Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Agency veteran Nikhil Vaish, founder of BoostSolo, argues that most ad failures start upstream. We walk through his three-step model: Offer > Homework > Execution, show how AI can amplify both good and bad strategy, and detail a practical voice-of-customer workflow using your own sales calls.
Expect a frank conversation about niching down, pricing power, and building the right foundation so ads can finally do their job.
Expect a frank conversation about niching down, pricing power, and building the right foundation so ads can finally do their job.
You will learn
- The Step Two foundation that most skip and how to build it fast
- How to balance brand and performance without chasing vanity metrics
- Why AI without clarity equals faster failure
- Specialist positioning for higher fees and better fit
- A simple VOC loop: record calls, extract language, ship copy
Connect with Nikhil
• BoostSolo: https://boostsolo.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilvaish/
Work with Adam
👉 Book your 20-min Exploration Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min
Special Friday drop. Unpacking real. Ditching noise.
Creators and Guests
What is Is Anything Real In Paid Advertising??
What’s actually working in marketing — and what’s just noise?
Hosted by Adam W. Barney, author of Make Your Own Glass Half Full and founder of Scale Smarter, this podcast brings honest, high-energy conversations with the operators, creators, and founders redefining how business growth really works.
From agency leaders and AI innovators to storytellers and strategists, Adam dives into what drives sustainable success — not vanity metrics. Together, they unpack the systems, creativity, and human energy behind $100M+ in advertising experience, real campaigns, and the lessons learned along the way.
🎧 No fluff. No funnels. Just what’s real — and how to scale smarter.
⚡ Ready to install your Energy-Driven Leadership OS?
Book your 20-minute exploration → https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min
[00:05.6]
Welcome back to "Is Anything Real In Paid Advertising?", the podcast where we separate signal from sludge, and ask the uncomfortable question: is your ad budget fuel, or is it fertilizer? Here's today's hot take. Most ads don't fail because the creative sucks.
[00:22.6]
They fail because the homework never got done. Joining me is Nikhil Vaish, agency veteran, working on brands like IBM, Unilever, Citigroup, and startups galore. Now helping solo business owners stop wasting money on campaigns that were doomed before launch.
[00:40.4]
Nikhil, welcome to the show. Hi, Adam. Excited to be here and looking forward to our conversation. Awesome. You've been in the trenches; you know, big budgets at global brands, small budgets at startups. What would you say the common thread is, and what doesn't work?
[00:56.9]
Well, I mean, I think the size of the budget doesn't matter as much as sort of doing your homework. Right. So a lot of people sort of, have bad things to say about marketing and advertising, you know, and fair enough.
[01:12.5]
But the problem is not that your ad is not working, but the mechanics within it is what people don't spend time on. Right. So essentially, there are three parts, or three or four parts to the process. Right. So most people kind of have a good idea of what they want to do, what they want to say. So they may have an offer, they may have an expertise.
[01:29.9]
That part is step one. Think of it that way. Yep. What then happens is people go to step three, and that's when they start marketing, they start talking about selling, they start talking about, you know, and they start looking for systems, lead generation, etc. And all of that is important, and it comes, but not at the expense of step two.
[01:48.2]
Right. And that's really sort of, in a short summary, is what I would say is that's where the homework gets done, and we can get into that a little more. But that's the step most people miss. And I think I call it sort of building the foundation to make sure your marketing, your advertising, your lead generation works. Right.
[02:03.5]
Right. And I know both of us admit we rarely click ads ourselves, yet we've managed millions in spend across both of our plates. Why do you think businesses still treat paid as gospel? Well, I think two reasons.
[02:18.9]
Right. One is that we sort of shifted. So when I started in advertising, and you call me a veteran, I've got the gray hair, so I can date myself quite happily, we didn't have metrics, we didn't have the ability to measure everything. Right. So, there was largely brand advertising, and to be fair, it worked, right?
[02:40.0]
We had results, we had campaigns. And then once digital came into the picture, which is a good thing, we got the ability to measure. And I think what happened was, as tends to happen with very little measurement, we suddenly went to too much measurement. Right. So everything sort of shifted to the other end of the pendulum, if you like, the pendulum swung the other way rather, and everything needed to be measured.
[03:00.9]
And I think that's where people looked at sort of like paid advertising. I need to get a return on investment on every dollar that I spend, otherwise that dollar is being wasted. And I think, you know, and I don't think the answer is one or the other. I think you need both. I think you need brand and performance.
[03:16.2]
But if you lean too heavily on one or the other, you're going to leave sort of, you're doing half the work rather than, you know, creating the full picture for people who want to buy. And the other thing I will add is I've never clicked on an ad either. But that's not to say advertising doesn't work because I have seen ads that have influenced my thought process, right.
