In this video, the Bridget Willard tests the Hide AI plugin by Andrew Hoyer, sharing her experience with the installation process and its impact on the WordPress dashboard. They discuss the absence of AI buttons from Rank Math due to not paying for the premium version and demonstrate how to upload and activate the Hide AI plugin. The presenter expresses satisfaction with the plugin’s functionality, noting that it successfully removes unwanted AI features from the dashboard, allowing for a smoother user experience.
Hide AI by Andrew Hoyer does, in fact, hide the Spectra AI button when I go to “New Post.”
Five Stars!
Also, stop with all of the crazy buttons everywhere. Our brains get trained on your UI; use that to your advantage.
Everyone wants a marketing hack — or another get-rich-quick scheme. Honestly, it amazes me how often companies give up on a solid marketing strategy in favor of other marketing channels.
With the siren song of AI, it’s even worse. Who knows what security issues come up with vibe coded solutions? Or AI WordPress plugins because Claude can read open source code. Does Claude escape the code? Is your GitHub repo secure with GitGuardian?
Are your API keys just laying out in the open for any AI agent to steal?
And this doesn’t even mention poorly-written, bland, soulless articles and website copy masquerading as copywriting.
“Ms Skidd spent about 20 hours rewriting the copy, charging $100 (£74) an hour. Rather than making small changes, she ‘had to redo the whole thing’.” BBC
Copywriting is just like any other trade. You can attempt to do it — like attempting to install a door yourself. Mess it up, likely do more damage, and then still have to hire a door guy to install the door and frame properly at $150/hour.
That is why the best marketing hack for your SaaS business (or any business, really) is time, budget, and patience.
Marketing Takes Time
Everyone wants to trade a cow for magic beans. GenX had the Sea Monkey advertisements plastered in every comic book and the box of every sugar-filled cereal. Instant Success! Overnight Success! Build it and they will come.
Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.
Life doesn’t work that way.
People don’t work that way.
To be successful at any business, it takes time. Whether that is 10,000 hours mastering your skill or the cumulative effect of building websites in your area for over 10 years, it takes time. Success takes time. Marketing takes time.
“Most small businesses take two to three years to become profitable.” FreshBooks
Ask yourself this: do you have a minimum of two years to dedicate to your business?
In my marketing agency, I don’t have contracts. I have quotes and invoices. The terms are clear and customers are free to hire me for a month or four years – billed one month at a time.
Many people think this is a foolish move. It’s a test. How long are you willing to participate in your own business? How well will we work together? Do you have the initiative to do the sales outreach based on the marketing efforts?
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I can’t care more about your business than you do. (This inspired a free eBook, btw.)
The time we spend collaborating and working on your business on a month-to-month basis ensures that you’re engaged, I’m engaged, and you’re enjoying the process. We learn from the strategies and adjust the tactics to meet the marketing goal – which, by the way, should match the business goal.
Marketing Takes Budget
When I was at ThoughtHouse, a San Diego marketing agency that focused on Franchise Development (FranDev), we always told our customers that they should budget 15% of their gross revenue for marketing. That included SEO (where we billed social media, content creation, and technical SEO) as well as ad spend.
That rule of thumb stands true. You can’t grow your business without spending money on marketing. Marketing is communicating with your future customers (outreach), current customers (sales), and even your stakeholders (investors, employees, board members).
Going by 15% of your gross revenue of $500,000 a year, your marketing budget should be $75,000.
That sounds like a lot of money until you factor in building a website (and are you selling on the website?), content creation (articles, videos), event attendance (tickets, lodging), social media (X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram), swag (tee-shirts, stickers), and ad spend (Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Billboards, Radio).
This is why most marketing strategies are rolled out in phases. Because if you don’t have the budget to go hard, you have to take the time to get to where you want to be.
This is a great place to mention that you can’t just pour good money after bad. Last minute budget increases don’t cut it.
“You can’t just pour more money into a campaign and get more results. If you get 200 clicks on an ad for $500, that doesn’t mean you’ll get 400 clicks for $1,000.
People’s attention is not for sale, and the point of diminishing returns is a lot lower than you think.
You usually don’t need a bigger budget to make your marketing more successful.
If you’re in business with a get-rich-quick mentality, you’re in for a rude awakening. I’ve worked with quite a few customers in my marketing career from various industries – from a junk yard to a travel agent, multi-million dollar franchisors and product companies, and the only “overnight success” is the one that happens after years of elbow grease.
We already know the average small business needs two to three years. If you’re a SaaS, you need even longer. Do you have a decade budgeted to be where you want to be as a SaaS founder? Or will you get bored and vibe code something new?
I’m sad to be the bearer of bummer news but someone has to be straight with you. Most founders seem to surround themselves with affirmations and “yes men/humans.” You don’t grow if you never have to fight to shape your dream into a reality.
I’d love to help you get to where you need to be. I’m always open for a quick sales call or you can just book a paid consult.
