Why Most Companies Fail with AI

Jay Schwedelson says AEO software is the biggest ripoff on earth, and he explains what actually gets you found in AI search instead.Jay (founder of GURU Media Hub and SubjectLine.com, host of Do This, NOT That) sits down with Barry Weston to cover:Why answer engine optimization tools are "playing on people's fears," and the listicles and comparison pages that work insteadHow AI inbox summaries read your emails, and what has to go in the first 200 charactersThe "attend to receive" trick that lifts webinar show-up by 30%+Why you should never use the word "webinar" in a promoWhy everyone's LinkedIn reach dropped about 70%, and the pinned-comment fixWhy industry email benchmarks are trashHow a $500 domain turned him into "the email guy"Chapters:0:00 Meet Jay Schwedelson1:02 How a $500 domain made him "the email guy"4:03 Why you can't be an everything app5:34 Guru Conference: virtual events people attend8:26 Webinar show-up tactics that work10:31 Never call it a "webinar"14:44 Why email benchmarks are trash16:57 AI inbox summaries & the first 200 characters23:01 The AI tools Jay actually uses26:08 Why LinkedIn reach dropped ~70%29:19 AEO software: the biggest ripoff on earth32:49 Stupider People Have Done It38:44 Jay's reality TV habit41:15 The Guru Conference lineupLinks:Jay's website: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/GURU Conference (free, November 12–13): https://www.guruconference.com/Jay's book, Stupider People Have Done It (all profits go to The V Foundation for Cancer Research): https://www.jayschwedelson.com/Beyond Social is brought to you by Vista Social, the social media management platform for brands and agencies. Try it free: https://vistasocial.comTry Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

How do you become an AI native company? Vista Social did it this year without growing the team, doubling budgets, or working longer hours, and shipped 112 major features in eight months.Vista Social co-founders Vitaly Veksler and Reggie Azevedo break down what being AI native actually means and why the shift is cheaper and simpler than most leaders think. AI is brilliant, but it has no hands and knows nothing about your business until you give it access to your conversations, your history, and the tools your teams use every day. If you're a founder, operator, or marketing leader trying to turn your business into an AI native company, start here.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN- What an AI native company is: AI with access to your Slack, sales calls, demos, support tickets, past emails, and the tools your teams use every day, from CRM to payroll.- Why becoming AI native is one of the cheapest transformations a business can make. No restructuring, no new office, no new team.- The "genius hire" test: if you hired an Ivy League genius for a hundred dollars a month, you'd give them every login. AI deserves the same access.- Where to start: internal operations, not customer-facing work. The hours your team spends on tasks that never touch a customer are the fastest win.- A real example: one prompt built an agent that audits every software subscription monthly. Vista has since cancelled tools, moved others to annual billing, and renegotiated more.- Why AI native companies will pull away in the next 12 to 18 months, and why the gap may be impossible to close once you can see it.ABOUT THE HOSTSVitaly Veksler, Co-Founder, CEO & Head of Product at Vista Socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/vitalyveksler/Reggie Azevedo, Co-Founder, Head of Sales & Success at Vista Socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/reggieaze/Vista Social is the social media management platform for brands and agencies. Try it free: https://vistasocial.comSubscribe for more [SHOW NAME].#AINative #AINativeCompany #AIAutomationTry Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

Bernard Ablola's first 27 videos went nowhere. He had to ask his wife and his mom to like them. Then video 28 took off, and he posted 2,200 times last year.Bernard is the founder of Think Strategy and a former director of marketing at eXp Realty. He talks with Barry Weston about committing to post every day, why B2B buyers want founders instead of logos, and how he turns recorded calls into content without it sounding like AI.KEY TAKEAWAYS- One idea becomes five assets: a text post, a video, a carousel, a voiceover cut, and then distribution everywhere.- Feed your call recordings into AI and ask for posts built from things you actually said.- Keep taste and judgment human. That's what makes you stand out in the feed.ABOUT BERNARDBernard Ablola is the founder of Think Strategy and previously led marketing at eXp Realty and eXp Commercial.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardablola/Think Strategy: http://www.thinkstrategy.comBeyond Social is brought to you by Vista Social, the social media management platform for brands and agencies. Try it free: https://vistasocial.comFollow Beyond Social wherever you get your podcasts.Try Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