[03:37.8]
And you have to think of it as planting seeds. People are not robots. It's not like you get up in the morning and say, I want to buy a car. You see an ad, and you're like, that's it, I'm going to go buy the car today. Right. But I mean, it's incredible, like when we think about, you know, the trackability of things as well.
[03:54.0]
But like if we, you know, move up to the modern day and where we are, you know, right now. I know you've also said AI is making the noise worse, right? Because there is a lot of noise, whether you talk about brand. We used to call in paid search, of course, brand and non brand support.
[04:10.9]
We would budget separately for those. But, you know, this AI slop, let's call it that we're in the midst of these days, what do you mean by that, and why should founders be worried? So let's go back to the fundamentals again, right, for a second.
[04:26.2]
So I think what's happened is step one is you have your offer. Step two is where you do the homework. And I'll talk about that in one second. Step three is execution. Now what happens is everybody tends to jump from step one to step three. They immediately start executing. The danger with AI is that it's made that step a lot easier.
[04:43.7]
It's almost like you put in something and you can create slop, as you call it, but the issue is still the same. Step two is really understanding what problem you're solving. And it should be one problem, understanding who your audience is, and it should be a niche audience very specifically.
[05:02.0]
And the third thing is then figuring out what you do differently. Right. So step two to me is the foundation to make step three work. So step three will almost always fail. And I think the danger with AI is again, it's like, you know, it's like, and the way people are using it now. And there was a report yesterday from, both Anthropic and GPT released a study on usage of AI.
[05:23.4]
So there are two very interesting things in that is that personal usage is going up far faster than business usage. So people actually having therapy conversations; again, that's a different podcast, maybe. But the second thing was people were looking less for outputs, and more for information.
[05:42.8]
So they're using it as a search tool. Right, right. So I think that's, you know, the trend is sort of going that way. But also what happens is you're just plugging things into AI and getting your outputs. So it can now build websites, it can now create ads, it can create videos.
[05:58.4]
So again, when you don't have that second step, you've moved, you've enabled step three with even less thoughtfulness and research than we perhaps had before. And that's my fear. I love how you break that down into those three key questions.
[06:14.7]
Right. To answer, you know, what's the one problem you solve? And then needing to get into the one that gets skipped. Who exactly are you solving it for? And then how do you do it differently? Why do you think solo operators really trip up there, you know, just like big brands do?
[06:31.1]
Do you think, is there a fear of going too niche? I've also talked with some people about how you niche, and then you have to niche sideways, which is a different kind of concept of niching. But where do solo operators trip? You know, do they just imagine that they get from step one to step three immediately, with no work, or is it something different?
[06:53.4]
Yeah, it's a great question. II think, you know, I don't know if I have the answer, but I think what I have noticed. It's digital marketing; none of us have the answer. Right. Fair enough. I think there are a couple of things that I've noticed, right. One is there is this belief that you need to go out and execute quickly, right?
[07:12.3]
And because, the belief is that if you're just sitting around, you're doing step two, people see that as time wasted, and you're not earning money, right? So step three, there's a lot of social pressure to go out and execute. Because even if you look at the people, you know, who are selling solutions out there that I'm competing with, they will all talk about a new system, a CRM system, a lead generation system.
[07:38.5]
Everything is executionally driven, right? So there's so much pressure out there to basically say that the answer sits in step three. And yet every client has come to me and this is not, you know, I'm not making this up, has told me that that their step three is not working.
[07:55.6]
And everything that they've tried, everything that they've bought and you know, people have spent a lot of money going to courses, putting in new systems, you know, to enable step three, which is, you know, logically also you would say, okay, I've got to go and execute for people to see and for people to react and for people to, you know, come to me as clients or potentially become clients.
[08:15.7]
But again, when that fails, people are sitting there quizzically wondering why it's not working. And then of course, advertising, paid advertising gets a bad rep. Now, I'm not saying everything should be paid advertising. Same is true of organic advertising, right? Same is true as a word of mouth, if you're still, if you're not clear on who your audience is, what problem you're solving, you know, know the specific pain point and how you solve it differently.
[08:38.8]
All your marketing, all your communication is going to struggle because it's like a gaping hole, right? And again, I'll just give you one analogy. It's like building a house without a blueprint. You will end up with doors, windows, you know, but none of them will be in the right place. You will not be able to move around and live in that home comfortably because you never built that foundation, before you went off and started putting everything together.
[09:02.9]
So I think that's the issue. I think that's what it comes down to. You know, solo operators think in that mindset of they're always looking for the silver bullet. Yeah. It's funny, I don't know how many people go back and do the research into the history of where the term silver bullet comes from?
[09:19.9]
But there has never been a silver bullet that's been created in the world. It's a a falsified entity. And I think that's fascinating because we all look for that shortcut, and we don't think about the methodology that needs to come in, the dedication that needs to come in, to focus, to really deliver what we're looking to deliver in the world.
