Learning Is Not the Same as Implementation

After recording 200+ episodes of the eCommerce Podcast, Matt Edmundson has noticed something troubling: everyone's taking notes, but nobody's taking action. In this candid solo episode, we explore why only 5% of what we learn actually gets implemented and what we can do about it.

Episode Summary

Matt opens up about his own struggle with implementation, sharing how he's accumulated countless frameworks, templates, and expert advice while only putting about 5% into practice. Through personal stories including his £38 million business lesson, he challenges the common trap of endless learning without action. The episode marks a significant shift for the eCommerce Podcast, introducing new solo episodes focused on practical implementation rather than just inspiration, alongside the launch of free eCommerce Cohorts designed to help entrepreneurs work through ideas with peers who understand the journey.

Key Point Timestamps:

02:00 - The 5% Implementation Reality

06:00 - Why Expert Interviews Aren't Enough

07:00 - The £38 Million Business Lesson

10:00 - What's Changing: Solo Episodes Return

13:00 - Introducing Free eCommerce Cohorts

17:00 - The Challenge: Stop Taking Notes, Start Taking Action

The 5% Implementation Reality (02:00)

I'm nodding along because I'm really fascinated, I'm making all the right noises. I'm writing notes in my notebook, I'm asking follow-up questions, but it struck me... this is exactly what a guest told me three years ago.

The sobering statistic? Between 2-8% of people who buy online courses actually finish AND implement what they learn. Matt admits he's probably implemented only about 5% of everything he's learned from hundreds of expert interviews, downloaded frameworks, and expensive courses.

This isn't just Matt's problem - it's an industry-wide issue where we're "drowning in good advice while our businesses stay exactly the same."

Why Expert Interviews Aren't Enough (06:00)

The eCommerce Podcast started with solo episodes back in 2019, but Matt pivoted to interviews because they were "easier to create" and helped grow the show. However, something was missing.

Every interview taught me something new, but it also highlighted the same pattern. We talk about these game-changing strategies and listeners would get excited... but then what changes as a result of that?

The challenge is that learning about Instagram marketing from an expert is one thing, but figuring out how to implement it in your specific business when you're already working 60-hour weeks with inventory issues and supplier problems? That's something else entirely.

The £38 Million Business Lesson (07:00)

Matt shares his most expensive business lesson - watching a £6 million annual business drop to £1 million due to a catastrophic supplier relationship. The supplier instituted a "more you buy, more you pay" policy that completely blindsided them.

Everything we knew about scaling, about growth, about business economics, they didn't help me one bit. We had to relearn almost everything.

This £38 million loss taught Matt that real business isn't about collecting tips and tricks. It's about building systems that survive when everything goes wrong and taking action even without perfect information. In other words: "It's about implementation, not inspiration."

What's Changing: Solo Episodes Return (10:00)

The eCommerce Podcast is evolving with three episode types:

1. Solo Episodes

20-minute deep dives on specific challenges with:

• Real implementation details
• Stories from the trenches
• Pure, unfiltered insights with no hidden agenda
• Practical frameworks you can actually use

2. Expert Interviews

Continuing the valuable conversations with industry leaders

3. Founder Episodes

Real stories from eCommerce founders in the trenches

When experts come on the show, they're amazing... but they are also promoting something. Their agency, their software, their course. That's the deal and that's fine. But these solo episodes, I didn't want any of that.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Matt Edmundson

Company: Aurion

Website: https://aurioncompany.com/

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mattedmundson

If you are like me, then somewhere in your digital ecosystem is a

folder called Great Ideas, and that folder has a layer of digital dust

on it because it is rarely opened.

Right after recording hundreds of episodes of the e-Commerce podcast, having

interviewed some incredible experts in their field, having coached companies

all around the world, and if I'm totally honest, taking a really long look at the

mirror myself, there is the same repeating mistake we all seem to be making.

That is,

we rarely put into practice what we have learned.

So I want to talk about

that today and I want to dig into it and share some changes that

are also happening, uh, here on e-Commerce Podcast to help us all

become better at implementing.

Of course, if you are already perfect implementation, this show

might not be for you, in which case.

Come and be my guest and share your insights because I would

genuinely love to hear them.

But if you are like me, then you probably struggle in this area, right?

Just last week I sat there interviewing this brilliant expert

about conversion optimization.

Fantastic person really knew their stuff.

But partway through the conversation, they start talking about post-purchase

sequences and how critical they are for customer retention.