Sales reps hate updating the CRM. Vista Social's founders explain how an AI agent with your SOP handles it for them.Vista Social has roughly doubled in size over the past year without doubling headcount. Co-founders Vitaly Veksler and Reggie Azevedo walk through the exact setup: lead prep, post-call CRM updates, follow-up tasks, support replies, and DM lead qualification. If you don't have an SOP yet, they cover where to start.What you'll take away:- An "agent" is your SOP written as instructions, plus connections to tools like HubSpot, Google Calendar, and your meeting recorder.- After a call, the transcript fills out the HubSpot deal and creates ClickUp tasks with owners and deadlines for every promise made. Reps went from 3-4 calls a day to 6-7.- Support went from summarized tickets to drafted replies to some tickets answered autonomously, and the team is back under a 30-minute first response.[TIMESTAMPS: add from final audio cut. They may differ from the YouTube version if intros or ads differ.]About your hosts:Vitaly Veksler and Reggie Azevedo are the co-founders of Vista Social. Reggie oversees sales and support.Connect with them on LinkedIn:Vitaly Veksler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitalyveksler/Reggie Azevedo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reggieaze/Vista Social: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vistasocial/Try Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

A post with 60 likes can beat one with 500. Zapier's Ryan Quindlen explains why he stopped reporting impressions and started tracking who engages.Ryan runs social at Zapier with a team of two, and his top goal for H2 is a sales pipeline number. He joins Barry Weston and Chris Cunningham to talk about measuring LinkedIn by audience instead of vanity metrics, which formats work after the spring algorithm change, LinkedIn's new AI slop button, and the very unglamorous AI setup behind Zapier's executive content. Built for social media managers, marketers, and anyone who has to defend social to a CMO.KEY TAKEAWAYS- Every week Zapier reports what share of each post's engagement came from director-level and above. The target is 40%.- Engagement is matched against HubSpot data in a Zapier Table, so the team knows which personas, companies, and topics are engaging.- A text-only post summarizing a video often beats the video. Screenshot reactions to X, Reddit, or TikTok posts are badly underused on LinkedIn.- "Comment below" CTAs and questions as the last line are getting buried. Stop using them.- Exec posts start as a 5 to 10 minute recorded conversation. AI strips the filler, then Ryan spends 20 to 30 minutes editing by hand.- Going from high to max reasoning costs about 6x for about 10% smarter. Ryan stays at high and below, and routes grunt work to cheaper models, which saves him around 60%.CHAPTERS00:00 Ryan Quindlen joins Beyond Social01:15 Why "cool as shit" creator events work03:26 Selling bold creative to a "boring" B2B exec team06:30 Stop chasing impressions, track ICP touches11:31 Boosting weak posts means your goals are wrong12:36 The 40% director-plus rule13:08 How Zapier tracks who engages17:11 The format that's working: text beats video19:17 Steal from X, Reddit and TikTok (with credit)21:59 LinkedIn's AI slop button23:25 Comment bait and closing questions are getting nuked25:13 When your hand-written post gets called AI slop31:22 Why Zapier's top 5 posts of the year were on X33:26 Ghostwriting for a CEO who takes social seriously38:57 Meet Kevin, Ryan's local AI knowledge layer43:25 The "that's not good enough" trick45:18 War council: 7 subagents that argue with you47:22 Model routing and saving 60% on AI49:34 Never go above high reasoning51:25 Inside Zapier's social team of two53:57 Recorded exec calls become draft one56:11 Taste is the moatABOUT RYANRyan Quindlen runs social at Zapier, where he sits on the brand team and works on content with executives, including CEO Wade.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanquindlen/Connect with Barry Weston: www.linkedin.com/in/barry-westonConnect with Chris Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/Beyond Social is brought to you by Vista Social, the social media management platform for brands and agencies. Try it free: https://vistasocial.com#LinkedInMarketing #SocialMediaMarketing #AIMarketing✅ Visit our blog: https://bit.ly/3vXy3C2 ============================================================Follow us! Instagram: https://bit.ly/4aNFladFacebook: https://bit.ly/3vzDxmsLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/43TaEOHX: https://bit.ly/3vNfmRyTry Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

