Asset Growth

Founder

Exponential Growth

Signet Science

Advisor, Organic Growth & Channel Strategy

Beacon Digital Marketing

Senior Manager, Search Marketing & Analytics

Freelance

-Comprehensive technical website audits for local businesses and large brands.
-Off-page link building strategy & implementation.
-Keyword research, mapping, & competitive analysis.
-Paid search campaign creation and ongoing optimization.
-Web Analytics implementation and strategy.
-Custom dashboard creation in Google Sheets and Data Studio.

Digital Marketing & Analytics Consultant

Austin & Williams

Analyze, develop and execute strategy as related to SEO. Conduct advanced SEO research using industry standard tools. Create SEO deliverables: Keyword research/mapping, Technical website auditing, On-Page optimization, Link acquisition strategy, Preparation of SEO point of view/decks, Digital performance reporting and Analytics implementation.

SEO Strategist

Advice Media | MedNet

-Created and optimized digital marketing campaigns in the medical industry.
-Web analytics audits & implementation.
-Monthly digital performance reporting to optimize campaign results.
-Advanced SEO tactics included: technical website auditing, page speed improvements, custom off-page SEO strategy, keyword research/mapping, on-page optimization, and content audits.
-Account manager and main point of contact for clients.
-PPC campaign optimization and reporting

Digital Marketing Specialist

I help self storage facilities get more customers through Google. As a business owner myself, I've had to learn how to grow my business without a large marketing budget. This requires being as efficient as possible and focusing on channels that can compound and lead to long-term growth.

With close to a decade of experience in digital marketing and customer acquisition, I've developed a process for building marketing strategies that deliver tangible results. I've used this exact process to successfully grow my clients' self storage businesses and my own business.

Getting new customers to learn about your self-storage services and ultimately want to rent a unit requires a proven process for leveraging a mix of channels, SEO, and PPC. My strategies are designed to maximize your facility's visibility on Google and NOI.

What My Clients Are Saying:
"John has worked with me on multiple projects and virtually every project saw an increase in web traffic and conversions."
“He is able to drive such impressive results. It is a pleasure to work with him.”
“I was extremely pleased with both the work that John did for me and the results that it is bringing. He was very professional, knows his field inside and out, and was an excellent communicator and very patient with me (I am not so tech savvy).“

Signup for my free newsletter, where I give away a new marketing template each month:
https://johnreinesch.com/template-of-the-month/

If you are a self storage operator or small business owner, book a 30-minute growth strategy call with me here:
https://calendly.com/exponential-growth/30-minute-growth-strategy-call

John Reinesch

You don’t “optimize” self storage Google Ads by changing your budget.

That just confuses the algorithm, and you pay for it in lost move-ins.

This operator came to us after months of frustration wit hteir Google ads:
December: They cut ad spend by a small amount
January: Cut more ad spend
February: Paused everything

Why? Because their previous vendor’s only “strategy” was to change the budget.

Up one day, down the next.
No structure. No plan. No learning continuity.

They never tested new ad copy.
Never touched the keyword targeting.
No negative keywords.
Never adjusted campaign structure.

Just daily budget tweaks and crossed fingers. 

We took over in May.

No gimmicks.
Just a structured optimization system designed for long-term efficiency.

Here’s what changed:
-Predictable daily budget to support Google’s learning
-Testing done in the account with ad copy and bidding strategies
-Maximizing low impression share but high converting keywords
-Transparent reporting tied to actual move-ins, not just clicks

And the results?
1) Rentals increased month over month from May through October.
2) Ad spend stayed steady.
3) Cost per rental dropped dramatically.

And this doesn’t even include the phone calls we tracked on the backend.

If you want average results, keep playing with your ad budget each day.
If you want to outperform your competitors, use a world-class optimization system.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned the hard way running Google Ads for self storage?

I help self storage operators get more move-ins.

“It’s just Google’s algorithm.”

That’s what this storage operator kept hearing from their marketing agency as move-ins stalled earlier this year.

New build. Great location.
But the units weren’t filling.

They brought us in at the end of May, worried they were already falling behind lease-up projections.

