You and I are living in an era of magic. I use AI nearly every hour of the day to be wiser, bolder, and more creative.

In a way, AI has even become my mentor.

That might sound strange, but hear me out.

I wrote a post recently noting that this question: “Who decides the safe limits of superintelligence?” could be a turning point in human history.

As I wrote the draft of this post, I felt angry and even scared about the prospects of weaponizing AI, and this was apparent in the tone of the article.

I uploaded the draft to Claude before I published and asked, “Is this post balanced? Did I miss anything?”

Claude responded, “Mark, this is not you. Your thesis is emotional and underdeveloped. You are known for your fairness and intellectual honesty. Here are some ideas to make it better.”

And the ideas were pretty harsh … and much appreciated.

I generally work alone. In this case, AI wasn’t just a muse or editor; it intervened as a wise friend, keeping me on brand. AI is helping me to be wiser, bolder, and more helpful in this world.

I have neither turned my life over to AI and nor do I feel threatened by it. My career has become AI-shaped, conforming to the new superpowers and opportunities of a magical technology.

Instead of doomscrolling about layoffs, how can we all create an AI-shaped career?

Creating the AI-shaped career

Let’s start with some advice from my friend Azeem Azhar. Azeem is probably the most connected person I know, and so he’s able to tune into the priorities of a wide range of industries.  and his supremely interesting Exponential View Newsletter.

Here is his advice:

1. Ship end-to-end projects

Choose or create multi-step projects with real stakeholders; practice owning the plan and delivering it to a finish line. If AI takes on more of the execution work, the value for humans lies increasingly in coordination around those tasks, specifically in orchestration. It’s the ability to decide what needs to be done, in what order, and with which tools, and then keep a project moving.

2. Grab managerial experience early

Run standups, lead sprints, and coordinate small teams if you have a chance. Volunteer to own small scopes like roadmap reviews and stakeholder check?ins, to build judgment and trust.

3. Build domain fluency and networks

Learn how people in your field think and speak. It signals maturity and reduces perceived hiring risk. Read primary sources and talk to operators. Join a niche community or meetup and ask specific questions.

4. Choose costly and credible signals, such as an MBA

Managers want evidence of commitment. If a degree isn’t feasible, pick rigorous alternatives – selective fellowships, competitive certifications, or shipping a demanding public project.

5. Use AI well

Build agents, audit outputs, and integrate them into real workflows. You could be the person who sets the AI standard at your next company – we’re still early, and practical expertise is scarce. Track gains (time saved, error rates, throughput) and document playbooks so others can adopt them. Push for small, safe pilots and iterate fast.

The implications for sales and marketing

Let’s get more granular. Most of the people reading this article are in sales and marketing. How do we have an AI-shaped career in that profession?

6. Become impossible to replace in customer relationships

AI may automate tasks, but trust, empathy, and emotional resonance are still the human differentiators.
People want to buy from, partner with, and follow humans they feel connected to.

• Build a personal brand in your niche—be findable, memorable, and known.
• Develop deep customer fluency: their worldviews, their blockers, their aspirations.
• Become the person who delivers difficult news well, handles nuance, and reads a room.

This is the “Most Human Company Wins” applied at the individual level. AI can crank out emails, landing pages, and pitches. But it still can’t feel the customer.

7. Build a Portfolio of Evidence, Not Just a Résumé

AI is making hiring faster and more automated, but that also means résumés look more similar. Portfolios, demonstrations, and proof-of-work become far more powerful signals than job titles or bullet points.

• Publish case studies, screen recordings, agent demos, prototypes, or thought pieces.
• Document your projects in public spaces (LinkedIn, GitHub, Notion, Substack).
• Practice “building in public”—it shows momentum and reduces perceived hiring risk.

8. Become the human face of your brand

The personal brand is our last line of defense against AI. If you are KNOWN in your industry. AI can mass-produce content, but it can’t replicate an authentic, trusted, known human.

No matter what happens in this AI world, we will seek verification, validation, insight and comfort from real humans. The only career equity we can carry with us is our personal brand. Are you known or not?

I teach the best personal branding class in the world to help you determine:

• Your place in a crowded business eco-system
• Establishing the presence, reputation, and authority to break through
• Strategies to get your story out to an audience that matters
• Specific ideas to give your brand an edge

Being “Known” is the strongest career moats in the AI era.

9. Become an experience designer

Your customers are hungry for connection and live experiences. This is a uniquely human acitivy.

We’re already seeing a backlash as young people seek more shared experiences in their online world.

• Learn to design workshops, events, roundtables, and customer communities.
• Study experience design, service design, and community management.
• Become the person who can create moments of belonging and transformation.

10. Lead a brand community

In Belonging to the Brand, I boldly predicted that community will be the last great marketing strategy, and that is backed up with evidence.

Here’s the good news. AI is not going to build and run a human community. Community might be the only type of marketing people actually seek out because we need human connection.

This book goes into detail about how to build and nurture a brand community, but the main ideas are:

• Find an intersection of the purpose of your company and the purpose of your customers
• Create an online and/or offline space of trust and safety
• Reward community members and assure they are seen and heard

The AI-shaped career

Here’s the simple truth: none of us can fully predict where this is going, but we can decide how we’re going to show up for it.

An AI-shaped career isn’t about becoming more machine-like. It’s about becoming the most unmistakably human version of ourselves — more curious, more connected, more courageous.

If you build trust, create experiences that matter, show your work, and become known in a meaningful way, you won’t just survive this transition. You’ll stand out in it.

The future doesn’t belong to the people who race against the machines. It belongs to the people who double down on the humanity the machines can’t touch.

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustrations courtesy Mid Journey

The post Ten ways to create an AI-shaped career appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been the fly in the LinkedIn ointment.

You’ve probably seen the bold projections from AI leaders like Mustafa Suleyman and Matt Shumer predicting cataclysmic AI impacts on our work, employment, and artistic endeavors.

There’s a defensive argument surfacing on LinkedIn: “If you care about artistry, you must resist AI.” Many marketers and creators hold on to a hope that the AI Era will have a place for the slow, the steady, the artisanally-crafted tradition of human content. I’ve responded with comments of “probably not.” Which has not been a popular view.

In a webinar last week, I explained how I was using AI as an editor and video producer to make my content exponentially better, faster, and cheaper. I was brutally scalded by one of the webinar participants. “How can you turn video editing over to AI?” one man bristled. “That’s where the craftsmanship happens. That is the artistry. Why aren’t you fighting against AI?”

Good question. Is it time to battle AI and protect human artistry?

