AI Made Content Effortless, But Effortless Content Doesn't Get You Seen | EP 14

AI Made Content Effortless, But Effortless Content Doesn't Get You Seen with Special Guest Wes Towers 

AI made content effortless. But effortless content doesn’t get you seen.
Because when everything is easy to publish, it’s also easy to ignore. And the real casualty in the AI age is trust.

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Wes Towers (Uplift 360) to talk about what actually cuts through the digital haze: a clear point of view, human texture, and storytelling that feels lived-in, not manufactured.

Wes shares a surprisingly powerful exercise that starts with your behind-closed-doors frustrations about your industry and flips them into your strongest differentiator. The stuff you can’t stand becomes the signal that attracts the right people and quietly repels the wrong ones. Which is not a bug, it’s the whole point.

We also unpack why the old funnel is eroding, what Wes calls “search everywhere optimization,” and why your website still matters, just later in the decision journey. If you’re tired of posting into the void and ready to build authority that feels earned, this episode is your playbook.

What You’ll Learn

• Why AI content created a trust drought and what to do about it
• How to uncover your differentiator using “the dark side” of your industry
• Why a grounded contrarian point of view is a visibility cheat code
• What “search everywhere optimization” is and how it works across platforms
• Why people hit your website later now, when they’re closer to buying
• How stories and case studies add weight, warmth, and credibility

Guest Bio
Wes Towers is the founder of Uplift 360. For 20+ years, he’s helped real-world businesses, especially builders and trades, turn websites and SEO into steady, qualified work. No fluff. No jargon. Clear strategy, clean execution, and results you can see on the calendar and in the bank.

Links
Uplift 360: uplift360.com.au

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Problem Framing
• 0:11 Meet Wes And His Background
• 0:22 What It Takes To Stand Out Now
• 1:14 Cutting Through AI-Driven Noise
• 2:46 Find Differentiation From Industry Gripes
• 4:58 From Funnels To Search Everywhere
• 6:50 Long-Form Content As Visibility Engine
• 8:07 Storytelling As The Trust Multiplier
• 9:12 Human Brands Over Polished Perfection
• 10:36 Bold POVs That Attract And Repel
• 11:30 Where To Find Wes And Key Takeaway
• 12:02 Subscribe, Review, And Share

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of the Story Lab. Today we're talking about how loud the internet is right now. Like everybody has a microphone, ChatGPT subscription in Canva, and they think that makes them an expert loud. So I brought in a real expert, Wes Towers from Uplift 360, who spent 20 plus years helping real world businesses, especially builders and trades, turn websites and SEO into steady, qualified work. And he's got a super practical piece of advice on what it actually means to stand out in the AI heavy world, especially for coaches and service providers, all while not sounding like a robot. So in this episode, we get into how to cut through all the noise, how to find your real point of difference using what you secretly can't stand about your industry, and why storytelling and trust are the whole game now. So let's jump in. Some of my followers will know I was a late adopter when it comes to AI. And I use it now quite a bit, but I was definitely a late adopter. So why don't we just start in with AI happening now, and we're in the age of AI, as many people say, um, what do you feel is the most important thing for businesses so they can be seen?

SPEAKER_00: 1:24

Well, it really is about cutting through the noise. So we're seeing an abundance of messaging and and because it's so easy to produce content at scale and mass, so there's a lack of trust in that content because we don't know if actually anyone's even written Reddit. So we know um that this this material can be produced and it can read reasonably well and it can look great, but we don't know if it's authentically representing who it's meant to be representing. So we don't know if there's any real input, and so therefore we don't trust it. So we've got to find angles in which we can cut through that noise. And the authentic storytelling is a really powerful thing, or anything that you can position yourself that that stands out that only you can bring. It might be about having a message that's slightly counter what your industry is doing, or a a different perspective or a different viewpoint. These kind of contrarian views can really help you stand out in such a flatted and noisy world that we're living in right now.

