Let's Make Some Noise
Hi there, I'm Monica Poling (an AI strategist, relationship marketer, and cultural tourism champion), and I help creative businesses, nonprofits, and purpose-driven organizations use AI strategically to amplify their mission without losing their voice or values. Subscribe now to receive weekly insights on AI strategy, relationship marketing, and sustainable growth—plus practical tips you can implement immediately to save time and build stronger customer connections.
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Need a fast-moving strategy?
This week: If you've ever started the day wondering what to do next, you need a strategy Here's how to build your game plan in one page. Hi Reader: I had lots of fun this week speaking at my SCORE webinar on How to Build a Simple Strategic Plan with AI. There were so many great questions and the webinar resulted in SO MANY new subscribers to my newsletter. This was clearly a topic of interest. For those of you who are new, welcome to the newsletter! And for those of you who couldn't attend,...
READ POSTWhat do AI and Tetris 🎮 have in common?
This week: Stop competing with AI as a thinker. Start using it to think better. Hi Reader: Last week I had a fun time talking all about AI for strategic planning at a local NAWBO meeting. (Thanks Caren, for the invite.) The attendees were all at various levels of using AI, which meant I got to focus more on better outcomes than convincing people why they should use AI. Inevitably, a question came up about AI not understanding someone's world. I hear this question a lot, and I rarely have a...
READ POSTCan AI make your organizational knowledge more valuable?
In this week's issue: Most organizations have an info dungeon, a place where documents go to take their last breath. AI (and RAG) excels at organizing YOUR info to help you build a more valuable business . Hi Reader: One of my favorite uses for AI is arguing with it. I frequently call AI my sparring partner. It often gives me great "food for thought." Other times? That food is simply useless. When I argue with "general" AI, I get a lot of feedback that just isn't designed for me. Because the...
READ POSTThe shortest AI prompt... maybe ever
In this week's issue: 2025 was all about finding hidden gold in exhaustive AI prompts. But most of those prompts resembled the self-help magazine articles they were supposedly replacing. This week, I give you my favorite business prompt. Its maybe the shortest prompt known to mankind... and it starts with just three letters. Hi Reader: Although I'm generally not a fan of AI prompts substituting as blog posts, I do have a fantastic, favorite prompt I use...a lot. It started as a business...
READ POSTReady to ride the fire horse?
In this week's issue: Happy New Year! We are heading into the Year of the Fire Horse. According to lunar astrology, this is a time of heat, change, and social activism. Read on to see how AI can help you navigate 2026. Hi Reader: Happy New Year! The holiday season—like life itself—rushes by and then suddenly it's over. And now, in a blink, it's planning season. I just happened to pull out my handy dandy guide to lunar astrology (read: Google Gemini) when it informed that the year ahead is the...
READ POSTAI In 2025
In this week's issue: The honeymoon is over. AI fatigue hit hard by March. Agentic AI is quietly reshaping business. And a San Francisco power outage reminded us that life is a series of unforeseen circumstances—which means AI still isn’t ready for primetime. Here are the 2025 AI highlights worth knowing. Hi Reader: I hope you had a long and lovely holiday weekend. I spent mine at my neighbor’s house, eating too much and soaking up the kind of family chaos that only small children can create....
READ POSTFeeling overwhelmed? Here's what you can do...
In this week's issue: With so many voices and so much noise flooding our feeds, it feels like the world has become a more chaotic space. Finding your Polaris can help anchor you to what matters. Hi Reader: I hope you are getting your last-minute shopping done and ordering your final Cranberry Bliss Bars of the season. For me, Christmas came early, as my sister came out for a fun visit last week. We enjoyed a few local activities - including attending a "Feast Day" at the Pueblo of Pojoaque (a...
READ POSTAI *can* do things faster. Maybe that's not the point.
In this week's issue: Creating a content calendar based strictly on output speeds isn't a great business strategy. Your customers and your business deserve more. Hi Reader: I'm trying out a shorter newsletter format this week. But I'm also wondering why it always takes me longer to write blog posts when I use AI. But maybe that's what should happen. Because producing content based on speed alone doesn't do much to showcase what makes your business special. Let me know what you think about the...
READ POSTIs AI content killing your productivity?
In this week's issue: Workslop is flooding content spaces everywhere—AI-generated posts that sound polished but say nothing. It's killing productivity, tanking ROI, and making it harder for people who actually think to stand out. Here's how to avoid it. Hey there, amazing Reader: Every week brings another AI debate. But lately the conversation has shifted from "should we use it?" to "why does everyone's content sound the same?" The culprit? Workslop—AI-generated content that mistakes volume...
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