Human vs AI

In a world that is increasingly AI driven, in our own use as an assistant or being bombarded by AI content, you can't help but wonder what's real and what's not. 

Your human-ness will be the driving factor in your success! I firmly believe that and advocate for it.


Ways to Show Up and Be Human
Let's review a few ways that really do make a difference.

• Show up: Attend things. In person. Get out of the comfy clothes if you're working from home and get out there!
  • Networking events: Find any number of groups on social media in your location or your field of customer interest. Go interact with people. This Forbes article and another from Novoresume from 2025 confirm the power of in person networking. 
  • Volunteer opportunities
    • Focus on options that may connect you with your prospective customer or those who may lead you to potential customers. 
    • Follow your heart in whatever volunteer option that speaks to you. Grab a selfie or ask for a photo to share a story on socials about what moves you. (image attached - packed and distributed food boxes locally with Credit Union West and Glendale Chamber)
  • LinkedIn Live events: You only need to dress your top half for these events! By clicking "attend," you are able to reach out to all attending the event and send connection invitations, even after the event! 
  • Virtual/online networking events: While not quite as powerful as in person networking, online networking events definitely build relationships and opportunities to connect with folks from around the world!
• Have conversations
  • Social media
    • Spend time interacting in conversations in comments, not just mindlessly surfing. Just take at least 15 minutes/day for this—30 minutes is even better. 2-3x/week is sufficient. 
    • Direct messaging, even quickly, helps you stand out from the crowd and you build friendships, even if only online. 
    • Conversations lead to quick opportunities to zoom with new connections to learn about each other a bit more easily and how you can support each other. 
  • Online events: there are typically "chat rooms" set for attendees and speakers to interact—take full advantage of that! Build warmer relationships to support each other in the future. Go for name recognition! You gain connections from around your country and around the world that you wouldn't otherwise make. This is one of the few beneficial outcomes from the COVID days. 
  • Email
    • Check in with current and past clients. Remind them of your services, ask them to share your information if they find someone you could assist. Simply thanking them for working with you keeps you top of mind!
    • Create a newsletter: This is an excellent way to get into people's inboxes and can be shared with others. 

No AI Shortcuts
AI has its purposes, don't get me wrong. But don't AI prep all of your communications in posts, messages, or emails. Be real. Be YOU! Take just a few minutes to share the light inside you to help you ENGAGE with your clients! That is what folks are hiring—people want and need more Human in their lives right now. BE that human. BE YOU!

How Have You Been Showing Up?
Networking is especially challenging for the introverts of the world. There are many steps you can take to get out there in small doses or in friendly spaces.

How have you been showing up? Attending events online or in person? Focusing more on messaging in the socials? Or is this on your 2026 goal list?

Love to hear and grow together! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn!

2026 Approaches!

Do you create goals for yourself or your business? This can become a surprisingly heated debate with folks firmly "yay" or "nay" on goals.

When Is A Good Time?
Short answer--any time! No need to wait for January 1. If you're feeling inspired, it's the perfect time to heed the call. It doesn't need to be the first of the week, month, quarter, or year. Those are handy markers, but any time is good. 


How to Approach Goal Setting
There is a "goal guru" wherever you look. There are different approaches and styles to test out to see what resonates with you. A few ideas have been covered on this blog here, here, here, and here. 

A Different Way of Thinking
A Content Inc podcast by Joe Pulizzi, episode 521, talks about approaching 2026 with intention. Identify what really matters as we approach the new year. Per his show notes--"It's not about doing more...it's about doing less but with intention." 

Mic drop. 

Doing Less
Before we imagine all the new things we'd like to do going forward, let's consider a time or calendar audit or even gut check on what to do less of. Note: all of these "what" questions can just as easily be "who" questions.

• What's dragging you down?
• What stresses you out or frustrates you?
• What is not moving you toward your goals or plan?

Every "Yes" Is A "No" to Something
This is a tough one. Life is just so exciting and full of possibility, It's so easy to want to do all the things! But there are only so many hours in a day in a lifetime. The book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman does a great job of bringing this point home. This may be why the concept of removing tasks, people, meetings, and activities resonates with me. 

"Focus on What Truly Lights You Up"
Now that we've asked some hard questions and realized what we need to say "no" to, we can think hard about what we wish to say "yes" to. 

• What will help you meet your life goals or work/life balance?
• What will move you forward in your work?
• What activities—or people—do you truly enjoy? 

Life is short—be happy! It's also far better for your health and wellness. 

How Long for Goals?
Everyone has a different goal tolerance for how long to set your goal or your goal approach. The second Friday in January has become known as Quitters Day. Seriously. For those that focus on January 1 for resolutions, there is a large majority who don't stick with them longer than two weeks!

If you're reading this, you've likely been on and off the goal wagon many times. You know yourself about goals. Joe Pulizzi has recently discovered Misogi goals--one powerful but meaningful challenge for 90 days. The approach is to keep that one goal in mind with a daily plan of how to achieve it in  90 days, pushing all else to the side. 

