December 15, 2025 • 12 mins
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
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the Story
Lab.
Today we're talking about howloud the internet is right now.
Like everybody has a microphone,ChatGPT subscription in Canva,
and they think that makes theman expert loud.
So I brought in a real expert,Wes Towers from Uplift 360, who
spent 20 plus years helping realworld businesses, especially
builders and trades, turnwebsites and SEO into steady,
(00:21):
qualified work.
And he's got a super practicalpiece of advice on what it
actually means to stand out inthe AI heavy world, especially
for coaches and serviceproviders, all while not
sounding like a robot.
So in this episode, we get intohow to cut through all the
noise, how to find your realpoint of difference using what
you secretly can't stand aboutyour industry, and why
(00:42):
storytelling and trust are thewhole game now.
So let's jump in.
(01:06):
Some of my followers will know Iwas 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 inwith AI happening now, and we're
in the age of AI, as many peoplesay, um, what do you feel is the
most important thing forbusinesses so they can be seen?
SPEAKER_00 (01:24):
Well, it really is about cutting through the noise.
So we're seeing an abundance ofmessaging and and because it's
so easy to produce content atscale and mass, so there's a
lack of trust in that contentbecause we don't know if
actually anyone's even writtenReddit.
So we know um that this thismaterial can be produced and it
can read reasonably well and itcan look great, but we don't
(01:47):
know if it's authenticallyrepresenting who it's meant to
be representing.
So we don't know if there's anyreal input, and so therefore we
don't trust it.
So we've got to find angles inwhich we can cut through that
noise.
And the authentic storytellingis a really powerful thing, or
anything that you can positionyourself that that stands out
that only you can bring.
(02:08):
It might be about having amessage that's slightly counter
what your industry is doing, ora a different perspective or a
different viewpoint.
These kind of contrarian viewscan really help you stand out in
such a flatted and noisy worldthat we're living in right now.
SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
Yeah, absolutely.
I find myself telling my clientsa lot of times, like, what is it
that you're doing different?
How can you show up and getpeople really excited about what
you're doing differently?
Because if not, it's hard it'sreally hard to be seen.
So Yeah.
We you mentioned a little bit,but how could they stand out in
this AI-generated content world?
(02:46):
Give me one example of somethingthey can really do to stand out.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
Well, it really starts with the foundational
aspects of what makes themgenuinely unique.
And the way we uncover thatoftentimes with our clients, we
we work with mainly trades andconstruction, but the same
principle applies for anyone,whether you be a coach or any
field that you're help uhsupporting uh your clients'
health.
We behind closed doors will havea discussion around all the
(03:12):
things that they really don'tlike in their industry or their
their world, and even uh it itis a behind closed doors
discussion.
So even the things that theyreally don't like and despise
oftentimes about theircompetitors.
So once we uncover that darkside, we we like to look at it
as the shadow, the dark side,all those negative things.
We would never use those in amarketing perspective, but we
(03:33):
look at it and because the darkreveals what the light is.
So the inverse, the opposite ofall of those things are the
unique points of view that theycan communicate through their
marketing messaging.
So what we've I've just foundover the years, people find it
easier to express theirfrustrations passionately.
But then it's our job to reversethat into the positive, uh so
(03:55):
because you never want to benegative and you don't want to
be bashing your competitorsonline, but you do want to focus
on what sets you apart from therest of them.
And there's always something,there's always a frustration
within the industry that'scommon, and there's always the
positive that you can bring.
And that that's a that's a quickhack I've found to get to those
unique points of view.
(04:15):
We we work with most mostlyfounders, so working with the
founder, the business is usuallya reflection of the founder's
own values.
So once we talk to the founderand find those things out,
everything becomes a whole lotclearer, and they've got a
really clear, compelling messageto to go with.
SPEAKER_03 (04:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I work with a lot of foundersand coaches to really figure out
what their unique perspective isand how they're showing up in a
way that's gonna connect withtheir 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, whatthey think they do differently.
(04:52):
Um, and I've I have lots ofstories about finding that out
and you know, months down theroad sometimes.
