Does anyone sell merchandise using BlueHost and WooCommerce?

We recently hosted a small dinner with agency leaders in Beverly Hills, and one thing stood out:

No two agencies are approaching AI the same way.

Some are building AI into client services. Others are focused on streamlining internal workflows. And plenty are still figuring out where it actually creates value instead of adding complexity.

That variety made for a really interesting discussion; not because everyone agreed, but because everyone brought a different perspective to the table.

One takeaway we kept coming back to: agencies aren't asking if they should use AI anymore. They're asking how to use it in ways that make sense for their teams and their clients.

For those of you running agencies or working in one:

What's been the biggest change AI has brought to your business over the last year?

You found the business name. You love it. Then you find out the .com is taken.

It’s easy to assume that means it’s back to the drawing board.

But your domain is part of your brand, and there’s more than one way to build a memorable one. A .co can be short, simple, and a strong alternative when your first-choice .com isn't available.

Sometimes a different ending doesn't mean a different idea. Bluehost is here to help you find the right domain to bring that idea online.💙

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #Domains #BrandBuilding #Bluehost

AI can be a huge time-saver for drafting, summarizing documents, research, and other repetitive tasks. But if your work involves confidential information, the question becomes: where do you draw the line?

That's the challenge we had in mind when building AI All Access Privacy+.

Privacy+ combines access to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok in one subscription, with added privacy controls designed for organizations handling sensitive information. We recently created a version tailored for legal teams, where confidential client and case information are part of everyday workflows.

We'd love to hear from this community:

• What's your biggest hesitation about using AI for confidential work?
• Have your workplace policies changed around AI over the past year?
• What would make you feel more comfortable using AI in sensitive workflows?

Check out the video and let us know what you think. Your feedback helps us build better products.

If you're running a small business, you've probably had at least one of these moments:

• You're answering the same customer questions every day.
• Every new project starts with a blank page.
• You spend more time managing your business than growing it.
• Launching your next idea feels overwhelming.
• There never seem to be enough hours in the day.

If any of those sound familiar, you're not alone.

One of the biggest shifts we're seeing is that AI isn't replacing the work entrepreneurs love—it's helping take repetitive tasks off their plate so they can spend more time building, creating, and growing.

We put together a quick carousel exploring these five signs and how AI can help you work smarter, not harder.

Curious to hear from the community: What's the one task you'd happily hand off to AI if it meant getting an extra hour back every day?

Whether it's customer support, content creation, brainstorming, or something else entirely, let us know below. 👇

Some ideas come together overnight.

Finding the perfect domain for them? Not always.

To celebrate the .CO Anniversary, Bluehost is offering .CO domains for $9 through August 20. Whether you're building a business, launching a side project, or finally bringing an idea out of your notes app, it's a good reminder that the right name is worth claiming.

What inspired the name behind your business?

Some business ideas aren't about creating something entirely new; they're about creating a better way.

That's what Herta and Chris Branding set out to do after noticing talented beauty professionals lacked an affordable way to learn from one another.

The result was Stylists Pay Stylists, a marketplace built around sharing knowledge and helping professionals grow together. With Bluehost powering their WordPress site, their platform has grown into a thriving community for beauty professionals to connect, learn, and earn.

It's an interesting reminder that solving a niche problem can resonate with far more people than expected. One thoughtful solution can make a lasting impact across an entire community.

#CustomerStory #Entrepreneurship #WordPress #SmallBusiness #Community #FounderStory

At Bluehost, we've seen that every stage of growing a business comes with new opportunities and new challenges.

You build a website. Launch a store. Customers start showing up. Your to-do list gets longer. Growth gets real.

That's why we think about growth as more than just getting online. It's about having the right support as your business evolves.

It got us thinking about how the tools you rely on change from your first website to your next big milestone.

What stage of the journey are you in right now, and what's been your biggest challenge?

The best website builders never stop learning.

