A very special episode on what makes a successful content marketer or content creator. Robert and Joe talk about what works today to successfully build and monetize an audience with these five keys.

1. For marketers, setting a clear goal up front - sales, savings or sunshine and then find a measurement tool that aligns with current corporate measurement. From the creator side, what's my goal? You exit at the beginning. 2. What's the show for your particular audience AND is it consistent AND is it (or will it be) indispensable? To the point - do I have a tilt that is unique, interesting AND attracts financial support? 3. Build audience like crazy at the start and try not to sell anything...or sell just one thing. Put 1/3 time into the content and two-thirds into promotion. 4. Considering everything, we'd lean toward a video podcast series, which takes advantage of all the social video and the cost effectiveness of podcasts. Then we'd have some kind of email deliverable, at least to get the data...but ultimately a newsletter. 5. Create THE LIST of good and bad things you do/want to do. Develop a stopping list.

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This week's sponsor:

Whether you are swimming in content requests, struggling to reach Gen Z, or just need to do more with less - The 2025 Marketing Trend Report delivers real solutions you can use now.

Go to http://clickhubspot.com/marketing to download it for free.

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

New data suggests that advertising growth is slowing. Overall marketing is soon to follow. Will the current political environment drive us into a marketing recession?

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proclaims that AI will take over all coding in the next year. Robert takes offense and the boys talk about the reasons these types of proclamations are made.

And is AI slop a brute force attack on the major platforms? The point? AI content is taking over YouTube, TikTok and Facebook and the platforms simply don't care.

Marketing losers are Unilever and the NFL.

Rants are the AI-ification of press and the killing of Voice of America.

This week's links:

Ad Growth Slows

Anthropic CEO Predicts AI Coding Takeover

AI Slop Is Non-Stop

Unilever's Big Mistake

Adobe and AI Agents

The Death of Voice of America

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This week's sponsor:

Whether you are swimming in content requests, struggling to reach Gen Z, or just need to do more with less - The 2025 Marketing Trend Report delivers real solutions you can use now.

Go to http://clickhubspot.com/marketing to download it for free.

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

The boys are back and the buys are heating up.

Food-delivery startup Wonder purchased Tastemade, now boasting content creation to meal preparation to delivery all in one. Is more on the way? We think so.

Spotify paid $5 billion dollars to indie creators last year. Is it better to go outside the labels than sign with a big agency?

And Unilever ups their social media budget to 30 to 50 percent of total marketing budget...all for targeted local influencers. But did they forget about employees?

Marketing winners and losers include Southwest Airlines and CMO tenure.

Rants and raves include Substack and shadow AI.

This week's links:

Spotify Pays the Indies

Are Big Music Labels Valuable?

Wonder Acquires Tastemade

Unilever Doubles Down on Influencers

CMO Tenure Study

Shadow AI

Brands Are Launching Substacks

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This week's sponsor:

Whether you are swimming in content requests, struggling to reach Gen Z, or just need to do more with less - The 2025 Marketing Trend Report delivers real solutions you can use now.

Go to http://clickhubspot.com/marketing to download it for free.

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

The boys are back with commentary on the death of media. It's a sad case on both political spectrum. And the opportunity in the future belongs to non-media brands. Let's see what happens.

In other news, more and more creators are going full AI. How close is it to real, or does that even matter?

Marketing winners and losers include Disney and Trump's Gold card.

Rants and raves include travel within the US and Meta testing out agents in advertising.

This week's links:

The Media's Credibility Has Bottomed

Creators Are Now Going Full AI

Disney Starts Killing Off News Media

Trump's Gold Card

Meta Testing AI Agents for Business Ads

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This week's sponsor:

Whether you are swimming in content requests, struggling to reach Gez Z, or just need to do more with less - The 2025 Marketing Trend Report delivers real solutions you can use now.

Go to http://clickhubspot.com/marketing to download it for free.

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

The boys kick off the show with Dow Jones news and their AI content marketplace of 5,000 publishers. The real news? Vertical content opportunities using proprietary LLMs may ultimately steal the show for B2B content creators.

Differentiation is the key coming from B2B speakers at a recent marketing event. The move from company creators to individuals is in full force.

And is Substack the new Instagram for smaller creators?

Winners and losers include bars in Key West, Levi's and UTC.

Rants and raves include MSNBC's big shift, Jeff Bezos, X and Forrester.

This week's links:

Dow Jones and Content Marketplace

B2BMX Speaker Highlights

Is Substack the New Instagram?

Levi's and Nostalgia

UTC Expands Marketing Division

Jeff Bezos New WaPo Moves

How to Use X Advertising By Forrester

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This week's sponsor:

With smaller budgets and sky-high expectations — growth is feeling pretty painful right now.

But HubSpot just announced more than 200 major product updates to make impossible growth feel impossibly easy.

Like Breeze — a suite of new AI-powered tools that help you say goodbye to busywork and hello to better work.

With HubSpot, it's never been easier to be a marketer. Create content that breaks through and campaigns that drive revenue. 

 - Hubspot.com/marketers

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

Reddit announced quarterly results and the stock got hammered. Is Google's changing algorithm to blame? And, if it is, could Google be primed to acquire the 9th largest website on the planet?

In other news, episodic video programs and shows are getting more opportunities for syndication. But with so many shows out there, should brands look at partnering with a creator before creating their own content?

