming. And keep in mind that the second quarter is usually seasonally weak for them, so great numbers and you expect those kind of great numbers when you're trading at 200 plus times earnings. So the stock is going to pop this morning, but still hesitate to have people try to jump on this bandwagon here at these levels. Yeah, because at 200 times earnings you have to wonder if that chicken is going to come home to roost at some point soon. Right. So in the first quarter they didn't make their subscriber gain estimate, so they don't always get the job done. And we've also been seeing a rotation out of tech stocks lately and into financials. What did you make of all the recent bank earnings? Trading revenue, especially at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan City was not great this time around. Right. Trading wasn't that good, but the lending is a real bright spot. Lending from the Federal Reserve, raising some of the short-term interest rates, benefiting from good jobs growth, from a good housing market. So the big lenders, the Wells, the PNCs, JP Morgans that aren't as focused on trading are doing really well. All right. We'll be watching how this all plays out, Johnny. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks, Scott. All right. I'm Scott Gamm and you're watching The Street.


The Tale, Tale, Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by ZZ Turner. The Tale, Tale, Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. True, nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous, I had been and am. But why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not doled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Harken and observe how healthily. How calmly. I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain. But once conceived it haunted me day and night. Object, there was none. Passion, there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye. Yes, it was this. He had the eye of a vulture. A pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever. Now this is the point. You fancy me mad? Mad men know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded, with what caution, with what foresight, with what dissimilation I went to work. I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it. Oh, so gently. And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in. I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! What a madman have been so wise as this! And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously. Oh, so cautiously, cautiously for the hinges creaked. I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed. And so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his evil eye. And every morning when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone and inquiring how he is past the night. So, you see, he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept. Upon the eighth night, I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was opening the door little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts, I fairly chuckled at the idea, and perhaps he heard me, for he moved on the bed suddenly as if startled. Now, you may think that I drew back, but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, for the shutters were close fastened through fear of robbers. And so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily. I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern when my thumb slipped upon the tin faceting, and the old man sprang up in bed crying out, Who's there? I kept quiet still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening, just as I have done night after night, harkening to the death watches and the wall. Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief. Oh no! It was the low, stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening with its dreadful echo the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself, it is nothing but the wind in the chimney, it is only a mouse crossing the floor, or it is merely a cricket, which is made a single chirp. Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions, but he had found all in vain, all in vain because death and approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim, and it was the mournful influence of unperceived shadow that caused him to feel, although he neither saw nor heard to feel the presence of my head within the room. When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little, a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it. You cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily, until at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye. It was open, wide, wide open, and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness, all a dull blue with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones. But I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person, for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot. And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? Now, I say there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury as the beating of a drum stimulates a soldier into courage. But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. Meantime, the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme. It grew louder, I say, louder every moment. Do you mark me well? I have told you that I am nervous. So I am. And now, at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet for some minutes longer, I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder. I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety sees me. The sound would be heard by a neighbor. The old man's hour had come. With the loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once, once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed over him. Ben smiled gaily to find the deed so far done. But for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me. It would not be heard through the wall. At length is ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more. If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all, I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs. I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly that no human eye, not even