Need More Customers? Start Building The One Factor that Grows an Business

Patrick McFadden • March 19, 2014

Your offering is good. You know your material. You know how to package and provide your offering in a way people want to buy it.

You’re nearly there.

But the game isn’t won yet.

No matter how strong an offering you have, you won’t grow your business until you fit one more piece into place.

Let’s take a look at what that might be …

The reality is, your business won’t pick up real momentum and grow until you’ve mastered the “awareness” factor.

Face to face salespeople have known this for decades, but some business owners are still struggling to get it right.

Interested?

I hope so, because I’ve got 3 ideas for you …

1. Make it a Religion

Here’s what I mean: marketing doesn’t begin with a tactic, but a mindset. Everybody’s looking for tactics, but it’s more about religion. So the reason Indispensable Marketing grows is that we’re built to grow. We value and respect that marketing – which is building know, like and trust – comes from everything we do or say that our ideal target clients and current clients see and hear from us.

We view marketing as a necessity. I don’t think a lot of people consciously value oxygen, but you need it to stay alive. That is how I look at marketing.

In my opinion, marketing is the most important system or process for being a successful business, so that’s reason that I am dedicated to this idea that each person and every activity in a company or organization should be focused on the following question: How am I building awareness with my ideal target customers and current customers through our marketing?

This includes:

  • everyone you or your employees meet
  • every vendor you or your employees contact
  • every article or blog post your company or organization publishes
  • every sign your  company or organization hangs
  • every point of contact (in-person, phone, email, website, social media)

2. Build Up Your List of Prospects

Dating and business are both all about forming relationships. You need to get out there and be seen. You need to “court” ideal target customers and get them comfortable with your cause, products or services.

If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ve probably heard the concept of  know, like, and trust.  Salespeople often talk about it as a lead-generating tactic used before the sale. Good salespeople know that a prospect needs to know, like and trust you before she’s willing to complete the sale. And it’s a key component of good any marketing program.

Effective Prospect Plan:

  1. First thing you must do is determine precisely what an ideal target client looks like and where you can find them.
  2. From your research above, create your list of 100 and go work on finding out who might be able to introduce you to these people. Start with your clients and then work social media networks such as LinkedIn to see who in your existing network already knows your prospects.
  3. Don’t forget to work associations, trade groups, industry groups, networking groups and even alumni groups as part of your research.
  4. Once you create your list, start building the “awareness factor” through referral partners, social media and educational events and trust-building campaigns.

 3. Consult with an Expert

The reality is, most business owners fall prey to the “marketing idea of the week” and never seem to produce any significant marketing results with this chaotic approach to the most important facet of their business.

Hiring a professional consultant to help you get a new or better result from your business is often a very good idea. Many times a fresh set of eyes and ears can bring new perspectives to problem solving.

In some cases, simply adding a level of accountability and someone to kick you in a focused place can be enough to help fuel the attainment of your objectives.

My Main Point

Nothing happens until something gets sold. But, you can’t sell a product or service no one knows about. Which means you can’t grow unless you’re building the awareness factor.

If you need more customers, think about how you’re going to build awareness with them, first.

About the Author:  Patrick McFadden is the  marketing consultant  to call when you want SALES … not just words.. He is also an advisor and featured marketing contributor to  American Express Open Forum  and has been named a marketing thought leader for small businesses.

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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