Here’s what we found:
1) Completely automated SEO approach with only some citations completed in month 1.
2) Google ads were not being optimized; only daily budget changes were happening. No strategic adjustments at all.
3) Zero visibility into what was or wasn’t working, it was always Google Algorithm's fault.
4) And no plan to scale once things started working

In other words… no system.

We deployed our 4-phase marketing framework immediately:
1) Drive move-in volume
2) Lower customer acquisition cost
3) Analyze, track & improve
4) Create repeatable processes to scale results

Here’s what happened next
May: 4 move-ins
June: 6 move-ins
July: 15
August: 17
September: 18
October: 20
November: 20

They’re now outperforming the peak spring and summer seasons, heading into winter with momentum.

The truth?
Most lease-ups don’t fail because of the market or Google's algorithm.
They fail because there’s no system to drive volume, measure results, and improve over time.

If your marketing strategy feels like guesswork… it probably is.
Stop skipping steps. Start following a framework that works.

Let the results compound.

What part of your marketing right now feels more reactive than repeatable?

You’re probably wasting ad spend for your storage facility and your own data could fix it.

Most self storage operators running Google Ads use broad match keywords and just hope for the best.

But what if Google could learn from your actual renters and use that data to find more people just like them?

Here's what most operators don’t know:

If you sync your customer list to Google Ads, it doesn’t just help with remarketing.
Google uses it as a signal to improve how it matches your broad keywords to new potential renters.

We just ran this setup for a client, and here’s what happened in 3 months:

Conversions increased by 50%
→ 8 in September → 12 in November

Cost per conversion dropped by 44%
→ $126 → $71

No change in budget.
Just smarter targeting using their own customer data.

We built a tool that connects your FMS directly to Google Ads and keeps your customer list synced in real time, no manual uploads, no missed data.

Works with:
Cubby
SiteLink
Storable Edge
And more coming.

Want access? DM me, and I’ll send you details.

You’re self storage business is trying to milk a cow and raise an elephant. 

It’s not working. 

This is what happens when storage operators try to run a business for short-term profit and long-term value at the same time:

They pull every dollar of cash out today.
But still expect to grow like the largest operators.
And it never quite works.

Here’s an example of what this looks like:

Two restaurants make $100K per month in revenue.
Restaurant A pockets $70K.
Restaurant B reinvests $70K into a Michelin chef, branding, a better menu, ads, team training, and an unforgettable experience. 

Come back in 36 months. Who is winning? 
Not even close. 

Let's look at another example:
Two storage facilities. Same revenue.

Facility A pockets $70K.
Facility B reinvests $70K into: technology, customer experience, branding, systems, team, marketing

Come back in 18 months.

One controls the market and has created millions in value.
The other is scratching their head, asking, “How are they spending this much?”

The mistake?
Trying to be both a cash cow and an elephant at the same time.

Most operators don’t choose one.
They blend the two and end up with a strange cow-elephant hybrid.

It’s not lean enough to generate strong profit.
It’s not invested enough in growth to build real value.

It’s slow. Confused. Stuck in the middle.
And it doesn’t win either game.

You can run a lean, cash-flow-first business.
You can build a patient, high-value asset.

But you have to choose. 

Which one are you building?

Most self storage Google Ads fail, and it’s not the ad’s fault.

Our ad account has $972k in spend in 90 days. Here’s what operators miss:

Your headlines, keywords, and budgets might be just fine.

But if you’re not feeding Google the right data, it won’t matter.

No data = no learning = no move-ins.

Here’s what most operators miss:
You’re asking Google to optimize your ads...
...but you’re not telling Google what a move-in actually looks like.

If Google sees any phone call or any page visit as a win, you’re throwing money at tire-kickers instead of real renters.

Here’s the fix (our 4-phase framework):

Level 1: Online Rental Tracking (bare minimum)
Set up conversion tracking for online rentals. This is your foundation.

Level 2: Call Tracking Integration
Any time someone clicks an ad and calls your facility, send that data to Google.

Level 3: Offline Conversion Uploads
Review call logs, flag renters, and upload real move-ins back into Google Ads. This teaches the algorithm which leads actually converted into a move-in.

