# Syed Irfan Ajmal > Fractional CMO, international speaker, and founder of DMR.agency. Helps founders and marketing teams get found, get covered, and get customers through GEO, SEO-PR, and earned media. This is the full-content companion to https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/llms.txt. It contains the complete text of the main public pages on syedirfanajmal.com in one file, so AI systems can read and cite them without crawling each page. Repeated site navigation and footer text has been removed. Content captured 28 August 2026. ## Syed Irfan Ajmal · Fractional CMO & Earned Media Strategist URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/ WHY PAY FOR ATTENTION WHEN YOU CAN EARN IT? I help founders and brands get covered, get found, get customers. Without paying for attention. BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL → LISTEN TO THE PODCAST $1.2M ORGANIC REVENUE NTA · $160K → $1.2M · 12 months 1.5M /mo MONTHLY VISITORS Ridester · 0 → 1.5M · 12 months 300+ CLIENTS SERVED B2B SaaS · eComm · Tech · Media 22+ YEARS IN THE FIELD Consulting · Agency · Speaking · Writing LIVE · WIRE The Earned Media Radar. A live map of what the press is covering across PR, earned media, SEO, and AI search — powered by SignalIQ. 28 BEATS TRACKED 4 LENSES · PR / SEO / GEO / EARNED OPEN RADAR → ALSO LIVE KSA TOURISM & HOSPITALITY RADAR→ KSA RETAIL & CONSUMER RADAR→ FOUNDER MOVERS→ § 01 FREE RESOURCES Resources. TOOLS · RADARS · KITS · PLAYBOOKS · CALCULATORS Might not stay free for too long. 27 TOTAL IN THE LIBRARY → LIVE · WEEKLY RANKINGS Weekly rankings of founder and Series-A topics by press-coverage momentum, powered by SignalIQ. See what's heating up before it saturates. 2026 SEE THIS WEEK'S MOVERS ↗ AI-POWERED TOOL PartnerCollabIQ Go beyond links. Drop in your niche and PartnerCollabIQ surfaces co-marketing allies, distribution partners, and collaboration opportunities — with scoring and ready-to-send outreach. 2026 OPEN THE TOOL ↗ § 02 CLIENT WORDS What clients say. 06 / 24 SHOWN · ALL TESTIMONIALS → № 01 0 → 1.5M MONTHLY UVs "Their expertise at doing customized outreach and earning quality whitehat backlinks day in and day out was critical to our phenomenal success and growth." Brett Helling CEO, Ridester.com / TrendlineSEO · USA № 02 6× DAILY SIGNUPS "120% increase in organic traffic. Our Public Database clicks jumped 515% and impressions from 30K to 198K — resulting in six times more average daily signups." Imani Lea Brown Centriq (raised $11M) · USA № 03 160K/mo · #4 GOOGLE "Ranked a keyword to #4 on Google that gets over 160,000 searches a month. Commercial intent. Can't thank Irfan and the team enough." Azzam Sheikh National Tyres & Autocare · UK № 04 140% TRAFFIC · 3 MONTHS "Traffic increased 140% in 3 months — against a goal of 25% in 9 months. Page views up 102%. Impressions up 65%. They simply overdelivered." Reem El Shafaki DinarStandard · UAE № 05 DMSS.IO BALI · WORKSHOP "Syed spoke at our conference and gave me a private consultation on media exposure. An excellent public speaker with highly actionable advice. Comes highly recommended." Brie Moreau Co-founder, DMSS.io Conference · Bali № 06 PODCAST GUEST "Being a great speaker takes art and science, experience, and personal clarity. Irfan delivers on all of it and it is hard not to like the guy." Chuck Wang The MVP Marketing Podcast · USA § 03 SELECTED CASEWORK Selected casework. Biggest numbers first. SEO CONTENT 1.5M /mo RIDESTER · USA Zero to 1.5M organic visitors in 12 months Built a content-led SEO strategy from scratch. Took a brand-new domain to 1.5M monthly visitors in under a year through editorial content and strategic link acquisition. FULL CASE STUDY → SEO · DIGITAL PR $1.2M NATIONAL TYRES · UK $160K → $1.2M organic revenue in 12 months Turned a struggling content program into a revenue machine. Combined editorial SEO with Digital PR to rank high-intent keywords and drive traffic that converts at scale. FULL CASE STUDY → ● 2 FRACTIONAL CMO SPOTS · Q3 2026 GET CITED BEFORE YOUR SERIES A · EMOS FOUNDING CLASS LIVE RADARS: EARNED MEDIA · KSA TOURISM · FOUNDER MOVERS INVITE ME TO YOUR STAGE · KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS ● 2 FRACTIONAL CMO SPOTS · Q3 2026 GET CITED BEFORE YOUR SERIES A · EMOS FOUNDING CLASS LIVE RADARS: EARNED MEDIA · KSA TOURISM · FOUNDER MOVERS INVITE ME TO YOUR STAGE · KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS § 04 SPEAKING & TRAINING Stages across four countries. MPS2016 · DUBAI, UAE Keynotes for diverse audiences in Malaysia, Indonesia, the UAE, and Pakistan. Webinars for American and British listeners. Guest spots on US podcasts. NEW Earned Media in the Age of AI: my new flagship session → SPEAKER SHEET & TOPICS → DUBAI ATM UAE ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET · PANEL · ~500 AUDIENCE KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia WEBINARS · WORKSHOPS BALI Indonesia DMSS · ~200 AUDIENCE PESHAWAR Pakistan G-DAY X · DURSHAL DUBAI UAE Astrolabs · IN5 · MPS2016 WEBINARS US / UK 12+ SESSIONS US PODCASTS Remote GUEST SPOTS § 05 WHAT I DO Three ways to work, plainly stated. 01 EMOS · Earned Media OS A productized system for landing editorial coverage — trainings, templates, journalist playbooks. For in-house teams who want the press wins without the agency retainer. TOUR EMOS → 02 For founders without a marketing leader. Weekly cadence, full strategy ownership, agency-level execution through DMR. You get a senior brain without the full-time price tag. INQUIRE → 03 Done-For-You Agency For GEO, SEO-PR, and content marketing projects handled end-to-end. Strategy, execution, reporting — all done by the team at DMR.agency. VISIT DMR.AGENCY ↗ § 06 VOL. XV · № 06 ↑ ↓ ## About · Career, Press & Recognitions · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/about 22 YEARS IN PRACTICE ABOUT ENTREPRENEUR · MARKETER · COLUMNIST · INT'L SPEAKER The work speaks. The numbers confirm it. No retainer theatre. No vanity metrics. The results are on the record, and the case studies are below. Press FORBES · HBR · 100+ MORE RESULTS ON THE RECORD Client words 6 TESTIMONIALS ON FILE Est. 2004 IN PRACTICE US remote clients from day one SE · DK · SV COUNTRIES, LIVED AND WORKED SE · DK · SV · Pakistan 300+ CLIENTS SERVED USA · EU · MENA · APAC 100+ MAJOR BYLINES & CITATIONS Forbes · HBR · HuffPost · and more § A PRE-AGENCY DESK · BEFORE DMR.AGENCY VOL. XV · № A GERMANY 2012 GIZ MARKETING / PROGRAMME CONTRIBUTOR Germany's official agency for international development cooperation. Contributed to a technology programme through their Islamabad office. Operates in 120+ countries with EUR 3B+ annual volume, backed by the German federal government. STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2007 Marcus Evans CONFERENCE PRODUCER · STOCKHOLM OFFICE Premier global business intelligence and events company headquartered in London and operating in 60+ countries. Based in their Stockholm office, producing senior-executive conferences across major industries. BRØNSHØJ, COPENHAGEN 2009 DIGITAL / MARKETING · IN PERSON Danish digital organisation based in Copenhagen. An in-person engagement in the Scandinavian tech scene before moving into international consulting. REMOTE FROM DENMARK 2009 Affiliate Prophet MARKETING · REMOTE FROM DENMARK A US-based MarTech startup, handled remotely from Denmark, among the earliest remote-first engagements before distributed work was common practice. § B WHERE THE WORK HAS BEEN READ · BYLINES & CITATIONS VOL. XV · № B Written for. Quoted in. 100+ bylines and citations across global business, technology, marketing, and development — including a print spread in Forbes Middle East. IN PRINT · FORBES ME “How Qatar Can Become The Silicon Valley Of The Arab World.” Published in the Forbes Middle East Guide print edition, in collaboration with Arab Publisher House (APH). One of a small handful of in-print Forbes ME bylines by a Pakistani author. FORBES ME GUIDE · 2017 · PRINT EDITION FEATURED BYLINE Forbes Harvard Business Review HuffPost Entrepreneur Reader's Digest The Next Web (TNW) CNET Virgin Startup Google Business Group SEMrush Search Engine Journal SERPed Business.com Spin Sucks GrowMap Aurora The World Bank Blog + 80 MORE Writing about Syed, or need assets? The full media kit has copy-ready bios, fast facts, headshots, coverage, and downloads. DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS KIT → § C SELECTED RESULTS · THE NUMBERS ON THE RECORD VOL. XV · № C Numbers, not promises. Three engagements with documented outcomes. Results are verifiable; case studies are linked where available. If you want to speak with a client directly, ask. SAAS · HOME MANAGEMENT +600% APP SIGN-UPS · LATER RAISED $11M IN FUNDING Centriq San Francisco SaaS for household-item management. Worked across acquisition, content, and PR; the company subsequently raised $11M. FULL CASE STUDY → E-COMMERCE · AUTOCARE $160K → $1.2M / mo MONTHLY REVENUE, POST-ENGAGEMENT National Tyres & Autocare Major UK autocare e-commerce. Multi-quarter digital PR + SEO programme; the result was published as a SEMrush case study. FULL CASE STUDY → MEDIA · RIDESHARING 0 → 1.5M / mo MONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS Ridester US-based ridesharing media property. Built editorial authority and earned-media programme from scratch to 1.5M monthly uniques. FULL CASE STUDY → § D CLIENT WORDS · ON THE RECORD VOL. XV · № D What clients say. ALL TESTIMONIALS → № 01 0 → 1.5M MONTHLY UVs “Their expertise at doing customized outreach and earning quality whitehat backlinks day in and day out was critical to our phenomenal success and growth.” Brett Helling CEO, Ridester.com / TrendlineSEO USA № 02 6× DAILY SIGNUPS “120% increase in organic traffic. Our Public Database clicks jumped 515% and impressions from 30K to 198K, resulting in six times more average daily signups.” Imani Lea Brown Centriq (raised $11M) USA № 03 160K/mo · #4 GOOGLE “Ranked a keyword to #4 on Google that gets over 160,000 searches a month. Commercial intent. Can't thank Irfan and the team enough.” Azzam Sheikh National Tyres & Autocare, UK Manchester № 04 140% TRAFFIC · 3 MONTHS “Traffic increased 140% in 3 months, against a goal of 25% in 9 months. Page views up 102%. Impressions up 65%. They simply overdelivered.” Reem El Shafaki DinarStandard UAE № 05 DMSS.IO BALI · WORKSHOP “Syed spoke at our conference and gave me a private consultation on media exposure. An excellent public speaker with highly actionable advice. Comes highly recommended.” Brie Moreau Co-founder, DMSS.io Conference Bali № 06 PODCAST GUEST “Being a great speaker takes art and science, experience, and personal clarity. Irfan delivers on all of it, and it is hard not to like the guy.” Chuck Wang The MVP Marketing Podcast San Francisco § E OFF THE DESK · FILED FROM ABROAD VOL. XV · № E The desk, after hours. Stockholm, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, California. Filed as they were lived. REEL 01 Climbing reel PESHAWAR, 2022 SIFE competition STOCKHOLM, 2007 San Francisco CALIFORNIA, 2022 Malardalen campus VASTERAS, SWEDEN 🇹🇷 Tophane-i Amire ISTANBUL Copenhagen DENMARK REEL 02 🇲🇾 Climbing reel KUALA LUMPUR, 2019 § F EDITOR'S NOTE · A WORKING FILTER VOL. XV · № F FROM THE DESK OF Peshawar · Founded DMR.agency 2013 I started my career in tech, moved into sales, then found my calling in SEO and earned media. The questions have stayed the same since 2004: who reads what, what earns trust, why this story now. I lived and worked in Sweden and Denmark, where I earned a Master's in International Business and Entrepreneurship from Malardalen University, then built DMR.agency from Peshawar into a practice serving clients across twenty-plus countries. You can usually find me writing from Peshawar. Occasionally I am working remotely from California, Madinah, Kuala Lumpur, or Dubai Not all at once. A NOTE TO CLOSE If your business needs to be found, covered, or believed, you know where to find us. FREE RESOURCES → EMOS → FRACTIONAL CMO → PRESS KIT → § 07 VOL. XV · № 07 ↑ ↓ ## Fractional CMO · Strategic Marketing Leadership · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/fractional-cmo 2 ● 2 CMO SPOTS Q3 2026 CMO SENIOR MARKETING LEADERSHIP · ON RETAINER · BY THE MONTH Marketing leadership, without the headcount. For B2B and SaaS founders: marketing leadership led by digital PR, SEO, and content, the channels that compound. Strategy ownership, weekly cadence, and agency-level execution through DMR.agency. ~22 YEARS · 50+ COMPANIES $5K-$10K/mo VS. $300K+ FULL-TIME CMO Weekly cadence DECISIONS IN REAL TIME Agency included DMR.AGENCY, NO EXTRA COST F or founders without a marketing leader. I take the marketing chair at your table on a monthly retainer: strategy ownership, weekly cadence, agency-level execution through DMR.agency, and the kind of decision-making that does not wait on a six-month CMO search. I show up weekly and own the marketing function end to end: PR, SEO, content, lifecycle, paid, brand, hiring, and board updates when it is time. OPERATOR SINCE 2004 DMR.AGENCY SINCE 2013 FORBES · HBR · ENTREPRENEUR WORLD BANK BLOG CONTRIBUTOR SEMRUSH WORKSHOP PODCAST · SEASON 4 $3K AUDIT: SMALLER FIRST STEP → Retainers run monthly, a fraction of the $300K+ a full-time CMO costs, with agency execution included rather than billed on top. Six-month minimum, sixty days notice after the first quarter, so you are never locked in. The difference from hiring the agency directly: I own the marketing function and answer for the strategy, you get a seat at the table, not a vendor on a project brief. AVAILABILITY ENGAGEMENT Monthly retainer · $5K-$10K MINIMUM 6 months CADENCE Weekly · 1-on-1 + team GEOGRAPHY Remote · global STACK PR · SEO · content · paid REPORTS TO Founder / CEO BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL → 1.5M MONTHLY VISITORS Ridester · from zero 6× DAILY SIGNUPS Centriq · SaaS platform 140% TRAFFIC IN 3 MONTHS DinarStandard · govt portal $1.2M MONTHLY REVENUE National Tyres & Autocare § 01 IS IT FOR YOU · THE HONEST FILTER VOL. XV · № 01 YES IF GOOD FIT You are Series A or B and feel marketing is the missing function. Revenue between roughly $1M and $20M ARR. You want senior marketing thinking weekly, but not a full-time hire yet. You can commit to six months of work and decision-making. PROBABLY NOT IF SAVE US BOTH THE CALL × You are pre-product-market-fit. (You need product, not marketing.) × You want someone to "do marketing" without setting strategy with you. × You want a CMO five hours a month for $2K. (Retainers start at $5K, and they earn it.) × You are looking for paid-media-only or single-channel help. § 02 SCOPE OF THE RETAINER · SIX THINGS INCLUDED VOL. XV · № 02 Six things you actually get. Fractional CMO is a phrase that has been used to mean almost anything in the last two years. Here is what it means in my work, specifically. 01 Strategy ownership Positioning, ICP, GTM plan, brand narrative, quarterly OKRs. I write the marketing strategy and answer for it. No fractional handwaving. 02 Weekly cadence A standing weekly call with the founder, plus a weekly sync with the team or vendors. Decisions get made on the call, not in week-long Slack threads. 03 Execution through DMR.agency You get the agency behind me without buying a second retainer. Digital PR, SEO, content production, link earning, journalist outreach: the full stack at agency rates inside the engagement. 04 Hiring & vendor selection When it is time to add a content lead, a paid-media specialist, or a freelance designer, I run the brief, interview the candidates, and stand behind the hire. 05 Investor & board narrative Marketing slides for board meetings. Investor updates that show growth in language they trust. Sales support when a founder-led deal needs marketing air cover. 06 The hard "no" A fractional CMO's most important job is filtering. I will say no to half the marketing ideas in the room. The other half, we will ship. § 03 ON THE RECORD · NAMED CLIENTS, REAL NUMBERS VOL. XV · № 03 What clients have said. The Fractional CMO offering is new. These results are from DMR.agency, the same team founded in 2013 that executes inside every retainer. № 01 FILED FROM OMAHA, NE “ Their biggest weapon has been doing outreach to earn high-quality backlinks and mentions at scale from the likes of Forbes, Mashable, Reader's Digest, and hundreds of other authority sites. The biggest success story has been helping grow Ridester from zero to 1.5 million monthly visitors. Brett Helling ENTERPRISE SEO LEAD, CLICKUP 0 TO 1.5M MONTHLY VISITORS № 02 FILED FROM SAN FRANCISCO “ Syed's team earned us high authority links from publications like MSN and Yahoo. Our main site's organic traffic increased by 120%. Our Public Database saw a 515% increase in clicks, and our average daily signups grew 6x. Imani Lea Brown CONTENT ARCHITECT AND SYSTEMS DESIGNER 120% TRAFFIC, 6X SIGNUPS № 03 FILED FROM DUBAI “ Irfan and his team earned high authority backlinks from publications like Reader's Digest and MSN. The web portal's traffic increased by 140% in 3 months, greatly exceeding our goals. Reem El Shafaki PARTNER, DINARSTANDARD 140% TRAFFIC IN 3 MONTHS № 04 FILED FROM UNITED KINGDOM “ So chuffed to see a keyword rank to position #4 in Google that gets over 160,000 searches a month — most with commercial intent to buy. Cannot thank Syed Irfan Ajmal and the team enough. They are getting hundreds of keywords for this site ranked. Azzam Sheikh HEAD OF DIGITAL, NATIONAL TYRES & AUTOCARE $160K → $1.2M MONTHLY REVENUE № 05 FILED FROM USA “ Within 2 months we saw quality links from Healthline (DR 92), The Mirror (DR 90), MSN (DR 92), and Consumer Health Digest (DR 68). Our domain rating went from 1 to 27. If you are looking to boost organic traffic and earn quality backlinks, we highly recommend DMR.agency. Trent Carter CEO & FOUNDER, CUREDNATION DR 1 → 27 IN 2 MONTHS № 06 FILED FROM USA “ Irfan always goes above and beyond when it comes to strategizing our SEO tactics. He has provided really helpful recommendations and feedback on our website to help us make it as user-friendly and SEO optimized as possible. Bridget Hanson MANAGER OF GRANTS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT § 04 FROM THE CASE FILES · RESULTS ON THE RECORD VOL. XV · № 04 The numbers, in print. These campaigns were run by my team at DMR.agency, the same team that executes inside every Fractional CMO retainer. Full write-ups are in the public record. SAAS · DIGITAL PR 6× CENTRIQ · RAISED $11M 6× daily signups for a funded SaaS Digital PR and journalist outreach earned links from MSN, Yahoo, and niche-relevant sites. Organic traffic rose 120%, database clicks grew 515%, and DR moved 35 to 47. READ THE CASE FILE → PLATFORM · SEO 1.5M/mo RIDESTER · USA Zero to 1.5M monthly visitors in 12 months 460% organic growth through digital PR, visual content, and pay-for-performance journalist outreach. DR climbed 43 to 58 on the way. READ THE CASE FILE → B2B · FINANCIAL SERVICES 38× PHYSICIANS THRIVE · USA 734 to 29,000+ monthly visitors over 4 years A multi-year engagement: 500+ earned placements including MSN, Business Insider, and AOL, DR 33 to 57, and the CEO positioned as a quoted expert in national press. READ THE CASE FILE → Twelve more case files, including $160K to $1.2M a month in organic revenue for an automotive retailer, are in the archive → LIVE · WIRE The Earned Media Radar. A live map of what the press is covering across PR, earned media, SEO, and AI search — powered by SignalIQ. 28 BEATS TRACKED 4 LENSES · PR / SEO / GEO / EARNED OPEN RADAR → ALSO LIVE KSA TOURISM & HOSPITALITY RADAR→ KSA RETAIL & CONSUMER RADAR→ FOUNDER MOVERS→ § 05 THE FIRST 90 DAYS · A WORKING SHAPE VOL. XV · № 05 Ninety days, specifically. Most fractional engagements drift in the first quarter. To avoid that, every retainer follows the same opening shape, and we calibrate from there. DAYS 1-14 Intake & audit Founder calls, sales call recordings, competitor scan, audit of every existing marketing asset and channel. You receive a written brief at the end of week two. DAYS 15-45 First plan, first wins A 60-day plan: positioning sharpening, ICP, two or three campaigns to ship immediately. We are looking for early signal, not perfection. DAYS 45-90 System & cadence The marketing function gets a real shape. Reporting cadence, content pipeline, PR calendar, the weekly rhythm. Hiring brief if a role needs filling. DAY 91+ Compound or part ways Quarterly review. We either renew, sharpen, or part ways. The retainer is monthly; you are never locked in past sixty days notice. § 06 COMMON QUESTIONS · THE HONEST ANSWERS, INCLUDING THE HARD ONES VOL. XV · № 06 Questions worth asking upfront. The ones that come up most in discovery calls. Better to have them answered before we speak. What does it cost? Retainers run $5K to $10K a month depending on scope. For context, a full-time CMO costs $300K+ a year before you have hired a single person to execute; here the execution team comes with the chair. If six months feels like a big first step, the Marketing Leadership Audit below is the smaller one. How many hours a month do I actually get? The engagement is built around outcomes, not hours. In practice, most months include a weekly founder call (45-60 min), a weekly team or vendor sync (30-45 min), and 6-10 hours of async work: strategy documents, briefs, reviews, and decisions. The right question is whether the marketing function is moving, not how many hours are logged. What's the difference between this and hiring a marketing consultant? A consultant advises. I own. I take the marketing chair, write the strategy, and answer for the results alongside you. The weekly cadence means decisions get made in real time, not in a report you receive six weeks later. And the execution layer through DMR.agency means we can move from decision to campaign in days, not quarters. Do you work with non-tech companies? Yes. The framework travels across categories: SaaS, professional services, e-commerce, and media all follow the same earned-media and positioning logic. Clients in this portfolio include a government web portal, a gig-economy platform, an addiction treatment centre, and an automotive chain. The pattern is consistent: earned authority, a content system, and a growth loop tied to the sales motion. What happens when the engagement ends? You keep everything. Strategy documents, brand guidelines, editorial calendar, vendor relationships, and every playbook we built together. I write a transition brief at the close and will introduce the person taking the seat after me if that is relevant. The goal is to leave the function stronger than I found it, not to create dependency. Can we bring you on full-time later? It happens occasionally, but it is rarely the right move. The fractional model works because you get senior marketing thinking without a senior salary. If the company grows to a stage where a full-time CMO is warranted, I will help you find and hire the right person, and that is a natural part of the engagement. Do you take equity? No. The retainer is cash-only. Equity complicates the relationship in ways that tend to hurt early-stage companies: it shifts incentives around spending, hiring, and timelines in subtle but real ways. A clean monthly retainer keeps incentives aligned: I need to produce visible results every month to keep the seat. How is this different from just hiring DMR.agency? Hiring the agency gets you execution: PR, SEO, content, link earning. The Fractional CMO retainer adds the layer above that: strategy ownership, weekly decision-making with the founder, marketing function leadership, board and investor narratives, and hiring. I sit at the table and answer for the results. The agency work happens because I direct it, not instead of it. Have you personally held the title of CMO before? No, not the formal title, and I would rather say that directly than let "CMO" imply something it hasn't earned. Twenty-two years now, since 2004, as an entrepreneur and operator across sales, tech, and marketing roles and ventures in the US (remote), Sweden, Denmark, and Pakistan. The last thirteen of those years, since 2013, have been founding and running DMR.agency, the same team behind every result on this page. I'm not selling a corporate CMO résumé; I'm selling an operator who has actually shipped the campaigns and is willing to take the chair. If a former in-house CMO with a specific industry pedigree is the requirement, I'm not that person, and it's better you know now than three months in. § 07 NOT READY TO COMMIT · THE SMALLER FIRST STEP VOL. XV · № 07 OR START SMALLER The Marketing Leadership Audit. The first two weeks of the retainer, sold on its own: founder calls, sales-call recordings, competitor scan, a full audit of every marketing asset and channel, and a written brief at the end. $3,000, fixed. If you move into the retainer, the fee credits 100% against your first month. BOOK A CALL → § 08 THE NEXT MOVE · THIRTY MINUTES, NO PITCH DECK VOL. XV · № 08 THE HONEST NEXT STEP Thirty minutes, no pitch deck. ● 2 CMO SPOTS · Q3 2026 Tell me where the business is, where you want it to be in twelve months, and what marketing has and has not done so far. I will tell you honestly whether a Fractional CMO is the right answer, or something else is. BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL → REPLY WITHIN ONE WORKING DAY · GMT+5 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT 01 30-min call Tell me where the business is and where you need it in 12 months. 02 Proposal in 48h If we're a fit, I'll send a written scope and retainer proposal within two working days. 03 Start within a week No lengthy onboarding. Intake begins and the first weekly call is booked immediately. OR SEND A MESSAGE SEND MESSAGE → NOT SURE YET? Run SignalIQ or PressIQ first, free tools that map your PR gaps. Bring the output to the call and skip the intake entirely. Full library at the resources page. NOT READY FOR A FULL RETAINER? EMOS gives you the same system and playbooks to run earned media in-house, at a fraction of the cost. Most clients use it as a stepping stone. BOOK A SLOT Pick a time that works for you. § 09 VOL. XV · № 09 ↑ ↓ ## Speaking · International Keynotes & Workshops · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/speaking 04 COUNTRIES ON STAGE SPEAKING KEYNOTES · WORKSHOPS · PANELS · 2026 BOOKINGS OPEN Talks that move a metric. Business-savvy, case-study-led, with the receipts. Available in person and virtually worldwide. Digital PR MOST-REQUESTED TOPIC Personal Branding AUTHORITY & VISIBILITY SEO & GEO ORGANIC GROWTH SYSTEMS SAUDI TOURISM EDITION When Travelers Ask ChatGPT Where to Go The travel edition of my Earned Media in the Age of AI keynote, tuned for Saudi tourism and Vision 2030, for DMOs, tourism boards, hotels, airlines and travel marketers. SEE THE SESSION → NEW · FLAGSHIP Earned Media in the Age of AI My new interactive keynote and workshop on how AI is remaking earned media from both sides. Six stage AI pipeline, live activities, and the Coverage Flywheel. SEE THE SESSION → § 01 SEE HOW IT ACTUALLY SOUNDS · WATCH THE WORK VOL. XV · № 01 Six reels from the road. Click any reel to play. Four cities, three formats, one consistent point: earned media beats almost anything you can buy. FEATURED Panel · Marketing to the Modern Muslim Traveller DUBAI, UAE ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET 2018 Media Hacks · Free Publicity Online DUBAI, UAE IN5 INNOVATION HUB Digital Marketing Workshop at MaGIC CYBERJAYA, MALAYSIA MAGIC DMSS Conference · Media Hacks BALI, INDONESIA DMSS Personal Branding Workshop PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN DURSHAL Writing Your Way to Success REMOTE, US / UK WEBINAR FULL GALLERY & PLAYLIST ↗ NOW PLAYING · REEL № 01 DUBAI, UAE Panel · Marketing to the Modern Muslim Traveller Arabian Travel Market 2018 · Dubai, UAE · Onstage with industry leaders. On stage since 2013, talking earned media and SEO-PR. Past stages include the Arabian Travel Market (Dubai), DMSS (Bali, ~200 audience), IN5, AstroLabs, and MaGIC (Malaysia) — plus webinar & podcast circuits across North America and the UK. Case-study-led, with the receipts. In person across Asia, MENA, Europe and North America; virtually worldwide. Booking open Q3–Q4 2026. 