It was full of flashy graphics, brightly colored buttons, suspicious hyperlinks, and enough marketing language to make it obvious that someone was trying to sell you something.

Email providers became exceptionally good at identifying these messages before they ever reached your inbox. They analyzed the sender's reputation, examined embedded links, evaluated HTML formatting, inspected domain authentication, and considered countless other signals to determine whether a message belonged in your inbox or your spam folder.

Over time, the spam filters got smarter.

So did the spammers.

This is better than some because they actually do provide an opt-out method, but its still blatantly illegal because it doesn't include all required disclosures.

The latest evolution in unsolicited marketing isn't a sophisticated HTML email with polished graphics. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. Today's mass marketing emails are increasingly plain text. They contain no images, no buttons, few if any links, and often read as though they were personally written by someone who simply wanted to introduce themselves.

They're designed to look like a genuine one-to-one email.

Most of the time, they aren't.

Why Plain Text Works

Email providers have become remarkably effective at recognizing traditional marketing emails.

Embedded links can be analyzed. Their destinations can be evaluated. Domains develop reputations over time. Sending IP addresses accumulate trust, or lose it. HTML formatting itself provides clues about whether a message is likely to be a commercial advertisement.

Plain text removes many of those clues.

Illegal

Without buttons, graphics, tracking links, or elaborate formatting, the message resembles the kind of email you might receive from a colleague, customer, or acquaintance.

The call to action is often nothing more than:

Would you be interested?

Reply and let me know.

Can we schedule fifteen minutes?

From the perspective of a spam filter, that's a much more difficult message to classify than an email full of promotional banners and “Buy Now” buttons.

The objective isn't necessarily to fool you.

It's to fool the email provider just long enough to reach you.

Technology Has Changed the Game

Modern marketing software has made the process even easier.

Years ago, building a bad reputation with email providers could effectively ruin a spam operation. Domains and IP addresses accumulated negative reputations over time.

Today, software makes it remarkably easy to rotate domains, rotate sending infrastructure, and continually introduce fresh sending sources before any one identity develops a terrible reputation.

The strategy reminds me of telemarketers who constantly spoof local phone numbers.

The number on your caller ID appears local because you're more likely to answer.

It's deceptive.

It's also effective.

The same principle now applies to email.

An Important Clarification

Before I go any further, it's worth making an important distinction.

Not every unsolicited email is a marketing email, and not every one-to-one email is subject to the requirements discussed in this article. A genuine email personally written by one individual to another—for networking, customer service, recruiting, journalism, or other legitimate business purposes—may not be considered a commercial marketing email under the CAN-SPAM Act.

As far as I know these guys aren't Scammers, just Spammers. And yeah, this email is illegal.

That's not what I'm talking about here.

I'm referring to the growing practice of using automated marketing software to generate and send thousands of commercial solicitation emails that are intentionally crafted to look like personal, one-to-one correspondence. The goal is obvious: make the message appear as though it came from an individual taking the time to reach out personally, when in reality it's part of a large-scale marketing campaign.

If the primary purpose of that message is to advertise or promote a commercial product or service, changing the formatting to plain text doesn't eliminate the sender's legal obligations.

The law regulates commercial email—not HTML.

The Rules Didn't Change

The format of the email has evolved.

The law hasn't.

The CAN-SPAM Act established rules governing commercial email. Among other things, qualifying commercial messages are expected to provide recipients with a way to opt out of future emails, identify the sender, include a valid physical postal address, and avoid deceptive subject lines or other misleading practices.

Notice what the law does not say.

It doesn't require HTML.

It doesn't require hyperlinks.

It doesn't prohibit plain text.

A business can absolutely send a compliant plain text marketing email.

Unfortunately, many of these modern solicitation campaigns don't.

That's no accident.

Including a business name, physical mailing address, and clear opt-out instructions immediately reveals the message for what it is—a commercial marketing email. Those disclosures also make it easier for recipients and email providers alike to recognize the true nature of the message.

Many marketers appear willing to sacrifice compliance in exchange for slightly better inbox placement.

Junk Mail Isn't the Same as Scam Mail

There's another distinction worth making.

Not every unwanted marketing email is a scam.

Some companies are selling legitimate products or services. Others are attempting outright fraud.

Both often employ similar tactics.

Both may disguise themselves as personal correspondence.

Both may ignore the legal disclosure requirements that apply to commercial email.

The difference is that one intends to sell you something real, while the other intends to steal from you.

I don't object to legitimate businesses marketing legitimate products.

In fact, I do it myself.

Marketing isn't the problem.

Ignoring the rules while expecting everyone else to follow them is.

What I Do

My own policy has become very simple.

If I receive what is obviously a commercial solicitation that contains no business identification, no physical address, and no meaningful way to opt out of future messages, I report it as spam and block the sender.

Will that stop the campaign?

Certainly not.

The people behind these operations understand they'll burn through domains, IP addresses, and email accounts. That's simply another cost of doing business.

Still, reporting spam has value.

Every negative signal contributes to the sender's reputation. Every report makes it just a little more difficult for future campaigns to reach other inboxes.

It may only be a tiny dent.

It's still a dent.

I Used to Reply

When these plain text solicitations first started becoming common, I occasionally replied.

I'd explain that I had no interest in doing business with someone whose very first interaction with me involved ignoring the law and disguising advertising as personal correspondence.

I don't do that anymore.

I'm fairly certain no human is reading many of those replies anyway.

Today's marketing platforms are increasingly automated, and many of these campaigns are managed almost entirely by software.

I've decided my time is better spent clicking Report Spam.

The Same Principle Applies to Telemarketing

I handle deceptive phone calls much the same way.

When I accidentally answer a telemarketing call that's using a spoofed local number, I sometimes explain exactly why they won't be getting my business.

If your first interaction with me depends on deceiving me into believing you're local when you're not, you've already demonstrated something about your business that I can't ignore.

Maybe the tactic is legal.

Maybe it isn't.

Either way, it tells me everything I need to know.