For business folks, quarterly goals may work, breaking down an annual goal into four pieces. OKR's (Optimal Key Results) may work for you with steps built on the path to the goal. Julia Taylor of GeekPack has a fabulous analogy about this approach. Think of a cross-country road trip with plenty of curves along the path—never a straight line—and identify key stops (mini-goals or check points) along the way. 

Others of us may need far shorter than year-long goals. Focusing on just one quarter with 30-day check points may be more effective for you. A month with weekly goals may be even better so you can feel successful with how your brain and focus work best. 

Block the Calendar
Yup. You heard me. Make time for the thing you want to focus on to make it happen.

• You've done a calendar review or time audit for a few days.
• You've identified what (or who) to say "no" to, clearing your plate to focus on select "yes" items. 
• You've identified that one thing, or no more than a couple of goals, to maximize your focus and success. 
• Now make it important enough to put it on your calendar as a high priority item, avoiding shifts or rescheduling where possible. 
  • Looking for exercise time? Set the clock earlier than usual or schedule it after work before distractions of home.
  • Aiming for journaling time to focus your thoughts and add clarity? Find your best rhythm in the day for it—maybe before the house wakes up or before bed to clear your mind.
  • Focusing on your business and need strategic thinking time? Calendar a couple of hours on Friday, maybe end of day when the rest of the world checks out early for the weekend. Make it a no meeting time. 

What Is  Your Goal Strategy?
​Are you a Goal Master and regularly move yourself and your goal posts further? Or do you struggle with goals and aren't quite sure what model suits you? 

I really like the remove items first approach. I'll be adding that twist to my plans this year! I'm a big fan of "start goals any time," but now does feel like a great time to prepare before January 1.

Love to hear your approach! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn!

Jargon Defined
Before you do any “Googling,” narrow your search to focusing on marketing. (you'd be surprised what else ICP and UCP stand for!) You’re likely well aware of the concept, just not necessarily the abbreviations.

• ICP = Individual Client Profile
• UCP = Unique Client Profile

You may even have heard of this called your customer’s “avatar.”

This is brainstorming who your target audience is with a focus on creating an image in your mind that reflects all the qualities you believe your customer has. 

There are a number of resources available on the web to help with this. We’ll review a few here with our action oriented summary to get you started today to create this!

Do I Really Need an ICP or UCP?
The short answer is yes. It helps you define your customer in your mind and better share it with others. (remember that elevator pitch we discussed on a prior blog post?) It helps you identify a persona to “talk” to in your head, blog posts, and communications. What would my ICP think about this direction for my business? and How can I solve my customer’s pain point?

How Do I Start?
This can be done on paper or computer, with the assistance of AI, or a recorder/voice message system if you prefer to talk things out.

• Paper/Document: Just start writing or even drawing what you think your ideal client looks like, how they behave, and pain points they have that you can solve. Many literally create an image of a person and name it!
• AI: Create a prompt with a chat service to pull this together.
• Voice: Pick your favorite app and chat as you would a friend.

Resources

• I first heard about the “client profile” concept from Louise Harnby. She offers a number of marketing courses and has a rather comprehensive book on Amazon.

• Andy Crestodina is an amazing resource with a ton of free to low cost content regarding marketing and AI prompting. This blog post shares a basic prompt (and more!) that he regularly shares in interviews and webinars.
• Zendesk offers a fabulous guide with template downloads for you! Head here for the full information and your own copy of their templates.

What Are the Basics?
There are a few general ways to think of this. 

Broad Considerations of Your Customer: these are outlined further on the Zendesk post noted above with many points for each.

• Demographics
• Psychology 
• Behavior
• Geography

Here Are the Basics for Your ICP/UCP

• Pain points
• Interests
• Buying patterns
• Demographics
• Motivation
• Interaction history

 
How About an Example
Let's play with the general concept here. You may have one or multiple ICP/UCPs. I have three clients I serve - small nonprofits, fellow entrepreneurs, and nonfiction authors. They may seem unrelated but have similar needs or concerns that I support, yet I have different personas for each. 

Picking one, let's follow through on fellow entrepreneurs in my market:

• Older solopreneur - 50-60+
• Some tech experience but not a lot - knows the basics but not in depth to build a website, handle social media platforms, and not sure how to send professional emails to customers.
• Long-term employee in a W2 status for decades, now considering a business in retirement or recent job change.
• Little if any marketing experience.
• Family is grown or nearly out of the house - empty or near-empty nester.
• Morning coffee or tea drinker while reviewing news or emails to start the day.

These are just a few characteristics of one of my client profiles that hits the basics.

Do You Have a Client Profile in Mind?
If yes, I'd love to hear how specific you've gotten! Has it adapted with time?

If not, after reviewing this information, do you have enough resources to get started? Happy to chat ideas if you need a thought partner! Contact me by email or on LinkedIn - Let's Chat!