I could write this in 25 minutes with an LLM, and I have. But the resulting piece, while technically polished, wasn’t mine. Even when I gave it an anecdote or story to build around, the robot tried hard to make me look good. 

So I spent 2 hours writing it by hand, letting my humanity show (quirky comma use and all).

I do use AI to critique it; I ask the LLM to read it through your eyes, and its comments push me to redraft (more than 10 times for this post). The extra effort strengthens the piece while keeping my thoughts and voice. Doing this reflects my respect for your time and attention. When I invest that time, it invites you, the reader, to invest yours.

If you can see that my work cost me something, it becomes more valuable.

Polish removes grit

We’ve all spent years working on hard problems, sometimes with difficult clients. That experience taught us some tough lessons and, as a result, built expertise, with scars to prove it. We’ve got war stories about projects that went upside down because we misunderstood the assignment, or engagements where we didn’t manage the client well. Even times when we got into projects that were a little over our heads! The fact that we’ve made (and learned from) those mistakes shows we’ve done the work. That builds trust.

When we express our expertise through an LLM or ghostwriter, those scars get smoothed over. If we’re posting it on a service whose defining characteristic is inauthentic posturing (cough…Linkedagram), our scars look performative. 

What if inefficiency gets better results?

Robot content on top of social media distribution feels efficient. I can do marketing faster. But if the goal is more conversations with people who can hire me, it’s going in the wrong direction. That smooth talk hides the rough edges that make us interesting.

When we offer high-priced services, slowing down so folks get to know us, scars and all, gives trust a chance to build. When they hear we care, that we’ve been where they are now, that it cost us something, they become more willing to invest time and money in our services. It may mean we talk to them, in real time, more than once, before we earn the right to ask for their business.

How are you showing your scars? Where could you take more time with potential clients to build more trust?