And I'm nodding along because I'm really fascinated, I'm

making all the right noises.

I'm writing notes in my notebook, I'm asking follow-up questions, but

it struck me in my mind, you know, I'm, I sort of thought to myself.

Well, this is exactly what, uh, a guest told me three years ago and

what another guest mentioned last month and what that 2000 pound course

I bought covered in module four.

Right, and I don't think I'm the only 1:00 AM I, if you look at the

stats for online courses, and let's face it, there are more courses than

we could possibly need right now.

Uh, between two and 8% of original starters, realistically both finish

and puts the knowledge into practice.

That's a low percentage, but that's me.

Right?

And I've interviewed the experts, hundreds of them.

I've made pages and pages and pages of notes.

Uh, I've downloaded every single framework, every

template, every checklist.

But the reality of it is I've probably implemented about 5% of what I've learned.

5%. That's it.

And if you're honest with yourself.

I bet your number isn't that much higher and you know, I could sit here

and justify we're all busy people.

Uh, we've all got stuff to do and I think we're all drowning

in good advice, aren't we?

While our businesses stay exactly the same, the e-commerce industry has

become this sort of echo chamber of surface level tips and recycled wisdom.

You know, the things, I mean, the sort of five ways to boost conversions.

The secret to Facebook ads.

I dunno how many secrets there are to Facebook ads, but there's

millions of people telling me that they found the secret to it.

There's a lot of secrets, right?

Um, and my personal favorite is the how This founder went from zero to hero in,

you know, some crazy amount of time, like 30 days or something like that.

But no one seems to be talking about the real problem, which I think is

well simply this knowing what to do.

That's never been easier.

I mean, just think about what you have access to now, the internet and with

ai, I mean, the stuff that you can find out within a matter of seconds

is mind boggling.

So knowing what to do has never been easier actually doing it well.

That's where things come unstuck.

You know,

I started the e-commerce podcast back in 2019 and I actually started with

these sort of solo episodes where I had no guests, no interviews, just me

and a microphone, a bit like this one.

And yes, it is a little different if you're a regular to the show, um, you

can still listen to those original ones, and I know a lot of you do.

I, I know a lot of.

People who go back like five, six years in the archives determined

to listen to all of the episodes.

And I take my hat off to you.

I really do.

That's a lot of episodes to listen to.

Um, I, I think the, the early ones are a little bit cringe if I listen to them now.

Not because necessarily the content was wrong, but because, well, I dunno

if you've ever heard a recording of yourself from years ago, it can

be a slightly painful experience.

Right.

I had all of this knowledge from running my own eCommerce businesses, from the

coaching that I'd been doing, but I, I think I've learned a lot over the recent

years in terms of how to communicate those better, more effectively.

I just, the way I did them was I just sit down, you know, with a

rough idea and to start talking.

No structure, no stories, just.

Really an information dump.

And, uh, so I did what any self-respect in Britt would do when

faced with potential embarrassment.

Um, I got other people to share their expertise.

That's exactly what I did.

I pivoted to interviews and I learned how to ask questions and how, uh,

and just dig to dig into things.

And you know what, for me it was brilliant.

Um, the show grew.

We built this amazing audience.

I learned from the absolute best in the business.

And if you've been a guest on the show, I really appreciate you guys coming on

and sharing your knowledge and insight.

It's much easier to ask questions than to answer them in so many ways, but,

you know, something was missing for me.

Um, so when we've been thinking about e-Commerce podcast and,

and going over it in our minds.

I just wondered whether we needed to change a little bit.

You see, every interview taught me something new, but it also

highlighted the same pattern.

We talk about these game changing strategies and

listeners would get excited.

You know, we would all make notes and I know this because you

write in and you tell me, right?

Um, but then what changes as a result of that?

I get the occasional story of things that change, but not lots, because on average,

5% implementation seems to be about.

Where everybody's at.

So you take the example of learning about Instagram marketing from an expert.

Well, that's one thing, but figuring out how to actually implement what they

have said, the lessons they've given in, into your sort of specific business.

When you're already working 60 hours a week and you've got inventory issues,

you've got, you know, supplier issues, they've just raised the prices.

It's hard, isn't it?

It's hard to implement.

It's hard to figure out specifically for your business.

And I wonder if part of the problem is that most of the

content out there is created by people that have actually not been

in the trenches.

They share theory, but they do not share scars.