So well, tell us about you havea really good strategy that
really turn talks about how youturn 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,
(05:14):
another thing my audiencedefinitely wants.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat you you know, what you do
there, what your strategy isthat's gonna work for for all
founders, I'm hoping.
SPEAKER_00 (05:25):
Yeah, well, it it definitely will.
And so things have changed somuch online because of AI and
for a number of other reasonstoo.
So we used to think of theprocess as a as a sales funnel.
So you'd have lots of people inthe in the top end and you'd
slowly work their way down totheir making a sale, and it was
kind of a linear process and itwas all measurable and and so
(05:47):
on.
But these days that is less uheffective simply because the top
the top of the process used tojust be information resources
that you would get for free, butit wasn't really for free
because it was in exchange foran email address.
So we're gonna we were sellingour privacy, we were using our
privacy as the currency topurchase the resource which was
(06:09):
information.
That information is nowavailable for free if we go to
AI platforms.
Large language models canusually answer those needs that
we have.
So it's eroded and corrupted theuh old process of doing things.
You need to create your set ofideas, but to have it syndicated
across multiple platforms.
We call it search everywhereoptimization, so that's the
(06:30):
process.
But we take one uh thought orconcept or idea uh and we would
publish it through the blogeffectively, usually, but that
would be then repurposed intosocial media posts, and then
people will find their own pathto your business, and it's
harder to track these days, butit's taking one set of concepts
and ideas and using that toleverage into other platforms so
(06:53):
and using the AI tools can behelpful to do that, but you've
got to really have a reallystrong and clear message to
bring people closer and closerto your world, to build that
authority, trust, reputation sopeople are starting to s get to
familiar with your brand andyour business.
So by the time they make theinquiry, then they're they're
ready to uh engage.
(07:14):
They're far closer to make anengagement.
Working on websites, they we'vebeen working on websites for so
long, and it's always been aboutattracting traffic and so
getting the conversions, but nowpeople aren't necessarily
visiting your website till muchlater in the process when
they're ready to make atransaction.
So you need to make your websitesuper simple for that inquiry to
flow through.
SPEAKER_03 (07:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you know, your searcheverywhere is really based on
creating a long form, what Icould call a long form piece of
content that talks about yourbusiness, what you your beliefs,
things like that, and publishingthat on your website.
SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
Yeah, definitely.
And to massage in thestorytelling aspect as best you
can.
So every and we draft a lot ofcontent for clients, but then
we're really encouraging them tomassage in their own stories and
their own case studies andexamples, because that's really
humanized and and relatable.
Since the dawn of time, humanshave connected and understood
(08:10):
things through stories.
So to be able to bring in thosereal life examples and stories
is is where things really taketake shape and take effect,
because otherwise you're justpublishing generic information
that everybody else has alreadydone, probably.
And so there's no reason for itto show up in Google or large
language models because it'sgeneric.
(08:31):
But once you're starting to addsomething unique and yours, then
it's something different thatpotentially will show up and
surface.
And the and all the platformsare getting more sophisticated
at surfing surfacing the rightinformation at the right time.
SPEAKER_03 (08:44):
Right, absolutely.
So yeah, that's definitely uh atip that I would that I do
provide my clients is thatyou've got to add in your own
personal connections, yourstories, the things that only
happen to you, because that'sgonna be the stuff that's
unique.
That's what makes you unique,that's what makes you know
everything you're putting outthere unique.
And then when you blend thatinto your business, it actually
(09:05):
makes things work in a muchsmoother way.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00 (09:09):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
And that that's the thing, isn'tit?
So once uh people will engagewith your your personal brand,
your business brand multipletimes before they even talk to
you these days.
And so particularly withcoaches, so they really want to
know the person and what theirkind of their style is and what
they're like.
So the more they see your faceand and photograph and video and
(09:33):
and everything like that,they're starting to get to know
you as a person.
There's there's no industry morethat humanization is more
important, I believe, is thecoaches and consultants and and
so on.