[09:41.7]
I don't want to break any NDAs with any clients, but do you have any, any really either powerful stories from clients you've worked with who totally transformed their marketing ROI, or on the flip side, do you have some crash and burn stories where people didn't do it right that you could, you could weave in here?
[10:03.1]
Yeah. So, I'll tell you one example, without naming any names or getting sued here, of a client who had been in business for a long time and suddenly hit a plateau. Right. So when we started working together, his thought was, again, it feels logical that the more people you go and target, the better off you'll be.
[10:26.8]
Because it's like, you know, it's like, reach out to more people and you'll get some hits. Right. It's like, that's kind of the way people think. And yet when we work together, the first thing I told him is you need to start cutting down. You need to start narrowing your audience. It's not more clients that you need, it's less clients, which sounds completely counterintuitive.
[10:45.9]
And that's what we work together to do. We sort of. I help them sharpen the tip of the spear, as I call it. Right, right. And we really narrowed down his audience down to a specific person that he was able to now describe and get into their head. And suddenly everything started clicking.
[11:03.1]
Within a few months of working together and finishing the BrandBoost, which is my program, he was closing deals. He said, you know, 8 out of 10 chemistry calls used to be horrible before, and now it's flipped the other way. He was closing 8 out of 10 or 9 out of 10 versus spending losing time and energy on talking to so many people.
[11:23.8]
And that's the other thing that people don't realize. Right. Is when you go after a broad audience, it's going to suck your energy, it's going to lower your confidence because, you're not going to be succeeding, you're not going to be closing. And that is hard as a solo entrepreneur right now. On the flip side, larger brands have that luxury.
[11:40.1]
Like IBM can have 10 different audiences because they've got budgets that support being able to go after each of those audiences separately. Right. But solar products don't have that luxury. We don't have the time, we don't have the energy, we don't have the bandwidth, and we certainly don't have the money to invest in multiple audiences.
[11:56.1]
And the other brilliant thing about going narrow that people don't recognize is you can actually charge more. Right. If you dig into that corner, you can charge more. Exactly. Think about it. If you have a problem, if your knee hurts, Adam, you're not going to go to a dentist just because it happens to be nearby and he's got some medical understanding.
[12:17.4]
Right? Right. You're going to go to somebody who specializes in knee surgery. Right? Right. You have to think of it the same way. People want a specialist to solve their problem, they don't want a generalist. Right. I like to think about it, if you want a taco, you're not going to go to an Italian restaurant.
[12:35.7]
Right. That's another way to think about it. So, let's pull it back from your experience. You know, say a founder walks in, maybe they don't have $5,000 cash even sitting around, but they have the Appetite to put $5,000 onto a credit card and incur a little bit of debt to build the brand.
[12:55.4]
Why is skipping ads and doubling down on clarity sometimes the smarter move with those kinds of dollars that are really hard to let go of. Well, again, it goes back to the step two, right. Think of it as investing in the foundation of your business long term.
[13:14.4]
Right. So again, the allure of short term results is very high. And the other thing I will add here is social media is another bad influence and pressure point for people, right? Because it's full of stories of overnight success, right.
[13:29.8]
Everyone talking about how in 24 hours they went in, they quit their job, a week later, they were lying on a beach, and the money was rolling in. And of course none of that is true. So I think that's part of the problem. So there is this, you, know, and I get it, there's so much pressure. If you're saying you're spending $5,000, you're putting it on a credit card, then, you know, the first question my spouse would ask me or my partner would ask me is like, you know, what are we getting for that money?
[13:54.6]
And if you say, okay, we're getting clarity and we're getting foundation, that just does, does not sound, you know, viable or sexy when you're putting, you know, when you're making an investment. It's an intangible. It's a moving thing. It can be interpreted in so many different colors and apertures.
[14:10.6]
Right. And so, you know, so it is important to have tangible outputs attached to it. Right. And that's one thing, honestly, I've sort of also learned, through this process is while you need all of that, people need to also see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right. That's not just enough to do.
[14:26.4]
So I think it's a combination of helping them understand you can do all the things you want to do. But I will add, your organic starts working a lot better too. Your networking calls are clearer. Like you go to a networking, session, like you mentioned, if you can be very clear about your pitch and who you're talking to, you're going to get much more traction than if you're just sort of winging it or trying to, if you're unfocused in terms of what problem you're solving or who you're trying to talk to.
[14:57.4]
So I think that is fundamentally why it's worth doing. And you will see it takes a little longer. But I don't know anything that is worth doing that is quick and easy. Right. Honestly. It's like, I guess I must be hungry in this conversation because I'm thinking like, how many times have I quick turned a corner for my kids and made a grilled cheese in the microwave?