Well, if you are

an E-commerce, like I'm, if you are an eCommercer like I am, I love that word.

Um.

Then you're gonna have scars.

You've got them.

I've got them.

I even have

what I call my $38 million scar, which was

created about 10 years ago.

Uh, we had this online business.

It was doing about 6 million a year.

It was a good business, solid growth.

Everything was working.

But within months, revenue had halved.

And after a few months beyond that, before the end of the financial year,

we were down to about a million a year.

We lost 5 million a year in sales.

So what happened?

Why did we do that?

Well, there's lots of reasons, but one of them was we had a ca catastrophic, that's

not an easy word to say, a catastrophic relationship with a key supplier.

It totally went sideways.

They instituted what I call a more you buy, the more you pay policy, which

I appreciate is the complete opposite of how many businesses normally work.

That's what happened.

We were completely blindsided.

There's no doubt about it, right?

Overnight, our entire business model built on volume, discounting

and efficiency became obsolete.

Everything we knew about scaling, about growth, about business

economics, they didn't help me one bit.

We had to relearn almost everything, and that's why I call it my

$38 million mistake because.

If I'm honest with you, I think that's how much we lost in sales

over the years because of what happened with that supplier.

And one of the things that I learned the hard way through that whole

experience was that real business isn't about collecting tips and tricks.

It's not about

having the first back, uh, the, the perfect get my words right.

It's not about having the perfect Facebook ad strategy

or the ultimate email sequence.

It's about building systems that can survive when everything else goes wrong.

It's about taking action even when you don't have perfect information.

In other words,

it's about implementation, not inspiration.

So here's what's

changing on the e-commerce podcast.

Let me bring you up to speed with some of the things that are going on.

First, I am bringing back.

Uh, solo episodes.

Hopefully not the, you know, the cringe-worthy earlier

episodes that we did.

Uh, hopefully these are gonna be different.

They're gonna be shorter and sharper.

Uh, about 20 minutes, uh, in length.

And we're gonna look at specific challenges during those 20 minutes

because if I'm honest with you, after 20 minutes of just me.

Steve and I get bored with the sound of my own voice.

And so I really, and I really like the sound of my own voice.

Uh, anyway, 20 minutes is what we're aiming for.

Uh, it doesn't mean that we're not gonna be bringing the expert

interviews, we're still doing those, which is what the show was founded on.

And also we're doing more founder episodes as well.

So we're gonna have three episode types.

This, these, we call them internally the solo episodes, which is me talking about I

need to come up with a better name really.

If you have any ideas, do let me know, but this is where I'm gonna

talk about e-commerce as I see it, share some stories and stuff.

We're gonna have the expert, uh, interviews, which is what we've been

doing, where we bring in experts in their field and we are also

gonna have the founder episodes.

Uh, why am I doing this?

Well, let me tell you, there is no hidden agenda, uh, total transparency,

you know, when experts come on the show, um, they're amazing.

Don't get me wrong.

I think they're brilliant and I, I, I love what they're doing

and I love talking to them, but.

They are also promoting something more often than not, right.

Their agency, their software, their course, um, that's the

deal and that's fine with me.

They come on the show, we talk about a specific area.

If they deliver value, there's a chance you may sign up to their services or at

least connect with 'em and find out more.

Right?

I get that.

But these solo episodes, I didn't want any of that.

I just wanted sort of pure, unfiltered.

Conversation really.

Um, just from the stuff that I'm doing every day, uh, and

learning about e-commerce.

So we're gonna be talking about real implementation, uh, not just what works,

but asking and digging in, like how do we make this work for our specific business.

Um, so hopefully we'll bring you some stories from the trenches, uh,

you know, what we're actually doing in our own business and with our

clients, what we've been doing with our acquisitions and all that sort of stuff.

Um, and if you've been listening to the show, you'll have heard me

recently talk about e-commerce cohorts.

We used to have an e-commerce cohort where people paid to be a member,

and that was great and I loved it.

And you listen to the show, we're gonna release some of the content from cohorts.

From the paid cohorts onto the e-commerce podcast, we're gonna

make those available for free.

Because cohort, we have changed it.

We're no longer charging for the cohort memberships.

Uh, the cohort now is, uh, free.

So free membership groups, uh, where you can work alongside other entrepreneurs to

actually implement what you are learning to learn from your peers, your e-commerce

peers, and share stories and share scars because there's a truth, right?

That we can, we can just spend all our time learning, can't we?

You can listen to a thousand podcasts.