his, could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out, no stain of any kind, no blood spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all. When I had made an end of these labours, it was four o'clock, still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, I came knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart for what had I now to fear? There entered three men who introduced themselves with perfect suavity as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night. Suspicion, a foul play had been aroused. Information had been lodged at the police office and they, the officers, had been deputed to search the premises. I smiled for what had I to fear. I bade the gentleman welcome. The shriek I said was my own and a dream. The old man I mentioned was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search, search well. I led them at length to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure and disturbed. And the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room and desired them here to rest from their fatigues. While I myself in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim. The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them I was singularly at ease. They sat and while I answered cheerily they chatted of familiar things. But ere long I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached and I fancied a ringing in my ears. But still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct. It continued and became more distinct. I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling but it continued and gained definiteness until at length I found that the noise was not within my ears. No doubt I now grew very pale but I talked more fluently and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased and what could I do? It was a low dull quick sound. Much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently, but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles and a high key and with violent gesticulations. But the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides as I've excited to fury by the observations of the men. But the noise steadily increased. Oh God, what could I do? I foamed, I raved, I swore. I swung the chair upon which I'd been sitting and grated it upon the boards. But the noise arose overall and continually increased. It grew louder, louder, louder. And still the men chatted pleasantly and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God, no, no, they heard. They suspected, they knew. They were making a mockery of my horror. This I thought and this I think. But anything was better than this agony. Anything was more tolerable than this derision. I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer. I felt that I must scream or die. And now again hark, louder, louder, louder, louder. Villains, I shrieked, dissemble no more. I admit the deed, tear up the planks here, here. It is the beating of his hideous heart. End of The Tale, Tale, Heart. The Terrible Old Man by H. P. Lovecraft. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Terrible Old Man by H. P. Lovecraft. It was the design of Angelo Ricci and Joe Chanick and Manuel Silva to call on The Terrible Old Man. This old man dwells all alone in a very ancient house on Water Street near the sea and is reputed to be both exceedingly rich and exceedingly feeble, which forms a situation very attractive to men of the profession of messers Ricci, Chanick, and Silva, for that profession was nothing less dignified than robbery. The inhabitants of Kingsport say and think many things about The Terrible Old Man, which generally keep him safe from the attention of gentlemen like Ricci and his colleagues, despite the almost certain fact that he hides a fortune of indefinite magnitude somewhere about his musty and venerable abode. He is, in truth, a very strange person, believed to have been a captain of East India clipperships in his day. So old no one can remember when he was young and so taciturn that few know his real name. Among the knurled trees in the front yard of his aged and neglected place he maintains a strange collection of large stones, oddly grouped and painted so that they resemble the idols in some obscure eastern temple.  But there are other things which frighten the older and more curious folk who sometimes steal up to the house to peer in through the dusty pains. These folks say that on a table in a bare room on the ground floor are many peculiar bottles. In each, a small piece of lead suspended pendulum-wise from a string, and they say that the Terrible Old Man talks to these bottles, addressing them by such names as Jack, Scarface, Long Tom, Spanish Joe, Peters, and Mate Ellis, and that whenever he speaks to a bottle, the little lead pendulum within makes certain definite vibrations as if in answer. Those who have watched the tall, lean, Terrible Old Man in these peculiar conversations do not watch him again, but Angelo Ricci and Joe Chanick and Manuel Silva were not of Kingsport blood. They were of that new and heterogeneous alien stock which lies outside the charmed circle of New England life and traditions, and they saw in The Terrible Old Man merely a tottering, almost helpless greybeard who could not walk without the aid of his knotted cane and whose thin, weak hands shook pitifully. They were really quite sorry in their way for the lonely, unpopular old fellow whom everybody shunned and at whom all the dogs barked singularly. But business is business, and to a robber whose soul is in his profession, there is a lure and a challenge about a very old and very feeble man who has no account at the bank, and who pays for his few necessities at the village store with Spanish gold and silver minted two centuries ago. Messers Ricci, Chanick, and Silva selected the night of April 11th for their call. Mr. Ricci and Mr. Silva were to interview the poor old gentleman, whilst Mr. Chanick waited for them in their presumably metallic burden with a covered motor car in Ship Street by the gate in the tall rear wall of their host's grounds. Desire to avoid needless explanations in case of unexpected police intrusions prompted these plans for a quiet and unauthenticious departure. As