
&lt;article class=&quot;newsletter&quot;&gt;
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        &lt;h2 class=&quot;newsletter-title&quot;&gt;The  Argonautic:  022&lt;/h2&gt;
        &lt;time class=&quot;newsletter-date&quot;&gt;July 6, 2025&lt;/time&gt;
    &lt;/header&gt;
    &lt;div class=&quot;newsletter-content&quot;&gt;
        &lt;p&gt;This week: why AI is the great equalizer for small firms, making your brand a luxury good in a post-Google world, and why your best growth strategy might be doing &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; marketing. And the one question you must ask before buying any AI tool, straight from industry leaders who&#39;ve learned the hard way.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;AI in Marketing and Business Operations&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is artificial intelligence the great equalizer for small professional services firms?&lt;/strong&gt; While large enterprises pour millions into AI, small businesses are proving you don&#39;t need deep pockets to gain an edge. The opportunity isn&#39;t in building custom models but in cleverly applying accessible tools to automate operations, streamline marketing, and improve delivery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;AI gives smaller players &lt;strong&gt;enterprise-grade capabilities&lt;/strong&gt;. According to the &lt;em&gt;European Business Review&lt;/em&gt;, this allows SMBs to combine their natural agility with powerful analytical foresight. Marketing agencies are using AI to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.designrush.com/agency/digital-marketing/trends/artificial-intelligence-in-digital-marketing-examples&quot;&gt;accelerate content creation&lt;/a&gt; while consulting firms automate research to focus on high-value strategy. Think of it as a silent partner handling tedious work.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Before buying any AI tool, John Jantsch suggests asking one simple question: &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ducttapemarketing_what-you-should-stop-doing-for-2025-if-you-activity-7346168774573608960-LiAc&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;What specific customer problem will it solve?&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; As &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wilreynolds_claude-was-used-to-run-a-small-vending-machine-activity-7345423281086185472-rWkV&quot;&gt;Wil Reynolds highlights&lt;/a&gt; in an experiment where AI nearly ran a vending machine business into the ground, human oversight remains critical.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout big-idea&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;BIG IDEA&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;AI gives small firms the leverage to compete with giants by automating processes and freeing up founders for strategy and client relationships.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;WHY IT MATTERS&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For solo and small firms, this means scaling your capacity without scaling headcount. Deliver more sophisticated services while operating more efficiently.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Comment insights:&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A commenter on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wilreynolds_claude-was-used-to-run-a-small-vending-machine-activity-7345423281086185472-rWkV&quot;&gt;Wil Reynolds&#39; post&lt;/a&gt; notes these failed experiments reveal the &amp;quot;guardrails and oversight&amp;quot; needed for real-world automation.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A user responding to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dcb_dcb-favs-activity-7345975674047721472-Ju2I&quot;&gt;David C. Baker&lt;/a&gt; shares that AI excels with &amp;quot;the annoying stuff in the &#39;too hard&#39; basket,&amp;quot; like analyzing survey data.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Future of Digital Content and Customer Experience&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What does your marketing look like in a post-Google world?&lt;/strong&gt; As search engines evolve into answer engines, driving traffic to your website is becoming less effective. In this new reality, where AI-generated content makes everything feel generic, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gapingvoid.com/humans-are-the-new-luxury-goods/&quot;&gt;humanity is the new luxury good&lt;/a&gt;. Your ability to create authentic connections is your most defensible advantage.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The long-held mantra to &amp;quot;never build your business on rented land&amp;quot; is being challenged. As &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ducttapemarketing_ever-since-websites-became-a-thing-marketers-activity-7346532420701011968-eBqP&quot;&gt;John Jantsch argues&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, if your audience is on LinkedIn or YouTube, ignoring these platforms is a mistake. The real opportunity to build trust is happening where your customers already pay attention.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Your goal should be creating content so genuinely useful that &lt;strong&gt;people seek you out directly&lt;/strong&gt;. As &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michaeljkatz_choice-is-overrated-imagine-if-you-sat-down-activity-7345454836810719235-Gkgn&quot;&gt;Michael Katz writes&lt;/a&gt;, choice is overrated; a well-curated, memorable experience is far more valuable than a sprawling menu of mediocre options. Your job is to be the trusted guide, not just another search result.