Stolen directly from Joel Comm... if you're not familiar with Joel, he's been an early adopter of just about anything and everything that 's techie and "scary". But he's just a "Joe Schmo" who has made a boatload and influenced many simply because he started speaking about the "new stuff" first. READ THIS ARTICLE... it may change how you view AI and why you should see the greater opportunity, while seeing the threat, too. Both can be true. _ _ _ _ In 2004, I was carrying a Palm Treo 650 in my pocket. Let me tell you, I felt like I had space-age technology. Email on a phone. A tiny web browser. A camera that took pictures you could almost identify. I showed it to my friends still carrying a flip-phone and they looked at me like I’d brought fire down from the mountain. That phone now sits in a dump somewhere, and my iPhone could run circles around it while simultaneously ordering dinner and translating a conversation in Mandarin. The Treo wasn’t just outdated. It became unrecognizable as a “smartphone” by any modern standard. I’m thrilled to welcome new subscribers every day! Welcome to those of you who recently joined as paid subscribers. And greetings to those of you who enjoy my writing and want to be the next to support! I keep thinking about that Treo. I did love that device. We Never See It While We’re In It I’ve been building things on the internet since 1995. That’s six technology revolutions: the web, search, social media, mobile, blockchain, and now AI. And every single one of them had what I call a “Treo moment.” A point where the technology felt so advanced, so clearly the pinnacle, that you couldn’t imagine what could possibly come next. The first time a web page loaded over a dial-up connection, I thought I was witnessing the future of communication. The first time Google actually found what I was looking for, it felt like someone had organized the entire internet just for me. The first time I posted something online and a complete stranger on the other side of the world responded, it was electric.

Eeeewwwwww. A word of warning: Don't read this copywriting lesson if you're eating. Or just finished eating. But if you aren't, let me tell you a story... ... about a brilliant professor who discovered that every word you say or type has a different flavor: This professor was waiting at the front of the class for everyone to arrive. After they did... ... he pulled a bag of cookies out of his bag... ... brought them towards the desks where all the students were seated, and gestured for everyone to take a cookie. Everyone reached in the bag. Grabbed a cookie. Some of them two. And they started munching away. "How do the cookies taste?" the professor asked. And some replied that they weren't bad, others said that the cookies tasted good, yet others said that the flavor was a bit off but it was still passable, and on and on it went. Until finally: When everyone had given their opinion... ... the professor held the bag up... ... turned it around so people could see the label... ... and on the front of the bag it said: "Dog Biscuits" - - - - The students were shocked. Some of them went green in the face. Others started retching like crazy. And a lot of them held their hands to their mouths, and started rushing out of the classroom and towards the washroom. After which, the professor said with a laugh: "Congratulations! You now know that the mouth does not just eat food. It eats words as well!" Now: I have no clue whether that professor was just pulling stuff out of his butt and trolling them. Or whether he really fed them dog food. But... ... fact of the matter is... ... the words you use in your content, copy, or whatever else you use them for, really have 'flavors'. Flavors that can either make people barf, or make people binge. But the sickest thing? Most people are constantly using words that make you puke. Especially, AI-generated words, because AI can't tell the difference between a hot pizza fresh out of the oven and a dog biscuit straight out of the pet store.

Came across this... what is it you WANT them to read? In what order? These are design choices. • Position • Size • Color • White Space • Interplay • Graphics Be purposeful in how you communicate.

He led all community members this past month... and all it took was +7 to win! What will he receive? Past winners have received $25 gift cards, old CA's, even a 1970's sci-fi squirt gun! Since @Joe Hausch is a friend and not far away... Joe wins a free lunch to any one of Milwaukee's fine Custard Stands... of his choosing! Where to, Joe?

I just read a great article on Marketing and AI, and have been inundated with news of how AI will be the deathknell for industry creatives. THAT'S JUST NOT SO... at least for THE BRAVE. Let the top 2 bullet points sink in... _ _ _ _ The Growth Newsletter #330: AI ISN'T BUILT FOR MARKETING AI is great at finding the most likely answer, but great marketing works by being unexpected and distinctive. That creates a fundamental conflict: - AI = consensus - Marketing = differentiation So when companies rely too heavily on AI for branding, positioning, and messaging, they naturally start sounding the same. KEY POINTS - LLMs are prediction engines. Tools like ChatGPT generate the statistically most probable next words based on existing patterns. That works well for tasks needing accuracy or consistency, but poorly for originality and brand differentiation. - The problem isn’t “bad AI copy.” The real issue is companies using AI for strategic decisions. - AI pushes brands toward sameness.The article points to examples like cybersecurity companies all using nearly identical AI messaging and branding. Consumers increasingly notice and dislike generic AI-generated content. - Research suggests AI reduces creative diversity at scale. One cited study found that when ChatGPT was temporarily unavailable in Italy, online content became more varied and engagement improved. Other research showed AI can help individuals feel more productive while making group output less creative overall. - AI works best in operational layers, not identity layers.The article compares business to a restaurant: - Distinctive brands may gain an even bigger advantage. The more companies produce safe, average, AI-shaped marketing, brands with a strong human voice and unique perspective stand out more. The author calls this the “Distinctiveness Dividend.” BOTTOM LINE Don't be anti-AI. It argues that AI is powerful for execution and efficiency, but dangerous when companies let it replace human creative judgment and strategic differentiation.