The Best Defense

Reporting spam helps.

Protecting your information helps even more.

The fewer companies that possess your email address and phone number, the fewer opportunities there are for that information to find its way into lead databases that fuel these marketing campaigns.

Think carefully before handing over your contact information.

Read privacy policies.

Decline unnecessary marketing permissions.

Use alternate email addresses when appropriate.

If you're particularly serious about reducing unwanted solicitations, there are reputable privacy services that will work to remove your information from many of the data brokers that buy, sell, and aggregate consumer information.

No solution is perfect.

But reducing the availability of your personal information is one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of unwanted emails you'll receive in the first place.

A Word to Businesses

If your company is using one of these plain text outreach platforms, it's worth asking a few questions.

• Does every commercial email include the disclosures required by law?
• Can recipients easily opt out?
• Does the message clearly identify your business?
• Would you be comfortable if the recipient understood, from the very first sentence, that the email was generated as part of an automated marketing campaign?

If the answer to those questions is no, it may be time to reconsider the strategy.

A short-term increase in reply rates isn't worth sacrificing trust—or potentially compliance with the law.

The newest spam doesn't look like spam anymore.

That's exactly the point.

Don't mistake a change in appearance for a change in the rules.

The post Plain Text SPAM Emails Are Still Subject to the Law first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

How Do We Define The Best Pizza:

There are actual real professional pizza critics out there. Patrick and I are not among them, but we do like a good pizza and as we ventured to the 6 biggest pizza chains in America there were several things we considered including:

• How many meats
• Meat quality
• Meat density
• Cheese density
• Meat and Cheese distribution balance
• Crust
• Speed
• Ease of ordering via mobile app
• Cost / Value
• Overall deliciousness

Since everyone has different things that matter to them you might just scroll to the bottom and look at my image gallery.

The 6 Biggest Pizza Chains In America

I was raised in a Pizza Hut world. I think over time my hometown got a Domino's and a Papa John's as well but Pizza Hut was the dominant player without question. Not only were they the biggest but at the time I perceived that they were the innovators. They invented the stuffed crust and the meat lover's and I'm a really big fan of both.

The Pizza Hut nearest my house looks nothing like what I remember from my childhood. The customer area barely has room for a small bench and the whole thing would fit inside my home office.

Starting this quest however the landscape has changed in the last 25 years. Pizza Hut has moved away from dine-in restaurants, Dominos seems to have upped their game big time, MOD Pizza is awesome, and though I didn't see my first Marcos until I moved to Colorado in 2010, they do have over 1000 locations in the US.

Number of U.S. Locations by Pizza Chain

As you can see Domino's is winning this game big time. Crushing it really. Little Caesars is playing big ball but my childhood Pizza Hut is falling behind, Marco's is a top 5 player, and MOD pizza while small, is also the newcomer on the scene.

Pizza Chain Founding Years

With that background information lets get into the important topics.

What Meats Do You Get?

Since this quest isn't about finding the best crust or the best dipping sauce lets start with the all important topic of meat. Each of these six pizza chains has a Meat Lover – style pizza. They all come universally with Pepperoni and Sausage, but from there they start to differ.

Meat Topping Comparison

As you can see, Little Caesars which throughout this article you will notice is the low budget, low quality option; includes only three meats as does MOD Pizza; but the rest offer 4+. This chart suggests that if you want the most meat Pizza Hut is your game but I'm afraid the chart could be deceiving because having more variety of meat doesn't mean more meat in volume.

There are supposedly 6 meats on this Pizza Hut Meat Lover's pizza.

In fact we had a hard time identifying the 6 meats Pizza Hut claimed were on the pizza when we were eating it. Pepperoni is obvious; sausage and beef tend to look very similar so I guess they both might have been there, but if there was Pork and Bacon that would be news to us.

The point is, some variety is good, but at some point density is more yummy than variety. Here Pizza Hut didn't win. Marcos and Dominoes seemed to have a lot of meat density but Papa Johns really seems to have won in that category.

This one from Papa Johns is not in my opinion the best meat pizza but likely the most meat dense pizza.

Who Makes The Most Affordable or Highest Value Pizza

I think value matters. If I'm taking some friends out for pizza maybe I care about the absolute best pizza regardless of cost. On the other hand if I have to feed 20 kids at a birthday party I might be more interested in the cheapest pizza.

And in case you have been living under a rock, that would be Little Caesars. It isn't even a close comparison. To make this clear you have to understand that you could almost buy 2 Large 3 Meat Pizzas from Little Caesars for what you spend on a single large Meat Lover's from Pizza Hut (the most expensive). Make no mistake, if cost is the driving factor, Little Caesars is your best friend.

Patrick and I, after the 2nd or 3rd restaurant in our quest wished we had weighed them. Price per pound might have been a more valuable measurement compared to the price per square inch we ended up looking at in the end. MOD Pizza which is the second most affordable after Little Caesars has all the appearance of low cost when measured by square inch but its also a super thin crust with less toping density overall. By weight no doubt the lightest per square inch.

All Meat Pizza Cost Comparison

So again to summarize, Little Caesars is cheap, MOD Pizza is deceptively affordable, Domino's is the next lowest, with Marco's and Papa John's tied and and next most expensive, with Pizza Hut ultimately taking the top spot in cost. Perhaps they justify that with 6 meats but… see above thoughts on that.

How Fast Do They Make A Pizza?

With each of these 6 restaurants we followed the same approach. We drove to the restaurant and then, while waiting in the restaurant we opened the mobile app on my phone and placed our order via the app. Or at least that was what we attempted to do. More on it later but Marco's app just outright refused to let us place an order. We tried over and over again on the checkout screen but couldn't make it happen. Ultimately had to walk up to the counter and place an order like normal people. More on the apps later.

As soon as the order was submitted we started a timer to see how long from submission until they would bring our pizza to the counter for pickup. All of these restaurants delivered that end result in between 9:41 and 10:31. A gap of less than a minute between the fastest and slowest. So nothing really to report there. If you are ordering for carryout or delivery and speed matters, probably you should order from the place that is closest to your house.