I am not anti-human or anti-artistry. But this storyline seems familiar. Before we put on the AI armor, let’s face the music:

A familiar tune

In 1982, the British Musicians’ Union made a remarkable move. They called an emergency meeting and voted to ban music synthesizers from the U.K.

The trigger was Barry Manilow, of all people. On his U.K. tour, Barry had replaced his orchestra with synthesizers. String musicians, horn players, and percussionists lost their work. Traditional artists were furious and responded the way humans almost always do to disruptive change: they tried to make it illegal.

And it was futile.

The following year, the MIDI software standard was codified, and digital music synthesizers became widely available. Overnight, a person sitting alone in a room could produce music that previously required a full band and technical team.

Within a year of the MIDI revolution, thousands of studio musicians and technicians working on commercials, TV shows, and movies lost their jobs. The market for musicians collapsed.

By the mid-1980s, electronic music had created entirely new industries, careers, and genres. Survival in the music business meant adopting, adapting, and embracing the new technology.

Do we still have musicians? Of course. Do we still have orchestras? Absolutely. But the industry that once supported competent session workers evaporated and never came back.

The number of songs produced each year has exploded. The number of people making a living as full-time musicians has not.

The argument against AI today is exactly the same one made in 1982 against digital music. And the result will be the same.

We need to get ready, and I have an idea about that.

But first, let’s look ahead to our probable future. What do we know to be true? Can we think through the implications? How real is the threat?

What we know to be true:

1. The economic value of intelligence is near zero

Since the beginning of time, humans have prospered and advanced by acquiring knowledge. Every institution is built on the organization of scarce human intelligence. Universities exist because they have been the gatekeepers of knowledge.

These dynamics are irrelevant today because we can’t out-smart AI.

Even the most complex code is being written by bots. AI is developing PhD-level research studies and solving problems in physics and genetics that have stumped humans. Will it be able to create intelligent marketing strategies and insightful content? Of course.

If your career is based on intelligence, you’re vulnerable. Intelligence is abundant and nearly free.

2. Skills don’t matter so much

A primary argument for the worth of humans is that we’ve spent years developing our talents. Surely AI cannot match the experience we’ve honed over decades?

If you believe that AI can’t write as well as you, for example, consider this quote from Mike Kaput, a long-time PR pro and co-host of the (excellent) Artificial Intelligence podcast:

“I’ve been a professional writer for a very long time. I would argue that I’m just shy of being a world-class writer. It is my superpower. And I don’t mean to be arrogant about it, but I have some receipts to prove it.

“By the end of 2025, my use of AI as a writing companion has become very, very different. I can safely say that AI is a better writer than me in every way that counts. That doesn’t mean writing and writers are obsolete. It just means that when it comes to taking my ideas and putting them into really good words, putting them into logical and emotive constructions, AI is just as good as I am — and it’s way faster. It will be even better soon.

“Three years ago, you could see this day coming. It’s not coming, it is here.”

The same thing is happening in video and every other creative field. Responding to a realistic clip of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise engaging in hand-to-hand combat, Deadpool screenwriter Rhett Reese lamented on X that “I hate to say it, but it’s likely over for us.”

My critic in the webinar said, “Editing work must remain human because that’s where the artistry lives.” The musicians said this in 1982. The monastic scribes said it about the printing press. The darkroom operators said it when digital cameras arrived.

Each time, the argument was emotionally true and economically irrelevant.

The art survived. The skilled infrastructure around the making of art did not.

3. The economics favor the bots

In my book How AI Changes Your Customers, I describe AI’s biggest lie.

Every AI company creates PR spin about how AI will “enable” humans. While this is somewhat true, for these companies to recover the trillions being spent on data centers, research, and energy, they must replace human jobs on a massive scale.

Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI and one of the most trusted voices in the field, recently said that most white-collar work will be fully automated within 12 to 18 months. Lawyers. Accountants. Project managers. Marketing teams. Anyone, as he put it, “sitting down at a computer.”

I am humble enough to accept that these insiders see a technological future that I can’t access. Is massive job loss certain? No. But I’m paying attention to these leaders.

Thinking it through

Let’s think through the implications of these realities:

• The economic value of intelligence is near zero
• AI creative skills will meet or exceed human output
• ROI for AI investment requires massive job replacement

I am not an alarmist. I am not a pessimist. I try to see the world as it is, not what I would wish for. But I think there is a probability that my fellow creatives and I are facing a “MIDI moment.”

What can we learn from the musicians who survived that cataclysmic crash?

1. Resistance is futile

The musicians who thrived after 1983 were not railing against synthesizers.

They adapted to the new tools, found the intersection between technology and human creativity, and built careers doing the work that a machine fundamentally cannot replicate.

Adopt AI, don’t fight it. Use it, master it, twist it into exciting new opportunities.

Get over the depression and shock of the AI event horizon and figure out how it can make you bigger, bolder, more creative, and more impactful in this world.

I believe the future still belongs to extraordinary human creativity. But I also believe it is irresponsible to tell young creatives that the economics of the past might protect them. Technology adoption does not honor tradition and artistry. It follows cost curves.

When something becomes:

• 90x cheaper
• 90x faster
• 90% as good

… It wins.

That is not cruelty. That is capitalism.

Acknowledging that reality is not anti-artist.

2. Become a true artist

The MIDI moment separated the great from the competent. Here’s where I need to be concrete, because the conversation tends to get muddled.

I am NOT arguing that AI will replace the editor whose instincts transform raw footage into something that makes you cry. The visionary creative director who tells a story the world needs to hear isn’t vulnerable. The beloved YouTuber or podcaster who creates compelling, entertaining content every day is safe.

I am addressing the layer of technically demanding, repetitive, formulaic work that makes up the majority of billable hours in creative businesses.

If your value is defined by:

• Repetitive technical execution
• Tool mastery alone
• Process efficiency
• Pattern recognition

You’re standing in automation’s path.

If your value is defined by:

• Taste
• Judgment
• Emotional intelligence
• Cultural fluency
• Emotional connection to an audience
• Unmatched talent

You’ll probably become more valuable, not less.

In my book Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World, I explore this in depth. If you’re among those who refuse to be ignored, read this book.

If AI content is indistinguishable from human work, nobody cares. Your job is to transcend AI and MAKE. THEM. CARE.

Your blog, podcast, or video series must rise above common, competent AI slop and approach the level of art (more on that here.)

Art will persist. Many jobs won’t. Both things are true.

3. Become known

So here we are. We’ve embraced the technology. We’re expressing our human experience and rising above the slop. That’s not enough. You could be great and still buried in this noisy world.

It doesn’t help to be a star if nobody knows you are a star. You must work on your personal brand.

