Jason Bradwell

I believe there is a better way to sell in B2B, so I founded a company to pursue that mission. 

B2B Better exists to help service and solution-based businesses launch podcasts that help win more enterprise accounts. 

We're a marketing agency that does great production, not a production agency trying to figure out how to do marketing. Yes, we'll create highly polished audio and video that meets your brand standard. But the real value we bring to the table is helping figure out how a podcast can drive real-world commercial outcomes for your business. 

Want to talk? Email me at jason@b2b-better.com

**

Previously, I headed up marketing for Deltatre (sold to Bain Capital in 2022) and Massive Interactive (exited for $127m in 2018).

You can also join the 1,000+ marketers that listen to my podcast each week which exists to help companies rethink the status quo on how they win new business. 

🍎 [Apple] https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b2b-better/id1526471908

🟢 [Spotify] https://open.spotify.com/show/6KTApLNan7FrmmCU1tiyZV

I also share insights on how to do better marketing in my weekly newsletter, the B2B Bite.

📰 https://b2bbite.substack.com/

Founder and Fractional CMO

Strategic marketing advisory firm that helps solution providers rethink the status quo on how they win new business.

We offer:

> 30-Day Marketing Audit

You have a marketing function in place but it doesn’t seem to quite work. Over an intense 30-day sprint, we run a comprehensive audit of the entire strategy - from infrastructure to people to go-to-market - and present our findings alongside a 12-month plan on how to reorient your marketing towards revenue. 

> Fractional CMO Services

You know what's broken and how to fix it - you just need an experienced pair of hands to make sure it gets done. After we've run an audit, we work with you to build and scale your marketing strategy over a 12-month project.

> Marketing Sprints

Sometimes you need someone to give their undivided attention to solving a particular challenge. We'll come in to support you in achieving a defined marketing objective - like launching a podcast or performing a strategy audit - over a single quarter.

> 1:1 Marketing Support

Get access to a strategic marketing expert to soundboard ideas, review assets, or evaluate the particular areas where your team feels stuck in a 1-2-1 session described by some clients as "like marketing therapy"

Learn more at www.b2b-better.com

I’m resharing this because I think it deserves an alternative perspective, and because I have a vested interest in giving one.

My entire business is premised on the idea that podcasting, done correctly, drives commercial returns. So take what follows with that context in mind.

Paul’s article argues that corporate podcasting is a bubble about to burst. His case rests on a couple of core aguements:

>> that audio is slower to consume than text

>> that studies show listeners retain less than readers

>> … and that the investment is difficult to justify given the murky evidence of returns. 

On that last point especially, he’s not entirely wrong. Too many corporate podcasts are vanity projects with no coherent commercial purpose, and the industry has leaned on flimsy data to justify significant investment. 

He’s also fair enough to acknowledge that audio has genuine use cases. This isn’t a polemic.

Where I think the article goes wrong is in the question it’s asking.

Framing podcasting as audio versus text, and measuring audio against text on speed, comprehension, and searchability, is asking whether a hammer works as a screwdriver. The efficiency gap argument assumes that the alternative to listening to a podcast is reading an article, that both are competing for the same window of attention. 

They’re not. 

Audio fits around your life in a way that text cannot. The commute, the gym, the school run. That’s not time anyone spends reading white papers.

The comprehension studies cited compare students processing dense academic material in audio format against those reading it as text. 

Of course text wins there. 

But that tells us nothing about thought leadership content built specifically for the medium, designed to be engaging, conversational, and editorial rather than a recorded lecture.

The deeper issue is that in a services business, your people and your point of view are your most powerful differentiators. A video podcast is the most effective vehicle I’ve found for putting both front and centre, consistently and at scale. 

It’s not a content format. It’s a platform. The blog post, the transcript, the short-form clips, the sales asset: those are all outputs of the same engine.

The brands generating real returns from their podcasts are not measuring downloads. They’re treating it as a full-funnel thought leadership platform and measuring pipeline. 

We’ve worked with organisations that have attributed over a quarter of a million pounds in closed-won revenue to their podcast, tracked in HubSpot.

The question isn’t whether podcasting beats writing things down. It’s whether your people and your point of view are your biggest competitive advantage, and if so, what’s the most powerful vehicle to get them in front of the right buyers consistently.