The Mobile App Ordering Experience

As mentioned we placed (or attempted to place) all orders via the app. This was in part because that is how I like to order food these days. Also because the Pizza industry either invented food delivery or they perfected it and so more often than not you tend to place orders online or via your phone.

Each of these experiences were recorded using a screen recording app and I'm not going to share the full recordings here because nobody wants to watch them, but here is a sample and some insights worth noting:

• Domino's Excellent app. Easy to use and real easy to customize your pizza.
• Little Caesar's app worked fine but don't bother with this place if you want to customize anything. Slower and maybe a few little UI issues but functional.
• Marco's app was the best design. Up until we hit the checkout I was thinking they had the best mobile app. So easy to customize and super modern. But yeah, none of that matters if it won't let you make a purchase. Maybe your experience will be better.
• MOD. Smooth and fast and effective. They are the kinds of a customized pizza and their app reflected that.
• Papa John's Felt comparable to Domino's. Guest checkout allowed.
• Pizza Hut. Also comparable to Domino's and Papa John's. Easy to customize, easy to order, no issues.

All of these company's could benefit by supporting Google Pay and/or Apple Pay. It is 2026 and that should be a no brainer thing. All these brands also have loyalty rewards so if you are going to order from the same place with any frequency it makes extra sense to setup and use the app.

A Word About Customized Pizzas

As you may have noted, our intention was to create the most apples to apples comparison between these restaurants as possible. That meant skipping all the potential upgrades and some of these guys have a LOT of potential customization and upgrade options. Different crusts, dipping sauces, toppings of course, sauces, and other extras. With the exception of Little Caesars (where you can have any pizza you want as long as its a large and one of their existing menu options); every one else had multiple crust options.

To keep it close to a fair comparison we got the “hand tossed” or “original crust” equivalent everywhere. So if you know you love the Pan crust at Pizza Hut or the Cauliflower Crust at Marco's etc then I guess you should just stick to what you love.

We didn't for example order any stuffed crust even though several of these companies offer it and everyone knows its delicious.

Lets Talk Pizza Crust

The first restaurant we went to was Domino's (alphabetical order) and I was impressed to see the employee behind the counter putting a garlic-herb sauce around the outside crust on our pizza after it came out of the oven. I didn't know they did that but it was awesome and included/assumed as part of your order. This set a standard that was frankly hard to beat.

Marco's had a notably thicker crust edge than the others. Frankly just a thicker crust all around but especially the edge and that means if you like dipping your crust in something or treating it like a breadstick Marco's might be your favorite and it was really good. Also worth noting that Papa Johns, whose crust is fairly average and boring does include a free Garlic Dipping sauce which might be as good or better than having the flavor on the crust.

Speaking of dipping sauces most of these guys sell a variety of dipping sauces if you are willing to pay extra for them. We got a free dipping sauce for free at Marco's as well but its unclear to me if that is normal or if the guys at that location felt bad that their mobile app was sucking.

Pizza Hut, much to my surprise, also applied a garlic-herb sauce around the crust edge which was also very good. The crust from MOD was barely there. Think artisan-style. Cooked fine and shaped well but just doesn't compare given their focus on thin crust pizzas.

Little Caesars is worth calling out. We watched our pizzas get made at every restaurant but Pizza Hut (where the kitchen wasn't visible from the customer area) and what is noteworthy is that most of these places take about 2 minutes to assemble a pizza and 6-7 minutes to cook it. Little Caesars cooked our pizza in 5 minutes and it was not fully cooked. Saggy and raw would be the words that come to mind.

Other Observations Before The Final Ranking

• I imagine locations vary. Maybe the specific Little Caesars near you has the oven set to a 7 minute cook or the Domino's near you is a gazillion years old and the paint is peeling. However for me judging the physical location and experience of walking into one the Domino's was the most impressive. Very modern. Very clean. Of course if you want to dine in next time you eat a pizza you will be going to MOD or Marco's I imagine.
• If you care about technology I would suggest Domino's as your #1. Papa John's, MOD, and the Hut are also very good at order taking and order tracking.
• If you don't want to deal with a human when you arrive Little Caesars will have your pizza waiting in a oven-like thing that you can type your code into and then open and retrieve your pizzas yourself.
• At Little Caesars we ordered the Three Meat Treat. I didn't realize it until putting together this written review but they also offer a “5 Meat Feast.” Sorry Little Caesars that we didn't get that one instead. Might have performed better in this quest but your undercooked crust and lower quality ingredients wouldn't have salvaged it fully.
• If you want something that is personal sized, not to share, that you can put down in one sitting, Little Caesars is not for you. They offer one size. Large. Pizza Hut has a 6″ “Personal Pan Pizza. Marco's, Papa John's and Domino's have 10″ options. MOD's entire business model is built around a 11” pizza.

Most of these guys are various sizes. Little Caesars says you can have any size as long as its a large.

Final Ranking

Patrick and I agree on this final ranking more or less. I think for me the primary factor is quality and taste but I think you also have to take into some consideration the cost. That dictates this ranking:

#1 Choice: Domino's

Domino's delivers among the best tasting all meat pizza (MeatZZa) with a lot of cheese and a lot of meat and they do it for less money per square inch than Papa John's, Marco's, and Pizza Hut. They make it really easy to order and track your order with fantastic technology, and give you a garlic-herb crust (an upgrade from others) at no extra cost. Their location was clean, modern, and impressive. We saw 3 different employees there on a random weekday lunch time which is more than any other restaurant suggesting they are the busiest as well. Good job Domino's. I didn't go into this thinking you would win but you did and now you can put up on your wall a plaque that says “Voted #1 By 2 Random Dudes in Colorado”

#2 Marco's

Despite the mobile app crazy issue (which they have likely addressed by now) this was a fabulous pizza. Not the most expensive but close to it. If we had estimated cost per pound this pizza would have been among the least expensive I suspect. You were getting a lot of pizza for your money and I love it. I like having the option to dine in and every Marco's I've been to (3) have plenty of room for dine-in customers. The guys there were hustling and the 4 meats they give you were a great combination with good density.