pre-arranged, the three adventurers started out separately in order to prevent any evil-minded suspicions afterward. Messers Ricci and Silva met in Water Street by the old man's front gate. And though they did not like the way the moon shone down upon the painted stones through the budding branches of the gnarled trees, they had more important things to think about than mere idle superstition. They feared it might be unpleasant work making the old man loquacious regarding his hoarded gold and silver. For aged sea captains are notably stubborn and perverse. Still, he was very old and very feeble, and there were two visitors. Messers Ricci and Silva were experienced in the art of making unwilling persons valuable, and the screams of a weak and exceptionally venerable man can be easily muffled. So, they moved up to the one-layed window and heard the terrible old man talking childishly to his bottles with pendulums. Then they donned masks and knocked politely at the weather-stained oaken door. The waiting seemed very long to Mr. Chanak as he fidgeted relentlessly in the covered motorcar by the terrible old man's back gate in Ship Street. He was more than ordinarily tender-hearted, and he did not like the hideous screams he had heard in the ancient house just after the hour appointed for the deed. Had he not told his colleagues to be as gentle as possible with the pathetic old sea captain? Very nervously, he watched that narrow oaken gate in the high-end ivy-clad stone wall. Recently, he consulted his watch and wondered at the delay. Had the old man died before revealing where his treasure was hidden and had a thorough search become necessary? Mr. Chanak did not like to wait so long in the dark in such a place. Then he sensed a soft tread or tapping on the walk inside the gate, heard a gentle thumbling at the rusty latch, and saw the narrow, heavy door swing inward. And in the pallid glow of the single dim streetlamp, he strained his eyes to see what his colleagues had brought out of that sinister house which loomed so close behind. But when he looked, he did not see what he had expected. For his colleagues were not there at all, but only the terrible old man leaning quietly on his knotted cane and smiling hideously. Mr. Chanak had never before noticed the color of that man's eyes. Now he saw that they were yellow. Little things make considerable excitement in little towns, which is the reason that Kingsport people talked all that spring and summer about the three unidentifiable bodies, horribly slashed as with many cutlasses, and horribly mangled as by the tread of many cruel bootheels which the tide washed in. And some people even spoke of things as trivial as the deserted motor car found in Ship Street, or certain especially in human cries, probably of a stray animal or migratory bird, heard in the night by wakeful citizens. But in this idle village gossip, the terrible old man took no interest at all. He was by nature reserved, and when one is aged and feeble, one's reserve is doubly strong. Besides, so ancient a sea captain must have witnessed scores of things much more stirring in the far-off days of his unremembered youth. End of The Terrible Old Man The Tree by H.P. Lovecraft This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. On a verdant slope of Mount Menelaus in Arcadia, there stands an olive grove about the ruins of Avila. Close by is a tomb, once beautiful with the sublimest sculptures, but now fallen into as great decay as the house. At one end of that tomb, its curious roots displacing the time-stained blocks of Panhelec marble, grows an unnaturally large olive tree of oddly repellent shape. So like to some grotesque man, or death-distorted body of a man, that the countryfolk fear to pass it at night when the moon shines faintly through the crooked boughs. Mount Menelaus is a chosen haunt of dreaded pan, whose queer companions are many, and simple swains believe that the tree must have some hideous kinship to these weird panisi. But an old beekeeper who lives in the neighboring cottage told me a different story. Many years ago, when the hillside villa was new and resplendent, there dwelt within it the two sculptors Kaelos and Mucides. From Lydia to Neapolis, the beauty of their work was praised, and none dared say that the one excelled the other in skill. The hermes of Kaelos stood in a marble shrine in Corinth, and the palace of Mucides surmounted a pillar in Athens near the Parthenon. All men paid homage to Kaelos and Mucides, and marveled that no shadow of artistic jealousy cooled the warmth of their brotherly friendship. But though Kaelos and Mucides dwelt in unbroken harmony, their natures were not alike. Whilst Mucides reveled by night amidst the urban gayities of Tegia, Seos would remain at home, stealing away from the sight of his slaves into the cool recesses of the olive grove. There he would meditate upon the visions that filled his mind, and there devised the forms of beauty which later became immortal in breathing marble. Idolfolk indeed said that Kaelos conversed with the spirits of the grove, and that his statues were but images of the fawns and dryads he met there, for he patterned his work after no living model. So famous were Kaelos and Mucides, that none wondered when the tyrant of Syracuse sent them to deputies to speak of the costly statue of Tish which he had planned for his city. Of great size and cunning workmanship the statue must be, for it was to form a wonder of nations and a goal of travelers. Exalted beyond thought would be he whose work should gain acceptance, and for this honour Kaelos and Mucides were invited to compete. Their brotherly love was well known, and the crafty tyrants surmised that each, instead of concealing his work from the other, would offer aid and advice, this charity producing two images of unheard of beauty, the lovelier of which would eclipse even the dreams of poets. With joy the sculptors hailed the tyrant's offer, so then the days that followed their slaves heard the ceaseless blows of chisels. Not from each other did Kaelos and Mucides conceal their work, but the sight was for them alone. Saving theirs, no eyes beheld the two divine figures, released by skillful blows