Winners and losers include Allstate and Kai Cenat.

Rants and raves include the Associated Press and Major League Baseball.

This week's links:

Reddit's Growth Problems

Create a Series Is the New Mandate

AI and Allstate

Kai Cenat to Launch Streaming University

MLB Trying Out Robo Umpires

The AP and Trump

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This week's sponsor:

With smaller budgets and sky-high expectations — growth is feeling pretty painful right now.

But HubSpot just announced more than 200 major product updates to make impossible growth feel impossibly easy.

Like Breeze — a suite of new AI-powered tools that help you say goodbye to busywork and hello to better work.

With HubSpot, it's never been easier to be a marketer. Create content that breaks through and campaigns that drive revenue. 

 - Hubspot.com/marketers

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

Our Super Bowl predictions were dead on, as Joe predicted an Eagles win and Robert predicted a Kendrick Lamar controversy.

But more importantly, who were the advertising winners and losers? And...is the Super Bowl the last remaining moment where everyone comes together to watch television at the same time?

In other news, BuzzFeed launches a social media network called BF Island. We already predict extinction. And do paywalls work? They do...sort of.

Marketing winners include partnerships and ChatGPT.

Rants and raves include the end of book blurbs and Welch's content marketing.

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This week's news links:

Big Ratings Win for Super Bowl

Super Bowl Ad Winners

BuzzFeed Launches Social Media App

The Paywall Dilemma

OpenAI's Super Bowl Ad

Welches Content Marketing

The End of Blurbs

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This week's sponsor:

With smaller budgets and sky-high expectations — growth is feeling pretty painful right now.

But HubSpot just announced more than 200 major product updates to make impossible growth feel impossibly easy.

Like Breeze — a suite of new AI-powered tools that help you say goodbye to busywork and hello to better work.

With HubSpot, it's never been easier to be a marketer. Create content that breaks through and campaigns that drive revenue. 

 - Hubspot.com/marketers

-------

Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

It's Super Bowl week and the boys make their predictions.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, the boys talk about the ads, the value, and what a Super Bowl ad truly costs. And...will there be any winners?

Robert does a comparison between OpenAI's deep research and the corresponding Google product. Which one is better and what should marketers do?

Winners and losers include Nielsen and Hertz communications.

Rants and raves include AMO and Trump Coin.

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This week's news links:

Super Bowl Winners

Deep Research Next Big OpenAI Move

Influencer Marketing Rises

Cable News as We Know It

Nielsen Ends Panels

Trump Coin Rug Pull

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This week's sponsor:

With smaller budgets and sky-high expectations — growth is feeling pretty painful right now.

But HubSpot just announced more than 200 major product updates to make impossible growth feel impossibly easy.

Like Breeze — a suite of new AI-powered tools that help you say goodbye to busywork and hello to better work.

With HubSpot, it's never been easier to be a marketer. Create content that breaks through and campaigns that drive revenue. 

 - Hubspot.com/marketers

-------

Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

Man you cappin'. This week, DeepSeek shocks the AI industry (and the world) with its cheaper more efficient model. What comes next for the industry?

The buyers line up for TikTok, but is the US Government playing favorites?

And Substack is paying cash for TikTok creators to make the switch.

Marketing winners include Timothee Chalamet and the TGL golf league.

Rants and raves include Chris Sacca (on the Tim Ferriss pod), creating moments, and the return of Nike.

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This week's news links:

The Real DeepSeek

Why Is Everyone Freaking Out Over DeepSeek?

Trump, TikTok and Socialism

White House In Talks with Oracle

Substack Paying $20 Million

The TGL Golf League

Chalamet Goes Gorilla

Chris Sacca on Tim Ferriss

Nike's Destruction

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This week's sponsor:

With smaller budgets and sky-high expectations — growth is feeling pretty painful right now.

But HubSpot just announced more than 200 major product updates to make impossible growth feel impossibly easy.

Like Breeze — a suite of new AI-powered tools that help you say goodbye to busywork and hello to better work.

With HubSpot, it's never been easier to be a marketer. Create content that breaks through and campaigns that drive revenue. 

 - Hubspot.com/marketers

-------

Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.

The boys return with a cornucopia of news. 

TikTok returns (or did it?). We discuss what is really going on with the Chinese-owned app, whether a US company will buy them, and which one actually will.

In other news, Instagram is throwing money at creators (but needs a real model), while META goes from moderated news to community news (but not for ads).

In winners and losers, Edelman is out with their Trust Barometer, and Andrew Ross Sorkin has tomorrow's media model.

In rants and raves, Anthropic's CEO predicts the future and the only good news coverage of the LA fires was local.

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This week's news links:

The TikTok Ban Update

China Comments on TikTok Ownership

RedNote

Instagram Throws Money

Meta Announces Community Notes

Meta's Community Notes Don't Include Ads

Edelman Trust Barometer

Prof G with Andrew Ross Sorkin

Inside Anthropic's AI Race

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This week's sponsor:

With smaller budgets and sky-high expectations — growth is feeling pretty painful right now.

But HubSpot just announced more than 200 major product updates to make impossible growth feel impossibly easy.

Like Breeze — a suite of new AI-powered tools that help you say goodbye to busywork and hello to better work.

With HubSpot, it's never been easier to be a marketer. Create content that breaks through and campaigns that drive revenue. 

 - Hubspot.com/marketers

-------

Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com. Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there. Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe. Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.