More Isn't More: What Richard Christiansen and the Mona Lisa Taught Me About AI Copy

 ​”You need to post more”. I’ve heard this my whole career. “...but also, make sure it’s authentic”. 

If these two “musts” sound familiar to you, then let me introduce you to your new best friend, Richard Christiansen, the Founder and CEO of Chandelier Creative, and more recently known for creating the world’s most gorgeous candles - from Adriatic Sage to Heirloom Tomato varieties - all from a little abandoned pleasure-leading villa in the middle of Los Angeles County AKA Flamingo Estate. 

So, why is Richard my hero? 

Because ever since I moved to Los Angeles 6 months ago, I have had the privilege to order the weekly Regenerative Farm Box. Every week, within that glorious little treat-of-a-delivery, I've found and read his weekly newsletter word for word.

And I'm not talking about a weekly newsletter written with AI, by the way.

I'm talking about something with 'aura', which I’ll explain as you read on. Something rough around the edges, even. Yes, there are redundant words and phrases, and the flow isn't always perfect, but that's why I soak it in every time. I want the gritty, I want the imperfect, because that's real.

Just like the products and ethos at Flamingo Estate, more is not more. More is only more if it's good.

I only want to create things that make people feel sated the way reading a good newsletter from Richard and a mason jar of roasted spring tomatoes from his farm feels (I guarantee you there's nothing at the supermarket that will ever come close to the minestrone I made with those).

That word “aura” isn't mine. It belongs to Walter Benjamin, and I can't stop thinking about his theory while I sit here teaching other business owners and marketers how to use AI to their advantage.

Benjamin was the weird second cousin of the Frankfurt School. You know, the one nobody wanted to claim at the reunion, even though everyone loved dropping the family name. In spite of his infamy, he had some of the most brilliant, still-relevant thoughts on the then-emerging technology to date.

He saw mass production as different from the original. For example, seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, right there in front of you in person as you make every effort you can to stay away from the smelly swarms of tourists beside you, was very different from seeing it printed on a mug in all its pixelated glory across the road from one of the street vendors on Rue Rivoli.

The same thing is happening to content marketing right now.

I've been reading a lot of 'pieces' lately, mostly clickbait, but not always, with titles like "Women Who Show These Ten Signs Have Quietly Given Up", or "Recipes You'll Actually Want to Make". They're filled with more AI copy tells than quality, and certainly more fluff than brand-building would warrant.

That's what I'm here for, friends. It's shameless, but brand building is still very important to me. I might have been in the industry for almost two decades now, but until it's well-known and 'seasoned' with TED Talk invites and book deals, my brand is young. And getting you to like me is still very, very important.

So, here I am, practicing what I preach: Original Research and Voice still matter. 

What you put into a platform like ChatGPT or Claude will ultimately affect what you get out of it, and sometimes, it’s great for getting things done.  However, it can’t read a room, follow its intuition, or pull deep from your psyche to the core of who you really are. 

That's the difference between working with a machine and working with a person. 

At Ricki Subel Marketing, I help founders and brands develop a voice worth listening to, a content strategy that carries it, and the activation to make sure it actually reaches people. 

If you've read this far and you're nodding, you're probably my kind of client. And hey, don’t be shy - let’s schedule a real conversation. Email me at contact@rickisubelconsulting.com or DM me on LinkedIn.