And because people will besharing their heart and and uh
vulnerabilities, so they want toknow that they it's someone they
can trust.
And so building trust andauthenticity, that's that's
(09:53):
where we're really headed withall the AI mess and the noise
and the I mean videos that arelooking so polished and perfect,
but there's no sub there's nogenuine human substance behind
it, which is really frustrating.
And I I see a bit of a pushbackagainst all that.
We're kind of drawn to it rightnow because it's kind of
exciting that it's what thetechnology 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 leadersand founders in business.
SPEAKER_03 (10:18):
Absolutely.
I just wrote a blog onperfection never equaling
connection and and having allthese perfect ideas out there,
not really reaching who we wantto reach because it doesn't feel
real to them, and that'sdefinitely 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 theyshould 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 slightlydifferent that you do, that you
believe in wholeheartedly,that's different to all the
other coaches, that will be thereal gold if you can highlight
that.
And you'll attract the rightpeople that way.
Some people will be repelled,and that's great too.
Um just the ideal clients willbe attracted to you and they'll
(11:08):
gravitate towards you.
SPEAKER_03 (11:10):
Yeah, yeah.
Coaches don't always like tohear that repelling is okay, but
repelling is absolutely okay.
You gotta get rid of thosepeople that don't believe in you
to make room for those that do.
So thank you so much, Wes, forcoming and talking, giving us
these quick tips.
And where can we find you if wewant to find you outside of this
podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
Yeah, uplift360.com.au is our website,
and from there you'll find allthe 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, thebig takeaway here is simple.
In an AI world, generic isinvisible.
The people who win are the oneswho bring a clear point of view,
real stories, and a vibe thatactually feels human, not like a
robot.
If you want to connect with Wesand check out what he's been
building, head over toUplift360.com.au.
(12:00):
You'll find his socials and moreinformation there.
And if this episode hit it foryou, do me a favor.
Subscribe, leave a quick review,and share it with a coach friend
who really needs to hear thisadvice.
I will see you next time on theStory Lab.
Take care.
Welcome back to another episode of the Story
Lab.
Today we're talking about howloud the internet is right now.
Like everybody has a microphone,ChatGPT subscription in Canva,
and they think that makes theman expert loud.
So I brought in a real expert,Wes Towers from Uplift 360, who
spent 20 plus years helping realworld businesses, especially
builders and trades, turnwebsites and SEO into steady,
(00:21):
qualified work.
And he's got a super practicalpiece of advice on what it
actually means to stand out inthe AI heavy world, especially
for coaches and serviceproviders, all while not
sounding like a robot.
So in this episode, we get intohow to cut through all the
noise, how to find your realpoint of difference using what
you secretly can't stand aboutyour industry, and why
(00:42):
storytelling and trust are thewhole game now.
So let's jump in.
(01:06):
Some of my followers will know Iwas 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 inwith AI happening now, and we're
in the age of AI, as many peoplesay, um, what do you feel is the
most important thing forbusinesses so they can be seen?
SPEAKER_00 (01:24):
Well, it really is about cutting through the noise.
So we're seeing an abundance ofmessaging and and because it's
so easy to produce content atscale and mass, so there's a
lack of trust in that contentbecause we don't know if
actually anyone's even writtenReddit.
So we know um that this thismaterial can be produced and it
can read reasonably well and itcan look great, but we don't
(01:47):
know if it's authenticallyrepresenting who it's meant to
be representing.
So we don't know if there's anyreal input, and so therefore we
don't trust it.
So we've got to find angles inwhich we can cut through that
noise.
And the authentic storytellingis a really powerful thing, or
anything that you can positionyourself that that stands out
that only you can bring.
(02:08):
It might be about having amessage that's slightly counter
what your industry is doing, ora a different perspective or a
different viewpoint.
These kind of contrarian viewscan really help you stand out in
such a flatted and noisy worldthat we're living in right now.
SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
Yeah, absolutely.
I find myself telling my clientsa lot of times, like, what is it
that you're doing different?
