Tom Schaeffer

Thomas Schaeffer & Co.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 is a boutique agency providing ghostwriting and content strategy for executives who want to amplify their voice, sharpen their positioning, and expand their influence.

We work with leaders at pivotal moments—whether building thought leadership, leading a transition, or shaping a second act beyond corporate. Our services combine high-level ghostwriting, content systems, and selective coaching to help executives turn experience into leverage and build a presence that creates real opportunities.

Founder

Executive to Entrepreneur

𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 is a coaching and content platform for midlife professionals ready to leave the corporate grind, clarify their next move, and build a business that fits their life. We offer 1:1 coaching, frameworks, and practical guidance for reinvention.

Float Left

Float Left Interactive was a pioneer in TV app development and the first company to build Roku apps for media brands.  For over 12 years, Float Left has enabled media brands to deliver and manage the next generation of TV experiences on every screen.

🏆 2022 Streaming Media 50
🏆 2021 Streaming Media 50
🏆 2017 Streaming Media 100
🏆 2016 CableFax -> Most Innovative People in Multiscreen
🏆 2015 Streaming Media 100

Co-Founder, CEO (acquired)

The Weiss Group, Inc.

Developed internal and external web applications in direct support of company’s marketing initiatives.

Senior Software Engineer

Teledata Inc.

Developed EPA compliance software, specifically targeted to address fuel tank leak detection.

Software Engineer

Bridgeway Benefit Technologies

Provided programmatic and logical fixes for technical problems on ISSI’s Benefit Fund Administration System.

Account Representative /  Programmer

Ghostwriter for Influential Executives and Entrepreneurs || Transforming Ideas into Influence Through High-Impact Writing || Former CEO, 2x Founder, 1x Exit

I’m a former CEO turned writer and coach. I help midlife professionals turn experience into leverage—through writing, clarity, and reinvention.

After scaling and selling a 7-figure software agency, I walked away from the startup grind to build a simpler, more intentional life.

Along the way, I discovered something powerful:
Most executives don’t need another job.
They need clarity—and a path that’s finally theirs.

Today, I work with high-achieving professionals in transition—those ready to move from corporate to consulting, from founder to writer, or from executive to entrepreneur.

Here’s how I help:

1. Executive Ghostwriting
For founders and CEOs who want thought leadership that drives inbound demand—without spending hours writing content. You bring the insight. I bring the structure, clarity, and voice that earns authority and attracts opportunity.

2. Executive to Entrepreneur Coaching
A 12-week 1:1 experience to help you reinvent your career, clarify your offer, build a simple content system, and land your first client.
It’s for professionals who are ready to turn experience into independence—building something of their own, on their own terms.

At the core of both is a simple idea:
Use your expertise to build leverage and freedom—because your next chapter should serve your life, not the other way around.

[Coaching: exectoentrepreneur.com]
[Substack: exectoentrepreneur.substack.com]
[About Me: thomasschaeffer.me]

Writer

A ghostwriting agency for founders, CEOs, and business leaders looking to build influential personal brands.

The wealthiest I've ever felt has nothing to do with revenue.
 
After 16+ years of entrepreneurship, including running an agency with a big team, BIGGER clients, and all the trappings of a "successful" business, I can tell you the thing I value most now is control over my time.
 
• Working on projects that genuinely interest me.
• Being present for the people I love.
• Doing very little of what I hate.
• Not dreading the week.
• An open calendar.
 
Most professionals are optimizing for income, title, and growth, and there's nothing wrong with that if it fills you up, but be careful you're not building a life you need a vacation from.
 
The shift for me came when I stopped asking "how do I scale this?" and started asking "what do I actually want my days to look like?"
 
What would change if you optimized for time instead of revenue?

Helping B2B Tech Founders & CEOs Turn Their LinkedIn Presence into Pipeline & Opportunties • Executive Ghostwriter • Executive Communications Strategist • 3x Founder (1x Exit)

Every meaningful breakthrough in my career started with a period of feeling completely lost.
 
After 16+ years of entrepreneurship, I still hit stretches where I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing. And honestly, it's sometimes more than a feeling. 

