Why You Don’t Need to Freak Out over Marketing

Patrick McFadden • November 29, 2013

We all know that Marketing is evolving, right? The Marketing world is prone to change, and it’s worth noting by keeping loose change—pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters—around you as a constant reminder.

But even with all these changes, the truth is marketing is not anything to freak out over. Oh, sure, there’s new tactics out every minute, but really, when it comes down to marketing, there are only about four things that matter—that your business must get right.

If you get these things right and keep these things as the foundation for every business and marketing decision you make, the scale will tip in your favor.

On the other hand, ignore these simple marketing truths and you’ll make marketing and growing your business always feel like a hard, confusing struggle.

But it’s not worrying us here at Indispensable Marketing, and it doesn’t need to worry you either.

Here’s what you need to know about marketing:

#1: No one talks about average or mediocre 

To grow any business in a noisy world where consumers are hit with spam, pop-up ads, over 500 cable channels, blinking Web banners, blue-screen ads behind home plate and dozens of other interruptions—you must get people talking. And you guessed it. No one talks about the average or mediocre businesses, products, or services. They talk about the remarkable (worth making a remark about) ones.

This is how referrals are created, PR opportunities come calling, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) happens and links to your website happen. Let me ask you this – when’s the last time you wrote a review about a perfectly satisfying experience?

You have to do something that surprises, and wows us, or do something that clearly exceeds our expectation in ways that make us turn to social media to share our story.

I know business owners and organizations get this, but I keep seeing so few stepping up and turning heads. You don’t have to innovate an entire industry, just do something that’s not so status quo, normal, average, or mediocre.

#2.   People need clarity to take action not more information

More and more consumers have shut off the traditional world of marketing. They own devices to skip TV ads, ignore magazine ads, and now have become so adept at online “surfing” that they can take in online information without a care for banners or buttons (making them irrelevant).

Smart businesses understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the minute, and that there has to be a better way.

Enter content marketing.

But with all the interest and hoopla about content marketing, unfortunately it’s being interpreted as “write more content.”  As mentioned above, “we live in a noisy world” and people are drowning in it. The winner (I believe) is the one that makes sense of it. Yes, clarity is a competitive advantage.

Insight is more important than information. In fact, “If you have foresight, you’re blessed. If you have insight you’re blessed twice.” Tell us WHY all this information matters. Tell us WHAT information is the correct information. Tell us “Why we don’t need to freak out over marketing.”

Make meaning of it all and people will listen.

#3. Everyone’s voice is bigger so no bullcrap

I realize some are offended by that statement, but it’s really the right word. It’s the word people use to describe something that’s deceiving, misleading, disingenuous or false. Don’t be in the business one of time sales. Usually one time sales are described by those characteristics above. When you engage in “win-lose” relationships with customers today, you’re in for a rude awaking.

Every customer now has a bigger voice online, and that voice is part of your brand today and many have something to say. We’ve all got to work at bullcraping less. That’s all there is to it.

#4. Trust is always at the heart of every transaction

Trust is the single most important ingredient in building a successful business. It’s the hardest to gain and the easiest to lose and it’s all that matters in the long run.

Now there’s a really big gap between someone being aware of you (which is really hard) and someone trusting you, enough to invest in you or buy from you.

Oh, and because trust is at the heart of each and every transaction, know that it’s something you must earn over and over and over again. Trust is always on trial.

Question: What do you think? 

About the Author:  Patrick McFadden is a  marketing consultant/coach  for small businesses and organizations. He is also a 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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