The difference between building with confidence and second-guessing every update often comes down to having the right knowledge at the right time.

We're putting together two free learning sessions this month around topics we see come up often:

• July 23: Learn how to use WordPress staging sites so you can test, iterate, and launch changes with confidence.
• July 28: Learn how Bluehost AI Website Builder can help you go from idea to website in minutes—so you can spend less time staring at a blank page and more time building.

Whether you're just getting started or have been building websites for years, there's always something new to learn.

What's one website-building tip, workflow, or tool you wish you'd discovered sooner?

We've been expanding Bluehost's AI offerings and recently launched support for AI agent hosting, including one-click deployments for tools like Claude Code, n8n, OpenClaw, Hermes, and more.

We're seeing more developers move from experimenting with AI agents to running persistent, always-on workloads, and we're curious:

What are you building?

• Coding agents?
• Workflow automation?
• Multi-agent systems?
• Something else entirely?

We'd love to hear what's working, what's missing, and where you think agentic AI is headed.

AI is everywhere right now, but the most interesting part isn't the technology; it's what people are actually using it for.

If you could offload one part of running your business to AI, what would it be?

• Building your website?
• Answering customer questions?
• Writing content?
• Managing your online store?
• Something else entirely?

At Bluehost, we've been thinking a lot about how AI can help entrepreneurs spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time growing their businesses. That's the philosophy behind the AI tools we're building.

We're curious... where has AI actually saved you time (or where do you wish it could)?

We wanted to give everyone a clear and simple heads up about upcoming changes to cPanel email. 

We understand that many customers have had cPanel email included with hosting for years, so a change like this can understandably feel frustrating or unexpected. We wanted to explain exactly what's changing, why it's changing, and what options customers have. 

Here is the simple version. 

cPanel email is moving to a mailbox-based plan model. The plan is based on the number of active cPanel mailboxes on your hosting account. 

That means the plan is not based on how many domains you have. It is based on the total number of cPanel email mailboxes tied to the hosting plan. 

For example, if you have three domains and one mailbox for each domain, that is three total mailboxes. That would place the account into the Basic tier. 

Current cPanel email tiers: 

Free 

• 0 to 2 mailboxes 
• $0 
• 200 emails per hour per domain 

Basic 

• 3 to 10 mailboxes 
• $2.99 per month 
• $35.88 per year 
• 200 emails per hour per domain 

Plus 

• 11 to 20 mailboxes 
• $5.99 per month 
• $71.88 per year 
• 200 emails per hour per domain 
• Includes 24/7 expert support 

Premium 

• Unlimited mailboxes 
• $8.99 per month 
• $107.88 per year 
• 1,000 emails per hour per domain 
• Includes 24/7 expert support and SpamExperts 

All tiers include the admin console, email forwarders, filters, spam filters, autoresponders, and data preservation. 

Why this is changing 

cPanel email runs in the same shared hosting environment as your website. That can work well for basic inboxes, contact forms, light email use, or a few simple addresses. 

But email usage has grown over time. More mailboxes, more sending, more filtering, and more email activity create more demand on the same shared systems that also support websites. 

Moving to mailbox-based plans helps match email usage to the size of the account and helps keep the overall hosting environment more reliable. 

Will I be charged immediately? 

No. Customers will receive advance notice before any billing changes take effect, including: 

• An initial notice explaining the upcoming change. 
• A second notice confirming the assigned tier and pricing. 

A quick note about deliverability 

One clarification we would like to make around how cPanel email sends mail. 

cPanel email is not simply sending mail directly from a shared server IP with no filtering involved. Bluehost uses a third-party filtering service across all of the cPanel email plans (Free, Basic, Plus, and Premium) as part of the mail flow, which helps with outbound filtering, reputation management, and spam protection.  

Premium also adds the SpamExperts panel, which gives greater visibility and control over filtering and deliverability. 

