Welcome back to the Follow-Up Media podcast. My name is Christian Lee and as always, I am sitting here with my co-host. You sir? >> Yes. And this man is known by a lot of names. And today he is Reginald Sparkle Hammer.

>> Love it. I love me a good spatchcock. That's just turkey. My turkey talk coming. Is that your your turkey talk? >> Okay. So, this is episode two of our uncomfortable truths in marketing. And today we're going to talk about hope is not a strategy. Not in marketing, not in business, not in 2025, and we're moving

into 2026. And if your current marketing plan is relying on luck, timing, guesswork, or we'll see what happens, then your plan isn't really a plan. What is it, Riley?

>> Just a prayer at that point. Thank you, man. Living on a prayer. Bonjovi. Yeah, let's do it. For part one, we're going to talk about the myth of hope. The myth of hope marketing. Okay. And let's start with this. Most business owners don't think they're marketing on hope, but they are. They post when they feel

inspired. They make content when they have time. They try an ad campaign with no data. They start a podcast, release two episodes, vanish for four weeks. Men promise they'll get back to it.

>> Yeah, >> we were just talking about this with a a particular client actually and who's going to take a break over the holidays, which is perfectly fine. That is okay, right? You don't have to grind it out every week. I mean, it would be beneficial if you could, but we get it.

Family, other, you know, business, you know, get in the way. But still, that doesn't mean your socials take a pause. That doesn't mean your YouTube channel takes a pause. Just because you might actually not be in the studio recording content, you can repurpose content so your brand doesn't disappear. As in last

episode, we talked about your brand becoming invisible. And then they wonder, you know, why nothing's working. Hope is not a growth model. Hope is not a plan. Hope is not execution. Hope is what you do when you don't have a strategy. Ain't that right, Reginald Sparklehammer?

>> Oh, yeah. >> Part two, how hope disguises itself as a plan. You see, most forms of hope come disguised as effort. >> I see this every day. Teams feel busy, so they assume they're being effective.

Business is not a strategy. Posting randomly is not a strategy. Boosting a Facebook post is not a strategy. And making one video a month, what? Guess what that is?

>> That ain't a strategy. >> That ain't a strategy, Riley. Regional sparkle hammer. Damn it. Anyway, uploading a podcast episode eventually is not a strategy. This is actually misinterpreting as intention.

>> You're right, Riley. This is activity and it's masquerading as intention. And brands fall for it because activity feels like progress. It feels like they're doing something. But here is the uncomfortable truth. You can work extremely hard and still move absolutely nowhere. See, here's the deal. I've said

this for years when it comes in my personal life, when it comes to, you know, giving advice when most people don't want my advice. And that you're either moving forward or you're moving back. And if you're not actively doing the right things to move forward, guess what? You're moving back

>> and you don't want to work extremely hard and get nowhere. So, the four types of hopebased marketing are these. The something is better than nothing approach. This is the brand that posts just to post. They don't know why they're making content. They just feel guilty if they don't. Mhm.

>> And if that's you, I'm sorry, but that's not a strategy. >> That's anxiety. >> Yeah. It's anxiety, >> you know. And then you've got the viral lottery ticket approach. This brand is praying for one video to save everything.

>> They dream of that breakout moment of going viral. They chase trends. They hook hop. They post sporadically and pray for the algorithm gods to bless them. And it just, you know, viral is not a strategy. Normally viral is an accident.

>> I like hook hop. I think that's a good one because it's so true because they'll just try to hook onto something that's just going to just going to stick out right then and they're going to the next one. They're going to the next one.

>> Yeah, I like that term, too. I I I coined that. >> No. Yeah. Back in 84, back of an El Camino behind a cracker barrel >> and good about the hook hopper. Yeah, the hook hopping your hook.

Sorry. And then you've got the copy whatever is working from for someone else approach. This one's going to hurt a little bit. Brands imitate competitors. And I get it. You look at the people who are where you want to be and you try to emulate them.

>> But it's not going to work because the styles are different. Your brand voice is different. Your brand is different. I hope they try to mimic styles, duplicate formats, and steal trends. But copying doesn't create authority. It creates camouflage.