You don’t have to become famous by dancing on TikTok. But you must have the authority, presence, and reputation to break through the AI pandemic of dull.

Your personal brand is your only long-term defense against AI.

A final word

Many people point to past technological innovations, like the internet or the industrial revolution, to dismiss gloomy forecasts of job loss. They say that over time, technology creates MORE jobs and opportunities.

Sometimes that is true. And honestly, the jury is still out on AI adoption.

But this feels different. In the past six months, I’ve had three relatives lose their jobs to AI. Their entire departments were permanently wiped out by AI.

If you’re replaced by AI, what new job could you create in your field that won’t also be replaced by AI?

And I’m worried about the gap between the tech elites and the vast majority of people who have no idea what AI can really do and what is coming.

Economist Dr. Noah Smith wrote:

If it helps you feel unique and special to sit there and tell yourself, “AI can’t think!”, then go ahead. And sure, AI doesn’t think exactly the way you do. It probably never will, in the same sense that a submarine will never paddle its fins and an airplane will never flap its wings. But a submarine can go faster than any fish, and an airplane can fly higher and faster than any bird, so it doesn’t matter. You can value your own unique human way of thinking all you like — and I agree, it’s pretty special and cool — but that doesn’t make it more effective than AI.

To my passionate LinkedIn pals who want to stay in the slow lane and battle AI, I understand the emotion. I’ve built my career on creativity. I celebrate it. I teach it. I depend on it. I love it.

But believing in artistry does not require denying economic gravity.

And economic gravity always wins.

My friends, we should not “battle AI.”

We should battle mediocrity. Rise above the noise.

Need an inspiring keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post Do we begin to battle AI for human artistry? appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Most AI initiatives don’t fail because of bad models or weak vendors. They fail because people quietly opt out — by ignoring the tools, undermining the effort, or waiting it out. This post teaches you how to prevent that.

Almost every company makes the mistake of thinking that AI adoption is about investing in technology. That’s the easy part. You can make technology do whatever you want. But you can’t make people do whatever you want. In fact, most humans resist change. The focus must be on people, first and foremost.

I have a master’s degree in organizational development and led technology change efforts at a Fortune 100 company for nearly a decade. Here are lessons I learned from the (many) bumps I’ve had along the way.

The big assumption

This post is not about creating a business case for AI. This post is to help you AFTER your leadership team is onboard, the strategy is in place, and the money and resources are approved.

A Wharton study concluded that three-quarters of the businesses were getting a positive return on their AI investments. Businesses typically take decades to successfully deploy new technologies. Progress after just three years is striking. As AI continues to improve and workers become more adept at collaborating with machines, the gains will compound. Over a billion people use generative AI models every month. Not all uses are productive, but many will be.

The key is getting people to use it.

Let’s get those people moving …

1. There’s no such thing as a grassroots AI adoption effort

If you’re trying to enable a profound technological change in your company, it won’t happen just because you want it to. This project must be understood and actively supported by the senior executive who owns the AI adoption strategy and budget.

This is non-negotiable.

Every technology adoption effort comes with frustrations, delays, and problems. You must be able to turn to a high-ranking person for support when the sh*t hits the fan. This is your “air cover.”

In a small company, this sponsor/protector may be the owner. Or, it could be a department head in a large company. But the person at the top must buy in because this is not simply an investment — it’s a cultural change. And only the leader at the top can influence culture.

2. Show active sponsorship

Once your leadership is onboard, they need to show up and let people know this is a critical business effort in three ways:

1. Make AI adoption part of annual goals tied to bonuses and compensation.
2. Ask questions about progress and adoption in every staff meeting. One business owner asks anyone who comes to him with a problem whether they’ve tried using AI to solve it first. Using AI as a default has now become part of the company culture.
3. Repeatedly emphasize why this is important to the business. In my corporate days, we used to have a saying that an executive had to hear something seven times before it sank in.

3. Don’t name it

Don’t make AI adoption a “project” with a name.

If your effort has a name like “AI Future,” it becomes a target for derision. A project with a name makes people think it is a short-term management fantasy that will eventually go away.

When manufacturing locations first introduced electricity to the workplace, they didn’t call it “Operation Lights On.” They just did it because it moved them into the future.

4. Assign an SPA

AI adoption is a team sport.

And like any team sport, progress breaks down when everyone’s chasing the ball, but no one knows their position. But when positions are clear, people stop guessing, and they know how AI fits into their work and how their work fits into the larger system.

Coordination is what turns AI from a collection of half-used, misused, or abandoned projects into something that actually works and makes a difference.

And that requires a manager. Every change management effort must have a single point of accountability (SPA). This is the person who lives and breathes this effort every day. Their career depends on success.

Back when social media was taking off, a common mistake was assigning “Jimmy from the mailroom” to lead the effort because he was the only person on Facebook. Of course, that was a recipe for disaster.

The ideal SPA is somebody who deserves more responsibility, is trusted, and is ready for a new role. They will be motivated to succeed because they know a promotion is likely next.

I find that 90% of the time, a change effort fails because there was no SPA.

5. Acknowledge the fear

Bringing AI into an organization might cause real fear among employees. It could represent

• Job displacement anxiety
• Fear of looking incompetent
• Loss of control or expertise
• Ethical unease that they don’t know how to articulate

Before you label someone as “anti-AI,” ask what they’re protecting. In my experience, resistance is almost always about fear of irrelevance, exposure, or loss of identity.

Don’t try to erase the fear — legitimize it. Be firm about the direction and acknowledge the unknowns: “Some of you are right to be concerned. AI will change roles. Some tasks will disappear. Some skills will matter less.”

This signals honesty, builds trust, and removes the taboo around saying the quiet part out loud.

Once fear is spoken, it loses some of its power.

6. Middle managers are your make-or-break layer

If you’re in a larger company, the middle managers are your key to success. Middle managers:

• Control day-to-day workflows
• Translate strategy into behavior
• Set the emotional tone toward a change effort
• Can quietly kill adoption by deprioritizing it

These are your internal influencers who can either propel or torpedo AI adoption. To keep them on board,

• Train them first
• Give them scripts, not slogans
• Explicitly remove old KPIs that conflict with AI experimentation
• Reward their advocacy and progress

7. Start with the willing

Chances are, there will be people on the team excited about AI and ready to lead. Give them an opportunity to shine.

• Identify early adopters who are already curious/enthusiastic
• Let them pilot and become your internal champions
• Use their success stories to build momentum before expanding to skeptics
• Don’t waste early energy trying to convert the resistant — let peer proof do that work for you

Of course, some people will not get on board, so you must …

8. Address obstinacy immediately

There will be resistance. That’s natural. But when a person is a flat-out obstacle to progress, address it immediately. Actively working against a change effort can become an organizational cancer.

