In this, the 40th episode of Poetry in Marketing, I'm tackling a hard truth for business owners:

All CEOs learn

They do not define their brand...

Eventually.

If you’ve built a business around something you love, something you’re great at, something that feels deeply personal, this might be hard to hear. But here’s the reality: your brand isn’t for you.

In this episode, I talk about the shift every successful business leader has to make: from building a brand based on personal passion to shaping a brand around what the marketplace actually values. Because if you only see your business through your own lens, you might love it… but your customers won’t.

This week on Poetry in Marketing, I’m coming to you inspired by a conversation I had with a tattoo artist… in Scotland.

Your first job is

To fall in love with the problems

Your customers have.

In this episode, I share a simple but powerful truth: great marketing doesn’t start with talking about yourself... it starts with understanding your customer. What are they trying to accomplish? What’s frustrating them? What would make their experience better?

The tattoo artist I met had it figured out without even realizing it; aligning his hours, messaging, and approach to the needs of traveling customers. That’s what great marketing looks like.

If you want more business, stop leading with what makes you great and start by deeply understanding the problems you’re solving.

In this episode of Poetry in Marketing, I’m leaning into vacation mode... But more importantly, a fundamental truth that a lot of business leaders get wrong:

Great copywriting

Provokes the strongest feelings

Not the deepest thoughts.

We like to think that more information leads to better decisions, but that’s not how people actually buy. In this episode, I break down why emotional connection beats information overload every time, and why trying to “cover all the bases” in your messaging often backfires.

Whether you’re writing a website, a blog post, or a sales pitch, the goal isn’t to make people think harder: it’s to make them feel something.

This week on Poetry in Marketing, I’m tackling something that hits a nerve for a lot of business owners:

Best marketers don’t

Shame what isn’t working:

They show you what is.

In this episode, I talk about a bad habit in the marketing world: walking into a business and pointing out everything that’s wrong. It's not often true and it's certainly not helpful.

Great marketers don’t start by tearing things down. They start by identifying what’s already working and building from there. Because real progress doesn’t come from making people feel bad; it comes from giving them a clear path forward.

If you’ve ever had a consultant or agency make you feel like your entire business was broken, give this episode a watch.

It's time for Poetry in Marketing and fair warning: this topic gets me a little heated:

A good agency won’t

Make you a prisoner of

A bad contract.

In this episode, I discuss one of the biggest (and most frustrating) problems in the industry: predatory agency relationships. If you can’t leave your marketing vendor without losing your website, your data, or your sanity, that’s not a partnership, that’s a hostage situation.

I share why great agencies earn loyalty instead of forcing it, what a healthy contract should look like, and the red flags every business owner needs to watch for before signing on the dotted line.

If you’ve ever felt stuck with a vendor... or want to make sure you never are, this one’s for you.

Today’s episode of Poetry in Marketing is coming to you from the balcony, because… well, that’s kind of the point:

There’s no good reason

Not to test your assumptions

With your marketplace.

In this episode, I talk about one of the most overlooked truths in marketing: your answers aren’t inside your office, they’re out in the world. Too often, we build strategies based on assumptions instead of conversations. We create for ourselves instead of for the people we’re trying to reach.

If you want better marketing, get out of your head and into your market. Talk to customers. Run interviews. Test your ideas. Because the fastest way to improve your results is to stop guessing and start listening.

Today’s episode of Poetry in Marketing is coming to you from the glamorous Vistage speaker circuit… specifically the Hyatt Place by the airport in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Today’s poem tackles one of the biggest misconceptions about artificial intelligence:

If your AI work

Doesn’t feel like doing work

You’re doing it wrong.

A lot of people see AI as a shortcut: type a sentence, get a finished product. But that’s not how good work happens. AI can help you create better marketing, but only if you bring expertise, thoughtful prompts, and real effort to the process.

In this episode, I talk about why strong AI output still requires real thinking, why most AI-generated marketing content lacks substance, and why the best results come when you treat AI like a powerful tool, not a magic button.

Today’s episode of Poetry in Marketing was inspired by a viral moment that had the internet talking… about a hamburger.

Who knew hamburgers

Were such powerful emblems

For integrity?

In this episode, I order a Snarfburger — the best burger in Denver for my money — and break down the marketing lesson hidden inside the now-infamous video of the McDonald’s CEO trying (and failing) to convincingly enjoy his own company’s food. The problem wasn’t the sandwich: it was authenticity.

When leaders talk about products the same way they do in the boardroom, repeatedly referring to a hamburger as a “product” and talking about test markets, they forget the most important rule of marketing: speak to the audience outside the window, not the one in the mirror.

Marketing works best when it’s honest, human, and grounded in real enthusiasm. Otherwise, people can smell the inauthenticity faster than a cold cheeseburger.