Now the Funnel Is Dying. Only Your Story Can Save You. They sold you the dream. Big Tech promised that if you could track it, you could control it. That with enough dashboards, pixels, retargeting, and funnels, you could build something that lasts. But what they never told you is this: Funnels don’t build brands. They only extract value from them. Many of you don’t have a brand. You have a set of automations wrapped around a discount code. And…
Even the most intelligent AI can’t fix a broken story. And it can’t replace a team that doesn’t believe the same thing. After thirty years helping companies optimize conversions and build persuasive systems, we’ve seen one truth show up again and again: The right message always wins. Not the best product. Not the largest budget. The message that makes sense in the customer’s world. However, most companies don’t have a single story. They have six. Everyone thinks they’re right. Each…
A few years ago, if you wanted the best chicken soup recipe, you typed it into Google. You’d hit enter and brace yourself. First, you’d scroll past ads. Then you’d land on a blog post about someone’s grandmother. You’d dodge pop-ups, wait for autoplay videos to stop, skim through 1,500 words of meandering storytelling, and eventually, if you were lucky, find the actual recipe. That was the era of browsing. We didn’t like it, but we played along. Publishers optimized…
What if I told you the difference between words that get ignored and words that change lives comes down to just two words? Not “once upon.” Not “the end.” Two little connectors that most people overlook: ‘but’ and ‘therefore’. Stay with me because this is the hinge between someone forgetting your message and someone retelling it a decade later. Timelines Don’t Persuade Most people confuse stories with timelines. “And then this happened. And then that happened.” That isn’t a story.…
Frustrated at waiting for Google to update their index, I recently ran a simple experiment. I wrote a press release, published it, and watched as AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini instantly treated it as fact. Think about that for a moment. A single piece of content became the “truth” inside systems that millions of people now rely on for answers. That experiment is just one of the stories I shared with Slobodan Manic on his No Hacks podcast. But…
When we talk about customer experience (CX), it’s easy to focus on the outward stuff: the slick interfaces, the polished training, the customer-facing slogans. But let’s zoom in a bit further. The real magic of a memorable customer experience actually starts with the stories your team believes internally. These internal narratives are the hidden engine of your CX. They’re the quiet interface that shapes how customers feel when they interact with you. The Alignment Gap: What the Research Says Here’s…
What separates the businesses that last from the ones that flame out? It’s not branding. It’s not hustle. It’s not even timing. It’s conviction. That’s what I walked away with after sitting down with John Garrett, founder of Community Impact, on my Rock Solid podcast. His story isn’t just impressive. It’s instructive. Because in an era where founders obsess over funding rounds and social reach, John quietly built a print-first local newspaper company. In 2025, Community Impact is celebrating 20…
Five minutes. One stage. No second chances. That was the challenge at the Round Rock Chamber‘s Startup Day pitch competition. And that‘s where Joseph Fischer, founder of Playmaker Recruiting, stood out and won. Why his story connected Joseph didn‘t start with features or numbers. He started with his own story, an undersized kid from Pflugerville who saw scouts skip over talented teammates because they weren‘t at the “right” schools or tournaments.That frustration became his fuel. And the room felt it.…