from the rough blocks that imprisoned them since the world began. At night, as of yore, Mucides sought the banquet halls of Tigia, whilst Kaelos wandered alone in the olive grove. But as time passed men observed a want of gaiety in the once sparkling Mucides. It was strange, they said amongst themselves, that depression should thus seize one with so great a chance to win art's loftiest reward. Many months passed, yet in the sour face of Mucides came nothing of the sharp expectancy which the situation should arouse. Then one day Mucides spoke of the illness of Kaelos, after which none marveled again at his sadness, since the sculptor's attachment was known to be deep and sacred. Subsequently many went to visit Kaelos, and indeed noticed the pallor of his face. But there was about him a happy serenity which made his glance more magical than the glance of Mucides, who was clearly distracted with anxiety and who pushed aside all the slaves in his eagerness to feed and wait upon his friend with his own hands. Hidden behind heavy curtains stood the two unfinished figures of Tish, little touched of late by the sick man and his faithful attendant. As Kaelos grew inexplicably weaker and weaker, despite the ministrations of puzzled physicians and of his assiduous friend, he desired to be carried off into the grove which he so loved. There he would ask to be left alone, as if wishing to speak with unseen things. Mucides ever granted his requests, though his eyes filled with visible tears at the thought that Kaelos should care more for the fawns and the dry-eds than for him. At last the engineer and Kaelos discoursed of things beyond this life. Mucides, weeping, promised him a sepulcher more lovely than the tomb of Mausolus, but Kaelos spayed him speak no more of marble glories. Only one wish now haunted the mind of the dying man, that twigs from certain olive trees in the grove be buried by his resting place, close to his head. And one night, sitting alone in the darkness of the olive grove, Kaelos died. Beautiful beyond words was the marble sepulcher which stricken Mucides carved for his beloved friend. None but Kaelos himself could have fashioned such bas-reliefs, wherein were displayed all the splendors of Elysium. Nor did Mucides fail to bury close to Kaelos's head the olive twigs from the grove. As the first violence of Mucides' grief gave place to resignation, he labored with diligence upon his figure of Tish. All honor was now his, since the tyrant of Syracuse would have the work of non-save him or Kaelos. His task proved event for his emotion, and he toiled more steadily each day, shunning the gayities he once had relished. Meanwhile his evenings were spent beside the tomb of his friend, where a young olive tree had sprung up near the sleeper's head. So swift was the growth of this tree, and so strange was its form, that all who beheld it exclaimed in surprise, and Mucides seemed at once fascinated and repelled. Three years after the death of Kaelos, Mucides dispatched a messenger to the tyrant, and it was whispered in the Agorat Tegia that the mighty statue was finished. By this time the tree by the tomb had attained amazing proportions, exceeding all other trees of its kind, and sending out a singularly heavy branch above the apartment in which Mucides labored. As many visitors came to view the prodigious tree as to admire the art of the sculptor, so that Mucides was seldom alone, but he did not mind his multitude of guests. Indeed, he seemed to dread being alone now that his absorbing work was done. The bleak mountain wind, sighing through the olive grove in the tomb tree, had an uncanny way of forming vaguely articulate sounds. The sky was dark on the evening that the tyrant's emissaries came to Tegia. It was definitely known that they had come to bear away the great image of Tish and bring eternal honor to Mucides, so their reception by the proxonoi was of great warmth. As the night wore on, a violent storm of wind broke over the crest of Menelaus, and the men from far Syracuse were glad that they rested snugly in the town. They talked of their illustrious tyrant, and of the splendor of his capital, and exalted in the glory of the statue which Mucides had wrought for him. And then the man of Tegia spoke of the goodness of Mucides, and of his heavy grief for his friend, and how not even the coming laurels of art could console him in the absence of Calos, who might have worn those laurels instead. Of the tree which grew by the tomb near the head of Calos, they also spoke, and both the Syracusans and the Arcadians prayed to Iolos. In the sunshine of the morning, the proxonoi led the tyrant's messengers up the slope to the abode of the sculptor, but the night wind had done strange things. Slaves' cries ascended from a scene of desolation, and no more amidst the olive grove rose the gleaming colonnades of that vast hall wherein Mucides had dreamed and toiled. Lone and shaken mourned the humble courts and the lower walls, for upon the sumptuous greater parry's style had fallen squarely the heavy overhanging bow of the strange new tree, reducing the stately poem in marble with odd completeness to a mound of unsightly ruins. Strangers and Tegians stood aghast, looking from the wreckage to the great sinister tree whose aspect was so weirdly human and whose roots reached so queerly into the sculptured sepulcher of Calos, and their fear and dismay increased when they searched the fallen apartment, for of the gentle Mucides and of the marvelously fashioned image of Tish, no trace could be discovered. Amidst such stupendous ruin only chaos dwelt, and the representatives of the two cities left disappointed. Cerecusans that they had no statue to bear home, Tegians that they had no artist to crown. However, the Cerecusans obtained after a while a very splendid statue in Athens, and the Tegians consoled themselves by erecting in the agra a marble temple commemorating the gifts, virtues, and brotherly piety of Mucides. But the olive grove still stands, as does the tree growing over the tomb of Calos. And the old beekeeper told me that sometimes the boughs whisper to one another in the night wind, saying over again, oida, oida, I know, I know, end of the tree.