I think I have a different answer to Paul on that. Happy to be challenged.

Curious to hear what you think Harry Morton, Gareth Evans, Ben Farley.

founder @ B2B Better • we turn points of view into pipeline • podcast marketing agency • co-founder of my daughter

Helping communicators lead with AI | Internal, External, & Executive Communications | AI Strategy & Leadership | Ghost-writing

My latest piece for Inc. Magazine.

“Next time someone proposes a corp podcast, ask them: What evidence do we have that this will work better than writing it down?

If they can't answer, you have your answer.”

💥

Open article: The Corporate Podcast Bubble Is About to Burst by inc.com

The Corporate Podcast Bubble Is About to Burst

"We've had 10,000 downloads across 30 episodes and booked two sales meetings. What are we doing wrong?"

Everything. Absolutely everything.

Because downloads are what podcast production agencies sell you. They're easy to measure and they don't pay anyone's salary.

Here's what actually went wrong:

The show was built to get listeners, not to close deals. The guests were influencers with big followings - not clients with real proof. The sales team had never heard of the show, let alone used it. And the content existed in a marketing silo that no one in revenue ever visited.

This isn't a content problem. It's a strategy problem.

The question that most teams don't ask before they hit record: which specific deals will this help us close?

If you can't answer it, you're not ready. You'll end up with more downloads and the same number of meetings.

The fix isn't complicated. Audit your funnel gaps first. Map content to deal stages second. Package everything for sales - not just social. Measure pipeline touched, deal velocity, rep usage. Not downloads.

Most B2B podcasts are expensive therapy for executives who like the sound of their own voice. The ones that drive revenue are built the other way around - starting with what sales needs and working backwards.

LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS - what's the most useless metric your leadership team still asks you to report on?

—

Check out this episode wherever you get your podcasts - just search 'Pipe Dream B2B Better' on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

—

Hey, I'm Jason. 👋

I help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into pipeline.

If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, DM me anytime.

More than happy to do a free 30-minute workshop with you.

I worked for a company once that powered some of the biggest sports media properties in the world.

Premier League. Formula One. Household names.

And we couldn't talk about any of it.

Rights holders don't give vendors free permission to use their logos and names. They get paid for sponsorship. Why would they give that to a tech company they're already paying for services?

So our case study pipeline was dead. Anonymous write-ups that nobody believed. An incredible body of work that was completely invisible commercially.

Then we launched a podcast.

Not "come and tell everyone how great we are." But: "Come and talk about the future of your industry. Here are the questions in advance. Nothing goes live without your sign-off."

The VP of Digital from a major US sports league - someone who had rejected every conventional request for four years - said yes almost immediately.

After we finished, I asked him why. He said: "For years you've been asking me to do things for you. This time, you asked me to do something for me."

That's the unlock.

Traditional case study: you get the logo, the quote, the credibility. They get the hassle, the legal review, the risk.

Podcast platform: they get a stage, content assets they can use for their own marketing, reach into your audience, and full approval rights. The value exchange is actually balanced.

The acceptance rate for case studies in regulated industries: roughly 5%.

For editorial podcast features framed this way: around 70%.

Same story. Completely different ask.

—

Check out this episode wherever you get your podcasts - just search 'Pipe Dream B2B Better' on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

—

Hey, I'm Jason. 👋

I help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into pipeline.

If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, DM me anytime.

More than happy to do a free 30-minute workshop with you.

Getting grilled by your exec team about thought leadership ROI? You HAVE to listen to this episode. 

I spend my entire day talking with B2B brands on how to run integrated thought leadership campaigns that turn their point of view into pipeline. One of the biggest questions that I get in response is: 

"Okay, but how do we measure it?" 

Sitting down with Ross Breckenridge for the latest episode of Pipe Dream to really dig into how you measure the success of your thought leadership against the metrics that actually matter (pipeline, revenue, profitability) was an absolute masterclass.

--

Check out this episode wherever you get your podcasts - just search 'Pipe Dream B2B Better' on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

--

Hey, I'm Jason. 👋

I help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into pipeline.
If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, DM me anytime.

More than happy to do a free 30-minute workshop with you.

