The AI Toupee Problem

I'm bald. Devastatingly handsome, but bald. And when I was going bald, for a moment I thought about getting a toupee. But I stopped at the same place every guy stops... everyone would know.

That's exactly where we're at with AI-written content right now.

You've seen it. Those choppy one-line sentences. The "99% of business owners don't understand" hooks. The formulaic structure that screams "a robot wrote this." It's the content toupee. You think you're getting away with it, but nobody's fooled.

Now look... I still use AI every single day. But I fight the toupee by feeding it my raw material, not my polished stuff. I do four hours of live talking every week on the show, and all of that trains my AI on how I actually think and talk. The output sounds more like me every week because the input IS me.

If you're using AI to write... and you should be... try this. Do voice chats with your AI while you're on the treadmill or driving. Talk through your ideas out loud. Then tell it to add that conversation to its knowledge about you. Feed it your emails. Your proposals. Your texts to clients. The more raw, unfiltered you it absorbs, the less your content looks like everyone else's.

Use AI. Use it every day. Just don't let it make you sound like AI or everyone will know.

Tweet of the week

Can you hear me clapping for this one?

Cookie Monster - The World’s Best Spokesperson

When talking about your business you need to approach it like my favorite character from Sesame Street. Cookie Monster does not ask for a “bespoke gluten-free organic dessert.” Cookie Monster says "me like cookie." And everybody knows exactly what he wants.

That's the standard. If Cookie Monster wouldn't say it that way, you're overcomplicating the way you talk about your business.

On the show recently, someone asked me to help name a new group program. They called it a "Deep Dive Mastermind Group." Technically accurate. Completely forgettable. Nobody's telling their friend about the Deep Dive Mastermind Group.

So I asked... what's the transformation? What actually changes? More time, less stress, they get their life back. There it is. "Get Your Life Back Mastermind." That's Cookie Monster language. Clear, simple, lands on the first listen.

I've been naming things for decades in radio and here's the framework that works every time. First, speak in Cookie Monster language. If your audience needs a dictionary, you've already lost them. Second, name the transformation, not the process. Third, use alliteration whenever you can... it always sticks. And fourth, look for culturally familiar phrases you can twist and own. That's how "Seal Team 6" became "Sale Team." (the new, free, sales app for small business owners to make selling a daily habit.)

Your product might be brilliant. But if the name doesn't land on the first listen, you're working against yourself.

2026 SBOC Conference Wait List UPDATE:
2x Standing in Line…

The 2026 SBOC Conference is coming in September 15-17, 2026, and this year we're doing things a little differently. Tickets go on sale to the public on May 13th at $399 (the lowest price we've ever offered), and that includes meals, swag, speakers, the welcome event, everything.

Here’s the problem…our conference holds 200 seats, but only 110 seats are available to the public — the rest are already spoken for by pre-registrations, VIPs, and sponsors.

Because of the growth of the SBOC and the momentum of the wait list, we now have 212 people in line for the 110 seats available.

Here’s how the ticket sales will go:

• May 8 - VIP Tickets will go on sale

• May 11 - SBOC Members will get the opportunity to buy tickets

• May 12 - SBOC WAIT LIST members will get the opportunity to buy tickets

• May 13 - The tickets will go on sale to the general public (if any remain)

If you want to get a ticket to our 6th annual small business event, get on the waitlist now! No financial commitment, just your name and email. Last year, people walked away from this conference with joint ventures, new clients, and business-changing breakthroughs — and this year we're bringing our keynote speaker in person. Click here to get on the waitlist so you get a shot at your seat…we’re already deep in planning, it’s going to be a blockbuster year!

Now, GO SELL SOMETHING!

Pat