My 2024 Year in Review

Wow, it’s 2025 already! Time flies!

Last year, 2024, I did a lot of things—thanks to AI.

AI keeps getting smarter and faster every day. It has pushed me (and all of us) to move quicker too.

Can you relate? When AI helps us finish tasks faster, it seems like there’s always more to do. It never ends!

But hey, it makes our lives super productive.

I’m not a graphic designer, but I can whip up creative t-shirt designs now.

For those of us who aren’t native English speakers (like me), we can now write ad copies that sound like they’re from a native speaker.

Many people I know who aren’t programmers can create their own apps now.

So, let’s dig into what I did in 2024, mostly thanks to AI.

Rebuilding PODtomatic

My team started rebuilding PODtomatic in late 2023. We launched PODtomatic AI (or V2) in May 2024.

The first version didn’t have a good structure, which made development tricky. So, we decided to start fresh with PODtomatic AI.

Since AI is getting smarter, we made it the core of PODtomatic.

Before, V1 created and uploaded products using templates we made. The titles, descriptions, bullet points, and keywords were all based on those templates.

They were unique but still felt a bit stiff and not very friendly.

Now, with AI, we let it generate the titles, descriptions, bullet points, and keywords for all our products. This upgrade helps us bring in more traffic with better keywords.

We also improved the product mockups. We added more images for each product to boost visibility on Amazon, just like they suggested.

Plus, we revamped the Amazon API in our system to include more details like product size, color, and occasion for all products.

These changes have helped our products get noticed more on Amazon.

We also added CustomCat as a supplier for drinkware products, which are cheaper, allowing our members to make more profit.

In just eight months, we’ve processed over 5,245 orders and generated $150,561 in sales for our members.

If I remember right, the last version of PODtomatic took about two years to reach these numbers.

I’m excited to see how it performs this year!

My Amazon Print-on-Demand Business

Selling print-on-demand products on Amazon has always been my go-to business.

It’s like a cash cow that keeps giving, making me money year after year, without me having to lift a finger.

Last year, I still pulled in five figures profits, just like I always do.

In 2024, I didn’t do much besides letting the PODtomatic AI do its thing and upload new products to my store.

I switched my supplier for items like coffee mugs—both white and black—two-tone mugs, tumblers, camping mugs, and ornaments from Gearbubble to CustomCat.

They offer these at much cheaper prices, which means I get to keep more profit in my pocket.

I had to make the switch manually since there’s no system to change suppliers yet automatically.

Sure, PODtomatic AI can help, but only for products it uploaded. I’ve got a ton of items originally uploaded through Gearbubble, so I’m stuck doing it myself.

If you want to follow my lead, I use Shopify and CedCommerce for this.

I recreate the product in the CustomCat system, upload it to Shopify, and then sync it with Amazon using the CedCommerce app.

I only do this for products that just made a sale. I’m not about to manually change all 300,000 products I have—who has the time for that?

But you know what? It’s not a big deal. If I’m making a sale, I’m happy to put in the effort.

This year, I’ll let PODtomatic AI keep creating and uploading new products to my Amazon store. That’s enough to bring in a good income with minimal effort.

Growing My Shopify Store

Besides selling print-on-demand products on Amazon, I also run my own Shopify Store using paid ads.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Last Q4, Amazon took away the buy box from all my products just when everyone was buying last-minute gifts. I lost a lot of sales during that rush.

But, I’m lucky I have my Shopify store that keeps making money for me.

**I really recommend you not to rely on just one income source. **

Always create new income streams. You never know when one might disappear overnight.

Last year, I spent a few hours each week managing Facebook Ads for this store.

I even built AI agents to handle those ads for me, so I didn’t have to spend a ton of time on them.

The results weren’t as good as in previous years because Facebook Ads are getting pricey. Still, I made some decent profits.

I realized that aside from Facebook getting expensive, I didn’t add new products to my store last year.

I was banking on my past winning products, which sold thousands of times, but they’re hard to sell now.

Even though AI can help me create designs, I still have to manually upload products to my Shopify.

Plus, I need to make mockup images for each product to test in my Facebook ads.

But let’s be real—those are just excuses. It only takes 3-4 hours a week to launch 3-4 new products. I got a bit lazy last year, and I got too comfortable with my winning products.

This year, I’m gonna make more time for this. I’ll create new products regularly, launch new Facebook Ads for them, and send them out to my email list.

I’m also planning to build more AI agents to help with product creation. My suppliers provide an API to do that.

It might be a bit tricky, but if I can automate this process, it’ll definitely be worth my time.

I had the chance to join Don’s Mastermind in Bali back in 2017 as a student. In 2018, I returned to share what I learned about scaling Facebook Ads at his event in Las Vegas.

Fast forward to 2024, and I was invited to share again at Don’s Mastermind.

This time it was in Paris, but I couldn’t make it there. So, I made a video using AI voice and sent it to Don. Big shoutout to AI for making that happen for me!

In the video, I talked about my journey with my SaaS business, especially my project called PODtomatic. I showed how anyone can use AI to create their own Micro SaaS business.

I even shared how I built a Sudoku app right there at the event—without writing a single line of code.

It looked like people were really curious about it.

If you’re interested, I’ve created a Mini-Course with the recording from the mastermind called The Rise of New AI Opportunities.

In this course, you’ll learn how I built PODtomatic AI and how you can use AI to kickstart your own Micro SaaS business.

Many students who took the course have already launched their own AI apps, and most of them had never coded before.

Now is the perfect time to dive into a Micro SaaS business because AI can help you every step of the way.