What most B2B marketers think "becoming a media company" means:

> Hire a journalist
> Launch a podcast
> Post more content
> Build a BuzzFeed for your niche

What it actually means:

> Stop starting from zero every quarter
> Stop being indistinguishable from your competitors
> Stop measuring success by impressions instead of pipeline
> Build something that earns trust before someone enters a buying cycle

The companies that don't make this transition face three problems that compound over time. They're stuck in campaign mode forever - spending to generate attention they don't own. They're always starting from scratch - cold outreach, paid ads, SEO resets. And they're commoditised - everything they do can be replicated by a competitor tomorrow.

The shift isn't about content volume. It's about choosing one or two channels and actually nailing them. It's about publishing a consistent point of view, not a content calendar. It's about getting the hundred right people to your podcast, not a hundred thousand wrong ones.

When B2B companies get this right, three things happen: outbound gets easier because people already recognise you, sales cycles shorten because trust exists before the first call, and deals get less fragile because you've been present since the start of the buying journey.

That's the whole model.

—

Check out this episode wherever you get your podcasts - just search 'Pipe Dream B2B Better' on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

—

Hey, I'm Jason. 👋

I help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into pipeline.

If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, DM me anytime.

More than happy to do a free 30-minute workshop with you.

Don’t market more. Matter more. When you matter more, you need to shout less. 

I help you package and communicate your expertise to differentiate & resonate, so it’s easier to attract more and better clients. Build your business on the power of your ideas, not the volume of your marketing, and grow from yet-another option into their favorite voice in your field. 

With my clients, I help clarify + differentiate their message, craft their thinking and expertise into a distinct premise and IP they own, and develop signature speeches and stories to influence, inspire, and drive results.

After starting at brands like Google and HubSpot, I’ve helped organizations like Mailchimp, Salesforce, Wistia, and GoDaddy, plus dozens of individual authors, founders, execs, consultants, and creators with their storytelling and public speaking.

I live in the Boston area with my family as a proud Yankees and Knicks fan (yes, I’m in enemy territory). In the 60 seconds per week I’m not creating stuff for work or making my kids laugh, I like to shoot hoops, sip nice bourbons, cook with my wife, and daydream about telling stories like my storytelling hero, Anthony Bourdain. Say hi via jayacunzo.com

Jay Acunzo

I guested on a podcast, then they used AI to warp my face, change my clothes, put me in poses, and generally create images of Not Actually Me. 

I feel angry, violated, and also very worried. The image here is the least horrible of the bunch I saw.

Oh, and this was all without my approval. You'd ask to use a photo of your podcast guest dug up from the depths of a Facebook album. You damn sure need to ask someone approval to use AI to change their image in any way, let alone give them facial expressions and postures they didn't actually photograph in real life ever.

Unreal.

Anyway, in the photo attached here, they found an old headshot of mine from 2020, instead of the most recent image I use literally everywhere I show up online, then aged it down, softened it up, put me in a suit for some reason (literally why do that?), and then misspelled my name.

Perfection.

This would be really funny if stuff like this (and the overall moment we're in) wasn't so genuinely stupid and legitimately dangerous.

My friends, this doesn't come without a lesson. 

For anyone who shows up on stages and on shows routinely as I do, we need to protect ourselves. We need legal agreements with events and shows that if we appear and lend them an hour of our likeness in the form of our voices and video recordings, then we must be protected. We can't have people doing anything they want with our images and voices using AI. That can and will damage people's reputation. It goes so far beyond feeling goofy as to feel violating, to say nothing of the misinformation it could spread in public. 

I think it's time to protect ourselves and ask events and shows to sign a contract saying they may not touch our name, image, voice, and likeness with AI without our final approval on the assets. Otherwise, we're vulnerable. Some people are well-meaning but make poor choices. Some think they're being clever or hacking some kind of system. Some have actual ill-intent. Maybe it's time we left nothing to chance and protected ourselves. What do you think?

Anyway, I'm thrilled to introduce you Jay Azunco, who is 40 and also 14. Somehow. He is available to keynote your event or stand in your wedding party. (Thanks to the AI edit, he's already got the generic suit now.)