#3 Papa John's

The most meat dense pizza and it comes with garlic dipping sauce. The price was up there but not the most expensive. I think these guys could gain market share by dropping their price just a bit or offering free upgrades. Ultimately it just wasn't as yummy but hey and if you love a good Pepperoncini you know there is going to be one in the box when you open it up so there is that.

#4 Pizza Hut

My hypothesis going into this was that Pizza Hut would win and it was a good pizza. Call me up and offer to bring me a slice or two of a Pizza Hut Meat Lover's and I'm in. I think they would have done better if we had ordered the Pan crust but that would have been an unfair advantage. It was as good as Papa John's but cost a little more. Despite claiming to have the most meats we couldn't see/taste it and the density wasn't as good. I would summarize it as predictably good but not impressive.

#5 MOD Pizza

MOD is the outlier in this little contest. Feels almost like we shouldn't have included them at all. They aren't trying to be another Domino's or Pizza Hut. Probably they are the only one that sells more dine-in pizza than carryout and delivery and their whole thing isn't ordering a specialty pizza off the menu. They are the subway of the pizza world and that has its distinct advantages. However, in this contest, looking at their Mad Dog (meat lover equivalent) it just wasn't as good. I'd eat it every day of the week and that is why they too are successful but it wasn't as good. Less meat, less cheese, less crust… less pizza. Of course that makes it the cheapest by square inch but by weight I bet it wasn't any less expensive than any of the others.

#6 Little Caesars

Hey, if you need to feed 50 people and those 50 people are under the age of 12 and thus don't have discerning tongues; Little Caesars is your best choice. But if you want a good pizza I can't recommend it. Would I eat it if it was served for lunch at some event I was at? Yes, but I would have less slices and I would assume the host of the event wasn't having a great year financially. If their goal is to just be the cheapest and quality be darned, then they are nailing it. 100%.

Image Gallery

Dominos MeatZZa

Aperture: 2
Camera: Pixel 7
Iso: 77
Orientation: 1

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The post The Best All Meat Pizza – Trying The 6 Biggest Pizza Chains first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

We talked about leadership, faith, authenticity, business, personal growth, and why people are starving for honesty in a world that increasingly feels fake.

In this episode, I share:

• How I built ConcealedCarry.com from the ground up
• What actually makes a great instructor
• Why authenticity matters more than image
• How AI is changing business and communication
• The vision behind Guardian University and Guardian Conference
• Why strong brands are built on trust and integrity

We also discuss what it really takes to build trust in a noisy world.

I opened up about my early struggles as an instructor, the lessons I learned along the way, and why I believe great teachers are students first. We talked about leadership, mindset, faith, branding, and the responsibility that comes with influencing others.

Lora and I also dive into the future of AI, the mission behind Guardian Conference, and the launch of Guardian University — a growing platform designed to bring trusted training and meaningful conversations together in one place. Defenders LIVE is now featured inside Guardian University as part of that vision.

This was an honest and thoughtful conversation filled with practical insights for anyone trying to lead with courage, grow personally, and stay authentic in today’s world.

Watch more from Defenders LIVE and learn more at ConcealedCarry.com.

The post Defenders Live: Jacob Paulsen of ConcealedCarry.com Gets Real About Business, Branding, and Belief first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

We talked about the full brand portfolio — Mountain Man Medical, BarrelBlok, Ready Up Gear, KSG Armory, and more — and how each one grew out of a real gap we saw in the concealed carry marketplace. We also dug into our free online trauma course at Mountain Man Medical (13 videos, totally free, no excuses not to take it).

The bulk of the conversation was about the Guardian Conference, our annual training event in Oklahoma City. I explained the philosophy behind it: it's not an immersive deep-dive class — it's a buffet. You get exposure to 10+ nationally recognized, personally vetted instructors across handgun, carbine, medical, combatives, vehicle tactics, low-light, legal, and more. You walk away knowing exactly who and what resonates with you — and you're surrounded by a community of people who take this seriously.

We also talked about cost, logistics, accommodations, and who the event is really for (spoiler: beginners and advanced shooters alike).

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

The post Forge of Freedom: The Guardian Conference: Forging the Prepared Citizen first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

I want to be clear about something up front: this review is not about the broader AfterShip SaaS platform for eCommerce stores. I don’t use that toolset, and I’ve never felt the need for it in my business.

This review is about the AfterShip Package Tracker mobile app—the standalone app available on both iOS and Android—and it’s an app I’ve been using for several years now.

Short version: I absolutely love it.

What the AfterShip App Does Well

At its core, the AfterShip app does one thing exceptionally well: it lets you track shipments across carriers and notifies you when something changes.

That sounds simple—and it is—but the execution is what makes it valuable.

Instead of juggling multiple carrier apps or manually checking tracking links, I can drop a tracking number into AfterShip and let it handle the rest. The app supports virtually every major carrier you can think of, including USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and plenty of international services.

Why This Matters for a Business

As a business, we’re constantly expecting multiple inbound shipments at our warehouse—inventory, supplies, samples, you name it. I keep all known inbound shipments logged in AfterShip so I can see, at a glance, what’s coming and when.

That has saved me more than once.

I’ve received delivery notifications on weekends when no one is at the warehouse, only to discover a carrier left a package sitting on our doorstep. I’ve also caught situations where a “delivered” package was actually dropped off at a neighboring business.

Carriers are… optimistic with delivery confirmations. Having a real-time notification lets me act immediately instead of discovering a problem hours—or days—later.

Yes, I could proactively check tracking numbers all day. But I don’t. And neither do most people.

Push notifications are what make this app effective.

Tracking Outbound Shipments

I also use AfterShip to monitor outbound shipments to important customers or dealers. When I see that something has been delivered, I can follow up quickly—either to confirm receipt or head off an issue before it turns into a problem.