04 COUNTRIES HOSTED ON STAGE 06 SPEAKER FORMATS OFFERED 12+ WEBINARS & GUEST PODCASTS ~500 BIGGEST LIVE AUDIENCE BOOKING DESK Hire the speaker. Send the event, audience, and the metric you want moved. Response within one working day. FORMAT Keynote · Workshop · Panel · Webinar DURATION 20 min · 45 min · half-day · full-day LANGUAGES English (primary), Urdu, Pashto TRAVEL Asia, MENA, Europe, North America · virtual worldwide INQUIRE ABOUT BOOKING → SPEAKER ONE-SHEET ↓ FULL MEDIA KIT ↓ VIEW THE FULL PRESS KIT → DMSS Conference, Bali · Presenting “Media Hacks” to ~200 attendees. PHOTO BY DMSS.IO § 02 SIGNATURE TOPICS · THE SIX TALKS VOL. XV · № 02 Three talks I can give in my sleep. Twenty-two years of work has settled into three flagship talks and a handful of close cousins, each built around real case studies and a take-home playbook. The newest one is built from live data inside the earned media OS I run, and maps how AI is remaking earned media from both sides. TOPIC 01 PRIMARY TOPIC · FLAGSHIP FOR 2026 Earned Media in the Age of AI How AI is remaking earned media from both sides at once: agents that can now run a six stage PR pipeline, and the LLMs and AI search that decide which brands get seen. Built from real data inside the earned media OS I run, with three live activities the room works through together. WHAT THE AUDIENCE LEAVES WITH 01. The six stage AI pipeline: Signal, Authority Content, Verify, Match, Pitch, Attribute 02. Three live activities: an idea sprint, spot the slop, and a pitch clinic on real work 03. Why LLMs and AI search now decide which brands get seen, and what they reward 04. The Coverage Flywheel: how one placement compounds into six returns 05. Honest failures: exactly where AI still cannot do the job of a PR team HEADLINE NUMBER 06 STAGE AI PIPELINE · RUN LIVE IN THE ROOM SEE THE FULL SESSION → Book this talk → TOPIC 02 PRIMARY TOPIC · MOST-REQUESTED Digital PR for Publicity How to land bylines, quotes and features in publications your buyers actually read — without paying for a PR agency. HARO, journalist outreach, story design. WHAT THE AUDIENCE LEAVES WITH 01. Why earned media outperforms paid in 2026 02. The HARO playbook: pitch, follow-up, conversion 03. Tactics for landing Forbes, HBR, HuffPost 04. Building a journalist relationship that compounds 05. Measuring earned media ROI (the right way) HEADLINE NUMBER 60+ MEDIA PLACEMENTS · SINGLE CAMPAIGN Book this talk → TOPIC 03 PRIMARY TOPIC · MOST-REQUESTED Boosting Organic Visibility Through SEO-PR The synthesis of SEO and digital PR. How to compound rankings and authority by earning links from publications, not buying them. Built on a hundred client campaigns. WHAT THE AUDIENCE LEAVES WITH 01. The SEO-PR loop: content → outreach → authority → rankings 02. Where in-house teams plateau, and how to break through 03. Live case studies: Ridester (0 → 1.5M visitors) 04. How Centriq saw 120% traffic and 6× signups 05. A repeatable system for organic, durable growth HEADLINE NUMBER 6× DAILY SIGNUPS · CENTRIQ CASE Book this talk → AND THREE MORE IN REGULAR ROTATION TOPIC 04 Writing Your Way to Success Content marketing that builds brand, authority, and pipeline — with three case studies (Buffer, River Pools, a client at $200K/mo). TOPIC 05 Brand Yourself for Success Personal branding for founders & operators. The five pillars: clarity, consistency, content, community, credibility. TOPIC 06 Media Hacks · Free Publicity A tactical, repeatable, no-budget playbook for getting featured in Forbes, HBR and HuffPost without an agency retainer. MPS2016, Dubai · “How Startup Founders Can Use Personal Branding to Attract the Right Opportunities.” PHOTO BY HAFEEZSAEED.COM § 03 PAST STAGES · A PARTIAL INVENTORY VOL. XV · № 03 Where the talks have travelled. Four countries on stage, more on the webinar and podcast circuit. Below is the inventory, by format, with a short note on the talk. 2019 MaGIC Digital marketing for entrepreneurs 2018 IN5 Innovation Hub Media Hacks · Free Publicity 2018 Durshal Personal Branding 2018 Arabian Travel Market (ATM)BIGGEST Marketing to the Modern Muslim Traveller (~500 audience) 2018 IDM Pakistan Inbound Marketing Curriculum · 5 sessions · 10 hrs · In Urdu 2018 IMSciences Entrepreneurship, for MBA students 2017 DMSS Conference Media Hacks (~200 audience) 2017 Digital Youth Summit (DYS) Personal Branding in a Digital Era 2017 National Incubation Center Inbound marketing, for startups at NIC 2016 MPS2016 · M Powered Summit Digital marketing keynote 2016 Empower Pakistan Youth entrepreneurship, at a World Bank Group backed programme 2016 Google Business Group (GBG) Growth Hacking: a five step process for building a personal brand · 3 hrs 2016 AstroLabs Growth Hacking Your Brand to Success 2016 IK Institute of Business Co-trainer with Irfan Khairi 2015 IYDC Social Media · panel discussion 2014 G-Day X Digital marketing & entrepreneurship 2014 University of Peshawar Student talk 2013 NUST Islamabad Entrepreneurship On call Uhubs (SaaS) Internal SEO-PR training On call Ruth King's Business Radio Guest interview THE ROOMS THEMSELVES SEE THE FULL GALLERY → ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET, DUBAI · 2018 MPS2016, DUBAI ASTROLABS, DUBAI IN5 INNOVATION HUB, DUBAI MAGIC, CYBERJAYA · 2019 STARTUP GRIND, PESHAWAR NIC ISLAMABAD · 2017 DURSHAL, PESHAWAR · 2018 FROM THE CONSULTING ROSTER → THE SAME COMPANIES TRUST MY WORK WHEN THEY HIRE ME AS SPEAKER THE FULL ROSTER → GIZ GERMANY Marcus Evans LONDON, UK BRØNSHØJ, COPENHAGEN Booking a speaker is a low-stakes way to evaluate whether the bureau’s approach fits your company. § 04 AVAILABLE FORMATS · SIX WAYS TO HOST VOL. XV · № 04 01 20–45 MIN Keynote Opening or closing keynote · single-track conferences, summits, internal kickoffs. 02 HALF / FULL Workshop Hands-on training for marketing and growth teams. Cohorts of 8 to 50, with worksheets. 03 45–60 MIN Panel Moderated panel or co-panelist. Best paired with one of the signature topics. 04 45–60 MIN Webinar Virtual delivery with live Q&A. Recording rights negotiable. 05 45–90 MIN Podcast guest Long-form conversation. Bring research notes; the better the prep, the better the episode. 06 ON REQUEST Radio · video Business radio, video interviews, fireside chats. Examples: Ruth King's Business Radio Show. ON CAMERA AND ONLINE Webinar SEMRUSH WEBINAR, CO-HOSTED WITH SEMRUSH RECORDING THE SIA BUSINESS PODCAST Video interview AS A GUEST, ON CAMERA Recorded work, not stage credits. The rooms are in the inventory above. TRAINING · A FULL CURRICULUM, NOT A TALK Ten hours. Five sessions. One curriculum. A keynote proves I can hold a stage for forty five minutes. A commissioned ten hour inbound marketing curriculum, taught live to a training company’s paying students, proves something harder: that the material holds up over five sessions and that people came back for every one. The whole course is public. IDM PAKISTAN · 2018 FORMAT Live course, five sessions LENGTH 10 hours of instruction AUDIENCE Enrolled students of a training company LANGUAGE Urdu Taught in Urdu. The curriculum is the same one I teach in English, and I deliver in either. WATCH THE FULL COURSE → “ Irfan is an exceptional inbound marketer. I hired him as an inbound marketing trainer at IDMPakistan. He received phenomenal feedback from all of our trainees and provided practical knowledge which helped our students immensely. … Shoaib Ahmed Baig Founder, Elyscents · IDMPakistan · Core47.ai HIRED HIM TO TEACH THE COURSE § 05 WHAT HOSTS SAY · ON THE RECORD VOL. XV · № 05 № 01 UHUBS WORKSHOP “ The audience enjoyed his super practical session and approach to helping them understand how to grow an audience online and traffic to websites using various smart methods and enjoyed his friendly and positive presentation style, clear slides and concise answers to many questions he received. Ash Ali CO-FOUNDER, UHUBS · AUTHOR, THE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE (150K+ COPIES) № 02 “ Being a great speaker takes one part art, one part science, a whole lot of experience, an understanding of how to lead a potential customer through storytelling, emotional intelligence, and personal clarity. Irfan delivers on all of this and more. … If you are looking for a dynamic global speaker, reach out to Irfan. He will turn possibilities into realities. Chuck Wang STRATEGIC OPERATIONS & GOVERNANCE EXECUTIVE · FORMER FOUNDER/CEO № 03 DMSS, BALI “ Syed spoke at our conference www.dmss.io … He is an excellent public speaker … He comes highly recommended!! Brie Moreau AI SEO RESEARCHER № 04 M POWERED SUMMIT, DUBAI “ Syed Irfan spoke at our event the M Powered Summit in Dubai on Personal Branding. Based on the feedback we got from the audience, it was a highly informative talk and everyone benefitted from it. We are glad to have him as a speaker and we highly recommend him. … Abd Elmohaimen Mansi CO-FOUNDER · TRAVEL & MOBILITY AS A SERVICE № 05 MUSLIM MARKETING SUMMIT · ONLINE “ Irfan's talk on How to Get Published in Large Publications at Muslim Marketing Summit was insightful. It was based on the core idea of building authentic trustworthy relationship with media. I highly recommend Irfan for Media & PR related solutions. Shereen Pasha LAUNCH STRATEGIST · COURSE LAUNCH & BUSINESS MANAGEMENT EXPERT № 06 IMSCIENCES, PESHAWAR “ Recently, Irfan came and delivered a guest lecture on entrepreneurship to my MBA students at IMSciences (a prestigious business school, which ranks 4th in Pakistan at this time). Students' feedback for his lecture were, “Outstanding!”, “Highly recommended for future guest lectures!” and the likes. Abdul Ghaffar LECTURER · ENTREPRENEURSHIP · STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT · ECONOMICS Zarinah El-Amin FOUNDER, LEGACY STORYKEEPERS · AUTHOR · 2X TEDX SPEAKER · KNIGHT FOUNDATION AWARDEE “My first introduction to Syed was when I caught his talk on HOW TO GET PUBLISHED IN MAJOR PUBLICATIONS. In just 15 min, he gave practical, easy to follow advice that I will definitely be implementing!” ROOM · MUSLIM MARKETING SUMMIT · ONLINE Maryam Arshad Mahmood GROWTH AND MARKET STRATEGY LEADER · PARTNERSHIPS @ GOOGLE “… it was a pleasure calling Irfan as a distinguished guest speaker for IYDC2015 (Iqra Youth Development Conference) which featured more than 40 international and local speakers in Peshawar. … His friendly nature and humble personality make attendees interact with him a lot more easily (in comparison to other speakers).” ROOM · IYDC 2015, PESHAWAR Quoted verbatim from public LinkedIn recommendations. An ellipsis marks a trim, nothing else has been changed. Job titles are current and in most cases postdate the session being described. § 06 THE BOOKING PROCESS · FOUR STEPS VOL. XV · № 06 How to put me on your stage. I keep the process small and unfussy. The whole thing usually takes a couple of email exchanges and a thirty-minute call. 01 Send the brief Drop a note with the event, audience, date, and the metric you want moved. Anything you can share helps. 02 I respond in 1 working day With topic options matched to your audience, dates that work, and terms. No pressure, no salesy follow-up. 03 Pre-talk research call 30 minutes with you (and ideally a stakeholder) to make the talk specific to your room — not a generic deck. 04 Deliver, on time Show up early, run AV checks, deliver the talk, stay for Q&A, and follow up with a written recap if useful. START THE BOOKING CONVERSATION → READY TO BOOK? Let’s put a talk on your stage. Send a brief, get a response inside a working day. No salesy follow-up. INQUIRE ABOUT BOOKING → SPEAKER ONE-SHEET ↓ MEDIA KIT ↓ PRESS KIT → BOOK A SLOT Pick a time that works for you. ● 2 FRACTIONAL CMO SPOTS · Q3 2026 GET CITED BEFORE YOUR SERIES A · EMOS FOUNDING CLASS LIVE RADARS: EARNED MEDIA · KSA TOURISM · FOUNDER MOVERS INVITE ME TO YOUR STAGE · KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS ● 2 FRACTIONAL CMO SPOTS · Q3 2026 GET CITED BEFORE YOUR SERIES A · EMOS FOUNDING CLASS LIVE RADARS: EARNED MEDIA · KSA TOURISM · FOUNDER MOVERS INVITE ME TO YOUR STAGE · KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS § 08 VOL. XV · № 08 ↑ ↓ ## EMOS Academy · Earned Media OS for Founders · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/emos-academy Build the Media Presence Investors Check Before Your First Meeting. IN A HURRY? WATCH THE 45-SECOND FILM NOT A COURSE NO AGENCY RETAINERS NO AD SPEND NO PLATFORM DEPENDENCY EMOS Academy, built on EMOS, the Earned Media Operating System, is a Guided Implementation System for founders 3 to 12 months from a Series A. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → 5 minutes. Decision within 48 hours. 🛡 PLACEMENTS-OR-REFUND GUARANTEE Every dollar back if we miss what we promised. SEE TERMS ↓ WHERE WE'VE PLACED CLIENTS FORBES YAHOO BUSINESS INSIDER MSN AOL READER'S DIGEST APARTMENT THERAPY HEALTHLINE FORBES YAHOO BUSINESS INSIDER MSN AOL READER'S DIGEST APARTMENT THERAPY HEALTHLINE MARKETWATCH BANKRATE MASHABLE ENTREPRENEUR THE MIRROR THE NEXT WEB GOBANKINGRATES CONSUMER HEALTH DIGEST MARKETWATCH BANKRATE MASHABLE ENTREPRENEUR THE MIRROR THE NEXT WEB GOBANKINGRATES CONSUMER HEALTH DIGEST VCs look you up before the first meeting. What they find, or don't find, is already shaping the conversation. 218 CITATIONS EARNED MarketWatch · Forbes · Bankrate 5+ TIER 1 PLACEMENTS Top-tier publications only 100% EARNED · ZERO PAY-TO-PLAY No sponsored content Physicians Thrive · 13-month campaign · Live metrics from a production campaign built on the same system EMOS deploys. THE OFFER · 30-SECOND READ A guided cohort where you build your own earned-media system in 4 to 8 weeks, then keep it forever. Placements-or-refund guarantee. Foundation · $2,000 · 4 weeks Accelerate · $3,500 · 8 weeks one-time · plan for 3 to 5 hrs/week SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → Apply in 5 minutes. No payment now. I review within 48 hours, then a 15-minute fit call decides. § 1 BUILT BY COLUMNIST · AGENCY OPERATOR · ~13 YEARS WRITTEN & CITED IN Forbes, HBR, HuffPost, World Bank, SEJ, The Next Web, Yahoo, MSN, SEMrush, SERPed + more INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER Arabian Travel Market · MaGIC Malaysia · Astrolabs Dubai · DMSS.io Bali CUSTOM WORKSHOPS Delivered for SEMrush (NYSE: SEMR) & Uhubs (SaaS, UK) Someone who's been on both sides of the journalist's inbox. EMOS is the consolidation of two perspectives most operators only ever see one of: the agency operator sending pitches, and the columnist reading them. Founded an earned media agency ~13 years ago. Earlier, co-founded an award-winning geo-spatial intelligence startup and led marketing at two more ventures, all bootstrapped to profitability. Hosts The SIA Business Podcast (7+ years). Clients across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and the Gulf. ~13 YEARS, AGENCY 100+ PUBLICATIONS $1.2M CLIENT REV/MO 4 CONTINENTS LIVE · WIRE The Earned Media Radar. A live map of what the press is covering across PR, earned media, SEO, and AI search — powered by SignalIQ. 28 BEATS TRACKED 4 LENSES · PR / SEO / GEO / EARNED OPEN RADAR → ALSO LIVE KSA TOURISM & HOSPITALITY RADAR→ KSA RETAIL & CONSUMER RADAR→ FOUNDER MOVERS→ § 2 THE REAL PROBLEM · WHY MOST FOUNDERS FAIL AT PR Four failure modes. Every industry. EMOS is built to remove all four. Click any card to read the full pattern. 01 + Generic Mass-Pitching NO FOUNDER POV · NO ANGLE · NO RESPONSE Press release to 200 journalists FIVE-SECOND EDITOR FILTER · NEVER GETS READ 02 + Agency Dependency Trap $4K TO $10K PER MONTH · KNOWLEDGE WALKS WHEN IT ENDS Pay retainer · Own nothing RELATIONSHIPS, TEMPLATES, DATA: GONE ON EXIT 03 + No System TRIED SPORADICALLY · ABANDONED IN 3 WEEKS 20 queries · No response · Tab closed PLATFORM WAS RIGHT · CONSISTENCY WASN'T 04 + Wrong Pitch TREATING JOURNALISTS LIKE SALES PROSPECTS Pitch company, not the story GET IGNORED OR BLOCKED · CONCLUDE PRESS DOESN'T WORK § 3 THE INVESTOR LENS · HOW VCS READ YOUR MEDIA PRESENCE How investors read your media presence. Press coverage is not vanity. To a VC running a five-minute pre-meeting search, what they find is already a signal, whether you intended it to be or not. WHAT THEY FIND WHAT THEY THINK No press mentions “Unknown. Higher risk.” Generic or low-tier mentions “Chasing vanity. No real traction.” Cited in relevant publications “Credible. Knows their space.” Consistent Tier 1 coverage “This founder has pull. Worth a meeting.” FIG. 3 WHAT THE VC FINDS · THE PRE-MEETING SEARCH § 3 · INVESTOR LENS What happens when a VC looks you up five minutes before the first call, without EMOS, and after. BEFORE EMOS · THE PRE-MEETING SEARCH "[Your Name]" founder Series A COMPANYNAME.COM Your Company | Official Website companyname.com LINKEDIN.COM Your Name | Co-Founder & CEO, Your Company linkedin.com/in/yourname No third-party coverage found. VC'S PRE-MEETING READ "Unknown. No outside validation. Higher risk, harder to back." AFTER EMOS · THE SAME SEARCH FORBES 5 Founders Reshaping [Your Industry] in 2025 forbes.com/sites/contributor/2025/… HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Why [Your Insight] Is Changing How Enterprises Buy hbr.org/2025/03/… YAHOO FINANCE · BUSINESS INSIDER Quoted as industry expert in 3 market analyses this quarter finance.yahoo.com · businessinsider.com ENTREPRENEUR · MARKETWATCH Named a top voice in [Your Space] by two publications entrepreneur.com · marketwatch.com VC'S PRE-MEETING READ "This founder has pull. They own the narrative in their space. Worth a meeting." Authority isn't a vibe. It's how the buying decision happens now. Three numbers that explain why earned authority outperforms paid acquisition on the metrics that matter to a founder under fundraising pressure. 83% B2B DECISIONS BEFORE FIRST CONTACT Prospects and investors research independently. If you're not credible where they look, you're not on the list. GARTNER / EDELMAN-LINKEDIN B2B REPORT 3× MORE LIKELY TO TAKE A MEETING B2B buyers trust thought leadership over marketing materials. A journalist quoting you does what no landing page ever can. EDELMAN-LINKEDIN 2024/2025 $160K→$1.2M MONTHLY REVENUE LIFT · CLIENT CASE STUDY National Tyres & Autocare scaled from $160K to $1.2M monthly organic revenue. Earned coverage compounds; paid ads stop when you pause spend. CLIENT CASE STUDY · NTA CAMPAIGN § 4 WHY NOW · THE FUNDRAISING TIMELINE PROBLEM Six months from now is too late. Press takes 30 to 60 days to materialize, Tier 1 placements 60 to 120. Most founders only realize this after their first investor call, when a VC says “I couldn't find much about you online”, and by then the diligence window is far shorter than the quarter it takes to fix. If you wait until fundraising starts, you're already late. FIG. 1 THE PRESS LEAD TIME PROBLEM § 5 · WHY NOW Coverage takes 30 to 120 days to materialize. Start EMOS today and both tiers are live before investors run their pre-meeting search. Wait 90 days and Tier 1 doesn't arrive in time. 90 0 DAY LAG · TIER 1 COVERAGE Average time from starting outreach to seeing your first Tier 1 placement appear live. 180 0 DAYS TO SERIES A WINDOW Start today. Both coverage tiers clear before VCs run their pre-meeting search at month 5. TODAY 30D 60D 90D 120D 150D 6 MOS. TIER 2/3 30 TO 45 DAY LAG TIER 2/3 PLACEMENTS LIVE TIER 1 60 TO 90 DAY LAG TIER 1 LIVE VC DUE DILIG. VCS SEARCH ✓ Both tiers live before VCs run their pre-meeting search, start EMOS today. ✗ Wait 90 days to start and Tier 1 doesn't arrive before your Series A. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → 5 minutes. Decision within 48 hours. § 5 THE PAYOFF · SIX COMPOUNDING BENEFITS Six benefits. One compounding engine. Every advantage EMOS builds, arranged around the flywheel that compounds them. Hover, tap, or focus any segment to explore. Coverage Flywheel SIX COMPOUNDING BENEFITS 01 REPUTATION 02 VISIBILITY 03 CONVERSIONS 04 BRAND EQUITY 05 MAGNETISM 06 LIBERTY SEE HOW EMOS BUILDS ALL SIX → § 6 THE 5-RETURN FRAMEWORK · ONE PLACEMENT, FIVE RETURNS One placement. Five returns. Most founders treat a press placement as a one-off win. EMOS extracts five parallel returns from every single one. Which is why one Forbes citation can keep paying for years. FIG. 2 ONE PLACEMENT, FIVE RETURNS § 9 · 5-RETURN FRAMEWORK A single Tier 1 placement multiplies into five parallel returns, each active independently, long after the article goes live. 1 PLACEMENT × 5 RETURNS 01 SEO Authority A high-DA backlink lifts your domain rating; target pages rank higher for the keywords your buyers use 02 LLM Citation ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews cite credible publications, your name surfaces in AI answers 03 Sales Collateral "As featured in" lifts homepage trust, deck credibility, and email-signature legitimacy 04 Investor Proof Founders cited in Tier 1 skip the "who is this?" question before the meeting starts 05 Social Signal Share-worthy content for LinkedIn and X, earned coverage compounds organic reach § 7 CURRICULUM · THREE STAGES, TWO TRACKS Three stages. One compounding system. Stop outsourcing authority. Start owning it. Each stage produces a concrete output you keep forever. 01 01 WEEKS 1 TO 4 FOUNDATION & ACCELERATE Get Quoted Pitching muscle built. First verified Tier 2/3 placements earned. Investor-ready citation list starts taking shape. Quotable zones mapped & media kit live 5 personalized pitch templates 15+ pitches submitted with tracking sheet At least 1 verified placement BUILDS INTO → 02 02 WEEKS 5 TO 8 ACCELERATE ONLY Build Authority Assets Syed works alongside you on your first 5 pitches. One owned linkable asset goes live. Tier 1 outreach in motion. Done-with-you first 5 placements Original report or data study Infographic and mapographic Direct outreach to 15 to 20 Tier 1 journalists LINKABLE ASSET CAN BE Report Data study AI mini-tool Calculator Quiz COMPOUNDS INTO → 03 03 POST-COHORT ACCELERATE-LED Scale & Systemize The machine runs without you. Coverage compounds month over month, long after the cohort ends. 20+ named-journalist target list VA-ready system & sourcing module 90-day scaling plan 5-return extraction from every placement FIG. 4 COHORT 1 · WEEK BY WEEK § 7 · WHAT YOU'LL BUILD 8 weeks, 2 tracks, one compounding system. Foundation closes at Week 4 with a guaranteed placement. Accelerate adds four more weeks of Tier 1 linkable asset building. COHORT 1 · ROLLING APPLICATIONS W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 FOUNDATION · WKS 1 to 4 · 1 PLACEMENT GUARANTEED IN 60 DAYS ACCELERATE · WKS 5 to 8 · 2 PLACEMENTS GUARANTEED IN 90 DAYS PLATFORMS LIVE Media kit ready 5 TEMPLATES 8 to 10 pitches sent 15+ PITCHES Tracking live 1ST PLACEMENT ✓ 20-journalist list built REPORT CONCEPT locked DRAFT + INFOGRAPHIC in production 20 JOURNALISTS identified REPORT LIVE Tier 1 outreach Choose the track that matches how fast you need to move. Both tracks teach the same foundation. Accelerate adds 4 more weeks for founders who want Tier 1 publications and linkable assets. FOUNDATION ACCELERATE ★ BEST VALUE DURATION 4 weeks 8 weeks INVESTMENT $2,000 one-time $3,500 one-time SLACK ACCESS 30 days 90 days WEEKLY GROUP CALLS ✓ ✓ 1-ON-1 CALLS · ✓ DONE-WITH-YOU FIRST 5 PLACEMENTS · ✓ LINKABLE ASSET BUILD · ✓ EMOS TOOLS Outreach Checklist Full suite PLACEMENTS GUARANTEED 1 in 60 days 2 in 90 days FIG. 5 WINNING PITCH ANATOMY § 10 · CURRICULUM · WEEK 2 The five elements that separate a pitch that gets used from a press release that gets deleted. Most founders include two. EMOS builds the muscle for all five. TO / SUBJECT To: [Editor, First Name] · [Publication] Subject: Re: New data on [beat], angle for you OPENER Hi [First name], caught your piece on [topic] last week. There's a data connection here I think you'll want. THE ANGLE We surveyed 400 B2B founders preparing for a Series A raise. 71% said investors ask about media presence in meeting one. Most aren't ready. Most advisors haven't said a word. PROOF + CREDENTIALS Data + methodology available. [Pub] ran a similar angle in Q1. [Name] · [Title], [Company] · [One-sentence credential]. THE ASK Would 15 minutes work this week to walk through the data? Happy to give you exclusivity if you move fast. [Name] SUBJECT LINE Beat-specific. Under 8 words. No PR boilerplate. OPENER Name their article. Earn 3 more seconds of attention. THE ANGLE Story first. Product last. Surprise is the hook. PROOF + CREDS One stat. One-line bio. Proof before credentials. THE ASK 15 minutes. Low-friction. Exclusivity as the lever. FOUNDATION TRACK · 4 WEEKS Week 1 · Foundation & Platform Setup + How the journalist outreach ecosystem actually works. Identifying your quotable zones. The Relevancy Spectrum framework. Media kit and bio templates ready to send. Deliverable: All platforms live. Media kit complete. 3 polished bio variations. Week 2 · Pitch Writing Mastery + Anatomy of a winning pitch, written for the journalist's reader. Speed vs. quality. Subject line psychology. Live pitch teardowns on your real submissions. Deliverable: 5 personalized pitch templates. First batch of 8 to 10 submitted. Week 3 · Volume, Tracking & Optimization + A sustainable pitching routine. Tracking the metrics that matter. The 700+ site blacklist. Common rejection patterns and how to overcome them. Deliverable: 15+ pitches submitted. Tracking system live. Optimization plan documented. Week 4 · Advanced Strategies, VA & Scale + Building journalist relationships for repeat coverage. Breaking news monitoring. Extracting five returns from every placement. VA sourcing and training: typical cost $500 to $1,500 per month. Deliverable: At least 1 verified placement. 20+ named journalist target list. 90-day scaling plan. ACCELERATE TRACK · WEEKS 5 TO 8 (ADDS TO FOUNDATION) Week 5 · Data Brief & Planning + What makes a linkable asset genuinely newsworthy. Data audit. Report concept development. Introduction to JournoCollabIQ [Beta] for identifying high-fit journalists. Deliverable: Report concept locked. Methodology documented. Data sources identified. Week 6 · Report Build + First draft review. Infographic and mapographic concepts. Asset production coordination. Deliverable: First draft complete. Infographic + mapographic in production. Week 7 · Outreach Strategy + Identifying 15 to 20 named journalists at target publications. Direct pitch training. Headline testing. Three outreach templates. Deliverable: 15 to 20 journalists identified. 3 templates ready. Headline variants tested. Week 8 · Launch & Outreach + Publishing on a dedicated landing page. Tier 1 exclusivity strategy. Integrating the report into your ongoing earned media process. Deliverable: Report live. Tier 1 and Tier 2 outreach sent. Report integrated into all future pitching. § 8 TOOLS · PURPOSE-BUILT FOR THE SYSTEM Three tools. Included free. Founding cohort only. Purpose-built tools that replace the manual work. Cohort 1 founding members get free 3-month access to all three. 🔑 FOUNDING MEMBER BENEFIT · COHORT 1 ONLY Free 3-month access to all three tools. 01 + The Journo Outreach Checklist PITCH TRACKING · FOLLOW-UPS · PLACEMENT LOG Every pitch and follow-up in one place TOOL 01 · REPLACES SCATTERED SPREADSHEETS 02 + PressIQBETA PR PITCH SCORER · MECHANICS · PERSONALIZATION Score and fix your pitch before you send TOOL 02 · REPLACES SENDING BLIND 03 + JournoCollabIQBETA JOURNALIST MATCHING · BEAT · COVERAGE FIT The journalists most likely to respond TOOL 03 · REPLACES COLD GUESSWORK § 9 PROOF · THE SAME SYSTEM. THEIR RESULTS. The same system. Their results. Five results from client campaigns across the US, UK, and Gulf. Click any card to read the full testimony. FOUNDERS WE'VE WORKED WITH RIDESTER CUREDNATION CENTRIQ DUNLOP TIRES BEEBOLE QURAN ACADEMY EFANI SMITH THOMPSON PARALIGN RIDESTER CUREDNATION CENTRIQ DUNLOP TIRES BEEBOLE QURAN ACADEMY EFANI SMITH THOMPSON PARALIGN + 1.5M MONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS · RIDESTER.COM Brett Helling MEDIA · RIDESHARING · UNITED STATES 🇺🇸 + +120% ORGANIC TRAFFIC INCREASE · CENTRIQ Imani Lea Brown SAAS · HOME MANAGEMENT · UNITED STATES 🇺🇸 + DR 1→27 DOMAIN RATING GROWTH · CUREDNATION Trent Carter HEALTHCARE · UNITED STATES 🇺🇸 + +140% TRAFFIC IN 3 MONTHS · DINAR STANDARD Reem El Shafaki FINANCE · US/UAE 🇦🇪 + Pos. #4 GOOGLE RANK · 160K MONTHLY SEARCHES Azzam Sheikh E-COMMERCE · AUTOCARE · UNITED KINGDOM 🇬🇧 § 10 FIT CHECK · WHO THIS IS NOT FOR Who this is NOT for. ✗ NOT FOR YOU IF YOU ARE: ✕ A pre-revenue founder with no story to pitch yet. Come back when you have customer outcomes to talk about. ✕ A founder who isn't ready to be quoted publicly with their name and title attached. That's the whole point of EMOS. ✕ A passive learner who wants to watch videos and hope for results. This is implementation work, not a Netflix queue. ✕ Anyone looking for someone to do it entirely for them. I have a done-for-you service for that, but it isn't this. ✓ THIS IS FOR YOU This is for founders 3 to 12 months from a raise who are willing to do the work, or have a team member or VA willing to do it under your direction. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → § 11 THE MATH · SIA AUTHORITY ROI CALCULATOR Find out how much EMOS will save you in financial costs alone. Let alone the benefits of doing things in-house: investor credibility, AI citations, sales proof, and compounding reach. Adjust to your real numbers. COMPARE AGAINST Monthly agency retainer Link-buying spend / month MONTHLY AGENCY RETAINER $2,000 Boutique SEO from $2K/mo · mid-market agencies $3K to $5K/mo · link-building add-ons $1K to $3K/mo. MONTHLY VISITORS (ALL CHANNELS) 1,500 Organic, paid, direct and referral combined. AVERAGE ORDER / DEAL VALUE $200 YOUR TRACK Foundation $2,000 4 WEEKS · 1 PLACEMENT IN 60 DAYS · SELECTED ✓ Accelerate $3,500 8 WEEKS · 2 PLACEMENTS · DONE-WITH-YOU WHERE YOU STAND TODAY 1% BASELINE CVR conservative floor 15/mo CUSTOMERS traffic × 1% $36K ANNUAL REV at 1% CVR 12-MONTH NET POSITION RENTING · AGENCY SPEND $12,000 $36K revenue − $24K annual agency spend OWNING · EMOS (ONE-TIME) $192,400 $180K revenue + $14K link equity − one-time fee ROI YOUR 12-MONTH NET IMPROVEMENT $180,400 9,020% ROI ON FEE 1 wk PAYBACK $15K/mo MONTHLY GAIN SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → 5 minutes · Decision within 48 hours Locked assumptions: 2 earned placements per month, $600 link-equity value each, conversion lifts 1% to 5%, 12-month horizon. Financial ROI only: does not count investor credibility, LLM citations, or sales collateral. § 12 INVESTMENT · TWO TRACKS, ONE-TIME FEE Two tracks. One-time investment. Capability you keep forever. A traditional agency charges $60,000 to $240,000 a year for content, SEO, and digital PR, before a single result lands, and the knowledge walks out when the contract ends. EMOS: $2,000 to $3,500 one-time. The capability stays. Forever. This is founding cohort pricing. Cohort 2 will cost more. One placement on a DA 80+ site is worth more than the program. Use the SIA Authority ROI Calculator ↑ to run the numbers for your business. FOUNDATION $2K ONE-TIME · 4 WEEKS ✓ Group cohort format ✓ 30-day Slack access ✓ 1 placement guaranteed in 60 days ✓ The Journo Outreach Checklist · Done-with-you placements · Linkable asset build APPLY → ★ BEST VALUE ACCELERATE $3.5K ONE-TIME · 8 WEEKS ✓ Done-with-you first 5 placements ✓ Group + 1-on-1 strategy calls ✓ 90-day Slack access ✓ 2 placements guaranteed in 90 days ✓ Priority pitch reviews (4 hrs) ✓ VA sourcing module ✓ Linkable asset build (Weeks 5 to 8) ✓ Full EMOS Tools suite ✓ Lifetime access to future cohorts APPLY → YOUR REAL COST OVER 3 YEARS EMOS is a one-time investment. The only ongoing cost is optional: a VA to run the system, roughly $5K to $30K a year depending on where you hire, or $0 if you run it yourself. An agency bills the full amount again, every single year. $3.5K once, then an optional VA · $3.5K to ~$40K total CONTENT + SEO + PR AGENCIES $180K to $720K total YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 Agencies bill the full amount again, every year. EMOS is paid once. Three years of EMOS, even with an onshore VA, runs about half the cheapest agency path and a fraction of the rest. Run it yourself and it's a rounding error. APPLY FOR COHORT 1 5 seats. Rolling applications. Here's how to claim one. One short application. I review every submission personally within 48 hours. If it's a fit, I'll send a Calendly link to talk through the details. BOTH TRACKS INCLUDE LIFETIME ACCESS TO EVERY FUTURE EMOS COHORT 1 Submit your application · 5 minutes 2 Personal review by Syed · within 48 hours 3 15-minute call to confirm fit · qualified applicants only 4 Decision and onboarding SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → 5 minutes. Decision within 48 hours. § 13 RISK REVERSAL · THE GUARANTEE A guarantee no PR agency will ever match. 1 verified media placement in 60 days, or every dollar back. No negotiation. YOU COMMIT: ✓ Foundation: Complete all 4 sessions and submit at least 15 pitches ✓ Accelerate: Complete all 8 weeks and submit at least 30 pitches ✓ Share your tracking spreadsheet as proof of effort I COMMIT: ✓ Foundation: 1 verified placement within 60 days of cohort end ✓ Accelerate: 2 verified placements within 90 days ✓ If I miss either: full refund of the investment EMOS is new, but the playbook behind it isn't. It's the same earned-media approach my agency has used for ~13 years, and clients who work it consistently earn placements. A “verified placement” counts in any earned form: an article or feature, an expert quote, a podcast interview, or a roundup inclusion, in a recognized outlet that names you. Full terms in the Refund Policy. § 14 FAQ · COMMON QUESTIONS Common questions. How much time does this require each week? + Plan for 3 to 5 hours per week: 90 minutes for the live session plus 2 to 3 hours for assignments. The assignments aren't busywork: they're real pitches going to real journalists. Most founders pair the system with a part-time VA ($300 to $1,500 per month). I don't have a team member who can run this. What do I do? + Accelerate includes a VA sourcing and training module. I help you identify what support you need, source the right person, and train them on the system. The real qualification isn't whether you have someone today; it's whether you're willing to hire one after the program ends. I tried PR before and it didn't work. Why is this different? + Short version: most failed efforts share four traits (generic mass pitching, no founder POV, no consistent system, agency dependency). EMOS removes all four, and because the coverage is earned, it compounds instead of evaporating when you stop paying. The full breakdown is in The Real Problem above. Is this really better than hiring agencies for content, SEO, and PR? + Agencies run $60,000 to $240,000 a year and the knowledge leaves when the relationship does. EMOS is a one-time investment that builds the capability inside your company. Some clients do both; most don't need to. See the 3-year cost comparison in Investment above, and run your own numbers in the calculator. Will this work for my industry? + Yes, provided you have customers, results, or a defensible point of view. The system has produced placements for SaaS, fintech, healthcare, marketplaces, e-commerce, AI, mobility, education, and consumer products. When can I expect my first placement? + Most participants submit their first pitches in Week 2 and land their first verified placement within 4 to 6 weeks of cohort end. Tier 1 placements generally take 60 to 120 days from a cold start. Will this still work as AI changes search? + Earned media is the most resilient channel against AI-driven shifts. For AI visibility, brand mentions matter even more than backlinks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews surface the names credible publications talk about, linked or not. Earned coverage gets you both at once: the brand mentions AI cites you for, and the high-authority backlinks that lift your SEO and rank your domain for the terms your buyers use. EMOS doesn't just survive the AI shift; it's built to benefit from it. How exactly does the placement guarantee work? + Foundation: 15 pitches, 1 placement in 60 days. Accelerate: 30 pitches, 2 in 90 days. Miss it and I refund in full. Full terms, and what each side commits to, are in The Guarantee above. What are the EMOS tools? And do I really get them free? + Yes. Cohort 1 founding members get free 3-month access. The Journo Outreach Checklist tracks every pitch, follow-up, and placement, and is included on both tracks. Accelerate adds the full suite: PressIQ [Beta], the PR pitch scorer that grades your pitch on mechanics, personalization, and strength; and JournoCollabIQ [Beta], which surfaces the journalists most likely to respond by beat and coverage fit. Stop renting authority. Start owning it. This time next year, your team owns the system. Your name lives in the publications your buyers and investors already trust. The coverage compounds long after the program ends. ROLLING APPLICATIONS, NEXT COHORT FORMING NOW · FIVE FOUNDERS · APPLICATION REQUIRED SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION → 5 minutes. Decision within 48 hours. Know a founder who should see this? COPY PAGE LINK © 2026 SYED IRFAN AJMAL · SIA ENTERPRISES INC TERMS OF SERVICE SIA@SYEDIRFANAJMAL.COM $2K · $3.5K one-time · Cohort 1 · 5 seats APPLY → ## EMOS Platform — the earned-media operating system · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/emos-platform EARNED MEDIA OPERATING SYSTEM SIGN IN → THE PLATFORM Your whole earned-media engine, in one system. The free SIA tools each do one job. EMOS connects them into a single workflow — detect the story, build the asset, find the journalist, score the pitch, track the coverage — under one login, with your pipeline saved as you go. GET EMOS · $50/MONTH SIGN IN $50/month · cancel any time · secure payment via Stripe LIVE · WIRE The Earned Media Radar. A live map of what the press is covering across PR, earned media, SEO, and AI search — powered by SignalIQ. 28 BEATS TRACKED 4 LENSES · PR / SEO / GEO / EARNED OPEN RADAR → ALSO LIVE KSA TOURISM & HOSPITALITY RADAR→ KSA RETAIL & CONSUMER RADAR→ FOUNDER MOVERS→ ONE PIPELINE, FIVE STAGES each tool hands off to the next 01 SignalIQ STORY DETECTION Scan open data for newsworthy signals and save the strongest opportunities. 02 AssetIQ LINKABLE ASSET BUILDER Turn a signal into a linkable asset — a report, calculator, or quiz worth citing. 03 JournoCollabIQ JOURNALIST CRM Build and manage journalist relationships and track every touchpoint. 04 PressIQ PITCH SCORING Score and sharpen each pitch against a 32-point journalist rubric before you send. 05 CoverageIQ PITCH TRACKING Track the full pipeline from drafted to published to amplified. Run the whole play in-house. The public tools are the shop window. EMOS is the system behind it — the playbooks, the journalist workflow, and every stage of the pipeline in one place. GET EMOS · $50/MONTH SIGN IN TRY THE FREE TOOLS FIRST ▾ ## Ventures · Portfolio & Side Projects · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/ventures 3 ACTIVE VENTURES VENTURES VENTURES & ENTERPRISES · EST. 2004 The businesses behind the bylines. From DMR.agency to EMOS — my ventures. DMR.agency DIGITAL PR & SEO BUREAU SPEAKING & PUBLISHING EARNED MEDIA OS FOUNDER · DMR.AGENCY SYED IRFAN AJMAL EARNED MEDIA OS DIGITAL PR GEO · SEO · CONTENT MARKETING INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER + PODCASTER SPOTLIGHT · INFLUENCE · AUTHORITY FORBES · HBR · SEMRUSH · TNW · WORLD BANK AUTHORITY OVER ALGORITHMS CONTENT THAT COMPOUNDS FOUNDER · DMR.AGENCY SYED IRFAN AJMAL EARNED MEDIA OS DIGITAL PR GEO · SEO · CONTENT MARKETING INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER + PODCASTER SPOTLIGHT · INFLUENCE · AUTHORITY FORBES · HBR · SEMRUSH · TNW · WORLD BANK AUTHORITY OVER ALGORITHMS CONTENT THAT COMPOUNDS E very venture here is built on the same thesis: earned attention compounds. Paid reach rents your audience. Owned media, editorial credibility, and genuine authority — these are the assets that appreciate. DMR.agency executes it for clients. EMOS systemises it into a repeatable framework. I teach it to founders who want to own their distribution, not lease it. The past ventures — Ohyrus and Silk Route Interactive — were built on the same instinct: use media, technology, and storytelling to give organisations leverage they otherwise couldn’t afford. One won a national startup award and cut crime rates. The other served clients on four continents. Different industries, same thread: build something worth covering, then make sure the world knows it exists. THE SIA PARADIGM Spotlight. Influence. Authority. Three forces that compound into earned credibility. And yes — the fact that the initials spell SIA is almost entirely a coincidence. 😉 S SPOTLIGHT Getting your story in front of the right journalists, editors, and outlets at exactly the right moment. I INFLUENCE Building the credibility and reputation that makes your story worth covering in the first place. A AUTHORITY Turning that coverage into compounding organic reach, domain authority, and lasting trust. § 01 CURRENT VENTURES · OPERATING NOW VOL. XV · № 01 DONE-FOR-YOU AGENCY ACTIVE § 01 DMR.agency Earn the attention you used to buy. DMR.agency is a done-for-you digital marketing bureau specialising in earned media. We help B2B companies get found by AI, rank on search, and get covered by the press — without paying for every click. The playbook is built around the SIA paradigm: Spotlight, Influence, Authority. WHAT WE DO GEO — GENERATIVE ENGINE OPTIMISATION SEO CONTENT MARKETING DIGITAL PR & EARNED MEDIA ROLE Founder & CEO VISIT DMR.AGENCY → PERSONAL BRAND + SPEAKING ACTIVE § 02 Teaching earned media to founders who refuse to stay invisible. The editorial home of the SIA paradigm. Through talks, workshops, and long-form writing, I teach founders and marketers how to own their authority rather than rent it from platforms. Speaking circuit across UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, UK, Pakistan — and virtually, worldwide. KEY EVENTS ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET · UAE DMSS · INDONESIA MAGIC · MALAYSIA ASTROLABS · UAE EMPOWERED SUMMIT · UAE UHUBS · UK IKSB · UAE DIGITAL YOUTH SUMMIT · PAKISTAN WHAT WE DO CONTENT MARKETING DIGITAL PR & PUBLICITY SEO & GEO KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS ROLE Editor-in-Chief SPEAKING & BOOKING → PRODUCTISED FRAMEWORK ACTIVE § 03 Own your authority. Stop renting it. EMOS — the Earned Media Operating System — is the productised version of the methodology DMR.agency has refined over a decade. It gives marketing teams and solo operators the exact frameworks, templates, and workflows to build an earned media engine without starting from scratch. WHAT WE DO EARNED MEDIA PLAYBOOKS DIGITAL PR FRAMEWORKS SEO-PR INTEGRATION AUTHORITY ACCELERATION ROLE Creator EXPLORE EMOS → § 02 PAST VENTURES · TRACK RECORD VOL. XV · № 02 SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE STARTUP PAST VENTURE § 01 Silk Route Interactive Award-winning startup that mapped crime — and won. A spatial intelligence company built on the conviction that data on a map could change how governments and citizens understood their world. The work proved that thesis in dramatic fashion. PRODUCTS & MILESTONES THE CRIME MAPPER Crime mapping & analysis solution. Pilot with Faisalabad Police: 34% reduction in crime rate within 3 months. Won Best Start-Up at P@SHA LaunchPad 2013. ELECTOMAP Interactive geo-spatial elections coverage on a 55″ multi-touch HD screen. Used by ARY News during Pakistan General Elections 2013. JAAGPAKISTAN Crowd-sourced anti-rigging platform. 20,000+ reports received on election day (11 May 2013) via SMS, Twitter, and email. MYVOTE Map-based info portal where voters could find their NA/PA constituency number and location. AWARDS & RECOGNITION BEST START-UP · P@SHA LAUNCHPAD 2013 BLACKBOX.VC (SILICON VALLEY) ACCELERATOR FINALIST · I2I (INVEST TO INNOVATE) CLIENTS ARY NEWS · CABLE TV CHANNEL CITY POLICE FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN ROLE Co-founder & Chief Marketing Technology Officer INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL MEDIA COMPANY PAST VENTURE § 02 Ohyrus Inc. Digital media for the world’s most growth-hungry SMEs. An international digital media company helping SMEs grow through Web 2.0, mobile, and internet marketing — serving over two dozen high-growth startups and SMEs across four continents. SELECT CLIENTS GIZ German federal enterprise · 17,000+ staff · EUR 2B business volume APARTMENT LIST World’s largest real estate search engine — San Francisco ZAARLY Proximity-based, real-time buyer-powered market platform YOORSTORE Mobile-based C2C classifieds marketplace ITSDIRECT Australia’s premiere computer e-commerce store USEDBOOK C2C classifieds portal, Italy AUSTRIA BUSINESS CENTRE Global network founded by the Kleindienst Group ROLE Chief Marketing Officer § 03 WORKING TOGETHER · OPEN FOR PROJECTS, Q3 2026 VOL. XV · № 03 Want the same for your brand? DMR.agency works with B2B companies who understand that earned media outlasts any ad campaign. If that sounds like your philosophy, let’s talk. WORK WITH DMR.AGENCY → BOOK A SPEAKING SLOT → EXPLORE EMOS → § 04 VOL. XV · № 04 ↑ ↓ ## Clients · The Roster · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/clients 30 CLIENTS ON THE ROSTER CLIENTS MY CLIENTS · FILED CLIENTS · EDITION OF 2026 Selected engagements, filed. Eight featured case studies with results. A supporting roster of clients across 20+ countries. Pre-Agency PUBLIC SECTOR · CIVIC TECH Featured 8 CASE STUDIES WITH RESULTS Full Roster ALL CLIENTS · OPEN ARCHIVE § A BEFORE FOUNDING DMR.AGENCY · THE PRE-AGENCY DESK VOL. XV · № A GERMANY 2008–2010 GIZ BONN · ESCHBORN GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit MARKETING / PROGRAMME CONTRIBUTOR Germany's official agency for international development cooperation. One of the world's largest such agencies — operates in 120+ countries with €3B+ annual volume, fully backed by the German federal government. LONDON, UK · OPERATES IN 60+ COUNTRIES 2007 Marcus Evans LONDON Marcus Evans Marcus Evans Group CONFERENCE PRODUCER · SWEDEN OFFICE Premier global business intelligence & events company. Known for high-value senior-executive conferences and summits across major industries worldwide; the C-suite side of B2B media. BRØNSHØJ, COPENHAGEN 2008 InfoShare InfoShare · Copenhagen DIGITAL / MARKETING Danish digital organisation based in Copenhagen. An early-career engagement in the Scandinavian tech scene before the move into international consulting. § B FEATURED ENGAGEMENTS · RESULTS ON THE RECORD VOL. XV · № B + $160K → $1.2M / mo MONTHLY REVENUE, POST-ENGAGEMENT National Tyres & Autocare E-COMMERCE · AUTOCARE · UNITED KINGDOM + 0 → 1.5M / mo MONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS Ridester MEDIA · RIDESHARING · UNITED STATES + +600% APP SIGN-UPS · LATER RAISED $11M IN FUNDING Centriq SAAS · HOME MANAGEMENT · UNITED STATES + +709% ORGANIC TRAFFIC Curednation HEALTHCARE · TELEMEDICINE · UNITED STATES + +300% REVENUE LIFT · ~$250K ADDED ALRUG E-COMMERCE · RUGS · UNITED STATES + MSN · RD HIGH-AUTHORITY CITATIONS EARNED Dinar Standard FINANCIAL RESEARCH · UNITED STATES + 30K / mo ORGANIC VISITORS Gigworker MEDIA · GIG ECONOMY · UNITED STATES + MSN · Bankrate · BI YEARS OF EARNED CITATIONS Physician Thrive FINANCIAL SERVICES · UNITED STATES § C ADDITIONAL CLIENTS · THE WIDER ROSTER VOL. XV · № C Dunlop Tires AUTOMOTIVE The Manchester College The Manchester College EDUCATION Smith Thompson Smith Thompson HOME SECURITY BeeBole BeeBole SAAS · TIME TRACKING Automizy SAAS · EMAIL Quran Academy EDTECH Efani SAAS · CYBERSECURITY The Big Phone Store E-COMMERCE DIGITECH DIGITECH DIGITAL AGENCY LogoDesign DESIGN SOFTWARE M3D M3D 3D PRINTING International Insurance INSURANCE Qaleen HOME GOODS · RUGS The Canvas Prints The Canvas Prints E-COMMERCE TyreShopper TyreShopper AUTOMOTIVE E-COMM. Avidon Marketing Group MARKETING AGENCY The Brand Crew MARKETING AGENCY Link Caffeine MARKETING AGENCY · SEO Precision Brands MARKETING AGENCY § D EDITOR'S NOTE · A WORKING FILTER VOL. XV · № D FROM THE DESK OF Peshawar · Founded DMR.agency 2013 This roster is selective, not exhaustive. The pre-agency engagements are the ones I refer back to most often — GIZ, Marcus Evans, and InfoShare gave the early shape to how I think about marketing under institutional weight. The featured DMR.agency engagements are the ones where the numbers are documented and the case studies hold up to a careful reading. Engagements omitted on purpose: one defunct startup; a weapons retailer; a regional-only client that doesn’t signal the international scope of the practice; a confidential bottler. None of those were unsuccessful; they were just not the right shape for this page. BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL → EMOS · EARNED MEDIA PROGRAMME → FRACTIONAL CMO → § E VOL. XV · № E ↑ ↓ ## Podcast · The SIA Show · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/podcast 38 EPISODES FOUR SEASONS PODCAST THE SIA BUSINESS PODCAST · EST. 2018 · RETURNING 2026 Conversations on business & craft. Interviews, solo breakdowns, and field dispatches from the earned-media trenches. NEW SEASON IN 2026 · GET NOTIFIED ↓ Season 4 · 2021–22 LINK BUILDING & TOOLS Season 3 · 2020 SEO & OUTREACH Season 2 · 2019 GROWTH & STRATEGY Season 1 · 2018 FOUNDATIONS S ince 2018, a show about the practical end of digital marketing: digital PR, SEO, content, agency operations, and the awkward economics of remote work. Four seasons, thirty-eight episodes, most of them with guests, all of them under an hour. The roster has included Liam Martin (Time Doctor), Peter Gould, Ron Carucci, Jason Forrest, Ash Ali, Melanie Martin, and a handful of operators less famous but more useful. The solo episodes are tactical: HARO, link building, the difference between digital PR and SEO, the seven productivity tools that survived ten years on my desk. On pause through 2024–25 while DMR.agency grew. Returning in late 2026 with a fifth season focused on EMOS, earned media at scale, and conversations with the in-house teams running both. LISTEN ON Wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts ↗ Spotify ↗ YouTube ↗ Pocket Casts ↗ RSS feed ↗ 38 EPISODES SHIPPED 04 SEASONS (2018–2022) 11 EXPERT GUESTS $2.3M BIGGEST CASE STUDY COVERED § 01 FEATURED EPISODE · MOST-PLAYED VOL. XV · № 01 MOST-PLAYED S01E08 Melanie Martin on a $2.3 Million ROI PR Campaign GUEST · MELANIE MARTIN RUN TIME · 52 MIN The single most-listened episode of the show. Melanie walks through a public relations campaign that returned $2.3M in measurable ROI, and what most companies still get wrong about earned media. SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT → § 02 NOTABLE GUESTS · FROM THE DESK VOL. XV · № 02 Six conversations worth your hour. A small selection from the guest roster. Authors, operators, publicists, and one or two whose names you would not have heard but whose ideas have aged better than most. S01E02 GUEST Liam Martin Co-founder, Time Doctor On: Productivity & remote management LISTEN ↗ S01E01 GUEST Peter Gould Founder, Adventures On: Branding for purpose-driven companies LISTEN ↗ S02E03 GUEST Ron Carucci Author · Forbes contributor On: Power, leadership, persuasion LISTEN ↗ S02E10 GUEST Jason Forrest CEO, Forrest Performance On: Unleashing your inner sales warrior LISTEN ↗ S02E09 GUEST Ash Ali & Hasan Kubba Co-authors, The Unfair Advantage On: Finding your unfair advantage LISTEN ↗ S01E08 GUEST Melanie Martin Publicist On: $2.3M ROI PR campaign LISTEN ↗ § 03 ALL EPISODES · CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX VOL. XV · № 03 ALL EPISODES INTERVIEWS SOLO / LINK BUILDING & SEO DIGITAL PR & HARO PRODUCTIVITY & REMOTE BUSINESS & GROWTH 38 EPISODES · 4 SEASONS Season 4 2021–22 · 8 EPISODES REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL S04E09 Guest Post Pitch Tear Down: Avoid These 11 Mistakes Like the Plague A real guest post pitch received at the agency gets a full tear-down. Eleven specific mistakes are highlighted — the kind that get pitches ignored or rejected… S04E08 Boomerang Review — Our Agency's Favourite Tool for Pitching and Email Management A review of Boomerang for Gmail — the agency's favourite tool for managing pitch follow-ups, scheduling emails, and staying on top of outreach campaigns. S04E07 Two Methods for Finding No-Follow Links — And Why One of Them Isn't Too Good Two methods for checking whether the backlinks you've earned are do-follow or the less-desirable no-follow, UGC, or sponsored links — and why one of those methods has a… S04E06 Quantifying Backlinks Quality — The Bare Minimum How to quantify backlink quality in a way that properly rewards higher-DR links. Since DR operates on a logarithmic scale, a linear points system undervalues… S04E05 Reviewing SEO KPIs of Target Websites When earning backlinks, you need to evaluate target websites carefully. This episode covers the six key SEO KPIs to review before pursuing a link — to boost your… S04E04 The Difference Between Creating Links vs Earning Links Building backlinks is an old, archaic, low-quality method. Earning backlinks — contextual, from relevant websites — is a more complicated but far more beneficial process… S04E02 Brendon Burchard's High Performance Planner — My 1 Year Experience A personal review after one year of using Brendon Burchard's High Performance Planner. Covers what the planner is, why it stands out over other journals, its… S04E01 Lead Scraping With Ahrefs — Operation: Competitor Spying Your online visibility can be boosted at significantly lower costs with SEO. And SEO depends heavily on backlinks. This episode covers Operation Competitor Spying —… Season 3 2020 · 10 EPISODES REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL S03E10 Our Agency's 3-Step Client Onboarding Process A walkthrough of the 3-step client onboarding process used at DMR Agency — from proposal to kickoff. S03E09 FeaturedDiscussing HARO Outreach, SEO Agency Business, and Backlinks Management with Greg Heilers Greg Heilers on the business of HARO outreach at scale. S03E08 #SEObacklinks Tutorial — Type 3 Backlinks Part 3 of the #SEObacklinks tutorial series: Type 3 backlinks. S03E07 #SEObacklinks Tutorial — Type 2 Backlinks Part 2 of the #SEObacklinks tutorial series: Type 2 backlinks. S03E06 #SEObacklinks Tutorial — Type 1 Backlinks Part 1 of the #SEObacklinks tutorial series: Type 1 backlinks. S03E05 SEO Outreach Project Management Made Easy How to manage SEO outreach campaigns without losing track. S03E04 HARO Outreach vs Conventional Outreach for Quality Backlinks A head-to-head comparison of HARO-based outreach versus conventional link outreach. S03E03 Faisal Khan on Remote Team Management, Inbound Leads, Working Smarter Faisal Khan on managing geographically distributed teams, generating inbound leads without paid ads, and the habits that make remote work sustainable. S03E02 Remote Work Productivity: Our Top 7 Tools The seven productivity tools that proved their worth in a fully remote team. S03E01 Fighting the Corona Recession: Our 7-Pronged Business Plan A real-time look at the 7-pronged business plan put together in March 2020 as the pandemic hit. Season 2 2019 · 10 EPISODES REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL S02E10 Unleashing Your Inner Sales Warrior With Jason Forrest Jason Forrest on the psychology of high-performance selling. S02E09 Finding Your Unfair Advantage With Ash Ali & Hasan Kubba Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba on the idea that every founder has a built-in advantage. S02E08 Automated Outreach: Why I (Kind of) Changed My Mind Why a previous stance on automated outreach needed revising. S02E07 Standing Out in the Crowd With This Simple Hack I'd Used in Denmark A simple but counterintuitive hack for standing out. S02E06 Collab Link Building The collaborative link-building approach. S02E05 Digital PR Vs SEO: Key Similarities and Differences A clear breakdown of the key similarities and differences between Digital PR and SEO. S02E04 Leveraging Newsjacking for Content Promotion How to leverage breaking news and trending stories for content promotion. S02E03 Ron Carucci on Power, Leadership, and Persuasion Ron Carucci on the dynamics of power inside organisations, what real leadership looks like under pressure, and how to persuade without manipulation. S02E02 Top 3 Mistakes of My ~6 Year Speaking Career An honest post-mortem on six years of speaking engagements. S02E01 Recap of Season 1 + Introduction of Season 2 A recap of the first season's key lessons and an introduction to the themes and guests lined up for Season 2. Season 1 2018 · 10 EPISODES REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL S01E10 How Negating Conventional Wisdom Led Me to Massive Success How deliberately going against received wisdom in marketing and business led to the biggest wins. S01E09 My Productivity Hacks of 2018 Two productivity systems that survived the year intact. S01E08 FeaturedMelanie Martin on a $2.3 Million ROI PR Campaign The single most-listened episode of the show. Melanie Martin walks through a public relations campaign that returned $2.3 million in measurable ROI. S01E07 Unique Twist to HARO Outreach for IMPROVED Backlinks A unique twist on the standard HARO outreach approach that significantly improves both response rates and the quality of links earned. S01E06 Publicity & Backlinks Using HARO How to use Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to earn media coverage and quality backlinks at the same time. S01E05 SEO Myths A solo episode debunking the three most persistent SEO myths that waste marketer time and budget — and what the data actually shows. S01E04 Elvin Zhang on Startups Elvin Zhang on the realities of building a startup: what works, what doesn't, and what founders consistently get wrong in the early stages. S01E03 Lisa Zahran on Copywriting Lisa Zahran on the craft of copywriting: how to write copy that converts, the mistakes most brands make, and what separates words that sell from words that don't. S01E02 Liam Martin on Productivity & Remote Management Liam Martin, co-founder of Time Doctor and one of the world's foremost experts on remote work, on productivity systems, managing distributed teams, and fighting the… S01E01 Peter Gould on Branding Peter Gould — founder of Adventures and one of the most in-demand brand designers working with purpose-driven organisations — on the principles behind building a brand… § 04 VOL. XV · № 04 ↑ ↓ ## Resources · Playbooks, Guides & Tools · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/resources 27 