Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

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Neil opens with HighLevel's announcement that it is giving AI away for free, and why so few founders make big, expensive bets like that. Eric argues the bets are getting cheaper: anything you build now is out of date fast, so giving away workflows and bots buys mindshare that turns into service work. They weigh the real risk of not knowing your AI cost cap, rising compute and hardware prices, and Meta's open-ended AI spend. Eric shares why so few people use AI the way Andrej Karpathy describes, and what that means for AI-native firms hiring talent. Then a MacBook Pro quote, a Chinese glass company that got free advertising from the Paris riots, and what Black October's hacks mean for security and passkeys. Free value is still a strong growth lever.

Key takeaways◾Giving AI tools away free can win mindshare that turns into paid work◾Know your AI cost cap before you make usage unlimited◾Being transparent after a security problem builds trust

Chapters00:00 HighLevel gives AI away free02:31 Give your workflows and bots away04:30 AI costs, DGX Spark and Anthropic-SpaceX06:57 Meta's open-ended AI spend07:41 Andrej Karpathy: only 0.2% use AI this way09:08 Scale founder's big bet11:18 MacBook Pro $14K quote13:38 Chinese glass company and the Paris riots15:38 Neil's bulletproof windows17:23 Black October hacks and passkeys18:53 Be transparent when things go wrong

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Neil Patel opens on HighLevel giving AI away free, and why its CEO says that sometimes you just have to eat the cost. Eric Siu explains why he gives his own workflows and bots away too, now that an AI visibility report that once cost dollars costs 18 cents. They cover what AI compute costs now, from Eric's DGX Sparks to a MacBook Pro quote of about $14K, Andrej Karpathy's 0.2% figure, a Chinese glass company's Paris riots post, and simple security steps for Black October. Then how AI agents pick local businesses, Spawn's 10-person team spending 30x payroll on AI tokens, Jen Abel's startup sales list, and why GPT-6 Astra being distilled means your IP is dying. They finish on the FlexJet CEO's view of M&A, the listen-to-talk ratio on sales calls, daily AI performance reviews, pay-for-performance risk, Granola's AEO workflow, and Google stock falling 12% after earnings. AI keeps getting cheaper, so the bold move is to give more of it away.

Key takeaways◾Giving AI tools and workflows away for free builds mindshare and leads◾Move fast on trends, from events to security news to earnings◾Use AI for daily feedback instead of waiting for yearly reviews

Chapters00:00 Neil's week: HighLevel, Experian, Milan01:00 HighLevel gives AI away free03:33 Give your workflows and bots away05:32 AI costs, DGX Spark and Anthropic-SpaceX08:43 Andrej Karpathy: only 0.2% use AI this way10:10 Scale founder's big bet12:01 MacBook Pro $14K quote14:21 Chinese glass company and the Paris riots18:06 Black October hacks and passkeys20:30 Hit trends fast: Eric's AI summit23:01 How AI agents pick local businesses28:23 Free AI visibility report32:58 Spawn: 10 people, 30x payroll on AI35:10 Iterate fast, change less36:54 Money Prompt and experience38:22 Jen Abel's startup sales list40:53 Founder-led sales advantage43:31 Win rate over 50% is a warning47:08 GPT-6 Astra distilled: IP is dying49:01 Make the offer a no-brainer51:06 FlexJet CEO on M&A52:52 Neil Patel defends M&A58:05 M&A is a tool, not a rule1:03:36 Sales calls: listen 60, talk 401:06:00 Daily AI performance reviews1:08:13 Gokul Rajaram on short vs long work1:11:21 Pay-for-performance risk1:14:40 The $14K laptop bet1:15:57 Granola's AEO workflow1:17:54 Google stock falls 12% after earnings1:20:40 Wrap-up

Neil Patel pays a content agency $17,000 a month. Then they asked for another 10 grand a month.Eric Siu and Neil ask why agency owners taking home $5,000 a month should not just get a job, then react to Gary Vee on the monetization of random content.

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Eric and Neil start with a content agency Neil pays $17,000 a month, which asked for 10 grand more a month and then changed the price an hour later. Neil asks why a team that takes home about $5,000 a month each on over a million dollars in revenue does not just get a job, and Eric says there is no shame in a salary after 10 years without traction. They contrast that with an agency that grew for roughly 38 years with few acquisitions. Then they react to a Gary Vee clip about the monetization of random content, with Neil explaining how algorithms now find interested viewers and Eric adding that authenticity matters. They close with Neil's dislike of being filmed constantly and a bakery post that drew 130,000 likes. Pick the marketing style that fits you.

Key takeaways◾Charge what you want and pay what makes sense, without lectures◾If the business has not scaled in 10 years, a job is a fine option◾Random content works best when it is authentic and fits you

Chapters00:00 A $17K a month helper asks for more01:45 Charge what you want, pay what makes sense03:18 What the helper's team takes home03:53 Why not just get a job?05:54 Under $100K a year for years07:00 No shame in getting a job07:21 Equity upside at fast-growing companies08:45 Editing skills can earn more inside a company09:38 An agency that kept growing for decades10:36 How a 38-year agency grew without acquisitions12:47 No right or wrong way to build a business13:46 Gary Vee: the monetization of random content16:33 How algorithms find interested viewers18:36 Post random content, but stay authentic19:47 Being filmed at Web Summit20:53 Why content has to fit your personality22:20 A bakery's authentic viral post

𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟Welcome to Marketing School, one of the top business podcasts with over 61 million downloads. Each episode delivers actionable marketing tips and strategies from two entrepreneurs who truly practice what they preach. The show is hosted by Eric Siu, founder of Leveling Up and Single Grain, and Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and recognized by Forbes as a Top 10 Marketer.

