1901 – Neuropersonalized Experiences and Content with Michael Becker

0:28Hey there, thoughtful listener. million in revenue. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. You can even chat with me live and I'll see and reply to your messages. Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We'd love to have you.

0:58with us right now it's the co-founder of neocore and the author of content capitalist how to create a content business so exclusive customers beg to buy it's michael becker michael thank you so much for joining us hey josh thanks so much yeah well share with us a bit about what you do who neocore is and kind of what's brought you to this moment? Yeah, so I've been in Dubai now for just about a month. I'm part of a very selective program called Antler. They have a pre-launch accelerator to help get new startups off the ground who are pre-revenue very early stages. So I'm here with my two co-founders working on our frontier market venture, Neocor, building Brainwave, detecting earbuds to connect to the digital device to help personalize the content experience above and beyond anything that you might be used to today.

1:52So that's my current focus and got my book coming out actually next week. So really excited about that. Well, I want to talk about the book in just a moment. Okay, so what I heard were brainwaves, earbuds, and content. So help me understand how that all works together. You got the keywords. That's it. my two co-founders are scientists. One's a physicist, one's a neuroscientist expert. And so they know how to build technology that can basically automate the interpretation of brainwaves. And so our innovation is basically turning that around for consumers. We had previously been in clinics. And so kind of the next phase as we see it is, is how do we pair the individual's brainwaves essentially with the content that they are prompted with and that they get on their personal devices.

2:46Because the current algorithms and the current content display is flawed in a number of different ways. We don't know that consumers necessarily are aware of that as it stands today, but they're aware of some of the symptoms around that problem. And so that's what we're ultimately striving to fix. Yeah. So what's the goal? What's the big vision for NeoCore? Yeah, it's pretty big. We believe that. So there's this thing called Epochs of Compute. It was actually laid out by A16Z. And they just basically talk about the evolution of technology, kind of starting with the microchip, which led to mainstream computer adoption, and then leading into basically completely new age of technological innovation leading into the iPhone.

3:36We believe that that next phase where AI is going to be used by the consumer market for the next century is actually going to be through some sort of brain computer interface. And so our long-term vision is to be the company or among the companies who can help spearhead this shift into a neuro-connected future. Yeah. What's the possibility? Like what ends up happening? Help me understand, you know, for the end user, what's the benefit to them? I just want to make sure I understand that. Yeah, absolutely. So really the benefit is going to be how can you, how can we help to leverage your mood, your emotion, your impulses, your desires, and all of these different cognitive elements or brainwave signals to reflect that in your social feeds, for example, or in the content that you consume on a daily basis?

4:36How can we possibly remove excess content? One thing that people do nowadays is they're always fast forwarding, skipping ahead, X-ing out, trying to navigate content, often getting lost in the algorithms and in the feeds. And so using your specific cognitive profile to give you the experience that you need, not that you say that you want, or maybe you're unsure, but helping to guide that across platforms. So it kind of brings us to your work, Michael, and that's your book, and that's Content Capitalist. Share a little bit more about that. Yeah, you know, it's been a really interesting kind of coming together, Josh, of a number of different experiences and passions for me.

5:20And the book is really the culmination of the last 10 years of my career in B2B SaaS, coming together now with what I was just talking about and this new vision going forward. But yeah, you know, the old way of marketing as I see it is pretty much dead. And so, you know, I think marketers and enterprises specifically need a new pathway forward. And so that's exactly what I propose and reveal in the book through a new system that I call the content continuum, which is basically a six phase model to think about and execute on your acquisition and retention strategy. kind of laying that out with content as the foundational piece through which basically any and all online businesses should run today.

6:08So are you just talking that one of the keys to say B2B success would be just creating a lot of blog content, audio, video? You know, it's so hard to be prescriptive and say you should be doing blog, you should be doing video one or the other or using a mix because every company is so different. And I talk about both of those within the book, but we're seeing a demand for an increase in quality across both of those mediums that you just mentioned. And so if you're going to be present on say blog, for example, like the standard, the bar has been set so high, you need to be thinking of your blog much differently than you might have done five or 10 years ago when I was starting my career and treating it as almost like an instruction manual and treating your writers as brand journalists where they're going and they're collecting news in a way that AI cannot yet do because everything else is commoditized from a content standpoint.

7:11Yeah. What do you mean that AI can't yet do this? So AI cannot go out and interview sources or compile stories. It can't bring contextual awareness. It can't create graphics or imagery with arrows or create multimedia and insert that into a long form story. These types of things, for example, that if you're going to have a blog and you want it to stand ahead of the pack, these are the things you got to be thinking of. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And is the goal then just to become an inbound machine? And why do you like inbound more than say someone that's putting a lot of pressure on themselves to run around and track down people and do lead gen as it were in that way.

7:55Yeah, exactly. So you had the nail on the head, Josh. If you can tap into this evolving and new model, you will turn your company into a inbound lead gen machine. Give it 12 to 18 to 24 months in order for that machine to get up and going with consistent output. But that's not to say that you should not also be doing outreach. reach. It's just that, again, the strategies and the tactics that may have worked five or 10 years ago, even three years ago, are in some cases no longer as effective. And so it's about thinking differently about the angle and the appeal with which you disseminate those messages from the format and the channel that you're doing those activities on to the way that you're actually talking and how you're presenting yourself to those cold prospects because it requires a nuanced approach.