I know this 'cause I'm an avid podcast, podcast listener.

I love listening to podcasts, but listening to a thousand podcasts

is not the same as working through 10 ideas with my peers who get it.

'cause guess which one actually moves the needle.

Which one moves your business forward?

Um, I, you know, one cohort member recently just shared

with me that they, um.

They went from working two days a week on their business, their econ

business, to three days a week.

Not because of some magical tactic, but because, you know, working with

others gave them the confidence and the clarity to take that leap.

Now sure, it's not the, well, I joined cohort and I went from zero

to a million in 30 days, but you know what I'm, I'm grateful about that

because that story I think applies to.

Wow, what 0.0, 0, 0 0 1% of our listeners maybe.

But you know what?

Getting the opportunity to reduce your part-time job to work more on

your e-commerce business, I think that applies to thousands more.

I genuinely do.

So we're gonna be talking about stuff that actually matters to all of us.

Now let me be completely transparent about why I'm doing this because, uh,

one, I just wanna be transparent and two.

I just wanna be transparent, right?

It's always a good thing, isn't it?

Um, why am I doing this?

Well, the podcast helps me grow my business.

I mean, it's an obvious statement to make, but it genuinely does.

When we first started the podcast back in 2019, it started as a passion project.

I just wanted to do it just to see where it went really and see what happened.

I had no strategy.

Um, it's not like now where we help other people set up podcasts 'cause

of all the stuff that we've learned.

Um.

I had a strategy.

I had no strategy.

We just had a microphone.

That was about it really.

But over the years, over the 20 years, we've built, you know,

multiple seven figure operations and a portion of that success.

Has come from relationships I've established through podcasting right now.

When I give value freely, I meet some amazing people.

Some of those people then become clients, and some of those also become partners.

We've even acquired businesses through connections made here.

Just recently, we took an equity stake and partnered with seven Yays.

Um, which is a, you know, it's a, it's a work in progress.

That company, um, and that relationship started through content and

conversations, which is just brilliant.

Right?

Love it.

Absolutely love it.

It's a great business.

Um, and I'm really excited about the future of it, but

the podcast grows my business.

Just again, full transparency.

My coaching rate, what I charge for coaching is $4,000 a day.

Right.

And there are frameworks that we share, that we've shared with.

Companies all over the world were the large pharmaceutical companies

to small e-com companies, right?

People have paid serious money for them, but we're gonna put them all

out here for free on the podcast coming up, um, over the coming months.

Why?

Well, we've just, we've shifted our business model a little bit,

um, and it's based on the premise.

You know, you sow, you reap.

The more people I help grow, the more our ecosystem seems to thrive.

It's one of the things that I've noticed,

the more successful e-commerce businesses there are out there, well, the reality

is the more potential partners we have.

So it's not totally selfless, I'm gonna be honest with you.

Um, but it is a journey that I'm looking forward to.

I genuinely looking forward to, you know, e-commerce is constantly moving.

The playing field is, is evolving all the time.

The rules, the boundaries.

I mean, you've gotta stay up to date or you are quickly irrelevant, doing

the podcast, interviewing guests, prepping content, doing the research.

It means I have to stay sharp, right?

I can't, I've gotta do that.

Um, so like learning that fact that only 2% of, uh, well, two to 8% of folks

finish and put into practice what they learn on courses that they have paid for.

I find that really interesting, right?

When I do the research and it helps me, you know, when figuring

out ways to put content together that actually helps people.

So, all the courses that we've done historically, if

they still make sense today.

We're talking at the moment about, do we just put them all online and make

them free for everyone to access?

I don't know.

We'll see.

Right?

So truthfully, the more I learn from implementing alongside you,

the better I can serve our equity partners, our coaching clients.

The podcast, what we're doing, it's not a charity, total transparency, but

what we're building is that idea of a rising tide that lifts all boats.

You sow, you reap.

It's the Alex Hormoz approach.

Just put content out there that is valuable and you'll

be amazed what comes back.

Right.

So that's, that's it.

That's why we're doing it.

The total transparency, and here's my challenge to you, right.

Uh, as I wrap up

today's episode, stop taking notes and start taking action.

Simple principle, right?

Pick one thing from each episode, so when you listen, just take one thing.

If you're not implementing right, take one thing and then do it,

and then tell me what happened.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn @mattedmundson and let me know.

The other thing you can do.

Which I'd totally appreciate actually, is send me in your questions.