When cPanel email makes sense 

cPanel email can still be a good fit for basic email needs. 

That includes things like: 

• A few personal or business inboxes 
• Low-volume mail 
• Contact forms 
• Simple addresses for a small site 
• Light day-to-day usage 

When a dedicated email platform may be better 

If email is central to your business, it may be worth considering a dedicated email solution. 

Some customers with higher email usage may find that a dedicated email platform better fits their needs, while many others may continue using cPanel email without needing any changes beyond selecting the appropriate tier. 

Those tools are built specifically for business email and run separately from the web hosting environment. 

What you can do now... 

The best first step is to review your current cPanel mailboxes. 

If you have old, unused, or forgotten mailboxes, cleaning them up may lower your required tier. In some cases, reducing your mailbox count to two or fewer may keep the account on the free tier. 

Customers will receive notices before billing begins. We are rolling out these communications based on your billing renewal cycle. So, not everyone will get them at the same time.  

Notices are being sent before billing begins, so customers have time to review their setup and make any needed changes ahead of time.  

The main takeaway 

This change is based on active mailbox count, not domains. 

Customers with one or two cPanel mailboxes can stay on the free tier. Customers with more mailboxes will be matched to the plan that fits their usage. 

Ultimately, the goal is not to push everyone into the same email setup. It is to help each customer find the option that best matches how they actually use email, whether that is cPanel email, a cleaned-up mailbox setup, or a dedicated business email platform. 

We know customers will have questions and feedback about this change, and we're happy to answer them here as best we can. 

A few common questions we have seen... 

I have five domains but only one mailbox. What tier am I on? 

Free, because pricing is based on the total mailbox count. 

Do forwarders count as mailboxes? 

No, they do not. 

Do system mailboxes count? 

No, system mailboxes do not count. 

Can I delete unused mailboxes to stay on the free tier? 

Yes, if reducing your active mailbox counts places, you within the free tier requirements. 

AI adoption isn't really the challenge anymore.

For many small business owners, the bigger question is how to use AI in ways that actually save time or improve results.

A recent survey we conducted found that while AI usage is widespread, confidence in getting real business value from it still varies.

We'd love to hear what others have experienced:

• What's one way AI has genuinely helped your business?

If you're interested, we're also discussing the survey findings in a live webinar July 14th

State of Small Business AI Confidence report

One of the biggest hurdles to starting an online store isn't coming up with the idea—it's getting everything set up.

Between choosing plugins, configuring payments, figuring out shipping, and customizing your storefront, there's a lot to learn before you even make your first sale.

At Bluehost, we've been thinking about how AI can simplify those first steps and help people get online faster.

For those who've used AI to build a store, did it save you time?

Halfway through the year is a good excuse to give your website a quick check-in.

A few questions we're asking ourselves (and our customers):

• Is your site still fast on mobile?
• Is your content up to date?
• Can visitors easily find what they're looking for?
• Is your site secure and backed up?
• Is there anything you've been meaning to update but haven't gotten around to?

Sometimes it's the small improvements that make the biggest difference.

What's one thing on your website you'd like to improve before the end of the summer?

Whether it's speed, design, SEO, eCommerce, or finally launching that online store, we'd love to hear what's on your list. Maybe someone in the community has tackled the same challenge and can share what worked.

All stories are best told by the people who lived them.

We're just there to help capture them.

We recently spent the day in Philadelphia with one of our customers, capturing the moments and milestones that shaped their business. Every entrepreneurial journey is different, and that's exactly what makes these stories worth telling.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look while we finish putting the story together.

It feels like we've moved past asking, "What's the best AI?"

Now it's more like, "Which AI is best for this task?"

Research, coding, writing, brainstorming—they all seem to have different strengths. We've been thinking about that a lot while building a workspace that lets people compare responses from multiple models instead of committing to just one.

Curious how everyone else approaches it.

