Build systems that do the selling for you
Real tactics for consistent lead flow and making AI a hands-on collaborator
Growth isn’t a volume game—it’s a systems game.
This week, I’m breaking down the systems behind consistent leads, strategic AI use, and content that keeps working even when you’re not.
Today’s agenda:
📈 How to earn 20K organic leads (without ads)
🤖 Podcast: Don’t overhype OR ignore AI
🤫 What to do when a lead goes silent
💼 Briefly: AI workflows, brand content, & smart SEO
⏱️ Up & coming: Is AI making us smarter, or just faster?
🔁 The compounding power of showing up
Many early-stage teams overestimate ads and underestimate consistency.
You can grow 20,000+ organic leads without spending a cent on paid—I’ve done it myself.
📊 Here’s how:
Prioritize rhythm over reach: Find your sweet spot. For example, write one weekly blog + three social posts every week without fail. Don’t chase trends—create repeatable, founder-led content that solves real problems and builds trust.
Treat SEO like a long game: Research high-intent keywords, write evergreen articles, and use internal links to guide readers toward action. It can take months to ramp—but when the traffic hits, it compounds fast and free.
Embed yourself in the community: Leverage niche forums, Slack groups, and LinkedIn DMs to reach your audience. Listen, answer questions, and turn real conversations into content. This builds loyalty before you pitch.
Make it easy for your audience to sell for you: Turn customer wins into posts. Showcase it all—screenshots, testimonials, threads—make it simple to share, and always give credit.
Track what matters: Follow every post, headline, and conversion path. Then, double down on what works and quietly drop what doesn’t.
When you stop trying to capture attention and start earning it, your pipeline will build itself.
💡 Want the full system? Here’s how we did it.
🪄 AI isn’t magic. It’s a teammate.
Most founders make one of two mistakes with AI: they either expect it to run their entire marketing playbook or they dismiss it entirely after one bad output.
In my latest podcast appearance on the Digital Velocity Podcast, I break down how to strike the right balance—and how to actually get ROI out of tools like ChatGPT.
👇 Watch this 60-second clip to see what I mean:
🤖 If you're ready to build AI into your marketing ops (without losing your edge), check out the full episode below.
Erik and I get into:
Common AI myths and the real bottlenecks
Human-in-the-loop workflows that scale
How to keep brand voice intact with AI in the mix
🧊 Leads gone cold? Make the next move count.
You captured the lead… then crickets. No reply. No demo booked. No signal of life.
Sound familiar?
Most teams treat these low-intent leads like dead weight. But they’re not a loss—they’re just early. And if you know how to handle them, they’ll warm up over time.
Here’s what works:
🖼️ Reframe the role: A cold lead isn’t low value—it’s early stage. Your job is to educate, not close.
🍦 Qualify softly: Skip the hard asks and offer something useful. Let engagement—not urgency—drive the next move.
➰ Create a simple nurture loop: Think short email series, value-first LinkedIn content, and light retargeting. Keep showing up.
📶 Watch for activation signals: Pricing page visits, guide downloads, replays of your webinar—these are your warm-up cues.
🌪️ Fill the middle of the funnel: This is where most teams lose momentum. Build content that bridges curiosity to conviction.
Successful founders don’t throw away leads—they play the long game.
Briefly
🤖 Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says AI now handles 30–50% of the company’s work—things humans used to do. It’s not just automation—it’s a shift toward freeing teams up for higher-value thinking.
✍️ AI can write on-brand—if you train it right. A new guide from HubSpot breaks down how to teach AI your voice by treating it like a junior writer. With the right prompts, examples, and feedback loops, it stops sounding robotic and starts sounding like you.
🧠 Not all AI tools “read” the same internet. New data shows Gemini leans on Reddit, YouTube, and Amazon, while ChatGPT still pulls heavily from Google. Translation? If you’re optimizing for AI discovery, SEO still matters—especially if ChatGPT is part of your audience’s workflow.
💻 Microsoft is retiring the iconic Blue Screen of Death. A new black version will roll out with Windows 11 updates this summer, promising faster recovery and fewer disruptions. For anyone who’s built a pitch deck only to lose it mid-save—this one's for you.
📣 Brand-building content can convert—if you let it. SEO strategist Mordy Oberstein says the real game isn’t separating CRO from authority, it’s creating momentum. Use content to connect, then make conversion feel like the next natural step.
Up & Coming
A new MIT study suggests that using tools like ChatGPT might erode our ability to think critically. When answers come too easily, we stop wrestling with ideas—and that has long-term consequences.
But it’s not the tech that’s the problem. It’s how we use it.
Like an e-bike for the brain, AI can help you go farther, faster—if you’re still pedaling. Used thoughtfully, it can push your thinking deeper, not replace it. The risk isn’t automation. It’s apathy.
This piece from Fast Company nails both the anxiety and the opportunity.