Marketing That Matters

The word that is everywhere in marketing and doing nothing.

The AP Stylebook change that made journalists, editors, and marketers stand up and cheer.

Why vague words are draining the credibility right out of your copy.

Don't say the quiet part out loud. (Literally. Don't say it.)

Most startups borrow their language. The best ones build it.

The startup world's most overused precision claim has no precision in it.

AI-generated marketing's reliance on contrasts like "It's not X, it's Y" constructions.

Marketing Buzzwords & Phrases to Avoid: 2026 Edition

AI has made mediocre (and soon, pretty good) marketing table stakes. Here's how sports startups can still differentiate.

Invent the Market or Infiltrate It? Whether startups should create new categories or compete in existing ones.

The overuse of the em dash has compelled me to write today’s newsletter. Welcome to Marketing Buzzwords to Avoid: 2025 Edition.

Performance marketing can work. But only when the foundation is solid. If that stuff is shaky, paid just accelerates the failure.

Not flashy. Not new. But absolutely foundational. And often ignored. This is the work that decides what gets built, who you talk to, and what actually moves the needle.