Yesterday, I published a new Signal & Friction article titled “The End of Local by Default” It was meant to surface a structural shift I keep seeing; one that helps explain why local market brands are quietly disappearing from AI-generated answers, even when users never asked for anything global. I tried to explain that Google
The End of “Local by Default” (And Why There’s More to the Story) Read More »
After publishing several articles and posts on how AI is quietly reshaping cross-market content visibility, I noticed something that initially surprised me. There was no reaction. No debate.No disagreement.No “this is wrong.”No “we’re seeing this too.” Just silence. Not even from those who reached out to understand why their hreflang was not working. At first,
Why the Market Hasn’t Reacted (Yet) to AI’s Cross-Market Content Problem Read More »
Doing the final tally of what I hoped to achieve and did achieve relative to my 2025 Aspirations. I think overall I did pretty good in ticking them off. Health & Wellness My goal for 2025 was 350 workouts and 325 iFit sessions using the treadmill, bike, and elliptical. According to iFit’s year-end recap, I
Reflecting on 2025 Aspirations Read More »
Today, December 28th, 2025, I finally achieved a bucket list dream: visiting Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan. This monastery, perched on a mountain at around 10,000 feet, has always captivated me. You’ve probably seen it in travel magazines or National Geographic, and it’s as breathtaking in person as it looks in photos. The journey to get
Achieving a Dream: Hiking to Tiger’s Nest Read More »
And Why You Must Build CYA Into Everything You Do Selling search software directly to brands is one thing. Selling it through agencies is something entirely different. I wrote this from a series of emails I sent to industry fronds that were trying to get large agency groups and holding companies to offer their software
The Challenges of Selling Search Software to Agencies Read More »
At the begining of the year I set a variety of aspirations for this year. Not really goals or resolutions, but aspirations so that I would not obsess over them. Health & Wellness This was my primary aspiration to be selfish and focus on my health and wellness activities. I had set a few specific
2025 Aspirations Checkin – November Read More »
Why Contribution Value Beats Contract Value — Every Time Most organizations make decisions based on contract value — price, scope, deliverables, and outputs — but I argue that a focus on “Contribution Value” will increase your client win and retention rates. I introduced the concept of contribution value in Epiphany 23, “Contribution Value vs. Contract Value.”
The Master Contribution Value Framework Read More »
A Follow-Up to My Epiphany on Winning Digital RFPs This post is a follow-up to Epiphany 35 on Winning Digital RFPs, focusing on the dynamics of the RFP process and why there is more to the RFP than the submission process. The RFP you’re responding to is not the RFP you’re being evaluated on. This realization is
The RFP Isn’t the Real RFP Read More »
There was a moment in my career when I realized I had been approaching RFPs in the wrong way. I thought RFPs were about demonstrating our expertise, the sophistication of our methodology, and the innovative nature of our work, while staying within the client’s budget constraints. It turns out that’s how you lose. Committees don’t
Epiphany 35: You Don’t Win RFPs By Being the Best. You Win By Being the Safest Bet. Read More »
There’s a moment every consultant eventually faces — the quiet frustration of realizing that no matter how much data you show, how many times you explain it, or how clearly you map the financial impact… the client just won’t act. You see the train coming. You warn them — sometimes repeatedly — but they keep
Epiphany 34: You Can Advise, But You Can’t Make Them Act Read More »