Everyone treats their LinkedIn company page like a box to tick — post, get 200 impressions, wonder why it's dead. Michelle J. Raymond says that's exactly backward.Michelle is the world's leading authority on LinkedIn company pages. She helps B2B organizations wrangle the one asset every business has, and almost nobody uses well — starting with the page, then scaling with employees in what she calls "the power of two."In this episode of Beyond Social, Michelle breaks down why company page organic reach gets the least priority on LinkedIn, and what actually moves the needle: flipping self-serving content into content that makes other people better at their jobs, "page advocacy" (yes, your page should be out there commenting), and why most pages are stuck at 200–1500 impressions no matter their size.We get into the 90/9/1 rule of who actually creates on LinkedIn, why carousels can pull up to 8x the engagement, whether LinkedIn newsletters are worth activating (and why AI is starting to cite them), and Michelle's rule for anyone overthinking it: "If you confuse, you lose." Plus her permission slip most brands need to hear — it's okay to have fun on LinkedIn.Connect with MichelleB2B Growth CoConnect with Barry..✅ Visit our blog: https://bit.ly/3vXy3C2 ============================================================Follow us! InstagramFacebookLinkedInXTry Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

LinkedIn is the best place for business leaders to get ahead on social media, but so many are either afraid to start or lack the time to figure out the best strategy. How can that be fixed? Ghostwriters.However, most ghostwriting clients will never admit they use one. So how do you prove the work?Maria Marchewka writes LinkedIn for busy executives and founders — the people who've climbed the corporate ladder and then freeze at the idea of posting. In this episode of Beyond Social, Maria walks through her entire system: the 30-minute monthly call, the 10 custom questions, and how she turns a transcript into a month of posts that still sound like the person who said them.We get into why commenting beats posting for anyone starting out, what she does when a call produces nothing usable, whether the LinkedIn algorithm is actually out to get you, and LinkedIn's new "seems like AI slop" button — which is either a good idea or a loaded gun, depending on who's holding it.Chapters00:00 — Nobody wants people to know they use a ghostwriter00:25 — Who Maria is and what she actually does02:46 — Quitting the 9-to-5 to work 24/703:01 — How she landed on LinkedIn ghostwriting04:49 — Practitioner, not preacher: her profile as the proof06:14 — "Who cares what I have to say?" — the executive mindset block07:00 — The system: 10 questions, 30 minutes, one month of content08:57 — When clients start bringing their own ideas10:34 — Handling comments and engagement without profile access12:20 — When a post catches fire (and the trolls show up)14:21 — Coaching executives into video16:25 — What to do when the call gives you nothing17:43 — How often should a leader actually post?19:44 — Is it the algorithm, or is it you?22:04 — The production workflow: Otter, Claude, Google Docs23:55 — Why a transcript can't capture excitement25:01 — Rapid fire: the one habit to start this week26:17 — Do comments actually help your reach?28:38 — The Lunch Break newsletter29:14 — The one habit to quit immediately31:04 — LinkedIn's "seems like AI slop" button33:01 — The posts she's most proud of35:01 — Borrowing Gary Vee's $1.80 strategy36:30 — If LinkedIn allowed only one post format38:25 — Underrated creators worth followingHost: Barry WestonFind MariaLinkedInWebsiteNewsletter — The Lunch Break, every Monday at noon ET: Mentioned in this episodeNicole Ramirez on LinkedInHeike Young on LinkedInAbout Beyond Social✅ Visit our blog: https://bit.ly/3vXy3C2 ============================================================Follow us! Instagram: https://bit.ly/4aNFladFacebook: https://bit.ly/3vzDxmsLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/43TaEOHX: https://bit.ly/3vNfmRyTry Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