OFFICIAL BIO:

Jay Azunco is a world renowned growth hacker and AI maven. Often called "The Revenue Growth Guy" by his own social media profiles, Jake was a pioneer in SEO, GEO, AEO, and Tic Tac Toe. He's the author of the #1 Amazon bestselling book Don’t Get Left Behind: How to Dominate Your Market with AI, and Grant Cardone and GaryVee once Liked his content, which regularly goes viral. You can read Jackson in Forbes.

I help experts become stronger speakers & storytellers. Trusted by authors, coaches, creators, and brands like Salesforce, Mailchimp, & Wistia. Believer in resonance over reach.

God grant me the confidence of marketers who want to skip all the effort to create content but still expect others to care about that content. 

On second thought, God, while I have you, I have a few more pressing requests. BUT THIS ONE IS NEXT.

Do any indie musicians follow me? I’d like to license a song of yours for my podcast. 

What I’m looking for:

- Pop rock or folk rock
- The full track as the theme song 
- Plus some of the instrumentals shared for transitions and other editing needs where vocals wouldn’t work or the music needs to loop
- Tone: uplifting, inspiring, momentum that builds
- Inspirational Tracks: Homesick (Noah Kahan, Sam Fender), The Getaway (The Strike), Green Green Grass (George Ezra)
- Lyrics should be at least distantly relevant to the show, which is about creativity, storytelling, and the desire to resonate with others.
- Good example is how the podcast Heavyweight uses music. The closing theme has lyrics about home, moving, furniture, sun in an empty room — and the show is about addressing the weights we carry around in life and relationships in our past. 

What I don’t want:

- A custom track for my show (too slow; I’m ready to pay someone now)
- Anything produced using AI. This needs to be your original music (with collaborators is OK of course). 
- You also don’t need to be a professional musician. If you’re a hobbyist, great! If you’re an indie artist, amazing! I probably can’t afford a serious touring musician with this fee…

What I’m offering:

- An upfront flat fee of $1,000 
- A lightweight agreement we sign with language for what happens if I ever sell the show (While it’s unlikely, yes, podcasts do get acquired and yes, I’ve sold a show before at a very high five-figure fee, so you should get paid a bit from the proceeds if I ever try that with my current show)
- Links to your music in the episode show notes and on the show website page
- A recurring credit in my episode outros

Why I’m doing this:

- As my business grows and also we continue to exist in this ridiculous, shortsighted, and unethical moment surrounding generative AI, my goal is to use my platform, expertise, and budget to support more and more artists and creators. I want to proudly point to the actual human beings I’ve collaborated with and supported, and most especially the humans I’ve paid, whenever someone smugly tells me I could have used AI for something. 

[Feel free to share with any musician friends too!]

I love to write and wish more people did too. But I understand where we go awry. 

School. 

Not because educators don’t try. Not because great teachers don’t exist. But because the most common two ways writing is used is (1) to assess you, and (2) to punish you. 

You write to convey you’ve got the answers memorized, or you understand grammar rules, or you can properly reply to questions and prompts enough to get the good grade. 

You also write if you’re being bad. “That’s it!” a teacher might bark. “You won’t stop talking in class. Write me 500 words on the Battle of the Bulge.” 

The foundational ways writing is used makes it feel transactional, not transformational. 

But writing IS transformational. You self-express, discover things about yourself and your relationship to the world and society, hone your thinking and your tone, uncover new and better ways of saying something, new and exciting ideas branching off the original, stories you didn’t realize you had within you—all while helping others feel or think or act better, and therefore changing the world in ways big and small.

Writing can be transformational, but it’s not how most people get exposed to it. 

Is it any wonder the market demanded a tool like generative AI?

I want to live in a world where wonder matters more than attention.

Yesterday, my daughter (7) was astounded to learn that the dancers in a music video we were watching could really dance like that. 

She immediately asked me 100 questions then left the room to create her own choreography.

She wasn’t astounded that the video of those dancers *existed.* She was astounded that other PEOPLE could do that. People just like her. So maybe she could do it too. What a feeling! What a moment of wonder.

My friend, so much of the value and efficacy of creativity is in the effort. It’s from experiencing something great and realizing, “Wait! A person … did that?! You mean PEOPLE can DO that?”

Remove that part, and the project or piece suddenly rings hollow. But that’s the fate of your work which many seem to be choosing as they scramble as fast as possible to create with AI. The only impressive thing about stuff made with AI is that a software tool can do that. It says nothing about the person (though actually, it says quite a lot, if you get my meaning).