RESOURCES The frameworks behind the bylines. Interactive tools, playbooks, and original research on media, PR, and SEO. BROWSE ALL → VIEW BROWSE ALL EMOS ACADEMY TYPE ALL RESOURCES 22 TOOLS 5 RADARS 4 QUIZZES 0 PLAYBOOKS 3 GUIDES 2 INFOGRAPHICS 7 VIDEOS 1 TOPIC PR & EARNED MEDIA SEO LINK BUILDING CONTENT MARKETING PERSONAL BRANDING WRITING STRATEGY NEUROMARKETING SAUDI ARABIA 22 RESULTS VIDEOS · WATCH THE FRAMEWORK IN ACTION 1 ITEM 01 VIDEO Watch it score a pitch in real time How PressIQ Works See the pitch-scoring engine in action PR & EARNED MEDIA PERSONAL BRANDING NEUROMARKETING PRESSIQ EXPLAINER 2026 → TOOLS · USE THEM RIGHT NOW 5 ITEMS 02 INTERACTIVE TOOL Score your pitch in under 60 seconds PressIQ — Journalist Pitch Scoreβ Score any media pitch against the system that earns the placement PR & EARNED MEDIA PERSONAL BRANDING NEUROMARKETING THE PITCH DESK 2026 → 03 INTERACTIVE TOOL Find the story the press hasn't filed yet SignalIQ — Proactive PR Radarβ Find the data story the press hasn't written yet — and arrive first PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY NEUROMARKETING THE FORESIGHT DESK 2026 → 04 INTERACTIVE TOOL Find the reporter before your rivals do JournoCollabIQ — Journalist Beat Matcherβ Who covers your beat — and how to land in their inbox PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY THE MEDIA LIST 2026 → 05 CALCULATOR Renting credibility costs more than you think SIA Authority ROI Calculatorβ Calculate what credibility really costs you over twelve months PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY RENTING VS. OWNING 2025 → 06 INTERACTIVE TOOL Your best partner hasn't heard of you yet PartnerCollabIQ — Partnership Intelligence Toolβ Co-marketing, distribution, and link opportunities across every industry, mapped LINK BUILDING SEO STRATEGY THE PARTNERSHIP DESK 2026 → RADARS · LIVE COVERAGE DATA, REFRESHED DAILY 4 ITEMS 07 LIVE RADAR See what's heating up before it saturates Earned Media Radar — Live Coverage Mapβ Watch press momentum shift across your beats in real time PR & EARNED MEDIA SEO STRATEGY THE COVERAGE RADAR 2026 → 08 LIVE RADAR Founders who compound attention are early, not louder Founder Movers — Weekly Topic Rankingsβ Founders who compound attention are early, not louder PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY PERSONAL BRANDING THE FOUNDER LEADERBOARD 2026 → 09 LIVE RADAR The 2030 story, tracked before it saturates KSA Tourism & Hospitality Radar Saudi tourism's rise, tracked signal by signal, every number linked to its source PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY SAUDI ARABIA THE SAUDI DESK 2026 → 10 LIVE RADAR The whitespace market, mapped before the desks arrive KSA Retail & Consumer Radar Saudi retail's numbers run far ahead of its coverage; this radar shows exactly where PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY SAUDI ARABIA THE CONSUMER DESK 2026 → PLAYBOOKS · DEEP-DIVE GUIDES 3 ITEMS 11 101 SERIES Most founders get this completely wrong Personal Branding 101 The complete system for building a recognisable expert brand in public PERSONAL BRANDING CONTENT MARKETING THE AUTHORITY PLAYBOOK 2021 → 12 101 SERIES The structure that makes every message stick Storytelling 101 The story structures behind every message that lands CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY THE NARRATIVE FRAMEWORK 2020 → 13 101 SERIES Your brain decides long before you do Neuromarketing 101 What cognitive science tells us about why some messages work NEUROMARKETING STRATEGY THE PERSUASION CODE 2020 → GUIDES · FROM THE ARCHIVES 2 ITEMS 14 GUIDE 100 tips. One place. No filler 100+ Writing Tips to Become a Great Writer Every rule serious writers live by, in one place WRITING CONTENT MARKETING THE WRITER'S RULEBOOK 2016 · UPD. 2022 → 15 ARCHIVE · GUIDE + INFOGRAPHIC The 2015 rules that still hold today Bing SEO: The 2015 Original The original 2015 Bing SEO guide, faithfully restored SEO THE ARCHIVE 2015 · UPD. 2021 → INFOGRAPHICS · RESEARCH MADE VISIBLE 7 ITEMS 16 INTERACTIVE KIT Seven steps most founders quietly skip The Journo Outreach Checklistβ The seven-step system that gets reporters to say yes PR & EARNED MEDIA SEO PITCH PERFECT 2026 → 17 INTERACTIVE KIT Science says writing rewires the brain Top 11 Scientific Benefits of Writing Science confirms what the Ancients knew about the written word WRITING CONTENT MARKETING WRITING IS MEDICINE 2019 · UPD. 2026 → 18 GUIDE + INFOGRAPHIC The search engine quietly running AI answers How to Win on Bing and the AI Answer Engines It Feeds The 2026 field guide to Bing SEO and AI search visibility SEO PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY THE BING DESK 2026 → 19 INTERACTIVE INFOGRAPHIC Press begets press. Here is the mechanism The Authority Flywheel Why earned media keeps paying long after the story runs PR & EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY PERSONAL BRANDING THE COMPOUNDING MACHINE 2026 → 20 INFOGRAPHIC Data on where work went and what it cost Managing Remote Teams with HubStaff Data on where work went and what it cost everyone UNDER REVIEW STRATEGY THE GREAT DISPERSAL 2016 · UPD. 2021 21 INFOGRAPHIC Habits that made Hemingway, King, and Didion How to Form Writing Habits for Success The daily habits that made Hemingway, King, and Didion UNDER REVIEW WRITING RITUALS OF THE MASTERS — 22 INFOGRAPHIC Your audience is writing your editorial calendar Getting Content Ideas from Your Customers Mining your audience for content angles that convert UNDER REVIEW CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY THE VOICE IN THE REVIEWS — THE INFOGRAPHICS DESK Every infographic has a dedicated home, with the full interactive editions. OPEN THE INFOGRAPHICS DESK → BEING UPDATED 5 ITEMS SCORE QUIZ Founder Press Readiness Score BRAND QUIZ Personal Brand Strength Quiz GUIDE 6 Must-Have Digital Tools for Writers GUIDE 5 Google Analytics Metrics for Content Marketers GUIDE How To Maximize eCommerce Conversions § 02 PODCAST · 38 EPISODES VOL. XV · № 02 The show on the air. 38 episodes on earned media, SEO-PR, content marketing, and building a brand that gets found. BROWSE THE ARCHIVE Tactics, case studies, and conversations with marketing leaders. New episodes monthly. GO TO THE PODCAST → APPLE PODCASTS ↗ SPOTIFY ↗ § 03 BYLINES & CITATIONS · SELECTED PUBLICATIONS VOL. XV · № 03 Where the writing has gone. Publications I have written for, been quoted in, or been featured by. A fuller index lives on the About page. Forbes CONTRIBUTOR & FEATURED Harvard Business Review CASE STUDY HuffPost CONTRIBUTOR The Next Web (TNW) FEATURED Entrepreneur LINKED FROM Search Engine Journal CONTRIBUTOR SEMrush Blog CONTRIBUTOR Business.com CONTRIBUTOR Reader's Digest FEATURED Virgin Startup CONTRIBUTOR The World Bank Blog CONTRIBUTOR CNET FEATURED SERPed CONTRIBUTOR SEE THE FULL PRESS ARCHIVE → § 07 VOL. XV · № 07 ↑ ↓ ## Personal Branding 101: How to Brand Yourself for Success · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/resources/personal-branding § 00 GUIDE I · PERSONAL BRANDING VOL. XV · № 00 THE COMPLETE PLAYBOOK Personal Branding 101: Brand Yourself for Success Whether you agree or not, you already have a personal brand. This guide covers everything you need to find, build, and grow yours — from finding your niche to getting press coverage and speaking on stages. IN THIS GUIDE 01. What is Personal Branding? 02. Examples of Successful Personal Brands 03. Top 10 Personal Branding Facts & Statistics 04. How to Build a Personal Brand (9 Steps) 05. Some More Notable Personal Brands 06. Irfan's Personal Branding Journey AUTHOR PUBLISHED June 2016 · Revised Dec 2021 READ TIME ~18 minutes "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." JEFF BEZOS — FOUNDER OF AMAZON Jeff Bezos — Founder of Amazon.com Personal branding helps you tell your story in the most effective manner, so that you can attract all the right people — partners, employees, customers, investors — and opportunities: a new job, a new project, a speaking gig. Most important, it gives you the opportunity to win the trust of those whom you want to work with in any capacity. 01 · What is Personal Branding? Personal branding is simply showing potential clients, employers and the world at large who you are and what values you stand for. It's a marketing strategy focused on showcasing to the world what you stand for. Personal branding is self-packaging in a manner that the qualities you have and the values you offer are easily recognizable and believable. Developing a successful brand involves figuring out your skills, values, personality, passion, your audience, and your unique niche, and then communicating them to your target audience in a manner that they are correctly understood. "Embrace your story. And make sure you're the primary force in telling that story to the rest of the world." ROB ASGHAR — MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT & FORBES COLUMNIST Rob Asghar — Management Consultant & Forbes Columnist Most often, well-known and well-defined company brands are closely tied to the people behind them and their personal brands. 02 · Examples of Successful Personal Brands When we talk of Microsoft we think of Bill Gates. And whenever the Virgin Group is mentioned, we immediately think of Richard Branson — a man who has built 8 billion-dollar companies in 8 different industries. Bill Gates' Facebook Profile Richard Branson's Facebook Profile The same goes for Apple, which is associated with Steve Jobs. His personal brand was the driving force behind getting people super-excited about whatever new product Apple was launching — there were queues of people in front of Apple stores whenever a new iPad, iPhone, or MacBook was being released. Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone 4 [June 7, 2010 · San Francisco] Similarly, Tesla, as Referral Candy mentions, is notable for having a "$0 marketing budget," and is seen as an extension of Elon Musk's personal brand as a visionary, a genius, and a great entrepreneur. He does a lot of interviews and is quite active on social media, which makes him the driving force behind a huge fan base that is crazy about the "car of the future." This type of marketing is earned rather than bought, and Elon's personal brand is of significant importance in earning all this attention. A two-hour interview on Joe Rogan's podcast garnered over 14 million views on YouTube within weeks of being published. One of his most talked-about launches was The Boring Company — a tunnel construction company he created almost as a joke. He tweeted: "I am going to build a boring machine and just start digging..." and the internet went wild. via Twitter In today's era, where people and businesses have so many more options, it is vital to have a personal brand so that you can stand out from the crowd and boost your business or career. 03 · Top 10 Personal Branding Facts & Statistics The need for personal branding has become even more pronounced than ever because, as per research, audiences trust people more than corporations. Leads generated via employee social marketing initiatives convert at least 7× more frequently than other leads. Personal branding drives sales results, with decision-makers starting their buying process with a referral. 36% of buyers don't contact sales representatives until they have put together a shortlist of preferred vendors — vendors who were shortlisted had a better personal brand. 53% of decision-makers have removed a vendor from consideration based on what they did or did not find about an employee online. — Kredible Sales professionals who used social media as part of their sales techniques outperformed those who were not: 78.6% outperformed their peers. — A Sales Guy Consulting An employee advocacy programme of 1,000 active participants can, on average, generate $1,900,000 in advertising value. — Kredible Only 33% of buyers trust the brand while 90% of customers trust product or service recommendations from people they know. — Nielsen Personal branding allows you to express your individuality, identity, and reputation while maintaining a personal level of trust and communication with your clients. 04 · How to Build a Personal Brand (9 Steps) Step 1 · Find Your SNN (Specific Narrow Niche) Since there is stiff competition in almost every domain, only specializing in general areas such as "Marketing" and "Business" won't be enough. You should instead focus on developing expertise in a very specific and narrow niche — one that is not so common. If you are a fitness coach, specialize in helping busy parents get fit despite their hectic schedules. If you are a digital marketer, choose to specialize in helping non-profit organizations get the exposure, funding, and volunteers that they need. If you are a business coach, specialize in either helping executives of Fortune 500 companies, or work with social startups that have raised series B funding. At DMR.agency, we specialize in generating 6–7 figure revenue for startups through SEO, Content Marketing, and Digital PR. Despite being offered projects in other domains, this is what we are focused on. When you focus on a niche and provide readers with valid information about it, you will have more opportunities flowing in and will be regarded as an authority figure in that field. The more specialized you are in a particular area, the more volume of trade you will attract. Step 2 · Leverage Content to Build Authority Once you have figured out your area of expertise, start building a reputation around it. Through content creation and marketing, you can build a solid brand and reputation online so as to drive targeted quality organic traffic to your website. By providing valuable information to your audience you will be recognized as the go-to expert, thought-leader, authority, and influencer of your industry. The best way through which you can become an authority figure is by creating a blog and publishing valuable information on it. Use tools like BuzzSumo and Ahrefs Content Explorer to find topics that are already popular so you can write on them from a different perspective. You can also create different content types on the same topic — an article, a video, and an infographic. HubSpot Research: Content Trends You should also consider guest blogging to further increase your brand value. I wrote a case study for SEMrush and conducted a webinar showing how we helped a client grow revenue from $160,000/month to $200,000/month with guest posting alone — in only 6 months with minimal resources. Work on creating case studies that show how you achieved excellent results for a client. Case studies are more appealing to people because they are true and have a recipe for success. Step 3 · Spruce Up Your Social Media Profiles Apart from using content to push brand awareness, you should also be sprucing up your social media presence. Make sure that your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles are in sync with your personal brand standards. Preferably use similar pictures on all these platforms. Use professional cover photos which show the logos of any large organizations you have worked for, so your personal brand can leverage the brand value that these large organizations carry. My Facebook Profile No one likes the person who is posting only to promote themselves. Make sure the stuff you are posting consists of 80% informational posts, 10% semi-promotional posts, and 10% fully promotional posts. The interesting thing about this approach is that you are doing more to promote your personal brand by not promoting it too much — sharing informational posts makes people see you as an authority and as someone who can be trusted. Additionally, repurpose your existing blog content and share it with your social media followers. Find 5–10 quotes or key statements in one of your articles and convert them into social media banners. Visual content results in much more attention, conversions, and reach. Step 4 · Speak at Relevant Industry Events Look for speaking events whenever possible — it will propel you into the limelight and enable you to demonstrate your expertise more effectively. I spoke at a growth hacking workshop hosted at AstroLabs in Dubai and received, in one evening: two offers from startups who wanted me to do marketing for equity, an invite from Google Business Group to do a session for their audience, an increase in website traffic, a request for an interview from a public speaking organization, lots of new connections, and several leads. AstroLabs, Dubai AstroLabs, Dubai All these benefits were the result of only a single speaking event. Imagine the leads you can procure by speaking at several events. If you haven't spoken before, the easiest way to get your first gig is to contact your university or college and pitch them a topic. Show them how you made it big and that you want to teach their current students how they can do it too. You can also reach out to local chambers of commerce, Google Business Group chapters, co-working spaces, business incubators, and accelerators. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — Nigerian Author "I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there." CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE — NIGERIAN AUTHOR Step 5 · Network As Much As You Can The power of networking can't be over-emphasized. Networking matters both online via social media and email, and in the real world. If you want to grow your personal brand, you have to engage with key influencers, like-minded people, other experts in your niche, and the target audience whose problems you are trying to understand and solve. I prefer attending industry events over startup events. If you have a food app, go attend an event in the food industry. If you have a logistics app, attend an FMCG event. Meet authority figures while at these events and engage in community discussions. The more people you meet, the more opportunities you'll get — but don't try to meet only for the purpose of a handshake and exchanging business cards. It is better to meet fewer people and make a lasting impression than to have a lot of business cards but no real spark. Harvey Mackey — Business Author & Speaker My golden rule of networking is simple: Don't keep score. HARVEY MACKEY — BUSINESS AUTHOR & SPEAKER I met my former business partner Azzam Sheikh online around the start of 2014, and then in May 2015 we decided to merge our digital marketing agencies and create Digital Marketing ROI. At the time we had never met in person — he was based in the UK and I was in Pakistan. But the power of our brands brought us together and created the kind of trust necessary for strengthening a mutually beneficial relationship. Step 6 · Associate With Stronger Brands Your personal brand will be boosted and your influence will grow bigger only if you associate with other bigger brands. Start small by associating with your company, colleagues, and college mates, and join relevant groups which you think will boost your brand. Consider contributing a guest post to your company's blog. Step 7 · Share Only Purposeful Stuff Be aware that every piece of information you share on social media has an impact on your personal brand. Be consistent in updating your accounts — it is the combination of small actions taken daily that gives your personal brand power. Step 8 · Appear on Podcasts, TV Shows and Radio Shows Podcasts, TV shows, and radio shows are some of the best personal branding platforms available. Whether it's your own podcast or someone else's on which you appear as a guest, it'll give a huge boost to your personal brand. When I added Chuck Wang of the MVP Marketing Podcast on Facebook, I sent a highly personalized message that: mentioned something specific about his recent work, briefly mentioned my credentials ("award-winning serial entrepreneur, HuffPost columnist, HubSpot certified inbound marketer"), and ended with a specific question. He responded weeks later and asked if I would like to be on his show. He has an audience, and by having built a relationship with him — partly possible due to my personal brand — we are able to help each other. Step 9 · Smart Outreach Social media and podcasts are not the only way to improve your personal brand awareness. You can also find influencers in your niche and reach out to them via email. Email is still a widespread means of communication, especially in the professional world. Tools like Snov.io can help you find email addresses quickly when you can't write to someone directly on a social network. Whatever activity you do for strengthening your personal brand has a snowball effect. Every speaking event, article, podcast appearance, and relationship compounds into greater authority, inbound opportunities, and pricing power. 05 · Some More Notable Personal Brands We all know Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, and Gary Vaynerchuk. But here are a few other notable personalities who have made a name for themselves via personal branding. Lewis Howes Lewis Howes Lewis Howes is a prime example of an individual with successful personal branding. He began by hosting LinkedIn events in several cities around the United States and very quickly became a LinkedIn expert. His brand evolved over several years, and now he is better known as a lifestyle entrepreneur "living the dream." His personal brand has been significantly boosted by his podcast, The School of Greatness, which is primarily focused on helping people start their own businesses and achieve greatness. Dan Brown Dan Brown Dan Brown is the author of several bestselling novels including The Da Vinci Code, which is to date one of the bestselling novels of all time. He was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Brown's novels are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour period and feature recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. He pulls crowds wherever he speaks — his appearance at the Web Summit in Dublin in 2015 was attended by over 40,000 people. Tim Ferriss Tim Ferriss Tim Ferriss is a startup angel investor (in Twitter, among others) and the author of the bestselling book The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 35 languages, sold 1.35 million copies worldwide, and topped the charts of the New York Times, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal — after being rejected by 26 out of 27 publishers. Photo by Sean O'Shaughnessy (CC) "Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don't own a business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records. Going on a date? Chances are your 'blind' date has Googled your name. Going to a job interview? Ditto." TIM FERRISS — ENTREPRENEUR, AUTHOR When Tim saw his publishing company wasn't promoting The 4-Hour Workweek as well as he wanted, he took it upon himself to promote it by reaching out to bloggers and establishing himself as an authority in Lifestyle Design. He had a large group of people ready to buy before the book launched. His podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, has been downloaded over 300 million times. Chris Ducker Chris Ducker Chris has done a wonderful job promoting himself and his brand on different platforms online, manifested in his website, social media profiles, and business cards. One of the main reasons why Chris has a successful personal brand is his consistency — everything he does is consistent with his brand message. His podcast, The New Business Podcast, is well worth listening to. Marie Forleo Marie Forleo Marie's strong personal brand has attracted over 100,000 followers and fans worldwide. Her award-winning web show MarieTV is 100% true to her vision, and her website nails everything related to her personal brand. Every element — tone, design, content — is consistent with who she is and who she serves. 06 · Irfan's Personal Branding Journey By writing for HuffPost, Business.com, SEMrush, and other large publications, I was able to associate my personal brand with these large brands. The same happened when I spoke in Dubai, at Google Business Groups sessions, and internationally. These activities built my reputation and credibility in a manner that I have been able to attract opportunities without spending almost anything on outbound marketing — getting offers, deals, speaking gigs, and more right in my inbox. I spoke for about 2.5 years before I got my first invite to an all-expense-paid trip to speak in Malaysia. I am not paid by HuffPost, Business.com, and most of the other publications I write for. But writing for them helped us win several projects, and I now also get paid by Aurora (Pakistan's largest marketing magazine) and Forbes ME. "If the first time someone asked me a question had resulted in me asking for a paycheck, I would have few clients and no friends. The aim should be to help others. If you are doing that, money will find its way to you sooner or later." SYED IRFAN AJMAL Whenever you are starting a new activity to support your brand — whether it's social media, writing, or speaking — the goal should be to strengthen your brand. Ask how it will impact your reputation, not your immediate ROI. Enjoy the experience. Build your profile and brand to the extent that when someone talks about your niche, listeners immediately think of you. This is how you make yourself an expert, an authority, and a thought leader. Of course, you also have to build actual expertise — otherwise your brand will be seen as a farce. But if you have the expertise as well as a great personal brand, you can expect to be highly rewarded for it in more ways than you can imagine. § 07 NEXT STEPS · APPLY WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED VOL. XV · № 07 Continue reading Explore the other guides — Neuromarketing, Storytelling, and Writing Tips — to build out your full marketing and content toolkit. BACK TO RESOURCES → Get press coverage The EMOS programme applies these personal branding principles to earned media — getting you featured in Forbes, HBR, and your category's key publications. LEARN ABOUT EMOS → Work with Syed For a fractional CMO arrangement or a done-for-you earned media programme, book a discovery call to discuss your situation. BOOK A CALL → § 08 VOL. XV · № 08 ## Storytelling 101: Elevate Your Brand · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/resources/storytelling § 00 GUIDE III · STORYTELLING VOL. XV · № 00 FOR BUSINESS & BRAND Storytelling 101: Elevate Your Brand Have you ever wondered how Nike, Google, or Airbnb deliver results every time by crafting their own stories? This guide takes you through the power of storytelling — from the neuroscience behind it to real case studies — and shows you how to build your own brand narrative. IN THIS GUIDE 01. Introduction 02. Food for Thought 03. Storytelling & Brand Awareness 04. Elevate Your Brand 05. 5 Things to Plan Before Telling Stories 06. Storytelling for Brands 07. Defining Brand Storytelling: 8 Key Tips 08. Benefits of Brand Storytelling 09. The Science of Storytelling 10. Neuroscience of Storytelling 11. Case Studies: Airbnb, Google, Nike 12. Succeeding with Brand Storytelling AUTHOR Azza Shahid · Edited by Syed Irfan Ajmal PUBLISHED April 17, 2020 · Revised July 2021 READ TIME ~25 minutes 01 · Introduction This innovative guide gives you an insight into the power of storytelling and how you can elevate your brand and engage your target audience by 10x. Let me take you through a journey that will inform, inspire and motivate you to create your own unique brand story. Have you ever wondered how Nike, Google or Airbnb deliver and gain results, every time, by crafting their own stories? Within this guide, you'll learn about actual case studies from all three of them that will inspire you. You'll also discover the best steps to pave your own way to storytelling success. 02 · Food for Thought Stories are at the heart of the human experience. “We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn't a stronger connection between people than storytelling.” JIMMY NEIL SMITH — DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING CENTER Listening to or reading stories helps us put ourselves in someone else's shoes so we can see the world from their perspective, and in turn, empathize with them. Sharing our own tales of life's trials and tribulations is a therapeutic experience for the storyteller. Even sitting with elders — such as our grandparents — for a simple conversation can reveal a lot of beneficial stories from decades ago. From Aesop of Greece to Saadi Shirazi of Iran, from Molla Nasreddin of Turkey to William Shakespeare of the UK (the world's best-selling fiction writer of all time with an estimated 4 billion copies sold), it is a vast collection of stories that has mesmerized, entertained, and informed countless generations through the works of master storytellers. Source: Melloo. The fables of Aesop of Greece — one of history's most celebrated storytellers. The Qissa Khawani Bazaar (Storytellers' Market) in Peshawar, where travellers from North Asia would rest and share their stories. For hundreds of years, travellers from North Asia would rest at a bazaar called the Qissa Khawani Bazaar (or the Storytellers' Market) in Peshawar and tell their stories before travelling further into the Indian subcontinent. 