Level 4: Full Automation (in progress)
We’re building a system to automatically match call records to your FMS, sending real-time offline move-ins to Google. At scale.

No more manual uploads. No more guesswork.
Just smart, data-fed optimization.

And it works.
In the last 90 days alone, our account has $972,430.31 in Google Ads spend (See screenshot). That’s a ton of data, and we’re using it to drive smarter, lower-cost move-ins for operators across the world.

Want your Google Ads to perform like this?
Stop changing daily budgets and start feeding Google real move-in data.

What’s your current conversion tracking setup look like?
Are you giving Google the data it needs?

The biggest storage operators are willing to lose money on customer acquisition in the short term. 

And that’s exactly why they win.

You’re only willing to spend $50 to get a $100/month tenant.
They’re spending $500. Sometimes more.

And they’re not worried.
Because they know that customer helps them:
-Push occupancy from 80% to 90%
-Raise rates across the board
-Increase NOI
-Add millions in long-term facility value

When you operate in a low-competition market, you can get away with optimizing for both move-in volume and low cost per move-in at the same time.

But when you're in the big leagues, you have to make a choice:
-Do you optimize for today's profit?
-Or do you invest for tomorrow’s enterprise value?

You can’t do both. Not at the same time. 

One of our clients understood this concept and committed to the long game:
-Monthly revenue grew from $240K → $317K
-$77K in added NOI
-At an 8 cap, that’s $7.92M in portfolio value added.

They were willing to spend more to acquire each customer, because they weren’t focused purely on short-term cash flow.
They were focused on enterprise value. 

They reinvested in:
-Increased occupancy
-Improve autopay + reduce delinquencies
-Fix online rentals & checkout flows
-Increase customer lifetime value
-Improve customer experience
-Operational systems
-Better revenue management
-Increase reviews + improve GBP rank

You can win playing for cash flow.
You can win playing for value.
But you won’t win trying to do both at once.

Which game are you playing?

Most self storage marketing agencies look amazing for the first 60 days.

The real test starts in month 3, and that is where most agencies fall apart. 

They fix obvious issues like GBP errors, on-page SEO, tracking problems, and weak facility pages.

And you think, "Finally, we found our team."

But then month 3 hits.
And everything stalls.

You hear excuses about "Google's algorithm changing" or "market fluctuations."

But here is the real reason facilities hit the month-3 plateau:
-The agency ran out of low-hanging fruit.
-And the retainer model rewards your marketing vendor for doing less over time, not more.

Because here is the part most storage operators never hear:

To stay profitable, the marketing agency has to reduce the amount of work they do for you after month 2.
That is the only way the math works for them.

Meanwhile, as your occupancy rises and competition tightens, you actually need more work, more optimization, more experimentation, and more attention, not less.

It is a completely broken incentive structure:
-Your marketing agency's profit margins increase when effort decreases.
-But your results only increase when their effort increases.

And you can see this misalignment in real life:
-Check your Google Ads change history. It is usually nothing but daily budget adjustments.
-Ask what is being done for SEO. You will get vague answers, recycled reports, and "we are working on it" with no specifics.

Most retainers quietly shift into maintenance mode right when your market becomes more competitive and harder to grow in.

This is exactly why months 3 to 6 are where performance flatlines.

So we rebuilt the agency model. Specifically for self storage marketing.

No open-ended retainers.
No vanishing effort after month 2.
No plateau baked into the business model.

The objective is simple:
1) Increase your occupancy and lower your marketing costs.
2) Build a growth engine where you rely less on us, not more.

And here is the part operators love most:
-Once we hit your growth targets, you pause our service entirely.

We hand off everything we built during the sprint and connect you to our new SEO and PPC software platform, which we created for storage operators that:
-Automates 60 to 70 percent of your ongoing marketing
-Cuts long-term marketing costs significantly
-Keeps your facility full without needing an agency
-Gives you full visibility into what is working every day

You grow, your costs drop, and you are not tied to an agency for life.

Aligned incentives.
No disappearing acts.
No month-3 plateau.