But I've learned that the instinct to go back to what's familiar, take the safe path, wait until you "figure it out" before making a move is exactly what keeps people stuck.
 
The ones who learn to lean into this discomfort are the ones who succeed.
 
If anything, consider it the price of admission -> the cost of stretching yourself. 
  
The only difference between people who make it and everyone else is that they embrace the discomfort and stick with it. 

That's literally it. 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When was the last time you felt completely out of your depth? What happened when you stayed in it?

A year ago, nearly everything I consumed and created was digital.

Today, I'm writing with legal pads, note cards, and loving my 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 (it's like a modern typewriter).

I'm reading physical books and building a personal library. I even subscribed to a monthly print newsletter. I LOVE it, and I decided to work on my own.

It's a shift that's been building gradually, but looking back, I kept reaching for things I could hold.

Analog isn't easier. It's not faster, but that's what I love about it. It's forced me to slow down, be present, to actually enjoy what I'm reading, and to think more deeply about it. 

Screens stopped doing that for me a 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 time ago.

Also worth noting: Barnes and Noble Official is opening 60 new stores this year. Vinyl keeps outselling CDs, and direct mail is quietly outperforming email.

People are gravitating back to physical, analog experiences. I'm sure it's not because we're anti-technology, but because something got lost when everything went digital.
 
I'm loving every minute of it. 🔥

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Are you guys back on the analog train?  What's one analog thing you're doing?

No marketing team can replicate the trust that comes from hearing directly from their CEO.
 
I learned this the hard way.

As CEO, I spent years letting the company brand carry everything. I rarely published anything.  I wrote A LOT, but kept it behind the scenes. Looking back, those are years of missed opportunities I can't recover.
 
Since building my own presence, the impact has been insane. It's become an essential part of how people discover me, trust me, and decide to work with me. 
 
Your marketing team amplifies the brand, yes, but executive presence is what makes them know, like, and trust you (and eventually buy from you).

Note: executive presence has been known to dramatically reduce sales cycles :)

No campaign or branded content ever produced that effect.

Pouring money into campaigns won't replace the credibility of a visible leader.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If you're an executive posting consistently, what's changed for you since you started?

"Nobody is spending hours writing anything in 2026 Tom - they use ChatGPT. Best of luck."

This appeared in my DMs recently. And I love responding to this because this mindset is exactly why so much executive content sounds the same right now.

AI is obviously a powerful tool. But there's a massive difference between using AI to skip the thinking and using AI to sharpen it.

The executives who treat AI as a shortcut, i.e. paste a prompt, publish the output, move on, are flooding LinkedIn with content that reads the same. 

Same structure, same tone, same safe ideas and their audience can feel it.

The ones gaining ground are doing the opposite. They're bringing genuine points of view, real experience, and a voice that's unmistakably theirs and then using AI to refine and elevate that work, all of which TAKES TIME.

AI is the most powerful writing tool we've ever had. But a tool is only as good as what you bring to it.
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

How are you using AI to elevate and sharpen your thinking? And what's your favorite tool right now?

"Should I start posting videos on LinkedIn?"
 
I get this question all the time. The short answer is, "Yes," but only if you want to.  Don't do it because you think that's what the algorithm wants.  

Here's why:

So there's a handful of really smart people who study this in much greater depth.  Richard van der Blom immediately comes to mind :).  He publishes an annual LinkedIn Algorithm report that is highly informative - go check that out.  

My interpretation of his research is that the format matters far less than most people think. That's because LinkedIn's new algorithm (360 Brew) only cares about whether your post generates a real conversation. 

It's working hard to put subject-matter experts in front of engaged readers.

LinkedIn's distribution increasingly 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 and post reactivation, meaning a post that sparks substantive back-and-forth for a day or more gets pushed back into feeds, while a post that collects passive likes and goes quiet gets buried (regardless of format).
 
If you pick the wrong format, you might lose a marginal amount of reach - not the end of the world. If you post something too generic to generate a real response, you lose the 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 advantage that makes LinkedIn worth an executive's time.
 
