About the Author: Ric F.
Authentic Marketing Expert • Brand Voice Specialist • Anti-Automation Advocate
Ric F. helps business owners break free from robotic marketing automation and rediscover their authentic voice. His approach focuses on creating genuine human connections through marketing that sounds like real conversation, not corporate speak.
While Your Competitors Sound Like Everyone Else, This Approach Will Make You Soul-shakingly Memorable
(And it starts with throwing out everything they taught you about "optimized" messaging)
If you're reading this, chances are you've felt that sinking feeling when you hit "send" on a marketing email and immediately cringed at how fake it sounded.
You're not alone...
Across the world, business owners are staring at their marketing campaigns with the same confused expression, wondering how their messaging became so... lifeless.
The Automation Authenticity Crisis
Industry Reality: Over 80% of businesses now use marketing automation, but engagement rates have declined 15-25% as customers become immune to robotic messaging. The push for "optimization" has created a marketplace where everyone sounds identical, forcing businesses to compete solely on price rather than relationship.
Source: Marketing automation studies and consultation experience with businesses struggling to maintain authentic voice
But First, Let Me Tell You What Truly Happened
You know that uncomfortable feeling when you read your own marketing copy and think, "I would never talk to a friend this way"?
Your customers once engaged with your emails, clicked your links, and actually looked forward to hearing from you...
Then suddenly, they started treating your messages like spam-tastic waste from the internet void.
Meanwhile, you're spending money on new AI marketing tools and tactics while perfectly good relationships with existing customers crumble because you sound like everyone else.
Sound familiar?
If you're a business owner, this mystery haunts your revenue every single day.
You pour your heart into creating amazing products and services, but somehow, your marketing makes you sound like a faceless corporation instead of the passionate business owner you really are.
Here's What This Is Really Costing You (And It's Not Just Money)
Let me tell you what this truly costs you, because it's not just about low open rates.
1 Your Words Drown in the Ocean of Everyone Else's Opinions
Every business using the same templates, the same "best practices," the same automation sequences creates a marketplace where nobody stands out.
Think about it: when your marketing sounds identical to your competitors, customers have no reason to choose you over anyone else.
When this happens across your entire industry, it creates a race to the bottom where only price matters, and that's a game nobody wins.
2 You're Locked in Mortal Combat with Digital Indifference
Getting new customers becomes harder when your existing ones stop paying attention to your messages.
While other business owners are building deeper relationships with their audience, you're scrambling to cut through the noise with louder, more desperate-sounding marketing.
It's exhausting, expensive, and frankly, it doesn't have to be this way.
3 Your Team Goes Full Existential Crisis Mode
When marketing feels fake and produces weak results, your team starts questioning the strategy...
Good employees might suggest switching to yet another marketing platform or automation tool...
And you end up chasing the latest marketing trend instead of fixing the real problem.
This makes your messaging even more scattered and impersonal, creating a downward spiral that's hard to break.
The Part That Hurts Most (And Why Most Business Owners Never Talk About It)
You started your business to solve real problems for real people.
When your marketing sounds robotic and gets ignored, it feels like you're failing at the very thing you set out to do: connect with people who need what you offer.
But here's what most business owners don't realize...
The problem isn't your product, your service, or your prices.
The problem is that somewhere between "optimization" and "automation,"... You Became a Ghost of Authentic Communication.
What Nobody Tells You About Why Your Marketing Gets Ignored
Most business owners accept low engagement as just part of doing business online, but let me ask you to think about this differently.
When a customer stops opening your emails, you're not just losing one sale.
You're losing their lifetime value.
Someone who used to engage with your content regularly might have continued buying from you for years if you had maintained that human connection.
That's a lot of missed revenue walking out your door.
Most business owners don't realize:
Customers don't ignore their marketing because they're not interested in their product.
They ignore it because it sounds like everything else they're trying to avoid.
They actually want to hear from businesses they trust... they just need you to sound like the real person they originally connected with.
The 3-Step System That Brings Dead Marketing Back to Life
Most businesses either double down on automation or panic and send desperate, overly personal messages that feel intrusive.
Here's your solution:
A planned approach that brings authenticity back without sacrificing efficiency.
1 Step 1: The Moment of Truth (Day 1)
Read your last five marketing messages out loud.
Ask yourself: "Would I say this to someone at a coffee shop?"
If the answer is no, you've found your problem.
There's no shame in this realization... most businesses have drifted into robot-speak without noticing.
