Think about how people find a specialist today. A therapist, a lawyer, a company to design their garden. Some open Google. Some go straight to ChatGPT or another AI tool. And what do they get? Recommendations for people who clearly know what they’re talking about — based on whatever signals are available online.

But here’s the thing. There are plenty of other specialists out there — some just as good, maybe even better — whose websites look exactly the same as they did fifteen years ago. A homepage, a list of services, a contact form. Nothing about real experience, nothing about past projects, nothing about the actual human behind the business. Maybe they never got around to writing it. Maybe it never occurred to them. Either way — it’s not there. And then those business owners wonder why Google doesn’t recommend them. Or why AI tools don’t mention them at all.

That gap has a name. It’s called E-E-A-T. And if you’re offering services online, it’s worth understanding what it means.

What E-E-A-T Is and Where It Comes From

E-E-A-T is an acronym Google uses as a framework for evaluating the quality of web content. It originally stood for E-A-T — expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Then Google added a second “E” for experience, because it stopped being enough for someone to look like an expert on paper. Google wants to see real-world practice.

So, the four signals are:

• 🔹 Experience — Were you actually there? Do you have personal, hands-on practice?

• 🔹 Expertise — Do you understand your field at a deep level?

• 🔹 Authoritativeness — How do others see you — clients, media, your industry?

• 🔹 Trustworthiness — Can people rely on what you say?

One important clarification: E-E-A-T isn’t a direct technical ranking factor like page speed or backlinks. It’s a qualitative framework. Google uses it to assess whether your content is genuinely useful and reliable. And that assessment drives how high you rank in search results — and whether AI tools even mention you when someone asks for an expert in your field.

Service Providers Have Expertise — But Don’t Show It

E-E-A-T matters for every website, but it’s especially critical for service providers. Why? Because they’re selling expertise — and then failing to demonstrate that expertise on their own site.

E-commerce stores have product photos, descriptions, and customer reviews. But what about a contractor’s website? Four sentences about who they are, a list of services, and a phone number. No testimonials, no completed projects, no real person with a name and a track record.

I’m currently working with three clients where I see this very clearly.

A lawyer based in Chicago with a niche specialization. She has years of practice and is genuinely an expert. But you couldn’t tell from her website. No clear statement of her specialty, no articles, no anonymized case examples showing how she’s helped clients. Just a list of practice areas and a contact page.

A landscaping company. They’ve completed dozens of projects, have happy clients, and have great photos from their work. But the photos were just floating there — no context, no project descriptions, no story. How would a search engine understand what they actually do, where they work, and at what scale?

A therapist. He works with a specific method, has completed specialized training, and holds certifications that aren’t common in his field. None of that was visible on his original website.

In all three cases, the content that should be there already exists. It’s missing because nobody put it there — not because it doesn’t exist.

AI Tools Recommend the People Whose Expertise Is Visible

This is the core reason I’m writing about this topic. A few years ago, it was mostly about ranking high in Google search results. Today, the stakes are higher.

When someone types into ChatGPT or Google AI Overview something like “recommend a family therapist in Austin” or “how do I find a good landscaping company,” the AI works with what it can find about specific websites and people. It looks for signals of expertise — completed projects, testimonials, qualifications, a clear approach, real-world experience.

If those signals aren’t on your site, the AI has nothing to work with. It’s not ignoring you on purpose. It simply didn’t find the information.

And this matters most in fields where clients do their research before making a decision. Nobody picks a therapist randomly. Nobody signs a contract with a lawyer they know nothing about. Nobody pays a contractor who doesn’t have a single photo of a finished job on their website.

What Actually Demonstrates Expertise on Your Website

This isn’t about rewriting your entire website. It’s about adding the things that make your expertise visible.

For the lawyer: that meant adding a clear statement of her specialization, describing her approach to clients, listing her education and professional background — and writing up a few anonymized situations, typical cases she’s helped clients navigate.

For the landscaping company: it meant building a project gallery with a short description for each job. What the brief was, how it turned out, how the process works from design to planting — and which areas they serve.

For the therapist: it meant describing the specific method he uses, explaining who it’s right for and who it isn’t, mentioning his training and certifications, and writing about what clients can expect from a session. Plus anonymized examples of the situations people typically bring to him.

The general rule is this: in cases like these, there should be a real person behind the website — with a name, a photo, and a description of what they do and how they do it. Project showcases and client testimonials aren’t just for e-commerce. And expertise that isn’t described might as well not exist.

If your website shows only what you offer but not why anyone should believe you — clients will hesitate. And Google and AI tools won’t want to recommend you.

See you in the next one 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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I’ve noticed something a lot of self-taught marketers do when they’re working on their websites. They go based on whatever they happen to come across. They read an article about design trends and immediately start redesigning. Then they spot a tip about some must-have feature and implement it right away. Then they start tweaking their copy with an AI tool for better SEO. And then something else.

Each individual change makes sense on its own. But put together, it’s just a series of random experiments with no direction. First, you should know whether people are even coming to your website (so you can improve it to convert better and guide them), or whether you need to improve it for better discoverability (so more people find it in the first place).

And the answers to these basic questions are available for free and just a few clicks away. How many people visit your site? Where do they come from - social media, search engines, somewhere else? And what do they do once they arrive? Once you know this, you immediately see what to work on. Getting lots of visitors from social media? Great, that’s working. Hardly anyone from search engines? Then it’s obvious where to focus your energy - not on tweaking button colors, but on better content.

Neglected fundamentals come back to bite you

I’m watching online marketing split more and more into two camps. On one side, people who go strictly by the data and make decisions based on it. On the other, people who go on intuition, try new tools, test AI, and hope it somehow works out.

And yet - now more than ever - it’s time to stop doing things by feel and start doing them based on data. Not so you can call yourself a “data-driven marketer” or anything else that sounds good on LinkedIn. But because your energy (the time or money you’re investing in your website) should go where it actually makes sense.

You can afford to work without data in only three cases:

• Your website isn’t your main source of customers or income

• You have such a specific niche that you have practically no competition and you’re easy to find

• You’re just starting out and don’t have any data yet (in which case it makes sense to at least follow current trends and recommendations until you collect your own)

In all other cases, the minimum baseline step is this: find out where your people are coming from and what they’re doing on your website.

Here’s how to find out in five minutes with Google Analytics

You don’t need to be an analyst. You don’t need to understand statistics. You just need to know where to look.

If you have Google Analytics 4 (and most websites already have GA4), the process is straightforward.

Where to find the traffic source overview:

Go to Business Objectives → Generate Leads → Traffic Acquisition. Here you’ll see where people are coming to your website from. The basic channels you’ll find there:

• Organic Search - people found you through Google’s organic results

• Direct - they typed your address directly into the browser (or have you bookmarked)

• Referral - they came from another website linking to you

• Organic Social - they came from posts on social media

• Paid Search / Paid Social - they came from paid ads

• Email - they came via a link in an email

Where to focus first:

Look at the last 30 days. You’ll find out which channels are actually bringing people in and which are essentially dead.

Bonus - Search Console for SEO:

If you have Google Search Console connected (and if you don’t, connect it - it’s free and you can handle it yourself), you’ll also find out which keywords people are using to find you on Google. That’s the foundation for any SEO work.

One thing that skews your data a little - and you need to account for it

Before you dive into the numbers, one important warning. The data in Analytics is never 100% accurate. And one of the main reasons today is cookie banners.

You definitely know what I’m talking about - those pop-ups with “Accept All” or “Reject” buttons that appear on every website. They’re required by law, but they have an unpleasant side effect: a portion of visitors reject cookies, and their visit either isn’t counted in Analytics at all, or is recorded without source details. These people then disappear from your data, or hide under the mysterious “Direct” channel - even though they actually came from somewhere else entirely.

How many people reject cookies? It depends on the industry and how your cookie banner is set up. It can easily be in the double digits. So when you see numbers in Analytics, count on the fact that real traffic is higher - but you don’t know the exact channel ratio.

What does this mean? Take the data as an indicator of trends, not absolute truth. You care about trends and ratios, not exact numbers down to the last visit.

What to do once you finally see the data

Okay. You opened Analytics, looked at the traffic sources, and you see the numbers. What next?

There are two ways to look at this - and both are equally important.

First: confirming what works

This is the most overlooked part. You find a channel that brings in significantly more people than the others - and that’s information worth reflecting on. Most people coming from organic search? Then SEO is working for you and it makes sense to keep going and grow it. Lots of people coming from Referral - from other websites? Then it’s worth finding out which ones specifically, and thinking about how to get more similar links. Email working well? Great, that’s a channel you have full control over and it’s worth developing.

The data here isn’t telling you what to do. It’s telling you what you’re already doing - and where it makes sense to double down.

Second: spotting opportunities for improvement

And now the more interesting part. The channels where the numbers surprise you - but in the worse sense of the word.

A few real-world examples:

If you see that 80% or more of visits come as Direct, that’s a warning sign. Some of that is genuine direct visitors, but a large part are the ones the cookie banner “stole” from other channels. That means you know much less about your traffic sources than it appears.

If you have decent organic traffic from Google, but people stay on the website for an average of 20 seconds, then SEO is working - but the page they’re landing on probably doesn’t match what they were looking for. The problem isn’t bringing people in, it’s what they find.

If you invest time into social media, but Organic Social brings in minimal visitors, that’s a question to think about - either you’re being followed by people who already know you and don’t need a direct link, or the content on social isn’t fulfilling the function you expect from it.

And if you have no Referral traffic at all - no websites linking to you - that’s a clear call to start building backlinks, mentions, and collaborations.

Data doesn’t have to be complicated to be useful

You don’t need to track 47 metrics. You just need to know three things:

• Where people come from - which channels are working

• What they do on your website - how long they stay, which pages they visit

• What they do in the end - do they fill out a form, call, buy?

When you know this, you know where it makes sense to put in the work. When you don’t know this, you’re optimizing blindly.

And that’s exactly the mistake a lot of people make. They chase new AI tools, test more plugins, change the design - but forget to look at what’s actually happening on their website.

So before you start with anything else, go check your Google Analytics if you haven’t done so recently.

See you in the next one 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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Think back to the last campaign that didn’t work. What was your first thought? Bad targeting? Weak copy? The Facebook algorithm being a pain?

Alex Hormozi would stop you right there. According to him, 99% of low sales cases come down to one thing — your offer. Not the ads, not the copy, not the timing.

So, Who Is Alex Hormozi?

Hormozi is an American entrepreneur who built companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars — from fitness chains to software to investments. And then he did something unusual: he started giving away everything he knew for free. Books, videos, podcasts — all openly available.

In the marketing world, some people compare him to a modern-day Philip Kotler. Kotler gave marketing its framework in the second half of the 20th century and taught businesses to think about customers in a structured way. Hormozi does the same — but for the internet era, for people who launched their own online store or sell services from home.

I find his approach genuinely interesting, so let me walk you through it.

One thing upfront — his framework works best for services, courses, or subscriptions. Anywhere you control the offer and can shape it to fit your customer. If you’re selling commodity products that someone can find on Amazon with a single click, you’ll get less out of this. But the core principles still apply — especially if you have your own product or layer in consulting and service.

It All Starts with Choosing the Right Market

An average entrepreneur with the right offer in the right market will beat a brilliant entrepreneur with the wrong offer. Every time.

Simple analogy — if you’re the only hot dog stand outside a sold-out concert at 2 a.m., your hot dogs don’t have to be good. They’ll sell anyway. The market is everything.

