Client Spotlight: Summit Ghimire is the founder and head of SEO at Outpace, an SEO agency that helps businesses from startups to Fortune 500 exceed their revenue goals. A former Authority Development client, he wrote "The Hidden Cost of AI-Generated Content" for Fast Company.

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Add to the conversation, not the noise.

If you've joined me for The Authority Lab or my master class on writing for high-visibility publications, you've probably heard me make the case for using your articles to add to the conversation.

That's difficult to do when we're constantly told that we need to churn out more and more content so we can stay top-of-mind and raise awareness and increase our visibility and help our right people find us. (I wrote about where that approach comes from and suggested an alternative approach here.)

It's even harder to do when high-visibility publications like Entrepreneur continue to add so much more to the noise than to the conversation.

Adding to the noise is easy.

Last week, I received the May-June issue of Entrepreneur. And the coverline, the blurb on the front cover that is supposed to entice people to read the cover story, elicited the eye-rolliest of eye rolls: "Own the Room: Megan Thee Stallion Tells You How to Go Viral."

It made me angry.

And so I rage-posted about it on LinkedIn.

I knew I was criticizing a popular magazine. I also suspected that I was criticizing the popular editor of this popular magazine. But I'm tired of all the bad business advice given to people trying to build something real. And so I called the coverline absurd. (I stand by this statement.)

Jason Feifer, the popular editor of this popular publication, commented on my post. His comment brought my post to the attention of his audience. And suddenly the comment section turned into a study in human behavior.

Some people missed the point entirely, and I wondered if they even read my short post. Others came for the visibility, telling Jason how great they thought the article was and how good a job he was doing at Entrepreneur. But some, including Jason, came to engage in the conversation.

And that's invaluable.

We shared our perspectives and helped one another see the issue differently. And though neither Jason nor I changed our minds, we were part of a rich conversation with other commenters and, perhaps most importantly, lurkers.

In this brief LinkedIn conversation, I was able to share my thinking and demonstrate how I engage with people who disagree with me. It allowed me to test and refine my thinking, and it helped me validate my theory that I am not alone in being quite over the fluff-n-stuff — that there is, indeed, an appetite for deeper and more nuanced conversations.

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Join the Conversation

On Finding + Holding Onto Your Writing Voice

It takes time and effort to develop and hold onto your writing voice. Our writing voice used to be compromised by our employers, professors, and grade-school teachers. That is still true, but today there is an even bigger threat to our writing voice: the fear of being accused of using AI. In this post, I share a rallying cry to hold on to your writing voice — AI usage accusations be damned. Join the conversation.

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Recommended Resource

AI Usage Policy

Developing and sharing an AI usage policy is good business. (It also may become a requirement.) By publishing such a policy, you help your clients, prospective clients, and partners understand if, when, and how you use AI, including generative AI. To get started, review my policy and use it as a starting place for developing your own. Review the AI Usage Policy.

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Featured Appearance

Podcast: Tiny Marketing Podcast

Last month, I joined Sarah Noel Block to explore the increasingly important role writing plays in building your authority in the age of AI. Instead of making writing irrelevant, AI is making your ability to share your ideas in ways that are deep and nuanced even more valuable. Take a listen!

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Upcoming Events

The Authority Lab 

Interested in learning how to build your authority by writing for your newsletter, blog, or a high-visibility publication? Join me on Wednesday, June 10, at 11:55 AM Eastern for a mini-training on how to structure articles, followed by a Q+A. I host this free event every month. Register here.

Master Class: How to Write for High-Visibility Publications

In this free 60-minute master class, I will share the SILVA Method™ and walk you through the process I use to help my clients secure bylines in publications like Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and TD Magazine. Join me for a master class on Tuesday, May 26, at 1:30 PM Eastern. Register here.

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If you would like to explore working together, drop me an email or book a call. I'd love to learn more about you and your business and how I might be of service.

Take good care,

Ready to Invest in Building Your Authority?

If you're ready to invest in building your authority through writing, there are three ways we might work together:

1. Writing Practice: A membership community providing the structure and repeatable processes consultants need to turn their thinking into a cohesive body of work. Membership is $150 a month. Write on!
2. Pathway to Publication: A milestone-based accelerator for consultants ready to scale their influence by transforming their expertise into articles for high-visibility publications. Tuition is $1,000 a month. Apply today.
3. Authority Development: A one-to-one engagement for consultants seeking a strategic thought partner to help them create and implement an authority development strategy tailored to their business goals. Learn more.

AI Disclosure Statement: I used LanguageTool, an AI-based grammar checker, to review this newsletter. To learn more about how (and when) I use AI, review my AI Usage Policy.