So, bottom line: Start with a single, clear idea. Make it specific enough to invite a knowledgeable response. Publish it with whichever format you're most comfortable with.  I don't have a face for video, otherwise I'd consider it myself lol.

Be generous with your content, stay active in the comments, stay consistent, and let the algorithm do its job.

Have you started posting video?  I'm curious - has it had the impact you were expecting?  I'm getting mixed revews...

====================
If this post was helpful, consider reposting ♻️ and follow me for more tips like this.

I work with executives on their writing every day. And I'm observing two distinct behaviors:

One group uses AI to skip the hard part —> prompt and publish. The other uses AI to sharpen a point of view.

The gap is becoming obvious to everyone except those doing it wrong. AI made content production nearly free, so volume isn't a reliable moat anymore. 

What separates a valuable post from the noise now is whether there's a real judgment call behind it, i.e., specific (lived) experiences, or earned opinions.

For example: 

• If you use AI like an intern and publish "write me a post about leadership," you get intern-level output. Generic and forgettable. 
  
• If you use it like an operator and feed it your raw perspective and let it help you organize, then polish, the output sounds like you, only tighter.

The executives gaining ground with AI are the ones who brought something worth saying before they opened a chat window.

What's the sharpest distinction you've noticed between AI-assisted content vs. AI-slop?

Most people see low engagement and assume the content isn't working.

The posts that generate the most pipeline almost never generate the most engagement.

When your "quiet" posts are performing: Your audience is reading and paying attention.

❗All of your best prospects (the ones who are ready to buy) will never engage with or comment (God forbid) on anything you publish. 

But trust me, they're absorbing your perspective over weeks and months and building a mental file with your name on it.  

Pipeline builds the way a reputation does — slowly, invisibly, and then all at once.

The professionals who turn LinkedIn into actual revenue understand this. They write about specific problems their buyers face and stay consistent 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗱.

Because the only scoreboard that matters isn't impressions, it's pipeline.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=
What's your best lurker-to-lead story?

The hardest part of ghostwriting isn't the word assembly anymore. 

Yet most assume that's where the value is. 

The real value is surfacing the ideas, stories, and perspectives most assume are worthless. 

It never ceases to blow my mind.  The best material I've ever published for a client came from something they said, buried in a random thought—like a tangent they almost didn't finish, or an observation they dismissed as obvious.

None of that shows up from stock interview questions. It shows up when you sit with someone, ask the right questions, and actually listen.

AI can produce a LinkedIn post in 30 seconds, sure. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 

The value is sitting across from a CEO, pulling out insights they didn't know they had.

Ghostwriting in 2026 requires much greater levels of active listening, discernment, taste, storytelling, and clarity (thinking). 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Have you ever had someone pull an idea out of you that you didn't realize was valuable?

"If AI can write in my voice, why would I pay someone to do it?"
 
Because producing words in your voice is now the easy(ish) part. Finding what's worth saying (and how to say it) is the hard part.
 
Knowing what NOT to say and developing a higher level of discernment about what actually lands are more important now than ever before.
 
And I LOVE AI. Train it on a person's posts and transcripts, and it produces content that mimics their cadence and vocabulary. For basic content, it works.
 
But "basic" is what's flooding the feeds. AI defaults to what's already been said.
 
Ironically, it's much harder in 2026 to make the right person think, "I need to talk to this person," than it was pre-AI. Those words are built from insights the executive didn't know they had, surfaced by someone with the editorial judgment to recognize which experiences carry weight.
 
So you pay a great writer to find the idea hiding in a throwaway comment, a career-long observation, or a frustrated aside during a call, then write it in a way that cuts through the slop.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

What's something you've read recently that made you feel like, "This person gets me"? 

What was it about the writing that created that connection?

Execs -> everything you say is analyzed and evaluated by everyone. 

And yes, that includes conversations around the campfire at the company retreats—esp if alcohol is involved. 😢

And this "create a safe space to encourage feedback" stuff is far-fetched.

You will never make someone feel comfortable enough to have a casual conversation with them - especially the 'A' team. Why? Because they instinctively listen, interpret, and act.

