A simple way to sort your clients into A, B and C, spot the lovely ones quietly draining you, and invest your time where it pays back for you and for them.
Neil Martin · Beats, Business & Life
Business
Most AI search advice is nonsense
llms.txt files, self-made best-of lists and hidden AI prompts. What the research says about three popular ways to game AI search.
The Little Things: Samuel Smiles and Why Details Decide Your Business
Samuel Smiles said business runs on six little things. Why details, discipline and how you show up matter, why we decide on emotion, and how five 10% gains compound to 61%.
The best ad of the year cost one box
Oddbox watched other brands get roasted for AI ads, then made its best ad with a customer’s phone. Why real still wins.
Selling Is Serving: If I Can’t Help You Make Money, I Don’t Deserve Yours
If I can’t help you make money, I don’t deserve yours. Why selling is serving, the loved-one lens for sales conversations, and why you should be proud of your price.
The brief was the bottleneck
AI made ads cheap to produce, so Mother Root found its real constraint further upstream. Find your bottleneck before adding AI.
Make People Feel Understood: Henry Ford’s Secret and the FABs of Selling
Most people work hard to be understood. The bigger win is making people feel understood by you. Henry Ford’s one secret of success, why being blind to other points of view costs you, and the difference between features, advantages and benefits.
What wouldn’t you hand to AI?
Ecologi tested AI avatar outreach and stopped before 50 sends. Why deciding what you won’t do with AI is a brand decision.
What? So What? Now What? Hook, Story and Offer in Five Words
Five words, three questions. The simple way I’ve explained hook, story and offer for about a decade, why kids are better at it than most of us, and how to ask for what you want without doing harm.
Want 100% automation? Delete your phone number
Marshmallow’s AI agent handles most of its chats. Why the team stopped chasing the automation rate and measured what matters.
The Two Questions Benjamin Franklin Asked Every Day
Benjamin Franklin started and ended each day with a question about doing good. Why they’re worth borrowing, and why the only person who needs to be proud of you is you.
Seen is not chosen
TalkTalk was the most visible broadband brand to AI and among the least recommended. Why being findable is no longer enough.
Every week
Get The Mix
One short email a week. One track, one idea, one thing worth your time.
Two minutes to read. Unsubscribe in one click.
Free stuff
Free downloads
Planners and one-page guides to print and scribble on. No email needed.
About
Hi, I’m Neil
DJing since 1987, three decades in business, and the author of Done Beats Perfect. This is where I write it all down.