Nora DiNuzzo

You’ve worked too hard for it to be this hard.

Growing up, one thing I never aspired to be was an entrepreneur. 

Running your own company was for the incredibly wealthy (Mr. Burns) or the incredibly innovative (Doc Brown). I was neither.

But what I’ve learned about entrepreneurs over the past few years is that they have one thing in common – they desperately want to fix something that drives them nuts. 

As it turns out – throughout my life and career, a lot of things drove me nuts. 

So nuts that in October 2021, I quit a VP-level job at an ad agency to start my own consultancy – Pitcher – to help small businesses grow.

Because the fact that agencies could rarely find a way to work with companies <$25mm in annual revenue drove me nuts.

Because I believe that small businesses deserve to grow, too. 

In April 2023, I got a call from a friend that I never planned for – with an offer to create something I never considered doing less than two years into being a founder.

A second company.

Because the fact that so many brilliant agencies continuously struggle to grow drove him nuts. 

As it turns out – it drives me nuts, too. 

So nuts that I said yes – and Blood Sweat & Tears was born. 

Yes, born. I have given birth to two human children – and two businesses.

There is not a damn thing women can’t do.

Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer

You’ve worked too hard for it to be this hard.

BS&T is a committed partner to ambitious agencies frustrated by inconsistent growth.

We develop and implement a custom growth strategy that meets you where you are today – whether your goal is to stabilize, sustain, scale or sell your agency.

I’m not going to be on here talking about marketing and growing businesses when citizen journalists and witnesses are being executed by our government in broad daylight.

Pay attention to what is happening in Minneapolis.

Do not be silent.
Do not look away.

GET LOUD.

My grandparents fled from the Nazis so they could be free. 

So their kids could be free.
So I can be free.
So my kids can be free.

THIS is not freedom.
THIS is tyranny.

2026 is the year I'm expanding from 1:1 into 1:many consulting. 

2025 brought some experiments in this area, but this is the year both Pitcher 🍋and Blood Sweat & Tears will be bringing products to the market to serve more people, and spread critical growth knowledge where it is needed most. 

1:1 consulting is more intensive, specific - and therefore, more expensive.

Group learning is a powerful and affordable alternative that consultants and coaches can benefit from implementing, through a cohort style approach - whether live learning, or virtually delivered. 

Drop me a note in the comments if you'd like me to send you more information about our upcoming cohorts. And tag your friends who might want to join in.

BS&T cohorts deliver growth operations best practices for independent agencies. We'll be running our next cohort in February. Email me for more info: nora@bloodsweatandtears.co

The Pitcher cohort is going to be a collaboration with the infinitely fabulous Asmara Kazmi at THE OPS ROOM. This is a cohort geared towards women entrepreneurs (and those that are founder-curious) to help them leave no dollars or crumbs on the table 💰💰💰 DM me for details and to get on our waitlist for March/April.

Thank you to those who have inspired and encouraged me to take this approach - especially Darren McKee and Misha Bleymaier-Farrish 💕

Last week was one that filled the soul and reminded me why I’m doing what I’m doing.

Not only spending time in New York (my favorite city) with clients and partners, but also receiving feedback like:

“I’m usually a skeptical prick, but actually I appreciated this session very much.”

“That was the most efficient and productive two days I’ve ever spent on strategic planning. The preparation was outstanding.”

“They are exactly what we need for this moment.” (re: a referral we made)

Adding these and more to my WIN BIN 📥 

Don’t forget to stop and celebrate your wins, big and small. And save them! I’m doing a physical win jar this year (with post-it notes) but a digital win bin of screenshots is also great.

Save all those emails, texts and Slacks. You’ll forget during the year and in the moment what an impact you are making.

If you’re ever feeling down or discouraged - revisit your wins. It will remind you why you get up every day to do what you love.

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2026 is off to an intense start.

Kind of like the musical selections at JOE & THE JUICE first thing in the morning.

(Enjoy this microdose of what it feels like to be in Ibiza 🏖️)

No matter what… keep moving, keep going!

Off on my first official trip of the year… NYC, here I come! ✈️

Seeing the same place from a different angle gives you a whole new perspective. 

And the same is true for business problems. 

New angles unlock different outcomes.

Last night, I saw ‘Anna Christie’ at St. Ann's Warehouse in DUMBO with the Grapeseed Media team.