SPEAKER_03: 2:24

Yeah, absolutely. I find myself telling my clients a lot of times, like, what is it that you're doing different? How can you show up and get people really excited about what you're doing differently? Because if not, it's hard it's really hard to be seen. So Yeah. We you mentioned a little bit, but how could they stand out in this AI-generated content world? Give me one example of something they can really do to stand out.

SPEAKER_00: 2:50

Well, it really starts with the foundational aspects of what makes them genuinely unique. And the way we uncover that oftentimes with our clients, we we work with mainly trades and construction, but the same principle applies for anyone, whether you be a coach or any field that you're help uh supporting uh your clients' health. We behind closed doors will have a discussion around all the things that they really don't like in their industry or their their world, and even uh it it is a behind closed doors discussion. So even the things that they really don't like and despise oftentimes about their competitors. So once we uncover that dark side, we we like to look at it as the shadow, the dark side, all those negative things. We would never use those in a marketing perspective, but we look at it and because the dark reveals what the light is. So the inverse, the opposite of all of those things are the unique points of view that they can communicate through their marketing messaging. So what we've I've just found over the years, people find it easier to express their frustrations passionately. But then it's our job to reverse that into the positive, uh so because you never want to be negative and you don't want to be bashing your competitors online, but you do want to focus on what sets you apart from the rest of them. And there's always something, there's always a frustration within the industry that's common, and there's always the positive that you can bring. And that that's a that's a quick hack I've found to get to those unique points of view. We we work with most mostly founders, so working with the founder, the business is usually a reflection of the founder's own values. So once we talk to the founder and find those things out, everything becomes a whole lot clearer, and they've got a really clear, compelling message to to go with.

SPEAKER_03: 4:31

Yeah, absolutely. I work with a lot of founders and coaches to really figure out what their unique perspective is and how they're showing up in a way that's gonna connect with their audience. So I do a lot of that. I have not, and I might try, going from for all the negatives so we can turn that around, because I do sometimes struggle with finding, you know, what they think they do differently. Um, and I've I have lots of stories about finding that out and you know, months down the road sometimes. So well, tell us about you have a really good strategy that really turn talks about how you turn founders' stories into a tool that multiplies visibility, which was like huge for me. I know my audience wants this, and it turns lurkers into leads, another thing my audience definitely wants. So tell me a little bit about what you you know, what you do there, what your strategy is that's gonna work for for all founders, I'm hoping.

SPEAKER_00: 5:25

Yeah, well, it it definitely will. And so things have changed so much online because of AI and for a number of other reasons too. So we used to think of the process as a as a sales funnel. So you'd have lots of people in the in the top end and you'd slowly work their way down to their making a sale, and it was kind of a linear process and it was all measurable and and so on. But these days that is less uh effective simply because the top the top of the process used to just be information resources that you would get for free, but it wasn't really for free because it was in exchange for an email address. So we're gonna we were selling our privacy, we were using our privacy as the currency to purchase the resource which was information. That information is now available for free if we go to AI platforms. Large language models can usually answer those needs that we have. So it's eroded and corrupted the uh old process of doing things. You need to create your set of ideas, but to have it syndicated across multiple platforms. We call it search everywhere optimization, so that's the process. But we take one uh thought or concept or idea uh and we would publish it through the blog effectively, usually, but that would be then repurposed into social media posts, and then people will find their own path to your business, and it's harder to track these days, but it's taking one set of concepts and ideas and using that to leverage into other platforms so and using the AI tools can be helpful to do that, but you've got to really have a really strong and clear message to bring people closer and closer to your world, to build that authority, trust, reputation so people are starting to s get to familiar with your brand and your business. So by the time they make the inquiry, then they're they're ready to uh engage. They're far closer to make an engagement. Working on websites, they we've been working on websites for so long, and it's always been about attracting traffic and so getting the conversions, but now people aren't necessarily visiting your website till much later in the process when they're ready to make a transaction. So you need to make your website super simple for that inquiry to flow through.