Today, we're gonna be unboxing the Air Jordan 13 playoff. Starting with the box right here, you have your all silver OG style Air Jordan 13 box. You got the red job man right here on the lid. And on the size tag, it reads Air Jordan 13 retro, black, true red, white, retails 210 bucks. And these are size 13, just for me. Flipping open the lid of the box right here, you got your standard white paper, and then you got the shoe. Oh, you got the shoe. Okay, first impression of the sneaker. It does look a little bit slimmer than the OG version, but at the same time, I still love them. Oh yeah, and by the way, if you didn't know by now, my name is DJ, and this is the DNA show. Now, before we get started breaking down all the styles, cuts, and materials of this shoe, we gotta talk about the history first. Originally released in 1997, the Air Jordan 13 came on the scene, and everybody had their eyes on it simply because they knew it was gonna be Michael Jordan's last season as a Chicago Bull. Throughout the season, we saw iconic colorways like the Cherries or the He Got Games, and as the All-Star game rolled around, Michael Jordan debuted the Playoffs 13s. He had done the same thing the previous year with the Playoffs 12s, which we saw the 25th anniversary released last year during the All-Star weekend, and we're seeing that same treatment here this year with the 25th anniversary for this year's All-Star weekend. After the All-Star game was over, he didn't wear the Playoffs 13s until the actual playoffs, and he was most commonly known wearing this colorway in particular during the home games. So yes, some people may remember seeing him wearing the bread colorway as well, which looked amazing with the all red uniform. He also wore a low top Playoff 13 as well, and I actually saw an article talking about how that pair in particular is estimated to be worth around $500,000. Wait a minute. And yes, I know that crazy price point could easily distract a lot of people from thinking about this pair, but there was another shoe that actually took a little bit more shine than the Playoff 13s, and that was the Last Shot 14s. He wore those at the end of the season as well, and the reason why they call him the Last Shots is he took his Last Shot in those shoes. So even though Jordan was wearing the 13s throughout the entire season, the 14 definitely did come into play and take some of that shine. But that's okay though, because all the OG heads know about the Playoffs, and if you guys are new to the game, trust me, I'm excited to show you guys the details of this shoe, so let's go ahead and get started with the bottom of the shoe. Looking at the bottom of the shoe right here, you have your classic Air Jordan 13 outsole. One thing that a lot of people love is, they did the gray lines right here in between the white hair and bone pods. On the front and the back end, on the retro in 2011, it was all red through here, and then on the OG, it was similar to this style. So one thing that I can say is, they did a good job trying to bring back that OG vibe, even when it comes to the actual color pattern of the OG outsole. Now if you look on these two images right here, you can see the difference between the little hologram on the bottom and the color on that, but besides that, everything is pretty much similar. Now taking it up to the midsole right here, this is something that was heavily inspired by Jordan's nickname, which was the Black Cat, also known as the Black Panther. So they used the inspiration of a Black Panther with the design aesthetic of this shoe. So if you look at the midsole right here, and you see kind of how the paw print places, it kind of looks like a paw print on the shoe where these pods are at. And if you go to the top of the shoe right here where the hologram is at, you got your Jordan 23 logo with the jump man in there, but that also resembles the eye of the Panther. So when you take those design inspirations behind the sneaker, that gives you a better idea on why this shoe even looks this way. Another dope thing that I love about Jordan 13s is, they have the rubber pods on here, but you also got your suede that goes on the midsole, and it wraps up all around the upper on the back end as well. This is definitely something that we've seen integrated in other retros when it comes to something like the cost fours or the Levi fours or something like that, how they add the different materials to the midsole. But when I think of adding like a different fabric onto a midsole, I always think of the Jordan 13 first. Now looking at the leather on the toe of the shoe right here, you have a tumbled leather on the toe box and on the side panels right here, and they feel pretty solid. It doesn't feel the best. It doesn't feel the worst. I've definitely felt a lot stiffer leather on other Jordan 13s in the past, so I feel like they did a solid job on these. Now when