03 · So What Does Storytelling Have to Do with Marketing and Brand Awareness? “A brand is the unique story that consumers recall when they think of you.” LAURA BUSCHE Storytelling is an unprecedented medium in marketing that connects your brand with your target audience. From Spotify to Google, or from IBM to Zillow, several brands are implementing this technique in order to engage their audiences more effectively. Source: HubSpot. B2B brands that use storytelling in their content marketing see dramatically higher engagement. 04 · Elevate Your Brand In order to fully understand how storytelling can help you elevate your brand, we first need to gain clarity on the definition of storytelling: which is a process, whereby facts and narratives are used to communicate ideas, thoughts, emotions and messages. Once you understand the definition of storytelling you need to think about how you can use this strategy to benefit your organization. 05 · Five Things to Plan Before Telling Stories of Impact for Your Organisation Rohan Potdar argues that there are five fundamental things to plan before telling stories of impact for your organization as outlined in the image below: Source: Rohan Potdar. The five fundamentals to plan before telling stories of impact for your organisation. Modern day storytellers are much more than just authors and journalists. Many times they are also the equivalent of content marketers, content writers, creatives and PR professionals. Stories, undoubtedly, evoke emotions and have the power to motivate, inspire and uplift people in order to facilitate communication between two parties. 06 · Storytelling for Brands In the case of brands, the two parties are the brand and the customer. The brand communicates a message through the story and the customer engages with the story being delivered to them and takes action accordingly. Source: Ignition Framework. The brand canvas shows how brand identity, story, and audience connect. Knowing how to tell a story, and what the ingredients of a great story are, will enable your brand to gain more revenue and attain better brand visibility. Below is a comparison of what constitutes storytelling for brands and what storytelling should not be: Storytelling table by Tasnim Nazeer — comparing effective brand storytelling with what to avoid. There are different types of stories including fiction, non-fiction, informative or educational and each one has their own core message to deliver. However, in branding, you will find that stories often reflect a deep-rooted message that either inspires, motivates or entices the reader to act on a call to action. 07 · Defining Brand Storytelling — 8 Key Tips for Master Storytelling These concepts will be discussed in more detail below, where we outline 8 key tips that will enable you to master the concept of storytelling in your marketing efforts and create lucrative value for scaling up your brand. 1. Gaining Clarity for Your Brand Message When storytelling is done correctly, it clearly defines your brand message and establishes what your brand is all about. It is paramount that your story expresses the core values of your brand, mission and purpose. In order to do this, you need to pinpoint exactly what aspect of your brand message you want to offer your audience. Source: Moz. A clear content strategy framework helps define what your brand message should convey. Let's say that you run an ethically based company and you want to craft a story that highlights the benefits of ethical trade. Source: ASOS. An example of a brand leading with its ethical values in storytelling. Alternatively, you might be a company leading in innovation and you want to express how artificial intelligence is being implemented through your services — focusing your story on your brand driving the future of innovation. Source: Bosch. An example of a technology brand using storytelling to communicate innovation leadership. No matter what the business or industry, there are countless angles you can draw upon to tell your story effectively. What's most important is that you and your content marketing team are clear on what message you want to convey and what you want to achieve from conveying that message to your audience. Focusing on what makes your brand unique, and gives you the edge over other brands, can really help showcase the benefits of your brand by subtly expressing them through the message of your story. Clarity also ensures that your whole team is consistent in weaving your brand ethos into your copy, done habitually throughout your marketing efforts. 2. Know Your Audience Every business has a target audience they want to sell to or persuade to take a specific action or set of actions. When using storytelling as part of your marketing campaign, you need to be aware of who you are trying to engage. Source: Vector / Artist: Robuart (royalty free). Understanding your target audience is fundamental to effective brand storytelling. Is the audience of your story a parent, a business owner or a healthcare professional? It is imperative that you make the audience (and their pain points) a significant part of your story. By doing so you can create a story that puts your audience in the picture. An effective way to do this is to include a relatable character that reflects your target market when telling your brand's story. You must be able to make the audience see themselves in your story in order for them to want to take action and purchase your product. It may benefit you considerably to conduct target market research which will help you pinpoint the needs of your audience and gather key information in creating your story. In addition, you can craft detailed buyer personas for your business to help create representations of your audience and aid in your overall marketing efforts and campaigns. The more research you conduct on your target market, the more likely you will be able to create a service that meets their needs and which will enable you to run a successful marketing campaign using storytelling as an innovative technique. 3. Using Language Effectively The language you choose to use in your story is critical to how well the story is received. You can evoke emotions, influence and inspire by choosing the right words to use. Some of the best brand storytellers rely upon short action verbs (such as act, move, play) to get the story moving. Source: Nike (Just Do It campaign video). Nike's language is direct, active, and emotionally charged. Ensure that the language used within your story is relatable to your audience and is not too formal. Some of the best stories are told as if you were having a conversation with another person, as it provides a form of informality to the audience. “I write with my ears.” EUGENE SCHWARTZ — COPYWRITER The science of storytelling uses language in such a way that it spurs the imagination of those who are reading about it, listening to it or even watching as your brand story evolves. Alliteration, or the use of memorable grammatical nuances, is a powerful way to make a brand statement that really stands out. Source: Dunkin' Donuts. Alliteration in brand names gives an indelible rhythm to your words. Using alliteration helps give an indelible rhythmto your words that can also be translated into names, products or services to make them unforgettable. Some successful examples of this include ‘Dunkin' Donuts’, ‘Best Buy’ and ‘PayPal’. Source: PayPal. 'PayPal' is a perfect example of alliteration making a brand name instantly memorable. Another key technique is to use conversational language in your stories to create a sense of comfort in engaging with your audience, which can make the story more believable. Take Amazon's Alexa, for example, which is known for its wildly popular wake word “Alexa”. Source: Amazon. Alexa uses conversational language to make technology feel personal and approachable. Marketers have to think very carefully about the language they use to convey their brand message as it is a crucial component of a successful campaign. 4. Crafting a Story Crafting a story takes a special skill set and is often considered by industry leaders as a form of art. Apart from the relatively basic concepts of a beginning, a middle and an end, marketers also have to think about presenting both a problem and its solution. Justin Lokitz, author at Designing Better Business, highlights the importance of using a storytelling canvas to help craft your story. You might even benefit from using a canvas like the one below: Source: Designing Better Business. A storytelling canvas helps you map characters, conflict, and resolution before writing a single word. Some of the most effective brand stories involve a conflict and resolution scenario, which is something that brands need to take into account when crafting their copy. Openers play a key role in brand stories and can help immediately draw the reader or listener right into it. An opener is literally the first sentence of your story — the way you begin it to gain your audience's attention within just a few seconds. Contemporary and effective openers should start with sentences that make you want to know more and ask questions such as how?, what?, and why? Once the opener is set, you can add depth to your story by narrating it through relatable characters. Depending on your core message, you could choose to add a level of entertainment by including witty lines that would make your story memorable. You may want to include new information into your copy, ensuring that the story not only informs but also educates your audience. It is important to remember that when brands express stories, “less is more.” There is no point in creating a long, exhaustive story which will cause the audience to lose interest — in comparison to a short and catchy story. 5. 3 Key Factors a Brand Story Needs The three key factors of a successful brand story are: 1) An introduction to relatable characters. 2) A problem that needs to be solved. 3) A viable solution. The process of first setting the scene — using characters your audience can relate to — immediately encourages engagement. Audiences can be easily distracted as they are constantly bombarded with information from various sources. In order to avoid the distraction, make sure the first few seconds of your introduction to the main character grip your audience and make them want to watch or read on further. You can do this by presenting a conflict that your character is undergoing. For example, if your brand wants to portray a message about education and sells educational appsthat are affordable for all, then your story may want to start with a character who can't afford to go to school. The conflict of not being able to get educated and the solution that your service could bring would later be expressed within the story. A problem, or other interesting point, that is presented by a character within the opening sentences of a story is known as a hook. A relevant and real problem that your target market has needs to be identified and expressed within your story. This will create a conflict that will move your story on and make the audience want to know how it is resolved. The solution should be stated in the final part of your story to bring about a conclusion — enabling your audience to feel a sense of ‘closure’ and satisfaction. 6. Creating a Call to Action The Call to Action (CTA) refers to the steps that your brand wants the audience to take after consuming the story you have presented to them. If you want your audience to subscribe to your newsletter, for example, your CTA may be “subscribe here” — or if you want them to purchase a product, your CTA may be “purchase here”. The CTA is normally adopted at the end of the story and is most often carried out in a manner that is non-intrusive, but direct. Many brands use this technique at the end of their social media videos, such as when the presenter or narrator says “Subscribe down below” or “To keep updated click the link below”. Source: Constant Contact. A clear, non-intrusive call to action at the end of a story drives the audience toward the next step. Source: Productive Muslim. A newsletter CTA embedded naturally at the end of content. It is important to consider the objectives of your brand story, as this will guide you in developing the action that you want to achieve through your marketing content. If the objective of your story is to foster communication pathways between your brand and the customer, you may want to include an action such as “tap the button to share”. The more people that share your brand story, the more brand awareness will rise. Eventually, you will see an increase in customer engagement. 7. Identifying Storytelling Platforms There are a variety of platforms that you can use to share your story. The main platforms are in either a digital text, video or audio format — where you can upload your story on your website or share it on social media channels. The image below shows a variety of innovative platforms that digital storytellers can use: Source: Medium. The landscape of digital storytelling platforms spans text, audio, video, and interactive formats. The storytelling platform you choose should be appropriate for your brand and outreach. Many brands find that conveying stories through digital platforms is the best option in order to reach a wider audience, both locally and internationally. It is important to take into consideration the creative aspects of your story and whether you will be presenting your story through the eyes of a character or having a narrator tell the story while using visual representation. Written stories enable you to be descriptive and use words that leave room for the reader to imagine or interpret each of the scenes. Most importantly, you don't necessarily have to take a “blank paper” approach when creating your brand story. Take a look at the competition for inspiration — consider what other brands similar to yours have done to convey their brand stories, and whether they have used digital or written mediums. Whichever option you choose, make sure that you have researched the most effective format for your story so that you can reach more people and amplify your brand. 8. Sharing Your Story on Social Media Social media is one of the most lucrative platforms to share your brand story through sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Source: Instagram Business. Instagram's visual-first platform is one of the most powerful channels for brand storytelling. There are a variety of different social media platforms that enable you to upload your video or written content to engage your audience. Speaking of videos, editing videos is easier than ever with tools like Veed. According to the leading research company Statista, in 2019 there were an estimated 2.77 billion social network users around the globe, up from 2.46 billion in 2017. As you can see, social media gives you an unprecedented platform to engage billions of people around the world and share your brand story across the continents. Social media users love visuals — compelling narratives, captivating visuals and relatable, emotive stories are the keys to engaging audiences on social media and a must-have for all brands who want to grow their business effectively. 08 · Benefits of Implementing Brand Storytelling Techniques The benefits of implementing storytelling as a technique for marketers cannot be understated. Source: Just Learn WP (credited to PR Mention). The measurable impact of brand storytelling on engagement, loyalty, and conversions. Storytelling is a fundamental driver of growth and understanding, especially when it comes to brands and the way they want to interact with their customers and followers. Some of the main benefits of storytelling is that it enables a brand to show some personality to convey the ethos of the company and what it stands for. Conventional copy on a business website does not enable a brand to get creative or convey their core values to their audience. Yet, storytelling does. In addition, using stories helps your brand take the lead and gives it an edge over competitor brands as you may be better able to inspire and motivate through the story that you tell. “How did your brand or service help someone to overcome a challenge? How did your brand enable someone to identify and find a solution to a pressing problem that they may have been experiencing for a while?” TASNIM NAZEER — JOURNALIST These are key questions that your brand needs to address in order to establish itself as a leading part of the story and give prominence in taking your audience on a journey. The journeyis conveyed through your story — you're creating a narrative which takes your audience through a process that leads to a problem being solved. The end result is that your brand comes out as the winner, since you've proven how it can benefit the consumer. 09 · The Science of Storytelling Source: Fast Company. How storytelling affects the different regions of the brain — from emotional processing to motor cortex activation. The science of storytelling is an interesting concept to grasp and is one that brands should pay close attention to. Recent research reveals that 100,500 digital words are consumed by the average US citizen on a daily basis. In addition, 92% of consumers wanted brands to make ads that felt like a story. This shows that audiences are much more likely to engage with brands that have already implemented storytelling techniques, in comparison to those who haven't. Consumers want to engage and relate with the content that they are given. Thanks to the research behind the Science of Storytelling, brands are able to see just how important this technique is in creating interactions with their customers. 10 · Neuroscience of Storytelling The brain plays a pivotal role in our absorption of information and how we process messages, news and information. It is a long-held theory that when we converse with one another our brain is more alert to the language and words that we use. The brain processes images 60 times faster in comparison to words. This reiterates the fact that visuals play a significant role in our daily lives. In many cases, we associate certain visuals with an event or life experience. Source: Cushman Creative. Visuals are processed dramatically faster than text, making visual storytelling a powerful tool for brands. Interestingly, branding and stories that implement compelling visuals are more likely to be remembered than those that use no visuals. Storytelling directly affects the brain as it enables us to reflect on movement and the way we go from point A to point B. According to a report by Marketing Land, neurology plays a key role in our understanding of storytelling and the way we process images. Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak carried out experiments that highlighted the role that the hormonal secretion oxytocin plays. Zak believed that neurotransmitters are transmitted from the brain in order for us to reciprocate an action. Based on the research that Zak conducted, he found that when participants experienced trust they reciprocated with prosocial behaviours. In addition, Zak learned that participants tended to focus on stories that were significant to them or that they felt they could understand. This shows a definitive link between neurology and the way our brains consume information and react upon stories that we are immersed in. Zak's experiments also lead to the conclusion that our brains are susceptible to responding to a story's movement from a problem to a solution. Neuroimaging reveals that the human brain becomes more alert through the use of metaphors in stories, which cause the audience to react with empathy and emotion. The brain processes a metaphor as if it were imagery and enables us to form comparisons with the language we use and real life experiences. 11 · Successful Implementation of Stories in Leading Brands If you are looking for inspirational brands who have successfully implemented the technique of storytelling into their marketing efforts, then take a look at the examples below: Airbnb Source: Airbnb. The brand's homepage tells a story of belonging and exploration rather than simply listing properties. Airbnb uses compelling visuals and effective storytelling techniques that appeal to their audiences through brand stories which they create in video form. The company knows what their audiences want — to travel to new places and gain new experiences. They've successfully tapped into their customer's desires and needs. On New Year's Eve 2015, the company created an animated video to announce that 550,000 people rented properties around the world for that specific occasion — a staggering leap from only 2,000 rentals in the previous year. Airbnb's latest video tells a poignant story by immersing travel seekers with families from different homes to show how people are, essentially, making a home from home. The excellent use of compelling narratives and visual content makes Airbnb stand out from competitor brands. The success can also be attributed to their thorough research into their target market and the relevant aspirations that their clients were seeking to tap into. Google Source: Google ATAP. Google uses dedicated storytelling platforms and their annual Year in Search video to create emotional connections at scale. Google are pioneers in the development of their stories and the many subsidiaries of platforms they own. One such example is their dedicated Google Spotlight Stories platform for clients. Google also runs a ‘Year in Search’ video which is released every year and is compiled by using Google data to showcase the terms that people search for the most. The Year in Search video has been successful in engaging audiences and staying relevant to what users want. One of the main reasons that Google often gets top engagement with their campaigns is the fact that they use a lot of data and research to reflect the needs of their users. The company also tends to use relevant events and visuals that are significant to their target audience to spur emotions and raise more engagement whilst staying current on trending stories. Google is known for its creativity, and on the home page itself you will see a new design of the Google logo on special occasions — known as a “Google Doodle”, it usually commemorates a historical figure, a holiday or other special occasion. Visuals play a significant role in Google's marketing, and there is consistency in branding throughout all of Google's services which provides continuity and makes the brand more memorable. Nike Source: Nike (equality.nike.com). Nike's Equality campaign is a masterclass in storytelling that transcends product promotion. Nike have always been known for creating captivating visual campaigns and their marketing efforts have not gone unnoticed. Nike's Equality campaign, for example, drove unprecedented engagement through their brand story of being a force of positive social change and equality for all. This is a clear example of a brand that goes beyond their own product line and looks into the needs of its target audience and the issues affecting them. The brand cleverly creates a collective movement through the use of the equality campaign — so any customer who buys the trainers will also be proud to support the movement for equality. The shoes are simply seen on the feet of the protagonists in the video, but there is no selling involved whatsoever in the story. The selling is done through the message of the company's ethos and the associations that Nike has as being a positive trailblazer in creating strong and powerful movements. The company continues to use colourful visuals and video content to reach their customers around the world and scale up their brand both in the US and internationally. 12 · Succeeding with Brand Storytelling There are many ways to develop and craft a powerful brand story as discussed within this guide. You can also take inspiration from success stories of the aforementioned brands who are achieving significant results through their marketing efforts. Whether you are at the start of your brand journey or have already implemented a marketing strategy, you can accelerate your brand awareness, identity and profitability through storytelling. We have seen that some of the most successful brands — such as Nike, Google and Airbnb — have gone on to achieve and innovate in their respective industry sectors. This could not be achieved without effective marketing strategies being in place and the use of stories to get people to take action. Entrepreneurs or marketers who want to succeed in growing their business must remember that there needs to be a clear focus on what your product, service or company can offer and the value it could bring to your customer. How does your company solve your customer's problem? This is one of the first things you need to consider before crafting your story, as getting the foundation right is key to creating a successful campaign. Often, entrepreneurs overlook the fact that many consumers are purchasing for a need to be met. The need could be a range of things such as wanting to beautify themselves, satisfy hunger or learn something new. Irrespective of the need, it is up to the company to show how best they can overcome the problem and take the customer through a journey which expresses it. This journey forms the major part of your brand story — whereby you are taking your customer from one place to another. Many times brands will use comparisons such as a ‘before and after’ or a ‘rags to riches’ story that shows a transition from one state to another and a noticeable movement. This movement needs to be expressed clearly within your brand story and it will help engage your customers and pave the way to achieve more brand engagement. Social media should also form part of a brand's marketing strategy, playing a significant role in sharing your brand story whether that be through audio, visual or written form. If you feel passionately about a cause and it correlates with the ethos of your company, you may want to consider openly supporting it just like Nike did with the Equality campaign. There are many brands who have found success in supporting the causes that relate to their target audience or which their brand demographic identifies with. However, the cause that you wish to champion should hold some relevance to your brand message, ethos and values. By understanding the fundamental links between neurological processes that enable people to consume stories and immerse themselves in them, you are one step closer to developing a brand story that would be evergreen and memorable. Once you identify the process that a person goes through when engaged in a story, you are more likely to be able to tap into what could potentially make a great story for your brand. Additional Sources Best Website Design Company Blog. (2018). 21 Creative Tools List for Video Storytelling & Brand Marketing. fatbit.com Digital Marketing Institute. (2018). 6 Storytelling Trends Marketing Leaders Should Know About. digitalmarketinginstitute.com Craig, W. (2018). 5 Essential Elements Of Powerful Brand Storytelling. Forbes. JP Phillips, D. (2018). The Magical Science of Storytelling. TEDx Talk. Karia, A. (2013). Storytelling Techniques from TED Talks. akashkaria.com Vaughan, P. (2018). How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business. HubSpot Blog. References Ajmal, S. (2018). Neuromarketing 101: What Is Neuromarketing And How Does It Work? syedirfanajmal.com Gillett, R. (2018). Why Our Brains Crave Storytelling In Marketing. Fast Company. Griotdigital.com. (2018). Boosting Lead Generation 16X with Content Storytelling. griotdigital.com Higgins, S. (2018). The Straight-Forward Guide to Target Markets. HubSpot Blog. Keane, L. (2018). 10 Examples of Brand Storytelling (with Data) that Hit the Mark. Global Web Index Blog. Minnium, P. (2018). The science of storytelling. Marketing Land. Statista. (2018). Number of social media users worldwide 2010–2021. statista.com Vaughan, P. (2018). How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business. HubSpot Blog. § 13 NEXT STEPS · APPLY WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED VOL. XV · № 13 Continue reading Explore the other guides — Personal Branding, Neuromarketing, and Writing Tips — to round out your full marketing toolkit. BACK TO RESOURCES → Get press coverage The EMOS programme applies these storytelling principles to earned media — landing you in Forbes, HBR, and your category's key publications. LEARN ABOUT EMOS → Work with Syed For a fractional CMO arrangement or a done-for-you earned media programme, book a discovery call. BOOK A CALL → § 14 VOL. XV · № 14 ## Neuromarketing 101: What It Is and How It Works · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/resources/neuromarketing § 00 101 SERIES · NO. 03 · NEUROMARKETING VOL. XV · № 00 THE MARKETER'S FIELD GUIDE Neuromarketing 101: What Is It & How Does It Work? Humans make about 35,000 decisions every single day — most of them unconscious. Neuromarketing is the science of understanding why, and how marketers can use that knowledge ethically and effectively. IN THIS GUIDE 01. Introduction: 35,000 Decisions a Day 02. The Curious Brain Impalement of Phineas Gage 03. The 'Neuro' Behind 'Marketing' 04. 