If you want a breakdown of how the Growth Sprint works, DM me, and I'll send details.

Most storage operators are stuck because they are playing two different games at the same time.

They say:
"I want maximum cash flow right now."
"And I want to build a $100M portfolio."

But you cannot fully optimize for both.

And here is the truth:
Either path is valid.
You just need to know which game you are playing.

The Cash-Flow Game:
-Minimize expenses
-Pocket profit early
-Keep operations lean

The Asset-Building Game:
-Boost tenant LTV, reviews, and retention
-Reinvest into marketing, ops, and training
-Accept lower short-term returns to grow long-term value

Most operators mistakenly try to do both at the same time.
And they end up stuck in the middle.

Growth slows.
Cost per rental stays high.
And bigger players start winning in your market.

Why?

Because the biggest storage brands are not optimizing for today's cash flow.
They are building tomorrow’s asset value.

That is why they can afford to spend $500 to $1,000 to acquire a single tenant.
If it fills a unit and those extra customers help push occupancy from 80 percent to 90 percent, they raise rates across the board, NOI jumps, and the facility value increases massively.

A small operator thinks:
"$800 to get a customer paying $100 per month? That’s insane."

But a large operator thinks:
"These extra customers help us raise occupancy, raise rates, and increase enterprise value. We will make millions of dollars in the future instead of a few dollars today."

It is a different game.
Different rules.
Different timeline.

One of our clients chose the long game.

Monthly revenue grew from $240K to $317K.
That is a $77K per month increase.
At an 8 cap, that added $7.92 million in portfolio value.

No tricks. No shortcuts.
Just focus, reinvestment, and clarity on the strategy.

There is no wrong path.
Just make sure you know which game you are playing.

Are you optimizing for short-term cash flow or long-term asset value?

How do you know if your lease-up is on pace or falling behind?

Our new free tool benchmarks your current performance and shows exactly how much faster you could stabilize, and what that would mean for NOI and facility value.

It takes your actual facility data, occupancy, revenue, move-ins, move-outs, CAC and builds three  scenarios:
1) Current pace
2) Better performance
3) Best case

You’ll instantly see:
-How long it will take to hit 90 percent occupancy
-What better performance looks like
-How much NOI and value you’re leaving on the table

One facility we analyzed was averaging 7 net move-ins per month.
The tool showed they could reasonably be hitting 11, with a best-case scenario of 15.6.

That difference could cut their lease-up timeline significantly.

The goal is to get this to the point where it helps identify opportunity, set performance goals, and help you make more informed decisions.

We’d love your feedback.

Send me a DM if you want to try the demo link. Would love your thoughts on how to make this even more helpful for operators.

DIGI CONVO

DIGI CONVO leverages a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to ensure your digital channels are showcasing your business and driving results. We build a customized program for your business that’s automated and sustainable. Then, we fuel it with content, turning your website and social media into a highly-profitable growth machine.

At DIGI CONVO we bring together all the elements of your marketing efforts – social media advertising, Google ads, SEO, email campaigns, website design, and all the rest of that mess – and package it into a holistic process-driven function.

It is our digital marketing expertise and unique “test and learn” approach that allows us to define, align, and refine your message. We don’t “set it and forget it”. We have a process. A discipline.

And for those clients who stick with our programs, it works.

A Few of the Clients We've Served:
- Bank of Southside Virginia
- Stewart Moving & Storage
- Kelleher Heating & Air
- Capital One
- Evergreen Enterprises (Plow & Hearth)
- J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
- Shades of Light (lighting retailer)

Owner | Expert Content | SEO Strategist | Inbound Lead Generation | Campaign Management

The goal: Help the Bank of Southside Virginia beat bigger banks on Google through our expertise in digital marketing. 

In August 2021 we started implementing a series of hyper-local tactics so BSV would rank for high-value search terms.

