Hey, welcome back to the Follow-Up Media podcast. This is a episode four actually of and normally we don't call and number our episodes, but this is part of a 15 episode series called the uncomfortable truths in marketing. And today's episode is called if you don't control the narrative, the algorithm will. and I

will explain that. So, if you're not actively telling your story, someone else is. And in 2026, which is what we're moving into, we're about what, 3 days before the first of the year, the algorithm will tell your story. It decides what people are going to see. It decides what they don't and how they're

framed and how you're remembered and whether you matter at all. Right? So, this episode is about control or the lack thereof of it. Okay. And my name is Christian Lee. Um, you know, we are touching on this series um in a big way because we want to help with industry with, you know, small, medium, and

enterprise level businesses. And you know that is the goal of this series is we want you to understand the value in everything that we're saying and the action behind these initiatives but also to position yourself for the future. And if you don't embrace some sort of content

initiative, um, ecosystem, you know, media hub framework, you're going to be really left behind. And as I said, my name is Christian Lee and my co-host this week, it sounds like it's comes with a leather jacket and a questionable IMDb page. It's Chaz Meat

Castle. >> Meat Castle. Chaz Meat Castle. >> Two Z's. >> Yes. Two Z's. Chaz Meat Castle. >> I can get down with that.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Chaz Meat Castle, everybody. Let that soak in. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, uh, Chaz, how was your Christmas?

>> It was great. Yeah. No, it was great. I stayed in town for once. I always uh went out to North Carolina or Pennsylvania since I was probably born. This is like the first year I've been around. And I actually do like it now that I'm older. Being able to just chill and I have 19,000 kids running around

and stuff like that. So, >> you're not one of the 19,000 though Chaz Meat Castle everybody. >> No, I'm old and mature. >> Yep.

>> But yeah. No. How was your Christmas? >> Um, it was good, man. We had my brother in town from Australia. My brother lives in uh Melbourne and uh he didn't come with his kids, but every time he comes in town, stays at my house, but everyone converges on my house and it's a lot.

>> Yeah. >> I love him to death. The kids love them. Um but it's a lot. And I'm ready for no one to come over ever again. >> I'm sure your wife is as well.

>> Yes. And then me having to hear about everything. Yeah. Is is is a full-time job. >> Anyway, so here we go. This is what we're talking about. So, if you don't control the narrative, the algorithm will. So, in part one, the illusion of control. And I love this because this

equates to daily life. Whether you work for somebody or you own your own business or you're a independent, you know, contractor. There is no such thing of as control. It's all an illusion. You know, you might think you have security, but you're only as secure as the universe allows you to be because the

second you think, "Oh, I've got everything in place," you die or your business goes under or something comes out of the woodwork that basically weakens your control in every way. And so, most brands think they control their narrative. They have a website. They have an about page. They have a mission

statement. They have brand guidelines. And they're buried in a Google Drive folder. And guess what? Nobody opens it. No. >> Right? Do you have that? Or maybe you don't even have brand guidelines. And yet none of that actually controls perception. Right? Because perception

doesn't live on your website. It lives in feeds. It lives in search results. And it's in suggested videos. Right? Because if YouTube isn't suggesting your videos, then there's a good chance nobody is seeing it.

>> And in AI summaries now, which is huge because if you're in a business, you have a website and you're not positioning yourself to show up in AI search results, whether it be Claude, you know, Gemini, Chad GPT, Perplexity, you know, uh any of them. Yeah, >> there's there's a bunch now. You're

going to get left behind. And if you're not shaping those spaces, every one of them, the algorithm will fill in the blanks for you. And that's not really what you want. And what the algorithm actually does, and it's not evil, it's not personal. It doesn't care about your intent. It cares about signals.

What signals are happening? What gets clicked? What gets watched? What gets shared? What gets repeated? and what gets ignored. And if the algorithm sees your content as being ignored, guess what? It isn't going to show it >> exactly.

>> And then it builds a story about you based on that data. It builds your own story whether you like it or not. So what story is it building? If you post inconsistently, your story becomes not relevant. If you post randomly, then your story becomes not authority. no authority, right? And

if you never explain what you do clearly, the story becomes damn right confusing. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And so once that story is formed, it spreads faster than you could even do it manually, >> which is really a lot to think about, but that's how

these algorithm works, right? Same with the Tik Tok scroll. It's like what you stop and watch, even if you don't have your eyes on it. >> True. It's going to feed you more of that >> exactly >> what it thinks you watched. Silence is

still a story. If you think, well, oh, I'm not posting Well, guess what? That silence is still a story. Yeah. >> And so, the uncomfortable truth is that most brands miss that silence isn't neutral. You might think, well, we're good because we're not doing anything.