The right market has three qualities: people in it feel significant pain, they have money to spend on a solution, and you can actually reach them.

And one more rule — go narrower. The more specific your niche, the higher the price you can charge. A generic time management course? Hard sell. “Time management for self-employed contractors drowning in admin work”? That’s a targeted offer — and the right person will gladly pay more for it.

Cutting Your Price Is a Road to Nowhere

When sales slow down, the first instinct is to discount. That’s a mistake.

You can only go down to zero. You can go up forever. And on top of that — people automatically associate a higher price with higher quality. A customer who pays more will be more engaged, will work harder toward the result, and will ultimately be more satisfied.

The goal isn’t to be slightly more expensive than your competitors. It’s to be priced in a way that makes comparison irrelevant — where the customer stops shopping around and starts asking what’s behind the price.

Your Customer Doesn’t Buy a Product. They Buy a Result.

And they evaluate four things — even if they’re not consciously aware of it:

• How much do they want that result?

• How likely is it that they’ll actually achieve it with you?

• How long will it take?

• How much effort will it require from them?

Your job is to work on all four. Describe the dream outcome as concretely as possible. Increase the perceived probability of success through testimonials and guarantees. Shorten the time to result. Make the customer’s journey easier, not harder.

A practical example that illustrates this well — liposuction versus a year-long gym membership. Both lead to the same goal. Liposuction is expensive, fast, and effortless. The gym is cheap, takes a year, and demands daily discipline. Yet clinics are fully booked. Speed and ease have real value.

A Great Offer Doesn’t Need to Be Compared

The goal is an offer so specific and so loaded with value that the customer can’t compare it to anything else — not in price, not in value.

Here’s how to get there:

Map the full customer journey from first interest to final result. Where might they get stuck? What could stop them? What scares them? For each obstacle, prepare a solution — a template, a checklist, a guide, a consultation (think Value Proposition Canvas). Bundle it all in.

Add a guarantee and shift the risk onto yourself. A “30-day money-back guarantee” doesn’t move the needle anymore. Get specific. “If we don’t deliver within 21 days, your next order comes with a discount.” The more concrete the guarantee, the more the customer believes the result will actually come.

Don’t sell to everyone. Scarcity drives desire. If you take fewer clients than there is demand, the price naturally goes up.

How to Get Your Offer in Front of the Right People

Four ways to acquire customers — and all of them work:

1. Start with people you already know — your email list, your social media followers, existing customers. This is the most reliable path to your first sales.

2. Create free content — a newsletter, podcast, videos. The more you give, the more naturally customers come to you.

3. Don’t be afraid to reach out cold. But give them something concrete in the very first line — not a generic pitch.

4. Run paid ads. But ads amplify what already works. If the first three aren’t working, ads won’t save you.

Pick one of these four and stick with it. Hormozi recommends 100 outreach attempts a day — not exactly realistic for most of us, but ten solid outreaches a day for three months? That starts to mean something.

And when you manage to sell your premium offer to one client, you get two things at once — revenue and a testimonial that attracts more clients just like them. Some offers won’t land. That’s normal. But every attempt moves you forward — unlike waiting for sales to magically improve on their own. Don’t be afraid to sell.

What to Take Away from This

If your offer can’t stand on its own, no amount of advertising will fix it. But if you build an offer that speaks directly to your customer, solves their specific problem, and removes their risk — marketing stops feeling like a fight.

Hormozi’s style isn’t for everyone. He’s direct, sometimes blunt, occasionally overconfident. But looking at your offer from a different angle is always worth it. You’ll find his videos on YouTube and his books at acquisition.com.

See you in the next one 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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Online marketing is a massive topic - and it’s easy to get lost in it. New tools, new platforms, new trends. And yet the core questions never change. Am I visible? Do people trust me? Do they understand what I offer?

I’ve built a framework of five pillars that answer exactly those questions. They work regardless of what’s trending right now - and they form the backbone of a book I’ve been working on. Today, I want to walk you through what that framework looks like.

The Five Pillars of Online Marketing

I call them pillars for a reason. They’re the foundations - without them, the whole structure collapses sooner or later. New social networks will come and go, algorithms will shift, tools will change. These principles won’t. They held true ten years ago, and they’ll hold true ten years from now.

1. Be Findable

The best offer in the world is worthless if no one can find it. But being findable doesn’t just mean SEO and Google. It means being where your customers are actually looking - and that could be Instagram, Google Maps, an industry directory, or a recommendation in a community. It all depends on who your customers are and how they move around online.

2. Be Credible

People buy from people, not from anonymous websites. When someone lands on your site for the first time, they decide within seconds whether to give you a chance - or close the tab and keep searching. Credibility doesn’t come from a fancy design. It comes from things that surprise most people with their simple obviousness - named contact persons, photos of your workspace, testimonials, your company story. What isn’t written there might as well not exist.

3. Be Transparent

You know what puts customers off the most? Uncertainty. I don’t know what it’ll cost. I don’t know how the process works. I don’t know what happens if something goes wrong. Transparency means answering the questions people would have asked anyway - before they spiral into doubt. The less room for uncertainty, the easier it is for a customer to say yes.

4. Be Recognizable

Customers don’t automatically trust you after the first contact. Trust is built through repetition - the second time, the third, the fourth - until you occupy a slot in their mind and they think of you when they need you. But that only works if every encounter with you connects to the last one. On Instagram, on your website, on a business card, in an email. Not a perfect logo - a consistent style.

5. Create Content and Communicate

Marketing isn’t a monologue. Publishing and waiting for customers to come to you isn’t enough. Content is how you give people value before they buy anything from you. Communication is how you build a relationship with them. And together, those two things are the most powerful tool you have as a small business owner - because a big company will outspend you on ads, but they can’t beat you on authenticity and a personal touch.

Why Are These Pillars Timeless?

Because they don’t ask what platform you’re using. They don’t ask whether you’re on TikTok or not, whether you invest in paid ads or focus purely on organic reach. They ask the fundamental questions - Are you visible? Do people trust you? Do they understand what you offer? Do they remember you? Are you talking to them?

Those questions will always need answering. Whatever new tool or platform comes along.

That’s exactly why I built the book this way - so it stays useful.

See you in the next one 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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I remember working with a graphic design studio once. Talented people, interesting projects — but emails were disappearing in the inbox, files were named “final_revision_approved_v3,” and nobody quite knew what to tackle first. The result wasn’t just mess. It was stress. That quiet, low-level kind that follows you around all day, draining your energy even when nothing urgent is on fire.

Marketing is, at its core, information. The longer you work in the field, the more channels you manage, the more tools you use, and the more things are waiting for you in various queues. And how you organize those spaces directly affects how you feel while working. Clutter in your digital tools = background noise that costs you energy — even when you don’t notice it.

The good news? It’s fixable — and it doesn’t have to hurt. All it takes is dividing your tools into a few areas and checking where they serve you and where they’re holding you back.

As a companion to this topic, I previously wrote about keeping your marketing materials organized — logos, templates, access credentials, contracts, files for freelancers. That piece was about content and data. Today it’s about the tools you work with every single day.

📧 Email

Your inbox is the place where tasks, questions, and decisions arrive every day — including the ones you haven’t made yet. Even when you’re not actively working in it, a full inbox is waiting for you. Silently, but persistently. That alone adds stress. There are plenty of email clients — I use Gmail within Google Workspace, while Outlook and Superhuman are also popular — and each offers enough options to customize your environment so it works for you, not against you.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you set aside time for a proper inbox cleanup. If you have thousands of unread emails — and yes, I’ve seen inboxes like that — you don’t have to delete them. Just archive everything older in one go and clear the desk. Then set up rules and filters for incoming mail so new messages get automatically sorted where they belong. And unsubscribing from everything you don’t read is one of the fastest ways to keep your inbox manageable long-term.

✅ Tasks and Projects

What isn’t written down barely exists. And what only lives in your head costs you energy — your brain has to track deadlines instead of actually thinking. For personal and ongoing non-project tasks, I currently like Google Tasks — simple and connected to Calendar. Alternatives include Todoist or Things.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you write down every new task the moment it appears — and know you won’t forget anything. Give long-postponed tasks a deadline, or delete them entirely.

💡 I covered task and project organization in my article How to Keep Your Marketing Materials Organized — you’ll also find tips there on editorial calendars and campaign tracking.

📅 Calendar

What isn’t in your calendar might as well not exist. Meetings, deadlines, but also blocks for focused work. If it’s not there (and you don’t stick to it), your day gets eaten up by non-urgent tasks while the important ones never get the time or energy they deserve. There are plenty of calendar apps — I use Google Calendar, which syncs across all my devices; Outlook Calendar and Apple Calendar are solid alternatives. The real win is integrating it with your task app — seeing both tasks and meetings in one place makes it much easier to realistically plan what you can actually get done.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when everything lives in your calendar — and you can plan your day, your week, and your downtime in advance. Otherwise you’re just reactively putting out fires as they come. And that’s exhausting over time.

🧠 Notes and Your Second Brain

As a marketer, you constantly stumble across things that might come in handy someday — an interesting article, a content idea, a quote from a book, a code snippet, client feedback. If you don’t capture it anywhere, it’s gone. And if you capture it in random places with no system, you’ll never find it anyway. There are plenty of note-taking apps — I work using Tiago Forte’s PARA method and find Evernote fits me well, though Notion, Obsidian, and Apple Notes are all popular too. A modern advantage of these tools is that AI can now access them — meaning you can work with your notes further using Claude or ChatGPT. I wrote about building this kind of system in detail in The Marketer’s Second Brain.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you stop relying on memory and start relying on a system. Your head is for thinking — not for storing information.

🌐 Browser

The browser is a marketer’s primary workspace — you spend most of your day in it. Dozens of open tabs, a heap of extensions, bookmarks saved two years ago “to read later” — all of this adds visual and mental clutter. I currently use Brave — it blocks ads (including on mobile), syncs beautifully across all devices, and supports all Chrome extensions. Chrome, Firefox, or Arc (great for experimenters) are solid alternatives.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you treat bookmarks as a working tool, not an internet archive. What you actually need belongs in tasks or notes — not in a bookmarks bar where you’ll never find it in a few weeks anyway.

📱 Phone and Photos

For many marketers, their phone is a full-blown work device — social media management, meeting notes, client communication, shooting content. All the more reason to keep it organized. A cluttered home screen, dozens of apps you don’t use, and a camera roll full of work screenshots mixed with personal photos — all of this unnecessarily complicates your workflow and adds mental load.

And then there are notifications. Do you really need to know about every email the second it lands? Do you really need alerts for every social media reaction? If you also wear a smartwatch, all of that is literally on your wrist — and instead of working, you’re constantly tracking incoming pings. Turning off notifications from apps that don’t actually require your immediate attention is one of the simplest things you can do for your peace of mind.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you keep only what you actually use on your phone, and notifications only from apps that truly need them. Backing up photos to the cloud and separating work and personal files into different folders saves a lot of searching — and, unsurprisingly, a lot of frustration.

💬 Messaging Apps

Messages come from everywhere today — WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Messenger, SMS, DMs from social platforms, community channels on Discord. Switching between all of them just to keep track of who wrote what is exhausting. And the biggest risk isn’t just lost time — it’s that an important message simply doesn’t reach you in time because it got buried under everything else. What personally saved me is Beeper, an app that aggregates all your messaging apps — I have all my chats and social messages in one place, I can see what’s been handled and what hasn’t, and I don’t have to go hunting anywhere.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you have confidence that you’ve responded to everyone and nothing slipped through. Smart notification settings help here too. Group chats or community channels where you’re mostly just observing don’t need to interrupt your workday — you can check in when you have a free moment.

