Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson

Latest Episodes:

What’s Up THIS WEEK?! NEW: LinkedIn DON’T DO!🛑 Facebook wants Vertical Video? Netflix Documentaries are WILD!!| Ep. 544 Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

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Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

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Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

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Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

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Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

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Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

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Big shoutout to our sponsor, Knak!

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41% of long-form LinkedIn posts are now fully AI-generated, which explains why your feed feels like the same three posts wearing different hats. Jay Schwedelson makes the case that the way out is content people can literally steal from you, and then gets into why Target is handing weekly challenges to fans with 500 followers and what that same idea looks like in a boring, regulated B2B world. There is also a firm, slightly personal position taken against a certain underwear campaign.

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Best Moments:

(00:30) New Pangram data showing 41% of long-form LinkedIn content now carries some form of AI generation

(01:19) Why stealable content like templates, prompts, screenshots and checklists is pulling 40% higher engagement

(02:24) What happens to open rates when you put the word "steal" at the front of a subject line

(03:52) How Club Target turned 500-follower shoppers into a 15,000-creator marketing engine with weekly challenges

(05:00) Building your own customer creator club when you are not Target and your industry is boring

(07:23) Meta testing a TikTok-style Facebook feed and why every video you make should already be vertical

SPECIAL SERIES ==> 🟣NEW Way I’m Using AI!🟣 <== | BATHROOM Break #118 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

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Follow Daniel on LinkedIn and check out The Marketing Millennials podcast for sharp, no-fluff marketing insights. Subscribe to Ari Murray’s newsletter at gotomillions.co for sharp, actionable marketing insights.

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You have a file sitting inside LinkedIn right now with every connection, every DM and every comment you have ever made, and it takes about four clicks to get it. Jay Schwedelson walks through what happens when you drop that export into Claude alongside your CRM data and tell it to think like a chief revenue officer, while Daniel Murray shares the prompt he uses to pull clips, hooks and subject lines out of podcast transcripts he already recorded months ago. The whole thing wraps with the two of them pulling up their Uber passenger ratings on air, which does not go the way either of them planned.

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Best Moments:

(00:11) The Uber small talk question nobody wants to answer honestly

(02:06) Why AirPods are the polite way to opt out of any conversation

(02:49) Daniel's prompt for turning old podcast transcripts into clips, hooks and subject lines

(05:00) Feeding your full LinkedIn history into Claude and asking it to think like a CRO

(06:14) The exact desktop click path to export your LinkedIn connection data

(07:51) If your tool has no API connection, it might be time to find a different tool

(08:41) A live Uber score showdown, including where to find your one-star count

SPECIAL GUEST!! Stu McLaren 🏚️ Your Community Dies at Day 90 Unless You Do This | Ep. 542 Jul 24, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

Follow Stu McLaren on Instagram at @stumclaren, and head to his website Stu.me, where he points listeners to find everything he is working on.

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Everyone slaps the word "community" on things now, but almost nobody builds one that survives past 90 days. Stu McLaren has been quietly building membership businesses since before that was a buzzword, and he sits down with Jay Schwedelson to explain why the whole game has flipped from handing people information to actually walking them to the finish line. The part worth your commute is a one-message test that tells you whether anyone will pay before you build a single thing.

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Best Moments:

(02:59) Why most communities turn into ghost towns after 90 days

(04:32) The North Star question every membership needs to answer for its members

(07:33) The founding member launch: one message that proves demand before you build anything

(12:23) How AI flipped memberships from access to acceleration

(17:42) Love me or hate me, there's no money in the middle

(19:50) Why Stu is now completely evangelical about Japan

What’s Up THIS WEEK?! LINKEDIN Engagement SECRETS! 💸 AI Costs Rising! 🍿Odyssey NEWS!| Ep. 541 Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

MASSIVE thank you to our Sponsor, CallRail!

CallRail is the AI-powered lead intelligence platform that helps marketers prove exactly what’s driving results. With CallRail, you can connect every call, text, chat, and form submission directly to the campaign that generated it so you finally know what’s working and where to double down.

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Start a Free Trial Here: https://www.callrail.com/dothis

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Turns out the AI tools everyone swears by might be quietly working against you - one big study found they added hours to campaign workflows instead of trimming them. Jay Schwedelson digs into that gut-check alongside fresh LinkedIn data on what the algorithm is actually rewarding right now, plus a warning about why those handy free AI tiers you've built your process around probably won't stay free. It wraps with the usual detour into whatever he's been watching and reading lately.