But if you don't tell your story consistently, the absence becomes the narrative. They must not be growing. They must not be busy. They must not be leaders.

>> Right. They must not be relevant anymore. >> Exactly. >> You do not get the benefit of the doubt in the attention economy. You get replaced and the algorithm is more than happy to help.

>> Yeah. You know how brands lose the narrative without realizing it? Well, they let random content define them. >> Yeah. It's just like a kid like you get rewarded for good behavior. So, you be on all the guidelines and you're meeting those goals, it's going to reward you.

>> Yeah. But letting random content define you, off-brand post, rushed video, one poorly explained idea, that's all it takes. And without the repetition, the algorithm is just going to grab the loudest signal, not the best one. In our previous episode, we talked about, you know, why some of your competitors are

not necessarily smarter than you. They're not better than you, but they're louder than you. >> They're more consistent. >> They're claiming their share of the industry's voice.

>> And here's another mistake. Explaining yourself once and assuming it sticks. And I've said this of few times on this show, you can say it a thousand times. You've said it a thousand times and it's the first time I actually heard you. So, you might say the same thing a thousand times, but

it's the first time somebody is actually paying attention and hearing you. So, you can't assume that you said it once and it's going to stick. There's a reason why, you know, if it's podcast or content. Just because you're the CEO of a company, that doesn't mean anybody knows you. Yeah.

>> They don't know your story. So, every time you do get on a video, it's probably good to build a little bit of credibility and explain a little bit about your story. Be egotistical and, you know, like, >> let me tell you all about me. But no, give a quick rundown of who you are. You

know what I'm saying? why you're doing what you're doing and why you're qualified. That's important, right? >> Yeah. >> So, brands explain what they do one time and then move on. But the market didn't hear you. As I just mentioned, the algorithm didn't register you and the

audience definitely didn't remember you, right? You need to continue >> to reinstall or re-mbbed the content, your authority. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Um, narratives are built through repetition, not announcements. It doesn't need to be in just a one announcement. Hey, you

heard my announcement. I'm pregnant. >> Yeah, I'm just playing. >> Hey, so with the new year's coming up, I know I always like around this time because I go to the gym a good bit. I always hate January, February, March, because you got hundreds of people. I'm this new year, new me. I got this, this,

this, this. But they always start weeding out when it comes to the April, the the May, the June. And I'm thinking to myself, it's the same thing as like a business owner, >> 10,000%.

>> So they start off strong and they think that, oh my god, it's going to happen overnight, but the ones that stay consistent throughout the year are going to be the ones with the best results in the in the I guess best.

>> Yeah. If you think that like if you picture it like we're in a matrix, right? >> Yeah. It's like once you get into that just just non unwavering routine waking up going to the gym working out and you know feeling good you know health whatever it

is would be like the equivalent of content the algorithm takes over. >> Yeah. >> You know it's like what do they say it takes 21 days to break or make a habit.

>> Yeah. Yeah. >> You know essentially. >> So you know >> it's the same thing you know but >> the reward on the fitness side is that you get in better shape. you look better, you feel better.

>> Same thing if you apply content to it, you know, um the algorithm, >> which I guess would be the equivalent to the habit, >> will start to show your content, start to compound your your impact and you know, and now you've built the habit of creating content that's working for you

while you're sleeping. >> Yep. >> That's a great analogy, Chaz Meat Castle. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please take Chaz Meat Castle's advice. Yeah.

>> Go to the gym. >> Mhm. >> So you can be people watched. >> Is that if you're on a podcast and you're all >> looking all crazy.

>> Yeah. Mr. Meat Castle in the house. Um and another mistake what we always see is they only show up when you have something to sell, right? New product launch, new book, new this.

But that's the only time they hear from you. Like they expect, hey, we've got this new thing. Well, then they look back and they go, "Well, no one really engaged with that." Well, because no one cares and no one saw it, >> right? This is a big one because if your brand only speaks when it wants

something, the narrative becomes transactional, >> right? >> It's just I'm doing this because I want this. Yeah. I'm not doing this to educate my audience or my clientele to become better to to you know enhance themselves better to better position

themselves. I just want them to buy my damn product and no one gives a at all. like there's a reason why you give away your expertise and you know we're giving away this content in order to try to make people who are listening who might listen to this podcast or this content better

>> to make maybe open their eyes. Now granted, there is some transactional we can sell you to help whatever services you need, but ultimately you don't have to call, sign up, or do anything in order to benefit from any of the things we might be saying or any of the topics we might be weighing in on.