In other words, you can create content, but the point is connection.

A creation isn’t great because it grabs my attention or contains no flaws. I don’t feel drawn to correctness or accuracy. The journey makes it matter … and all the friction and skill and talent and drive and mistakes and persistence and the blood, sweat, tears that went into it. That’s when we might say the work has soul. Your presence in it is undeniable.

When I am moved by something — a big project, a tiny post, anything — I am struck by that simple yet profound truth that a person MADE that, and then I think, “Wow, people are capable of that.”

I am an unapologetic believer in a life filled with total, all-consuming awe at what people are capable of creating. I am pro-wonder more than I could ever be anti-AI. 

But I am not excited to learn you pressed a button and out popped the work.

Shortcut culture has been irritating to me since I entered this industry in 2008, and now it’s just insufferable. If you aren’t willing to put your own time, effort, and emotions into something, don’t expect others to give you theirs.

The effort shows. The journey makes it matter.

Ishiguro said it best. He was talking about stories, but I took him to mean both actual narratives and the stories we tell through all created works:

“Stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?”

My kids and I are building lives rooted in the pursuit of profound wonder, not cheap acts of attention. 

I hope you’ll join us.

Making mistakes in your writing isn’t how you separate from AI. 

Having an actual premise to your thinking is. 

Having a tone of voice is. 

Having a personal style is.

A sense of humor. 

STORIES from your LIFE. 

I’ve just lost all patience (it was thin to start) with people who think writing is about the proper, rule-based arrangement of letters and words and sentences. No. It’s about how you make others feel.

Are you clear? Do you connect?

I’ve got no tolerance anymore (it was low to start) for people who think investing in learning a tool is more important than investing in mastering a craft.

This moment is frustrating. But lately, it’s the rampant take that sounds like “I keep 2-4 mistakes in my writing so they know it’s not AI” that’s just driving me nuts. 

No. 

They know it’s not AI when it’s actually, undeniably YOU.

Here is my foolproof, always-works, even-for-fancy-people Networking Outreach Message you can send to get more calls on your calendar:

"Hey, want to catch up on a call sometime?"

Alright, go with me a second. I remember a few years ago talking to an up-and-coming keynote speaker and author. They're the real deal, and they're still building their network of peers. They asked me a question I wasn't prepared to answer: "You seem to have a great network, Jay. What's your outreach email template?"

I stuttered a bit, because ... I don't have one? I just ask folks to grab coffee or meet virtually. Not because the language of the message is clever or effective or relies on any psychology tricks (which, let's face it, are always someone else's snake oil they're trying to sell you through their course or downloadable templates). 

No, it's not the message itself that does the heavy lifting. 

*It's every interaction that comes before it.*

If you want to meet someone, then you need to put in the work ahead of time. If you want leads, then you need to earn trust ahead of time. If you want friends or a spouse, you need to interact with them and support them ahead of time. 

Why do I need to say this out loud?

We live in this instant-gratification world, which has people thinking that, for some reason, you can send some kind of magical DM or email, and BAM—new fancy friend to support your career or business!

But that's not being (checks notes) a human. (Seriously? I needed to say that out loud? Is that what we've become?)

The moment you ask to actually meet and talk should be the latest in a long list of moments in supporting them, interacting with them, getting to know them, and being a Actual Human Being with them.

Stop trying to transact the world. Be a person.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go scream into a pillow.

The Missing Ingredient:

But first, some random threads that come together later…

The person whose input I most trust and ideas most inspire me on my writing (and other half-baked ideas) is Ann Handley.

I remember years ago watching the intro to a video series from Chase Jarvis and immediately subscribing AND finding the opening song. 

I spent several years developing my public speaking skills and speaking business under Andrew Davis, a masterful performer and framework-forward thinker. 

The only two celebrities I’ve ever truly followed and studied are Mike Birbiglia (he of the one-man show and big-hearted autobiographical standup comedy) and Anthony Bourdain. 

In all cases, I see the same theme:

Personal style. 

You know it’s their work. Thanks to their tone of voice and perspective, their musical choices and public/brand presence, their on-stage performance and packaging of their ideas, their signature projects.