🎧 Podcasts, YouTube, and Newsletters

As a marketer, I’m constantly learning and keeping up with the industry — and I’m guessing you are too. Podcasts, YouTube channels, newsletters, articles... There’s endless interesting content out there and the temptation to subscribe to everything that looks useful is real. But content piling up in your podcast app or YouTube queue that you never actually get to isn’t helping you. If anything, it creates the feeling that you’re always behind. And that’s yet another quiet source of stress.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you subscribe to less and actually consume more. Unsubscribing from newsletters you don’t read, removing channels and podcasts that just keep accumulating — that’s a digital detox that costs nothing and gives a lot. Fewer subscriptions means more space for content that genuinely moves you forward.

🔐 Password Manager

As a marketer, you manage dozens of logins — websites, social media, ad accounts, tools, e-shops. Passwords in your head, in random notes, or one password for everything are a security risk you might not fully appreciate. A password manager lets you have strong, unique passwords for every service, securely share access with freelancers or colleagues, and have everything available across all your devices. Apps like 1Password, Bitwarden (free and open source), or Dashlane — which can share access without the other person ever seeing the actual password — are all great options. Especially useful when you need to give someone access without handing over your credentials directly. I wrote about managing logins and passwords in more detail here.

🪷 You’ll gain more digital peace when you know your accounts are secure. A password manager also watches for data breaches and duplicate passwords — and that alone is worth having one.

The energy you have throughout your workday isn’t unlimited. The less of it that drains away into unnecessary stress — from an overflowing inbox, from chaotic tools, from notifications you don’t need — the more you have left for work that actually moves you forward. It’s worth keeping an eye on that.

See you in the next one 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

P.S.: If you enjoyed this article, forward it to a friend.
If you're that sexy friend, subscribe here.

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Some client relationships start with a very specific request. Like: “Jan, can you fix my e-shop? It doesn’t work well on mobile and that’s why we’re not selling.” I sit down, look at the website — and find the real problem somewhere completely different. Yes, the mobile experience has issues. But that’s not the main problem. The main problem is that a visitor has absolutely no idea what the business actually offers or why they should care. 🤷

This story repeats itself constantly. Business owners get so deep inside their own world that they forget to look through their customers’ eyes. They know their field inside out, use technical jargon without thinking twice, and assume everyone understands things as naturally as they do. But that’s not how it works.

What I See Most Often

Here are some patterns I keep running into:

• Benefits for the customer are written unclearly — or not mentioned at all

• It’s not obvious why someone should buy from them specifically

• The “About Us” page is either empty or full of generic phrases like “we provide quality services”

• Social media profiles have outdated information

• They have a newsletter, but nowhere does it say what’s in it or how often it arrives — so nobody signs up voluntarily

• They’re running promotions, but no one knows about them because they haven’t been communicated

• They have loyalty programs, but customers have no way of finding out

• They use industry jargon that feels “professional” to them but just confuses the customer

And you know what the worst part is? The owners have no idea. For them, everything is obvious. Of course they know how their service works, how products are shipped, what guarantees they offer. But all of that exists only in their heads — and it’s nowhere on the website.

The Grandma Test Works Beyond Business Models

Remember the “grandma test”? If you can’t explain what you do to your grandmother in 10 seconds, you have a problem. But the same applies to your website content. If a visitor doesn’t understand within a few seconds what you offer and why they should want it — they leave.

And here’s the trap: as a business owner, you see your business from the inside. You know every detail, every advantage, every trick. But your customer only sees what you show them. And if you don’t show them what matters to them, they go elsewhere.

Step Into Your Customer’s Shoes

Imagine you’re looking for a service in a completely unfamiliar field. Maybe you need a tax advisor, a construction lawyer, or someone to renovate your bathroom. What do you want to know?

• Who are these people? I want to see the team I’ll actually be working with. Not an anonymous company.

• What exactly do they do? Not “we provide comprehensive services” — what will they specifically solve for me?

• Why them? What’s their background? What experience do they have?

• Can I trust them? Do they have reviews? Happy customers? How long have they been around?

• How does it work? What does the process look like? What does it cost? How do I reach out?

• What if it doesn’t work out? What guarantees do they offer? How do they handle complaints?

These are the questions every visitor asks when they land on your website. And the answers are often missing — because you, as the business owner, consider these things self-evident. Or you assume people will just call and ask. But most people won’t.

A Simple Tool: Value Proposition Canvas

There’s a great framework that helps you look at your business through the customer’s eyes. It’s called Value Proposition Canvas, and it’s essentially a structured set of questions that force you to think from the customer’s perspective.

Think of it as two circles. One holds the customer and their world — their jobs to be done, their frustrations, their fears, their desires. The other holds your offer — what you provide, how it addresses their pain points, what benefits it brings.

The customer circle asks:

• What does the customer need? What are they trying to achieve?

• What’s stopping them? What are their fears and worries?

• What would delight them? What are their hidden wishes?

The value circle answers:

• What products and services do you offer?

• How do you remove the customer’s fears and worries?

• How do you create the value they’re looking for?

When you connect these two circles, you’ve got a winning combination. You’re offering exactly what the customer needs — and communicating it in a way they actually understand.

How to Use This in Practice

1. Know your customer Before you write a single word for your website, sit down and think about who your customer really is. Not “companies” or “clients” in the abstract — get specific. What are their worries? What are they trying to solve? What stresses them out? What would make them happy?

Say you sell swimming pools. Your customer:

• Wants easy, relaxing summers with the family

• Is worried it’ll be too complicated and expensive

• Fears running into an unreliable contractor

• Would love for someone experienced to handle everything

• Wants to know how the process works and how long it takes

2. Audit your content Go through your website, social media, newsletters — everything you’ve created. Ask yourself:

• Does this answer my customers’ questions?

• Is it clear what I offer and why they should want it?

• Am I using jargon they won’t understand?

• Is all the important information actually there?

• Are my contact details up to date?

You’ll often find that half the critical information is missing. Because it seemed obvious to you. But what isn’t written down might as well not exist.

3. Write for your customer, not yourself When describing your offer, don’t focus on how great you are. Focus on what it does for the customer. Not “we have 20 years of experience,” but “our experience means you can count on us.” Instead of “SEO optimization,” say “we help people find you on Google.” Instead of “full-stack development,” say “we build your website from start to finish.”

4. Remove their fears Every purchase comes with risk. Customers ask themselves: What if it doesn’t work? What if I waste my money? You need to address those fears directly. That’s why reviews, case studies, guarantees, and a clearly explained process matter so much. Showing a real team, being transparent — all of this builds trust and lowers the perceived risk.

5. Make the first step easy The customer found you, they like what they see, they want to reach out. And then what? Is there just an info@yourcompany.com address? Or do you offer them a way to book a call, schedule a meeting, fill out a form, or message you directly? The easier you make that first step, the more people will take it.

You’re Also Preparing for the AI Era

The clearer you describe your offer, the better it’s understood — not just by people, but by AI. Last week I was working on a client’s website when she called me directly from a ChatGPT conversation — the AI had recommended me to her. New reality.

If your website clearly explains what you offer, who it helps, and how it works, AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can accurately recommend you to people looking for exactly what you do. But if you have nothing but vague phrases? The AI simply doesn’t know who to send your way — or why.

What to Do Next

Make time for a review. Don’t treat it as a big project. Set aside an hour a week and go through your content piece by piece. Website, social media, profiles, newsletters. Look at it through a stranger’s eyes, not your own.

Ask your actual customers. The best feedback comes from people who’ve already bought from you. Ask them: What convinced you to buy? What were you unsure about? What were you looking for that you couldn’t find?

Test for clarity. Hand your content to someone who knows nothing about your field. A neighbor, a friend, a family member. Did they understand what you offer and why they’d want it? If not, you have work to do.

Fill in the gaps. What did you consider obvious but never actually wrote down? Add it. Reviews, guarantees, how your process works, the team, contacts. Everything a customer needs to know.

Simplify your language. Everywhere you use technical terms, ask yourself: Will my customer understand this? If not, rewrite it in plain English.

So tell me — when did you last look at your website through the eyes of a complete stranger? 🤔

Jan Barborik

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In the context of internet marketing, it might seem like e-shops and websites always aim for the widest possible reach. That they want to sell nationwide or even internationally. Many articles focus on constant growth and expansion… But what if your offering is meant for just one location? A hair salon or a bakery with delivery wants to be found online, but serving their region well is enough. That's where local marketing comes in.

💡 What is Local Marketing?

Local marketing is a way to reach customers who live or spend time near your business. It’s about letting people in your area know about your products or services and convincing them to come shop with you or use what you offer. This approach focuses on a specific place—like your city or neighborhood—and tries to create strong connections with the local community.

In local marketing, your message should be “tailored” to people from your area—taking into account their needs, habits, and local culture. You can use both modern online tools and traditional promotion methods. For example:

Online: You can optimize your website for local search on Google so people can easily find you when searching for services in your area. For instance, when someone searches for “hair salon in Brooklyn,” your salon should appear among the first results.

Offline: You can participate in local farmers’ markets where you’ll sell your homemade pastries while handing out flyers with a link to your online shop.

Community involvement: You can support a local sports team by providing a sponsorship donation in the form of your services—like a massage therapist offering regular massages to players.

The goal is for people in the area to know you, trust you, and see you as part of their community. Local marketing is especially important for smaller businesses and sole proprietors who depend on customers from nearby, but larger companies can also use it to create a more personal and friendly presence in a given location.

💡 What are the Options for Regional Promotion?

There can be two scenarios here—either you have a physical location where you want to bring people (a store, an office), or you just want to reach people in the area and offer them services (like tradespeople). In local marketing, it’s more than appropriate to work not only with online promotion but also offline. And to connect these two promotion methods effectively. People probably already know you, will encounter you, or walk past your location.

💻 Online Local Marketing Tools

Business Profiles Create profiles on Google Business Profile and other local directory sites. Fill them out carefully with all important information and update them regularly. Don’t forget to include opening hours, including changes during holidays or vacations. Actively ask your customers for reviews and respond to every review—whether positive or negative. You can also consider paid promotion of these profiles for greater reach.

Social Media Be active on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Regularly share news from your business—this shows you’re still operating and that things are always happening. If you’re a tradesperson, you can share photos from various jobs in nearby towns—it might inspire other potential customers. Also get involved in local Facebook groups. Many cities or regions have groups where people discuss local events, look for services, and share experiences. Being active there and helping answer questions can bring you new customers.

Website Optimization Make sure your website contains enough information about your city, county, or region in connection with your services. This helps with local search. For example, if you run a coffee shop in Austin, your website should contain phrases like “artisan coffee in Austin” or “cozy coffee shop in downtown Austin.” Also don’t forget to use photos of your location on the website—so people can make the connection. For instance, if there are multiple bike repair shops in the city, people might not notice them until they need these services. Then they sit down at their computer and try to find one. They’ve probably walked past it sometime before and know the location by sight, so it’s good to confirm with a photo which one you are. So they don’t end up going somewhere else.

Targeted Ads Use location targeting options for ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads. You can also consider advertising or PR articles in local online media outlets.

🏬 Offline Local Marketing

Location Branding If you have a physical location, don’t forget clear and attractive signage. This includes your storefront, outdoor sign, and possibly navigation signs in the area that guide customers to you.

