Why Your Ideas Are Worthless (And How to Fix That)

Author

Jeff Sauer
August 23, 2025

In partnership with

Ideas Are Free, Implementation Costs $$$

I'm listening to "Oversubscribed" by Daniel Priestley for the third time.

First listen planted the seed. Second gave me practical steps. This third time? Pure implementation mode.

But here's what hit me during this latest listen.

He talks about something I learned years ago in my agency days: Give away ideas, charge for implementation.

The Old Agency Playbook

Back when I was running campaigns, I worked with someone named Jobin. Smart as hell. She dropped this truth bomb on me:

"You can't make real money off strategy. All the money is in implementation."

Makes sense when you think about it.

Mad Men had to win the pitch with brilliant ideas. But they made their fortune executing those ideas.

Same principle I wrote about in "Service Stacking" - lower someone's risk by giving them value upfront. Build trust. Then they'll pay you to actually do the work.

The AI Twist Changes Everything

Here's where it gets interesting.

It's never been easier to generate strategies and ideas.

Want a content strategy? Ask AI. Need a marketing framework? It's there instantly. Business model ideas? Endless supply from all the AI models.

Any idea that's been publicly published is now instantly accessible.

But here's the disconnect most people miss: You can sell implementation of someone else's idea, but actually delivering results? That's where the real skill comes in.

AI doesn't just make idea generation easier. It makes implementation faster, too.

Both Sides Get Supercharged

AI doesn't just make idea generation easier. It makes implementation faster, too.

Research that used to take days? Done in hours.

Content creation that took weeks? Finished in days.

Analysis that required teams? Handled by one person.

The gap between strategy and execution is shrinking.

What This Means Right Now

Stop hoarding your ideas.

Start giving them away freely. Blog posts. Social content. Free resources.

Then charge for the implementation.

Your ideas establish expertise. Your execution generates revenue.

This isn't theory. It's what I'm doing right now with this newsletter.

It's also what we're doing with ProfitSchool Pro members. Monday, we're releasing an automation that turns client calls into dozens of LinkedIn posts that match my standards.

The Implementation Question

Are you AI-first enough to take advantage of this?

Because if you're still figuring out the basics while others are scaling implementation, you're already behind.

The window for easy AI arbitrage is closing. But the implementation opportunities? Those are just getting started.

To Your AI-First Success,
Jeff Sauer

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Coming Up at ProfitSchool

From Monday, Aug 25, 11:00 PM CST to Tuesday, Aug 26, 12:00 AM CST

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Plus, get access to our new LinkedIn Post Creation Template that turns video transcripts into ready-to-use posts based on Eugene Schwartz’s 5 Stages of Awareness.

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