Dispatch
AI, Writing, SEO, & Internet Strategies
Hello, my name is Ty McDuffey. I am writing this to outline my Internet strategies as I’m currently thinking about them and serve as a guide for others going forward.
As I write this, I am a 28 year old writer living in Brazos, New Mexico, population 50. My career so far has included working in Montana as a newspaper editor and ghostwriting for law firm websites across the U.S. I have written countless articles for the Law Libraries of Thomson Reuters FindLaw and LegalMatch.
I’m also the founder of the Duff Radio platform. Duff Radio hosts music and interviews across Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, and X.
In the past three years, I’ve written 2,000+ articles for the web, using both my own writing and assistance with artificial intelligence from Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT from OpenAI and Claude from Anthropic. I’m writing this book to outline the Internet strategies I’m using going forward.
Reddit is one of the easiest places on the entire Internet to get eyeballs. In the right subreddit, it is possible to reach tens of thousands of people at a cost of zero dollars.
One of my short stories was read by nearly half a million people after I posted it on the r/Montana subreddit. That’s the thing - Reddit is highly location-based and niche. Reddit also highly favors local content. This local content then gets indexed on search engines and starts to pop up on Google and Perplexity results.
Reddit has an extremely high domain authority. This means that Google treats Reddit as a “trusted source,” and Reddit posts often rank highly for long-tail keywords. Local subreddit content also frequently appears in the “People Also Ask” sections on Google.
Posting on Reddit also brings geographic search benefits. Reddit posts dominate local search queries, and location-based content fills information gaps that major publications often miss. People often search for real-life experiences before traveling, and search engines highly value local knowledge. Specific location + situation queries often lead to Reddit. Posting on Reddit is more powerful than appearing on search engines for general terms because these are searches from people actively seeking specific information about a real situation - they’re more likely to read and interact with your content.
Reddit is also a highly personal platform. You can comment back and forth directly with other users. However, Reddit is also highly anonymous. Most users don’t use their real names or faces. Instead, they use the randomly generated username Reddit gives them.
I believe there is a massive opportunity to use your own name or business name on Reddit. For business owners, there is an opportunity to provide value-driven posts directly to your target market.
The key to success on Reddit lies in consistent, valuable participation under your real name. By using “Ty McDuffey” or “Duff Radio” across all posts and comments, I’m building trust and recognition within my targeted communities. When people repeatedly see thoughtful contributions from the same username, they begin to recognize and seek out that perspective.
The long-term value of this approach goes beyond Reddit itself. These posts often rank well in search engines and create a lasting digital footprint that continues to drive traffic and build authority. When someone searches for specific information, they might find Reddit posts months or years after they were written. This creates a compound effect where past contributions continue to generate value and attract new readers.
Active participation in discussions, thoughtful responses to comments, and regular interaction with community members all help build a stronger presence. Make your interactions feel natural and conversational, not forced or promotional. The goal is to become a trusted community member who happens to be a professional rather than someone who is there just to promote their services.
Measure your success in this approach by the business opportunities that arise organically and the gradual building of authority in your chosen niches. When readers start recognizing your username and actively seeking out your perspectives, or when your Reddit posts start generating client inquiries without promotion, that’s when you know the strategy is working.
This approach takes time and patience. Some subreddits have minimum community karma points you must accumulate before you can start posting. However, the rewards can be huge. By consistently providing value and building genuine connections within Reddit communities, you can create a sustainable platform for your personal brand that can support your broader business goals while staying authentic and building trust with your audience.
Gummy Search is a new AI tool that summarizes data trends and post performances for subreddits. I use Gummy Search to make sure each of my Reddit posts is backed by data to help them perform the best. Gummy Search analyzes patterns, summarizes performance trends, and helps identify the right timing and approach for your content.
One of Gummy Search’s most powerful features is its ability to break down why certain posts succeed in specific subreddits. For instance, if I’m planning to share content in r/NewMexico, Gummy Search can analyze the most successful posts from the past month, identifying common elements like ideal posting times and preferred content types (text vs. images). This data-driven approach takes the guesswork out of my Reddit content strategy.
Gummy Search’s trend analysis capabilities can also help you spot emerging topics within subreddits and stay ahead of the curve. For example, if you are targeting writing communities, Gummy Search might reveal that posts about AI writing tools are gaining traction in r/freelancewriters or that personal success stories consistently outperform general advice posts in r/writing. This kind of insight allows you to tailor your content strategy to match current community interests.
Gummy Search also excels at identifying content gaps in subreddits. By analyzing what questions frequently appear but remain unanswered, Gummy Search helps content creators spot opportunities to provide value. For instance, it might reveal that while there are many posts about starting a writing career in r/freelanceWriters, there’s a lack of content about transitioning from part-time to full-time writing – presenting a perfect opportunity for someone with that specific experience to share their insights.