Print Advertising Distributing flyers or posters in the area can still be effective, especially for local businesses. It can also be interesting to subtly connect your business with the place using billboards—like “Welcome to Portland—City of Roses.”

Creative Promotion Get inspired by examples like a pizzeria that placed “pizza points” around town—large cubes with QR codes for ordering pizza with delivery to these locations. For example, near a sports complex or by a lake. Such an idea brilliantly combines offline presence with an online ordering system. And strengthens the brand.

Community Events Organize or participate in local events. For instance, a fishing supply store could organize catch-and-release competitions for kids on Children’s Day with accompanying programs, building a positive relationship with the local community. Kids love it. Or a garden center could host several events throughout the year—like Pumpkin Festival where kids and parents carve pumpkins together. It’s always packed.

Supporting Local Culture and Sports Sponsoring concerts, sports teams, or races is a great way to get visibility and show you care about the local community.

Collaboration with Other Local Businesses Build partnerships with other local companies. You can recommend each other’s services or create joint offers. For example, coffee shops or restaurants can appropriately include products from other local producers in their offerings. Bakers, breweries, and the like.

Local promotion simply can’t work without connecting the online and offline worlds. In local marketing, building strong relationships with the community and paying attention to every customer interaction is key. Your reputation spreads quickly in a local environment—whether it’s positive or negative experiences.

The foundation of success is providing quality services and products that meet your customers’ needs. This is followed by good online visibility, active presence on social media, and targeted local advertising. But don’t forget traditional methods like participating in local events or collaborating with other local businesses either.

By combining all these elements, you’ll create a strong and functional marketing strategy. It will help you not only attract new customers but mainly keep your existing ones and build a position as a trusted and beloved business in the community. And that’s the most valuable thing in local marketing.

Remember, it’s not just about one-time actions but about long-term relationship and trust building. Be patient, consistent, and authentic—those are the keys to success.

Have a great day! 🌞

Jan Barborik

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I’ve been noticing how much the term vibe marketing has been getting twisted lately. A lot of people think that vibe marketing = letting AI do everything for you. You type a command, AI generates an Instagram post, you just copy it and you’re done. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of what vibe marketing is all about. 🤦

Vibe marketing doesn’t mean handing over control of everything to artificial intelligence. It’s about using today’s advanced tools so you can work faster, more efficiently, and smarter. It’s orchestrated activity - human intent effectively processed using modern tools. You’re still driving the strategy, you’re still determining the direction, you’re still deciding on the tone of communication. AI is just a tool that helps you get to your goal faster.

Think of it like the difference between a craftsman who uses an electric grinder instead of a hand file, and someone who thinks the grinder will create a masterpiece on its own. The first one still needs to know what they’re doing, how to hold the tool, how to work with it. The second one just holds a running grinder and hopes for a miracle. That’s exactly the difference between vibe marketing and AI marketing.

So what actually is vibe marketing?

Vibe marketing is a term for a strategic approach where an experienced marketer orchestrates AI tools to achieve specific goals. It’s a way of working that keeps you competitive into the future. It’s a combination of knowledge (so I understand what I’m doing), practical experience (so I know what works), and AI-first thinking (so I work efficiently). All three of these components are equally important.

• Knowledge - you still need to understand marketing. You need to know what copy sells, how to reach your target audience, how to create a sales page, how to measure results. You should be comfortable with technologies and tools. At the same time, this is also an area where AI can help you improve and learn new things.

• Experience - you should know what works in practice and what doesn’t. What resonates with your customers. What tone of communication is right for your brand. Without experience, you’re not able to steer the tools you’re using in the right direction. If you don’t have your own experience, it makes sense to reach out to someone more experienced to share their knowledge with you. For example, through mentoring.

• AI-first thinking - this is where modern tools come in. When you know what you want, when you have experience, then you can use AI to speed up your work. To automate routine tasks. To create content more efficiently. To do anything that would take you a long time to do yourself or that you’d previously need assistants for.

There’s no heroism in doing everything “the old way.” Using an electric grinder instead of a file isn’t cheating - it’s just smart use of available tools. Similarly, it’s not cheating to let AI help you with routine tasks when you’re clear on what and why you’re doing it.

What does this look like in practice?

Vibe marketing allows you to do a lot of things on your own. Technical solutions and complexity no longer have to be obstacles. Marketing is primarily working with information and content - and that’s exactly where AI tools excel. With their processing.

I still highly respect crafts like graphic design, copywriting, or programming. But I approach them differently. Strategic points (tonality, style, strategy, goals) are created by professionals. Routine and drudgery are already done (or significantly helped with) by AI. When I need to write a newsletter, AI doesn’t write the whole text for me - but it helps me quickly organize my thoughts, clean up grammar, shorten or expand passages. I still provide the core ideas and strategy.

Here are a few more practical examples from my daily work (with highly customized AI tools):

• Programming - I’m able to do a lot of simple things on my own, quickly and my way. I’ve created my own WordPress plugins for things I often need. For example, a floating tab with news on a website, export of entire website content to RTF, etc. Before, I would have had to find a programmer or learn to code at a professional level. I’ve also created many useful tools - for example, for clients on top of their e-shops on Shoptet (a Czech e-commerce platform, similar to Shopify) or my own software for more efficient order management. Thanks to vibe coding (and experience from previous collaboration with professionals), I can often solve these simple things myself.

• Data work - when I need to translate product data, extract information from tables, or perform bulk actions, AI helps me do it in a minute.

• Problem-solving - when I run into errors in WordPress or other systems, I always solve them immediately with AI’s help. Same with more advanced configuration of various services or connecting them together.

• Content creation - I dictate thoughts using Wispr Flow or AudioPen and AI helps me process them into smooth, clean text. But the strategy, main ideas, tonality - that’s still my work. Or thanks to properly set up agents, I’m able to quickly and efficiently create things like personalized transactional email templates, etc.

• Emails and conversations - AI helps me navigate through long conversations and quickly find the information I need. Both in email and in my second brain.

• Organization and productivity - I use Claude Cowork, for example, to organize files and documents. Instead of manually sorting hundreds of files, AI helps me do it in a few seconds. It made my work easier, for example, when naming hundreds of files provided by a client according to what was in them.

See the pattern? It’s always me who determines the direction. AI is just an assistant that speeds up my path to the goal.

There are several reasons why this approach makes sense:

• Marketing is increasingly complex - you need to master dozens of channels, understand data, create content, build customer relationships. Without the help of modern tools, you simply can’t keep up.

• Speed and competitiveness - when your competition works smarter and faster thanks to modern tools, you can’t fall behind.

• Self-sufficiency - you can now handle a lot of things yourself. You don’t have to pay an expert for every minor task. And you can also educate yourself and learn things you need with AI’s help.

Be critical

It’s important to learn to recognize limits - both yours and AI’s. Artificial intelligence is here to stay with us, and it’s foolish to resist it. And it’s equally foolish to rely on it blindly. Don’t adopt generated content uncritically. Verify, think about the result, test it.

For topics you don’t understand at all, it’s better to continue entrusting them to experts if you’re not able to assess the quality of outputs. Unfortunately, I still encounter people who treat AI tools as a magic box that grants wishes, and whatever comes out of it, they take as a finished thing and the truth. Watch out for that, there’s regret from it later.

YOU decide:

• Strategy and goals

• Tonality and style

• What is/isn’t acceptable

• Final approval

AI processes:

• Routine tasks

• Structuring thoughts

• Technical problems

• Bulk operations

Vibe marketing is actually just a temporary name for an efficient way of working as a marketer. In a few years, the ‘vibe’ prefix will disappear and just ‘marketing’ will remain - because it will be the new standard. Just like vibe coding for programmers.

Today you still have an advantage - you can learn this before others. You can be among the first to master this approach. Or you can wait until it becomes a necessity. The choice is yours. But time is ticking.

Looking forward to the next article! 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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Today we're diving into a topic that's often discussed in marketing, but rarely explored in its full context: Return on Investment. You might know it by its acronym ROI. Most people think of it as a simple number - how much money each dollar invested in advertising brings back. But what if we looked at ROI from a broader perspective?

The Theory Says...

...it’s a key indicator of marketing effectiveness. It expresses the ratio between net profit from a marketing campaign and the costs of that campaign. Typically expressed as a percentage, it’s calculated as (net profit / investment) x 100. For example, a 200% ROI means that every dollar invested brought back two dollars in net profit.

In digital marketing, ROI is often measured using various metrics like conversions, order value, or customer lifetime value. The goal isn’t just to measure the success of individual campaigns, but also to optimize your marketing budget and strategy for maximum return on investment.

You’ll easily find tons of articles and examples about this. It’s marketing fundamentals.

In Practice...

...it’s much more than just a marketing metric. In the life of a marketer or entrepreneur, one of the main questions that should constantly be asked is: what’s in it for me? What benefit will I get from creating a profile on another social network? What will sponsoring a sports team bring me? How will switching my e-commerce platform pay off? 🤔

The simplest calculations are, of course, financial ones. No doubt about that. You run an ad and calculate how much it earned. But then there are other metrics. Indirect ones that also need to be considered. For example, customer satisfaction, customer experience (like convenient shopping), good reputation, employee satisfaction, number of complaints, but also the good feeling from charitable collaboration. You can probably easily think of plenty more.

ROI as a Decision-Making Tool

This might sound obvious to you - nothing groundbreaking. But I’m increasingly encountering people who come to me with requests to implement new things without having thought them through at all. And when I ask them what they’ll get out of it, they usually respond that “it would probably be good because they saw it at a competitor’s.”

I’ve recently dealt with several requests to implement a chatbot on small business websites. 🤖 It’s certainly a smart thing, can be useful. But when I asked clients what it should serve on their site, they told me it should give visitors answers about their offer. Well, isn’t that what the website is supposed to do? Plus, the offer involved services that are always handled individually. Just feeding the chatbot with information to make it worthwhile would take quite a bit of time.

If we needed to relieve an overwhelmed customer support line, it would make sense to sort requests and direct them to competent people or to help resources to reduce pressure. But here they wanted it just because they thought it was modern. And it might interest people. 🤷🏻 After a short discussion, we always arrived at the conclusion that people would benefit more from a real human dedicated to helping them.

So not a chatbot, but a customer chat. And clear, specific contact details with a consultation offer for each service. The return on a chatbot simply wasn’t there - in the end, it would land on a real person’s desk anyway. So why complicate things? We want to nurture customers, not send them to a robot. 😉

ROI in marketing is much more than just a number in a spreadsheet. It’s about the energy we put into our work and what comes back to us. It’s about our clients’ satisfaction, our personal growth, and long-term building of something meaningful.

So next time you evaluate the success of your marketing strategy, don’t forget to look beyond the numbers. You might discover that your investment brings a much greater return than you thought.

Looking forward to the next article! 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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Imagine this: You publish a post on Facebook. You write the text, add an image, click “Post” - and only an hour later you notice you forgot to add the product link. Or you send out a newsletter and immediately after sending realize the subject line has a typo. Or even worse - you only sent it to part of your list because you forgot to set the right segment. Sound familiar? 🤦🏻‍♂️

This happens when we rely solely on memory. Yet there’s a simple way to avoid these mistakes - checklists. Or if you prefer: process lists that you create once and then just tick off.

What exactly is a process?

A process isn’t anything complicated. It’s simply a list of steps you take every time you repeat a certain task. Fulfilling an order. Publishing a blog post. Adding a new product to your online store. Preparing a newsletter.