When we exited, this was our view of the Brooklyn Bridge. 

In over 30 years of spending time in New York City, I have never seen the bridge from this angle.

And it took my breath away.

I realize that a big part of what I do as a consultant is help my clients see their world from a new angle.

Sometimes after 10, 20 or 30 years.

From the outside looking in - and then from the inside looking out, but with a new lens.

Insider x outsider perspective is the fastest path to significant growth multiples vs. small incremental gains over time.

If you want to grow fast, or grow again - you need to look at your business from a whole new angle.

Excellent advice for 2026 and always courtesy of Keegan Robbins. 

My friends are my lifeline in business and in life!  

Who are some of the people that give you the best advice?

Drop their gems in the comments and enlighten me 💎

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Delta Air Lines got the vast majority of my travel time and miles last year ❤️ 

I traveled 55 days in 2025. That's 15% of the year! 

I love flying with Delta because they really take care of their members. 

Their planes and seating are the most comfortable, and Comfort+ rates are reasonable for business travel. 

Their team members are always extremely courteous - I have never witnessed a negative encounter or heard a bad word from or directed at any of their staff. 

Their app is by far the easiest to use of all the airlines.

Status is easy to work on and achieve, if you travel frequently.

Access to the Sky Lounges makes working between flights comfortable and easy.  

Their integration with partners like American Express and Uber help you earn exponentially more miles for business travel. 

Really can't say enough good things about Delta! I made the switch over last year from Southwest (after being a longtime card member) and won't be going back.

I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business.

There are things you can do. 

10 things, in fact. 

From Stacey Abrams:
https://lnkd.in/efDSvVh3

Copywriter/SEO Content Specialist/Storyteller/Journalist for Hire

Do you want mediocre content? If you answered yes to that question (although I can't imagine why you would), then you should probably scroll past my profile. When you choose to work with me, you get top-notch content that speaks to your target audience. 

Interested in boosting your visibility online through the power of SEO? Drop me a DM and let's chat. But I'll warn you now - I'm not like other SEO experts. Long before there was a Google Helpful Content Update or Google AIO, I understood the value of putting people first and search engines second. It's my mission to help your target audience do more than find your brand online. Every piece of content I craft makes your customer a part of your story to build strong connections that lead to brand loyalty. 

As a trained journalist, I know how to tell a compelling story. I also have handy interviewing and researching skills that allow me to provide value in every piece of content I produce. Let me work my magic to position you as an industry expert to help build trust in your brand. 

My people-first promise extends beyond the content I produce to the relationships I build with my clients. When you choose to work with me, we're forming a partnership. We'll conduct brainstorming sessions and choose the path forward together. 

If you're ready to produce brand-changing content, drop me a DM. I can't wait to hear from you.

Your brand’s story is waiting to be written. Let’s make it a bestseller. 

P.S. - All content is written by humans, for humans, so you never have to worry about sounding like every other brand out there.

Shari Berg

Independent journalist.

It's a phrase that's slowly starting to rub me the wrong way. It's not because I think every journalist must be affiliated with a reputable news organization. It's that the word "independent" has become synonymous with an inability to fact-check before reporting. 

Let's take the example of Nick Shirley. This "independent journalist" has filled our news feeds over the last couple of days. He claimed in a series of reports that federally funded facilities are posing as daycares in MN. 

There's one major problem with his reporting. 

It's unverified. 

Now, I'm not saying that nothing hinky may be going on with the businesses he's highlighted in his reports. But unless you want to find yourself on the business end of a defamation lawsuit, you'd better have the receipts before you go public with accusations. 

Properly trained journalists understand this. We undergo specialized training about defamation (and how to avoid being sued for it). 

However, like many others claiming the independent journalist title, Shirley eschews traditional editing, fact-checking, and other guardrails that trained journalists follow before sharing any news with the public, claiming it makes them more trustworthy.

If you're shaking your head right now, join the club. I'll never understand how failing to verify accusations makes one more believable. 

Abandoning the practices designed to ensure accuracy (rigorous fact-checking, editorial oversight, and verification), these self-proclaimed "independent journalists" undermine the credibility they claim to possess. Real journalism is about more than being first or unfiltered. It's about being accurate. And accuracy requires doing the hard, unsexy work of verification before publication.