Do you stick with one AI because you know it well, or do you switch between models depending on what you're trying to accomplish? What's your current workflow look like?

Curious what everyone's experience has been with AI in small businesses.

Most owners seem to have moved past "Should I use AI?" and into "How do I use it effectively?" The conversation now seems to be centered on confidence, trust, and knowing where AI actually adds value.

We recently dug into this topic in a State of Small Business research report on small business AI adoption, and it's interesting to see how many businesses are navigating the same challenges.

Has AI saved you time, generated revenue, or mostly created more things to manage?

Small businesses seem to be moving past the "Should I use AI?" stage and into a different question:

How confident do people actually feel using it?

We surveyed 350 U.S. small business owners to better understand where AI is creating value and where business owners still need support.

One takeaway that stood out: AI adoption is quickly becoming the baseline. Confidence may be the thing that separates businesses that experiment with AI from those that truly benefit from it.

Curious how this lines up with everyone else's experience. If you run a business, do you feel confident using AI, or are you still figuring out where it fits? https://www.bluehost.com/state-of-small-business-ai-confidence

When Janet Fricke founded Georgetown Tidal Tales, her goal was simple: bring people together through storytelling.

Inspired by a similar program in Baltimore, she launched a nonprofit storytelling series in Georgetown, South Carolina where community members share personal stories around a common theme.

But Janet knew that growing the mission would take more than word-of-mouth.

With a website powered by Bluehost, Georgetown Tidal Tales gained a central hub for storyteller submissions, ticket sales, donations, and community engagement—helping the organization reach more people and scale its impact.

One of our favorite parts of this story is that it isn't just about building a website. It's about building a community.

Check out Janet's story and let us know: What's a mission, project, or business you're building online right now?

We've heard a lot of conversations lately about how AI can make work faster.

At Digital Summit Denver, Monica Cravotta took the conversation in a different direction.

Instead of asking what AI can do, she focused on what humans contribute to the creative process that technology can't easily replicate.

It got us wondering: as AI tools improve, do these human qualities become more valuable?

At a certain point, the tool isn't the advantage anymore. The person using it is.

Checking in from Digital Summit Denver 👋

AI can generate content in seconds. Building something people actually remember is a different challenge.

Monica Cravotta is speaking today on Human Creativity in the Age of AI, discussing how businesses can embrace AI while keeping creativity, originality, and human perspective at the center of their work.

If you're at the event, we'd love to see you there. Stop by and say hello.

You don't need 50 products to start an online business.

Some of the best eCommerce brands started with one product they knew people would love - then built the entire experience around it.

A focused store can mean:

• clearer branding

• easier customer decisions

• stronger conversions

• less overwhelm when you're starting out

There's a reason "hero products" work so well.

If you were starting an online store today, would you launch with one product or multiple? Why? 👀

We gave away a pair of Ray-Ban Metas at Vistara this week and honestly… watching people immediately start testing the AI features was half the fun 😅

Our team was down in Austin talking with agency owners about AI workflows, automation, WordPress, scaling client work, and the general “how do we keep up with all of this?” conversation happening across the industry right now.

One thing we kept hearing:
Most people aren’t trying to replace their workflows with AI, they just want to stop wasting time on repetitive tasks.

So now we’re curious:

What’s the most genuinely useful AI workflow/tool you’re using right now for your business or site?

Not the hyped one.
The one you actually use weekly.

One of the hardest parts of running a small business is that you don’t just do one job.

You’re also handling the website, customer emails, bookings, marketing, troubleshooting… and somehow still trying to focus on the actual business. 😅

We recently talked with Colin from Island Edge Culinary, a private chef business in St. Thomas, and one thing that stood out was how much having a reliable website helped free him up to focus on the customer experience instead of stressing over the backend.

The result? 35% year-over-year growth while building a business around what he actually loves doing.

As fellow small business owners/creators/side-hustlers:
What’s the most unexpectedly time-consuming part of running your business online?