>> And camouflage brands, guess what? >> You're not going to see them. They're invisible. >> They're gonna become invisible. >> Yeah.

>> And then you've got the throw money at ads and pray approach. I do love this. >> The Hail Mary. >> Yeah. Okay. Just just boost this. Yeah. It's fingers crossed. I mean, they're not really sitting there praying, but they're going, it's kind of a combination of something is better than

nothing, but also my marketing team, they know what they're doing. >> Yeah. >> But when you look at the ROI from that ad or from that campaign, it doesn't work, you know, and most ad budgets are basically digital scratchoff tickets.

They spend because they don't know what else to do. They optimize nothing. They track nothing. They test nothing. And this is the most expensive version of hope. All right? And we're not trying to be a Debbie Downer. And why hope fails every time. There are three reasons.

Hope-based marketing collapses. Here's your reason. One, there's no predictability. You can't scale what you cannot predict. You can't budget for chaos. Marketing based on emotion or randomness cannot create reliable revenue. I mean for real, let me say that again. You cannot budget for chaos

and marketing based on emotion or randomness cannot create reliable revenue. It's the same thing with like you get emotionally attached to a deal or any specific outcome. You're setting yourself up for a massive amount of disappointment.

>> I mean, it's good to get hyped. I am the king of being optimistic and excited about what this could be. True. What this episode could be, what this deal or client could be.

>> Mhm. And then if I'm like so hyperfocused on the outcome, not only does it set me up for a grand amount of disappointment when it doesn't happen at that particular time, sometimes it might happen later, >> but it doesn't keep you open and flexible

>> for maneuvering. The same could be applied like when you meet a girl that you like >> and love her and you've never even spoken with her and love her but and then you do talk to her and it's like will she call me back and you get so hyperfocused on

>> could this be the one >> right >> and you have no earthly idea she could be a complete train wreck you can't budget for chaos and then there's the second reason there's no compounding effect the reason brands like Mr. Beast, HubSpot, Gary Vee, Justin Welsh, or any

serious content machine win is simple. Why are these? What are those reasons? >> They don't stop. Their content stacks, their authority compounds. Uh, one video feeds the next video, which meaning is they're going to lead into the next one.

They're going to maybe not even just foreshadow it, but I mean, it's kind of like a series. It's like you're it's not just going to be you're going to start at one and then you're going to go from the end to the middle to the >> if there is strategy behind it. It's going to create a mural, a montage,

right? If if if they know why they're doing the episodes in the order they're doing them. Hopefully, it is going to paint a broad overall picture, right, or brand strategy. And so, you know, one podcast feeds the next podcast. One idea feeds the next idea. Hope doesn't compound.

Hope will not compound, but strategy does. And you want that compounding effect. And then reason three, there's no ownership of distribution. Hope relies on the algorithm. Strategy, what does it build?

>> It builds the ecosystem. >> Yeah. When you rely on hope, you rely on chance. When you rely on strategy, guess what? You're relying on infrastructure. Your podcast, your YouTube channel, your SEO or search engine optimization, your newsletter, your social rhythm, your email, your content clusters, long form

to short form pipeline all work together. It's an ecosystem. And you'll hear that word in these series and a lot of times in previous episodes. Your website should not be a digital brochure. It should be a media hub. That is what your ecosystem feeds into and flows out of. Yeah. Right. This is what

follow-up media builds and this is why we win where others stall out. Part five, the strategy framework brands must adopt. This is going to be the backbone of modern marketing and it is the opposite of hope. It's a clear measurable content thesis. What do you believe? What truths are you willing to

say out loud? What pain do you solve? What problem are you the authority on? A message without a thesis is noise. A thesis turns noise into influence. That's a huge one. A thesis will turn noise into influence. Riley, what's next?