🎙️ Learn More About the Hosts Eric Siu – Leveling Up: https://www.youtube.com/@LevelingUpOfficial Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/@neilpatel

📩 Free Resources Ubersuggest: https://www.ubersuggest.com/ Answer The Public: https://www.answerthepublic.com/

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An internet marketer cut his team from a couple hundred people to under 100 and credits AI and OpenClaw with the work. Eric Siu and Neil Patel explain why AI cannot handle marketing work alone.Then Neil shares why he walked away from buying a European agency that is cutting staff to run on AI.

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Eric and Neil start with a well-known internet marketer who cut his team from a couple hundred people to under 100 and says AI and OpenClaw now do 20 to 30 times more work. Eric says that claim hurts the marketer's credibility, and that AI should elevate capabilities rather than eliminate jobs. Neil describes a call with a European e-commerce agency he decided not to acquire, because it planned to shrink to eight to ten people, said two or three people could run its ad spend, and had lost three of its four biggest clients. Eric lists where AI output still needs a human editor, including his YouTube channel, ad creative, AEO and SEO content, and X posts. They also cover AI metrics that do not match business results, and how to handle client expectations and feedback. Human judgment still decides marketing results.

Key takeaways◾Cutting staff and crediting AI for it can hurt a marketer's credibility◾AI output still needs human taste and an editor in the loop◾Optimize for business results and client value, not AI-suggested views

Chapters00:00 Internet marketer says AI replaced his staff00:58 Does cutting jobs hurt credibility?01:46 OpenClaw is unreliable03:16 Marketers who talk about AI without knowing it03:45 Neil's call about acquiring an agency04:33 The agency plans to shrink to eight or ten people06:22 Why the agency is losing clients08:11 Up or out, and selling a company09:08 AI cannot handle marketing work alone10:20 How Eric's view of AI has shifted11:37 AI feedback creates a bias toward views12:58 Views versus revenue14:13 Clients pay for results, not effort15:34 Optimizing for revenue, not brand16:39 Two types of consultants17:52 Why feedback is a gift

𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟Welcome to Marketing School, one of the top business podcasts with over 61 million downloads. Each episode delivers actionable marketing tips and strategies from two entrepreneurs who truly practice what they preach. The show is hosted by Eric Siu, founder of Leveling Up and Single Grain, and Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and recognized by Forbes as a Top 10 Marketer.

🎙️ Learn More About the Hosts Eric Siu – Leveling Up: https://www.youtube.com/@LevelingUpOfficial Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/@neilpatel

📩 Free Resources Ubersuggest: https://www.ubersuggest.com/ Answer The Public: https://www.answerthepublic.com/

✅ Subscribe for Daily Marketing Insights!

Meta Muse is now recommending products, and in one example it picked Beehiiv over Substack for a newsletter. Eric Siu and Neil Patel break down how to get recommended by AI: keep doing AEO and SEO, and get into new AI marketplaces and plugins early.Plus how Grok helped Neil's co-founder beat a $7,600 Google quote with one under $5,000.

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire

Eric and Neil start with Rob Hoffman's example of Meta Muse recommending a client's product as the best option on the market, and Muse choosing Beehiiv over Substack for a newsletter. Eric says to get listed you still have to do more AEO and more SEO, and calls Muse, Grok and OpenAI the next surface for it. Neil shares how his co-founder got a $7,600 water softener quote from Google, then had Grok find more companies and chose a quote under $5,000. He says most businesses never see that revenue because they do not track it. They debate whether AI platforms will sell paid leads, and Eric says to get into new marketplaces and plugins the moment they open. They then turn to Meta's AI spending, the data center race, Karpathy's numbers on AI users, and AI capital spending as a share of GDP.

Key takeaways◾To get recommended by AI, you still have to do more AEO and SEO◾Get into new AI marketplaces and plugins as soon as they open◾AI-driven leads are hard to track, so many businesses miss the revenue

Chapters00:00 Meta Muse picks Beehiiv over Substack01:01 Muse, Grok and OpenAI: the next surface for AEO01:09 The revenue lost by not optimizing for AI01:46 A $7,600 Google quote vs a Grok quote under $5K03:16 The cost of not optimizing for new channels04:36 Will AI tools offer businesses more leads?06:07 Paid marketplaces inside AI platforms06:56 Will AI platforms keep results pure?08:13 Get into new marketplaces and plugins early08:58 Meta's AI spending and the stock drop10:05 Zuckerberg's all-in data center bet10:54 Will AI demand outrun data centers?11:54 AI in toilets, fridges and robots13:00 Marketing to the robot that shops for you13:17 Karpathy's numbers and why demand keeps growing14:51 AI build-out as a share of GDP15:36 Jevons paradox and autonomous ABM

𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟Welcome to Marketing School, one of the top business podcasts with over 61 million downloads. Each episode delivers actionable marketing tips and strategies from two entrepreneurs who truly practice what they preach. The show is hosted by Eric Siu, founder of Leveling Up and Single Grain, and Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and recognized by Forbes as a Top 10 Marketer.

🎙️ Learn More About the Hosts Eric Siu – Leveling Up: https://www.youtube.com/@LevelingUpOfficial Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/@neilpatel

📩 Free Resources Ubersuggest: https://www.ubersuggest.com/ Answer The Public: https://www.answerthepublic.com/

✅ Subscribe for Daily Marketing Insights!