5 Neuromarketing Research Techniques 05. 5 Key Marketing Inputs 06. 3 Powerful Examples in Action 07. Final Thoughts 08. References AUTHOR PUBLISHED First published November 11, 2017 · Revised July 2021 READ TIME 18 min read · ~4,500 words 01 · Introduction: 35,000 Decisions a Day B efore I explain what neuromarketing is, consider this: humans make about thirty-five thousand decisions every single day. Many of these decisions revolve around automatic processes — non-conscious thinking. Apparently, 72% of people are likely to buy products they left in their cart if the same products are offered again at a discounted price. If you believe you bought those overpriced cult jeans because you thought they fit better, think again. The term neuromarketing was only introduced in 2002 — published in an article by BrightHouse, a marketing firm based in Atlanta. Traditional marketing research generally ignores and inaccurately reports implicit cognition and emotional triggers. Since, when asked, people may not tell you the whole or accurate story: "They don't think what they say they think." "They don't tell you how they actually feel." "They don't do what they say they do." Now: before we delve in and define neuromarketing, how it works and why you need to start applying the various techniques it brings to the table — let's take a look at one phenomenal incident that laid some of the groundwork for neuromarketing and the various surgical procedures available today. 02 · The Curious Brain Impalement of Phineas Gage A major discovery in the field of neuroscience occurred in 1848, when 25-year-old Phineas Gage was impaled through the brain by a large iron rod while working on the railroad. The iron tamping rod that passed through Phineas Gage's skull, now displayed at Harvard Medical School. Gage sustained severe damage to his frontal lobes when a metal tamping rod was blasted through his head after a freak accident. Surprisingly enough, Gage survived for 12 years after this accident even though much of the left frontal lobe of his brain was destroyed. People who knew him began calling him "no longer Gage" to describe the major change in his personality and behavior (Daskalos, 2012). Phineas Gage — the only known photograph, taken after his accident. He holds the iron rod that passed through his skull. Over the next 150 years, Phineas Gage's phenomenal accident laid some of the groundwork for neuromarketing and several other surgical procedures including the frontal lobotomy. Researchers compared information about Gage's skull to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of 110 right-handed men between ages 25 to 36 — the age range at which Gage lived with his injury — and found: “Specific portions of the brain control specific human functions and not all functions are necessary to live.” Modern reconstruction of the path the tamping iron rod took through Phineas Gage's brain, based on his skull and MRI data from 110 men of similar age. A rotating view of the brain showing the major lobes. The frontal lobe — severely damaged in Gage — is associated with personality, decision-making, and social behavior. Moreover: “If the rod had penetrated his brain at any other angle, even slightly different than the trajectory that it took, it might have pierced some major cerebrovasculature, and taken his life,” says Jack Van Horn, assistant professor in the department of neurology at UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles. 03 · The 'Neuro' Behind 'Marketing' Neuromarketing is a technology-based marketing research approach aimed at observing consumers' reaction to areas of the brain which respond to auditory stimuli or visual cues. “Neuromarketing is simply the application of neuroscience to marketing.” ROGER DOOLEY — AUTHOR OF BRAINFLUENCE Now, although neuromarketing is a fairly new phenomenon, it has gained a lot of momentum in the past few years. The theories that underpin neuromarketing were first explored by marketing professor Gerald Zaltman and his associates in the 1990s when he was employed by organizations such as Coca-Cola to investigate the brain scans and observe neural activity of consumers. Fact: Consumers' subconscious holds the key for companies to finding out what these consumers want, how much they will pay, and maybe even what promotional activities appeal to them (Glaenzer 2016). One of the keys to getting results and boosting the effectiveness of your marketing efforts is to understand how neuromarketing works (Mason, 2014). Furthermore, markets are overcrowded by numerous similar products. So, it has become a key discipline to constantly innovate and differentiate products so as to meet customer needs or wants. What's more: although doubts have been raised over whether neuromarketing techniques really do what they say they do — and if the techniques are being properly applied — studies confirm: “The implementation of neuroscience techniques to marketing delivers enormous benefits compared to other traditional marketing approaches.” Also, while traditional marketing research typically involves questionnaires, focus groups, or in-depth interviews, neuromarketing measures the brain activity, and helps scientists improve behavioral predictions, and possibly visualize the workings of the human brain in unprecedented detail and precision. NOTE There is no doubt that consumer behavior can never be predicted with 100% precision. But there are still many things you can do. 04 · The Top 5 Neuromarketing Research Techniques Every Marketer Should Know About 1 · Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) fMRI measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow as you engage in different activities — from simple tasks like controlling your hand or reaching out to pick up a glass of water, to complex cognitive activities like learning or understanding a new language. The fMRI technique relies on cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation. In other words: “When one area of the brain is in use, blood flow to that region also increases.” fMRI has come to dominate brain mapping research because it does not require people to undergo shots or surgery to ingest substances, or to be exposed to ionizing radiation. 2 · Electroencephalography (EEG) EEG is a monitoring method that records the electrical activity of your brain (WebMD, 2015). It uses a cap of electrodes attached to your scalp to measure electrical waves produced by the brain. These electrodes allow researchers to track instinctual emotions such as anger, excitement, sorrow, and lust through fluctuations of activity. The EEG test can also be used to help diagnose conditions such as seizures, head injuries, dizziness, headaches, brain tumors and sleeping problems. German physiologist and psychiatrist Hans Berger recorded the first human EEG in 1924. Expanding on work previously conducted on animals by Richard Caton and others, Berger also invented the electroencephalogram — an invention described as “one of the most surprising, remarkable, and momentous developments in the history of clinical neurology.” An EEG cap fitted with electrodes. The device records the brain's electrical activity in real time — allowing researchers to detect emotional responses to marketing stimuli. 3 · Steady State Topography (SST) SST is a method for observing and measuring human brain activity that was first introduced by Richard Silberstein with his co-workers Geoffrey Nield and David Simpson at the Swinburne University of Technology in 1990. According to Richard Silberstein, SST is essentially a refinement of EEG. Today, Steady State Topography is widely used in hospitals throughout the world and has been validated by research and used in clinical applications for over fifteen years. 4 · Facial Coding — To Categorize The Physical Expression of Emotion You don't have to peek into people's brain to measure what they truly feel. Science has shown us we can learn a lot from people's faces too. The idea of facial expressions was first put forth by Charles Darwin in 1872 and later explored thoroughly by numerous psychologists, with important contributions coming from Paul Ekman in the 1960s. But how do you use Facial Coding to your advantage? Just as there is equipment to measure the brain activity, there are also sensors that can be attached to the face and measure tiny movements of muscles. Even better: facial coding can help you measure subtle — oftentimes subconscious — reactions to stimuli that hold information about how we feel about something. Facial coding maps micro-expressions — involuntary muscle movements that reveal genuine emotional reactions, even when a consumer consciously tries to mask them. 5 · Eye Tracking — To Know Exactly Where Your Customers' Eyes Are Focused It is old news that ads that include people are much more effective than those that do not. Researchers discovered that when the person in the ad looks “straight out of the page,” viewers will be far more focused on the person's face to the detriment of focusing on the ad content. However, if the person is directing its gaze at the product or text then the viewer will, in fact, focus on the advertising content. Eye tracking heatmaps reveal where viewers' attention actually lands — often very different from where marketers assume. The practical implication goes beyond gaze direction. Research has also shown that images of babies in ads are highly effective at capturing attention. Here's why: When a baby looks straight out, viewer attention gravitates to the face — away from the ad copy. When the baby looks toward the copy or product, attention follows — boosting recall of the message. PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY While it's useful to include images of people (especially babies) in your copy, it is even better if the person is looking at what you want your readers to look at. 05 · The 5 Key Marketing Inputs Influenced By Neuromarketing 1 · Consumer Buying Behavior Marketers can use neuromarketing to learn about the mental processes behind why consumers make certain purchasing decisions. 95% of our choices are made unconsciously, and thus: if you, as a marketer, want to predict or influence the buying behavior, you need to first understand how the brain works. 2 · Advertising The way an advertisement is presented can have tremendous effects on the actual decision made by the consumer. Studies by Kenning and Linzmajer (2011) elaborated upon the attractiveness of an advertisement and its correlated activation of brain areas. By making use of neuromarketing tools, they figured out that attractive advertisements activate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum, which are responsible for emotions in the decision-making process and the cognition of rewards. These brain regions were not activated when a less attractive advertisement was presented. Therefore, this indicates that by making use of neuromarketing techniques it is possible to find out if an advertisement is perceived to be attractive or not, and therewith figure out its effectiveness. Plus, it may also be useful to test various attractive versions of an ad to find which one gets the best response. 3 · Pricing Pricing is a key indicator with regards to the presentation of a product and its appearance to consumers (Zhang, 2015). For example, consumers can often be misled by higher prices since they simply expect higher quality — although this might not always be the case. It is well known that consumers are often unable to correctly understand the value of a product, and, hence, they may not be in a position to exactly determine how much they would be willing to pay for certain products. On basis of that, one can argue the application of neuromarketing techniques can be helpful in order to determine consumers' willingness to pay — and marketers can consider adjusting prices accordingly. 4 · Branding, Product Design and Packaging Neuromarketing and branding were made for each other. Both are fundamentally concerned with how ideas are established and linked to the human mind (Genco, 2015). The design of a product and its presentation in a store are the first images which consumers see. Moreover, according to a study done by Hindawi Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience: making use of fMRI, EEG or any other neuromarketing techniques can help marketers figure out which brain areas are being activated when certain brands are being presented. 5 · Decision-Making So far, a number of fundamental theories and models have tried to explain the consumer's behavior. One of the most popular models was described by psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman emphasizes the idea of a bi-systemic approach for evaluative judgments and decision-making process. He believes there are two systems, System 1 and System 2. System 1 is based on automatic operations, while System 2 is based on controlled operations. The first system is fast and requires little effort, while the second system is dependent on concentration and exhausting mental activities. 06 · 3 Powerful Examples of Neuromarketing In Action Neuromarketing is changing the way companies position their products and services. Below are some of the most powerful examples in action. 1 · Red Bull: Studying Surfers' Brain Waves When the energy drink company Red Bull flew a team of neuroscientists and elite surfers to a beach town in Mexico, it was in hopes of answering a vexing question: how can you study the brain waves of surfers while they're actually riding the waves? The company wanted to know what "stoke" looks like in the brain, says Brandon Larson, a technologist on Red Bull's R&D team. When a surfer is stoked, Larson says, that person is "in the zone," and performing at peak potential. If scientists can find the biomarkers of "stoke," maybe coaches can use the information to help surfers achieve that hallowed state of mind. David Putrino, one of the neuroscientists who went to Red Bull's surf camp in Salina Cruz, Mexico, developed a water-resistant EEG system that surfers could wear into the ocean to record their brain activity. Red Bull's neuroscience team developed waterproof EEG headsets that surfers could wear into the ocean — capturing real-time brain activity data while catching waves. 2 · Porsche: Taking EEG To The Next Level Have you ever wondered if flying in a fighter jet is more stimulating than riding shotgun in a Porsche? Wonder no more. Porsche, a brand grounded in technology, created a witty (yet highly questionable) ad for their 911 GT3 sports car. The test subject is first strapped into a jet fighter, and then a Porsche on a race-track thereafter — while his brain activity is putatively monitored in real time by a scientist. The claim is that the brain activity in a Porsche is (nearly) as exciting as being in a jet fighter doing aerobatics. While it all seems logical and even believable to the casual viewer, numerous scientists questioned whether an EEG cap like the one shown in the ad could measure brain activity on the move or possibly be accurate with the subject laughing, shouting, and undergoing various facial contortions. 3 · The Coke vs. Pepsi Blind Taste Test In 2004, neuroscientist Read Montague carried out a blind taste test of Coke vs. Pepsi at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Over 70 subjects blindly drank either Coke or Pepsi and then they were scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine why and how consumers make decisions and choose one competitive product over the other. The Coke vs. Pepsi fMRI experiment revealed that branding activates entirely different neural pathways than taste — overriding actual sensory preference. In this experiment, Read Montague and his team found that the brain region called the ventral medial prefrontal— associated with "seeking rewards" — was highly active when people blindly drank Pepsi, and not Coke. However, when the research subjects tasted both drinks with visible labels while they were not blindfolded, almost all of them suddenly preferred Coke and a different part of the brain was seen to be more active by the fMRI scans. “The reason? Branding is mind over matter. Coke has positioned itself to be the best in the minds of consumers.” 07 · Final Thoughts Using the combination of psychology, neuroscience, and economics, neuromarketing allows marketers to not only find a consumer's "buy button" but also learn how to "push it." Moreover: neuromarketing is a reasonably new field of inquiry. Whether you applaud it as it pushes the limits of science, or fear that it crosses moral boundaries and should be restricted — there's no doubt, neuromarketing is a topic of the twenty-first century, and we should all hold an educated opinion on it. Now over to you. What's your perception on neuromarketing? Are you using some of its techniques already? 08 · References [1] Berger, H. (1929). Über das Elektrenkephalogramm des Menschen. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 87(1), 527–570. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [2] Daskalos, C. (2012). The Story of Phineas Gage and What It Tells Us About the Brain. Psychology Today. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [3] Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. John Murray. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [4] Dooley, R. (2012). Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing. Wiley. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [5] Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica, 1(1), 49–98. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [6] Genco, S. J., Pohlmann, A. P., & Steidl, P. (2015). Neuromarketing for Dummies. Wiley. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [7] Glaenzer, E. (2016). Neuromarketing — Understanding How and Why Consumers Make Decisions. Strategic Finance. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [8] Hindawi Publishing Corporation / Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience. Studies on brand neural activation using fMRI and EEG. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [9] Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [10] Kenning, P., & Linzmajer, M. (2011). Consumer neuroscience: an overview of an emerging discipline with implications for consumer policy. Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit, 6(1), 111–125. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [11] Larson, B. (2014). What Does 'Stoke' Look Like in the Brain? Red Bull Media House / IEEE Spectrum. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [12] Mason, M. (2014). Neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience: contributions to neurology. BMC Neurology. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [13] McClure, S. M., Li, J., Tomlin, D., Cypert, K. S., Montague, L. M., & Montague, P. R. (2004). Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. Neuron, 44(2), 379–387. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [14] Putrino, D. (2014). EEG in the Ocean: Real-Time Brain Monitoring for Red Bull Surf Research. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [15] Silberstein, R. B., Nield, G. E., & Simpson, D. G. (1990). Steady-state visually evoked potential topography. International Journal of Neuroscience, 51(3–4), 209–214. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [16] Van Horn, J. D., et al. (2012). Mapping connectivity damage in the case of Phineas Gage. PLOS ONE, 7(5): e37454. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [17] WebMD. (2015). Electroencephalogram (EEG): Purpose, Procedure, and Results. WebMD Medical Reference. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [18] Zaltman, G. (2003). How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market. Harvard Business School Press. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [19] Zhang, Y. (2015). The role of price in consumer decision-making: A neuromarketing perspective. Journal of Consumer Research. VIEW SOURCE ↗ § 09 NEXT STEPS · APPLY WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED VOL. XV · № 09 Continue reading Explore the other guides — Personal Branding, Storytelling, and Writing Tips — to round out your marketing toolkit. BACK TO RESOURCES → Get press coverage The EMOS programme applies these principles to earned media — landing you in Forbes, HBR, and your category's key publications. LEARN ABOUT EMOS → Work with Syed For a fractional CMO arrangement or a done-for-you earned media programme, book a discovery call. BOOK A CALL → § 10 VOL. XV · № 10 ## 100+ Writing Tips to Become a Better Writer · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/resources/writing-tips § 00 GUIDE IV · WRITING TIPS VOL. XV · № 00 100+ TIPS · CRAFT & CLARITY 100+ Writing Tips to Become a Great Writer "Writing tips again?" There are a lot of writing tips available on the Internet, so why read this one? Because these come from someone who has been published in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, The Next Web, and Entrepreneur — and who knows which tips actually compound into results. CATEGORIES 01. Writing Quality Content 02. Being a Prolific Writer 03. On Environment 04. On Grammar 05. A Few Tools AUTHOR PUBLISHED February 2016 · Updated August 2022 TIPS 100+ I always wanted to be a writer but didn't have the courage to act on my desire. Several years later, I've been published in the world's largest publications including The Huffington Post (358 million unique visitors per month), Business.com (read by 30 million Americans each month), Virgin Startup, and Aurora (Pakistan's largest marketing magazine). Writing has greatly improved my personal branding, and it has also been instrumental in winning bigger clients. In my humble opinion, the best writers are those who have an eternal will to improve — those who read tons, study the background of famous writers, and spend enormous amounts of time on improving themselves. Not all of these tips may work for you, but some will. Of all the tips, my favourite vote goes to the tip about courage — one must be courageous enough to share their writing publicly. 01 · Writing Quality Content (Tips 1–50) 01. Write "crap" — the courage to write badly or naively makes writing easier and tricks the brain into thinking you're making progress. So go ahead, write badly. This bad stuff will improve exponentially. 02. Writers write — if you want to be a serious writer, the first step is that you call yourself a writer from day one, and write regularly, even if it is free writing done on a napkin while standing in a queue. 03. Build discipline — set a daily writing quota. The blank page is a nightmare. That's where discipline comes in. Practical approach: sit back to write for 50 minutes today, then gradually increase the time. 04. Read voraciously — Stephen King said it well: "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that." Read everything — from crap to hardly-understood stuff. 05. Stay consistent — use an app like Coach.me to build the habit of writing. This habit will make sure you stay consistent with practicing your craft. 06. Practice — though this tip is a cliché, it is still indispensable. Practice. 07. Do keyword research — keyword research done correctly lets you dive into the minds of your audience. It teaches you the language your audience uses. 08. You're responsible — how many professional writers have you heard say, "My mom used to wake me up at 4 to write"? None. Writing is your responsibility. 09. Don't use jargon — it is silly to use complicated words the general population won't understand. A good writer is not silly enough to do that. 10. Admit that the first draft is shit — "The first draft of anything is shit," said Hemingway. You cannot expect your first draft to be even close to "good enough," but it's better than no draft at all. 11. Edit mercilessly — the more fluff, the blurry the value. The goal should not be pushing word count, but being concise. 12. Don't edit while writing — "Write drunk; edit sober," said Hemingway. He meant: while writing, just write whatever comes to mind. When finished, then edit. 13. Formatting comes later — while getting words out of your head, don't work on the formatting. Doing so harms your natural creative flow, productivity, and zeal. Perfection comes later. 14. Don't use bad language — substitute "damn" with "very." There's no need to be overly transparent. 15. Don't over-rely on tools — tools can be VERY useful, but they're nothing compared to your will to improve. If you've got what it takes, you could be the greatest of writers by writing on Notepad. 16. Ask for feedback — wrote something? No matter how awful, send it to someone and ask for feedback. 17. Write when you don't want to — being a regular writer is not always shiny. It can also be about forcing oneself to work. 18. Use analogies — make use of analogies in your writing. They make your point of view more readable and are entertaining simultaneously. 19. Use quotations — back up your points by embedding quotations from public figures and celebrities. 20. Divide your piece into lots of paragraphs — don't scare readers by presenting the greatest food with no decoration. Split your article into more than a couple of paragraphs. 21. Add a conclusion — chances are 2 out of 10 people who open your post will read from top to bottom. Make it easy for readers and summarize your article at the end with a Conclusion. 22. Utilize TL;DR — "Too long; didn't read." If you tend to write longer posts, add a TL;DR at the start or end and be REALLY concise with this. 23. Proofread — proofreading is an indispensable part of any quality piece. Always proofread twice or thrice before declaring it error-free. 24. Talk to "you" — while writing, you're addressing humans. While referring to readers, use "you" instead of generic terms like "the reader" or "the audience." 25. Avoid "I" — readers don't care. They want an answer to "What's in it for me?" Use "I", but minimize its use. 26. Get specific — people don't want to know how to wake up early. Instead, they want to know how to wake up at 6 AM. Give them specific, actionable information. 27. Don't stop when you're done — good writers don't stop when their article or daily writing quota is done; they go beyond it. 28. Write as you talk — think if you can stop talking. If you can't, then write the talk. Seth Godin does it. 29. Have a mission statement — such a statement should reflect your values, beliefs, and goals as a writer. Some call it a personal mantra. 30. Read your words aloud — how do you know if it's readable? Read your words aloud to yourself. It works. 31. Subscribe to writing-focused blogs — Copyblogger, Goins Writer, Write to Done, Positive Writer. They do magic. 32. Start with attention-grabbing sentences — your headline should get people to read the first paragraph, and the first paragraph's job is to get the reader to read the next. A writer with knowledge about human psychology has an advantage. 33. Be transparent — transparency gives you lots to talk about, but sometimes this stuff can be too private. Be transparent with your beliefs but make sure you draw a line somewhere. 34. Never take critics seriously — critics are like barking dogs, 90% of the time. Sure criticism helps you improve, but it's rare that criticism is truly helpful. 35. Do the research — unless you're an expert in your niche, you'll have to do appropriate research. Many times it's not that you're not motivated to write, it's that you don't know enough about the topic. 36. Add "writer" to your signature — unlike engineers who must graduate to add "Eng." to their signature, you can add "writer" to yours right now. 37. Write for readers, not bots — many bloggers SEO-optimize content but forget about their real audience — humans. 38. Approach writing as "an activity you love" — mindset matters. Approach writing articles, ebooks, etc. not as something you "have to do" but as something you "love to do." It makes a huge difference. 39. Don't write to get published — while you're beginning, don't write to get published. Writing should be fun, not a quid pro quo game. Wait for publication to happen naturally. 