From Google Dependence to Multi-Channel Strategy with Jared Bauman

Welcome to Market Movers: Building Brands and Links with Linkifi! Your go-to podcast for transforming your business into an unforgettable brand where branding meets SEO and link-building. I’m Chris Panteli, Co-Founder and CEO of Linkifi, and I’m joined by my co-host and Co-Founder, Nick Biggs.

Today’s guest is Jared Bauman, CEO of 201 Creative and host of the massively popular Niche Pursuits Podcast. Jared shares how the "old world" of affiliate SEO is crumbling—and what’s replacing it. From Pinterest strategies to AI-driven ops, this episode is a blueprint for the next wave of digital growth.

Key Talking Points:

🔄 Affiliate Sites After Google’s Helpful Content Update Jared explains how sites earning thousands per month fell to under $200—and how he rebuilt them using Pinterest and email instead of Google.

🧠 From Traffic-First to Audience-First Why the old approach of “write keyword-focused content and wait” is dead—and how modern content businesses need to think like brand builders with multi-channel funnels.

📉 The Single Traffic Source Trap Jared breaks down the dangers of relying on one channel (like Google) and how to diversify traffic through social media, email, paid ads, and brand strategy.

📈 Why ‘Boring’ Businesses Win The future of SEO belongs to operators who understand customer value, conversion journeys, and how to tie content back to a product—not just traffic.

💡 AI for Agencies: Less Hype, More Ops Jared shares how his agency hired an AI engineer—not to build flashy tools, but to optimize workflows, reduce errors, and expand client capacity behind the scenes.

🚀 The Real Opportunity in AI Not all buzzwords are bogus—but Jared urges founders to focus on internal use cases that make business more effective before chasing public hype.

Quotes from Jared Bauman:

“The old model of write content, get traffic, slap on ads—that’s gone. Now it’s about knowing the value of a lead and building multiple traffic sources around that.”

“If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing. You’ve got to build something specific for someone specific.”

“AI hasn’t replaced humans yet—but it has replaced our slow, error-prone processes.”

“It’s okay if what you’re doing with AI isn’t sexy. If it makes your business faster, better, and more accurate—that’s a win.”

Strategy Highlights:

✅ Go Multi-Funnel Don’t chase keywords—chase your avatar. Figure out who your ideal audience is, where they hang out (Pinterest, Reddit, Facebook, etc.), and create entry points across platforms.

✅ Content Isn’t the Product—It’s the Funnel Your end product (course, service, software, etc.) should determine your marketing. Content is just one step in the value ladder.

✅ Pinterest & Facebook Can Replace Google (Sometimes) For certain niches, especially visual and lifestyle, these platforms are sending more outbound traffic than Google. Jared shares real-world examples.

✅ Invest in AI Ops Before AI Products Before chasing viral AI workflows, use AI to clean up your backend—summarize meetings, automate outreach, track content pipelines, QA outputs, and more.

✅ Be Boring, Be Profitable Jared says: the stuff that’s exciting on Twitter doesn’t always move the needle. Focus on consistent operations, optimized processes, and understanding your numbers.

About Jared Bauman:

Jared is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketing expert with two exits under his belt. He is the co-founder and CEO of 201 Creative, a content and strategy agency helping online businesses scale through organic and paid channels. He also hosts the Niche Pursuits Podcast, where he interviews the smartest minds in SEO, content marketing, and online entrepreneurship.