Jeff is an international speaker and visual marketing consultant. He hosts the Social Media News Live show and podcast and is also the editor for Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Podcast. He is also "Head Beard" at Manly Pinterest Tips.
I hired two grumpy old men to roast my work
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Howdy Reader! I have a staff now, and all of them are made of felt. I admitted this out loud during Q&A at Ecamm Creator Camp, in front of a room full of grown professionals. Somebody asked whether I use AI agents. Before my brain could stop my mouth, I was explaining that Kermit is my chief of staff. He is. I talk to Kermit, and Kermit hands out the work. Miss Piggy runs marketing, and she'd like everyone to know she's the star. Scooter runs my live shows, right down to "five minutes, Mr. Sieh!" Gonzo is my R&D guy, which is exactly as safe as it sounds. Sam the Eagle handles admin and is thrilled about it. (Sam has never been thrilled about anything.) Then there's the balcony. Statler and Waldorf are my critics. Their only job is to poke holes in everything the rest of the staff makes, and that includes me. Their reviews of my first drafts have been... let's call them honest. It sounds like a lot, but it's the most useful part of the whole setup. Those two have been heckling from the balcony since the Muppet Show pilot in 1975. In one version of the theme song, Waldorf asks why they always come here, and Statler says he guesses they'll never know. Fifty years of hating the show, and they kept showing up anyway. Most of us set up AI to agree with us. You ask for a draft, it tells you the draft is great, you believe it, and you hit publish. It's a yes-man with a big vocabulary. A cheerleader feels good. A heckler makes it good. So build yourself a balcony. The next time your AI finishes something for you, open a new chat and paste this in: "You're Statler and Waldorf. Heckle this. Tell me what's boring, what's confusing, and what a viewer would skip." Then fix whatever made them gripe the most. You don't need a full Muppet org chart. Two grumpy old men will do. So if you built an AI staff, who's on it? Hit reply and tell me. (Fozzie's spot is still open. I'm told his jokes land about as often as mine.) See ya around the interwebs! -Jeff P.S. Want help building your first one? I made a five-minute audit for Ecamm Creator Camp. It finds the hours AI could give back to you, picks the first skill to build, and emails you the prompt I use to prep a whole show. You don't need a show to use it. Take the audit here. |
Jeff Sieh
Jeff is an international speaker and visual marketing consultant. He hosts the Social Media News Live show and podcast and is also the editor for Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Podcast. He is also "Head Beard" at Manly Pinterest Tips.
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