Everyone's bracing for AI to take marketing jobs. Daniel Murray thinks the opposite is happening — and he's got a clear line on which marketers are actually at risk.Daniel built Marketing Millennials into a 1.4M-follower LinkedIn page, which isn't supposed to be possible for a company page. In this episode, he breaks down exactly how he did it: the tweet-screenshot play he started in 2020, why he posts in dark mode, the meme bank and hook bank he's been building for years, and what's actually working on LinkedIn right now that nobody's talking about yet.We also get into where AI fits — he uses it constantly, but not for the thing most people use it for. His take: AI gives you breadth; humans still own depth. The best information in marketing is still trapped in the heads of people doing the work, and it's never been posted online.Plus: how to make a B2B company page not feel like a slog, the evangelist hiring play, and what to actually do with a conference booth if you don't want to be the brand giving away pens.Connect with Daniel MurrayLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing/The Marketing Millennials: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-marketing-millennials/Beyond Social is brought to you by Vista SocialManage every social channel from one place: https://vistasocial.comHosts: Barry Weston: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-weston/Chris Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/✅ Visit our blog: https://bit.ly/3vXy3C2 ============================================================Follow us! Instagram: https://bit.ly/4aNFladFacebook: https://bit.ly/3vzDxmsLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/43TaEOHX: https://bit.ly/3vNfmRyTry Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

Mark Sirkin, Chief Growth Officer at Walk West, breaks down how marketers should actually use AI agents in 2026: not as a fancy autocomplete, but as a team that forces clearer thinking, sharper brand POV, and real workflow leverage.In this episode of Beyond Social, we get practical on:→ Why "rewrite this" prompts keep you stuck with mediocre output→ The interview method that pulls better strategy out of AI→ How to build an AI agent team that does real marketing work→ Why AI literacy + brand taste beat tool-chasing→ The hard truth: if you wait too long on AI, you're already behindIf you run social, growth, or an agency, this one's for you.🔗 Host: Barry Weston - VP of Marketing, Vista Social🔗 Guest: Mark Sirkin - Chief Growth Officer, Walk West🎧 Beyond SocialA Vista Social podcast on social, content, and the systems behind modern marketing.🛠️ Run social like it's 2026https://vistasocial.com.✅ Visit our blog: https://bit.ly/3vXy3C2 ============================================================Follow us! InstagramFacebookLinkedInX Try Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube

Sarah, Social Media Manager at ManyChat, has grown the brand's Instagram to over 600K followers as a B2B company — and she did it by leading with value instead of product pitches. In this episode of Beyond Social, Sarah joins hosts Chris Cunningham and Reggie Azevedo to break down the content strategy behind ManyChat's social growth and what it really takes to build an engaged audience in the creator economy. Sarah covers why an 80/20 split between educational content and product promotion is the formula that actually converts, how ManyChat uses comment automations to drive massive engagement (and why their followers trigger keywords even when they're not asked to), and how she manages YouTube and Instagram with a lean but structured team workflow built inside Asana. The conversation also gets into AI and where it actually fits in a social media workflow — as a brainstorming partner and efficiency tool, not a replacement for the creativity that makes content stand out. Sarah also shares her framework for evaluating what's working, from watch time and engagement rate to iterating on hooks that consistently outperform. If you're a social media manager trying to grow a B2B brand without sounding like every other brand account, this episode is packed with actionable perspective.Try Vista Social for FREE todayBook a Demo Follow us on InstagramFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on YouTube