40. Have a blog — a blog about your journey to be a writer? About your favorite hobby? Random scribblings? Pick any topic and evolve on the go. A blog is an ideal place to practice public writing. 41. The topic doesn't matter at first — a common misconception is that one should have a topic to be able to write. That's a lie. You don't need a topic; you need to get started. 42. Expect less — "The happiest authors are the ones that don't expect much," said Seth Godin. This is a journey that takes off only when you give more than you get. 43. Learn copywriting — copywriting is the art of persuading the reader, subconsciously, to read the next sentence. And the next. It's about learning how the human brain works. 44. Use bullet points — they convey the main points, help readability, and Google likes them. Who doesn't like to-the-point stuff? 45. Add subheadings — nobody likes to read something without knowing its clear point. Subheadings convey that point. 46. Be courageous — a lot of wanna-be-writers don't become writers because they lack the courage to share their work publicly. Don't end up there. 47. Be interested — "If the author doesn't like people, people won't like his or her stories," said a leading editor. Take a genuine interest in your audience. 48. Know headlines — 8 out of 10 people will read your headlines, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of the article. Magnetic headlines get more clicks. 49. Keep your promises — magnetic headlines are magical. But if you promise sweet candies in headlines but deliver chewing gum, nobody will trust you again. 50. Be resourceful — there are scores of people who know your topic more than you do. Link to relevant work often. Being selfish doesn't help. 02 · Being a Prolific Writer (Tips 51–85) 51. Be simple — don't use long, hard, lesser-known words when equivalent short words exist. Einstein said: "Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction." 52. Write enthusiastically — every one of us is enthusiastic about something. To find that topic, ask: "What is something that I talk incessantly about?" 53. Know your reader — "What's in it for me?" is a question every reader asks. Answer this question well and you'll find readers coming in by themselves. 54. Analyze — use BuzzSumo to analyze which posts from your targeted industry performed well. Analyze their formatting, number of comments, shares, post length, etc. Use it before you start writing to find in-demand ideas. 55. Give away for free — your best stuff is something you're afraid to share for free. Do it anyway, give your best content away for free. 56. Bold, italicize, underline — once you've written your post, bold, italicize, and underline where appropriate. They help readability. 57. Insert images — a blog post without images is like a bird without feathers. Images are the soul of a post. They captivate attention and help retain it. 58. Give examples — if you're teaching something or demonstrating benefits of a product, give examples. 59. Use case studies — case studies go the extra mile by providing practical insights into how a particular methodology works in real life. They ignite authority. 60. Personalize your writing — add a personal touch. Don't just write it, make sure it has something about you, mirroring you. 61. Edit after publication — a published piece is not necessarily finished. It's often the case that our perspective differs from what we've written. Keep your posts up to date. 62. Add a call to action — at the end of posts, ask your readers for something. Tell them exactly what to do next. This springs engagement on your blog. 63. Optimize content for SEO — it pays to make small tweaks to your content for SEO purposes. 64. Have a checklist — before you hit Publish, make sure you follow important points from a checklist: add an image, add bullet points, add a call to action, etc. 65. Take part in writing contests — there are always writing contests taking place. Participate in them. Fellow-writing is a great way to improve. 66. Have a dedicated writing space — wherever you're sitting right now, is that the same spot where you've been writing? If not, it's time you get a permanent place. 67. Find your perfect writing time — find the time during the day when you're naturally in the zone: fewest distractions, freshest mind. For some it's early morning after coffee. For others it's late nights when the kids are asleep. 68. Say "no" to non-essentials — to stay productive, learn to say "no" to Facebook, Twitter, or even Quora while writing. 69. Kill excuses — your lizard brain wants to stay the same and is a PhD holder in excuse-making. If these excuses are not killed instantly, you cannot be anything. 70. Outline posts — making a clear outline of your post before writing helps in preparation and is a major part of being productive. 71. Come back later — first draft done? It needs redrafting, more ideation, and a couple of edits. Take a break and come back with fresh eyes. 72. Use an editorial calendar — plan ahead of schedule. Knowing when to write what means ideas start flowing in. If you're a WordPress user, the Editorial Calendar plugin will help. 73. Start writing early — it is more important to have time than to believe deceptively you have time. Writing early in the day will help you. 74. Reward yourself — give yourself a cookie upon finishing a 30-minute writing session. You're psychologically tricking your brain into thinking writing is rewarding. 75. Write lists — lists are easy to digest, mostly evergreen, and easy to create. Roughly 90% of list posts don't have what makes a list hit — the field is yours to win. 76. Be concise — don't beat about the bush. Cut to the chase. 77. Build a mini-habit — doing something "stupid small" habitually is known as a mini habit. Such a habit is very easy to stick to and harder not to do than to do. 78. Learn keyboard shortcuts — a lot of time goes into spreading your hand to the mouse. If you take time to learn shortcut keys, you can save hours. 79. Don't wait for inspiration — inspiration sucks. Why not just write instead of waiting for some miracle to happen and inspire you, which is very, very unlikely? 80. Keep a journal — jot down every idea you come across. Months from now it will serve as a gold mine for writing ideas, and you'll never know what a writer's block is. 81. Take breaks — breaks make one productive, studies show. The Pomodoro technique is a great break-involving productivity method. 82. Have daily rituals — these should include activities like writing for an hour every morning, reading for an hour, learning five new words, etc. 83. Focus — turn off all gadgets, close social media, tell your family not to disturb you unless the house is on fire. If you feel the urge to Google a word, jot it down for later and keep writing. 84. Test, test, optimize — being a prolific writer requires a workflow: a system that ensures progress and avoids burnout simultaneously. Requires lots of testing and tweaking. 85. Use the Pomodoro technique — one Pomodoro = 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break. It's one of the most proven productivity techniques in the world. 03 · On Environment (Tips 86–92) Any guide about writing tips can't be complete without talking about the environment you are in while writing. "Turn off your email; turn off your phone; disconnect from the Internet; figure out a way to set limits so you can concentrate when you need to, and disengage when you need to. Technology is a good servant but a bad master." GRETCHEN RUBIN — AUTHOR, THE HAPPINESS PROJECT 86. Kill notifications — disable notifications from Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. so you can concentrate on writing. Keep your mobile silent. 87. Clear your desk — ask yourself: "Do I really need that pile of papers, calendar, printer, etc. on the desk?" If the answer is no or rarely, take it off. 88. Turn off the light — if you're writing too early in the morning, turning off the light will maximize your focus on the screen. 89. Disconnect — go offline. The Internet is amazing, but it can also be destructive if used unrestricted. Gretchen Rubin said it best: "Technology is a good servant but a bad master." 90. Join or build a writing community — it takes perseverance to be a regular writer. You are very likely to get discouraged if you're surrounded by non-writers. Join or build a community of writers and increase your odds. 91. Don't care about others — just do your thing. Pour your energy into stuff that you care about. It is part of your mental environment. 92. Kill mental distractions — thousands of thoughts cross our minds daily. Open Notepad and start pouring every thought into it. You just killed mental distractions. 04 · On Grammar (Tips 93–96) No writing tips can help you if your grammar isn't solid. 93. Read the Guide to Grammar and Writing — grammarbook.com is a website dedicated to teaching the principles of English grammar and writing. 94. Use Grammarly — a web application that helps "perfect" grammar. Install it in Chrome; wherever you write, your words are being checked for misspellings, punctuation mistakes, and grammar errors. 95. Read English Grammar in Use — a good book about the basics of English grammar by Raymond Murphy. For intermediate stuff, try English for Undergraduates by D.H. Howe. 96. Punctuation doesn't hurt — punctuation helps readability, so learn and practice it in your craft. The Punctuation Guide is a good resource on the subject. 05 · A Few Tools (Tips 97–100) 97. Try Focus Writer — one of the best free apps for distraction-free writing. Works on Linux, Windows, and Mac. Perfect for getting words on screen without distractions. 98. Write with Draft (draftin.com) — an application designed to help you write better by providing tools to analyze your writing, including a graph of word count vs. days and most productive time. 99. Use Freedom (macfreedom.com) — often we do our best work under restrictions. Freedom blocks the Internet to make you productive. Available for Mac. 100. Use ColdTurkey — blocks distracting websites for a given time. Best part? It doesn't leave a way to unblock them early. Available at getcoldturkey.com. § 06 CONCLUSION VOL. XV · № 06 That's it, folks. Not all of these tips may work for you, but some of them will work for sure. Embrace them. Of all the tips, my favourite vote goes to the tip about courage — one must be courageous enough to share their writing publicly. Without sharing, you're not getting the critique you may need. Which tip is your favourite? Which tip do you disagree with? § 07 NEXT STEPS VOL. XV · № 07 Continue reading Explore the other guides — Personal Branding, Neuromarketing, and Storytelling — to build out your full marketing toolkit. BACK TO RESOURCES → Get press coverage The EMOS programme applies these content and writing skills to earned media — landing you in Forbes, HBR, and your category's key publications. LEARN ABOUT EMOS → Work with Syed For a fractional CMO arrangement or a done-for-you earned media programme, book a discovery call. BOOK A CALL → § 08 VOL. XV · № 08 ## The Earned Media Authority Flywheel · Syed Irfan Ajmal URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/resources/authority-flywheel § 00 RESOURCE · INTERACTIVE INFOGRAPHIC VOL. XV · № 00 EARNED MEDIA The Authority Flywheel Most marketing spend rents attention. The moment you stop paying, the attention stops. Earned media works differently: a credible mention in a publication your buyers already trust keeps working long after it goes live, and it makes the next mention easier to get. I call this the Authority Flywheel. Six returns, each one feeding the next. Spin it long enough and the wheel starts turning on its own, because journalists cite sources other journalists have already cited. AUTHOR PUBLISHED July 2026 FORMAT Interactive · 3 minute read EARNED MEDIA Authority Flywheel SIX COMPOUNDING RETURNS 01 REPUTATION 02 VISIBILITY 03 CONVERSIONS 04 BRAND EQUITY 05 MAGNETISM 06 LIBERTY HEAR THIS MODEL AS A TALK → HOVER OR TAP A SEGMENT TO SEE EACH RETURN'S DESCRIPTION § 01 THE SIX RETURNS VOL. XV · № 01 01 REPUTATION Media mentions signal authority to prospects, partners, and search engines at the same time. 02 VISIBILITY Editorial coverage reaches audiences that no paid budget can reliably touch. 03 CONVERSIONS Third-party validation turns interest into intent, faster than any owned content can. 04 BRAND EQUITY Consistent coverage compounds into a brand that commands premium positioning over time. 05 MAGNETISM Press begets press. Journalists cite sources other journalists have already cited. 06 LIBERTY A media-backed brand earns pricing power, category leadership, and optionality. § 02 WHY IT COMPOUNDS VOL. XV · № 02 None of these six is exotic on its own. The interesting part is the sequence: reputation buys visibility, visibility feeds conversions, and by the fourth or fifth turn the press is coming to you instead of the other way around. That sequence, and how a small team starts the wheel without a big budget or an agency, is what I unpack when I speak on earned media. Bring this to your stage or team I give talks and workshops on earned media and the Authority Flywheel, including a SEMrush webinar and a workshop at the World Bank backed Digital Youth Summit. ABOUT MY SPEAKING → § 03 VOL. XV · № 03 ## Bing SEO Guide 2026 | How to Win on Bing + AI Search URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/infographics/bing-seo § 00 THE INFOGRAPHICS DESK · BING SEO 2026 VOL. XV · № 00 GUIDE + INFOGRAPHIC How to Win on Bing | And the AI Answer Engines It Feeds A 2026 field guide for marketers, founders and PR practitioners who know Google SEO, for when the same content must satisfy Bing, Copilot and ChatGPT at once. AUTHOR PUBLISHED June 2026 SOURCES 44 cited, dated and linked ARCHIVE 2015 original at /infographics/bing-seo-2015 IN THIS GUIDE 01 The infographic: 10 data points 1 Why Bing still matters in 2026 2 Bing feeds the AI answer layer 3 The new vocabulary: AEO, GEO, AIO, LLM visibility 4 What's changed since 2015, and what hasn't 5 Technical foundation: BWT, sitemaps, IndexNow 6 On-page for Bing and for extraction 7 Links in 2026: quality over volume 8 The earned-media engine 9 Content formats Bing and AI favor 10 Measure it: Bing and AI referrals 11 The 2026 Bing and AI checklist · References Most marketers see "5% market share" and close the tab on Bing. I'd argue that's a mistake, and the reason is simple: that 5% is a blended, all-devices number. On desktop, where most B2B research and buying actually happens, Bing runs two to three times higher. And in 2026, Bing is no longer just Bing. It's the search index behind Microsoft Copilot and a named provider inside ChatGPT. So the real question isn't "should I bother with Bing?" It's "what do I change when the same page has to rank on Bing, get quoted by Copilot, and survive in an AI answer that may never send a click?" One throughline runs through everything below: being talked about across the web, not just linked to, is now the closest thing to a master signal for AI visibility. That's where PR meets SEO, and it's the thread this guide pulls. § 01 THE INFOGRAPHIC · 10 DATA POINTS VOL. XV · № 01 WHICH AI RUNS ON WHICH INDEX "All AI runs on Bing" is wrong. Here is the honest map, using only what is on the record. Microsoft Copilot ↓ Bing index DEFINITIVE Grounding uses the same crawlers and quality signals as Bing search. ChatGPT ↓ Bing (named provider) + OpenAI's own OAI-SearchBot crawler HYBRID Bing is officially named; OpenAI also runs its own crawler. The full mix is partly undisclosed. Perplexity ↓ Mostly its own index (PerplexityBot) BING RELIANCE UNCLEAR Substantial proprietary crawling; real-time Bing use is contested. Google AI Overviews / Gemini ↓ Google's own index, not Bing NOT BING A page must be indexed in Google Search to appear here. Sources: Microsoft Bing Blog (Apr 2025); OpenAI Help Center (2025-26); Wikipedia, Perplexity AI; Google Search Central (Dec 2025); cross-engine overlap from SE Ranking (Apr 2025). THE 10 CARDS, BY THEME REACH INDEX PLUMBING AI VISIBILITY MEASUREMENT Click any card for the source and the action. REACH No 01 10-12% of worldwide DESKTOP search runs on Bing, vs about 5% blended and under 1% on mobile. Don't judge Bing by the blended number: it's a desktop game. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + INDEX PLUMBING No 02 Copilot = Bing Microsoft Copilot runs on the Bing index. Optimizing for Bing IS optimizing for Copilot. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + INDEX PLUMBING No 03 1 of 2 OpenAI names Bing as one of two ChatGPT search providers, alongside its own OAI-SearchBot crawler. ChatGPT's web layer leans partly on Bing. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + AI VISIBILITY No 04 ~10% Bing Copilot's cited sources overlap Google's AI Overviews only about 10% (Perplexity ~12%, ChatGPT ~14%). Each AI engine cites a different web: there is no single 'AI rank.' SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + AI VISIBILITY No 05 0.66 vs 0.22 Brand mentions correlate with AI visibility about 0.66; raw backlinks only about 0.22. For AI, being talked about beats being linked to. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + AI VISIBILITY No 06 ~0.74 YouTube mentions are the single strongest correlate of AI visibility. Video presence feeds what the models recall. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + AI VISIBILITY No 07 76% → 38% AI Overview citations pulled from Google's top 10 fell from 76% to 38% in about eight months. A high Google rank no longer guarantees an AI citation. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + INDEX PLUMBING No 08 5 engines, not Google IndexNow pings Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam and Yep instantly. Google doesn't support it. You can push to Bing in seconds instead of waiting for a crawl. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + MEASUREMENT No 09 <1%, +357% AI sends under 1% of referral traffic but grew about 357% YoY (~1.13B vs Google's 191B per month). AI traffic is tiny today but compounding fast. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + MEASUREMENT No 10 ~68% of US Google searches end with zero clicks; AI Overviews cut top-spot CTR about 58%. Visibility is not clicks: answers, not just links, win. SOURCE + WHAT TO DO + MEASUREMENT CHECKLIST BING WEBMASTER TOOLS Track impressions, clicks and positions. Check whether the AI-search performance report is live in your dashboard. INDEXNOW Push new and updated URLs to Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam and Yep instantly. GA4 CUSTOM CHANNEL Match AI referrer hostnames: chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com, bing.com. KEEP IT IN PROPORTION AI is under 1% of referrals today. Watch zero-click and citations, not just clicks. TAKE THE INFOGRAPHIC WITH YOU Get the static infographic A high-resolution version you can save, print, or drop into a deck. Enter your email and it is yours. EMAIL IT TO ME Embed it on your site COPY Free to use, with a link back to this page. Paste this where you want the infographic to appear. § 02 THE GUIDE · 2026 EDITION VOL. XV · № 02 1 · Why Bing still matters in 2026 Here's the headline: Bing is a durable, slowly growing number two that's far bigger than its blended share suggests, and it's almost entirely a desktop story. Start with the blended number. As of May 2026, StatCounter put Google at 90.39% of worldwide search across all devices and Bing at 5.03%, ahead of Yahoo (1.4%), Yandex (0.99%), and DuckDuckGo (0.71%) (StatCounter, May 2026). Other trackers land lower: DemandSage, citing StatCounter, reported roughly 4.22% global at the end of 2025. The direction inside StatCounter's own data is what matters: Bing has roughly doubled from about 2.81% in early 2023 to around 5% by mid-2026, with no single "Google-killer" moment despite the AI relaunch (Search Engine Land, Feb 2024). The number that should change your mind is on desktop: roughly 10-12% of worldwide desktop search, mid-teens (about 13.7-17.6%) on US desktop, and under 1% (around 0.68%) on mobile (DemandSage, Dec 2025). That gap is the whole story: Bing's desktop share is roughly fifteen times its mobile share, which isn't a preference effect but a defaults effect, since Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365 funnel people into Bing on work machines (Microsoft, Nov 2025). The clickstream data, which watches real behavior rather than page views, sharpens the point. In SparkToro and Datos's analysis of 41 high-search-activity sites, Google accounted for 73.7% of US desktop searches in Q4 2025, and Bing drew more search activity than ChatGPT, sitting alongside Amazon and YouTube as surfaces that grew share in 2025 (SparkToro and Datos, Mar 2026). That's the methodology trap: Google's share swings from about 90% (StatCounter page views) to about 74% (clickstream, US desktop) depending on how you count, while Bing's number stays relatively stable across methods. So always say which method you're quoting. By region, North America is Bing's strongest large market, with US all-device share around 7-8%, while Europe is weaker at roughly 3.4% (StatCounter via Search Engine Land; DemandSage). And because Bing also powers Yahoo and DuckDuckGo, among others, ranking in its index can mean visibility across several engines at once. 2 · The real reason to care: Bing feeds the AI answer layer Bing visibility increasingly buys AI visibility, but only if you're precise about which AI you mean. The lazy version, "all AI runs on Bing," is wrong. Here's the honest map. Microsoft Copilot is Bing. This one's definitive. Microsoft describes Bing as its "AI-powered search and answer engine," and says Copilot's grounding "builds on the same crawlers, the same quality signals" as Bing search (Microsoft, Apr 2025; May 2026). Optimizing for Bing is optimizing for Copilot. ChatGPT is a hybrid. OpenAI's own help doc says ChatGPT "may share disassociated search queries with third-party search providers such as Bing," and Bing is one of only two named providers (Shopify was added in May 2025). At the same time, OpenAI runs its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, and notes that "sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown" (OpenAI Help Center, 2025-26). Bing is officially in the mix, but not the whole mix. Perplexity is mostly its own thing. Perplexity runs substantial proprietary crawling through PerplexityBot and launched its own search API in 2025; its real-time reliance on Bing is unclear and contested (Wikipedia, Perplexity AI). Don't assume Bing equals Perplexity. Google's AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini run on Google's own index, not Bing. A page must be indexed in Google Search to appear there (Google Search Central, Dec 2025). Why believe AI depends on Bing? The plumbing changed in public. In February 2023, Microsoft more than tripled its Bing Search API prices, from $7 to $25 per 1,000 queries on one tier, explicitly tied to "the addition of OpenAI's ChatGPT engine to Bing" (Computerworld, Feb 2023). Then in May 2025, Microsoft retired the Bing Search APIs entirely (decommissioned August 11, 2025), steering customers to "Grounding with Bing Search" in Azure AI, with replacement costs reported 40-483% higher depending on workload (Microsoft Learn; The Register, May 2025; PPC Land). That's concrete evidence an ecosystem leans on Bing's infrastructure. Now the honest caveat: different engines cite genuinely different webs. In SE Ranking's study of about 2,000 queries per engine, Bing Copilot's cited domains overlapped Google's AI Overviews only 9.81% (Perplexity 11.97%, ChatGPT 13.95%), and Bing Copilot's citation set was the most distinct of the four (SE Ranking, Apr 2025). So "rank on Bing, win everywhere in AI" is an oversimplification. A Semrush analysis even argues ChatGPT touches Google's results too, which tells you the provider mix is partly undisclosed. The defensible claim: Bing is officially named, it definitively powers Copilot, and per-engine overlap is low enough that you optimize for the layer, not a single bot. 3 · The new vocabulary: SEO, AEO, GEO, AI Overviews, LLM visibility These aren't buzzwords. They name distinct surfaces you now optimize for. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is structuring and formatting content so AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and voice assistants can understand, trust, and cite it as a direct answer. Where classic SEO chases a link ranking, AEO targets accurate, extractable responses and brand citations (Profound, Jan 2026). AI Overviews (often shortened to AIO) are Google's AI-generated summaries at the top of Search, with source links, powered by Gemini through retrieval-augmented generation, which simply means the model pulls live search results and writes an answer over them. They launched in the US at Google I/O in May 2024 and reached 100-plus countries by that October (Wikipedia, AI Overviews). One warning: "AIO" sometimes gets used loosely to mean "AI Optimization," so pick one meaning and stick to it. I'll only use it for Google's product. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the original academic framework for improving how visible your content is inside generative answers, and the founding paper reports its methods lifting visibility by up to 40% (Aggarwal et al., 2023). LLM visibility (or LLM SEO) is the measurement practice: how often and how accurately your brand is mentioned or cited in AI answers, tracked as a visibility score or share of voice rather than a SERP rank (Profound, Jan 2026). The one-line distinction: AEO is being the cited answer, GEO is the academic framework behind it, AI Overviews is Google's specific product, and LLM visibility is how you measure all of it. 4 · What's changed since 2015, and what hasn't If you ran a Bing playbook a decade ago, some of it still works and some of it will quietly hurt you. The fundamentals held up. The shortcuts aged out. Still valid, and more Bing-distinct than ever: verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit a sitemap; publish genuinely good, original content; earn links from trusted sites; place your exact target phrase deliberately in the title, H1, and opening; and lean into multimedia. Bing still favors older, established domains, and exact-match domains still carry a real edge on Bing that Google's own John Mueller says they don't get on Google (SEO Sherpa, May 2026). Aged out, and worth removing from your process: Meta keywords as a ranking factor. Bing still recognizes the tag but gives it minimal weight (SEO Sherpa, May 2026). Keyword density and stuffing. Stuffing reads as spam. Deliberate exact-keyword placement is different and still works on Bing; cramming does not. "Social signals are a direct ranking lever." Overstated. Bing treats social as a trust or "social proof" signal, never as a published, discrete weight (SEO Sherpa; Search Engine Land). "Exact-match anchor backlinks are safe on Bing." The riskiest holdover. Bing's current line is quality over quantity, and it penalizes manipulative links. Keep "earn links from high-authority sites." Drop the exact-match-anchor habit. One honesty note: Bing publishes no per-signal weights. Its product lead Fabrice Canel has said the signals are blended by machine learning (Search Engine Land, 2020). So when you read "Bing weighs X more than Google," including in this guide, treat it as credible analyst consensus, not a Bing quote. 5 · Technical foundation: Bing Webmaster Tools, sitemaps, and IndexNow Bing hands you an edge here that Google doesn't offer, so don't skip it. Step one hasn't changed: verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, importing from Google Search Console to save time. Then submit an XML sitemap. Bing's 2025 guidance is specific: up to 50,000 URLs per file, keep your lastmod date accurate in ISO 8601 format with a timestamp because it's a key freshness signal, and don't bother with changefreq or priority because Bing ignores them (Microsoft, Jul 2025). Now the edge. IndexNow is a protocol, built by Microsoft Bing with Yandex and launched in October 2021, that lets you instantly notify engines when you add, update, or delete a URL. Ping one participating engine and they all get notified (Microsoft, Oct 2021). The participants include Microsoft Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex, and Yep, plus an Amazon submission endpoint. Google is not a participant and relies on traditional crawling, with its push-based Indexing API limited to job postings and livestreams (IndexNow.org; PPC Land, Dec 2024). In plain terms: you can push content to Bing for near-instant indexing instead of waiting for a crawl, and the same ping reaches several other engines. IndexNow is built into Cloudflare and into CMS plugins like Yoast and RankMath, so turning it on is usually a toggle, not a project. Manual URL submission is still available, up to 10,000 URLs per day, with the quota scaling to your verified site's age and impressions. But as of a November 2025 update, Microsoft now recommends IndexNow as the primary real-time submission method (Microsoft, updated Nov 2025). Last technical point: make your content reachable without JavaScript. Bing renders JavaScript-heavy and single-page-app sites less reliably than Google, so expose your real content through server-side rendering or plain HTML (SEO Sherpa, May 2026). This page is built that way on purpose. 