Each of these activities has its steps. And once you write them down, you don’t have to figure them out again next time - you just tick them off and have the confidence you haven’t forgotten anything.

Simple yet effective

Surgeon Atul Gawande wrote a book called The Checklist Manifesto, where he describes how implementing simple checklists in hospitals dramatically reduced errors during operations. Specifically, they reduced mortality by 47 percent (PubMed Central) and complications by a third. The World Health Organization then implemented a surgical checklist in hospitals worldwide with similar results.

If checklists help save lives in operating rooms, why couldn’t they help you with order fulfillment or content publishing?

Gawande distinguishes two types of failure: ignorance (we don’t know how to do something) and ineptitude (we know how to do it but don’t apply it correctly). Checklists solve that second problem - they remind us of steps we know but easily skip when we’re in the thick of things.

When to create a process?

The ideal moment is when you’re doing something for the first time and know you’ll repeat it. Right at that moment, you’re thinking through every step - so just write them down.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Processes can always be adjusted and refined. After each use, you’ll think: “I forgot this, I’ll add it.” Or: “This step is unnecessary, I’ll delete it.” Gradually, you’ll create a system tailored to your needs.

For me personally, discovering processes was one of the most fundamental skills in business. When my wife and I were building our sportswear manufacturing company, this approach allowed me to think strategically right away about every phase of production - from receiving inquiries through design approval, manufacturing to shipping. Today I have dozens of processes mapped out - for working with clients, for team collaboration, for recurring tasks. And I’m constantly refining them.

Where to use processes in practice?

A few examples from everyday marketing and e-commerce practice:

Publishing a social media post: Check text for typos → Add image in correct format → Insert link → Add hashtags → Schedule publication time → After publishing, verify everything works

Fulfilling an order: Check product availability → Print invoice → Pack → Insert business card/flyer → Send tracking to customer → Mark as shipped in system

Adding a new product to your store: Upload photos → Write description → Set price and variants → Add to category → Set up SEO (title, description) → Check display on website

Sending a newsletter: Write text → Check all links → Set subject line and preheader → Send test email → Check mobile display → Schedule sending

Onboarding a new client: Send welcome email → Create folder in system → Get access credentials → Schedule intro call → Prepare brief

Tools for working with processes

You don’t need any special software. A notepad or Google Doc is enough. But if you want more, tools like Todoist or Basecamp can work with task templates - you create a process template once and then just repeatedly use it for each new task. I personally have all my process templates in Basecamp and it works great for me.

What’s the takeaway?

Your brain capacity is limited. Every decision, every “I need to remember what else to do” costs you energy. Checklists take that burden off your shoulders.

So next time you’re doing something you know you’ll repeat - stop for a moment and write down the steps. You’ll be calmer and make fewer mistakes.

Looking forward to the next article! 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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Today’s topic was inspired by a consultation with a client of mine. She’s a manager who recently joined a company and is still getting the lay of the land. Part of her new role includes overseeing online marketing, which means reviewing everything they’re doing and assessing what shape it’s in. We discovered some access management chaos, but also a bigger problem with Facebook.

Somehow, they had lost access to their original company Facebook Page. And because no one really understood how it all worked, they created a new profile and kept posting from there. The thing is, customers don’t want to send friend requests to a business just to see updates. (Though surprisingly, hundreds of people actually did.) So we needed to create a proper Page and migrate followers there. One of the main reasons? You can’t run paid ads from a profile. That means no way to reach a wider audience beyond organic sharing.

💡 A Facebook profile is for personal use — you can have friends (up to 5,000) and share personal updates. A business Page is a tool for business — unlimited followers, ad management, analytics, and a more professional appearance. While a profile requires a friend request, a Page just needs a follow. For most people, that’s a much more comfortable way to stay connected with a business.

I proposed a plan to sort everything out properly. And then came the revelation: “Facebook doesn’t really work for us anyway!”

🙆🏻 Only “Young People” Understand Facebook?

A younger colleague had been given responsibility for their Facebook. On top of her regular job, she was expected to publish posts regularly. From the manager’s perspective, it made sense — young people are closer to social media than older folks. The manager herself didn’t use social networks at all, didn’t know their potential, and frankly, wasn’t interested. So they ended up in a situation where someone was posting content just because of their age, with no guidance on what to post, no real interest in doing it — and surprise, surprise, it wasn’t working. What now?

As the manager correctly pointed out, in their industry you can’t outsource social media management to an external agency. Without direct involvement in daily operations, it’s impossible. Passing information back and forth would slow everything down, and photos of what’s happening would either need to be taken internally anyway, or the agency would have to visit constantly — which would get expensive fast. Hiring someone else isn’t the solution here. They have to do it themselves. At least mostly. But how, when no one on the team has the talent or interest for it?

If there were someone with creative drive who naturally came up with ideas and took ownership, you’d just need to guide them a bit to make sure it aligns with business goals. And support them.

📝 Content by Manual? Absolutely!

When that person doesn’t exist, you need to rely on processes and systems. Create a manual that the person responsible for content must follow. Sounds terrible, right? Creativity by instruction. But you’ll see in a moment that it works. Here’s how I solved this situation:

To prevent random or repetitive content, I defined the main content types they’d work with.

Regular weekly updates — information customers need to see. This was actually the only thing they’d been posting, and it’s meant to support sales.

Behind-the-scenes content — photos, videos, or short text posts when something interesting happens or there’s something worth capturing. This shows the human side of the business and gives people a peek inside.

Event announcements — they have recurring events throughout the year. We want to invite customers and inform them about these. And afterwards, share how it went — maybe with a photo recap.

Seasonal and reactive posts — given their industry, we can highlight significant dates and holidays, paired with photos of current happenings. This includes reactive posts about first snow, heat waves, sports championships, and so on.

Local pride — since the business is strongly regional, it makes sense to occasionally celebrate beautiful spots in the area.

HR content — they periodically look for new colleagues or part-timers, so recruitment posts have their place on Facebook too.

Sales content — promotions, discounts, offers, and new products absolutely belong here.

Announcements — information about extraordinary events also has its place on the timeline.

For each of these formats, I prepared templates showing what they should look like. Sample text, emoji usage, formatting. Where graphic design is required (like for events), I created visual templates. We also defined the tone and style for Facebook communication. Every content type has an example in a shared document.

To prevent sporadic posting (or forgetting altogether), we set a frequency for each content type and mapped them into a calendar.

They won’t post every day, but it will be consistent. And there’s always room for an extra post when needed.

See? It didn’t take much brainstorming, and I’ve prepared 8 content types they can work with on Facebook. Each one has a purpose, a reason. Nothing is random. I figured out what each should look like and when to publish it.

I also defined rules for engaging with people on social media. How to respond to comments and questions. This ensures consistent communication, no matter who’s responding on behalf of the company.

💡 It Has to Make Sense

The manager now understands how Facebook will be used. She no longer sees it as “something for young people” that she doesn’t get. It’s a communication channel with customers. She understands what we’ll say there and why. Thanks to the manual, she can also review the content her younger colleague creates. And she can involve more people from the company in publishing, because there are clear rules for how to create content. She understands that selected, important content can be amplified through paid advertising to reach many people in the region. And that through consistently high-quality content over time, she can shape the company’s reputation and the impression it makes on customers.

I’ve met many people who say, “We don’t know what we’d keep posting on social media.” If it’s an important communication and marketing channel for them, there’s always a way to figure it out. And with a little effort, followers won’t even notice that your content is divided into formats, or that you publish in a certain rhythm. They’ll simply know what’s happening at your business. And that something is happening.

🤗 Key Takeaways

Age isn’t a qualification — assigning social media management to someone just because they’re young isn’t a solution. A systematic approach and understanding the purpose matter more.

A manual isn’t a necessary evil — even creative work can have clear rules. It helps maintain consistency and makes the job easier.

Planning is fundamental — schedule your content types and their frequency in advance. Sporadic posting doesn’t work.

Diverse content engages — combine different types of posts, from sales to behind-the-scenes. It helps keep your followers’ attention.

Enable oversight — set up rules so that even someone without social media experience can monitor whether they’re being followed.

See you in the next article 🫡

Jan Barborik

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The turn of the year is traditionally full of looking back. What went well, lists of joy, and such. But instead of looking backward, I prefer to look ahead. In today’s newsletter, I want to highlight the main trends I’ve been observing in practice lately – trends that will continue to grow stronger this year. Trends you should know about.

From SEO to Answers: The End of Fluff

The biggest change that practically everyone in the industry is talking about is the transformation of search. You may have noticed it yourself – more and more people are stopping to ask Google for a list of links. Instead, they’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity to get a direct answer. They’re not searching “best restaurant New York” – they’re asking “where should I go for dinner in New York if I want Italian food and have a budget of $50 per person.”

What does this mean for you? Algorithms and AI models will ignore average content that just rewrites what’s already been said a hundred times elsewhere. That generic product description you copied from your supplier? That article that just summarizes what someone else already wrote? That won’t cut it anymore.

Content built on your unique experience will win. On data that only you have. On opinions you can actually defend. As I write in my book Become Your Own Marketer (currently being translated into English) – it’s not enough to just be in search engines, you need to be where your customers are. And in 2026, customers are increasingly turning to AI assistants.

Practically speaking, this means one thing: one truly great article where you share your hands-on experience will bring you more than ten average pieces. Draw from what you do every day. Offer a perspective that no tool can provide – because it has nowhere to get it from.

AI as a Partner, Not a Replacement

2026 will be the year when AI stops being a toy and becomes a standard work tool. You’re probably already there – using it to edit texts, for brainstorming, for processing notes or data. And that’s the right approach.

But watch out for one thing. Companies that try to automate communication at the expense of humanity will hit a wall. Imagine you send an inquiry and get back a response that’s grammatically correct, but you can feel it was written by a robot. How would you feel? You’d probably think you’re not important enough to this company for a human to respond.

The key skill will be guiding AI to create drafts and prototypes, but the final output must be reviewed by a human. Otherwise, you end up with what’s being called “AI slop” – low-quality junk that doesn’t engage anyone and that people recognize at first glance.

I mention this in my book too: people very quickly recognize when they’re talking to a robot. For small businesses, human contact is a huge advantage – use it. Use AI as a junior assistant who speeds up your routine and helps you be more efficient. Let it prepare an outline, a first draft, a summary. But keep the responsibility for the final tone of communication with yourself. That personal touch is what will set you apart.

Authenticity Beats Perfection

As a counterpoint to perfect, AI-generated visuals, there’s a growing trend of realness. It might seem paradoxical, but people are tired of perfection. American smiles, polished stock photos, flawless graphics, overly slick-sounding copy – it all starts to feel suspicious. Like there’s nobody real behind it. How many car brands alone have recently rebranded to that same, interchangeable visual style?

People are drawn to content that feels human. Even imperfect content. That’s precisely what builds trust. When you see a photo from a real workshop instead of a stock image, you trust it more. When you read a text where the author admits something didn’t work out, you trust them more than someone who claims to be perfect and infallible.

Social media is shifting from mass reach to depth and community building. Influencer marketing isn’t ending, but it’s changing. It’s no longer about numbers, but about real influence and trust. A smaller audience that trusts you is more valuable than a large audience that just scrolls through their feed.