Marketing that works takes time, budget, and patience. I’ve got the time to work on your business? Do you?
In this session, I delved into practical strategies for small business owners to effectively grow and engage their email lists. Here’s a breakdown of the key points discussed:
Watch the Video
1. Identify Your Audience
Understanding your target audience is crucial. I emphasized the importance of defining who you’re speaking to, as this clarity informs the content and tone of your emails.
2. Create a Valuable Lead Magnet
Offering something of value, like a free tool or resource, can incentivize sign-ups. I discussed how to develop lead magnets that resonate with your audience’s needs.
3. Design an Effective Landing Page
Your website’s landing page should clearly communicate the benefits of subscribing. I shared tips on crafting compelling headlines and calls-to-action that convert visitors into subscribers.
4. Segment Your Email List
Not all subscribers are the same. I highlighted the benefits of segmenting your list to send more personalized and relevant content, which can lead to higher engagement rates.
5. Craft Engaging Email Content
Consistency and value are key. I provided insights into writing emails that not only capture attention but also build trust and encourage ongoing interaction.
6. Monitor and Adjust Your Strategy
Finally, I stressed the importance of tracking your email campaigns’ performance and being willing to adjust your approach based on what the data tells you.
If you have any questions or need further assistance with your email marketing strategy, feel free to reach out!
B2B SaaS Founders are often overwhelmed with their own workload as CEO, CFO, and CIO. Taking the time to publish on LinkedIn seems frivolous in comparison. But it’s crucial to brand building which is vital for sales.
Also, if you’re taking the time to post on LinkedIn about your company, you may as well also publish an article there as well.
Why should you make time out of your busy schedule to publish on LinkedIn?
The short answer is for visibility, thought leadership, brand authority, and off-page SEO.
Building Visibility On LinkedIn
If you’re a B2B founder, CEO, or Marketer, you need to be on LinkedIn. It’s not outdated, it’s not becoming Facebook. It’s where people network online. CEOs aren’t typically in Reddit looking for customers and investors.
Networking on LinkedIn as an intentional exercise (even before and after conferences) is a great way of making it easier to hold meaningful conversations in person. Over 60% of the audience on LinkedIn depends on it for “event information and company news,” reports Statista.
Visibility that makes the sales process easier? Yes, please! Even better, 90% of the decision makers and C-Suite who consistently read your content are obviously more interested in a sales pitch. Warming up leads by publishing articles on LinkedIn seems like a no brainer.
“9 in 10 decision makers and C-suite executives say they are moderately or very likely to be more receptive to sales or marketing outreach from a company that consistently produces high-quality thought leadership.”2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report
If you knew that over 50% of decision makers and C-Suite members spend over an hour a week reading thought leadership articles, would you change your strategy? It’s important to post consistently in order to break through the noise.
“Aim for five LinkedIn posts per week, creating a steady rhythm of content.” EverythingDesign
And while you’re doing that be sure to form new connections and reply to other people’s posts. You can easily fit this into your schedule with my 3-2-1 Method.
“54% say the piece of thought leadership got them to realise there were other suppliers they could work with that had a better understanding of the challenges their organisation was facing.” Di Mace
Building Brand Authority on LinkedIn
Building brand authority on LinkedIn is important for any business; for startup SaaS companies – it’s crucial. You’ve built the Uber for [Industry] or the Google for [Industry]. People have to both want a new solution and know you exist.
Writing about problems that customers actually have? That’s the way to get it done. In fact, all of a SaaS founder’s posts on LinkedIn should inform website content, email marketing campaigns, and sales decks. Why? Because it’s the current thinking. Be sure to include as much data as possible, too.
“Effective thought leadership has three key attributes: it cites strong research and data, helps buyers understand their business challenges, and offers concrete guidance.” Edelman
He consistently posts insights for the event marketing space as well as insights into their platform adoption. The best part is that he extracts insights for other founders. This kind of vulnerability is compelling for decision makers as well.
“Over the past 12 months, our average deal size has grown by 113% while win rates have increased from 54% to 58%.”
He goes on to cite learnings and how it has helped their ten-year Event Platform to start custom implementations. He ends with:
“The future of enterprise tech is Software & Service.That’s what we are building for.”
We often talk about Software as a Service (SaaS) and forget about the service. This right here hits decision makers. It’s enough to make them change. And Jonathan (or a marketing exec on his behalf) could easily convert these long-form posts on LinkedIn into LinkedIn Articles.
Building Off-Page SEO on LinkedIn
One of my favorite SEO tools is Google Alerts for my name, “Bridget Willard.” I set them for “as-it-happens” and “all results.” For the last couple of years, even posts on LinkedIn have been ranking and this helps me keep tabs of any mentions as well.
A simple “Bridget Willard SaaS” search shows my website first, then my LinkedIn profile, then an article I wrote for BetterCloud – a SaaS Management Platform. Incognito results were similar. The BetterCloud article was number 5 in the SERPS with my X profile (3) and Instagram profile (4) both ahead of it.