Results
August 2021: BSV ranked for 0 (zero) non-branded terms  
August 2022: BSV ranked for 55 high-value local terms

Case Study: BSV Earns 1st Page Rankings on 50+ Key Local Terms

Case Study: Location Pages Lead to 32.6% Boost in Organic Traffic for Local Bank

Case Study: BSV Beats Lead Goal by 30% in First Campaign on New Platform

Case Study: Optimized Location Pages Earn Bank 1st Page Google Rankings for 18 Key Local Terms

seoocean.ai

I'm a passionate writer with a unique blend of human creativity and AI expertise. At SEOOcean.ai, I craft compelling blog content for our tech clients, helping them engage their audience and achieve their marketing goals.

I'm particularly excited about the intersection of AI and search, and I leverage my knowledge to curate thought-provoking content for SEOOcean's own blog, focusing on the "Future of Search."

SEO Writer

J. Sargeant Reynolds - School of Business

Leading major initiative to revamp eCommerce program at largest community college in Virginia.

Board Member

compare.com

- Defined, executed, and delivered on overarching strategic marketing plan for a startup auto insurance comparison site, owned in part by the second largest auto insurer in the UK (Admiral Group). Compare.com provides real, instant, unbiased quotes from trusted national and regional insurance companies.
- Drove overall marketing efforts that YOY drove daily quotes to a daily average of 3,000+ from 1,200 and dropped Cost-per-Quote to $48 from $100+
- Maintained operating marketing budget of $6MM per month 
- Directed team of channel managers in areas including SEO/SEM, Content Marketing, PPC, Display, Email, Online Testing, UX, Purchase Funnel Optimization and Homepage + Landing Page Optimization
- Grew organic unique visitors to 11% from 3% YOY through:
•	Launch of Content Marketing program in order to produce articles, blogs, infographics, videos, and listicles
•	Comprehensive link building and link reclamation efforts through internal and external resources
- Overhauled email program enabling it to grow to 22% from 7% of quote completions by:
•	Achieving Return Path certification through implementation of 70+ best practices, driving deliverability rate to 94% from 56%
•	Regimented testing process through Exact Target email marketing platform
- Led homepage optimization efforts resulting in a 17% increase in quote starts
- Launched affiliate marketing program that grew to 1,400+ quotes per month 
- Redirected PPC and Display programs by crafting non-computer generated copy, contributing to a drop in Cost-per-Quote by channel to $52 from $85 YOY 
- Revamped Social Media program through enhanced targeting and creation of a campaign that averaged 750+ likes/comments, up from single digits in previous efforts
- Stepped in to direct all branding efforts while Director of Offline Marketing on leave:
•	Led RFP and on-boarded branding agency, overseeing creative TV development 
•	Wrote and produced TV and radio spots in interim while agency crafted brand platform

Director of Online Marketing

Allianz Global Assistance

- Set overarching strategic marketing plan for selling insurance through major travel and event ticketing partners including:  Delta Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, Orbitz, Hotwire, and Ticketmaster
- Grew incremental revenue $38.7MM in 2013, an increase of 34% YOY
- Led cross-functional teams on variety of initiatives including: 
•	Extensive relaunch of product testing after multiple-year freeze due to regulatory hurdles; incremental revenue increased 1,721% through July 2014 versus entire 2013
•	Critical reintroduction of key product in order to address strategic gap in customer service, claims, and compliance 
•	Launch of industry-unique product to compensate vacationers in the event of rain
•	Opening of crucial cross-sell opportunities with our major partners through the introduction of functionality for a second offer

Director of Ecommerce

- Oversaw optimization of online insurance offers through integration within the booking paths of major travel and event ticketing companies including:  Delta Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, Orbitz, Hotwire, and Ticketmaster 
- Grew incremental revenue $28.8MM in 2012, and increase of 29% YOY
- Created compelling segment-specific marketing messages driven by both thorough quantitative analysis, as well as a deep qualitative understanding of consumer behavior 
- Conceived industry-unique insurance product, then led cross-functional team through extensive market research, pricing analysis, customer surveys, and search for underwriting partner