Right. So there again, if your brand only speaks when it wants something, the narrative becomes transactional. You're not a leader. You're not a resource. You're an interruption.

>> Yeah. Totally. Exactly. Like who the are you? Yeah. Right. >> And then why the loudest story always wins. The algorithm unfortunately doesn't rank truth. It ranks clarity. It doesn't prioritize expertise. It prioritizes consistency.

Consistency. It doesn't care if your message is perfect. It cares if it's repeated. >> Yeah. This is why mediocre brands with clear messaging outperform brilliant brands with none. Your message might not be as clean. It might not be as polished, but if it's clear and it's

consistent, it will outperform the brilliant brands with a lot more money every time. >> Clarity beats complexity. Repetition beats perfection. And presence beats potential. You might, oh, we've got a lot of potential. I'm sure you do. But >> yeah,

>> with no action, >> just Yeah. >> And no presence, you're >> You know what I'm saying? It doesn't mean >> you're always going to be It just means you're right now.

>> Exactly. >> In the world of the um, you know, attention economy that is, you know, >> and the narrative framework. And this is how you're going to be able to take control back. Okay. If you want to control your narrative, you're going to need five things. a clear point of view,

right? That's why, you know, these talk shows, if you have a strong opinion, >> whether it pisses people off or whether it rallies people, it gains an audience. Love you or hate you, right? A clear point of view. What do you believe that others won't say? If your brand stands for everything, it stands for nothing.

And thought leadership in all honesty reflects friction, right? You want to be a thought leader in politics, lean one way, left or right, and guarantee you'll piss off one side and gain >> Yeah.

>> support on another. But it's friction. Stephen A. Smith, you know, is is a great example. >> He's loud. >> He's loud, but he's got a opinion and it normally ruffles feathers.

>> Yeah. He's got a very strong opinion, a loud loud voice, and like >> have a opinion. If you're in the middle and you're not leaning one way or another on a topic, well, no one's going to give a Your opinion doesn't matter.

>> And yeah, and he's entertaining, too. So, he's going to get those that side. It's not like a like politics like one or the other. It's >> Chaz Meat Castle loves Stephen A. Smith.

>> I respect him. I respect him. >> You love him. Yeah. You can't huge forehead. >> You want him to have a big meat castle. >> You want him to have a meat castle moment.

The meat castle moment with Chaz meat castle. The next is a repeatable message. Okay. So, of the five things, if you want to take control back, your core message should not feel boring to you before it ever feels familiar to the market. Yeah.

>> Okay. So, your core message should feel boring to you before it ever feels familiar to the market. That's important. If you're tired of saying it, you're finally doing it right. If you are tired of in like introducing yourself >> on your content,

>> then you're doing it right. Yeah. >> If you said, "Damn, I've said this a thousand times. You're doing it right. Do it again. Do it a thousand in one." Don't stop.

>> And then the third thing you're going to need is a long form anchor. Podcasts, YouTube, long form conversations. This is where context lives. Okay? This is where nuance lives and this is where your authority is built. It's not built through a 20- secondond message. Now, you might have a bunch of 20 second

clips, but it's from a long form anchor where everything is anchored back to the longer form content. Yeah. >> To that interview you did with a billionaire CEO >> or a crack smoking um you know, failure story.

>> Yeah. >> How did you go from billionaire to crackhead and losing everything? Well, that'd be a good story. It's a long form anchor, right? This is where the authorities built. And the fourth thing you're going to need to take the control back is strategic short form

amplification. Kind of what I just touched on. You need the long form anchor. >> Yeah. >> The short form doesn't replace long form. It introduces it. Clips control discovery, right?

>> Long form controls narrative. Super simple. You use the short form everywhere on all socials, YouTube shorts. It becomes an anchor that brings you to the long form content. And then the fifth thing that you need is what we've been talking about is a weekly cadence. Cadence tells the algorithm,

"We're here. Use me over the other 10,000 assholes." Cadence tells the audience, "You can trust us >> because we're here every week. at the same damn time delivering content that you hopefully can take with you and apply or use in your daily lives or call Follow-Up Media to help because you need

assistance in one of your marketing initiatives. Doesn't matter what it is. Cadence tells your competitors, "Fuck you. Good luck keeping up." >> True.

>> You can quote me on that, Yeah. >> And then we've got the AI factor. The future is already here, I got to tell you. I mean, the way people are going on their own individual buyer journey to seeking out information or seeking out companies to use or to pay for services.

