In a time when everyone thinks it’s cool to call themselves nerds, we appreciate getting the chance to work with the genuine kind – the type of guy who not only gets excited about computers and gadgets, but did so decades ago when everyone else was scoffing at the pocket protector and the glasses.

Steve Panovski is an OG nerd, but he’s more than that. He’s also a tech entrepreneur who’s been helping companies since 2008 with data management, cybersecurity and – more recently – cloud management through the company he founded. We know that company today as UBX Cloud, and it’s located right here in our own neighborhood of downtown Royal Oak, Michigan.

He’s also a devoted husband and dad, and a great guy to work with, so we couldn’t deny you the chance to get to know him better. That’s why he’s this month’s guest on Six Questions with Dan and Michelle!

We’re not big on New Years Resolutions, if only because we go to the gym anyway and it’s annoying when it gets so crowded at the start of January. Then again, by around January 13, it’s usually back to normal.

But we do think it’s a good idea for companies to use the occasion of the new year to make sure they are communicating the right messages about themselves to their markets. This is especially true because the era of SEO keywords and business jargon has lured a lot of companies into messaging that’s as clear as muck.

So we want to encourage you to make sure five things are in ship shape before the calendar turns over into January 2026 (and by all means, hire us to help you with them):

1. Make sure anyone visiting your website will understand within one minute what you do. Your home page and “about us” page copy are the first things people will look at when they decide to explore what you’re all about. Does your company do third-party freight brokering? Make sure they know that. And if you need to explain that you find carriers to haul clients’ freight, then say that too. Do you manage their data and protect them from cyberattacks? Make sure that’s clear. You don’t have to go into exhaustive detail, but you need to be clear and explicit about it. Do you help company founders find buyers when they decide to sell? Make sure the copy says so. This might seem obvious, but for too many companies, the reader is already lost once they get through all the nonsense about “solutions” and “optimization” and “leverage points” and so forth. Stand up and identify yourself with clarity. It’s the first thing you need to do.

2. Apply the same clarity to the overview on your LinkedIn profile. This can be a little longer because the formatting on LinkedIn allows for it, but you still have to answer the question with clarity. Too many LinkedIn overviews read like this one (company name redacted because we’re not trying to embarrass anyone): “REDACTED delivers efficiency, enhances profitability, and solves complex challenges through purpose-built optimization technology. Trusted by industry leaders, REDACTED combines cutting-edge optimization techniques with decades of industry expertise to provide smarter, faster decisions and measurable results.” What the flipping heck does this company do? No one can tell from reading that.

3. Make sure the right people are actually seeing the content you produce. We recently started working with a client who was frustrated because a previous marketing firm cared only about their LinkedIn statistics, and more than a year of this didn’t produce a single new customer. LinkedIn posts are fine for keeping people engaged. Blog posts on your website (if they’re good) send a strong message to people who have already decided to visit. But you have to identify your highest-value audiences and make sure you connect with them on a regular basis to tell them about the new material you’ve produced – and ask them to share it with others who may need to see it. They’re much more likely to do so than a random LinkedIn viewer.

4. Make sure your sales team is making good use of the content you produce. We all know (or we should all know) it takes six or seven contacts to get most prospects to decide to buy. What is your sales team saying when they make those six or seven outreaches? “Just following up”? Why are you making them say that when they could be sharing new and interesting content the company is producing? Get them involved with the process of content creation and find out what type of content will help them keep the prospects engaged and move them toward a deal.

5. Make sure you know how you’re going to stay consistent in producing new content this year. We see so many company blogs, news pages and newsletters that are active and strong in January, February and maybe March. By April, they’re dwindling in frequency. By the summer, they’re ghost towns. Companies fall off for a variety of reasons. Maybe whoever is writing the content is squeezing in the time amidst a higher-priority set of responsibilities. Maybe the content team ran out of ideas. Maybe it was taking up time and didn’t seem to be producing ROI. Doing the first four items will help a lot with the ROI, but you still have to stay consistent.

This is why a lot of companies hire us, of course. We’ll keep it consistent, we’ll keep generating fresh ideas and we won’t be distracted by other responsibilities. But whether you hire us or do it internally, you need to keep it consistent.

Do these five things before 2026 rolls around, and you’ll get much more out of your marketing content in the year to come.

The current North Star Marketing Content team has been together and in the same form for nearly six years. The three of us make a great team and we love working together.

But we also recognize: When you work with the same small team every day, you can sometimes feel the need for other outlets to keep things fresh. One of our favorite elements of our team members’ “solo careers,” if you like, is Michelle’s gig as Sunday Kids Day host for the Detroit Tigers.

This is actually Michelle’s second stint with this gig. She had it for the first time about a decade ago as a result of her hosting training at Radio Disney. Before the 2024 season, she was called back into action by RockOut Entertainment, which currently has the contract with the Tigers to put on the Sunday Kids Day events.

These presentations are so much fun, and Michelle is really in her element hosting.

Before each Sunday home game, Michelle and her crew take the stage adjacent to the Big Cat Court and lead kids through a series of games, songs, dance numbers and activities. A DJ keeps the music thumping, the crew members make sure all the kids get a chance to participate, and Michelle is the center of everything – the voice, the energy, the heartbeat and the joy.

By the way, we haven’t failed to recognize that the Tigers failed to make the playoffs during all the years Michelle was not hosting Sunday Kids Day. Since she’s been brought back for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the Tigers have made the playoffs both years.

We suppose the players on the field had a little to do with that, but we mostly give the credit to Michelle.

We love when our team members do well at everything. We can’t wait for another year of Sunday Kids Day featuring the best host in Major League Baseball.