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Best Moments:

(00:42) LinkedIn's own playbook for the algorithm, post two to three times a week and stay between 200 and 300 words

(01:40) The Metricool study putting carousels at 11 times more interactions than single images on company pages

(02:11) Why ending a post with a question quietly earns 77 percent more comments

(03:35) The AI plot twist, Meta's creative tools adding over three hours to the campaign cycle instead of saving any

(04:21) Adam Mosseri's warning that the free AI tiers everyone leans on are on their way out

(06:30) A full-throated case against IMAX screen-shaming and for the freedom to watch anything on your phone

SPECIAL SERIES ==> 🌮 Taco Bell? Subject Line Test Ideas? <== | BATHROOM Break #117 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

Somewhere between a rant about weird breakfast clubs and the great Taco Bell salad panic, there's a legit masterclass on subject lines hiding in here. Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray swap the moves that actually lift open rates, including the stuff no AI tool would ever hand you, like leading with ellipses, skipping capital letters, and writing subject lines so long they get cut off on purpose. It's half tactical, half unhinged, which is exactly what a bathroom break should be.

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Best Moments:

(00:44) Jay confesses the real problem with pickleball isn't the sport, it's having to talk to the same people every week.

(02:22) Daniel's go-to subject line arsenal, from emojis to oddly specific numbers like 7, 11, or 6.5.

(03:45) The Claude versus human split test, and why the human still usually comes out on top.

(04:32) The case for absurdly long subject lines that fill the whole line and get cut off on purpose.

(05:08) Starting a subject line with ellipses and dropping every capital letter to dodge the AI look.

(06:49) Telling someone exactly who they are as the easiest engagement trick in marketing.

SPECIAL GUEST!! Sprout Social's Hailey McDonald 📉 Death by Dashboard Is Quietly Killing Your Strategy | Ep. 539 Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

Connect with Hailey McDonald on LinkedIn to jam on social or anything marketing. Grab Sprout Social's new Social Intelligence Report. And for fun, follow her cat's golf-themed account, Cats Gone Golfing, on Instagram.

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Everyone's drowning in dashboards yet trusting the numbers less than ever, which is a strange place for marketing to end up. Hailey McDonald, VP of Revenue Marketing at Sprout Social, makes the case to Jay Schwedelson that social is the last corner of the internet where real people still say what they actually think, which is exactly why flooding it with AI slop quietly wrecks the trust you're trying to build. Stick around for the "Customer Zero" idea, a smart take on whether job interviews should ask about your following, and yes, a cat with a golf Instagram.

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Best Moments:

(02:45) Death by dashboard, more information than we've ever had and less faith in any of it

(04:23) Why social may be the last authentic, unprompted signal left online

(05:01) Where the AI volume play stops working and starts eroding trust

(10:55) "Customer Zero" and why employee advocacy starts with culture, not a Slack post

(13:17) Should a job interview really ask about your personal social following now

(18:00) Social intelligence in the wild, catching churn risk before it hits the P&L

What’s Up THIS WEEK?! GOOGLE Social Post Tracking? WEBINARS are a Bad Word? 🎥🎬 Odyssey is 3 HOURS😬| Ep. 538 Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

Big shoutout to our sponsor, Knak!

See how it all works, get started at knak.com/demo

ㅤ

Calling something a webinar might be the most expensive word choice in your marketing calendar, and there's fresh data on exactly how much it costs you. Jay Schwedelson walks through a Google Search Console update almost nobody is talking about, a naming test that lifted registrations by double digits, and where ChatGPT ads are quietly headed next. Plus a genuine crisis of conscience about sitting through a three-hour movie.