If the resistance isn’t something you can address yourself, defer to the power of your sponsor with something like, “I’m sorry you are anti-AI and against this effort. This is a priority to our boss, who is sponsoring this, so let’s bring it up with her.” (Refer to point one of this post!)

The most effective change effort I’ve ever been part of accelerated to light speed when the CEO fired a vice president who was blocking the change. It was a thunderbolt that said, “Failure is not an option. Get on board.”

9. Create rational metrics

Here is a piece of advice that might seem controversial.

At least for the first year or two, measure adoption instead of ROI. My thinking goes like this:

AI is transformational, like lightbulbs or air conditioning. Is anybody in Dubai trying to measure the ROI of air conditioning? No, because it enables just about every success in that desert country.

If no one adopts AI, you’ll never see an ROI, right?

Potential metrics might include:

• % of employees who used AI weekly

• % of workflows with AI touchpoints

• Self-reported confidence scores over time

• Number of AI-assisted decisions vs. manual

10. Build in quick wins

In the early days of a change effort, it’s important to create momentum and positive vibes. And nothing does that better than a positive story.

If employees are talking about their AI victories and breakthroughs, quickly record a video and share it with the leadership team. Set modest adoption goals that will spark positive conversations when exceeded.

And most important, when you reach milestones and achievements, don’t sit on them. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

It’s also important to protect early experiments and failures and share “this didn’t work, here’s why” stories. I have a friend at Dell who meets with each sales leader quarterly to report on AI experiments, even if they didn’t work. This builds psychological safety, which is essential for behavior change.

AI adoption isn’t a technology rollout. It’s a leadership test. The companies that win won’t be the ones with the smartest models but the ones that helped their people cross the bridge from fear to fluency. I hope this post helps you think through your success factors.

Need an inspiring keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

The post A step-by-step approach to AI adoption for your company appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

I’ve been blogging for 16 years, giving away all my best ideas and advice. I spent time thinking about monetizing my writing by moving to a subscription model on Substack. What I concluded might surprise you and perhaps guide your own monetization strategy.

Today I’ll cover:

• My current content monetization strategy
• A high-level view of Medium versus Substack
• My in-depth analysis of the risks and opportunities with Substack
• A final conclusion

Allow me to share a little story about how blogging drives my business.

The inbound marketing model

A few years ago, I received this email:

“Hi Mark. I’ve been reading your blog for three years and have become a real fan. I purchased your latest book and wanted to let you know it is one of the best business books I’ve read in the last 10 years. Just thought it was time to tell you how much I appreciate your work.”

It was signed by the CMO of a Fortune 100 company.

Two years later, he hired me to help organize a new content marketing department. I didn’t bid on the job. He just hired me because he grew to know me and trust me through my content.

Let’s break this down and reveal the classic “inbound” marketing strategy:

1. This person discovered my content and subscribed. I didn’t pay anything for this connection. It was organic, driven by the helpful content I freely put into the world.
2. After reading my content for several years, a trusting relationship developed. It was one-way, of course, but he grew to trust me entirely through the blog content.
3. Three years into this relationship, he bought a book, his first purchase from me.
4. Five years after he subscribed to the blog, he hired me for my most profitable assignment of the year.

And this is the way the world has worked for me, over and over again.

I’ve never made any money directly from my blog content — no ads, paid links, or sponsored posts. But when people trust my content, they hire me for speeches, workshops, and consulting. They’ll buy my books, purchase a consulting hour, or come to my Uprising retreat.

I’ve had a successful, profitable career by giving away content for free.

But many people are earning significant income on Substack. As I move to a slower pace of life, is it time for me to monetize my content directly and charge for it?

Substack versus Medium

There are many ways to monetize content directly, but the two big ones are Medium and Substack.

So far, my strategy has been to publish content on my website and then publish for free on both of these sites. Since both platforms have millions of subscribers, this allows my content to reach new audiences. For example, I have more than 45,000 followers on Medium. Medium articles also tend to rank well on Google.

Medium has another advantage — you’re paid by the number of people who read your content. By simply re-publishing a blog post on Medium, I average a modest $250/month, which is better than the imaginary benefit of Likes and retweets. And, there was an unforgettable month I made $10,000 on Medium. It’s like hitting that one great golf shot. It could happen again, right?

High-earning posts result from a Medium “boost” that floats your article beyond your audience so many more people read it. When does Medium boost? Who knows. It’s unpredictable and frustrating.

Substack has a smaller user base compared to Medium, but offers a business model with a more reliable income stream. People pay for your content through a subscription, and as long as you provide value, the income flows. You’re in charge of your revenue potential by growing your paid audience rather than relying on an algorithmic  Medium boost.

I currently publish for free on Substack — why not? I’ve attracted far fewer followers there compared to Medium … less than 1,000. And I’ve never made a dime there because to succeed, you must commit to a subscription model and refrain from publishing anywhere else. Many people are making a healthy living on Substack. Is it time for me to finally have a reliable income stream directly from my content?

The Substack life

Focusing on Substack as an income stream would require major changes:

• I’d have to create at least one in-depth post per week, and maybe more (I can do that).
• I would stop publishing original blog content on my own website.
• I’d have to develop and grow a Substack community with bonus events and content to add value.
• I would have to move my current blog/Medium audience to a paid subscription on Substack.

While I can commit to creating great content every week, the other changes represent significant risks. Let’s look at each one.

1. The end of the content on my site

As I researched this opportunity, I looked at the websites of Substack stars. If you click “blog,” you’ll find a link to Substack. There is no web-based blog any more.

There is a serious functional implication to this. Without regular, fresh content on my site, my SEO/AI signals dry up. My website isn’t just a blog; it’s a legacy media asset. It’s a lead generation machine.

If the site goes dormant, I lose:

• Authority signals

• Fresh content triggers

• Long-tail organic reach

• Visibility when AI search dominance arrives

That is just too much to lose. The sensible option would be to create two different posts for my site and for Substack. Double the work? No thanks.

2. Moving my audience to Substack

How many of my free blog readers will pay for Substack content? The research shows it will be 5% or less.

But those “free” readers have fueled my entire business model.

• Book sales

• Speaking leads

• Personal branding classes

• Media invitations

• Uprising retreat attendees

• Word-of-mouth leads

The average annual subscription price on Substack is $96. Assuming that 5% of my subscribers move, it’s probably not worth the financial risk.