It's happened to me a handful of times.

"Tom, what did you say to Terry??"
"Uh.. that I hope he has a nice 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 vacation??"
"Well, whatever you did, he seemed a bit anxious when he left today."

Eliminating "overtalking" or keeping quiet is especially tough for extroverted execs who enjoy camaraderie and the feeling of being part of the team. (ME)

Master the art of saying as little as possible. Even a casual comment on the way to the bathroom can cause a domino effect that you might have to unwind later.

Yes, try to create a culture that encourages healthy debates, but never expect to get the full picture. 

Choose your words wisely. Make each one count - esp the ones that seem the most harmless.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Can you think of a time a harmless comment turned into a fiasco you had to unwind later?

In 1963, Avis created one of the most studied campaigns in advertising history. 

For years they'd been trying to compete with Hertz by acting like they were just as big and established, and wasn't working. They were number two, and everybody knew it.

So they stopped pretending and decided (against every ounce of logic) to run an ad that opened with "Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So why go with us?" They made their biggest weakness the entire basis of their positioning. 

Being smaller meant they had to try harder, couldn't afford dirty cars or bad service, couldn't take customers for granted. The honesty was disarming, and it literally transformed the company.

It's a simple lesson.

So many of us wait for perfection before we put ourselves out there. But if you start telling the truth (especially about the parts you'd rather hide), people lean into it. 

A polished story might look impressive, but it doesn't build a connection. 
 
If there's something in your own story you've been downplaying or leaving out, consider leading with it instead. That might be the most compelling thing you've got.

The most qualified person in the room keeps losing opportunities to the most visible person on LinkedIn.

That's because most executives built their careers in environments that rewarded performance, not visibility. 

Promotions, deals, and partnerships came through internal networks, referrals, and face-to-face credibility. 

The assumption carried over to LinkedIn -> "If I'm knowledgeable enough, the right people will find me, right?"  Well, not exactly. 

That theory was true when the market was smaller and networks were thicker. It’s not true anymore. The discovery layer has 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, and if you’re not there, you’re invisible to anyone outside your immediate circle.

How to get started: 

1. Accept that visibility is a separate skill from expertise and it’s worth investing in.
   
2. Start by writing about the three or four things you know better than almost anyone in your field. 
   
3. Keep the writing specific and experience-driven, not generic advice. Post consistently. 
   
4. Stop waiting for permission. 

The less qualified, more visible person in your field isn’t winning because they’re better. 

They’re winning because they're showing up.

====================
What's an unexpected opportunity that presented itself simply by you publishing thought leadership content on LinkedIn? 

Genuinely curious. 👇

Most people leaving corporate think they need to invent something new to build a business.

They spend months trying to figure out what to offer and how to position it, convinced that what they did for the last 20 years isn't specialized enough on its own. 

So they go looking for some new angle or framework that nobody's thought of yet.

That's corporate conditioning talking.

Here's the thing -> there are no new business offers. Not 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 

Every consulting offer, every coaching program, every advisory service has been done before in some form.

Besides, a business model isn't what sets you apart. It's your specific approach to a problem, i.e., what you've seen work, what you've watched fail, and the particular way you think about solving it. 

Oh, and stop assuming everyone else already knows what you know. This one's a killer and blocks so many exceptionally smart people from taking action.  

The problem + YOUR approach is all you need. 

-=-=-=-=-=-

Now, without thinking, what's the one business you'd start RIGHT NOW if you had unlimited capital and unlimited time?

Guess which burger is trending on social media?  

Well done Chris Kempczinski.

No alternative text description for this image

Search is evolving — and so is the way brands grow.

As founder of Digital Elevator, I lead a team that helps ambitious companies like McKesson, Waters, Cox Media, Kelly Services, Fitness Mentors, and Float Left optimize their visibility across both search engines and AI platforms.

We blend SEO, AI discoverability, content strategy, UX/UI, and PR to help brands stay visible, trusted, and ahead of the curve.