>> A long form anchor, podcast, weekly YouTube show, uh long form interview series. This is your core asset. Three, a non-negotiable weekly cadence. This is huge. Cadence is confidence. Cadence builds trust. Cadence signals leadership. Your audience should feel your consistency. Your market should

expect your presence. And this is the opposite of hope. This is called discipline. If you don't make your content, your weekly YouTube show, your podcast, your video series a priority, guess what? Nobody else is going to. Nobody else. It's just like working out at the gym. It's an unmovable thing

on your calendar. If you have the flexibility to move it around, move it around to where it better fits your day. >> But get it done, even if you don't feel like it. And guess what? When you don't feel like it and you make yourself do it, a lot of times that's when some of your best content comes.

>> Oh, 100%. >> Especially when cold calling or knocking on doors or whatever it is. When you get to the point where you go, I'm done for the day.

>> I don't want to go and drive up this asshole's driveway and ring his doorbell and ask him to sell his home or if he would sell his home. But guess what? When you have that inner dialogue that says, "Man, I'm spent. I'm cooked. don't want to go home, sit on the couch, my family. I'm going to do this. And you

go, "No, that. I'm getting out of the damn car and I'm going to go walk up on this driveway and I'm going to go ring this asshole's doorbell." Guess what happens?

>> That is where success is made. Right there. That moment, >> that is you going the extra effort. And you would not believe the doors that will open if you do it. And the same goes for your content because you don't know when the breaking point is. You don't know when the algorithm goes,

"Holy this aligns with that audience." Yeah. >> And now you're seeing a compounding effect across all your channels. You've got to have the discipline. You have to make it a priority.

>> Hands down. >> And then you've got your distribution engine. long form to short form to the newsletter to the SEO to YouTube indexing and social rotation. One piece of content equals 10 opportunities for visibility. One hour of recording, a week of content. This is what the market

needs and this is what strategy looks like. And you can find it with follow-up media. We will help guide you >> through being undisiplined to nudging you. Sometimes Riley might nudge a little creepy regional sparkle hammer here. That's right.

>> But we're here to support you >> and we can't do it for you. >> But we can guide you. We can help you with the strategy, the ecosystem, the media hub. And even if you don't use us, use somebody >> or use part of this content to be able to maybe even go to that company you

want to work with if it's not us and say, "Hey, this is kind of like what >> this would be a good that's a great point, right, Regional Regginald." >> Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.

>> That's a great point, Reginald. Give him the sparkle hammer. Um, but no. Um, but that is a great point because you could transcribe this content and you could use this as an interview tool to interview a company.

>> Oh, 100%. >> And if they can't answer what they're going to do that really is super focused, super strategized, has a thesis, is talking about an ecosystem, they're not who you want to work with.

you will they'll take your money and you will waste their money and they will waste your money and you are now marketing once again on hope. But you're leaning on someone who is supposedly an expert in the area to deliver and it's not a feedback loop that actually informs decisions. Most brands look at

analytics like this. Oh, cool. This one didn't do well and then they change nothing. Data is only helpful if it changes behavior. Strategy without data is guessing. Data without strategy, guess what? It's freaking noise. Yeah.

>> And you need both. And part six right now is the follow-up media philosophy, right? A follow-up media. We don't believe in hopebased marketing. We build systems. We build cadence. We build authority engines. We build thought leadership platforms that work when you're sleeping, even when you're not in

a meeting, even when you're not online. These ecosystems that we build will remove the guesswork, eliminate the randomness, and permanently break the addiction to posting when we can. You don't hire us to make content. You hire us to engineer relevance. In closing for today, the

final uncomfortable truth. So, here's the truth nobody wants to say out loud. Once again, what is it, Riley? Hope is not a strategy, but strategy feels a lot like hope until you actually commit to it.

>> That's right, Riley. That was beautifully said. The brands that win aren't the ones with the best ideas. They're the ones with the best systems. The ones who show up, the ones with cadence, the ones with authority. If you're marketing right now feels like guesswork, randomness, or luck, then

it's hope. It's But the moment you replace hope with structure, your entire business changes. And this is the uncomfortable truths about modern marketing. Episode three is coming up in two weeks and trust me, you're not ready for it. This is Follow-up Media. Check us out at

follow-upmedia.com. We're available on all podcasting platforms, anywhere where regional sparkle hangs out. Yep. He'll give you the sparkle and then hit you with the hammer. All right. Thanks,