8:53Where do you think the future is headed when it comes to content? Thinking about, are people just going to be using Google in the same way that they're using now? Or again, Google obviously is making big leaps forward into just giving you the answer you want based on its own AI. So how can experts position themselves for the evolution of search and research on behalf of their potential partners, customers, that sort of thing? Yeah, this is an interesting point. I think the big opportunity is thinking about how can I create a juxtaposition, basically, meaning how can I use AI and different automation tools to inject more humanity into my marketing?

9:37And so, for example, if you're using, you know, chat GPT, for example, to create a long form script for a video or an article or a podcast episode, when it comes to promotion of that asset, how can you be extra human? And so maybe that means creating in-depth, highly invested in reels, for example, where you're sitting down for a day and you're creating five really high quality pieces to promote that asset. And you're sharing those via SMS and DM with your network with very personalized messages that could never have been done by AI. So you're working with the tech in that instance to amplify your message beyond what you could do with only one or neither of those.

10:24Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, for sure. So the outcomes that we then create by, again, this more personalized content approach means connection, right? And ultimately, I think, you know, great for business. I don't know if you have any examples of people maybe that you've worked with or like, what does this end up? I don't know if you have a case studies of someone who said, okay, I am going to do it the Michael Becker way and I'm going to see what happens and what happened. I share a couple of really interesting examples in the book. One of them related to what we were just discussing with outreach and client intake is a company called Masterworks, I believe.

11:04And they are an art investing platform. but they have a really interesting intake process where they have actually, they've separated the call schedule in some cases from the intake form. And so this is almost like a fragmented or a delayed call schedule where a company will review an applicant's information before then reaching out to set up a call. Very similar to a lot of podcasters and indeed the way that you guys do it, Josh, where you have people apply, but then it's not an automatic call schedule. And so you're sort of flipping the typical polarity dynamic on its head. And in a sense, you're kind of asking your prospects or your guests potentially to sell you or to pitch you on why they should be invited into your sacred space.

11:53And creators, businesses, contractors, coaches, anybody can leverage these principles. Mm-hmm. So, Michael, the book itself, who should be getting the book and what would you expect that transformation to take place might be? And again, the name of the book is Content Capitalist, How to Create a Content Business So Exclusive Customers Begged to Buy, which, again, sounds very promising. Yeah, I don't believe the book will let you down. So I'll let you make that call for yourself. You know, I wrote the book for branded experts, coaches, consultants, SMBs, and it will also be relevant for any tech company or small scale up software company as well.

12:37And yeah, it does just that, as you shared, Josh, it seeks to help you turn your company into this asset that you can promote and that you can share through content from start to finish. And if you do that, you will sort of set yourself in a place where you can be immune to a lot of the fluctuations in the market, new technologies, AI, you know, the one constant and what will continue to be is digital content. So using that and putting that at the core, products important, content is almost even more important today. Yeah. Then, Michael, do you work with clients or right now are you just kind of in the thought leadership space or what, like if someone says, well, I would love to engage in a bit of brand journalism or certainly, again, what I think you refer to, you know, kind of a distributed branded newsroom.

13:34Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I've got a companion e-learning program that I'm rolling out right now in tandem with the book. So that will expand on a lot of what's included there. I had been doing some consulting and fractional CMO work prior to this, Josh, and they had gotten accepted into Antler to focus full-time on my startup. So that's my focus these days, but I don't know what the future will hold. Definitely don't want this to be my first or only book or my only book, but yeah, we'll see what the future holds. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So Michael, you know, again, we talked about the book and you know, by all means, please do, to our friend that's listening, you know, order that, pre-order that.

14:16And it's on, is it on Amazon and everywhere else? It will be. It's currently just on my website for the time. Yeah. Okay, good, good, good, good. Again, that's Content Capitalist, how to create a content business. So exclusive customers beg to buy. And then again, your website, michaelbecker.org, you have a Content Capitalist Academy. You have some other resources as well. And then, you know, for folks that are looking for some help in this area, what would be appropriate for them? Yeah, you can visit my website. I've got the course, I've got articles. I've also got a podcast called Models of Masters.

14:52So you can just look that up wherever you listen to podcasts. Also connect with me on LinkedIn. I publish daily there as well as on Instagram, which you can find all those links on my website. Yeah. In fact, over 100 episodes. Congratulations. Again, the podcast to our friend that's listening, just search for Models of Masters. Michael, what do you talk about on that podcast? Strategies for both enterprises and entrepreneurs to really own the digital slash content economy. Excellent. Okay. Again, Models of Masters is the podcast. The website, michaelbecker.org. Michael, I appreciate the conversation.

15:33Thank you so much for joining us. Awesome. Thank you.

15:41Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com slash guest. If you're a listener, I'd love to shout out your business to our whole audience for free. You can do that by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or join our listener Facebook group. Just search for The Thoughtful Entrepreneur in Facebook. I'd love, even if you just stopped by to say hi, I'd love to meet you. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day.

16:25Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful entrepreneurs. Hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed. I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes each day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Movement.

16:55you