So in these solo episodes, I'd really love to do a deep dive on some of the

things that you've got top of mind, some of the questions, some of the challenges

that you are facing, um, in e-commerce.

Running a business, all that sort of stuff, whatever they are, fire 'em

across 'cause well, you know, we'd love to get in there and, and deliver

some content that creates value for us.

Over the coming weeks you'll see this evolution sort of roll out.

We've got new solo episodes tackling stuff like preparing for the summer

sales slump, which you know, at the time.

As I, as we started to do this, that seemed like a good idea.

We're just a bit delayed in getting these episodes out, so that that's

probably gonna come out maybe a little bit too late, but it.

The idea is it will help you prepare and learn for next year.

We're gonna be talking about Black Friday.

We've got some content from Cohort, which I mentioned, which we are

gonna be releasing for free.

Um, especially the stuff around Black Friday that's gonna be coming up as well.

Um, because if you're listening to this, you, you should definitely

be thinking about Black Friday.

If I go, you know, if this comes out when I think it's coming out, you

should definitely be thinking about it.

We are gonna dig into the mindset shifts that separate six figure

survivors from seven figure thrivers.

Love, love, love that phrase.

Um.

So, yeah, we're gonna be getting to all of that.

You know, some of the still the stuff that we find out.

Now, let me just bring you up to speed on the e-commerce cohort.

If you've been a regular to the show, you'll have heard me mention

about this over the last few weeks.

E-commerce cohort has had wait lists in the US and in the UK for

the new cohorts that are starting.

They are gonna launch, uh, after the summer, um, probably

around September, October time.

So if you haven't done so already, make sure you're signed up for

these, these aren't the courses.

Um, and it may be that all the courses we have done and deliver free, we'll

put in, in effect into the cohort.

There's some conversations around that.

But cohort is free to join.

They aren't courses that, let's just call them implementation groups, right?

Think of them.

As a sort of a board of your peers who are also your advisors.

You know, they're all in the trenches with you and they are completely free.

So do check that out.

Um, you can go to the website eCommerce podcast.net, um, and check that

out, uh, and learn more about it.

Just click the cohort button.

Uh, honestly, it'd be great to see you in there.

Uh, the other thing that's happening again, you'll have heard

me talk about this on the show.

Starting in September, our new newsletter, um, is gonna be launching

as a complete overhaul, not just the, here's what this week's episode

is, you know, with a few lines, but we want to make sure that there's

some real additional value in there.

The stuff, you know, that I can't fit into the 20 minutes basically.

So, um, again, with these solo episodes, we're gonna be doing.

Worksheets, checklists, freebies, those kind of things that sit alongside

it that you can get access to.

Um, all of that sort of stuff will also be in the newsletter.

So yeah, lot of change coming up.

Let's change, let's say there's pivots.

Um, no, let's not say pivots 'cause I hate that word.

Let's say improvements.

Uh,

let's use that word, um, because I just, I, I just love this show and we really

want to help deliver more and more value.

So, uh, you know, we this real passion for focusing, you know, on that gap

between learning and doing, because after 20 years in e-commerce, after

building and selling multiple businesses, and even after my $38 million lesson.

I know the difference between the businesses that thrive and

those that merely survive is not knowledge, not in this day and age.

It's not even talent.

I think a lot

of it is the ability to take imperfect action consistently.

Everyone out there is waiting for the perfect strategy.

You know, the revolutionary tactic, the course that changes

everything, but the real secret.

I think it's doing the basics brilliantly.

Learning from what actually happens, not what you think should happen, and having

people around you who get it right.

And that's what these solo episodes are all about.

That's what cohort is all about, and that's what this entire evolution is all

about, because learning is not the same.

As implementation.

I'll say that again.

It's one of my favorite phrases.

Learning is not the same as implementation, and I reckon

it's probably time we all stop pretending otherwise.

Look, if you are serious about actually implementing, instead of

just learning, join the seriously join the cohort, the links in the

description, uh, in the show notes.

Or like I say, head over to eCommerce podcast.net.

Uh, send me your questions, you know, the messy specific actual

problems that you are facing.

'cause maybe just maybe, uh, we'll do one of these shows on that particular

problem and let's work through them.

Let's see what happens.

And remember.

That folder of great ideas on your desktop, open it.

I dare you.

Open it, pick one thing, implement it this week, and then drop me a

note telling me about what happened.

After all, your implementation story is worth more than another expert's theory.