SPEAKER_03: 7:34

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, your search everywhere is really based on creating a long form, what I could call a long form piece of content that talks about your business, what you your beliefs, things like that, and publishing that on your website.

SPEAKER_00: 7:49

Yeah, definitely. And to massage in the storytelling aspect as best you can. So every and we draft a lot of content for clients, but then we're really encouraging them to massage in their own stories and their own case studies and examples, because that's really humanized and and relatable. Since the dawn of time, humans have connected and understood things through stories. So to be able to bring in those real life examples and stories is is where things really take take shape and take effect, because otherwise you're just publishing generic information that everybody else has already done, probably. And so there's no reason for it to show up in Google or large language models because it's generic. But once you're starting to add something unique and yours, then it's something different that potentially will show up and surface. And the and all the platforms are getting more sophisticated at surfing surfacing the right information at the right time.

SPEAKER_03: 8:44

Right, absolutely. So yeah, that's definitely uh a tip that I would that I do provide my clients is that you've got to add in your own personal connections, your stories, the things that only happen to you, because that's gonna be the stuff that's unique. That's what makes you unique, that's what makes you know everything you're putting out there unique. And then when you blend that into your business, it actually makes things work in a much smoother way. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00: 9:09

Yeah, definitely, definitely. And that that's the thing, isn't it? So once uh people will engage with your your personal brand, your business brand multiple times before they even talk to you these days. And so particularly with coaches, so they really want to know the person and what their kind of their style is and what they're like. So the more they see your face and and photograph and video and and everything like that, they're starting to get to know you as a person. There's there's no industry more that humanization is more important, I believe, is the coaches and consultants and and so on. And because people will be sharing their heart and and uh vulnerabilities, so they want to know that they it's someone they can trust. And so building trust and authenticity, that's that's where we're really headed with all the AI mess and the noise and the I mean videos that are looking so polished and perfect, but there's no sub there's no genuine human substance behind it, which is really frustrating. And I I see a bit of a pushback against all that. We're kind of drawn to it right now because it's kind of exciting that it's what the technology can do.

unknown: 10:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 10:13

The substance behind it is missing, and so that's what we need to bring as leaders and founders in business.

SPEAKER_03: 10:18

Absolutely. I just wrote a blog on perfection never equaling connection and and having all these perfect ideas out there, not really reaching who we want to reach because it doesn't feel real to them, and that's definitely a struggle where we are with AI. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 10:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 10:36

Um what is one thing that you would tell uh all the coaches listening that they should be focusing on in order to get seen?

SPEAKER_00: 10:45

Well, I would say to s to start with whatever challenges the industry. So anything that is slightly different that you do, that you believe in wholeheartedly, that's different to all the other coaches, that will be the real gold if you can highlight that. And you'll attract the right people that way. Some people will be repelled, and that's great too. Um just the ideal clients will be attracted to you and they'll gravitate towards you.

SPEAKER_03: 11:10

Yeah, yeah. Coaches don't always like to hear that repelling is okay, but repelling is absolutely okay. You gotta get rid of those people that don't believe in you to make room for those that do. So thank you so much, Wes, for coming and talking, giving us these quick tips. And where can we find you if we want to find you outside of this podcast?

SPEAKER_00: 11:30

Yeah, uplift360.com.au is our website, and from there you'll find all the socials that you typically would find. So happy to connect.

SPEAKER_03: 11:39

All right, that was Wes Towers from Uplift360. And if you're taking notes, the big takeaway here is simple. In an AI world, generic is invisible. The people who win are the ones who bring a clear point of view, real stories, and a vibe that actually feels human, not like a robot. If you want to connect with Wes and check out what he's been building, head over to Uplift360.com.au. You'll find his socials and more information there. And if this episode hit it for you, do me a favor. Subscribe, leave a quick review, and share it with a coach friend who really needs to hear this advice. I will see you next time on the Story Lab. Take care.