And there’s another consideration. What if Substack goes out of business?

3. Building a community

The most successful Substack pros fully leverage the platform’s ability to create community through commenting, special events, and exclusive livestreams.

This would be a major benefit of Substack. But I already have a community called RISE. I’ve poured my heart and soul into that community, and I love the people there. I don’t have the need or bandwidth to duplicate that effort.

So a Substack community has no appeal or financial benefit.

The overarching goal

In summary, I certainly have an opportunity to monetize through Substack, but the risk of losing my SEO value and large audience overwhelms the benefits.

In the end, it comes down to my goals at this stage in my life. Money is less important than it was ten years ago. I want my ideas to spread. I want to help and teach. I want to find interesting projects that challenge me and connect me to cool people. I want to maintain a healthy and profitable speaking career.

A regular Substack income jeopardizes:

• SEO discovery for my website
• Serendipity (that random CMO, journalist, or CEO finding me)
• Long-tail inbound traffic
• A large, loyal audience

Monetizing content directly could actually shrink my economic surface area.

At this point in my life, a wide audience and the highest level of discoverability outweigh the potential of a steady income. I’ll stay the course and monetize through the indirect method.

Drop me a line and let me know if you’ve come up with a different strategy for your content.

Need an inspiring keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post Is it time to monetize your audience through Substack? appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

What happens when everyone reaches for the AI Easy Button?

I have a lesson today about an emerging danger of AI and marketing. But to get to the lesson, you’ll have to hear my story. It’s an old story, but it matters a lot. Here we go.

I was the CMO for a large business unit of a Fortune 100 company.

Each year, we sent teams out to visit customers to learn how they were using our products and how we could improve. These three-person teams were well-trained for this activity, and the lessons we learned would inform my marketing and R&D strategy for at least the next 12 months.

This was a long and expensive process — our customers were scattered around the world. We were wrapping up our final trip of the year and saying goodbye to our hosts when one of the customer scientists said offhandedly, “By the way, did you happen to see this preliminary research report on coating ingredients from the U.S. government?”

We had not. When we looked into it, we found the new research could potentially ban a key ingredient that my industry had used in its products for decades. It was still early, but if the research found a problem with these chemicals, my company and its customers would be imperiled.

Changing a fundamental ingredient in an industrial product used worldwide is no easy matter. It would take millions of dollars and years of testing to make a change. But with this early alarm and the potential risk, we proceeded on an R&D path to find a replacement ingredient.

Three years later, the government changed the regulations on this chemical. Our competitors were panicked. We were safe because we had listened, learned, and acted responsibly, thanks to our deep and unique understanding of the market.

And that brings me to AI.

The AI Easy Button

I have a number of friends working in market research. Their workload is drying up because companies are turning to AI as an inexpensive shortcut.

Not only can AI scan the universe for the information you need, but synthetic AI audience panels can simulate what your customers might say in real interviews.

The general feedback is that using AI is about an 85% solution, and that is good enough to justify the cost savings over human effort.

Except when it isn’t.

Let’s go back to the story I told to begin this post.

There is no way we would have found that critical information through an AI scan or synthetic customer panels.

If I used AI for my customer research, I would probably have the same information our competitors had. What good is that?

The real marketing insight and innovation doesn’t come in the 85%. It comes inside the 15% that you get by doing the hard work and digging into unique customer insights.

Challenge and opportunity

The use of synthetic data for research poses both challenges and opportunities for traditional researhers.

Ray Wang, founder and chairman of Constellation Research, agrees there is a danger in relying too much on synthetic research. “At some point, the regurgitation of insights will lead to a brain rot like we’ve never seen,” he said. “Folks are going to be craving for authenticity and insight, and that only comes with years of human experience.”

Liz Miller, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, told me, “Market research got itself into a bad hole because because 80% of their answers come from the same 20% of the population that answers questions. They then keep renewing the panel with the same people and give them a Starbucks gift card, hoping they will answer the same questions differently.

‘We’re in a disappointing space when it comes to market research, if we’re being really honest with it. So there is a place for AI research, but it also gives traditional researchers the chance to be brave and ask the hard questions, the questions they’ve never been able to have answered before.”

Pause before using AI

I know there are always budget pressures. I’ve been there. I know you have to make responsible decisions abotu your research. But before you hit the AI Easy Button, think hard about what you’re giving up.

Information that transforms your company?

A unique competitive advantage over everyone else opting for shortcuts?

An insight that secures your future?

Maybe your future lies in that 15% that only human experience can pick up on.

Need an inspiring keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post The AI Easy Button imperils the future of marketing research appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

More than a decade ago, I predicted that the surge in digital content would trigger a content arms race. I called this Content Shock. To stand out amid this tsunami of posts, podcasts, and Reels, it would require higher levels of investment in creative resources or promotions, and likely both. I forecast that as content niches became saturated, it would be impossible for many businesses to compete.

While this sounds like common sense, at the time, this was probably the most controversial marketing blog post ever written. The idea sent a chill down the spines of content marketing service providers, and I became a target of derision.

Of course I was right. Today, Content Shock isn’t a theory. It’s a daily reality made worse by this relentless barrage of AI content.

Is there a strategy to overcome Content Shock today?

Yes, but we are about to take an unexpected turn.

I want to be very direct about your future and your content, whether you are creating for a company, a customer, or a personal brand.

There have been many posts about AI taking over our marketing jobs. I won’t sugarcoat things. I think that is probably true. Follow the money. Companies have to make an ROI from AI investments, and the unfortunate first place they’ll look is headcount.

The hopeful marketers out there opine that truly “authentic” content will save our jobs. That is not enough. Bots can be pretty convincing.

I believe there is a permanent place for human content, but success requires a radical new mindset. Let’s get into it.

Reaching toward Springsteen

I recently listened to AI-generated songs that mimicked Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. In fact, the sound was indistinguishable.

But would  I ever pay money to see a computer in concert? No. I want to see the man. The Boss.

Why? Isn’t music just music?

The difference is, Bruce means something to me because he’s an artist. He communicates in a very raw, intimate way, interpreting our human experience.

I’ve loved Brice since I was a kid, and I will always love him, no matter what happens with AI. Likewise, there will be poets, painters, and even podcasters I will always love, even if AI overwhelms us with fantastic content tailored to us (which is already happening).

So this is the key idea. If you are competent, you’re a commodity. You’re ignorable. Your content must approach the level of Bruce, or at least what would be considered star-quality in your industry. Your content must approach the emotional level of art.

I’ve never heard a content marketing strategy explained this way before, but it is a new day, and this demands new rules.