That kind of visibility is especially useful for high-value or time-sensitive orders.

One App Instead of Four

Before AfterShip, I had separate apps installed for:

• USPS
• UPS
• FedEx
• DHL

Those apps can still be useful if you need to manage billing or carrier-specific accounts, but for pure tracking, they’re redundant.

Once I started using AfterShip, I deleted all of them.

One app. One interface. All carriers.

Email Integration (Optional but Useful)

AfterShip also offers the ability to connect to your email inbox and automatically detect shipping notification emails, importing those shipments into the app for you.

I think the average consumer would love this. It’s a genuinely useful feature.

I personally tried it and eventually turned it off—not because it didn’t work, but because I’m copied on far too many shipping notifications that I don’t actually want to track. That’s more of a me problem than an app problem, and the feature itself works exactly as advertised.

Final Thoughts

If you:

• Run a business
• Receive regular shipments
• Send important outbound packages
• Or just want a better way to monitor deliveries

…I would absolutely recommend the AfterShip Package Tracker app.

It’s one of those tools that fades into the background until the moment it saves you—then you’re very glad it’s there.

Simple, reliable, and genuinely useful.

The post AfterShip Package Tracker App Review first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

This isn’t about optimization or chasing records. It’s simply an honest accounting of where time and attention went.

Steps (and Runs) in 2025

In 2025, I logged 2,926,463 steps.

That’s a 37.72% increase over 2024, driven almost entirely by a decision I made around May: 10,000 steps a day, no matter what.

Some days that came easily—running, working in the warehouse, or being on my feet at events. Other days it didn’t. Those were the nights that ended with late walks, sometimes short, sometimes long, often after everything else was already done.

Out for a family hike

I also went on 50 runs during the year.

That number is disappointing.

Steps were way up—which I care about—but intentional workouts were down. That’s something I’m very aware of and something I want to address heading into 2026. The discipline showed up in daily movement, but not consistently enough in structured training.

What surprised me most wasn’t the step total itself—it was how often those walks became quiet thinking time. No calls. No emails. Just movement and margin. In a year that didn’t slow down on its own, that daily commitment forced me to create space.

Miles Driven

In 2025, I drove 16,613 miles in my truck.

By my historical standards, that’s a relatively low year. I didn’t drive to many of the events I’ve traditionally covered by road, choosing instead to be more selective about when driving made sense.

That lower mileage doesn’t reflect less activity—just different logistics. Fewer long hauls, more flying, and a travel schedule that prioritized efficiency over habit.

Travel, Events, and Time Away

Looking at the year as a whole:

• 44 nights away from home
• 13 states visited
• 3 events / tradeshows
• 8 total tradeshow days

The states visited in 2025 were: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

My business is one that requires—or at least rewards—travel. Trade shows and conferences are where relationships are built, products are sold, and long-term opportunities take shape. I mostly enjoy the travel, the time with friends, and meeting new people along the way.

Looking at my lifetime travel, it’s worth noting that the only state I’ve never set foot in (outside of an airport) is still Minnesota. Maybe in 2026.

Days Spent on a Gun Range

In 2025, I spent a minimum of 24 full days on gun ranges.

These are not short visits. A range day typically means eight hours or more on site.

My profession requires me to be on ranges frequently, and that time is split between days where I’m a student, days where I’m an instructor or assistant instructor, and days spent at range-based events capturing content, networking, or assisting with logistics.

Regardless of the role, I love these days. Professionally, they are my favorite workdays. They’re focused, tactile, and demanding in the best way.

Classes Taught

In 2025, I taught 27 classes.

From a revenue standpoint, training represents less than 1% of total revenue at Concealed Carry Inc. I continue to teach anyway.

Teaching keeps me close to the customer. It forces me to stay grounded in real questions, real constraints, and real outcomes. It also keeps me honest—about my own skills, my own standards, and my own commitments.

A new Colorado law that went into effect on July 1 now requires all concealed carry classes to include live-fire range time, which directly increased how much time I spent teaching on the range and will continue to shape training moving forward.

Articles and Podcasts

Content production continued to increase in 2025.

Written content:

• 143 articles on ConcealedCarry.com
• 9 articles on JacobSPaulsen.com

Most of my writing focused on keeping people up to date on firearm laws, court decisions, and legislative changes, while continuing to publish practical content on gear, safety, training, and best practices for concealed carriers.

On my personal site, I wrote primarily about internet marketing and web tools that can help small business owners operate more effectively.

Podcasting:

• 19 episodes of The Concealed Carry Podcast
• 3 guest appearances on other podcasts

Podcasting remains one of the most direct ways to communicate nuance—especially in an industry where context matters and misinformation spreads quickly.

Books Read in 2025

In 2025, I read 42 books.

It was very much a year of fiction and deep character development. I read the entire Jonathan Grave series by John Gilstrap (plus a few of his other books), caught up on Expeditionary Force books by Craig Alanson, read Six Minutes to Freedom by Kurt Muse, and then started on the Bosch series by Michael Connelly.

A lot of driving, flying, walking, and running leads to a lot of book reading—well, technically listening. Either way, books were a constant companion throughout the year.

Favorite Ranges of the Year

My favorite range of the year is always the Oklahoma City Gun Club, which is where we host The Guardian Conference. That place is personally sacred because of the event we’ve built there and the people who show up year after year.

A special shout-out also goes to The Clinton Plantation, which hosted Revolver Fest 2025. It’s a beautiful property and a well-maintained range, and it was a pleasure to spend time there.

Looking Ahead to 2026

In 2026, I intend to maintain my daily step habit, which should put me on track for my first year over 3 million steps. That baseline matters to me and has proven sustainable.

At the same time, I want to run a lot more.

The goal is five runs per week, knowing full well that a realistic average is closer to three or four. Even at that pace, it would represent a 200–350% increase in workouts year over year. The discipline foundation is there; now it’s about translating movement into more intentional training.