Our content approach centers on high-intent, middle- and bottom-funnel assets proven to perform best in both search and AI discovery. By aligning strategy, search intent, and user experience, we help brands attract ready-to-buy audiences, shorten sales cycles, and drive measurable ROI.

Our work is grounded in strategy, data, and technical precision, with a proven track record of helping brands grow smarter and faster through the evolving landscape of AI and search.

Core services:

- AI Discoverability
- SEO
- Content Marketing & Strategy
- UX/UI 
- PR

Daniel Lofaso

AI answer engines and Google’s AI Overviews are changing search behavior. 

More users now get what they need from AI-generated summaries instead of clicking through—driving a rise in zero-click searches.

Organic search still matters, but visibility now starts inside AI experiences. 

Before anyone visits your site, AI is shaping which brands are cited, mentioned, and trusted.

If your brand isn’t referenced in these AI answers, it’s missing from the modern customer journey. 

AI visibility is quickly becoming essential for AEO, GEO, and long-term digital growth.

Source in comments.

CEO @ Digital Elevator- AI Search & SEO for ambitious brands

What do people use ChatGPT for?

The top use case is indicative of the importance of visibility in the sales cycle.

Once people begin researching products or services, they will eventually begin to probe for brand recommendations.

Having a visibility plan for your specific use cases is a key component of our AI visibility content strategy, and has slightly shifted from what we normally recommend for SEO.

Having content for "we do 'x' for 'y'" across all of your products/services has shown to elevate visibility on a per-persona basis, which is a strong component of an AI viz strategy.

70% churn. That's what AI tools are seeing across the board right now.

The reason isn't bad technology. It's bad onboarding.

Surveying marketers on how they're actually adopting AI tools in their workflows. What's working, what's not.

Take 2 minutes to participate: https://tally.so/r/RG4a7d

A full-time SEO manager costs $60K–$90K/year. A content strategist runs $55K–$80K/year. 
AI marketing agents are changing that math fast.

How is your team adapting? Take 2 minutes to weigh in.

https://tally.so/r/RG4a7d

83% of B2B buyers want human interaction prioritized in service delivery, even as they buy more AI tools.
Speed of AI. Judgment of humans. That's the standard buyers are setting.

Where do you stand on this?

Take a 2-minute survey to voice your opinion:
https://tally.so/r/RG4a7d

91% of B2B buyers want AI with human oversight, not full automation.

That number changes how you should be thinking about every AI tool in your stack.

Where does your team land on this? 

Take 2 minutes to share your perspective. Survey in comments.

Does it make sense to optimize AI visibility for MS Copilot?

Would you tell your boss you want to do SEO for Yahoo?

With a minuscule 3.5% of market share, MS Copilot represents just a small fraction of the chatbot usage based on the latest data.

ChatGPT represents the lion's share of usage, so utilizing your AI visibility tools to track against this channel is what I'd recommend focusing on.

True, some of your prospects may be limited to MS Office products while at work, but the data is clear that the bulk of AI usage goes through ChatGPT.

Google's AI Overviews, unfortunately, doesn't get the data it deserves given its blended approach. It's certainly not a channel I'd sleep on either.

Link to full article in comments.

I just got served my first ad from ChatGPT.

I'm unimpressed...

While I'm convinced this technology will become better, here are the takeaways:

- the ad is unrelated to what I was prompting
- the ad was at the bottom of my response, and was more or less unobtrusive (which I appreciate)
- the landing page to which the ad goes is completely unrelated to the ad itself (ad is for "best marketing pricing guide" and the landing page is for "best email marketing software")

ChatGPT is making a big claim with its ads that it will be hyper-relevant and therefore demand a higher rate. 

There is only one advertiser (for now) in my results, and I'm sure Top10.com would be pretty disappointed to see the inconsistency with the ad and the landing page (unless they managed this themselves).

The conversion rate likelihood here is likely to be horrendous - the ad promise must match that of the landing page.

The targeting itself is not terrible - I'm not/wasn't shopping for email marketing software, but as an agency owner, I'm likely to be more involved in tech stack decisions than most.

Overall, I give this ad experience a 3/10.

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The Battle

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