If you’re chunking out blog posts and podcasts because you’re afraid not to, your time is up. Even “human” storytelling can be effectively mimicked by bots. But there is one place we will always own — our human vulnerability.

The advantage in vulnerability

Here’s an example of what I mean.

Not long ago, I wrote a blog post about accomplishing a great lifetime achievement and then feeling completely empty … even depressed.

I told the people in my RISE community that I was afraid to write a blog post about this — wouldn’t I come across as a jerk? Here is a dude who is so successful he’s depressed. Sheesh.

But I have this internal signal. Whenever I am afraid of something, I do it. That’s how I grow.

So I wrote the post and received a massive outpouring of positive comments. Why? I’m convinced it was the unexpected vulnerability. In other words, I was providing an interpretation of my human experience. That is art.

I had a human point of view. AI does not have a point of view. If you prompt three AI platforms to create a movie script, you will get three of the same movies based on successful formulas from the past. If you put this same prompt in the hands of three directors, you’ll get three entirely different movies based on their human experience.

As we move forward with our “human content,” vulnerability is usually the missing factor. We can’t just slap a stock photo of people in an office on our content and call it “human.” Where is the human experience? Where is the point of view?

The only way we’ll be different from the bots is by digging deep and having the courage to share our human experience. That small difference elevates content beyond the bots.

Turning vulnerability into business benefits

Roxana Hurducas is an acclaimed B2B branding expert and co-founder of Drivion. She recently told me an extraordinary story of how sharing her life experience on a Facebook page laid the foundation for her business success:

Roxana Hurducas

“Ten years ago, building a personal brand wasn’t on my radar. Yet, looking back, I realize I was laying its foundation brick by brick, without even knowing it.

“At the time, I worked as a marketing and PR manager for a courier company. It was my name and face, not a faceless corporate logo, that responded to client issues and concerns on Facebook. I answered from my personal account, treating every message with empathy and honesty. People really loved that human touch, though sometimes, I’ll admit, it was overwhelming.

“Later, after a very public life event—a brain surgery I openly shared about—I stepped into a new level of vulnerability with my audience. Sharing my life reality, not just my business wins, built even more trust and a genuine connection.

“As my personal life evolved, I realized I wanted to separate my family’s stories from my professional updates. I started a new account, “The Untraditional Family,” where I was radically honest about topics like raising my kids, navigating divorce, and even my third marriage. At first, I thought these stories would interest a different audience, but something surprising happened.

“Whether they first ‘met’ me through business or family stories, my audiences began to merge. People who knew me as the marketing manager followed my personal account. And those who followed my family journey became interested in my professional activities. The reason? Vulnerability, authenticity, and honesty. By sharing both the challenges and the joys of my human experience — the parts of life most people hide — I became not just a brand or a professional, but a fully relatable person.

“Now, when I meet people at events, they already know me. They trust me, not only as a communications professional, but as a woman, a mother, a partner, and a human being who owns her story. That trust, hard-earned and real, extends to every business relationship I have.

“If there’s a lesson here, it’s this: people need stories, especially stories they can relate to. And allowing your audience to see the real, unfiltered you — beyond your résumé — can become your strongest professional asset.”

How is Roxana’s storytelling different from that of any great artist? Like our favorite artists, painters, and poets, she is bravely connecting to an audience through her interpretation of life and its meaning.

And AI can’t touch that.

Art from anybody

I recognize that Roxana’s level of personal sharing is unique and may be uncomfortable for many people. But just showing any humanity at all can give you an edge in a boring, buttoned-up field.

I recently had a coaching call with a well-known gastrointestinal surgeon. He was building a new business and recognized an opportunity to create content on his website.

“I don’t have a human story, he said. “I’m a scientist. I talk about facts. I talk about fiber in your diet. How is this anything that approaches art?”

My suggested content:

“I was sitting at my kitchen table with the sun streaming through the window on a beautiful day. My wife came to the table with a plate of hot, homemade cinnamon bread. Yes, this was a wonderful treat. But it was also a gift of life. My wife knows how important fiber is in our diet, and she makes a special point of preparing meals high in fiber. She plans our meal around fiber. You might be wondering exactly how much fiber you need, so let’s talk about that today …”

“OK,” the physician said, “I get it!”

My point is, whether you are in B2B, B2C, or a doctor writing about fiber, everyone has a human story for human readers.

The creator versus the Content Artist

Some of the following ideas were inspired by the work of Scott Belsky.

Here’s a comparison of the content creator who AI will replace versus the Content Artist who will persist.

The Creators of today …

Creators trade quality for speed. They’re only trying to get a good-enough video cut, or they’re flooding the zone with TikTok posts to meet a schedule and hit an engagement goal.

Creators must conform to algorithms, which makes their content ephemeral.

The entry barriers to being a Creator are low. Prompt-driven, generative AI tools lower the floor so that anyone can be a Creator of some kind.

For Creators, the content is the means, not an end.

The Content Artists … 

Content Artists are never willing to trade beauty for speed. Sure, artists do quick sketches and explorations, but these exercises serve to explore the full range of possibilities.

They require creative control, and giving it up to a prompt-based generative tool is like a sculptor working without their hands.

Only Content Artists craft the meaning-infused stories that thrill and break us. While their work may not be fast or optimized for clicks, their stories teach us about ourselves and advance our understanding of the world.

Content Artists make units of culture.

That’s why we will always love the artists. And that’s what it takes for an audience to love you, too.

People conflate what enables creators with what might replace artists. People see the “AI slop” capabilities of new generative models and then declare the “end of fine art” and “RIP Hollywood,” as if the founding of McDonald’s would kill our desire for fine cuisine.

You still matter. But you must become an artist.

Overcoming Content Shock in an AI World

Here’s the great enigma of this reality.

Content Artists need time, freedom, and space. They need patience and reward for the risks they take. They need control of their workflow and pace.

This list of needs would be laughed out of most boardrooms eager to harvest human capital from AI investments.

So this is an opportunity, isn’t it? Great marketing is about non-conformity, not conformity. If everyone is zigging toward AI slop, maybe the most audacious move is zagging away from it.

Content Shock is nothing new. Let’s be honest. Does it really matter if we have a hundred competitors or a million of them? We’re not going to win by creating more AI slop that just adds to the problem.

As content creators use AI to flood the zone and grab our attention as cheaply and efficiently as possible, consumers will still crave more crafted, deeply human stories. As creating content becomes easier, the bar for what makes an extraordinary and unforgettable story will rise to the level of art.

Will you rise with it?