Gummy Search provides broader insights into subreddit culture and interaction patterns. It can help you understand the unwritten rules of each community, preferred posting formats, and even the tags that tend to resonate with specific audiences. This cultural intelligence is helpful for anyone looking to build authentic connections within Reddit communities.
By using Gummy Search and Reddit, you have the potential to attract long-term traffic through search visibility. The tool can identify keywords and phrases that frequently appear in high-performing posts, helping you optimize your content for both platform success and search engine rankings. Using this strategy, I’ve managed to be a top poster and top commenter in the r/NewMexico subreddit.
Photography is a great way to stand out on Reddit, especially in location-based communities. I’ve had success posting nature photos of where I’ve lived on the Montana and New Mexico subreddits. The visual appeal of well-composed nature photographs (like mine, that capture the raw beauty of places I’ve lived like Montana and New Mexico) tend to resonate more deeply with local subreddit members who share a connection to these places.
Unique photo perspectives can stop users from scrolling, and they interact with users in ways that text alone does not. Images often inspire community members to share their own experiences and memories, creating organic discussions.
Weather events, seasonal changes, and local events provide perfect opportunities for relevant photography content. These posts often get traction because they document shared experiences of life in these areas.
Local photography content has a unique advantage in terms of SEO and long-term visibility as well. When people search for images of specific locations, Reddit posts often appear in search results. A photo of a trail or a mountain can become a reference point for others planning visits or looking to explore the area. This creates lasting value beyond the initial post, as your content becomes part of the visual documentation of these places.
When sharing your photography on Reddit, include detailed captions that provide context. Personal experience also adds depth to visual content. Storytelling creates a narrative that viewers can connect with.
Building a reputation as a reliable source of local photography content can also establish you as a trusted voice in the community. When you later share other types of content – whether writing, business services, or thoughts – your established presence through photography lends some additional credibility to your posts. This approach can help you create a stronger, more sustainable presence on the Reddit platform.
X
The X Premium revenue share program is a potential money maker. The monetization of X (formerly Twitter) through the X Premium program has evolved from an ad-based revenue model to one more focused on user engagement. Creators now earn based on their content’s interaction with Premium subscribers. The focus has moved from revenue sharing based on ad views in replies to their posts to earnings derived from engagement metrics like likes, reposts, and replies from Premium users.
The bar to entry is high (5 million impressions in the past 3 months & 500 followers), but there are people making thousands of dollars by posting on X.
X is a great platform for video and longform writing. Like all social platforms, the advertising money on X is going toward videos. A recent algorithm update is supposed to boost X Articles, rewarding longform writing.
X is really trying to be a platform where people interact with each other. This means it’s more important than ever to reply to other people’s posts on X.
SoundCloud
I think Soundcloud is one of the most underrated ways to reach a global audience on the Internet. Many people think Soundcloud is dead or that it peaked in 2016. That line of thinking is wrong and will cause many to miss out on a great opportunity to grow and cultivate an audience.
According to the latest statistics, SoundCloud has around 140 million registered users as of 2023. This number has been steadily increasing over the years, with a growth of 5 million users from the previous year.
I haven’t heard many people talking about the new Soundcloud Artist algorithm. The new Soundcloud Artist algorithm automatically pushes your tracks to 100 listeners who are most likely to enjoy it. This targeted approach means you’re reaching people who are genuinely interested in your style of music.
I also love that Soundcloud allows you to comment on tracks and direct message with artists. The ability to comment on specific timestamps in tracks creates opportunities for interaction that other platforms can’t match. This level of interaction builds stronger connections with your audience than the traditional “like” and “subscribe” approach on other platforms.
Soundcloud also facilitates connections through its direct messaging feature. This kind of networking has huge potential for creatives looking to build connections online.
I think the best music on the planet exists on Soundcloud as well. Some of the best artists are still undiscovered. There’s an element of surprise in getting caught up in a good SoundCloud playlist.
Unlike more mainstream platforms where the algorithms tend to promote already-popular artists, Soundcloud is still a place where talent can emerge organically. The platform’s playlist algorithm is particularly good - you can end up discovering incredible independent artists through algorithmic suggestions.
Soundcloud also has a simple tagging and categorization system. This is a powerful tool for discovery. Strategic use of tags, combined with consistency, can help your music reach surprisingly specific audience segments.
SoundCloud tracks can also continue gaining traction months or even years after their initial release. I’ve seen some of my tracks suddenly gain momentum after being discovered by the right playlist curator.
Soundcloud has a global reach and a strong presence across markets in different countries. I’ve personally interviewed an artist from Ukraine after messaging on Soundcloud. This level of global accessibility means your music can find unexpected audiences in different parts of the world, leading to diverse growth opportunities. For creatives looking to build a digital presence, Soundcloud will remain increasingly valuable.