We don’t talk about this enough, but in an era where general expertise is found everywhere, merely sharing advice is commodified. You’re yet-another option on the spreadsheet. “Just Like the Rest” written in brighter beige. 

Until you find your own style. Until nobody could accuse your work of being anyone else’s (and certainly never “that’s AI”). 

What you know matters. But what you say and how you say it determine whether anyone cares.

We’ve spent so many years emphasizing the sharing of informational content. It’s sound, sturdy, smart. But the missing ingredient is style. 

Namely, yours.

I help experts become stronger public speakers & storytellers. Believer in resonance over reach. Author, speaker, coach, Bourdain fan.

This morning I tossed a bagel into the toaster straight from the freezer (go with me a sec here). 

After 2 min, it looked done. I saw some browning on the edges, sniffed the dry onion as it cooked. I was hungry and excited and did what we all do when we're ABOUT to eat something, which is visualize it, even FEEL it ahead of time (the flavor, the satisfaction, the "mouth feel," as chefs call it). I bit into it—but IMMEDIATELY regretted it, as a barely perceptible amount of it was still frozen, which was disappointing and frustrating. The thing is, I needed to eat then leave the house, so I said screw it, and I ate the thing. But I disliked it. 

That's the thing about these AI videos/avatars: it can look like a fully cooked version of you. It can pass the sniff test with eyebrow motions and hand gestures and certain mannerisms. But as soon as I start to consume it, there's this barely perceptible layer that's cold. 

What's missing isn't the seasoning, the coloring, the optics. What's missing is your warmth. 

Which is disappointing and frustrating. 

Us marketers are in a dangerous moment. AI content can earn their Play, even earn their watch time, but that doesn't mean it has earned their trust. 

But that's the entire point of our work.

Founder and CTO at HubSpot. Helping millions grow better.

I created an AI agent on Agent .ai that turns blog posts into Avatar videos.

The problem I'm trying to solve: I write a lot of content, but most of it reaches only a subset of its potential audience because many people prefer video.

I also just dislike being in front of a camera (my natural habitat is being in front of a computer).

So we built an agent that removes that friction entirely.

Here's how it works:
1) Paste in your blog post URL or text
2) Choose from a list of HeyGen avatars
3) Wait about 5-10 minutes for an email with your video

We're making the first three videos free for all agent.ai users -- we'd love your feedback!

Will people engage with AI avatars as much as the real me? I don't know. But the avatar delivers content well enough, and it lets me focus on what I'm better at: writing.

What do you think? Could you tell this video was not the real me without reading this post? I'm guessing you could -- but it's pretty good, right?

I’ve been in this space since 2011, and it’s incredible just how many people pop, then disappear. 

So few people seem to realize there’s a very big difference between followers and influence, between grabbing attention and holding it, between reach and resonance. 

Often, it’s hard to tell the difference in the moment. But staying power is one way to spot who is truly substantive and who gamed a system. So is the level of frenetic, reactive feelings coming through their work. 

Things change a lot. People don’t change as much. Master foundational things. The rest is noise that pops, then fades. 

Just make sure you don’t too.

Just incredible. For my next webinar in our series, Host Better Webinars, my friends at Wistia pulled out all the stops in this edit. 

Register here: https://lnkd.in/evXSfiJq

There's a word I uncovered years ago that I always return to: 

"Telic." 

When something is telic, it's done purely for the end result. Another, more negative name for it is a chore.

Sweeping your floor is telic. The objective is not to enjoy a good sweep, right? As a result, what do we do? We don’t do it, or we do it poorly, or we wonder if this new floor-cleaning technology will save us like they promise it will. But really, something else would actually save you: if you somehow enjoyed the process of sweeping. If that was you, you’d have cleaner floors. But sweeping your floors is a chore. It’s telic.

Eating ice cream is not. That’s paratelic. It’s intrinsically motivating. The process is the point. Nobody turns to a friend and says, “Here, eat my ice cream for me. I really just want a dirty bowl.” Because the process of eating it is the point. The experience is the objective. Feeling full is not. Eating ice cream is not telic. It’s paratelic. And as a result, good things happen. 

We seek it out MORE, and we find ways to do it BETTER. We eat ice cream in extra large cups and extra large cones with extra large amounts of toppings. (Don’t get me started on adults who order kiddie sizes. Kiddie sizes are for quitters.)