Much of the rest of the year will look familiar. I expect to attend many of the same events, continue teaching, keep writing, keep podcasting, and keep traveling. That rhythm works.

With any luck, 2026 will bring stronger relationships, new friends, and a profitable year in business. If it also brings better fitness, deeper focus, and continued enjoyment of the work itself, that will be a good year by any reasonable measure.

The post 2025 By the Numbers: Movement, Miles, Teaching, and Work first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

For a long time, I treated WordPress search as something that technically existed but didn’t deserve much attention. It worked… sort of. Until it didn’t.

As ConcealedCarry.com grew into a large, content-heavy site, search quietly became one of the weakest parts of the user experience. After finally investing the time to fix it, I realized the real issue wasn’t configuration—it was WordPress’s entire approach to search.

This is a high-level, strategic SearchWP plugin review, based on my experience implementing SearchWP on a site that is both content-dense and eCommerce-driven.

The Core Problem: WordPress Search Treats All Content as Equal

Out of the box, WordPress search does something that sounds reasonable but quickly becomes disastrous at scale:

It searches everything.

On small sites, that’s fine. On large sites, it’s chaos.

When You Have 20+ Post Types, This Completely Falls Apart

On my biggest WordPress site, I have more than 20 post types.

Some are:

• Editorial content users should find
• Structured reference material
• Evergreen resources

Others are:

• Administrative post types
• Internal tools
• System-generated objects
• Backend-only data structures
• Landing pages from dated and old campaigns and sales

None of those belong in public-facing search results. And yet default WordPress search includes them unless you start hacking together custom solutions.

The Single Most Valuable Feature: Controlling What Appears in Search

Before relevance weighting, before analytics, before templates—the most important feature for me was simple:

SearchWP lets you explicitly choose which post types are searchable.

This alone changes search from:

“Hope WordPress figures it out”

to:

“Only show content that actually makes sense for users.”

On a complex site, excluding entire post types from search results isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s foundational.

For each post type you can determine how heavily the title, content, slug, and excerpt, custom fields, or taxonomies are weighted in determining the order of search results.

Additionally, for any give page, post, or other post type, the admin has a new option to just check a box to exclude the content from search. So easy.

Search Analytics: Seeing What Users Expect to Find

Another major gap in WordPress is internal search analytics.

By default, WordPress gives you no clear answers to:

• What are people searching for?
• How often are they searching?
• Which searches return poor or irrelevant results?

You can piece some of this together through Google Analytics, but it’s indirect and frustrating. SearchWP fixes this by showing you the actual on-site search terms and how often they’re being used.

That data matters more than most site owners realize. It tells you what users think your site contains—and where your navigation, labeling, or content library isn’t doing its job.

The “Ug” Moment: When the Right Result Isn’t Anywhere Near the Top

Here’s the moment that really sold me on SearchWP’s relevance controls.

While reviewing search analytics, I noticed someone had searched for one of our products by name: Complete Home Defense.

That’s exciting—until I tried the search myself.

The product they were clearly looking for wasn’t even on the first page of results.

Why? Because ConcealedCarry.com is a content-heavy site that also sells products. We have dozens of articles that focus on home defense, reference it, or mention it incidentally. Default WordPress search doesn’t understand intent—it just matches words.

Pushing the Right Result to the Top

SearchWP gives you the ability to intentionally promote specific content for specific searches.

In addition to pushing the product to the top of the result I also have a setting turned on to highlight the search phrase in the search results which I really like.

In my case, that means:

• When someone searches for home defense
• Or searches for Complete Home Defense
• The product can be explicitly pushed to the top of the results

This turns search from a passive system into an active UX tool.

Instead of:

“Here’s a pile of related content.”

You get:

“Here’s what you’re probably looking for.”

For any site that blends education and commerce, this is a huge win.

Search Results Pages: “Sorta Works” Isn’t Good Enough

WordPress’s default search results page technically functions—but just barely. It looks generic, offers little control, and doesn’t scale well with complex content.

On ConcealedCarry.com, I used Beaver Themer to create a search results layout that actually matched the site design and content structure. That solved the presentation problem—but not the logic problem.

SearchWP Templates: Treating Search Like a First-Class Feature

SearchWP also has the concept of templates that allow you to display search results in different ways.

Strategically, this matters because:

• Not all searches should look the same
• Not all content should be presented equally
• Search can become part of navigation, not just a utility

Even if you already have a custom search results page, SearchWP’s template system gives you room to grow without piling on theme hacks.

A Feature I’d Love to See Added

No tool is perfect, and there’s one capability I’d love to see SearchWP add:

Global Post-Type Priority.

On my site, it would make perfect sense if:

1. Products always appeared first
2. Followed by articles, guides, and other content

Right now, SearchWP lets you promote specific content for specific searches (which is incredibly powerful), but there’s no way to globally enforce “always put this post type above all others.”

To be fair, default WordPress search doesn’t offer this either. Still—if any SearchWP developers are reading this: please put this on the roadmap. For hybrid content + eCommerce sites, it would be a game-changer.

Final Takeaway

Search isn’t cosmetic. It’s infrastructure.

Once your WordPress site grows beyond a handful of posts and pages, default search becomes a quiet liability. SearchWP doesn’t just improve search—it gives you control, visibility, and intent where WordPress provides none.

For WordPress site owners who care about user experience—especially on large, complex sites—SearchWP is absolutely worth serious consideration.

It isn't a free plugin if you want it to work well. Learn more here.

Resource: See all of my favorite WordPress Plugins

The post SearchWP Plugin Review: Why WordPress Search Breaks at Scale—and How SearchWP Fixes It first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

Chris asked me about several of my company's brands and we discussed:

• How I approach SHOT Show
• Elements of a valuable appendix IWB holster
• The new Chest Seal Trainer from Mountain Man Medical
• Some ideas about combining or segmenting traditional first aid kits from trauma kits
• The Guardian Conference

If you want to listen you can find it on most apps where podcasts can be found or you can watch the video recording below. Don't forget to hop over to YouTube and subscribe!