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Best Moments:

(00:16) Google Search Console can now report on individual social posts, and almost nobody noticed

(02:02) The exact Gemini prompt to get your social posts surfacing in Google search results

(02:44) Why the word "webinar" is a registration killer, backed by 1,000 event pages

(03:47) "First look," "behind the scenes," "insider session," and the lift each one delivers

(04:30) OpenAI's job postings hint at video and native ads, so ChatGPT is about to become a billboard

(06:07) The three-hour movie rule, the popcorn problem, and a very personal theater grievance

SPECIAL SERIES ==> 🕵️ The Clicks You're Not Tracking Are Costing You <== | BATHROOM Break #116 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

You would not expect a debate about short sleeves and flip-flops to bury a legitimately useful marketing lesson, but here we are. After Jay Schwedelson shows up in short sleeves for once and gets roasted for it, he and Daniel Murray get into the intent signals most teams walk right past, the tiny stuff like which CTA someone clicks, whether they hit reply, or if they left an emoji in a webinar. Turns out those throwaway behaviors are quietly telling you who is actually about to buy.

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Best Moments:

(02:35) Not every click is equal, and a hidden honeypot link quietly filters out the bots padding your numbers

(03:14) Track clicks by where they sit in the email, because the people scrolling to the bottom are reading every wordㅤ

(03:50) Separating ICP account clicks from the rest shows which topics your target accounts actually care about

(04:31) The people tapping your lower CTA reach pipeline faster and turn into higher lifetime value customers

(04:53) A webinar emoji reaction or a throwaway hello in your chatbot is a louder intent signal than most opens

(05:53) Ask an easy reply question, then let AI turn those replies into first party data that also boosts deliverability

JOB HUNT? Choosing Gratitude with Russ Harp | Ep. 536 Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

Connect with Russ Harp and follow the launch of Russ Harp Media. He is open to conversations about digital marketing work, career advice, or the foster care and adoption journey.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/russharpmedia

Email: russharpmedia@gmail.com

Instagram: @russharpmedia

Website: russharpmedia.com

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Getting laid off with two young kids at home, an adoption date on the calendar, and a family counting on you is the kind of thing that flattens most people. Russ Harp did close to the opposite, turning a birthday post into 130-plus real conversations by being honest about what happened and asking people what they actually thought he was good at. Jay Schwedelson found him after that post stopped the scroll, and what comes out of it is less a job-hunt story than a working example of choosing gratitude and vulnerability over "woe is me."

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Best Moments:

(05:31) The layoff took out 40 people, more than half the marketing team, one day before his sons' naming ceremony.

(06:01) Two days of prayer and drumming at a Prairie Band ceremony pull his identity out of his job title.

(07:48) Instead of collecting happy-birthday messages, he asks his whole network what he is actually good at.

(08:29) One honest post becomes 130-plus replies, coffees, and calls, relationships instead of resumes.

(11:04) The line from Jay's book that lit the fuse, the regret of not starting beats failure.

(16:53) His two foster sons, adopted young, redefine what resilience actually looks like.

What’s Up THIS WEEK?! 📧 Tracking Email Opens is Now Illegal??| Ep. 535 Jul 07, 2026

Show notes

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

ㅤ

Check out Jay Schwedelson's new book: Stupider People Have Done It

All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

ㅤ

Subscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletter

ㅤ

Check out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.com

ㅤ

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/

Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/ask

ㅤ

Leave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!

ㅤ

MASSIVE thank you to our Sponsor, CallRail!

Plus, with built-in AI conversation intelligence, CallRail analyzes your customer conversations, captures leads 24/7, and gives you deeper insights into what your prospects actually care about.

If you’re tired of guessing about your marketing ROI and want real data behind your campaigns, CallRail has you covered.

Start a Free Trial Here: https://www.callrail.com/dothis

ㅤ

France and Italy are about to require explicit permission before you can even tell whether someone opened your email, and plenty of people are already writing the open rate's obituary. Jay Schwedelson thinks that funeral is premature, and he breaks down why a deeply flawed metric can still be a genuinely useful one, plus what all of this actually means (and doesn't mean) for marketers in the US. There's also a Reddit ad update worth stealing and a weirdly great story about where "jump the shark" came from.

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Best Moments:

(00:38) A real question worth asking - could tracking whether someone opened your email actually become illegal?

(02:59) Why the open rate is a directional signal, not a real number, and why that distinction matters.

(04:09) The opt-in loophole that quietly keeps open tracking alive even after consent rules kick in.

(05:20) Why none of this is landing in the US anytime soon, and the CAN-SPAM gap behind it.

(06:38) Reddit just added split testing to its ad units, and almost nobody is paying attention.

(09:42) The oddly satisfying true story behind the phrase "jump the shark."

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