The term "independent" should signify freedom from corporate or political influence, not freedom from accountability and professional standards. Until that distinction becomes clearer, we'll continue to see reckless reporting dressed up as brave truth-telling, and the public will be worse off for it.

Award-Winning Journalist / Copywriter/ Content Strategist / Content created by humans, for humans

There's no such thing as an unbiased journalist.

Yes, I really just said that.

Journalists are human beings. And as humans, we all possess inherent biases that shape our every thought and action.

However, trained journalists are taught how to suppress those biases to report the facts (even when those facts counter their personal views).

Here's how they do it:

- They actively seek sources who disagree with their initial assumptions. Before writing a story, journalists are trained to ask themselves, "Who would see this differently?" and then interview them with genuine curiosity.

- They separate reporting from opinion. News articles stick to verifiable facts using attribution like "according to" and "officials said," while clearly labeled opinion pieces or editorials are the only place for personal views.

- They apply the "smell test" to their own work. Experienced journalists read their drafts, asking, "Could someone from the opposite perspective recognize themselves fairly in this story?" If not, they revise.

- They use precise language instead of loaded terms. Rather than writing that a policy "devastated" or "rescued" a community, they report the measurable outcomes and let readers draw conclusions.

- They document everything. Phone calls, interviews, data sources, and documents are all carefully tracked so that every factual claim can be verified and challenged if needed.

- They submit to editorial review. Multiple editors review stories specifically looking for unsupported claims, missing perspectives, or language that reveals bias.

- They make corrections prominently and quickly. When errors are found, ethical journalists publish corrections with the same visibility as the original story, not buried in the fine print.

Perfect objectivity may be impossible, but the discipline of suppressing bias through rigorous process is what separates journalism from commentary. And in an era of increasing polarization, that discipline matters more than ever.

LinkedIn and every other platform under the sun keeps telling us that video is the future. But is it? Is it really?

I came across this little gem last week, and it's not wrong. 

As a certified member of GenX, I can attest that most of us dislike video. We'd rather skim a quick summary or pick out the parts of a larger text document we want while ignoring the rest. Video doesn't give you that option. 

You can be stealthy when reading copy versus trying to listen to a video. You either must put in your earbuds to listen (with everyone noticing), or be one of those annoying people in public who loudly plays videos on speakerphone. 

And don't even get me started on the inaccessibility of some videos. Depending on the platform, you may or may not get closed captioning. And even if you do, it's likely not correct. 

Is this a generational thing? I'd love to hear from others how they feel about video being crowned the proverbial "king" of all content formats.

Screenshot of social media discussion about disliking video and being forced to watch it on every channel. 

Reason 437 on my growing list of why you shouldn't trust AI without question. This is a suggested edit Grammarly made for a section of an article I'm writing (see image below).

Grammarly's AI editing tool clearly can't discern between reader as a noun and Reader as a proper noun (someone's last name), the same way a human editor can.  

I know there are people out there who depend on tools like this to edit their work. Please don't. They aren't infallible.

Screenshot of a suggested edit from Grammarly that makes the sentence unreadable and incorrect.

We talk about the dangers of AI and its misuse frequently on this platform. If ever there was a perfect example, this is it. 

The White House recently posted a digitally altered photograph of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong's arrest, manipulating the image to show her crying with tears streaming down her face when the original photograph depicted her with a neutral expression.

This wasn't a case of misidentification or technical error. It was a deliberate alteration of visual evidence by an official government agency. The implications of this action extend far beyond a single photograph. 

When government agencies use AI to manufacture false emotional narratives, they fundamentally undermine public trust and the integrity of the historical record. Digital forensics expert Hany Farid noted this represents a troubling trend, stating that sharing such deceptive content makes it increasingly difficult for the public to trust anything official channels share with them.

This manipulation serves as a stark reminder that AI is not merely a tool for efficiency or creativity. In the wrong hands, it becomes an instrument for distorting reality and shaping false narratives. The alteration violated basic ethical standards by changing the substance of the scene and conveying a false impression, especially problematic when distributed through official government channels.

I unequivocally support the Society of Professional Journalists in its stance calling on journalists to rigorously vet all information in light of such manipulated content. The integrity of visual documentation is essential to preserving truth and accountability in our society. We must remain vigilant against the misuse of AI technology, particularly when wielded by those in positions of power.

View company: Society of Professional Journalists

The SPJ Ethics Committee calls on the Trump administration to remove the fake image that the administration apparently doctored and published online to make a Minneapolis immigration enforcement protestor appear to be crying during an arrest.