This is how I’ve always felt about creating things. The process is the point. As a result, I seek it out more. I find ways to do it better.

To me, the experiencing of the creative process itself is my objective. I’m not purely focused on seeing outcomes. But as a result? I get great outcomes. I get outcomes most people creating content tell me they’d LOVE to get.

That’s how this works.

My hack is joy.

My secret is fun.

My advantage is loving this sh*t.

The business world struggles to make content into a tactic because by definition, it’s not. It's a process, and if they dislike the process, what do they do? They don’t do it, or they do it poorly, or they wonder if this new content creation technology will save us like they promise it will. How in the WORLD do you expect others to enjoy consuming your work ... if you aren't interested in or excited by the process of creating it? If you dislike that part, they can tell.

There's a certain kind of person who does this work purely because someone said it "works." Those people were ALWAYS uninterested in the great and terrible power creativity and storytelling. They always want to reach more people but never stop to consider if their work actually resonates. 

If someone told them that jumping out from behind your customers' bushes was the next great approach to marketing, then they'd stop creating content, stop telling stories, and start doing that instead.

But not me. 

Not you.

For us, it’s about the experience. WE want to experience the process, and we want OTHERS to experience something great, something different, something valuable, something original.

Something that connects.

Something magic.

I'm organizing a small group call about scaling a speaking business. 

Free, informal, and meant for folks who have experience charging at least $5k for their talks and/or people seeking to generate $100k+ in annual revenue from speaker fees in the near- to medium-term.

If you'd like to participate, find my replies to others below for the link to register. Your email goes nowhere but the calendar invite. 

FAQs:

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?
Selfishly? Because it feels good, and because I learn about the pains, problems, and language used by an important part of my audience and market.

More generously? Because I want to help people avoid the common mistakes I see in trying to go from a handful of paid gigs to meaningful revenue. They over-invest in the wrong things, or maybe the right things but in the wrong order, like glossy reels, contacting bureaus, and looking for greater fame in their space or overall. None of these are actually the drivers. A lot of advice out there angers me, because it overlooks how paid speaking actually happens (especially when the goal is to be systematic, not sporadic).

WHO WILL / SHOULD ATTEND?
I hope at least a dozen good folks will attend, and I'm guessing they'll be authors with new books, creators and service providers with established businesses/revenue/audiences looking to diversify, and anyone who plans to move from periodic keynotes to consistent main stage presence.

WHO SHOULD NOT ATTEND?
This won't be relevant and in fact will be the wrong advice for people who are beginners or folks who don't wish to charge a fee for their speaking. This will also be irrelevant to folks who have little to no speaking traction yet.

WHAT WILL WE DISCUSS?
I'll share some initial, upfront context and frameworks, then we'll talk shop about your actual realities. I'll take questions and offer my input as best I can in the moment, pointing to resources and next steps where I'm able.

Again, leave a comment and let me know if you want to register. I'll share the form as a reply. Thanks!

If you show up publicly to be interviewed or to speak in any fashion, it's time to protect yourself thanks to AI. Given this eye-opening moment that happened to me, here's what I will now be doing:

1. I consulted a lawyer on this and encourage you to do the same thing. Now, I'll be sending an Appearance Release, Likeness Protection, and AI Prohibition Agreement to others, whenever I'm invited to guest appear or speak, virtually or in-person, for free. This includes podcasts and video shows, webinars, conference talks, private sessions to community groups/masterminds, and recorded interviews meant to quote me in written text.

2. Because I also give paid keynotes, I will also be adding it into the contract I use for all those types of speaking opportunities. 

3. Along with the signable agreement, I'll have to explain to the other party what it's for and why I'm sharing it while still preserving our relationship, so below is my email template (which you are free to borrow). For the actual agreement, consult a lawyer.