2 Step 2: The Great Translation (Days 2-7)
Take your most important marketing messages and rewrite them as if you were explaining your business to a friend.
Use the words you actually use when talking about your work...
Share the real reasons you're passionate about what you do.
This reminds your audience why they were interested in your business in the first place.
3 Step 3: The Filter That Changes Everything (Ongoing)
Before sending any marketing message, ask: "Does this sound like me?"
If you can't imagine saying these words in a real conversation, your customers won't want to hear them either.
Keep refining until your marketing voice matches your actual voice.
And if you need help putting your voice into the format of words, click here and lets have a quick chat.
Why This Truly Works (When Everything Else Fails)
This isn't about abandoning professionalism or automation.
It's about remembering that behind every email address, social media account, and website visitor is a real person who wants to connect with other real people.
The approach works because it treats marketing like what it really is: a conversation with people who might benefit from what you offer.
What Happens When You Stop Sounding Like Everyone Else
When you consistently communicate like the real person behind your business, you'll start seeing genuine engagement return to your marketing.
The exact results depend on your specific situation, but the goal is simple: create marketing that people truly want to receive.
Even a small increase in genuine engagement can transform your business from competing on price to competing on relationship.
Here's what's even better... Customers who connect with your authentic voice become more loyal because you've shown them the real person behind the business, not just another sales machine.
This Goes Deeper Than Just Marketing
It's about treating your business like what it really is: a relationship between real people.
Your customers don't just want products... they want to feel connected to the people who create them.
They want to know there's a real person who cares about solving their problems.
Your authentic voice does all of that while helping your business grow.
Think about it: most business owners focus all their energy on the latest marketing tactics, spending money on tools that promise to automate everything, following gurus who teach the same templates to everyone.
Just to end up in the same spot: wondering why nobody pays attention to their marketing.
But your voice is already unique.
Your perspective is already valuable.
All you need is the courage to let that authenticity show through your marketing.
That courage can be the difference between being ignored and being remembered.
Buckle Up, Buttercup, Reality Check Time
You already have everything you need to make this work.
Your authentic voice is sitting inside you right now, waiting for permission to show up in your marketing.
It's not gone forever... It's just been buried under layers of "best practices" and automation.
The question is: Will you be the business owner who rediscovers their voice, or will you keep wondering why nobody listens?
The Choices Every Business Owner Faces Right Now
If you're tired of sounding like everyone else and want to create marketing that people really want to receive, the solution isn't about abandoning efficiency.
It's about being efficiently authentic.
When you master this balance, you don't just get better open rates...
You get customers who genuinely want to hear from you.
Don't let another month go by wondering why your marketing gets ignored.
Your authentic voice is waiting to be heard.
The 3 options are clear:
One, you can start over and relearn how to write like a human...
Two, you can let me do all the painful and deep work and find out the true feelings of your customers and have them come back time and time again,
Or three, keep doing what you're doing because you're happy with the results.
Ready to Rediscover Your Authentic Voice?
If you're ready to stop sounding like everyone else and want help finding your true marketing voice, let's talk.
Stop being a factory-fresh, fabricated friend. Start being yourself.
Authentic Voice Assessment Checklist
✅ Signs of Authentic Voice
- ☐ You'd say this to a friend at coffee
- ☐ Uses words you actually speak
- ☐ Reflects your real personality
- ☐ Shows genuine passion for your work
- ☐ Feels natural when read aloud
- ☐ Connects with real problems
- ☐ Sounds different from competitors
- ☐ Makes people want to respond
- ☐ Builds genuine relationships
❌ Signs of Robot Voice
- ☐ Sounds like a corporate press release
- ☐ Uses buzzwords you never say
- ☐ Feels fake when read aloud
- ☐ Could be from any business
- ☐ Focuses on features, not feelings
- ☐ Makes you cringe when you read it
- ☐ Gets ignored by your audience
- ☐ Sounds like everyone else
- ☐ Creates no emotional connection
📝 The Coffee Shop Test
Before sending any marketing message, ask yourself:
"Would I say this exact thing to someone I just met at a coffee shop?"
If the answer is no, rewrite it until it passes the test.
Authentic Marketing Expertise
Transparency Note: This authentic marketing approach is based on human psychology principles and consultation experience with businesses struggling to maintain genuine voice in automated marketing systems. Results may vary based on factors including industry, audience, implementation consistency, and willingness to sound authentically human. The goal is not to eliminate all automation but to ensure automated messages maintain authentic voice and genuine connection. Individual business voice development will vary based on personality, values, and target audience preferences.