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout big-idea&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;BIG IDEA&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In an AI-driven world, audience attention and trust are your most valuable assets. Build relationships where your audience actually lives, even on &amp;quot;rented&amp;quot; platforms.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;WHY IT MATTERS&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Your strategy must evolve from chasing clicks to building community. A strong brand and direct audience relationship form your moat against impersonal content.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Comment insights:&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A commenter on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ducttapemarketing_ever-since-websites-became-a-thing-marketers-activity-7346532420701011968-eBqP&quot;&gt;John Jantsch&#39;s post&lt;/a&gt; adds that the key is using rented land to drive people to your &amp;quot;owned land,&amp;quot; creating an ecosystem.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;On &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeff-mowatt-533ab82_customerreferrals-remarkableservice-clientexperience-activity-7346183388770312195-9cSG&quot;&gt;Jeff Mowatt&#39;s post&lt;/a&gt;, someone points out that &amp;quot;remarkable&amp;quot; service creates an &amp;quot;emotional experience&amp;quot; that people remember and share.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Business Growth and Client Relationships&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is your marketing strategy aligned with growth, or just creating noise?&lt;/strong&gt; As &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/meg-gowell_growth-marketing-gets-blamed-for-sales-activity-7307747889466798080-lcQb&quot;&gt;Meg Gowell points out&lt;/a&gt;, growth marketing often takes blame for deeper problems like poor positioning or a product nobody wants. Real growth isn&#39;t about hacks; it&#39;s solving meaningful problems for the right people.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This starts with positioning. As consultant &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markwschaefer_i-have-done-hundreds-of-personal-coaching-activity-7346504459205636096-WcOW&quot;&gt;Mark Schaefer explains&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;being good at something isn&#39;t enough&lt;/strong&gt;. You must align your strengths with a problem that keeps people up at night—one they&#39;ll pay to solve. This clarity attracts ideal clients and repels the wrong ones.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/randfishkin_sparktoro-just-had-its-best-2-months-in-the-activity-7346230026167558144-4gPw&quot;&gt;Rand Fishkin of SparkToro&lt;/a&gt; demonstrates this approach. The company achieved its best results in two years &lt;strong&gt;not by chasing new leads, but by deeply understanding what their loyal customers needed&lt;/strong&gt; and building solutions for them. This focus on delivering real value is a model for sustainable growth.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout big-idea&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;BIG IDEA&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sustainable growth comes from solving a specific, high-value problem for a well-defined audience—not from more marketing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;WHY IT MATTERS&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As a small firm, you can&#39;t out-spend competition. Your superpower is the ability to out-care and out-focus them by building deep relationships with a niche audience.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Comment insights:&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A commenter on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markwschaefer_i-have-done-hundreds-of-personal-coaching-activity-7346504459205636096-WcOW&quot;&gt;Mark Schaefer&#39;s post&lt;/a&gt; notes that asking &amp;quot;what problem do you solve?&amp;quot; shifts focus from your process to the client&#39;s pain.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;On &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/randfishkin_sparktoro-just-had-its-best-2-months-in-the-activity-7346230026167558144-4gPw&quot;&gt;Rand Fishkin&#39;s post&lt;/a&gt;, someone reinforces that true product-market fit is &amp;quot;figuring out who your best customers are and making the product better &lt;em&gt;for them&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Human-Centric Leadership and Professional Development&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In our drive to be accommodating, are we accidentally creating workplaces that tolerate poor performance?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dcb_this-last-episode-released-yesterday-was-activity-7346522004138651650-tBHX&quot;&gt;David C. Baker warns&lt;/a&gt; that &amp;quot;bring your whole self to work&amp;quot; shouldn&#39;t mean abandoning high standards. We should embrace diversity in people while remaining intolerant of poor work habits.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The key leadership challenge is coaching your team effectively. In a viral post, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mobunnell_you-cant-coach-everyone-the-same-way-because-activity-7343608982890065922-x5M3&quot;&gt;Mo Bunnell outlines his Skill-Will Matrix&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, a simple framework for diagnosing what each team member needs. A &amp;quot;Hungry Learner&amp;quot; (high will, low skill) needs guidance, while &amp;quot;Drifting Talent&amp;quot; (high skill, low will) needs reconnection to purpose.