The post CloverTac Podcast: Training Gear and More first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

The Series Covers:

Article 1: “The Armed Citizen's Duty – Why Medical Training Matters”
Establishes the statistical reality that armed citizens are 150-300 times more likely to encounter medical emergencies than defensive shooting situations. Explores the moral imperative of being prepared to preserve life, not just take it, and identifies the significant training gap in the armed citizen community.

Article 2: “Stop the Bleed: Essential Trauma Skills for Armed Citizens”
Provides hands-on instruction in the core trauma skills that address the leading causes of preventable death: direct pressure, tourniquet application, wound packing, and chest seal placement. Includes training resources and skill maintenance recommendations for building and maintaining these critical capabilities.

Article 3: “The Armed Citizen's Medical Kit: Essential Equipment and Setup”
Explains the critical difference between trauma kits and traditional first aid kits, walks through the essential components of an effective individual trauma kit, and warns against counterfeit medical equipment sold on Amazon. Features detailed analysis of proven trauma kits and how to build staged medical capability over time.

Article 4: “Legal Considerations: Rendering Aid as an Armed Citizen”
Clarifies the legal framework protecting civilians who provide emergency medical assistance, details the six requirements for Good Samaritan protection, and addresses the complex question of whether to render aid to an attacker following a defensive shooting.

I've linked each article above and want to thank CCW Safe for publishing this important information!

The post New Article Series: Medical Preparedness for Armed Citizens first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.

Our Rather Scientific, Wholly Unscientific Approach:

We all have our own tastes, even when it comes down to something as simple as bread; but then again there are some things that are actually measurable. Like the quantity of meat for example isn't a question of personal preference. Its just factually more or less meat than the competing sandwich. Price is also very measurable. With that said, if you are going to read the rest of this you will have to take it on faith that I'm standing in to judge for all 320 million Americans which Italian Sub is the best.

I suppose I should just add a disclaimer that we could have been more scientific if we tried. At the end of the day this was 2 friends enjoying lunch together at 4 different sandwich shops while also trying to answer the question; who has the best Italian.

We started our mission by identifying the restaurants to be included in the quest. We did some research to identify the largest national chains and the top 4 were: Subway, Jersey Mike's, Jimmy John's, and Firehouse. Of course its worth noting that combining Jersey Mikes, Jimmy John's, and Firehouse locations together you still wouldn't compete with Subway. Its that big. No other chain comes close to competing with these 4 in terms of the number of locations. There are regional chains that have a lot of locations in some parts of the country but looking nationally these are THE four.

Next, we have to find the right balance between making this an apples to apples comparison while allowing each sub chain to represent itself based on it's own interpretation of an Italian Sub. So where we were able we got similar toppings for example but we tried to stick with the menu's determination of what meats and cheese should be included.

First, I'll share my thoughts from each restaurant and then we'll look more directly on how they stack up in various categories.

Firehouse Subs

Overall Impression: Delicious and warm, with bread that stayed soft even though the sub was hot.

Our first stop was at Firehouse, the only place that by default serves the Italian hot. If you know you like a hot sandwich this is your best option though Subway gives you the option as well. However they heat the sandwich it didn't toast the bread in a way that made it hard or crusty which is awesome. Firehouse is the most thematic in terms of its decorations and you get to feel warm and fuzzy inside that some small portion of your money spent is going to be donated to local firefighters.

Also, and it didn't matter to me any, but Firehouse has a “Hot Sauce Bar” that for some could be a good reason to choose Firehouse. The Italian at Firehouse also comes by default with an Italian mustard sauce and mayo and an Italian dressing. I despise mustard and mayo in all forms so I left those off. It is a unique thing to Firehouse and could sway you to choose it over the competitors if that is your thing.

Highlights:

• All subs are served hot by default, and that works well for their Italian.

• I skipped the deli mustard and mayo, leaving just the Italian dressing — a good balance of flavor without excess sauce.

• The bread stayed soft and chewy, not crunchy, which was a pleasant surprise.

• The Hot Sauce Bar is unique, though you didn’t use it.

Takeaway: A warm, melty, flavorful sub with great texture and solid value. Firehouse felt hearty and satisfying.

Jimmy John’s

Overall Impression: Fresh and simple but lighter, with standout bread flavor and excellent chips.

Jimmy John's makes a good sandwich, but then again so do their competitors. My biggest disappointment here was the bread which while soft in the center was a bit crusty or tough on the edges. It provided the least amount of meat of any Italian we tried which is another tick in the negative column. On the flip side they have their own brand of potato chips which are fantastic.

Highlights:

• Sandwiches are cold only, giving a clean, deli-style feel.

• The bread was very fresh and soft in the center, though the ends were a bit crusty or tough.

• Meat portions were smaller than Firehouse and thinner at the edges.

• Loved their house-made Jimmy Chips®, which added a unique, high-quality side.

• Provolone is the only standard cheese — limited but traditional.

Takeaway: A light, fresh, easy-to-eat sub. Bread flavor stood out, but overall it felt smaller and less “meaty” than the others.

Subway

Overall Impression: The best value and surprising fullness for the price, with soft, fluffy bread and tons of options.

I was surprised by Subway. I guess I figured it would be the worst of all of these. My perception of the brand is that they are everywhere but don't provide the same level of quality as the competitors. I was wrong. Their bread was the most full or fluffy; thought if you are watching your carb intake that could be a reason to stay away from Subway. The ingredients seemed as fresh on average as the competitors.

Additionally Subway has a lot of sandwiches which you could call an Italian. We ordered the B.M.T. which seemed to be the closest to what the competitors offered for the sake of this quest. You have more bread options that the competitors and cookies to add to your order which was unique to Subway!

Highlights:

• The 6″ Italian B.M.T. was only $6.49, making it the cheapest per inch.

• Bread was thicker, fuller, and fluffier than the others — soft with no crust.

• Felt more full of meat and cheese than either Firehouse or Jimmy John’s.