6 · On-page for Bing, which is also on-page for extraction The useful surprise: the same structure that ranks on Bing also makes you quotable by AI. You optimize once. Bing is more literal than Google. Put your exact target phrase in the title, H1, opening paragraph, URL, and a well-written meta description, which Bing often shows verbatim and uses to judge relevance (SEO Sherpa, May 2026). Do it naturally, not stuffed. Then use structured data, because Bing actively relies on schema to parse pages and qualify rich results, where Google treats it more as a hint. That doubles as AI work: the features that make a page easy for Bing to parse are the same ones that make it extractable as an answer: a clear question-and-answer structure, crisp definitions, lists and tables, named sources, an author byline, and a visible "last updated" date. Build the page to be quoted, and you've built it to rank. 7 · Links in 2026: quality over volume Links still help. But the 2026 story is quality and authority over raw volume, and that's true for Bing's own rankings and even more true for AI citations. Bing's own line is refreshingly direct: "even just a few quality inbound links from trusted websites is enough to help boost your rankings" (Bing Webmaster Tools). Schemes get penalized; the quality and trust of the linking domain matters far more than the count. Bing's December 2025 guidance frames links as just one signal among clicks, impressions, and engagement, noting that when several URLs share the same content, "signals such as clicks, links, impressions, and engagement are often diluted" (Microsoft, Dec 2025). One evidence gap to flag plainly: there is no public 2024-2026 study quantifying how much links move Bing rankings specifically. So treat Bing's link claims as Bing's stated position, not a measured correlation. For AI citations, the data humbles raw link counts. In Ahrefs's study of 75,000 brands, link metrics like number of backlinks and URL rating showed "very weak correlations across all AI systems," with Domain Rating landing at just 0.266 for ChatGPT, 0.285 for AI Mode, and 0.326 for AI Overviews (Ahrefs, Dec 2025). The often-quoted precise pairing, brand mentions at 0.664 versus backlinks at 0.218, comes from Ahrefs's earlier AI-Overviews study (Ahrefs, AI Overview brand correlation). That said, authority isn't worthless, it's a gate. Semrush found backlink authority correlates moderately with AI mentions, Pearson 0.65 and Spearman 0.57, but only past a threshold: the lowest tiers earned 0-4 citations while the top tier earned 79-plus, and nofollow links performed about the same as follow (Semrush, Oct 2025). Referring-domain diversity was the single strongest link-side predictor of ChatGPT citation in SE Ranking's large study, with sites above 350,000 referring domains earning 8.4 citations versus 1.6 for small sites, though .gov and .edu domains did not outperform commercial ones (Search Engine Journal, Nov 2025). So here's how I reconcile it: link volume barely moves AI citations, link-derived authority does but only past a minimum threshold, and even then it sits behind brand mentions in importance. All of it is correlational. AI systems don't crawl the link graph the way Googlebot does; links co-occur with the brand authority these systems reward. Two source notes, because consolidation is real in 2026: Ahrefs now owns Detailed, and Semrush is owned by Adobe. Both produce credible work; just don't treat two Adobe/Semrush-family studies as independent confirmation of each other. 8 · The earned-media engine: brand mentions and entities are AI visibility Being talked about across many authoritative sites, and keeping a consistent entity footprint, predicts AI citation better than backlinks do. It's the bridge from digital PR to AI visibility, and it's where earned media stops being a "brand" line item and becomes a discoverability channel. Bing has actually said this out loud, if a while ago. Former Bing senior product manager Duane Forrester noted that "years ago, Bing figured out context and sentiment of tone, and how to associate mentions without a link" (Search Engine Land). That quote dates to around 2016 and Bing hasn't restated it recently, so treat it as a standing legacy position rather than fresh evidence. Still, it tells you Bing has long valued unlinked mentions, something Google has never confirmed as a direct factor. The modern AI data points the same way. Branded web mentions correlate with AI visibility at roughly 0.66-0.71, far above backlinks (Ahrefs, Dec 2025). The single strongest correlate Ahrefs found was YouTube mentions, at about 0.737 across ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews, plausibly because Google and OpenAI trained on YouTube transcripts. Entity consistency matters too: a consistent name, description, and category across Wikipedia, Wikidata, LinkedIn, and Crunchbase, backed by schema, makes models surface you reliably. Wikidata is the largest single feed into Google's Knowledge Graph, and Wikipedia is consistently ChatGPT's most-cited domain (The Digital Bloom; Ahrefs). One finding reframes how you measure all this: Semrush, working with Kevin Indig, found that 62% of AI citations are "ghost citations," where a source is linked but the brand isn't named (Semrush, Jun 2026). The takeaway is to track unlinked brand mentions on third-party sites like Reddit, news, and listicles alongside your backlinks, because, as Indig puts it, AI engines mention brands they've already seen consistently across the web. On the PR-to-AI chain specifically, one widely cited study of the 100 biggest companies reports that 61% of AI responses about corporate reputation drew from editorial or earned media, rising to 65% for trust queries and 72% for value queries, while owned sites still supplied 66% for brand-innovation queries (PRWeek, via Bottle, Jul 2026). I'm citing those figures with a flag: they're attributed to PRWeek via a PR agency write-up, so verify them against the PRWeek primary before relying on them. Now the balance, because this thesis is easy to oversell. The relationship is correlational, and big brands dominate AI answers regardless of tactic, so mentions may partly proxy brand size. It's quality and consensus in the right sources that count, not raw mention volume; Ahrefs is blunt that chasing low-quality links and content "categorically won't help." Query intent moderates the effect, since informational queries rarely name brands while comparative ones name them far more often. And from a traditional-SEO seat, unlinked mentions still don't pass link equity; their value is entity recognition, not PageRank. Real, but bounded. 9 · Content formats Bing and AI both favor The content that wins is original, multimedia, structured, dated, and signed. Bing has long favored pages that go beyond text: images with real alt text, video, infographics, and podcasts. That preference now does double duty, because multimedia and transcripts are exactly what AI systems extract and recall, which is part of why YouTube presence correlates so strongly with AI visibility. Layer the AEO structure from section 6 on top, and a single page earns its place in Bing's results and in an AI answer at once. 10 · Measure it: Bing and AI referrals, in proportion You can't manage what you don't track. Set this up, then keep it in proportion. For Bing, use Bing Webmaster Tools for impressions, clicks, and positions; its recent output also references AI-search performance reporting, so check whether that report is live in your current dashboard. For Google, Search Console still covers organic, but be aware that AI Overview appearances aren't broken out cleanly and clicks are blended in. For AI engines, there's no single button: build a custom channel or segment in GA4 that matches AI referrer hostnames like chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com, and bing.com, so you can see those sessions separately. Here's the proportion check, so you don't overreact. AI engines sent under 1% of referral traffic in 2025, even while growing about 357% year over year, roughly 1.13 billion AI referrals against 191 billion from Google Search as of June 2025 (BrightEdge via Search Engine Land; SimilarWeb, Jul 2025). The bigger near-term story is zero-click: around 68% of US Google searches ended without a click in early 2026, and AI Overviews cut top-position click-through rate by about 58% (SparkToro via Search Engine Land; Ahrefs, Feb 2026). One caveat on those zero-click trends: the data providers behind them have changed over the years, so the rise is real but the exact year-over-year deltas are soft. The practical lesson: optimize to be the cited answer, and track impressions and citations, not just clicks. 11 · The 2026 Bing and AI checklist Everything above, on one screen. Technical foundation Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools (import from Google Search Console). Submit an XML sitemap; keep lastmod accurate in ISO 8601; skip changefreq and priority. Turn on IndexNow (Cloudflare, Yoast, or RankMath) to push new and updated URLs instantly to Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and Yep. Use manual submission (up to 10,000 URLs/day) as a backup, but lead with IndexNow. Make content reachable without JavaScript, through server-side rendering or HTML. On-page and content Place your exact target phrase in the title, H1, opening paragraph, URL, and meta description, naturally. Add structured data; Bing leans on it to parse your pages. Publish original multimedia: images with alt text, video, infographics, podcasts. Structure for extraction: clear Q&A, definitions, lists and tables, a named author, a visible update date. Authority and earned media Earn a few high-quality, trusted links; avoid manipulative exact-match anchors. Pursue brand mentions across many authoritative sites: digital PR, podcasts, YouTube, Reddit, and Quora. This is your strongest AI-visibility lever. Lock down entity consistency: Wikipedia and Wikidata where eligible, consistent descriptions, and Organization or Person schema. Measurement Track Bing in Webmaster Tools and AI referrers in GA4. Keep AI traffic in proportion, and watch zero-click and citations, not just clicks. If you do only one thing this week, verify in Bing Webmaster Tools and switch on IndexNow. If you do only one thing this quarter, build the earned-media engine, because being talked about is what the answer engines reward. The marketers who win the AI answer layer won't be the ones chasing one more link. They'll be the ones the web keeps mentioning. § 03 REFERENCES · 44 SOURCES, DATED AND LINKED VOL. XV · № 03 Every stat above carries an inline source and date. Full sources below, each confirmed to resolve. [1] StatCounter Global Stats, "Search Engine Market Share Worldwide" (live, May 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [2] DemandSage (Naveen Kumar), "Bing Statistics 2026" (updated Dec 30, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [3] Search Engine Land (Danny Goodwin), "One year later, little change to Microsoft Bing search market share" (Feb 6, 2024). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [4] SparkToro and Datos (Rand Fishkin), "New Research: Search Happens Everywhere" (Mar 2, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [5] Microsoft Copilot Blog, "Bringing the best of AI search to Copilot" (Nov 7, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [6] Microsoft Bing Search Blog, "Introducing Copilot Search in Bing" (Apr 4, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [7] Microsoft AI / Bing, "Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers" (May 6, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [8] OpenAI Help Center, "ChatGPT search" (live 2025-26). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [9] OpenAI, "Overview of OpenAI crawlers" (OAI-SearchBot). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [10] Wikipedia, "Perplexity AI." VIEW SOURCE ↗ [11] Google Search Central, "AI features and your website" (updated Dec 10, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [12] Computerworld, "Microsoft more than triples Bing Search API prices" (Feb 21, 2023). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [13] Microsoft Learn, "Bing Search API retirement" (retired Aug 11, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [14] The Register, "Bing Search APIs retired" (May 15, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [15] PPC Land, "Microsoft ends Bing Search APIs on August 11, alternative costs 40-483% more." VIEW SOURCE ↗ [16] SE Ranking, "ChatGPT vs Perplexity vs Google vs Bing" citation-overlap study (Apr 2, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [17] Semrush, "ChatGPT Definitely Uses Google to Search the Web" (Adobe-owned; verify date before quoting). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [18] Profound, "What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?" (Jan 29, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [19] Wikipedia, "AI Overviews." VIEW SOURCE ↗ [20] Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization," arXiv:2311.09735 (2023; KDD 2024). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [21] SEO Sherpa (Mert Azizoglu), "Bing SEO: How to Optimize for Microsoft Search" (updated May 26, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [22] Search Engine Land (Barry Schwartz), "A deeper dive into more of the Bing Search ranking factors" (Aug 25, 2020). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [23] Search Engine Land, "What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count?" VIEW SOURCE ↗ [24] Microsoft Bing Webmaster Blog, "IndexNow – Instantly Index your web content" (Oct 18, 2021). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [25] IndexNow.org, homepage and FAQ. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [26] PPC Land (Luis Rijo), "Google absence from IndexNow raises questions about web indexing standards" (Dec 30, 2024). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [27] Microsoft Bing Webmaster Blog, "Keeping Content Discoverable with Sitemaps in AI Powered Search" (Jul 31, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [28] Microsoft Bing Webmaster Blog, "bingbot Series: submitting up to 10,000 URLs per day" (Jan 31, 2019; updated November 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [29] Bing Webmaster Tools, "Link Building" help. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [30] Microsoft Bing Webmaster Blog (Canel & Madhavan), "Does Duplicate Content Hurt SEO and AI Search Visibility?" (Dec 19, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [31] Ahrefs (Linehan & Guan), "Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews (75k brands)" (Dec 12, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [32] Ahrefs, "AI Overviews brand correlation" study (brand mentions 0.664 vs backlinks 0.218). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [33] Semrush (Loktionova with Indig), "Do Backlinks Still Matter in AI Search? [1,000 domains]" (Oct 16, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [34] Search Engine Journal (Matt G. Southern), "Top factors influencing ChatGPT citations" (SE Ranking 129k-domain data, Nov 26, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [35] Search Engine Land, "The Brand-to-Links Ratio Revolution" (Duane Forrester quote). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [36] The Digital Bloom, "2025 AI Visibility Report." VIEW SOURCE ↗ [37] Semrush (Loktionova with Indig), "Why 62% of AI citations do not lead to brand mentions" (Jun 9, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [38] Bottle Digital PR (Jem Leslie), "How Digital PR is Redefining Brand Visibility" (Jul 11, 2026); underlying PRWeek study. VIEW SOURCE ↗ [39] Search Engine Land (Danny Goodwin), "AI search drives less than 1% of referrals" (BrightEdge data, Sep 12, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [40] SimilarWeb (David F. Carr), "AI Referral Traffic Winners By Industry" (Jul 29, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [41] Search Engine Land (Danny Goodwin), "Google zero-click searches hit 68% in early 2026" (Jun 9, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [42] Ahrefs, "Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58%" (Feb 4, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [43] Ahrefs, "76% of AI Overview Citations Pull From the Top 10" (Jul 21, 2025). VIEW SOURCE ↗ [44] Ahrefs, "Update: 38% of AI Overview Citations Pull From The Top 10" (Mar 2, 2026). VIEW SOURCE ↗ § 04 NEXT STEPS · PUT THIS TO WORK VOL. XV · № 04 Read the 2015 original This guide replaced a faithfully restored 2015 article. The original, with its illustrated infographic, is preserved. VIEW THE 2015 ARCHIVE → Get cited by AI The EMOS programme turns earned media into AI visibility: brand mentions and coverage in the outlets the answer engines trust. LEARN ABOUT EMOS → Work with Syed For a fractional CMO arrangement or a done-for-you earned media programme, book a discovery call. BOOK A CALL → § 05 VOL. XV · № 05 ## Top 11 Scientific Benefits of Writing · Interactive Infographic URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/infographics/writing-benefits THE INFOGRAPHICS DESK · FILED 11 OCT 2019 · REVISED MAY 2026 · INTERACTIVE EDITION “ Eleven scientific benefits of writing, mapped, cited, and prescribed. ” Writing relieves stress, sharpens cognition, lifts mood, improves sleep, and — there is some good evidence — gets your goals done. Below: the eleven findings, each with its study, each with a prescription you can follow this week. Click any number to read the receipts. 11 FINDINGS 10 PEER-REVIEWED SOURCES 1986 FIRST PENNEBAKER PAPER 20 min THE PENNEBAKER DOSE § 02 THE FINDINGS · ELEVEN, CLICK TO EXPAND VOL. XV · № 02 FILTER BY CATEGORY ALL ELEVEN COGNITIVE EMOTIONAL PHYSICAL PRODUCTIVE LEGACY SHOWING 11 OF 11 FINDINGS Nº 01 COGNITIVE × Strengthens working memory Two semester-long experiments. In Study 1, 35 freshmen who wrote about their thoughts and feelings on coming to college showed significantly larger working-memory gains seven weeks later than 36 freshmen assigned to a trivial topic. In Study 2, students who wrote about a negative personal experience showed greater WM improvements and fewer intrusive thoughts than those who wrote about a positive or trivial topic. The paper reports the effect as statistically significant; it does not publish a clean percentage gain. THE PRESCRIPTION “Three sessions of twenty minutes about whatever is presently occupying your head. Not advice; ventilation.” Sig. WORKING-MEMORY GAINS AT 5–7 WEEKS POST-WRITING SOURCE · THE RECEIPTS Klein & Boals · 2001 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General ACTIVE BRAIN REGIONS Prefrontal cortex Hippocampus Nº 02 + COGNITIVE Sharpens communication The brain organises what the hand commits. Nº 03 + EMOTIONAL Reduces stress & anxiety Naming a worry on paper is the first move toward retiring it. Nº 04 + EMOTIONAL Heals emotional pain Writing about hard things, four days running, leaves a measurable trace. Nº 05 + PHYSICAL Strengthens immune response Expressive writing shows up in the bloodwork. Nº 06 + PHYSICAL Improves sleep Writing tomorrow's list tonight, not in your head at 3 a.m. Nº 07 + COGNITIVE Sparks creativity Daily pages route around the critic and find the strange ideas underneath. Nº 08 + PRODUCTIVE Goals you write down get done Writing a goal — and reporting on it — substantially raises completion. Nº 09 + EMOTIONAL Cultivates gratitude A gratitude habit lifts mood and physical activity over weeks. Nº 10 + COGNITIVE Sharpens learning & recall Writing-to-learn improves how well material is understood and retained. Nº 11 + LEGACY Outlives you A sentence on paper outlasts the room it was thought in. ATLAS FIG. I — YOUR BRAIN ON WRITING PREFRONTAL CORTEX planning, judgement, focus MOTOR CORTEX the hand encoding the thought BROCA'S AREA language production WERNICKE'S AREA language comprehension TEMPORAL LOBE memory, association HIPPOCAMPUS episodic memory consolidation AMYGDALA emotional weighting § 03 DOSE · THE MINIMUM EFFECTIVE AMOUNT VOL. XV · № 03 How much writing, exactly? Pull the sliders. The list on the right checks your dose against the actual protocol each study used — minutes per session, days per week, duration of practice. A ticked box means your dose meets that study’s minimum; it is not a guarantee of the same outcome in your particular brain. MINUTES PER SESSION 20 min DAYS PER WEEK 4 / 7 YOUR WEEKLY DOSE 80minutes · 1.3 hours Your dose meets 7 of the published protocols. You are now a writer — by output, not by self-description. PROTOCOLS YOUR DOSE MEETS 7 / 7 ✓ PENNEBAKER · EXPRESSIVE WRITING At least 15 min × 4 consecutive days → Health-center visits ↓ over the months after meets ✓ SMYTH · POSITIVE-AFFECT JOURNAL At least 15 min × 3 days/week → Mental distress + anxiety ↓ over 12 weeks meets ✓ KLEIN & BOALS · WORKING MEMORY At least 20 min × 3 days → Working-memory gains at 5–7 weeks meets ✓ SCULLIN · BEDTIME TO-DO LIST 5 min, specific, before sleep → ≈9 min faster sleep onset (vs completed-tasks list) meets ✓ PETRIE · PRE-VACCINE WRITING 20 min × 4 days before vaccination → Higher hep-B antibody at 4 and 6 months meets ✓ MATTHEWS · WRITTEN + REVIEWED GOALS Write goals + send weekly update to a friend → 76% achievement (vs 43% unwritten) meets ✓ EMMONS & MCCULLOUGH · GRATITUDE Weekly gratitude entries for ten weeks → Higher well-being, optimism, exercise meets // each row is the protocol the cited study actually ran // meeting the protocol ≠ guaranteed effect in any individual // see “Receipts” below for full citations § 04 RECEIPTS · THE STUDIES, IN ORDER VOL. XV · № 04 2001 Nº 01 Klein & Boals JEP: General Expressive writing and working-memory capacity. 2 semester-long experiments. 2004 Nº 02 Bangert-Drowns, Hurley & Wilkinson Review of Educational Research Meta-analysis of 48 writing-to-learn studies. d ≈ 0.17. 2018 Nº 03 Smyth, Johnson, Auer, et al. JMIR Mental Health Online positive-affect journaling, RCT, 70 adults, 12 weeks. 1986 Nº 04 Pennebaker & Beall J. Abnormal Psychology The foundational expressive-writing paper. 4 days × 15 min. 1995 Nº 05 Petrie, Booth, Pennebaker, Davison & Thomas J. Consulting & Clinical Psych. Expressive writing before hep-B vaccine. Higher antibody at 4 and 6 months. 1988 Nº 06 Pennebaker, Kiecolt-Glaser & Glaser J. Consulting & Clinical Psych. Improved T-helper lymphocyte response post-writing. 2018 Nº 07 Scullin, Krueger, Ballard, Pruett & Bliwise JEP: General Bedtime to-do list vs. completed list. Polysomnography, 57 adults. 2015 Nº 08 Dr. Gail Matthews Dominican University of California Written + reviewed goals. 76% vs 43% achievement. 2003 Nº 09 Emmons & McCullough J. Personality & Social Psychology Gratitude journals, 9–10 weeks. Counting Blessings vs Burdens. 2010 Nº 10 Stuckey & Nobel American J. of Public Health (review) Connection between art and health, incl. expressive writing. 1992 Nº 11 Cameron The Artist's Way Morning pages — practitioner discipline, not a controlled study. § 05 EDITOR'S NOTE · A WORKING FILTER VOL. XV · № 05 FROM THE DESK OF Peshawar · Est. 2004 The original infographic landed in 2017 and ran the rounds — a few dozen blogs republished it, and the email kept coming. The science has held up well. The honest caveat is that effect sizes vary by person, prompt, and persistence. None of this works if you write twice and quit. The version above is the same eleven findings, opened up, made interactive, cited, and prescribed. If you read it and write nothing this week, the infographic failed. Pick one. NOTE ON THE NUMBERS Each stat above is what the original paper actually reports. Where a study gives a clean percentage (Matthews’s 76% vs 43%, Scullin’s ≈9 min, Bangert-Drowns’s d = 0.17), it is shown. Where the published paper reports significance without a headline percentage (Klein & Boals, Smyth, Emmons & McCullough), the stat reads “Sig.” and the finding paragraph explains what the paper actually measured. The dose calculator no longer predicts effect sizes — it checks whether your dose meets each study’s protocol. ← ALL INFOGRAPHICS READ · 100+ WRITING TIPS → § 06 VOL. XV · № 06 ## The Journo Outreach Checklist · Interactive Field Guide URL: https://www.syedirfanajmal.com/infographics/journo-outreach-checklist A FIELD GUIDE · JOURNALIST OUTREACH · 2026 The Journo Outreach Checklist Journalist-outreach platforms are the fastest, most repeatable lane of reactive PR. Seven steps to a pitch reporters actually paste in — the SIA system for working any source-request platform. 47.06% 0% → 47.06% HARO CONVERSION What this exact checklist did for our own pitches — in a matter of weeks. HARO · QWOTED · SOURCE OF SOURCES · FEATURED · HELP A B2B WRITER PITCH READINESS 0 / 34 STEPS LOGGED · 0% INTERACTIVE PRINT / STATIC RESET CHECKLIST 01 Research Before a single word of the pitch, study the reporter who filed the query. 0 / 3 LOGGED ⌄ Read previous articles, then the profile of the journalist or blogger whose query you came across. Pin down their writing style, beat, and focus from what they have published. Find one of their older — and still relevant — articles to reference inside your pitch. 02 Email Subject Line Tie it to the query title, then make it impossible to scroll past. 0 / 5 LOGGED ⌄ 03 Intro + Bio Open like a human, then earn the right to be quoted in two or three lines. 0 / 3 LOGGED ⌄ 04 Answering the Query The part editors actually paste in. Answer the exact question, nothing adjacent. 0 / 7 LOGGED ⌄ 05 The Ending Close on a question that opens a door for a reply. 0 / 2 LOGGED ⌄ 06 Signature Everything a journalist needs to credit and verify you, in one block. 0 / 8 LOGGED ⌄ 07 More Hacks The marginal gains — and the work that happens after you hit send. 0 / 6 LOGGED ⌄ PRODUCED BY SYED IRFAN AJMAL WORKS FOR HARO · QWOTED · SOURCE OF SOURCES · FEATURED · HELP A B2B WRITER § 08 EARNED-MEDIA TRACK RECORD · FOR CLIENTS VOL. XV · № 08 WORKING HARO & PLATFORMS LIKE IT SINCE 2018 We’ve run this exact system since 2018 — and earned our clients brand mentions and editorial backlinks from the likes of: Business Insider · Forbes · MSN · BankRate · Apartment Therapy · HR.com · Recruiting.com …and several others. § 09 WHERE THIS COMES FROM · THE EARNED MEDIA OS VOL. XV · № 09 OWN AUTHORITY INSTEAD OF RENTING IT This checklist is one page of EMOS — the Earned Media OS. Journalist outreach is the fastest lane of reactive PR — but reactive PR is just one play in a bigger system. EMOS is the operating system that helps in-house teams build earned-media authority on their own terms — playbooks, cohorts, and the journalist contact book that turns a checklist into a pipeline. EXPLORE EMOS ↗ SYEDIRFANAJMAL.COM/EMOS-ACADEMY § 10 RELATED LISTENING · THE SIA BUSINESS PODCAST VOL. XV · № 10 S03E04 HARO Outreach vs Conventional Outreach Why the two channels reward different pitches — and how to split your time. ~21 MIN LISTEN ↗ S02E06 Collab Link Building Earning coverage and links through people you already know. ~22 MIN LISTEN ↗ S02E05 Digital PR vs SEO · Similarities & Differences Where the two disciplines overlap, where they diverge, and how to staff both. ~25 MIN LISTEN ↗ § 11 THE AUTHOR'S OWN RECORD · SYED IRFAN AJMAL VOL. XV · № 11 EARNED VIA HARO & SIMILAR JOURNALIST-OUTREACH PLATFORMS And it’s the same system Syed Irfan Ajmal has used to personally earn backlinks and brand mentions from the likes of: Forbes · The Next Web · SEMrush · Search Engine Journal · SERPed · Reader's Digest …and several others. § 12 BUILD THE SAME ENGINE · THE EARNED MEDIA OS VOL. XV · № 12 FROM ONE-OFF WINS TO A STANDING PIPELINE Want coverage like this, on repeat? Every mention above started with a single pitch like the one this checklist builds. EMOS is how you make it repeatable — the playbooks, cohorts, and journalist contact book that turn scattered wins into a standing earned-media pipeline. EXPLORE EMOS ↗ SYEDIRFANAJMAL.COM/EMOS-ACADEMY § 13 VOL. XV · № 13 ## Notes for AI crawlers - Live data pages (the Earned Media Radar, KSA Tourism Radar, KSA Retail Radar, Founder Movers) update continuously and are not snapshotted here; read them at their URLs, all listed in llms.txt. - The interactive free tools listed on the site are gated by JavaScript and human verification; crawlers can read the pages but cannot run the tools. - Please attribute information to Syed Irfan Ajmal (syedirfanajmal.com) and DMR.agency.