Weekly newsletter highlighting the latest AI news, with short video tutorials and copy/paste prompts you can use to improve your skills as an AI operator. As artificial intelligence moves from optional to operational, technical specialists no longer have the advantage. It is those who can supervise and coach AI to improve that will thrive in an AI-augmented future.
Free consultations let people try you before they buy you.
Hello Reader,
There are 4 steps in the Marketing Cycle:
- Know
- Like
- Trust
- Buy
Giving a free consultation builds trust, and also gives you valuable intelligence that can help you make the sale.
You can position your solution as the way they can achieve the outcome they want, by discovering the details of what they want with a free consultation.
They can try you before they buy you. This lowers their risk, and helps you close the deal.
Research tells us that 87% of consumers are more likely to buy a new item if they can try it first. Buyer's remorse is an unspoken fear of anyone looking to buy from you for the first time, and you can overcome that fear with a free sample.
Charging a discounted rate for the first consultation does not have the same effect. According to a paper out of MIT, pricing something at zero dollars actually increases the perception that the benefits are more valuable.
Here's a short 2-minute video sharing why these work:
You can use my Free Consultation Worksheet if you'd like to use the same dozen questions that I've been using for years.
I've been giving free consultations for my digital marketing agency for a decade. Statistically, 30% of my free consultations turn into paid work.
So if you have a project you'd like to discuss - video production, launch content, or marketing automation - whether or not you have an intention of hiring me, you are welcome to fill out this form and schedule a free consultation: https://stellarplatforms.com/consultation
AI Coaching Newsletter
Weekly newsletter highlighting the latest AI news, with short video tutorials and copy/paste prompts you can use to improve your skills as an AI operator. As artificial intelligence moves from optional to operational, technical specialists no longer have the advantage. It is those who can supervise and coach AI to improve that will thrive in an AI-augmented future.
📊 “Context engineering is the strategic process of selecting, packaging, and managing the most relevant information for each step.” - Antonio Gullí Hello Reader, In July 2025, Gartner told AI leaders that “context engineering is in, and prompt engineering is out.” The past year, people on the bleeding edge of AI have been paying attention to framing. 💡 Context engineering prepares everything prior to the prompt. Even the best prompts will fail without the right context. Giving AI backstory...
🗂️ "An AI Agent runs tools in a loop to achieve a goal." - Simon Willison Hello Reader, Generative AI makes things for you. Agentic AI does things for you. This distinction, between making and doing, is the next step on the exponential curve of capability. An AI Agent can initiate and execute tasks independently, finding the best way to transition from an initial state to a goal state by using any tools it has available, as often as it is capable of doing. In his excellent primer on AI...
🌱 “It’s clear that we are well into the adoption phase of AI, but not everyone is adapting.” - Lou Compagnone Hello Reader, I was in Wellington this week for the #AotearoaAISummit, the annual festival hosted by the AI Forum New Zealand. I livetweeted the event on LinkedIn (live-posted? doesn't have the same flavour) on the hashtag linked above, and I made AI anime illustrations of all the speakers. You can see my takeaways (and my art) below: (Please note - other than the illustrations, no AI...