Soundcloud is where Duff Radio first started. I messaged two artists in Kansas City, ConnorChillOut and STBtheDon. I told them that I liked their music, and I invited them over to my apartment. We rode around the Lee’s Summit Christmas Lights Festival freestyling rap lyrics in my Chevy Malibu. Those direct messages on Soundcloud led to friendships that I still have to this day and an entire global multimedia brand. I’m incredibly grateful for Soundcloud as a platform.
Google/SEO
We are in a new dawn for modern SEO. For the past 10 years, most SEO strategies focused on targeting Google searches. Content creators centered their work around Google’s algorithms, chasing keywords and backlinks to climb up search rankings. In 2025, this strategy is no longer as relevant. We’re seeing a shift in how people seek and consume information.
Google has lost its position as the guardian of most information. People are going to social media and new AI-powered search engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT for information more than ever before.
Social media platforms like Reddit, X, and TikTok have turned into powerful search engines in their own right. When people want to learn about a new restaurant, they often now check TikTok first. For advice, some people head straight to Reddit. I’ve even used ChatGPT for my personal finance questions.
This fragmentation means that SEO can no longer be a one-size-fits-all strategy focused exclusively on Google. A modern digital presence now requires understanding and optimizing for multiple social media platforms, each with its own algorithms, user behaviors, and content preferences.
Google Search has also had its results watered down by a massive influx of AI-generated content. This has severely damaged Google’s search function. It’s made results less reliable and relevant.
While Google once served as a reliable compass pointing to the most relevant and authoritative content, today’s results are largely AI-generated. As an online ghostwriter, I’ve watched this transformation closely. Content creators and agencies openly discuss strategies for spinning AI content to make it appear original while the actual substance remains largely unchanged. It’s no longer about who can provide the best information or the most insightful analysis – it’s about who can most effectively repackage the same basic information with just enough variation to claim originality.
The real differentiator now will be content creators willing to step entirely outside of the LLM text echo chamber and create something genuinely new from their own experience and expertise. For people out there who are investing genuine time and effort into their work, today’s Internet provides endless opportunities. While AI floods the Internet, authentically human writing stands out. The advantage is that readers are increasingly drawn to content that carries human experiences and original thought.
The surge in AI-generated articles has elevated the value of human-created content. When readers find a piece of writing filled with personal insights and real experiences, they read more deeply and remember it. They share it. They come back for more. Sharing authentic experiences creates a connection that AI cannot presently replicate.
The answer isn’t to compete with AI on volume or SEO optimization – it’s to lean into what makes human content irreplaceable: our stories, our unique perspectives, our ability to connect seemingly unrelated ideas, and our capacity to have a genuine dialogue with our audience. In this new era, success comes from creating content so good that it naturally rises above the rest of the algorithm.
The term “race to the bottom” perfectly describes the current content creation culture on Google. The pressure to produce high volumes of SEO-optimized content has led many websites and businesses to prioritize quantity over quality. The entire approach to content creation on Google is becoming increasingly mechanistic. Where once articles might have been written with skill and care, now we see endless variations of similar content, each trying to game the algorithm rather than serve the reader’s needs.
This explosion of shallow, keyword-stuffed articles is an annoying trend and a disservice to the Internet’s value as an information resource. These articles, often created through AI content generators or low-cost content farms, follow predictable patterns: they hit all the SEO markers but offer little genuine insight or value. They’re ultimately empty of real substance.
Going forward, instead of just focusing on traditional SEO metrics, I would prioritize creating content that:
- Draws from personal experience
- Includes unique insights that can’t be easily replicated
- Focuses on specific niches where authentic knowledge matters
- Builds genuine connections with readers through storytelling
- Offers practical value
Google’s Generative AI
Google’s new generative AI summaries will also lead to less web traffic. These AI-powered snippets answer user questions directly in the search results, potentially reducing click-through rates to websites. This shift forces us to rethink how we create and structure content:
On today’s Internet, surface-level information has become commoditized. AI can readily generate basic explanations and standard advice, making such content basically worthless from a strategic standpoint. The best thing to do is create real-world content with a depth that AI cannot match. Focus on sharing detailed, experience-based insights that AI can’t replicate and that Google’s AI summaries can’t capture.
Pull from the connections and observations that you’ve gained from deep involvement in your field. For example, I have unique insights into remote work culture and digital entrepreneurship. This perspective stands out because it comes from experience and observation. It can’t be generated by AI or easily replicated by competitors.
Try to make content that makes readers think. Personal experience is inherently resistant to AI replication. Extract meaningful lessons and insights that your audience can take and apply to their own situations.