What does this mean for you? Show your human side. Don’t be afraid to admit when something doesn’t work out. Don’t be afraid to show behind the scenes – even the messy parts. Take your own photos, even if they’re not perfect. People love the process; they enjoy watching how things come together. It’s precisely this authenticity that will differentiate you most from your competition. You’re creating a truly authentic brand and connection. I’ve written about this in my book as well.

Email Remains King

While everyone is debating whether to be on TikTok or Threads, email quietly remains the channel with the highest return. But the rules of the game are changing.

Due to privacy protection and the end of third-party cookies, collecting your own contacts is becoming increasingly important. Mass mailings to purchased databases are ending – and good riddance. Personalization and relevance are taking over. It’s not about sending an email to everyone, but sending the right message to the right people at the right time.

Email is a timeless tool. Build your own database from day one. Even if it’s just ten people, that’s ten people you can communicate with directly, without an algorithm deciding whether anyone sees your content.

And most importantly – give people something they’re genuinely interested in. By making your emails useful rather than just sales pitches, you’ll strengthen their relationship with you. Just like this newsletter – I try to make sure you take away something practical from every issue.

From Knowing to Doing

The market is oversaturated with information. Courses, e-books, webinars, podcasts – there’s more information than anyone can process. And here’s something important to realize: in 2026, it won’t be those who know the most who win, but those who can quickly put things into practice.

Education is important. But even more important is not getting stuck in endless learning. I know plenty of people who keep studying more and more materials because they feel they don’t know enough yet. That they need one more course, one more book, one more certificate. And only then will they start.

The truth is you’ll never know everything. And that’s okay. Learn the basics, try them in practice, and only then continue learning based on the results. Systems for work management and processes will be more important than accumulating knowledge.

Don’t wait for perfection. Launch your project at eighty percent and fine-tune as you go. That will tell you far more than another month of studying.

What Does All This Mean?

Technology is great for optimizing processes. AI will save you hours of work. Automation will ease your routine. Use them. But none of it can replace genuine interest in your customer, empathy, and real care.

That will be your biggest competitive advantage in 2026, when the web is flooded with generic content. Don’t try to chase every technological trend. Use AI to eliminate routine, but create content with emphasis on your personal experience and authenticity. That’s something AI can’t replace – because it has to come from you.

Wishing you all the best in 2026, and thank you for being here with me! 🥂

See you in the next article 🫡

Jan Barborik

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We’re in the middle of December – the craziest shopping season of the year. Every one of us is receiving more sales emails than we’d like. And it’s increasingly naive to expect that your email will stand out in that flood.

Internet users these days are like prey during hunting season. Bombarded with ads from all directions. And honestly – not just now. The more money flows through online marketing, the harder it gets to reach customers. The human touch and personal approach are fading away.

It's so easy to launch an ad and wait for sales. But when everyone does it, it's like shouting in a crowd – nobody hears you. That's why today I decided to remind you that there's a world beyond the internet. And we shouldn't forget about it.

First, Take Care of the Customers You Already Have

Before we dive into marketing activities “out there,” we need to realize one fundamental thing. Marketing can bring in customers, but you have to keep them with quality service. That’s why it’s essential to first focus on how you take care of customers – meaning the sales process or service delivery.

Even the best campaign won’t help when:

• A customer waits a week for an answer to their question

• The courier throws the package over the fence

• Your e-shop doesn’t clearly show when the goods will arrive

• Nobody picks up the phone

Focus first on making the whole process run smoothly. From first contact to delivery. Only then does it make sense to attract new customers.

Sometimes I test my own clients to see how quickly they respond on the customer chat they wanted to add to their website or e-shop. Some respond quickly, some completely ignore my messages. It’s good to do this kind of unplanned mystery shopping on your own project too.

The World Out There

While everyone is fighting for attention on the internet, the offline world offers plenty of opportunities. Especially if you operate locally. Here are some ideas on how to connect online and offline:

• Host a workshop or lecture for your customers

• Participate in local markets and events (be visible)

• Offer personal consultations

• Create something tangible – like a printed catalog or magazine

• Collaborate with other local businesses on joint events

• Actively use your store or showroom if you have one

You Can Measure Offline Too

“But how do I know it’s working?” you ask. Offline marketing can be measured too. For example, you can:

• Use special discount codes for different offline events

• Create unique landing pages on your website for offline campaigns

• Ask customers where they heard about you

• Track increases in traffic/sales after offline activities

The Human Approach Pays Off

Big e-commerce sites and platforms can’t give every customer personal attention. But you can. And that’s your advantage. Add a handwritten thank-you note to your package. Call an important customer personally. Invite people for coffee at your store.

These are things big companies simply can’t do. And that’s exactly why they can be your competitive advantage.

Summary

Marketing isn’t just about numbers and data. It’s primarily about people. And they live real lives outside the internet. Try to keep this in mind when planning your activities. Sometimes one personal meeting can have a bigger impact than a week of running ads.

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How do you combine online and offline activities? Let me know, I’m curious.

See you in the next article! ✌🏻

Jan Barborik

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Imagine you’ve built a restaurant in the middle of a field. Beautiful interior, carefully crafted menu, perfected recipes. Every day you come in, look at the menu, and think — I’d change this word here, tweak that description there, rephrase this bit. You polish the plates, straighten the cutlery, try new table arrangements. But no guests are coming. Because there’s no road leading to your restaurant in the middle of that field, and instead of driving busloads of hungry people there, you’re still fiddling with the menu.

This is exactly what I see with so many online projects in my practice. And it’s a huge shame, because these projects are often good. The websites look nice, the products are quality, the services are needed. But their creators are stuck in an endless cycle of improvements.

Two Types of People Who Get Stuck in This Loop

The first type keeps tweaking their website or online store. Obsessing over wording, debating button colors. They consult friends, acquaintances, or — and this is even worse — endlessly discuss it with AI. AI will always find something to improve because it’s programmed to give you answers. It will never tell you: “It’s done now. Launch it.”

The second type creates social media content but doesn’t think about how to actually get it in front of real people. They publish posts, watch single-digit likes roll in, and wait for a miracle that never comes.

Days pass. Weeks. Months. A handful of visitors stumble onto the website. A few followers like something on social media. But conversions? Inquiries? Orders? Silence.

Why It Doesn’t Work

The more unique your project is, the harder it is to find — people don’t even know something like this exists. And if it’s a common product or service? In the first weeks and months, your SEO won’t be strong enough anyway, and you’ll disappear in a sea of competition.

Organic reach today is simply minimal. Without paid advertising, your project won’t reach your target audience. Meanwhile, you’re analyzing the behavior of those five people who wandered in, trying to draw conclusions. But you can’t draw any meaningful conclusions from five visits.

What to Do About It

At some point, you need to say: it’s ready now. Not 100% ready — 80% is enough. Test the website on a few people. Give them two or three minutes to browse, then ask: What is this about? What’s the offer? Was everything clear? Or ask your first real customers how their buying experience was.

And then? Then you need to start driving people there in volume. That means paying for ads. Ideally, hire someone experienced who will spend your money as efficiently as possible and recommend a budget and channels.

Only when you have enough visitors can you evaluate whether it’s done well or poorly. Whether people understand it, whether it grabs their attention, whether they complete the conversion you want. And then keep refining — but on the go, with real data.

Two Tools That Will Help

Once people start coming to your site from ads, you need to know what they’re doing there.

Hotjar (or similar session recording tools) lets you record user behavior. Every visit — mobile or desktop — gets recorded as a video. You see how people scroll, what they click, where they hover. You’re not limited to blind numbers from Google Analytics.

And then it’s good to be close to your visitors. LiveChat or Intercom are customer chat tools you can connect to your website, Facebook, or WhatsApp. Many people don’t want to call — it’s a barrier. They don’t want to send emails — it’s effort. They don’t trust contact forms. But typing in a chat? Anyone can do that. And you’ll find out immediately if there’s a problem somewhere.

What This Is Really About

As long as you’re staring at your website alone at home with no one visiting, you have no data to base decisions on. You’re relying on your gut feeling, on opinions of people around you who might be biased and don’t represent your target audience.

It makes absolutely no sense to save money and rely only on organic content. It can work, but it’s a long game and you can’t count on it.

Instead of endless tweaking of words and buttons, you need to shift your project as quickly as possible into the phase where money starts flowing. Everything else can be adjusted on the go — with real feedback from real people.

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So — do you have a project that’s 80% ready? Maybe it’s time to stop polishing plates and start bringing in guests.

See you in the next one! ✌🏻

Jan Barborik

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One of the main things I’ve been doing for almost two decades is building websites. Today, I’d like to share my approach to web development with you. Over the years, I’ve simplified and systematized it so that even when working with a tight budget, the result is as good as it can possibly be.

After all, as a marketer or entrepreneur, sooner or later you’ll find yourself needing a (new) website. Whether it’s a microsite for a campaign or new company pages. And you won’t always have a team of specialists and a generous budget at your disposal.

Fortunately, we live in an era with plenty of tools that make the job easier. Building a website is no longer about programming - it’s primarily about assembling content.

Forget the Graphics, Start with Content

When people hear “new website,” many immediately start thinking about how the site should look. What colors will it have, where the logo goes, what animations to include.

Stop! That’s exactly the opposite approach from what you need.

A website is primarily a carrier of information. A site’s success rarely depends on its graphics. People don’t come to your website to admire it. They come for answers and solutions to their problems.

In my view, pages must work even in black and white, in a basic font.

When you have a well-built structure, perfectly described and photographed products or services, the website simply has to work. And whether it’s blue or red won’t dramatically increase your earnings. On the other hand, if you focus only on graphics and the content is garbage, the website will be useless.

Sure, make it look decent - aesthetically polished, suited to your industry and your visual identity. But that comes last.

Structure as the Foundation

The first step in creating a website should be building a mind map. In it, you’ll sketch out what pages the site will have and what content will be on each one.

For every page, note what information it should contain, what elements you want there (forms, galleries, testimonials...), and what action the visitor should take on that page. This gives you a clear initial picture of the project’s scope. This will guide the entire website creation process.

I use Xmind for this, which can be easily shared with your team or client.

Then Prepare Your Information

With your structure ready, it’s time to prepare the materials. At least the factual, rough ones. You need texts, photos, testimonials, contacts... basically everything that will make up the website’s content.

Try to prepare as much as possible right at the start. It doesn’t have to be final, polished copy. But you should have at least bullet points about what each section will cover. If you don’t have all the materials, at least note what will go there and roughly how much. Even amateur photos work if the professional ones are coming later.

A Quick Prototype Shows More Than Planning

Once you have your materials, you can start building. Thanks to tools like WordPress (I almost exclusively use the Divi theme), you can quickly assemble a functional prototype. I first install a clean WordPress with Divi, start creating the page structure, build the menu, and roughly drop in all the materials I have - without any styling whatsoever.

Don’t worry about graphics at this stage - the goal is for the information as a whole, and its arrangement, to make sense. The advantage is that with minimal effort, you see a real website, you can click through it and better imagine the final form. And you have room early on to reconsider or adjust things.

You can even test with real people whether the structure makes sense, whether important information is missing, whether the site is easy to navigate, and what length of text you’ll need where. It’s much easier to make changes at this stage than when you have finished graphics.

Fine-Tuning the Content

If everything is as you need it, it’s time to work on the final form of the content. Fill in the final versions of texts, upload the right photos, play with the wording of links and buttons, work on forms... Set preview images for articles. Basically, when someone browses through, they should see the content that’s actually supposed to be there.