Senior Marketing Manager - Online Optimization

Allstate

- Oversaw RSS and Content Syndication program through the publishing of 150+ articles per month on internal and external assets in order to position Allstate.com as a destination site; efforts led directly to 6.3% increase in overall site page views 
- Responsibilities included development of ongoing enterprise-wide content calendar, strategic planning with numerous business units, management of content vendor, and coordination with legal department
- Initiated and implemented variety of other content syndication tactics including videos, blogs, and infographics
- Collaborated with SEO on all content syndication initiatives, thereby improving key word rankings on 37 terms 
- Crafted and launched tweets and facebook updates to promote content syndication efforts
- Created content syndication vehicle through utilization of polls, which entailed creating content for polls, integrating polling functionality into Allstate site, and using results to craft articles from poll data
- Developed multi-channel social media campaign “What’s Worth Protecting” through creation of facebook application, increasing ‘likes’ by 16.3% and followers by 9.7% (also included extensions in YouTube and flickr)

Digital Content Manager

- Oversaw Allstate Quote and Purchase application for Northeast quarter of the U.S. (13 states)
- Optimized funnel on daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis through myriad of metrics including Quote Conversion, Quote-to-Purchase, and Purchase Completion
- In 2009, number of policies purchased online in the Northeast Region grew from 1,747 to 11,648, an increase of 667%
- Managed content across entire Quote and Purchase application through content strategy and management of agency creative team
- Created and/or implemented several successful application-wide enhancements including upgraded payment options, driver’s license lookup, and an industry-unique discount page
- Played significant part in roll out of Motorcycle and Renters applications through management of multiple teams focused on content strategy, creation, and deployment

Ecommerce Marketing Manager

OfficeMax

- Worked directly with major corporate partners such as AAA, US Air, Continental Airlines, and Priority Club (Holiday Inn) to facilitate co-branded, web-based affiliate efforts
- Oversaw the affiliate program that generated over $12 million annually
- Increased revenue 36% year-over-year, while expenses increased only 4%
- Formulated targeted strategies for key selling seasons such as Back-to-Basics, Back-to-School, and Holiday in order to maximize profitable sales
- Led major research initiative to determine the effect of vendor income and back-end funding on the true profitability of every product category on the OfficeMax site
- Worked with internal and external credit programs, which resulted in increased conversion rate and average order size

Marketing Manager-Affiliates

various advertising agencies

Clients:  Red Cross, Harley Davidson, Briggs and Stratton, Bud Light, Bombardier, Milwaukee Brewers, MasterLock, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, US Airways, Time Warner, Trek Bikes, Janus Global Advisors
- Worked directly with numerous client marketing departments to implement integrated aggressive strategic marketing plans, resulting in enhanced brand presence
- Orchestrated marketing initiatives including competitive studies, market profiles, consumer studies, major campaigns, etc.

Writer/Brand Strategist

Are you seeing diminishing returns in your efforts to be found and stay relevant in the financial services industry? These days, if you’re a small to medium-sized company, you have to be creative.

You’ll never outspend the big guys, but you can outsmart them—with the right AI and SEO solutions.

I’ve always been one to accept a challenge. Eight years ago, in the world of financial services, I saw an opportunity to level the playing field. Today, with advanced tools like CustomGPT and targeted SEO strategies, I help companies streamline operations, ensure compliance, and optimize their visibility in competitive markets.

The clients who seek my services typically are:

♦ A FINTECH company seeking to build a sustainable sales pipeline, target its specific niche and maximize its search visibility.
♦ PAYMENT SOLUTIONS providers struggling with fragmented data sources, preventing them from making informed, data-driven decisions.
♦ COMMUNITY BANKS that want to modernize their technology and bring their message to a local audience through effective SEO and AI-driven content strategies.
♦ MORTGAGE BANKS still competing on price instead of focusing on building their brand and increasing online visibility.
♦ WEALTH MANAGEMENT firms stuck in traditional sales cycles, looking to transition to lead-generating digital and SEO strategies.

The challenges faced by companies in all sectors of the financial industry overlap greatly. I provide solutions that blend digital strategy, advanced SEO, and AI tools like CustomGPT, enabling smaller companies to compete with the big players.

Is your business ready for lift-off? Then let’s talk.