Need an inspiring keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Image courtesy Mid Journey

The post How to overcome Content Shock in a world of AI slop appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

As the Marketing Companion podcast approaches a pivotal transition, I wanted to take a moment to share some raw reflections on a topic that I’ve skirted for most of my 13 years as host: the real, lasting value of relationships in our business—and in our lives.

The latest episode wasn’t just another deep-dive on marketing tactics or the latest technological leaps. It was a refreshing, at times vulnerable, conversation with my dear friend and marketing powerhouse Mathew Sweezey. Together, we explored what companionship and genuine connection really mean in marketing, and, more candidly, in my own journey.

Although Mathew works for Monks, named Ad Age magazine’s AI agency of the year, he is, and always has been, about the human relationship.

You can hear the complete podcast episode here:

Listen to Episode 330 of The Marketing Companion

Why I Avoided This Topic

I’ve never excelled at what people traditionally call “networking.” I tell stories about ducking out of cocktail parties packed with potential clients, all so I could have one meaningful dinner with an old friend. Frankly, I’ve always preferred deep, one-on-one conversations over the shallow hustle of business-card exchanges, where people look over your shoulder hunting for the next “important” contact.

Yet, time and again, friends (including Mathew) insist I’m actually good at relationships. The irony? Maybe I just don’t fit the conventional mold. My strongest connections often live far away, and for years I’ve felt a nagging sense that I haven’t done enough to build local, everyday friendships.

But this show — and the heartfelt sentiment Mathew shared — made me realize the other side of this narrative. Whether sitting by a fire sipping bourbon with close friends after years on the speaking circuit, or watching the tight-knit nature of the RISE community, it’s become clear: relationships are not a numbers game. They’re about depth, support, and showing up when it matters most.

The Only True Competitive Advantage

We swapped stories about brands that exemplify the power of real human touch. [Matthew Sweezy](/speakers/B) described how the CEO of an ultralight backpacking brand personally answers gear questions on Reddit, creating passionate customer loyalty. He told another memorable story about a gear retailer whose staff reached out after a sock order—not with a canned follow-up, but to genuinely ask, “Where are you headed on your next adventure?” That’s how you make a customer for life.

The data backs it up. After Backcountry.com introduced their “Gearheads” program—dedicated, knowledgeable staff providing personal advice—customer engagement and lifetime value soared by over 40%. The takeaway? In a world of AI, automation, and content velocity, the single thing your competitors truly cannot copy is how you treat people.

The Future: Humane Marketing

As we discussed the implications of rapidly advancing AI, another nuance came into focus: the line between human marketing and humane marketing. Increasingly, customers (even those who are hesitant with technology) would rather get a fast, caring resolution from artificial intelligence than be stuck on hold with indifferent customer service. Our real goal as marketers, then, is to deliver the most humane experience that solves problems kindly and efficiently, regardless of the source.

There was a poignant moment in our conversation when I reflected on my path, shifting from building things to building people. Author Arthur C. Brooks suggests that our greatest fulfillment later in life comes from nurturing, teaching, and mentoring. That’s where I find meaning now, and what I hope to do more of post-podcast.

Relationships, it turns out, have underpinned everything we’ve built on this show, even when they didn’t look like “networking” as the business world defines it. And if you’re out there feeling like I am — not quite wired for the cocktail circuit, but still hungry for connection — take heart. Your quiet, consistent loyalty and willingness to show up matter deeply to the people it touches.

Please support our sponsors, who make this fantastic episode possible.

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now, any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customers to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

A recent Semrush study found that AI search traffic is projected to surpass traditional search by 2028. That makes now the time to prepare your brand for the future of search.

With Semrush AI Search tools, you will lead this transition.

• Track your AI visibility score: See a single, clear benchmark of your share of voice across AI search platforms.
• Identify AI mention opportunities: Uncover sources where your competitors are cited—but you’re not—including social media, forums, and more.
• Benchmark against competitors: Find the exact prompts, mentions, and sources where your competitors appear in AI responses and you don’t.
• Discover trending prompts: Spot the real questions your audience is asking AI platforms—and build content around them.
• Shape your brand narrative: Monitor the sentiment and context tied to your AI mentions, and make sure your brand is being represented the way you want.

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post The critical distinction between Human versus Humane marketing appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

As the Marketing Companion enters its next chapter, I had the privilege of sitting down once again with one of my favorite partners in creativity, Jay Acunzo. It was a special, almost bittersweet episode—not only because we discussed the show’s upcoming transition to new leadership with Sandy Carter, but also because Jay and I have traveled such a meaningful road together. Our conversation became a celebration of all things enduring in marketing, creativity, and personal brand building.

You can hear this special episode here:

Listen to Episode 329 of The Marketing Companion

Here is an AI-generated summary of the show highlights:

The “Why” Behind Consistency

Jay proposed the very topic that guided this conversation: “sustainability” in our public work. We explored what it means to not just chase trends or create content for immediate gratification, but to build something meaningful and lasting.

Jay described the nuances behind being called someone who “grinds”: he doesn’t see himself as a “grinder” but as someone who chases curiosity relentlessly and who has orchestrated shifts in his career from speaking to coaching creators to helping leaders hone their public presence. The idea is clear—sustainability is not just about showing up, but about enjoying the process and being intentional about how we evolve.

Curiosity, Practice, and Embracing Pivots

We both agreed: content is the fuel of any brand, corporate or personal. Jay’s journey exemplified an agile, curiosity-driven approach to content creation. He started as a sports journalist and blogger in the early days, before “blogging” was a buzzword, using free tools to write for himself and a handful of readers. That curiosity kickstarted everything—even his career at Google was influenced more by his blog than by his academic credentials.

For today’s students and young professionals, Jay’s story is vital. Start building your brand now, even if only your mom is reading! Create content, keep at it, and don’t stop. If you do, you’ll cultivate an edge that’s hard to replicate.

Jay’s path took him from sports into business, then into content marketing, before anyone really knew what it was. He saw the creative side of this business firsthand, abandoned his old blog for a new one focused on emerging trends, and even built community meetups with other content professionals. The thread? Consistent side projects, relentlessly pursuing curiosity—not viral “success”—have formed the foundation of Jay’s staying power and growth.

The Engine of Endurance

I’ve long believed that building a brand—whether through blogging, podcasts, or newsletters—can’t be a “project.” It’s a lifestyle. Just like running or going to the gym, it’s about integrating consistency into life’s fabric and keeping the train moving.

I shared the core disciplines I teach for lasting creative presence:

1. Awareness: See your life as a source of stories and ideas.
2. Capture: Always write down your ideas, or you’ll lose them.
3. Schedule: Dedicate time to your craft—don’t leave it to chance.
4. Relax and Enjoy: Create at moments when you can focus, undistracted.

