Why Authenticity Can’t Be Automated
So, time for a harsh truth. If you need AI to generate your “content ideas” for you, you are a fraud. You are doing nothing more than bullshitting people. If someone is curious enough to gather some surface-level, maybe-or-maybe-not-accurate content about your subject matter, why wouldn’t they just use AI to generate it for themselves? […]
Content for Content’s Sake? Time to Brake and Reset
If the only thing you have to offer is content instead of meaning, just stop. Seriously. Stop. Value comes from meaning, not from filling empty digital containers with more emptiness. One of the best indicators that it’s time for a strategic reset is noticing that you’re chasing content for content’s sake. But content inertia sets […]
How External Insights Disrupt Internal Echo Chambers
One guaranteed way to dislodge groupthink—work with external third parties who engage with you as trusted partners. You need people who can have shared values and shared commitments without being part of the same collective trance. Obviously, I say this with a fair amount of self-interest. But that’s part of the point. Differing incentives are […]
Strategic Musings of a Twelve-Year-Old World Conqueror
When I was 12 years old, I had a strategy to achieve global domination. Quite literally. I was an extremely weird kid. The world is lucky I turned out to be kind and ethical. But there’s a lesson about “strategy” in this story. My childhood strategy was about 20 pages of notes on how I […]
Clarifying Expectations Between Clients and Service Providers
When you engage external firms, you need clarity on why. Do you need outcomes or just task completion? Do you need extra time and hands, or do you need expertise? I’ve been on both sides of this equation, and friction around these expectations is a common source of frustration. Things we should normalize: – Service […]
Ensuring Validity in Strategic Decisions
When you want to use research to support a strategic decision or marketing claim, remember a few things: – What people do is more important than what people believe. What they say they believe isn’t always a reflection of their full reality. Data about actions is more valid than data about survey responses and intentions. […]
Solving Writing and Marketing Dilemmas
Is it really a writing problem, or is it an organizational problem? Writing projects often stumble when there’s a lack of clarity around decision making, responsibilities, and who ultimately decides and approves the final outcome. So, ALWAYS engage the ultimate deciding stakeholders at the beginning of a project. Establish clarity on what decisions they will […]
So What?
I can give you the ultimate content algorithm hack in two words: “So what?” Stop playing a game whose rules you don’t control. Post how, what, and when you want. Cut your dependency. Say what matters. Write for people. Everything else? So what? Link: https://the-graceful-thought-leader.syncresis.com/the-ultimate-content-algorithm-hack/
Setting Your Worth
If you’re new to consulting/strategy services, I’ll share a secret. There’s a formula for pricing services as a small business or freelancer. It’s easier than it may seem. Use hourly bill rates even though you generally shouldn’t bill hourly. – Take the annual cost of each billable person. Salary, benefits, bonuses, etc. What you have […]
Liberating Yourself from Algorithmic Dependence
Time for a hard truth: most of the tips and tricks you read regarding the algorithm of a social platform are magical thinking AT BEST. More often, they are charlatanism. People take advantage of your desire to make uncontrollable forces seem predictable and manageable. Because lack of control feels precarious and scary. They are also […]