"If you want to do great things, learn to delegate.”
Been feeling a little tech-nostalgic lately. Thinking back to just a few years ago, when GDPR was the hot topic.
Prospects urgently needed us to audit their websites, add cookie banners, remove tracking pixels … the whole deal. Couldn't sleep until it was done. Every third-party tool was subject to review, with privacy and security being non-negotiable.
Now, those same folks spend weekends bingeing tutorials on how to automate their entire business using AI.
Totally fine handing over operations, finance, credentials, and security to tools they've known a few months, because a kid on YouTube told them it was fine.
Ironic???
Just a bit. 🫤
***
But here’s the part that really irks the web expert in me.
Those reels and “training” videos are designed to make people believe the hardest tech parts are already done. That someone magically opened a tool, typed a single prompt, and out came a beautiful, polished dashboard with tables, and charts, and all the UI bells and whistles.
What the videos don’t show?
The dashboard is totally fake. Non-operational. No connected database. No email server. No forms logic. No security.
The part where you have to connect all the pieces — that didn’t make the cut. OR it was conveniently saved for the $297 course offer that pops up at the end.
***
Look, I'm not anti-AI. I use it daily.
But the “glamorous” use of new tools involves way more sleight of hand than creators would ever admit.
Meantime, here in the real world … our pre-launch development phase alone has 36 checklist items. Things that MUST work / happen before we even consider taking a site live.
That list exists because building a functional, secure website is way more complicated than it looks.
It was true before AI … and is still true now.
The gap between “look what AI can generate,” and “here's a working, connected, live, secure, online system that real humans can use” is still enormous.
The people making the videos know this. They're just choosing not to show it to you.
***
If you've gone down the AI rabbit hole, I get it. Hard to ignore the hysteria.
But spending DAYS watching demos, tinkering with tools, and trying to connect tech pieces that aren’t designed to connect is probably not a great ROI. Never mind the rampant security issues … Oy.
Here’s the truth: you don't need to know how to do everything. Even in the age of AI, it’s not (humanly) possible. OR profitable.
You just need to know where you want to go, and find someone equipped with the expertise to get you there.
That's not a weakness. It’s how smart, efficient operators work.
Stay in your lane. Then floor it.
***
PS — Before you race off, run our free brand audit. Thank me later.
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Victory Points
By: Mike Shary
My board-game-loving, copywriter extraordinaire and mentor, Dad ❤️
Sea, Salt & Paper : A clever card game for 2–4 players
Sea, Salt & Paper is a small card game for two to four players where a handful of simple choices slowly turns into clever scoring.
Each turn, you either take a card from the deck or choose from two face up discard piles, trying to collect sets, pairs, and special combinations that work together.
Mermaids want partners. Shells and crabs do too. Boats, swimmers, and sharks create their own little tensions. At some point, if your hand looks strong enough, you can stop the round and see whether you judged it right.
That is where the game gets its snap. You’re never building anything huge. You’re just getting started, one card at a time, trusting that a small beginning can become something meaningful.
That’s what makes it so charming. The game doesn’t require a grand master plan on turn one. It asks you to begin. Take a card. Notice a possibility. Build from there. A pair becomes a set. A random draw becomes a pattern. A quiet hand becomes a scoring engine. Players who wait for the perfect start often fall behind the ones who simply begin, stay alert, and let momentum reveal the next good move.
Branding works the same way. A lot of businesses stay stuck because they think they need the perfect name, the perfect logo, the perfect site, the perfect offer. Usually, they just need to start. A clear message. A simple visual direction. One strong promise to the right audience. A thoughtful brand strategist helps you make those first moves count, so your business can grow from something tentative into something cohesive and memorable.
If you enjoy quick games with lovely artwork, light tension, and that satisfying feeling of building a lot from very little, Sea, Salt & Paper has an easy way of drawing people in time after time.
Make it a great week! 🙌
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