You can book a call at: https://meetings.hubspot.com/jeff-jenkins
Or call: 630-730-5064

Specialties: AI-Powered Solutions | CustomGPT Expertise | SEO | Digital Marketing | Inbound Lead Generation | Data Analytics | Compliance Management | Content Creation | Campaign Management | Holistic Reporting | Girl Dad | Semi-Pro Pit Boss | Die-Hard Cubbie

Jeff Jenkins

I asked AI to explain Virginia Tech’s ongoing recruiting surge… and it did in 30 seconds what would’ve taken me 3+ hours.

🦃 Our new coach is moving fast.
🏈 New signees drop constantly.
🚨 Even if you follow every alert, it’s hard to get an instant, clear picture.

So I tried something simple:

I opened 15+ tabs in an AI browser and told it to boil everything down into one snapshot — only the highest-impact players directly tied to Franklin.

❌ Not national recruiting boilerplate.
✅ Just: what actually matters.

And it produced this graphic.

❌ No bouncing between 20 articles.
✅ Just a clean breakdown of who the blue-chips are, where they rank, and why fans should care.

You don’t have to be a Hokie to get the real point:

This is what AI does best — it collapses scattered information into something immediately useful.

Thinking about expanding this into a series: simple, everyday AI tasks that are fun, practical, and teach people how to use these tools in real life.

What do you think? And if you’re a Wahoo… please don’t let that skew your reply 🫣

#AITakesTheField #GoHokies #NittanyLossOurGain

AI Implementation Strategist & Content Optimization Expert | Marketing Automation for Fintech & Financial Services | SEO & Lead Generation | Establishing Authority & Fueling Growth

🤯 Google may have pulled ahead of OpenAI 🫨  
But long-term: unless you're tied to their stock, the scoreboard is largely irrelevant.

The real winner: anyone interested and curious enough to 5× their productivity for $20/month. (For now, anyway.)

I’ve been lucky to have friends with stronger traditional business credentials. I’m not shortchanging myself, but I’ve never been C-suite in a Fortune 50 company.

It’s fun, honestly, because that’s not me.
I’m more mid-market.
I like building things from the ground up.
Short cycles, quick feedback, nothing fancy.

For most of the time I’ve known them, I just took in their expertise. Didn’t push back.

That changed when I went headfirst into AI.

Because their view — reasonable, credentialed — sounded like this:
✅ Google is Google — they'll never lose (stack and staying power)
✅ Apple is Apple — the cool kid, and I’ve got a lot of stock in them
⬇️ ChatGPT is “cute” — my daughter used it for a coconut cake recipe

My view was simpler and much less theoretical:
“I'm not sure about all that… but I’m getting 5–8× the work done in my little shop.”

Not because I’m smarter — these tools simply produce in a way that’s hard to explain if you’re not using them every day.

Fast forward to right now:
🚀 Gemini has redeemed Google from the Bard debacle
🚨 OpenAI’s CEO is issuing a “code red” to catch up
💤 Apple still sits mainly on the AI sidelines

The article I’m sharing lays out that story: Google’s full stack, cash flows, distribution… OpenAI’s constraints and the urgency of its response.
If I had to guess, my friends would probably tab this as inevitable.

From my seat, it reads a little differently:
✴️ A giant finally firing on all cylinders
✴️ And a rival forced to double down on the one thing that already changed my day-to-day work.

Whichever way the Wall Street narrative tilts, the practical reality is the same: people who actually use these tools will be increasingly winning regardless of the outcome.

#AIFuture #AIDrivenWork #BusinessAI

https://lnkd.in/gHGywduQ

Open article: OpenAI is feeling the heat from Google right now — for good reason by businessinsider.com

OpenAI is feeling the heat from Google right now — for good reason

I had a high-brow “AI & the Future of Work” post planned for this week. 🤖

Then a neighborhood Christmas party ran until the wee hours of Sunday, and real life intervened. 💃 🕺 🍾 

No — nothing to do with eggnog.

A few folks pulled me aside who’d seen my posts and had a rough sense of the work I do. Same sentiment every time:

“I know we need to get on the AI train.
 I just don’t know where to start.”

At this point, I’ve forced my sometimes-exploding brain to recognize the folly of explaining AI in words.