For more than a decade, I blogged over a thousand weeks in a row and never missed a podcast episode. The point: create discipline, not as a temporary effort, but as something that shapes your identity. Make yourself the kind of person who “just does this” rather than someone who’s always chasing a new tactic.

Jay reinforced this. He described how writing and creating are not a means to an end but the end itself. You must love the process—the tactile rhythm of typing, the accomplishment of hitting “publish”—even if no one’s watching. If you’re only aiming for an outcome (followers, dollars, virality), you’ll burn out as soon as the market doesn’t respond. Find intrinsic motivation, and let that be your compass.

The Shift That Happens to All Creators

One fascinating insight from my interviews for my KNOWN book was that almost everyone starts out creating for tactical reasons—a need to grow a business or personal brand. But as you persist and attraction builds, a greater purpose reveals itself. You realize you can inspire, include, and uplift others. The privilege and responsibility deepen. If early on, doing the work might have been about business success, over time, the pie chart of motivations flips—helping others becomes the dominant driver.

Jay echoed this with a powerful mantra: “We create what we wish existed in the world.” The business world often tries to force us to create what the market or the algorithm demands, but inevitably we are driven back to our desire to add something meaningful—something “we” long to see in the world.

The Limits of Tricks (and the Infinite Potential of Resonance)

The lure of tips, tricks, and algorithms is constant, but as Jay and I discussed, they all have an expiration date. Tricks can maybe earn you a click, but not a genuine connection or loyalty. True resonance—when your work means something, when people respond with gratitude or share your story with others—is earned, not engineered.

You can buy reach; you cannot buy resonance. And resonance is what matters. Jay underscored that your impact isn’t measured just by the immediate metrics, but by the people who listen all the way through, who write back passionately, who mention your ideas when you’re not in the room.

Please support our sponsors, who make this fantastic episode possible.

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now, any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customers to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

A recent Semrush study found that AI search traffic is projected to surpass traditional search by 2028. That makes now the time to prepare your brand for the future of search.

With Semrush AI Search tools, you will lead this transition.

• Track your AI visibility score: See a single, clear benchmark of your share of voice across AI search platforms.
• Identify AI mention opportunities: Uncover sources where your competitors are cited—but you’re not—including social media, forums, and more.
• Benchmark against competitors: Find the exact prompts, mentions, and sources where your competitors appear in AI responses and you don’t.
• Discover trending prompts: Spot the real questions your audience is asking AI platforms—and build content around them.
• Shape your brand narrative: Monitor the sentiment and context tied to your AI mentions, and make sure your brand is being represented the way you want.

The post Secrets of the Sustainable Personal Brand appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Typically, this blog focuses on marketing and business. But occasionally, I write about something happening in my life that is rare and strange if I think it can be a teachable moment.

I’ve reached an unexpected and disorienting point in my career. I thought I would write about it, partially to teach, partially to sort through my own dilemma.

A few weeks ago, I taught a series of workshops at McKinsey and Company. I talked about the themes of my books: personal branding, brand communities, how AI is changing human psychology, and more.

In other words, this was my dream come true … Talking about big ideas with some of the smartest and most innovative minds on the planet. Being hired by McKinsey was a peak experience — the company’s research shows up in a lot of my work. They are my favorite thought leaders.

As I finished my day (exhausted!) and looked out over the glorious view from the 64th floor of their Manhattan office tower, I felt on top of the world.

And that’s the problem.

A career led by curiosity

Let’s back up a moment. I need to reveal something strange.

I’ve never really had any career goals. I know … that seems so counterintuitive.

I am not driven by money, fame, or awards. I am propelled by a fever of curiosity.

Here’s an example.

I never dreamed of writing a book. In fact, the idea seemed intimidating. But in 2010, I was approached by McGraw-Hill to explore a new idea I had blogged about — the ability for anyone to publish content on the web. Influence had been democratized.

Early creators (bloggers back then) were building large, loyal audiences, and the power was shifting from Madison Avenue and newsrooms to these passionate individuals changing the world one post at a time. Anybody could be an influencer. And they would be powerful tastemakers and thought leaders.

We take that idea for granted today, but back then, this was a radical notion. I wrote Return On Influence, a bestseller that elevated me to the national stage. I was featured in The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, and Bloomberg to discuss a new concept called influencer marketing.

Being a pioneer in influence marketing meant I could have started a new agency based on this model or monetized this idea in a hundred different ways. While I did some speaking on the topic and helped Dentsu create the first large-scale influence marketing department, I walked away.

I would have been bored out of my mind if I had focused on this one idea!

There was another idea brewing. What is the implication when millions of people are creating their own audiences, shifting attention from mainstream media? The economics of media and content marketing were changing forever. I called this Content Shock, an idea that launched a new phase of my career, at least for awhile.

And that has been my story. Explore an idea and move on. Maybe I’ve left money on the table by not turning ideas into businesses, but I’m happy.

I never had a goal to write a book. I had no dream to be on the news. I never thought I would become a keynote speaker, which is now my primary form of income. I just followed my curiosity and the world kept rewarding me with opportunities.

Looking out from the top

And this gets me back to McKinsey.

In the past 12 months, I’ve conducted a workshop on brand communities for P&G, appeared on the biggest stage at SXSW, and had two new books featured on many “best of the year” lists. I worked in Romania, France, and Italy this year. I’ve been invited to speak in Asia soon.

Now, as I stood on top of the world at the McKinsey office tower, I had a unique and lonely feeling. I had just inspired a group of people at my favorite company. I never thought I would find myself in such a place.

And this is what I felt: There is nothing left. Literally and figuratively, I was standing at the top of the mountain. There is no more “up.”

A disorienting feeling

This sense of depression took me by surprise. I had never felt anything like this and never expected to have this feeling at a moment when I should have been so happy and at peace.

I grew up in humble circumstances that had taught me to have low expectations in life.

And here I am looking into the final third of my life after the most incredible ride. I’ve worked with premier companies like Adidas, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Pfizer. I gave a TEDx talk, started an amazing community, founded a marketing retreat called The Uprising, hosted a top marketing podcast for more than a decade. My books are used as assigned textbooks in many universities. Wild, right?

I’m not looking for an answer for my sulleness. The next step always shows up because I am still curious! But I’m experiencing something unsettling and new, and I thought I would share it with you.

I suppose in a way this is a good thing. Shouldn’t we all get to feel what it’s like to be at the top of our career mountain?

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Image courtesy Mid Journey

The post When There’s No More “Up.” Lessons from the Top of the Mountain appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.