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Great leadership builds trust and sets clear standards. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thechrisdo_amateurs-vs-professionals-the-difference-activity-7345615454947692545-EHoz&quot;&gt;Chris Do explains&lt;/a&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;professionals practice continuous improvement, take responsibility, and deliver results&lt;/strong&gt;. Your job is to model this behavior and create an environment where it becomes the norm.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout big-idea&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;BIG IDEA&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Effective leadership balances empathy with accountability, tailoring your approach to individuals while upholding high standards for the team.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;WHY IT MATTERS&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As a firm owner, you drive culture and performance. Learning to coach—not just boss—is essential for building a team that thrives without constant oversight.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Comment insights:&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A commenter on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mobunnell_you-cant-coach-everyone-the-same-way-because-activity-7343608982890065922-x5M3&quot;&gt;Mo Bunnell&#39;s post&lt;/a&gt; calls the matrix a &amp;quot;game changer&amp;quot; for having difficult conversations without them feeling personal.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A person responding to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dcb_this-last-episode-released-yesterday-was-activity-7346522004138651650-tBHX&quot;&gt;David C. Baker&lt;/a&gt; states &amp;quot;accountability and compassion are not mutually exclusive&amp;quot; and clear expectations are a form of kindness.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Pricing Strategies for Professional Services&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why do people happily drive past a dozen donut shops to wait in line and pay more at just one?&lt;/strong&gt; As &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanstark_do-you-usually-buy-the-cheapest-i-doubt-activity-7345530420400209920-rYhV&quot;&gt;Jonathan Stark asks&lt;/a&gt;, your own buying behavior proves that cheapest is rarely what we want. This observation holds a profound lesson: your clients don&#39;t want the cheapest option; they want the best.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The most effective pricing strategy isn&#39;t based on your time or costs; &lt;strong&gt;it&#39;s based on the value you create&lt;/strong&gt;. Instead of selling hours, sell outcomes. Get crystal clear on your positioning with a simple statement: &amp;quot;I help X (your ideal buyer) with Y (their desired outcome).&amp;quot; This shifts the conversation from activities to business results.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Avoid &amp;quot;selling to your own wallet,&amp;quot; where you underprice because you wouldn&#39;t pay what you&#39;re asking. &lt;strong&gt;A price that feels enormous to you might be a rounding error for a business gaining hundreds of thousands from your work.&lt;/strong&gt; The goal is to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanstark_when-it-comes-to-your-pricing-wouldnt-you-activity-7346979885313142785-7OmC&quot;&gt;race to the top, not the bottom&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout big-idea&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;BIG IDEA&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Your price is a signal of your value. Stop charging for time and start charging for results.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;callout&quot;&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;WHY IT MATTERS&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Pricing is your most powerful tool for increasing profitability without more work. Value-based pricing transforms you from a commodity into a strategic partner paid for impact.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Comment insights:&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A commenter on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanstark_do-you-usually-buy-the-cheapest-i-doubt-activity-7345530420400209920-rYhV&quot;&gt;Jonathan Stark&#39;s post&lt;/a&gt; explains they buy from a specific butcher because of &amp;quot;trust and consistency,&amp;quot; justifying higher prices.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Another person responding to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanstark_when-it-comes-to-your-pricing-wouldnt-you-activity-7346979885313142785-7OmC&quot;&gt;Stark&#39;s positioning post&lt;/a&gt; notes that a strong positioning statement &amp;quot;acts as a filter for ME&amp;quot; too, not just clients.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Sound Bites&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;🎙️ &lt;a href=&quot;https://ducttapemarketing.com/ai-andy-crestodina-digital-marketing/&quot;&gt;AI, Analytics &amp;amp; Content Strategy&lt;/a&gt;: John Jantsch interviews Andy Crestodina about leveraging AI tools for content creation while maintaining quality and authenticity.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;🎥 &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dcb_a-third-tedx-presentation-this-one-on-20-activity-7347347479945764864-TzEh&quot;&gt;20 Lessons on Entrepreneurship&lt;/a&gt;: David C. Baker distills two decades of advising professional service entrepreneurs into twenty actionable insights in this TEDx presentation.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

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