[15:21.9]
And how does that suffer compared to a grilled cheese that you melt butter in a pan, you take it, slow and low, and then you flip it, and it's golden and crispy. Right. It's different. It's a different way to approach it. And it's that garbage in, garbage out mentality as well.
[15:37.3]
And I have to say, you know, painting a picture, mentally thinking about 2026, you know, what do you think keeps happening if the solopreneurs? Because I think the data does show solopreneurship is continuing to grow. If solopreneurs keep ignoring those pre-marketing areas and just dump money into ads, where does this world go of entrepreneurs?
[16:02.0]
You know, in a way, it's not a bad thing, because I think human beings have to experience, you know, we have to experience it ourselves, before the light switch goes off. Right. So again, in the last few months, I've been talking to a lot of potential clients and prospects, and just sort of, you know, understanding what their issues have been.
[16:23.8]
And literally everyone has come to me after being burned by investing in something that was going to get them quick results. Yep. So I think if that accelerates and AI is accelerating, that people will get to that realization faster, I think, which means less money spent, less pain, less time sort of stumbling and realizing that, you know, the foundation is really important if you want to build something sustainable long term.
[16:48.7]
And that provides value to people. Right. I have an optimist lens and maybe I'm completely wrong. We're cut from the same cloth there that, like, that next good thing is right around the corner, which is probably a, it's an Achilles heel sometimes, but it ultimately is the thing that allows us to keep going.
[17:11.8]
Yeah. And I think AI gets us there faster, if you think about it. Right? Because you can vibecode a website, literally. I was talking to somebody last week who spent two hours and built a magnificent website with, you know, not massive deep features, but enough to sort of get you going. And again, testing and learning is not a bad thing either.
[17:27.8]
Right. Now, again, the other thing I will say is, when you're starting out, you have to have a hypothesis. You're not going to know the exact answer. And, you know, in six months you will evolve, but you need that to be out there with some level of focus again. You can't be just throwing the kitchen sink. And then in six months you'll have real-world data that will inform you and help you, help you sharpen that focus.
[17:48.1]
Right. So I had a guest a couple of weeks ago on my podcast, was brilliant and the way she put it was, you know, why would you be vanilla when you could be Zanzibar chocolate? Right. Everybody's vanilla. Everybody's competing for vanilla. And that's the other problem that you talked about. When you talk about noise, when you're unfocused, you're competing with everybody.
[18:05.8]
Right. And I always say you want to become a category of one. That's what focus does, right? Is, you know, when you combine your story, your lived experience, and that becomes your why for helping people. Nobody can copy that because Adam's why is going to be completely different from Nikhil's why.
[18:22.1]
And everybody else's. Our origin story of what delivered us to where we are today. Right? Absolutely. Yeah. So, Nikhil, this was like a rocket ship, right? We went from corporate budgets to solo scrappiness to AI sludge without missing a beat.
[18:40.3]
Where can folks find more about what you're building with BoostSolo and, your work there? I have a podcast on YouTube called Unfiltered Solopreneur. And we spotlight solopreneur stories. But there are lots of tips and actionable things you will get from amazing guests that I've had on the show.
[18:57.1]
And, Adam, you're one of them. Your episode will be out in a few weeks. And then boostsolo.com, you can find more information about our programs. And then LinkedIn. Awesome. And then, Nikhil, for the solopreneurs listening, coaches, consultants, freelancers, what's the one move they should make this week to make their marketing finally work?
[19:23.1]
So one trick I will tell you to use, which people don't use. So they're sitting there and I'm not going to call it a trick. I'm going to call it a piece of intelligence. Right? Yeah. So everyone does sales calls. What I tell people to do is record your sales calls. Now, obviously anonymize it, get permission before you do it, then run it through GPT.
[19:42.1]
Not asking it to summarize, but ask it to pull out the exact phrases your prospects used in terms of describing their problem, their pain points, and what they were looking for help with. Right. Now, turn that into your messaging. You've got ready-made copy.
[19:58.9]
Basically clients will look at it and say, how did you get inside my head? Because you're not making up copywriting here. You're basically taking it from the source and playing it back to the exact people who are looking for, who have those problems, and are looking for those solutions.
[20:16.4]
So that is the one thing I would tell them to go do, is take those transcripts, anonymize it, and then use it as messaging. That is incredibly powerful to take away from today, Nikhil. Thank you. Thanks for tuning into "Is Anything Real In Paid Advertising?", the podcast where we challenge what works and torch what doesn't.
[20:37.0]
I'm Adam W. Barney, And one last thing: if you haven't done the homework, stop blaming the teacher. Ads won't save you. Let's get clear, and then let's get real. But, Nikhil, thanks for joining today. Thank you for having me, Adam. That was a lot of fun.