it comes to the side right here, some people say this is supposed to resemble the whiskers, but for me personally, always said it looks like a mattress. What? I know it's super random, but as a little kid growing up back in the 90s, I remember this shoe and having these in the OG pairback when I was a little kid, so for me I just always called it that, and it still kind of stuck with me to this day. Now looking at the tongue right here, you have your Jordan branding in yellow, and then behind that depends on the retro. Sometimes they do it, sometimes they don't, but normally you have a Roman numerals Jordan 13, well not Jordan 13, but it just has 13 in Roman numerals behind it, but on these ones in particular, it doesn't have that.  You got your red Jordan logo right here with the yellow circle around it, something that really sticks out on the 13s compared to like the Jordan 8s. We know right there is something you're gonna have like more of a chenille patch in between with a different material, so it is kind of similar, but different at the same time, and gives it its own unique vibe when it comes to the Jordan 13s.  Now these in particular don't come with any extra laces, hang tags, or retro cards, but I think that's fine just because it's a great OG and I still can't be mad at it. Would I prefer a retro card? Yeah, because I think they should bring the retro card back, but again, that's a whole nother topic. So now when it comes to market value and other people's opinions about the shoe, I'm always interested to see how that goes because sometimes OG colorways and OG models just fly underneath the radar. We know that the Jordan 4 is hot right now, and we know that the Jordan 1 is still pretty hot. So because of that, some people may not be really wanting to go after these, and a lot of people that do wanna get these shouldn't have that hard of a time getting the shoe. So at the same time, yeah, we might see a resale value, you know, 20 to $50 over the retail, but I think a lot of people will have a pretty easy time getting the shoe, and you might potentially even see these on shelves after they come out. Again, I'm not sure, depending on the city, I know everybody's location is a little bit different, you know, some people have more traffic than others, and some stores get less than others. I get that stuff as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if I saw some photos on the internet talking about how the Playoff 13s didn't sell out. Now, in the future, you know, three years, five years from now, I don't see any reason why this shoe wouldn't be a $350 to a $450 shoe. I think that's just naturally what happens when it comes to the OG models and OG colorways, and we talk about that all the time here on the channel, but besides all that, with the resale value and everything like that, I think this is a great shoe and something dope to have for the collection, but I'm always interested to see what you guys think. So if you haven't already, make sure you follow me on IG so you can participate in the polls and see all the results here on the channel. I basically ask the people a simple question. Is this shoe fire or is this shoe trash? This is what they said. 80% of the people chose fire and 20% of the people chose trash, and it makes complete sense I get it. No, not everybody's gonna love the Jordan 13. Some people stop at the 11, some people stop at the 12s. Some people say Jordan one through 14 are good and anything higher is worse. All the different things. I've heard of every different angle of why people like certain shoes. If he didn't wear it, I don't want it. Those different scenarios. I get all the different things. So I understand why this isn't a unanimous, like 95% or something like that.  I think you can go really far with this and your collection, and that brings me to the next point. I wanted to give you guys a review of my 2011 pair, but see what happened was, I told her mine up and I ended up getting rid of them years ago because I used to wear those way too much. And yeah, I was always hoping that they were retro. I knew there was gonna be someday they were retro the shoe. So when the retro finally came back around, you know I had to jump on these and I'm excited to give you guys this review. If you guys have any other questions, comments or concerns, let me know down below in the comment section. I'll see you guys in another one. Yo, before you go, I just launched my sneaker head Academy where we got everything on the inside. I teach you all the stuff that I learned over the past 15 years. When it comes to sneakers, scaling, real estate, you name it, we talk about all of it in there.  I give away shoes literally way too much, honestly. But either way, I'll see you guys on the inside. Hit the link down below in my description or pinned in the comment section for DJ sneaker head Academy. And I'll see you guys over there.