In partnership with
The Problem You're Ignoring
I searched "email marketing tips" last week. 847 million results. Clicked the top five. Every single one sounded identical—generic, lifeless, forgettable.
We're not competing with marketers anymore. We're competing with machines cranking out 50 posts before lunch.
But machines can't share the story of losing $3,000 on a dead campaign at 2am. They can't make mistakes and own them. They can't make you feel anything.
That's your edge. Use it or lose.
Stop Writing Like a Robot
Sara, a fitness coach, posted AI-generated workout tips for months. Zero traction. Then she switched—shared her training failures, falling off a treadmill during a demo, her weird pre-workout ritual with 80s rock.
Engagement tripled in six weeks. People don't follow perfection. They follow real.
What this means: Stop chasing algorithms. Chase trust. Share the chaos behind the scenes. Talk about what bombed. That's the content people actually remember.
Build a Voice AI Can't Steal
Your voice isn't a tagline or a tone guide. It's your experiences, your worldview, the metaphors only you would use.
Adam Lisagor's Sandwich Video commercials sound like nothing else because they're filtered through his brain—his references, his timing, his Bay Area coffee obsession. You can't prompt-engineer that.
Three moves:
Use your real life. Stop writing like a marketer. If you'd say it at dinner, write it in your newsletter.
Get weirdly specific. Not "morning routine"—"the 47 seconds between my alarm and existential dread where I decide if today's the day."
Say things that scare you. If you're comfortable with everything you publish, you're forgettable.
Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.
Who's Winning Right Now
Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole built Ship 30 for 30 teaching frameworks from their actual failures. AI can't generate hard-earned wisdom.
Wes Kao writes marketing advice that feels like your smartest friend over drinks. She shares messy Notion screenshots and says "this is where people screw up."
Justin Welsh makes millions being relentlessly himself. No jargon, no guru talk. Just "here's what worked and what didn't."
They're not trying to sound smart. They're trying to be useful and memorable.
Your Move
The internet doesn't need another bland listicle. It needs your mess, your wins, your breakthroughs and meltdowns.
AI will keep pumping out mediocre content. Let it. You're not competing on volume. You're competing on the one thing machines can't fake: being you.
This week: Write one thing you're nervous to publish. Something too honest, too specific, too you. That's what people remember.
The robots can have the rest.
