Hicks Marketing and Revenue Solutions

05/12/2025

What makes a newsletter worth paying for and how many do you subscribe to?

What makes a newsletter worth paying for?

More people are spending money on newsletters from their favorite writers. They’re also having trouble keeping track of how many they subscribe to.

03/26/2025

I’ve been watching something shift: more and more people are skipping Google and going straight to AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity for answers.

That matters—because if your business depends on showing up in search results, you’re about to become invisible unless you adapt.

AI tools don’t serve up a list of links. They summarize. They decide what matters. And unless your name, business, or ideas are part of that summary—you’re out of the conversation.

That’s why thought leadership isn’t just “nice to have” anymore. It’s how you stay findable in a world where no one’s really searching. When your ideas are clear, original, and consistent, they start showing up in the places that matter—without relying on algorithms or paid traffic.

The game isn’t about getting clicks. It’s about becoming the answer.

Are you showing up in the places where people are no longer searching—but still deciding?

Ads and search-optimized junk made a mess of the go-to engine. Now ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude—and even Google’s own AI—do it better.

03/22/2025

You know, a lot of people see themselves as 'thought leaders,' and that's terrific—but research suggests many struggle to actually share fresh ideas."

A recent Edelman survey found that more than half of business leaders consider the thought leadership content they see as not very helpful or original.

Effective thought leaders don't just repeat what everyone else says. They're brave enough to share their own experiences and ideas, even if they're different or unpopular. And studies show that people who do this are more trusted and get noticed more.

If you want to raise your visibility and show thought leadership, you have to be okay with being curious, asking questions, and sometimes admitting you don't have all the answers. That's when people really start listening—because you're not just echoing everyone else, you're sharing something uniquely yours.

What’s an original idea you’ve hesitated to share – and what might happen if you did?

03/20/2025

Thought Leadership for Neurotic Thinkers: Why Overthinking Is Actually Your Superpower

Ever catch yourself replaying conversations, obsessing over small details, or second-guessing your own insights before sharing them? (If you’re nodding, we might have just become best friends.)

Here's a thought: Maybe that tendency to grind on things you've tried so hard to manage is actually the secret sauce behind great thought leadership.

Think about it:

1. Self-doubt isn't your enemy—it's your editor.
Over thinkers are naturally wired to refine their ideas, filtering out clichés and surface-level insights. If you're obsessively editing your own thoughts, congratulations—you're already ahead of those who don't.

2. Your anxiety is an early-warning radar.
If your brain constantly scans for risks or what might go wrong, you’ll likely spot trends and opportunities faster than your laid-back peers. That hyper-vigilance is invaluable for crafting thoughtful, relevant, and timely content.

3. Transparency builds real connections.
Audiences crave authenticity. When you openly acknowledge your struggles and vulnerabilities (without oversharing—let's keep it strategic), your audience doesn't just trust you—they root for you.

Here’s how to leverage your neurotic mind productively:

• Turn your "anxious insights" into thought-provoking content (e.g., “Here's why this trend concerns me—and should concern you too.”)
• Lean into nuance, challenge shallow narratives, and offer content that digs deeper—your grinding brain is already set up to excel here.
• Don't fight your internal critic; recruit it as your personal content editor.

Your tendencies to think too much might actually be your biggest competitive advantage as a thought leader.

So, instead of trying to silence that inner critic, try asking: What's the smartest thing my overthinking brain has noticed lately?

I'd love to know—drop your insights below!

02/14/2025

Why do we wave at the end of a Zoom call? No one does that when leaving a conference room in person. It’s just one of those funny quirks of virtual communication, where social norms are still figuring themselves out. We overthink punctuation in Slack, feel weird staring at ourselves on screen, and end meetings with an awkward wave.

What to do? Virtual communication needs a little extra effort. Be clear about your tone, sprinkle in some humor, and roll with the quirks. If waving at a we**am helps make a digital interaction feel more human, then hey, why not? And yes, I still always wave goodbye 🤣

Experts shared five strategies to make things easier.

02/05/2025

The slang game is now a speedrun, and if you’re not keeping up, your brand might get labeled “beta” faster than you can Google what that means. The takeaway? Language is evolving at the speed of social media, and brands that tap into the right lingo at the right moment can win big—just don’t try too hard, or you’ll get hit with a collective “no rizz” from Gen Z.

Every generation has its own slang. But the youngest generations have taken things to a dizzying new level, giving new meaning to “parents just don’t understand.”

01/22/2025

The Struggle Is Real: Getting Online Reviews Without Losing Your Mind

How many times have you checked out of a store, finished a service call, or even just grabbed a coffee—only to get hit with “How did we do?” moments later? It’s everywhere. And let’s be honest, it’s getting a little overwhelming. Sure, reviews can help your business stand out, but when you’re on the other side of it, the constant requests can feel like a never-ending nag.

The thing is, customers trust other customers more than they trust brands. But snagging honest, valuable feedback? That's becoming a real challenge. Folks are either skeptical of those all-too-perfect five-star ratings or simply too busy to leave a review.

To make matters worse, many businesses don't even see the feedback they collect. Third-party platforms handle it, and valuable insights get lost in the shuffle. Plus, offering incentives like contest entries can skew results, making the whole system suck.

So, what's the bottom line? Asking for reviews is still important, but it needs to come off as genuine, not pushy. If you're constantly hounding customers for five-star reviews at every turn, you might end up driving them away instead of drawing them in. Keep it real, keep it authentic, and your customers will appreciate you for it.

Dentists, doctors, professors, dry cleaners. Everybody is asking for a rating these days.

12/10/2024

Google is in a tough spot here, with threats to its very lucrative search business. So is every business that depends on leads from Google search. This will have huge implications in 2025.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-10/early-adopters-are-ditching-google-search-for-ai-chatbots?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczMzg0Njg4MiwiZXhwIjoxNzM0NDUxNjgyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTT0ExQzJEV0xVNjgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI0NUFGNzhEOUJBRkU0MUZDQUVFRjFFOTc5RTMzQjI3MyJ9.6Rhdhvx5KR1OFZ4vrWvflAWgsY1Adw34G6tXngO3Gnc

A major shift in how people search the web would upend the economy of the internet, posing a major challenge to one of tech’s biggest companies.

12/06/2024

One step closer to an actual ban. If I had to guess, there's a good chance now of a government ordered sale given the choices. Ultimately this comes down to data privacy and security. If your business depends on this platform for sales, what's your 'safe' pivot going to be?

Panel rules Congress has the power to shut down Chinese-backed app in the U.S. because of national security concerns.

11/30/2024

The rise of AI has the potential to finally unseat Google - and it's happening right now. If your paid search results are down, here's why it's not just you.

Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.

11/25/2024

How much of our business and work IS email and what would we do in the event of an extended outage? What I was thinking at 8:50a this morning...

The software giant said it was working on a fix for the issue, which has affected the many companies that use Microsoft’s products.

11/20/2024

The podcasting landscape is always changing, but it's not going away.

Wait, when did the world’s most popular video platform also become No. 1 in podcasts?