I’m standing there thinking:
Crap. I wish I could just give you something concrete you can actually use tomorrow morning… assuming you’re not too hungover.

So — “How do I start?”

Right here:
 👉 https://lnkd.in/enMTSQ8W

Editorial note: this is one of the five pieces of software in my daily tech stack. I’ve been using the free version.

There is no publicly available research tool that wows out of the box like Perplexity. It makes you realize how Google search is optimized for clicks and churn — not clear, actionable conclusions.

If you’ve taken a small step, no step, or a giant leap into AI — it doesn’t matter.
If you’ve got a Venmo account, this offer is objectively insane.

🟢 I don’t get a penny for sharing this.
🟢 No affiliate shenanigans.
🟢 Set a reminder for 364 days from now and decide whether you want to keep paying a few bucks a month.
🟢 Until then, there’s essentially no downside.

So there you have it, my friends. This is where you start.

Happy Holidays. Go forth and prosper.
#AIstarthere #staycuriousmyfriends #aipluseggnog

Wild year. Big experiments. Bigger lessons.

I’ve had projects that completely rewired my thinking, including helping build a small custom language model for a global retailer here in Richmond. 

And I know a ton of us have those “you won’t believe this happened” stories too.

That’s why I’m excited for this event. It’s a chance to put all the wins, fails, surprises, and hacks on the table and actually compare notes.

AI Ready RVA is giving us space to celebrate the year and shape what’s next. I’m in. 

Come join us!
#aimarketing #airichmond #aiforgood

RVA Creatives and Marketers - The AI playbook for 2026 hasn't been written yet. Come help us write it. ✍️

2025 was a year of rapid change. We found new shortcuts, hit new barriers, and reinvented our workflows in real time.

But are we all solving the same problems in silos?

On December 9th, AI Ready RVA's Marketing & Creatives cohort returns with an event we're calling "Co-Create 2026". We're ditching the panels and lectures; instead, we are opening the floor to you!

Facilitated by Erin Myers from Sandy (specialists in AI-powered marketing teams), we are gathering at COLAB to: 

👉 Unpack the reality of 2025: What tools actually saved the deadline? What "innovations" were just distractions? 
👉 Identify the gaps: What skills are we missing as a community? 
👉 Shape the future: Co-design the topics and themes for the 2026 Marketing & Creatives Cohort.

This is your chance to compare notes with the best creative minds in Richmond and ensure next year’s programming solves your actual problems.

Don't let the industry shift without you. Join us!

🔗 Reserve your seat here: https://lnkd.in/eSPscGZd

*Note: Because of the station-based, collaborative format, capacity is limited. We recommend reserving your spot early.

#AIReadyRVA #RVAcreatives #Marketing #AIWorkflow #RichmondVA

Jeff Jenkins Sage Klingensmith Chuck McCarthy Thomas McDonald

Open article: Co-Create 2026: RVA Creatives + Marketers Shape What’s Next in AI - AI Ready RVA by aireadyrva.com

Co-Create 2026: RVA Creatives + Marketers Shape What’s Next in AI - AI Ready RVA

A little Saturday morning-ish observation for anyone still asking, “Okay but what can AI actually do for me?”

Here’s one simple, non-philosophical answer:
I love end-of-year lists. Movies, books, food… all of it.

But I’m now at an age where they go from “fun tradition” to “three-hour detour I didn’t plan for.”
 
And as much as I love The Economist, my enthusiasm somehow stops right before the subscription screen.

So instead of spending half a morning opening tabs, dodging paywalls, and pretending I have time for this, I tried something different:

I asked AI to pull The Economist's best-of-the-year lists from public sources… then filter everything through what it already knows about me:
 📚 history nerd
 🌮 obsessed with Latin American flavors
 🟢 Big Green Egg evangelist
 🧐 enjoy films about ambition, identity, and the mess of middle age

In about a minute, I had a personalized shortlist that actually matched my taste...

That’s it.

Five minutes, better recommendations, zero fuss — just a straight line to the things I actually enjoy before the day gets away from me.

Try it on something you already care about. Your jaw might drop.

#AISaturdayMorningFun #ArtificialIntelligence #GenuineTimeSavings

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