How can you show up and getpeople really excited about what
you're doing differently?
Because if not, it's hard it'sreally hard to be seen.
So Yeah.
We you mentioned a little bit,but how could they stand out in
this AI-generated content world?
(02:46):
Give me one example of somethingthey can really do to stand out.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
Well, it really starts with the foundational
aspects of what makes themgenuinely unique.
And the way we uncover thatoftentimes with our clients, we
we work with mainly trades andconstruction, but the same
principle applies for anyone,whether you be a coach or any
field that you're help uhsupporting uh your clients'
health.
We behind closed doors will havea discussion around all the
(03:12):
things that they really don'tlike in their industry or their
their world, and even uh it itis a behind closed doors
discussion.
So even the things that theyreally don't like and despise
oftentimes about theircompetitors.
So once we uncover that darkside, we we like to look at it
as the shadow, the dark side,all those negative things.
We would never use those in amarketing perspective, but we
(03:33):
look at it and because the darkreveals what the light is.
So the inverse, the opposite ofall of those things are the
unique points of view that theycan communicate through their
marketing messaging.
So what we've I've just foundover the years, people find it
easier to express theirfrustrations passionately.
But then it's our job to reversethat into the positive, uh so
(03:55):
because you never want to benegative and you don't want to
be bashing your competitorsonline, but you do want to focus
on what sets you apart from therest of them.
And there's always something,there's always a frustration
within the industry that'scommon, and there's always the
positive that you can bring.
And that that's a that's a quickhack I've found to get to those
unique points of view.
(04:15):
We we work with most mostlyfounders, so working with the
founder, the business is usuallya reflection of the founder's
own values.
So once we talk to the founderand find those things out,
everything becomes a whole lotclearer, and they've got a
really clear, compelling messageto to go with.
SPEAKER_03 (04:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I work with a lot of foundersand coaches to really figure out
what their unique perspective isand how they're showing up in a
way that's gonna connect withtheir 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, whatthey think they do differently.
(04:52):
Um, and I've I have lots ofstories about finding that out
and you know, months down theroad sometimes.
So well, tell us about you havea really good strategy that
really turn talks about how youturn 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,
(05:14):
another thing my audiencedefinitely wants.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat you you know, what you do
there, what your strategy isthat's gonna work for for all
founders, I'm hoping.
SPEAKER_00 (05:25):
Yeah, well, it it definitely will.
And so things have changed somuch online because of AI and
for a number of other reasonstoo.
So we used to think of theprocess as a as a sales funnel.
So you'd have lots of people inthe in the top end and you'd
slowly work their way down totheir making a sale, and it was
kind of a linear process and itwas all measurable and and so
(05:47):
on.
But these days that is less uheffective simply because the top
the top of the process used tojust be information resources
that you would get for free, butit wasn't really for free
because it was in exchange foran email address.
So we're gonna we were sellingour privacy, we were using our
privacy as the currency topurchase the resource which was
(06:09):
information.
That information is nowavailable for free if we go to
AI platforms.
Large language models canusually answer those needs that
we have.
So it's eroded and corrupted theuh old process of doing things.
You need to create your set ofideas, but to have it syndicated
across multiple platforms.
We call it search everywhereoptimization, so that's the
(06:30):
process.
But we take one uh thought orconcept or idea uh and we would
publish it through the blogeffectively, usually, but that
would be then repurposed intosocial media posts, and then
people will find their own pathto your business, and it's
harder to track these days, butit's taking one set of concepts
and ideas and using that toleverage into other platforms so
(06:53):
and using the AI tools can behelpful to do that, but you've
got to really have a reallystrong and clear message to
bring people closer and closerto your world, to build that
authority, trust, reputation sopeople are starting to s get to
familiar with your brand andyour business.
So by the time they make theinquiry, then they're they're
ready to uh engage.
(07:14):
They're far closer to make anengagement.
Working on websites, they we'vebeen working on websites for so
long, and it's always been aboutattracting traffic and so
getting the conversions, but nowpeople aren't necessarily
visiting your website till muchlater in the process when
they're ready to make atransaction.
