Issue 102 - Sprint Lap 2
Tuesday we talked about what broke affiliate marketing. Today, what replaced it.
Here is the single most important sentence in this entire sprint:
AI made information free and infinite. That made believability scarce.
Anyone can generate a review, a comparison, a "best of" list, a testimonial - in seconds, at zero cost. Which means all of it is now worth almost nothing.
Even worse, so many people are having AI generate fake testimonials that it's almost impossible to spot the real thing.
The trusted voice is the new rarest resource on the internet. And scarce things get paid.
Think about what AI cannot do.
It cannot actually use the product.
It cannot feel your buyer's real problem. It can only describe feelings
It cannot notice the thing that annoyed you on day three of ownership, or show a screenshot of its own results.
That is the moat now.
First-hand evidence.
Real workflows.
Measured results.
Honest drawbacks.
Which means the page that wins in the future is not "best AI writing tool."
It is "best AI writing tool for a solo course creator who hates writing" - written by someone who actually ran it, with a clear verdict, named runner-ups, and an honest list of what to skip.
Notice what that page does that AI cannot: it takes a position.
Verdicts are trust. Trust is traffic.
So how do you know if an offer deserves that position?
I gave my Master Members the formula on Friday.
Five classic questions with a sixth that changes everything:
Are they reading?
Are they talking?
Are they buying?
Can you advertise?
Multiple products?
Can I show first-hand proof?
That sixth question used to be a nice-to-have. In the AI era it is non-negotiable.
If you cannot show proof you personally generated you are publishing the same summaries the machines publish - and the machines will win on volume every time.\
Please note that proof does NOT need to be income - it can be clearer thinking, having a plan of action you trust, knowing how to avoid pitfalls, and more.
Income claims are so 2008.
People want to succeed, yes but most people need more than some pretty face claiming to earn 10 figures quickly and easily.
One more thing many marketers get backwards is the importance of disclosure.
Telling people you earn a commission used to feel like a warning label. Now it is a conversion asset.
In a feed full of anonymous recommendations, the person who says "yes, I get paid if you buy, and here is exactly what happened when I used it" is often the only one people believe.
Tomorrow my Master Members get session three of this course, live: why your email list just became the most defensible, unscrapable asset you own.
Because realizing the machines cannot out-trust you - they can only out-produce you - is a beautiful thing indeed.
Charlie
P.S. That Friday session - "Your List Is Your New Search Engine" - happens at noon Central. Master Members attend live and get the recording, the slides, and me answering questions on the spot. Master Membership is here.