The SPJ Code of Ethics, often referenced as the gold standard of journalism ethics, reminds journalists to vet all information and avoid press release journalism that merely regurgitates official sources.

The Committee also calls the Trump administration hypocritical for decrying “fake news” while knowingly distributing an image of attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong that misrepresents reality and pollutes public understanding.

The Trump administration’s apparent falsification of Levy Armstrong’s image serves as a reminder that journalists must rigorously vet all information, including material originating from official sources. Throughout journalism’s history, authority bias has too often led news organizations to republish government-provided text or imagery with little scrutiny. That practice undermines the public’s trust and the news media’s watchdog role.

🔗 Read the full statement: https://bit.ly/45Yc5gW

It's a sad day for the Pittsburgh region. We've lost two print newspapers in the span of a week. First, City Paper, and now, the Post Gazette. 

Print journalism has struggled for decades. It was called a "dying industry" when I landed my first full-time reporting gig in 1996. Papers have closed over the years, but these two hit differently. 

The PG is America's oldest continually-published newspaper. It's existed for 240 years. City Paper was a local staple for 34 years. Both were owned by Block Communications. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about that (I certainly have some I'll keep to myself for now). 

This is bad news for our region. As newspapers disappear, so does public accountability for our local government and other taxpayer-supported institutions. 

For now, I send my support to the hard-working folks who have kept the PG going and who will now be in the unemployment line. Maybe the Tribune Review Newspaper will step up and fill the void.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the modern iteration of a newspaper that has informed the region since 1786, will cease operations in May, according to an announcement released today by its ownership, Block Communications, Inc.

The paper “plans to publish its final edition and cease operations on May 3, 2026,” according to a release distributed today by Senior Director of Marketing Allison Latcheran. “Over the past 20 years, Block Communications has lost more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette. Despite those efforts, the realities facing local journalism make continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable.” #Pittsburgh

https://lnkd.in/ey2RYSdb

Open article: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it will cease operations in May by publicsource.org

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it will cease operations in May

It's been 20 years since I've seen most of these lovely people. And I can't think of a better reason for the reunion than the celebration of Donna Sybert's retirement this past weekend.

Donna's 43-year-career at the Butler Eagle was impressive. She started out as an intern with the paper in the early 80s and ended her legacy in journalism as its managing editor. (If you want to read more about her experience, I've dropped a link in the comments to an article about her retirement.)

When I met Donna, she was the head of the newly-formed copy desk. I was still a cub reporter. I had just one year of real-world experience under my belt when I began working for the Eagle as its education reporter. 

It didn't take me very long to realize that Donna knew her stuff. She was firm with her corrections of your work but always had your best interests at heart. She took her job of helping the reporters grow their skills seriously, and I became a better reporter because of her dedication to her craft. 

Seeing some of these folks that I worked with over my decade at the Eagle reminded me why I love community journalism. These faces you see in this photo are the past - and the future - of what it means to dedicate your life to telling the stories that matter most to the people who live them.

Community journalism isn't about chasing national headlines or viral moments. It's about showing up consistently for your neighbors, documenting the school board meetings and Friday night football games, celebrating local heroes, and holding power accountable at the (local) level where it affects people's daily lives. It's about being the institutional memory of a place, the chronicler of ordinary days and extraordinary moments that might otherwise go unrecorded.

The people in that photo understand something that's easy to forget in our age of algorithmic feeds and 24-hour news cycles. Someone needs to care deeply and specifically about this town, these families, this community. They've chosen to be that someone. Donna was that someone for 43 years, and something tells me that retirement won't change that about her. You can take the journalist out of the newsroom, but you can never take the newsroom out of the journalist.

Happy retirement, Donna!

A group photo of past and current employees of the Butler Eagle newspaper during a retirement party for its managing editor Donna Sybert.

Yanno how us writing professionals are always saying to be clear and concise and just get to the point with your copy?

This ad right here is the embodiment of that advice. 

I've seen plenty of ads for this company. This one got my attention in a good way. It was part of a social media series promoting the company's colostrum powder. It clearly states a problem and a (potential) solution. 

What ads have you seen lately that follow this pattern? Do you find them more effective at convincing you to buy them?

An ad for Armra about how it's product keeps you regular. 

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