Interesting to consider how low our standards of ‘quality’ have dropped in light of the inconsistent experiences we have with AI tools. The race between vendors driving constant, often buggy, sometimes dangerous, releases. Think back to when Dropbox was launched – there was a product that was as close to perfect on release as anything I can remember. The stakes were high (ie...
HubSpot launched their new marketing playbook – Loop Marketing – a few weeks back at their INBOUND conference. It’s worth chatting about: to get a sense of what is useful, versus what’s noise. I’ll cover a few cynical notes first, then highlight the good stuff. For a more detailed discussion about the topic, see also my video here: The Cynical View I’ve seen a bunch...
Steve Wozniak recently commented about wealth and success. His point was simple: “I gave all my Apple wealth away because wealth and power are not what I live for. I have a lot of fun and happiness… Life to me was never about accomplishment, but about Happiness, which is Smiles minus Frowns.” It’s an attitude that’s neither right nor wrong — but it’s right for him. Woz is very wealthy by many...
Drowning in HubSpot Updates? You’re Not Alone. If you’ve been inside HubSpot lately, you’ve probably noticed the flood of new updates, betas, and product changes rolling in. It can feel like every time you check the Product Updates page, there are dozens of new features — many of them marked ‘New to you’ — and it’s not always clear which ones are worth your attention. That’s a lot of...
When we first chat with new clients about their HubSpot portals, an early topic is about connecting their advertising platforms into HubSpot. I don’t have hard data, but I’d estimate that only 50% of clients portals we review have any of their ad platforms (Meta, LinkedIn, Google) connected. [1] HubSpot Ads Tool benefits For those clients who don’t have ads connected, we usually hear three main...
(Disclaimer: AI wrote this blog post based on my YouTube video here.) Using AI to Test Product Ideas We’re seeing more clients using AI to test product ideas. It’s fast, cheap, and offers instant feedback. But just like with most things AI-related, there’s a catch. Below is a real example of a simple service idea we ran through several AI tools – not to sell you on the idea, but to show you...
The topic of communities, a concept that has existed for decades, is currently undergoing a significant transformation. While many individuals are already part of numerous groups and communities, there is a clear indication that a strong move back to very specific, niche communities is occurring. This shift is primarily driven by emerging pain points within traditional social media platforms. The...
Most people I chat with don’t use all the AI features being forced on them in Google Workspace. I’m the same, always closing the sidebar pop-out, dismissing the annoying notifications across the top, sending the announcement emails to spam, etc. At least when they started rolling out the AI features, they were an optional paid upgrade. I’m assuming hardly anyone upgraded to them...
Last week I attended HubSpot’s GROW event in Sydney. (Spoiler: it was really good) I prepared an update deck that I went through with the XEN team, covering the key insights, plus the good, the bad and the hype. You can access the slide deck from here. I’ve also added a lesson in our HubShots Skool Community here. In the video I cover: Where HubSpot is headed (and how we can...
I was leaving the office late the other night, and chatted with the cleaners. They are always here late, doing an excellent (but I suspect, largely unknown) job. I asked them what time they usually finished. Around 11:30pm. Is this your second job? Yes, they turn up at the office block around 6:30pm most nights, after finishing their day job. They work hard. But they are ‘just...