• Offers the widest customization: breads, cheeses, sauces, and toppings.

• Cookies were a fun extra, something no other chain offered.

Takeaway: Best bang for your buck — soft and full bread, full portion, and lots of ways to customize.

Jersey Mike’s

Overall Impression: The most authentic and flavorful Italian sub — messy but outstanding.

Okay, to save you from scrolling to the bottom, Jersey Mike's won this contest for me and Patrick. Hard to be more fresh on the cheese and meat than slicing it off the block right in front of the customer for each sandwich. The Italian (#13) has 5 meats and they get layered on thick. Plus I love “Mike's Way” which is a super easy way to customize the sandwich and plays well to my personal preferences. Additionally worth mentioning that the competitors don't have anything approximately the “juice” available at Jersey Mikes.

Highlights:

• All meats and cheeses are freshly sliced per order, nothing pre-cut.

• The Original Italian (#13) includes five meats, making it visibly heavier than any competitor.

• Bread was soft, fresh, and perfectly balanced — maybe the best overall texture.

• Ordered “Mike’s Way,” which adds onions, lettuce, tomatoes, oregano-basil, and The Juice (oil/vinegar blend).

• The Juice adds tons of flavor but also makes it messier to eat.

• Only serves cold subs; no option for toasting.

Takeaway: The most premium-feeling sandwich. Freshly sliced meats, balanced bread, and “The Juice” make it stand out — messy but worth it.

Lets Start With Price – The Lowest Cost Per Inch of Italian Sub

The price per inch of Italian Sub Sandwich ranges from $1.08 to $1.54 per inch. Subway wins for pure cost efficiency, offering the most sandwich for your dollar, while Jersey Mike’s is the priciest — though you do get visibly more meat and freshly sliced ingredients for that premium (more on that later).

As Patrick and I sat at the 4th restaurant in our journey Patrick suggested we should have brough a scale and weighed each sandwich. Perhaps a better measurement of value would have been price per ounce instead of price per inch. Patrick's insight came a little late but I think he is right, and if we had weighed these I suspect it would have been a tighter race in terms of price per ounce.

The Most Important Topic – The Meat

Again, allowing that Subway and Jersey Mike's have multiple sandwiches in the “Italian” category (and Jimmy John's to a degree) we are comparing the four specific sandwiches we felt were most comparable.

• Firehouse Subs: Genoa salami, pepperoni, Virginia honey ham, melted provolone.

• Jimmy John’s Vito: Salami, capicola, provolone.

• Subway B.M.T.: Salami, pepperoni, black forest ham, customizable cheese.

• Jersey Mike’s #13 Original Italian: Provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami, pepperoni.

Jersey Mike’s packs the heaviest meat lineup — five meats total — while Jimmy John’s is the lightest. Subway’s trio offers strong balance for its price, and Firehouse wins points for melty cheese and hearty warmth.

Meat and Cheese Portions

• Firehouse: Generous, hot, and well-layered.

• Jimmy John’s: Noticeably less meat; ends were sparse.

• Subway: Felt fuller than both Firehouse and Jimmy John’s.

• Jersey Mike’s: The clear leader — visibly the most meat and thickest stack.

Subway surprised here, but Jersey Mike’s easily takes the crown for meat density and portion quality.

The Bread

All four chains serve good bread, but the textures differ:

• Firehouse: Bread stays soft even when toasted — a big win.

• Jimmy John’s: Fresh but slightly tough or crusty on the ends.

• Subway: Thick, fluffy, soft bread with no crust; very pillowy.

• Jersey Mike’s: Perfectly balanced — soft and fresh with just enough chew.

If we were rating just the bread, they’d all be similar, but Jimmy John’s had the toughest edges, while Jersey Mike’s might have the most ideal balance.

Customization

There is a clear division here between this restaurants.

At Firehouse and Jimmy John's you order at a counter and then sit down while they make your sandwich on the other side of a wall. You can see the person making your sandwich but you can't see your sandwich being made.

At Subway and Jersey Mike's it is the traditional assembly line that Subway made famous. You walk your sandwich down the line customizing it as you go.

At any of the four restaurants you could customize any ingredients for sure but at Firehouse and Jimmy John's the assumption is that you will take it how the menu describes it unless you say otherwise while at Subway and Jersey Mike's you are going to customize it as you go no matter what.

It is worth discussing “Mike's Way” here. At Jersey Mike's after your meat and cheese is on the bread and the sandwich gets passed down to the next section of veggies etc. the restaurant has something they call Mike's Way which is a preset of customization to include onions, lettuce, tomatoes, oregano-basil, and “the juice” (vinegar/oil blend).

You don't have to have your sandwich Mike's Way. You can ignore it all together and just dictate ingredients one by one like you would at Subway but you might save time by saying “Mike's Way with peppers” or “Mike's Way but no tomatoes” for example. Its meant to be a starting point from which you add or subtract. I suppose you will love or hate this depending on how close Mike's Way is to your own personal preference. For me it's a home run since Mike was probably reading my diary when he came up with this particular combination of toppings.

Some Extras & Highlights

Here are some highlights worth mentioning in summary for each restaurant.

• Firehouse: Hot sauce bar — fun, unique, spicy variety. Italian served hot and melty.

• Jimmy John’s: Proprietary Jimmy Chips® — crunchy and excellent.

• Subway: Cookies and fluffy bread. Decent portion of meat/cheese.

• Jersey Mike’s: Best overall bread and portion sizes and “Mike's Way” is a win.

The Final Ranking

When it all comes down to it, Patrick and I both agreed on the following ranking from best to worst.

#1: Jersey Mike's

#2: Firehouse Subs

#3: Subway

#4: Jimmy John's

Ok, tell me in the comments about your favorite sandwich or sandwich shop!

The post The Best Italian Sub Sandwich: Firehouse vs. Jimmy John’s vs. Subway vs. Jersey Mike’s first appeared on Jacob S. Paulsen.com.