Yes, people still use Google, but people are now embracing AI as a form of delivering what results come with their questions or prompts >> or to even be able to pass college.

>> Yeah, I know. Do you imagine if we had AI when we were kids? God, that would have been amazing. I would have been a straight A. I would have been on the honor. I would have been on the demons would have been insane.

>> Yeah, they would poetry. >> Yes. Yeah. Just saliloquies of just poetic justice. >> Exactly. So, here's what most brands haven't realized yet. AI doesn't discover you. It categorizes you. It looks at everything you've said, everything you've published, and

everything that people have said about you. That's important. And then it decides how to summarize you for the next customer. If your content is inconsistent, vague, or absent, AI will fill in those gaps. And I don't think you want AI filling in the gaps.

>> That's not the future. This is happening right now at the end of 2025 going into 2026. This should be an initiative every brand, every company, small, medium, or enterprise level should be focused on.

I'm going to tell you that right now because if you go back to my vault of things that you heard and you should have acted on, this would be one of them because it's happening right under your feet, right under your nose. you know it's happening and that's what's crazy is that you're not taking the steps to

establish your foundation for the future. >> And this is where follow-up media comes in. We help build narrative machines. Okay? We don't post content. We design narrative systems. Okay? We decide what the market should associate with you and then we repeat it until it sticks. It's

really not rocket science. We want to help our brand follow-up media and the brands that we are employed to assist have their content stick. We control the tone. We control the cadence. We control the message hierarchy. We control the distribution.

So the algorithm doesn't get creative with your reputation. The reputation we are going to build through consistent authoritative, strategic, ongoing content that establishes you as a leader, as an armchair expert, and as

an authority in your space, in your industry. And we are going to claim your share of voice. So, the algorithm places you properly where it should. And the algorithm won't fill in the gaps because we filled it in already for you, right?

We've helped you consistently create content that will help the algorithm suggest your content. It's that simple. Yeah. >> So, in closing, >> the uncomfortable truth in this week's marketing episode is if you don't control the narrative in 2026, the

algorithm will. And it probably won't be kind. It won't be nuanced. And it won't wait for you to catch up. But here's the good news. The moment you take control, the moment you show up with clarity, repetition, and intent, everything will change in 2026.

Everything will change and can change for your brand, for your company, and your lives. >> You know, if you don't give a well, the algorithm doesn't either. And if you don't give a about your future, guess what? Your customers don't either, right? You have to show up. And

if you like, I don't want to go on camera and I don't want to create content. Well, guess what? No one does. >> No one does. No one wants to sit down and do what I'm doing right now. Chaz Me Castle didn't want to take off his leather coat and show up today.

>> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> On his rice rocket. >> Rice. But no, with the new year's right around the corner, about to be 2026, if you're a business owner listening, if you want to take your business to the

next level in 2026, then you better put follow me on your New Year's resolution list cuz >> Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one, Mr. Me Castle.

>> Thank you. >> Thank you for that, Chaz. >> You sound like a real douchebag, by the way. >> Yeah, let's put my Chaz everywhere.

>> Yeah, we're spreading his chaz everywhere. >> This is an uncomfortable truth in marketing. It's probably something you already know. you don't want to hear.

But if you do and take anything from these episodes, this series that we're doing, there's a lot to learn. There's a lot to think about and there's a lot to unpack. And if you want to reach out, you want to ask questions, you want some advice, I'm not saying we know everything. I'm not saying we're God's

gift to marketing, >> but we know what we know because we have aligned ourselves with the best in the business. We execute for our clients like no other. We put the FU in followup. And we really do. We don't just follow up, we follow through, okay?

And so we just want to help in any which way. You don't have to use us, but if you want to reach out and engage with us, ask us questions about how we would handle this, offer a free consultation, we will. We'll give you a free audit, an AI audit.

>> We'll give you a free marketing audit. And you know what? And we can provide you a detailed road map going from no content, not being even considered by AI to having your content work for you while you sleep and establish a brand. Get ahead of your competition. And because

most of your competition in the industry you're in is probably not embracing what it is we're talking about. That means right now you have even a bigger opportunity to win than you will in 2027. I promise you that.

>> Definitely. >> And I'm not saying in 2027 you can't just go, "Okay, now I'm ready." I'm just saying it's going to be a slower roll out. It's going to be a slower ROI and it's going to be a slower impact and you're probably going to have to work harder.

>> Definitely. All right. Well, thank you. Um, like I said, followupdmedia.com and if you have a question for the one and only leather jacketed maniac, Chaz Meat Castle, he'll be hanging around in 2026.

>> That's exactly right. I'll be here.