So you need to make your websitesuper simple for that inquiry to
flow through.
SPEAKER_03 (07:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you know, your searcheverywhere is really based on
creating a long form, what Icould call a long form piece of
content that talks about yourbusiness, what you your beliefs,
things like that, and publishingthat on your website.
SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
Yeah, definitely.
And to massage in thestorytelling aspect as best you
can.
So every and we draft a lot ofcontent for clients, but then
we're really encouraging them tomassage in their own stories and
their own case studies andexamples, because that's really
humanized and and relatable.
Since the dawn of time, humanshave connected and understood
(08:10):
things through stories.
So to be able to bring in thosereal life examples and stories
is is where things really taketake shape and take effect,
because otherwise you're justpublishing generic information
that everybody else has alreadydone, probably.
And so there's no reason for itto show up in Google or large
language models because it'sgeneric.
(08:31):
But once you're starting to addsomething unique and yours, then
it's something different thatpotentially will show up and
surface.
And the and all the platformsare getting more sophisticated
at surfing surfacing the rightinformation at the right time.
SPEAKER_03 (08:44):
Right, absolutely.
So yeah, that's definitely uh atip that I would that I do
provide my clients is thatyou've got to add in your own
personal connections, yourstories, the things that only
happen to you, because that'sgonna be the stuff that's
unique.
That's what makes you unique,that's what makes you know
everything you're putting outthere unique.
And then when you blend thatinto your business, it actually
(09:05):
makes things work in a muchsmoother way.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00 (09:09):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
And that that's the thing, isn'tit?
So once uh people will engagewith your your personal brand,
your business brand multipletimes before they even talk to
you these days.
And so particularly withcoaches, so they really want to
know the person and what theirkind of their style is and what
they're like.
So the more they see your faceand and photograph and video and
(09:33):
and everything like that,they're starting to get to know
you as a person.
There's there's no industry morethat humanization is more
important, I believe, is thecoaches and consultants and and
so on.
And because people will besharing their heart and and uh
vulnerabilities, so they want toknow that they it's someone they
can trust.
And so building trust andauthenticity, that's that's
(09:53):
where we're really headed withall the AI mess and the noise
and the I mean videos that arelooking so polished and perfect,
but there's no sub there's nogenuine human substance behind
it, which is really frustrating.
And I I see a bit of a pushbackagainst all that.
We're kind of drawn to it rightnow because it's kind of
exciting that it's what thetechnology 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 leadersand founders in business.
SPEAKER_03 (10:18):
Absolutely.
I just wrote a blog onperfection never equaling
connection and and having allthese perfect ideas out there,
not really reaching who we wantto reach because it doesn't feel
real to them, and that'sdefinitely 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 theyshould 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 slightlydifferent that you do, that you
believe in wholeheartedly,that's different to all the
other coaches, that will be thereal gold if you can highlight
that.
And you'll attract the rightpeople that way.
Some people will be repelled,and that's great too.
Um just the ideal clients willbe attracted to you and they'll
(11:08):
gravitate towards you.
SPEAKER_03 (11:10):
Yeah, yeah.
Coaches don't always like tohear that repelling is okay, but
repelling is absolutely okay.
You gotta get rid of thosepeople that don't believe in you
to make room for those that do.
So thank you so much, Wes, forcoming and talking, giving us
these quick tips.
And where can we find you if wewant to find you outside of this
podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
Yeah, uplift360.com.au is our website,
and from there you'll find allthe 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, thebig takeaway here is simple.
In an AI world, generic isinvisible.
The people who win are the oneswho bring a clear point of view,
real stories, and a vibe thatactually feels human, not like a
robot.
If you want to connect with Wesand check out what he's been
building, head over toUplift360.com.au.
(12:00):
You'll find his socials and moreinformation there.
And if this episode hit it foryou, do me a favor.
Subscribe, leave a quick review,and share it with a coach friend
who really needs to hear thisadvice.
I will see you next time on theStory Lab.
Take care.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.