Multimedia content is another important strategy against AI. AI can currently generate text and even strikingly realistic images, but creating cohesive, meaningful multimedia content is still better left to humans. Create integrated content experiences that combine text, images, videos, and interactive elements in ways that encourage interaction.
This approach differentiates your content from AI-generated alternatives and creates a memorable experience for your audience. Also, search engines favor content that provides a multimedia experience, recognizing that such content typically offers more value to users. Investing in high-quality multimedia content drives both immediate interaction and long-term visibility.
Your Blog vs Social Media
There’s never been a better time to have a highly functioning social media account. There’s a very low barrier to entry. More people are likely to see your content if it’s posted on social media than if it’s posted on your blog.
Social media platforms are the most powerful content distribution engines on the Internet. Personal blogs, which were once the cornerstone of individual online presence, have taken a back seat.
Platforms like X, Instagram, and TikTok offer instant access to massive audiences with minimal barriers to entry. A well-written tweet can reach millions of people within hours. A single post on the right subreddit can reach 30,000 people within a day. A viral thread on X can generate more views than six months of blog traffic.
The distribution power of social platforms is simply too powerful to ignore in today’s market. Likes, comments, and shares also provide instant and important validation of the quality of your content.
If you are trying to grow your blog, I advise against using ChatGPT, Claude, or any of the large language models on the market right now. Write your blog posts yourself and watch them out-compete every piece of content around you. The Internet is hungry for well-written human pieces. The case against using AI for blog content is now stronger than ever. On an Internet increasingly flooded with AI-generated content, authentically human writing stands out.
I encourage you to commit to creating genuinely human content. Authentic human voices are becoming more valuable, not less. Every piece of content you make is an opportunity to share your unique perspective, your real experiences, and your genuine thoughts. This strategy will help you create a powerful digital presence that stands out on today’s Internet.
YouTube
The main thing I’ve learned about YouTube in the past three years is that it’s all about the thumbnail. It’s very difficult to grow on YouTube right now without a great thumbnail. Many people obsess over video quality, editing, and scripting, which are all important elements, but they often underestimate the make-or-break power of the small rectangular thumbnail image.
The psychology behind this is fascinating. Viewers make split-second decisions about what to watch. An effective thumbnail tells a story, evokes emotion, and promises value all in a single glance.
A thumbnail’s text must be instant, clear, and memorable. The text should be bold and high-contrast. White text with a dark stroke or black text with a white outline consistently outperforms subtle typography. The goal is to make sure your text is instantly scannable in the split second when viewers are scrolling.
Every thumbnail needs a clear focus – one element that immediately draws the eye. This could be a face, an object, or an action, but it must be instantly identifiable.
Use the rule of thirds to position your focal point while making sure that other elements (text, secondary images) support rather than compete with it. Use high-quality images with good lighting, sharp focus, rich colors, clean composition, and high resolution.
The human face is incredibly useful in thumbnails. Authentic expressions like surprise, laughter, or concentration create an immediate emotional connection. Your thumbnail should capture real reactions and emotions for higher click-through rates.
Each of these elements will work together for you to create thumbnails that attract clicks and accurately represent your content. The goal is to provide a preview that compels viewers to interact with your video. This professional approach is what will successfully set you apart from the crowd.
Most of my YouTube engagement comes from YouTube shorts (about two-thirds of my audience on Duff Radio). This has major implications for how viewers are discovering and connecting with content on YouTube.
YouTube Studio allows you to be incredibly detailed in your data collection. It offers insights that would cost thousands of dollars in other industries.
The audience retention graph tells you exactly where you’re winning or losing viewers. This data is a direct window into your audience’s mind. Common drop-off triggers can include long intros, slow pacing in the middle section, tangents that stray away from the promised content, and technical issues like audio problems or unclear visuals.
Understanding these patterns can help you restructure your future content. For instance, if you’re noticing high drop-offs during traditional intro, you could switch to a hook-first approach to improve audience retention.
Writing Habits
Writing will continue to be one of the most valuable skills going forward into the late 2020s and onward. More and more of life is lived online. Those who can write stellar longform posts will stand out more than others on social media.
Give yourself permission to be a terrible writer. It doesn’t matter that you are writing like Shakespeare as much as it matters that you practice every day. I have written 3 out of every 4 days for the past four years. Slipping by one day is okay, but any more than one day feels like losing progress.
Writing every day is the only path to mastery. A good writing habit will take you far in this age.
Email is one of the areas where commerce and exchanges of money happen the most. Writing persuasive, detail-oriented emails is a skill that will bring in money.
Writing is one of the most discipline-oriented tasks one can do. It’s just like anything else. Showing up every day is the best way to get better at it.
This essay later grew into a full book: AI, Writing, SEO, and Internet Strategies.
-30-