I get asked some version of this question almost every week. At conferences. In DMs. On podcasts.
“Ross, if you were starting over today… what would you focus on?”
And my answer has changed a lot over the years. Five years ago I would have said content marketing and SEO. Both still matter. But the game has shifted. And if I were 22 years old right now with nothing but a laptop and an internet connection… here’s exactly where I’d put my energy.
1. Distribution Before Creation
This is the hill I will always stand on.
Most marketers spend 80% of their time creating content and 20% distributing it. That ratio is backwards.
I’d learn distribution first. Before I learned how to write a blog post. Before I learned how to design a landing page. Before I touched a single piece of creative.
Why? Because the best content in the world means nothing if nobody sees it. I’ve watched brands pour tens of thousands of dollars into beautifully written whitepapers that get 47 views. Meanwhile a scrappy marketer who understands how Reddit works, how LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards certain formats, how to get content placed in the right newsletters… that person is generating more pipeline with a Google Doc and a distribution plan.
This is the core philosophy behind everything we do at Foundation. Distribution rules everything around me. I literally wrote a book about it. And if I were starting over, it’d be the first thing I mastered.
2. AI-Native Workflows
This one isn’t optional anymore.
If you’re entering marketing in 2025 or 2026 and you’re not building AI into how you work… you’re going to get lapped by people who are.
I’m not talking about asking ChatGPT to write your blog posts. That’s the surface level stuff everyone focuses on. I’m talking about understanding how to use AI to research faster. Analyze data. Build content briefs. Identify distribution opportunities. Repurpose one piece of content into fifteen different formats across six different channels.
At Foundation we’ve been building AI-powered workflows into everything. From content strategy to client reporting to competitive intelligence. The marketers who understand how to work alongside AI… not just use it as a toy… are going to be the ones running departments in three years.
I’d also learn about generative engine optimization. How AI models like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity are surfacing content. How brands get cited in AI-generated answers. This is a discipline that barely existed two years ago and it’s already reshaping how B2B buyers find information. We started investing in this at Foundation before most agencies even knew it was a thing. If I were starting my career today I’d want to be one of the first people who truly understands how this works.
3. Community Building & Contributions
The marketers who win in the next decade are going to be the ones who actually understand their audience at a depth that no tool can replicate.
I’d spend serious time learning how to do community-based research. That means going into Reddit threads. Slack communities. Discord servers. Niche forums. Listening to how real people talk about their problems. Not just reading survey data or pulling keyword reports… but actually understanding the language, frustrations, and desires of the people you’re trying to reach.
That kind of deep community intelligence is what separates good marketing from great marketing.
And it’s a skill you can start building right now with zero budget.
4. The Business Side of Marketing
This is the one most early-career marketers skip. And it’s the one that holds them back the longest.
I’d learn how businesses actually make money. How SaaS companies think about pipeline. What CAC and LTV mean and why they matter. How a CFO evaluates whether marketing is working. How to tie your work back to revenue… not just traffic or impressions or engagement rates.
The reason this matters is simple. Marketers who speak the language of business get a seat at the table. Marketers who only speak the language of marketing get treated like a cost center.
I learned this the hard way building Foundation. When you’re running an agency, you can’t just be good at making content. You have to understand what moves the needle for your clients’ actual business. That perspective changed everything about how I approach strategy. And I wish I’d learned it earlier.
5. Writing That Sounds Like a Person
AI can write decent content now. That’s the reality. What AI still struggles with is voice. Personality. The kind of writing that makes someone stop scrolling and actually feel something.
If I were starting over, I’d obsess over learning how to write in a way that’s distinctly mine. Not polished corporate copy. Not the same recycled LinkedIn post format everyone else uses. Real writing. With opinions. With stories. With a point of view that couldn’t have come from anyone else.
This is what builds audiences. My newsletter has grown to over 75,000 subscribers not because I write the most “optimized” content… but because people know what they’re getting when they read my stuff. It sounds like me. That’s the moat.
6. Pick One Channel, Go Deep
I’d pick one distribution channel and go absurdly deep on it. Not five channels at a surface level.
One channel where I become the person who understands it better than almost anyone.
Maybe that’s LinkedIn. Maybe that’s YouTube. Maybe that’s Reddit. Maybe it’s something else entirely. But I’d learn every nuance of how that platform works. What content formats perform. What the algorithm rewards. How to build an audience there. How to convert that audience into business results.
Once you own one channel… really own it… you can expand from there. But trying to be everywhere at once when you’re starting out is a recipe for being mediocre everywhere.
The Real Advantage Nobody Talks About
Here’s the thing. Most of what I just described doesn’t require a degree. Doesn’t require an expensive course. Doesn’t require permission from anyone.
I started my career in Preston, Nova Scotia. Small town. No marketing connections. No obvious path. Everything I learned, I learned by being curious and putting in the work. The internet is the greatest equalizer in the history of professional development. All of this knowledge is accessible if you’re willing to go find it.
The marketers who matter in the next five years aren’t going to be the ones with the best pedigree. They’re going to be the ones who learned the right things at the right time and actually applied them.
If you’re early in your career and you’re reading this… you have a massive advantage.
You get to learn the future of marketing while everyone else is still clinging to the past. Don’t waste that.