Warren Laine-Naida has consistently A/B tested publishing on LinkedIn versus his website. Every single time, these articles are on Page 1 of Google SERPs and his website version is “nowhere to be found,” he told me. Indeed, for the following set of articles, the LinkedIn one shows up as the second entry under videos for the phrase “boost visiblity in search llms.”
Oh yeah, articles on LinkedIn are indexed within 24 hours, too.
You don’t always need people on your website. Especially when 44% of all Google searches are for brand names. When you are a SaaS founder or Freelancer, your brand is your name. You both want and need customers and investors to follow you.
Get Marketing That Works
I’ve been helping SaaS companies build a name for themselves in the B2B space since 2015. My company offers the perfect SaaS Marketing Package to help your internal team. And, if you’re ready to have your LinkedIn posts repurposed as articles on LinkedIn, we can certainly make time for you.
SEO best practices are still best practices. If you have a product company (digital or physical) don’t just rely on your product pages. You need a blog.
It’s tempting to think blog posts are so 2013. Although with companies relying upon ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI agents to write quick overviews and summary posts for (virtually) free, it’s surprising that product companies still don’t get it.
TL;DR: People searching for knowledge are sent to blog posts. People searching for action are sent to product pages.
Blogs Versus Short Video Dopamine Hits
Physical products like fashion and beauty heavily rely on influencers and affiliate marketing. Tech companies rely on affiliate marketing, too. Why? Other people market for you which means a lower cost for marketing and lower Customer Aquisiton Cost (CAC).
Relying on other people to do the work can be a good thing. Until TikTok shuts down and you have no content on your own website.
Snapchat introduced the short vertical video and TikTok capitalized on them – thanks to the pandemic. Short, vertical videos are now the new podcast. My Gen Z niece listens to TikTok videos with her earbuds for hours.
“Are you watching them?” I asked.
“Sometimes. I mostly listen when I vacuum and clean the apartment. Of course, you have to stop to swipe to see the next video.” (I’m surprised TikTok hasn’t changed that yet.)
Against biology (our eyes are made to scan right to left, left to right), every platform has this vertical, dopamine-inducing binge watch. Even LinkedIn has vertical video feeds now. (But that’s another rant.)
Relying upon third-party platforms for your marketing is a scary place to be.
If Amazon’s bid to buy TikTok is accepted, it’s going to become the modern Home Shopping Network. How’s that going to change the user experience? Want to binge on commercials? Unlikely. TikTok will become as annoying as over GIF-ed, loud MySpace pages.
If Amazon's bid to buy TikTok is approved, it's going to become the modern Home Shopping Network.
Yes. SEO best practices work as a whole to drive sales. Now, if your product pages aren’t optimized for PPC keywords, and you’re not running PPC ads, and you don’t have email marketing, and you don’t have blog posts to explain the why behind your products, then you have bigger problems.
This is a good time to say that unless you’re tracking your leads, you really don’t know how to attribute those leads. And, first-click leads? Those don’t exist.
Here’s another thing I say a lot: the internet is blind. Videos may have captions (or craptions if you don’t edit them) and photos may be beautiful, but search works from words.
You still need customers. And how do you get customers to find the thing you just built if they don’t even know it exists? There’s no keyword research for terms people aren’t using. Keyword research is mostly for PPC anyway.
I say this a lot on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and in videos. No one will search for you if they don’t know you exist. If you built a product no one knows exists yet (like the product by my new client Green Link), no one is searching for a baseboard for a chain-link fence. It just got patented, and the website went live in January 2025.
Do Blogs Still Work For Tech & SaaS Companies?
Yes, blogs still work for tech and SaaS companies. Now, if you’re a product company, you may be ignoring your blog in favor of product development, writing their pages and documentation. (I know you’re behind on documentation.)
You’re super excited about this new tool or feature you built. That’s awesome. Do you hear us saying, “but why” when we read your tweet? What use case does this apply to? What problem does this solve? Why do I want a project management tool inside of WordPress? But Why?
Well-written blog posts translate product pages into sales copy that answers the why. You can’t just post on X that you created a new tool with the link to the product page and expect sales (with or without lifetime deals).
The study by AN Digital found that if someone is looking for the best running shoes, they’ll be shown blog posts. If they’re looking for the best Nike running shoes, they’ll be shown a product page. What happens with Google also happens with ChatGPT.
SEO best practices haven’t changed. Modern SEO – being found in an AI search tool like ChatGPT – means you need to feed the machine.ChatGPT recommends real content by real experts. If you want to show up in AI-generated answers, an expertly-written blog post beats a static brochure site with product pages any day.
“Because ChatGPT relies both on pre-trained data and real-time web access, SEO becomes critical in ensuring a company’s content is visible and usable by the AI.” AN Digital
Get Marketing That Works
I’m a marketing specialist in the SaaS space. That means easy onboarding for you. Let’s translate the features and specs of your product into compelling marketing copy for your blog.
