2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ December
Why Advertising Got Emotional in 2025
The Ten-Day Problem
It was rainy season on Oahu, the kind where the clouds move sideways and the light can&
digital platform behavior
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ November
Generative Engine Optimization Framework for Shopify Merchants: What Actually Works
People no longer search the way they used to. Short clipped queries have turned into something closer to a confession.
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ November
Generative Engine Optimization: Field Notes for Early Adopters
Someone at Webflow was looking at attribution data when they noticed something. Eight percent of their signups were coming from
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ November
The Rental Agreement You Never Signed
At 7:12 a.m., the analytics dashboard refreshes and the floor disappears. Yesterday, Hessel Broekstra’s YouTube channel had
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ October
The AI Citation Arms Race: Why Your Optimization Tactics Have an Expiration Date
There's a coding bootcamp somewhere that lost 80% of its revenue because someone got mad at them on
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ October
Nobody's Scrolling Your Feed Anymore. They're Searching.
I was talking to a friend today about the recent Instagram changes. Users can now choose interests to fine-tune their
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ October
Stop Competing on Price: Why Authentic Brand Stories Beat Algorithm Hacks
Shadowbanned. Stuck in 300-view jail. Algorithm murdered your reach overnight.
Every business owner has a reason their social media or
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ October
How Many AI Agents Will Be Last-Minute Shopping This Holiday Season?
I grew up in the Santa Maria Valley, long before it became famous for BBQ tri-tip and wineries. Both had
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ August
Are You Just Another Hawaii Business? How AI Search Rewards the Truly Different
Why Your Current Marketing Strategy Might Be Making Your Hawaii Business Invisible to AI Mediated Search Interfaces
🤙Before We Begin:
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ July
The AI Browser Shift is Here: Why Hawaii Businesses Have a Unique Advantage
I'm sitting in my home office, staring out the window, watching the clouds bring the rain over from
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ July
The Retrieval Layer Strategy: One Optimization Approach for All AI Interfaces
Why Smart Organizations Are Shifting from SEO to Retrieval Layer Optimization
How AI Changed Search Forever
It has been a
2025 NOTES / DISPATCHES
✦ June
The Trust Factory: How a Snowboarder's Frustration Sparked the World's Largest Psychological Commerce Experiment
And what brands can learn from Shopify's approach to manufacturing digital intimacy
In 2004, I spent my days