When you think about it, websites like Apple, Notion, Basecamp, or Dropbox don’t actually have much graphics. They’re polished, with nice typography... but the rest is minimalist. They’re built on superb copy and refined photos. See how those colors don’t really impact the quality of the message?

Graphics as the Final Step

So only when you have confirmed and tested content should you dive into graphic adjustments. At this point, you know exactly what you’re styling - you know the text lengths, the number of images, the different types of content. You can either style directly on the website and create graphics “on the go,” or prepare a graphic design based on the development version and then style it accordingly.

Although I’m an advocate of the “content first” approach, this doesn’t mean the graphic design isn’t important. It’s like building a house - first you need a functional house you can live in, and then you can paint it and furnish it. A website must be visually attractive and professional in its final form. But this is the last step in the process.

That’s why even when a designer is working on the site, their brief should be the final version of the content. So they know what they’re designing. Otherwise, they’ll be designing blind - and possibly unnecessarily. Or you’ll end up trying to force-fit your content into a design that was created without context.

Why Does This Approach Work?

If you had a team of professionals, you’d do all of this anyway. Just separately. First research, structure, wireframe design and testing, then copywriting, graphic design, and finally programming the website based on that.

This way, with minimal time investment, you’re able to have a live prototype with rough content ready for testing. Thanks to current tools (no-code / low-code), the technical side of web development is much simpler than it used to be.

The real challenge is creating quality, functional content. And that’s exactly what you should focus on most when building a website. That’s where I see the main role of today’s marketer.

Your customers and website visitors ultimately won’t care what platform it runs on or how much it cost. They’ll care about whether they found what they were looking for. And whether you captured their attention.

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That’s my approach to building websites in a nutshell.

Looking forward to seeing you in the next article! ✌🏻

Jan Barborik

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Today, let’s explore a topic that keeps coming up not just in marketing, but in business overall — the power of collaboration. Many entrepreneurs and marketers tend to see others primarily as competition. Yet collaboration can hold enormous potential.

When you look at major brands, you’ll find plenty of examples of successful partnerships — Apple with Nike, or BMW with Louis Vuitton. And if these connections work for big brands, they can be even more beneficial for smaller projects and entrepreneurs. Collaboration can significantly help the smallest players — by joining forces, they can better compete, make more efficient use of their limited budgets, and gain a stronger voice.

Why Collaboration Works

I was recently listening to a podcast where someone talked about how important collaboration between content creators is. Everyone has their own audience, their own experience, and their own perspective. When these connect, something far more valuable can emerge than when everyone creates alone in their own bubble.

By combining two different viewpoints and experiences, you can gain access to a new audience, enrich your perspective with different experiences, and most importantly — offer customers interesting added value. Plus, you’ll save on customer acquisition costs.

What Does Collaboration Look Like in Practice?

Imagine a coffee shop that partners with a local yoga instructor. The instructor can use a nearby grassy park for morning yoga classes, and the coffee shop offers participants a special healthy breakfast after their workout. For the coffee shop, this means new customers during otherwise quiet morning hours; for the instructor, it’s a chance to offer clients a pleasant place to relax and refresh after exercise. Participants start their day with movement in nature and finish it with, say, avocado toast and fresh juice.

Such collaboration can take many forms — the coffee shop could easily arrange with the instructor for a free half-hour of yoga once a week for the public. People come to exercise, get introduced to yoga and the instructor, and afterward enjoy something delicious at the coffee shop. It’s actually a clever promotional event for both sides. The coffee shop gains new customers, and the instructor gains new participants for paid classes. Outdoor workouts in parks are completely normal abroad, and they’re becoming a natural part of city life everywhere.

Everyone benefits — the coffee shop, the instructor, and people who love combining an active lifestyle with healthy eating. And both have content for social media and local press.

What to Watch Out For

The key is finding someone who has a similar target audience but doesn’t offer the same service. Look for synergies — what can you offer your partner, and what can they offer you? The collaboration must make sense for both sides, so it’s important to clarify terms upfront and communicate openly.

It’s also wise to set measurable goals and continuously evaluate results. That’s the only way you’ll know if the collaboration is bearing fruit.

Where to Find Such a Partner?

Start in your own circle. Who offers complementary services to yours? Who do you already work with on another level? Who do you know? Sometimes you just need to look around and not be afraid to approach someone with an idea for a joint project.

I’ve gained many valuable experiences and contacts through collaborating with other creators. The newsletter you’re reading right now is also the result of sharing know-how and mutual support within a community.

A Real-World Example

A great example of how this can work was shared by a friend — a web developer and careful curator of a food newsletter. Here’s what he observed:

During a long cycling trip, he visited 17 zero-waste stores. One in a small town really stood out. Right at the entrance, he was struck by a generous, sunlit space that the zero-waste shop shares with a vegetarian bistro. This created a very interesting connection between two businesses that support each other — not just by sharing space costs, but also by attracting a similar target audience.

He sat there for a while. During that time, several people brought the shop owner bags with empty jars labeled with what they wanted filled. Then they ordered lunch. Before they finished eating, their shopping was ready. They exchanged a few friendly words with the owner, paid, and went on their way. That shop had by far the highest concentration of customers of all the zero-waste stores he’d visited — not just on that trip, but overall. And he visits zero-waste stores abroad too.

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So, can you think of someone you could team up with? Go for it — sometimes all it takes is picking up the phone or sending a message.

See you in the next article! ✌🏻

Jan Barborik

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Most articles and advice focus mainly on building websites. Far fewer cover the actual launch process. But launching a site isn’t just about clicking “publish” - it’s a process where you need to check quite a lot of things. And if you don’t do this often, it’s easy to forget something important. That’s why I’ve prepared this overview of the most crucial things to monitor when releasing your new website into the wild (or making significant changes to an existing one). Let’s go through it together, and at the end, you’ll find a simple checklist so you won’t miss anything.

You might argue as a marketer that this is the web developer’s or supplier’s job. That you can’t control everything and it falls under someone else’s expertise. From my perspective, though, these are things that directly impact your website’s performance, and therefore the marketer is primarily responsible for ensuring they’re done right. Most importantly, you should want everything to be perfect - and you should know how to verify it.

Let’s take it step by step.

📝 Content Check

This is absolutely fundamental. Before releasing your website to the world, thoroughly review all text. I’m not reinventing the wheel here - I know it’s basic. But notice how many nonsensical things you encounter on websites. Development versions often use placeholder text, and sometimes some gets forgotten - especially on subpages you don’t check as often. The longer you stare at something, the easier it is to overlook mistakes.

Also delete any content that doesn’t belong on the website. All sample posts, empty pages, and similar junk.

Review all images - are they the right quality? Are they named correctly (without spaces and special characters)? Don’t forget about icons (including the favicon for your website).

Pay special attention to checking links. Each one should lead exactly where it’s supposed to. This includes both internal links between pages on your site and external links to social media or other websites.

💡 For WordPress sites, you can use this link checker plugin.

😁 For a laugh, check out how many people don’t delete the sample WordPress post.

📊 SEO Basics

Even if it’s not primarily a performance-focused website, the basics should always be done right. Every page needs its unique meta title and description - these appear in search results and should clearly state what visitors will find on the page.

Also important is properly configuring your robots.txt file (which tells search engines what to index and what not to) and having a sitemap.xml file (which shows them your site’s structure).

If you had indexing disabled during development (which is correct), don’t forget to enable it before launch.

💡 Know about this useful browser extension? It makes checking basic SEO a breeze.

😁 Even the default website tagline should be customized - not everyone does this.

⚙️ Technical Matters

You can’t afford to overlook anything in this area. An SSL certificate is standard today, and visitors expect it - they consider sites without one untrustworthy.

Also watch out for redirecting the website address with and without www. Do both work?

Test all forms thoroughly! Do they actually send? Do notifications arrive at the correct email? If you’re using an SMTP server, is it configured correctly?

The website must work perfectly on all devices - so thoroughly test it on mobile, tablet, laptop, and large monitor. What looks great on your computer might be broken on another device. You should physically click through everything on different devices.

💡 You can easily get screenshots in different browsers, devices, and resolutions.

⏱️ Speed and Performance

Website speed is more important today than ever. Proper cache settings will help with loading speed, while compression helps with image sizes. Test your site using tools like PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom - you’ll see where the weak spots are.

Analytics are your eyes on the website - without them, you won’t know how visitors behave and what needs improvement. So set up Google Analytics (or Matomo) right away.

Don’t forget the cookie consent banner, which is required today.

And if you’re replacing an old website with a new one, set up proper redirects so you don’t lose traffic from old links.

💡 To find all your website’s URLs that search engines know about, search using the query site:yourwebsite.com.

🔍 Measuring and Tracking

After launch, you need to know how your website is performing. Add it to Google Search Console and other relevant tools for your market. If you’re planning advertising campaigns, install all necessary tracking pixels right away - adding them later is an unnecessary complication.

After a week of operation, verify how (and if) search engines are indexing your website - just enter “site:yourwebsite.com” into Google. Are pages showing up? Do you see any movement in Search Console or tools like Collabim?

For better insight into actual visitor behavior, I recommend installing a tool like Smartlook. Especially in the first days, it can reveal problems you wouldn’t notice otherwise. And if you’re launching a major campaign right away, add customer chat or another quick contact option to your website. If there’s a serious problem, visitors will let you know immediately.

It’s also good to proactively ask people during the first days or weeks - especially those who contacted you through the website.

💡 You can set calendar reminders to check that everything’s working, indexing properly, and to review user recordings. That way you won’t have to keep thinking about it.

✅ Pre-Launch Website Checklist

Content
□ Text review
□ Check pages, posts
□ Check images, quality, and naming
□ Check all links

SEO
□ Meta descriptions and titles
□ Robots.txt
□ Sitemap.xml
□ Indexing enabled

Technical
□ SSL certificate
□ Check address with and without www
□ Form submissions
□ Testing on different devices

Performance
□ Cache settings
□ Image compression
□ Analytics
□ Cookie consent banner
□ Redirects

Measurement
□ Google Search Console
□ Local search tools
□ Campaign tracking pixels
□ Indexing verification

Nice to Have
□ Smartlook or similar tool
□ Chat for quick contact
□ Feedback collection

Well, that’s quite a lot in the end, isn’t it? If you think of other important points - feel free to write me or add them in the comments below the article. I’ll be happy to include them. But these seem essential to me.

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Jan Barborik

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I’ve experienced this countless times, especially during COVID. Someone comes to me: “I urgently need an e-shop for masks!” or “For sanitizers!” or whatever was scarce at the moment. We built it, loaded products, created beautiful design. And then suddenly: “Okay, now how do we get customers?”

Until that moment, they hadn’t thought about marketing channels at all. No idea, no plan. They just built thUděláme to jinak. Neříkejme tam to sdělení, ať se ho dozví až v tom článku. Ať je tam jenom to, že ten člověk vlastně nebude vidět, jakou radu já dávám klientům e shop and waited for people to come. As if opening doors was enough to make crowds rush in.

The Restaurant Reality Check

It reminds me of Gordon Ramsay in Kitchen Nightmares. Remember? How he showed those restaurants that the problem wasn’t marketing, but fundamentals? When he brought them a full house with his name and they couldn’t handle the service, it revealed where the real problem was. The kitchen didn’t work, they weren’t prepared for the rush, they had no supply chain sorted. Marketing wouldn’t help them - it would only expose all their weaknesses at once.