***
Hey [Name],
So glad we're doing this together. Before we lock in the details, I wanted to share something I'm now asking everyone I work with in this way to sign. It’s a simple agreement that protects both of us in the AI era.
It's called an Appearance Release and AI Prohibition Agreement. As someone whose name, voice, and face are increasingly at risk of being manipulated by AI tools (something that has actually happened to me already), my lawyer has put together a standard document that I use with all appearances, regardless of the context.
This is NOT a reflection of any concern about you specifically. It's just become a necessary part of how I work.
The document is straightforward and shouldn't require any changes on your end.
A few things worth knowing upfront.
You can use my recordings, headshots, and clips as-is. No approval needed from me.
If you ever want to create any assets that alter or manipulate how I look or sound, you'll need my written sign-off first. I'm easy to reach and will turn it around quickly. Promise!
Please make sure anyone on your team who touches a recording or image of me knows that these terms apply to them too (e.g. editors, designers, social media marketers, etc.)
No AI tools that alter my voice, image, or likeness — that's the core of it.
Happy to answer any questions. Once you've had a chance to review, just sign and send it back and we're good to go. Thanks!
***

For more context, read my full original post below.

The success of your speaking depends more heavily on your signature talk than anything you can do to market or sell it.

Most people think it’s an awareness problem or maybe a lack of marketing and sales systems. But no, if you aren’t getting booked for more speaking engagements, the tough reality is this:

Your speech isn’t as good as you think it is.

That means no more saying, “Oh, no, that's pretty much there. I mean, I've been winging it for years, and it works fine," or maybe, "It's probably 80%, and I know it can always be better by a little bit BUT—“

Here's what I've learned: That "little bit" accounts for a huge amount of missed bookings and revenue. It’s the difference between being one of a few dozen breakouts who speak for free at that conference … and being THE keynote who commands a fee and has the biggest impact of the day.

When it comes to keynote speaking, “good enough” is anything but.

Because speeches are sold backwards.

Unlike anything else you sell, you deliver your entire, revenue-generating product in full for all to see. And sitting in that audience are your next potential buyers who want the same product but at THEIR event or team meeting. 

What's more, these people aren’t merely run-of-the-mill leads. They are your best leads and the single-greatest unlock to creating a sustainable, monetizable speaking engine.

The people who already saw you speak close faster. They want your speech in front of their group.

You can charge a higher rate, too, if you charge a speaker fee. They “get it.” Deeply. And they want everything you’re selling. Badly.

They buy your books or say yes to your upsell of a bonus workshop bundled with your keynote for just a small additional fee. 

They offer to buy your course for their teams or community members. They invite you onto their shows, quote and link to you around their content, and refer you to others you "really should know" and "gotta meet" because those people need your ideas or even your speech.

Your best leads providing the highest possible lifetime value and the most sustainable path to more lucrative speaking are the people who have already experienced your entire speaking product first.

The people who see you speak and follow-up with you or refer you to others are called "stage-side leads," and if you want an easier time or greater results when it comes to your speaking, you look backwards for answers, not forwards:

"Why didn't my last gig get me 3 more gigs?"

"Why isn't my speech yielding more invites to speak?"

"Where are my stage-side leads?"

It's a tough truth to embrace, but it matters: compared to other things you can sell, speeches are sold backwards. Marketing systems do less to drive leads than the product itself. The product goes first. Your best leads get the whole product first, then decide to buy it for themselves.

Again, investing in your signature talk isn't just a creative exercise. It’s an investment in momentum and growth.

This is one of the best descriptions of the modern internet I have ever read: "my algorithmically generated feeds feel like the food aisles of a gas station."

Pre-order my new book, How To Not Know 👇 Journalist | Author | TED Speaker

I still remember the feeling of listening to Discover Weekly for the first time. Spotify had used its data wizardry to create something just for me. It felt like magic.

But today, my algorithmically generated feeds feel like the food aisles of a gas station. Everything is optimized for taste but lacks substance.

If we want to free ourselves from algorithmic blandness, we have to seek out more human touch.

I was talking to a guy at a party the other night who is part of a song club. It's a group of acquaintances who submit a song to a communal playlist every week based on a theme. Recent examples include songs over 10 minutes long and songs inspired by a photograph of a lunchpail in the snow.

To find the humanity in the age of AI, we must consume with more care. Sure, some days I'll want to dive into Discover Weekly, but I hope I spend the next one ordering and reordering the tracks of a mixtape.

The antidote to algorithmic blandness is human touch.

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taplio

The Battle

Jason Bradwell

Jay Acunzo

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jason Bradwell's LinkedIn Performance

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