If you’re looking to create another source of income, this is the best business to jump into right now.

Launching Jesse PODMan

I’ve got over 300,000 products on Amazon.

That sounds great, right?

But here’s the catch: most of them have boring, cookie-cutter descriptions and bullet points.

If you’ve ever uploaded a product through Gearbubble or other suppliers, you know what I mean. You end up with stuff like this:

“Absolutely love your order, or contact us and we’ll make it right. Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.”

And bullet points that look like this:

A ceramic coffee mug perfect for coffee and tea lovers, made with top-notch ceramic.
The design is printed on both sides, so it works for everyone.
The print quality is so high that it won’t fade, no matter how many times you wash it.
These 11oz mugs are safe for dishwashers and microwaves.
This quality coffee cup makes a great gift for anyone and is perfect all year long.

It’s just a bland template, and it doesn’t have any keywords that help it get noticed.

I know that adding the right keywords to product descriptions can attract way more customers.

Imagine if I revamped all 300,000 products on Amazon, turning those boring templates into keyword-rich descriptions.

That would mean more traffic and more sales!

But I can’t just do it all by hand. That’s way too much work.

In the past, whenever I made a sale, I’d go in and update the title, description, and bullet points with the right keywords.

Then, ChatGPT came along, and I started using it to help write better descriptions. I’d copy and paste them over to my Amazon account, but it was still a manual process.

Every time I did that, I noticed an increase in sales.

Now, AI is smarter than ever. So, I created Jesse PODMan to automate the rewriting of titles, descriptions, and bullet points for all my products.

All I do is enter the product SKUs into Jesse PODMan. It pulls the current title, image, description, and bullet points, rewrites them to be better, and then pushes them back to my Amazon account.

I did this last Q4 and saw a huge jump in sales from my older products.

If you haven’t checked out Jesse PODMan yet, do it now => Jesse PODMan.

Download your product SKUs, put them into Jesse PODMan, and watch as it brings more traffic to your Amazon listings.

Building a New SaaS for SaaS People

After sharing my insights about AI and Micro SaaS at Don’s Mastermind, I noticed some challenges.

During the Mastermind, I taught people how to create their own SaaS without needing to write any code. They can build something with the main functions they need.

But here’s the catch: many don’t know how to set up a system to get paid and manage users properly.

I faced this same issue in the past.

Creating the Jesse PODMan for personal use was simple. But when I wanted others to pay me for access, that added a whole new layer of complexity.

I had to build a membership system, link it to Stripe to handle payments, and so on. In the end, I had to hire a programmer to sort it out, and that got pricey.

So, my friend and I decided to create a new SaaS to solve our own problem.

I haven’t launched this new tool publicly yet. I want to test it internally with a small group of serious people who want to build their Micro SaaS businesses.

This way, we can fix any bugs and add features that real users need.

I also need to use this tool more myself to see if it can really help me make money. Once I find that it works well and helps me build more SaaS projects, then I’ll share it with the world.

Just like with PODtomatic, I only sell it when I know it truly solves a problem.

I don’t want to sell something I think will help. I need to use it myself first. I want to be the proof that it works.

Opening the Micro SaaS Class in Thailand

We just launched a new Micro SaaS class in Thailand.

My team and I have been diving deep into AI, and we’ve created a bunch of Micro SaaS tools. One of them is Jesse PODMan.

Now, we have a new SaaS that makes it super easy for anyone to sell their Micro SaaS.

So, we decided to open this class to teach people how to build their own Micro SaaS businesses.

What’s cool is that most of our first students weren’t programmers and had never written a line of code before.

But guess what? Some of them figured out how to tell AI to create what they wanted and used our new tool to package their SaaS for sale.

Check out some of the awesome SaaS projects from our students:

MidjourneySref: (https://www.midjourneysref.app/)

ListingCraftsman

New SaaS from Our Team* (Currently in Production)*

Our goal is to launch 12 SaaS in 12 months.

We plan to open this class again in 2025. If all goes well, I’ll also create an online course in English so people from around the world can join us.

If you’re interested in learning, just let me know!

Leaving Laser Chili

I want to let you all know that I’m leaving Laser Chili.

For those who don’t know, I’ve been part of the Laser Chili team since the beginning, mainly handling marketing.

Over the years, I’ve done many case studies and shared them on my blog and through email updates. It’s been an amazing journey.

We even integrated Laser Chili into the PODtomatic system, making them one of the suppliers available to our members. Don’t worry—this setup will stay the same, and nothing is changing there.

The reason I left is personal, but the Laser Chili team is still running things smoothly.

If you have any questions about Laser Chili, please reach out to their team directly, as I’m no longer involved.

My Plan for 2025

So, that’s a wrap for 2024.

This year, 2025, I’m still focusing on my print-on-demand (POD) business. I’ll be on both Amazon and my own Shopify store.

For Amazon, I’m not planning to do much. I’ll just let PODtomatic keep uploading new products for me.

On my Shopify store, I’ll be adding new products regularly. My brand is already established, and I see more people visiting my site every month.

I’m also committed to improving PODtomatic AI. We have plans to add new features that help our users make more sales.

Plus, I’ll spend more time on my Micro SaaS business because I really enjoy it lately.

AI is getting smarter every day, and now is the perfect time to start a Micro SaaS business—even if you’re not a coding expert.

If you’re looking to add another income stream, Micro SaaS is one of the easiest ways to do it.

I’ll keep you updated on my journey.

Thanks for supporting me in 2024. I wish you all a fantastic year ahead!

—Bank K.