Imagine a coffee shop in a beautiful location, great coffee, amazing interior. But it’s off the beaten path, no parking nearby, no public transport. You can invest millions in advertising, but people simply won’t get there. The problem isn’t marketing - it’s the concept itself.

The Pattern I See Everywhere

I see it constantly. People build businesses without any idea how to get customers to them. They rely on advertising to solve everything. They don’t handle operations - what happens when customers actually come. They haven’t figured out processes, deliveries, service. And most importantly - they expect marketing to save an offer that nobody actually wants.

Why does this matter?

Because when your numbers are terrible, advertising just amplifies your losses. When you haven’t solved the foundation - operations, processes, margins - no campaign will help you. On the contrary - it will show all weaknesses at once.

“Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.”
– David Ogilvy

Marketing should be an accelerator for a successful business, not resuscitation for a dead horse. As Ogilvy said - you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

So How Do You Do It Right?

First, fix your business core. How you buy, how you sell, at what price, with what margin, how fast you deliver, how you process orders. All this must work like clockwork.

That’s why I go through the order process in detail with clients when building their e-commerce. How will they handle orders, how many people are involved, what steps are there, what situations might arise and how will they respond. I create a mind map where we work through all possibilities and situations that might occur:

• What if there’s a complaint?

• What if the product isn’t in stock?

• What if the supplier doesn’t deliver on time?

• What if the customer wants to change the order?

• What if the payment doesn’t go through?

Only when we have this figured out can we launch the e-shop without fear of having some scenario uncovered. Because once it takes off - and with advertising, it can take off quickly - there’s no time to fix operations. It must work.

The Three-Step Reality Check

1. Test without advertising. If it doesn’t work organically, among friends, through personal recommendations, it won’t work with advertising either. You must get your first customers without paid promotion. Plus, during those first personal sales, you’ll get invaluable feedback. Immediately. And the more honest, the better.

2. Prepare operations. What happens when you really get 50 orders a day? Can you handle it? Do you have people? Do you have inventory? Do you have processes?

3. Only then tackle marketing. When you know the product works, processes are refined, and you’re ready for the rush.

The Small Bets Approach

I love the small bets approach - gradually testing whether individual mechanisms and marketing channels work. You test with small amounts, learning what catches on. It’s great for launching a business. But careful - this doesn’t conflict with having your foundation thought through and well-built. Small bets don’t mean chaos or unpreparedness. On the contrary - you must be able to function if one of those bets takes off.

Because what if one of those small bets works? What if 100 orders suddenly come in? Are you prepared? Do you have inventory? Do you have people? Do you have processes? If not, a successful campaign will paradoxically hurt you more than help.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Many entrepreneurs believe their problem is insufficient marketing. That paying for advertising will fix everything. But the real problem is often elsewhere:

• They offer something no longer in demand

• They don’t have competitive prices or terms

• They can’t explain their value in 10 seconds

• They’re not prepared for real business

And sometimes you need to tell yourself that painful truth - maybe time has moved on and what you offer simply no longer makes sense. You can pay for advertising all you want, but if there’s no demand for your product, it won’t help.

Marketing isn’t a life preserver. It’s an amplifier.

It amplifies both good and bad. If you have a great product, functional processes, and happy customers - marketing will help you grow faster. If you have chaos, bad margins, and dysfunctional operations - marketing will just show you faster where all your problems are.

That’s why I like to start with fundamentals. With project economics, business logic, healthy margins. Only when this works does it make sense to hit the gas.

The Bottom Line

So next time you think “we need more advertising” - stop and ask: Does my business work without it? If not, start there.

The uncomfortable truth? Many projects don’t need better marketing. They need a better business model. And if this applies to you and you don’t recognize it in time, you’ll just burn money on advertising that will forcefully show you all weaknesses at once. Advertising really isn’t a life preserver. It’s an amplifier. And when it amplifies something that doesn’t work, the result will just be a bigger disaster.

I know it’s not pleasant to hear. But it’s better to know now than after you’ve drowned money in campaigns that bring you nothing but problems.

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Jan Barborik

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Today, let’s demystify something that might sound intimidating – marketing campaigns. When you hear “campaign,” you might picture a huge agency team burning through massive budgets. But here’s the truth: you can create effective campaigns on your own, without a team or a fortune.

What’s a Marketing Campaign, Really?

Simply put, it’s a time-bound set of activities aimed at achieving a specific goal. Whether you’re launching a product, running a seasonal sale, or trying to boost specific sales – the key is having a clear start, end, and measurable objective.

Imagine you run an outdoor gear shop and summer’s approaching. You want to boost tent and camping equipment sales. So you create a “Get Ready for Summer Adventures” campaign that runs for a month before peak season, targeting people planning outdoor activities.

The Essential Steps to Build Your Campaign

Start with a crystal-clear goal. Not just “more sales” – make it measurable. Think “increase tent sales by 20% compared to last year” or “acquire 50 new customers for our new service.” Without a specific target, you’ll never know if you succeeded.

Craft your core message. Every great campaign revolves around one simple idea that people instantly understand. Maybe it’s a new product launch, a seasonal theme, a limited offer, or solving a specific problem. Remember – people don’t volunteer to watch ads. Your message needs to be direct and immediately clear.

Know exactly who you’re talking to. Campaigns targeting “everyone” usually reach no one effectively. The more precisely you define your audience – their demographics, interests, problems your product solves – the better your results will be.

Making It Happen

For communication channels, focus beats scatter. Pick 2-3 channels where your audience actually hangs out rather than spreading yourself thin everywhere. Social media ads, email marketing, content marketing – choose what fits your audience and budget.

Your campaign should be visually consistent across all touchpoints. You don’t need a professional design studio – tools like Canva work perfectly. Just stick to the same colors, fonts, and key messaging throughout.

Don’t forget about the landing page. When someone clicks your ad, where do they land? Create a dedicated page that matches your campaign visually, repeats your core message, and has one clear call-to-action. No distractions, just focus on what you want visitors to do.

The Money Part: Budget and ROI

Even small campaigns cost something – whether it’s your time, ad spend, or discounts offered. Calculate both sides:

Your investment includes preparation time (yes, your time has value!), any design or copywriting costs, advertising budget, and the cost of any discounts or bonuses you’re offering.

Your expected return depends on how many new customers you’ll gain, their average purchase value, and your profit margins. A simple ROI formula: (Revenue - Costs) / Costs × 100 = ROI%

An ROI of 100% means you doubled your investment – not bad for a start!

Real Example: Summer Campaign for Natural Cosmetics

Let me show you how simple this can be with a fictional natural cosmetics shop:

“Summer Without Chemicals” – a one-month June campaign to boost sunscreen sales by 30%.

The campaign includes Instagram/Facebook posts about harmful chemicals in regular sunscreens, a “SUMMER25” discount code for 25% off, emails to existing customers, targeted Facebook ads to health-conscious women 25-45, a dedicated landing page, and a blog post about natural sunscreen benefits.

Total budget: about $600 in ads plus the discount margin. Expected result: 30% sales increase, generating roughly $800 in additional profit plus new customers for future purchases. Not massive, but profitable and repeatable.

The Bottom Line

Marketing campaigns don’t need to be complex or expensive. What they do need is clarity, consistency, and measurement. Start small, test everything, and learn from each campaign.

Nobody can tell you exactly what will work for your specific business and audience. You need to test, measure, adjust, and discover what resonates with your people. Each campaign teaches you something valuable for the next one.

The best campaign is the one you actually launch, not the perfect one you keep planning forever.

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Jan Barborik

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Have you noticed that more and more people are opening ChatGPT or Perplexity instead of googling? “Find me a good graphic designer in London” or “What tool should I use for email marketing?” Instead of clicking through endless search results, they get a direct answer. And here’s the catch - what if AI tools know nothing about you? 🤔

The Bold Move That’s Actually Working

Recently, I stumbled upon a genius trick that some companies are starting to use. They’re adding buttons to their websites saying “Ask ChatGPT,” “Ask Claude,” or “Ask Perplexity” - basically letting AI give its opinion about them. At first glance, it seems risky. What if AI says something negative?

So I thought - let’s try it! I added it to my own website too. I now have a section “Still not sure if I’m the right fit for your project?” with three colorful buttons for different AI tools. A client can click and ask something like: “What do you know about Jan Barborik and his experience with web development, Shopify e-commerce, and online marketing?”

You know what? It works! People are intrigued because it’s different. And most importantly - they trust AI more than marketing copy. (Or they just like to get confirmation.) When ChatGPT says I have over 20 years of experience and dozens of completed projects, it carries more weight than when I write it myself.

Sure, I slightly influence it by how I phrase the question in the link. But it’s still fair - AI finds real information about me from my website, articles, and testimonials. Isn’t it great when you can confidently direct a client to verify your suitability through AI?

AI Search Is the Future (That Already Started)

And here’s the important part - AI tool creators are already experimenting with sponsored responses and shopping recommendations. They’re even running pilot partnerships with Shopify. Soon, AI tools might recommend specific products or services, similar to how Google displays ads today.

But for AI to know about you, you need to do something about it. AI learns from content it finds on the web. If your content isn’t there, or isn’t properly structured, it’s like you don’t exist. And that’s a problem because more and more people use AI instead of traditional search.

How to Write So AI Tools See and Recommend You

Forget classic SEO stuffed with keywords. For AI tools (sometimes called Generative Engine Optimization - GEO), slightly different rules apply:

💡 Answer Questions Directly

AI looks for clear answers. Use headings in the form of questions (”How to choose the right email marketing tool?”) and give a specific answer right in the first paragraph. No beating around the bush.

💡 Write Like a Human for a Human

Forget robotic “SEO language.” AI prefers natural, conversational style. Write how people actually ask - “How much does an e-commerce site cost?” instead of “price e-commerce development services.”

💡 Structure Your Content Properly

Short paragraphs, clear headings, lists, tables. AI needs to easily analyze your content. When it looks like a boring wall of text, AI skips it.

💡 Build Authority

Add information about yourself, your experience, references. AI gives preference to content from trustworthy sources. If you have 10 years of practice, write it there!

💡 Update Regularly

Old articles from 2019? AI ignores them. Add the date of last update and occasionally refresh content with new information.

💡 Be Original

Your own case studies, your practical experiences, specific examples from your work - AI loves that. Generic content like “10 marketing tips” has been done thousands of times.

💡 Use Structured Data

Schema markup isn’t just for Google. It helps AI understand what your content is about. FAQs, how-tos, reviews - you can mark everything structurally.

💡 Make Sure AI Can Read You

Check your robots.txt - some AI bots (like OAI-SearchBot from OpenAI) need permission to crawl your website.

What to Do Right Now?

Test Yourself - Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity about your company or service. What do they say? Do they know you at all? (And try it from someone else’s account too.)

Rewrite Key Pages - Start with your most important pages. Add FAQ sections with natural questions and answers.

Add Stories and Examples - Instead of general claims, show specific cases from practice. “I helped The Corner Café increase online sales by 40%” works better than “I increase online sales.”

Experiment with AI Widgets - Try adding an “Ask AI about our services” button to your website. It’s still fresh and people find it interesting. It brought me several interesting conversations with clients who appreciated the transparency.

The Future Is Already Here

AI search isn’t the future - it’s happening now. Every day, thousands of people use ChatGPT instead of Google. And if it doesn’t know about you, you’re losing customers.

The good news is that not many people are dealing with this yet. If you start optimizing for AI now, you’ll have a head start. It’s not complicated - just write quality, structured content that answers your customers’ real questions.

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See you in the next article.

Jan Barborik

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