Patrick Rife

Navigating the Unknown. Building Businesses Along the Way. And Writing About It.

Join me as I embark on a journey to reclaim control, and build businesses that reflect who I am, and where I'm headed.

Founder

Pixilated

Pixilated is a photo booth company based in Baltimore, MD that produces an easy-to-use, shippable photo booth called PixiTAB that is powered by our B2B photo marketing software; PixiCloud. When not acting as the brain for PixiTAB we license the PixiCloud software platform to companies looking to capture 1st party user data at events and venues through photo experiences, forms, surveys, and other experiential marketing activities.

Co-Founder

Baltimore Creators

Our mission: connect Baltimore's business builders. Whether you're an entrepreneur, advisor, or curious learner, Baltimore Creators is for you.

PixiWeb

Event Photo Sharing Simplified: Create custom event websites that allow your guests to post photos directly to a shared event gallery.

Startup Soirée

Startup Soiree was a grassroots entrepreneurial community and event series dedicated to fostering meaningful connections among Baltimore’s founders, creatives, and business leaders. As Co-Founder, I helped create a space where entrepreneurs could engage in candid, no-pitch conversations, exchange insights, and build lasting relationships.

Key initiatives included:

---> Hosting monthly fireside chat events featuring prominent Baltimore entrepreneurs in unique, intimate settings.
---> Developing community-driven content, including a podcast and blog, to share startup stories and insights.
---> Strengthening Baltimore’s startup ecosystem by providing a platform for founders to connect, learn, and grow.

Startup Soiree played a pivotal role in shaping Baltimore’s startup culture, and its legacy lives on in the connections and collaborations it sparked.

Bonsai Fine Arts

Assist museums, galleries and private collectors in caring for their valuable artworks during transit and installation. Lead small focused teams on installations ranging from small sculptural pieces in private galleries to full scale multi-level commercial art installations.

Art Handler

Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, U.M.B.C.

Worked closely with Gallery Preparator to develop the physical museum space as it pertains to incoming exhibitions, hung and installed traveling exhibitions, took part in the registration, crate building and technical manuals for the traveling exhibition "For All The World to See."

Gallery Assistant/Art Handler

Contemporary Museum Baltimore

Provided primary interfacing to museum visitors and patrons. Oversaw Museum social media program. Provided technical and clerical support to higher museum staff.

Gallery Assistant

Entrepreneur Building Business and Writing About the Process.

Helping founders & leaders find clarity in chaos | Ground Control Newsletter

I've spent years building companies, communities, and connections. Now I help others navigate their own path forward.

As co-founder of Pixilated and creator of Startup Soirée, I've lived the founder journey - from scaling and strategy to the human side of leadership. But what lights me up isn't just what I built - it's who I became along the way.

What I Do Now:

I work with founders and leaders who are:

- Seeking clarity in their next chapter
- Building something meaningful
- Ready to align who they are with what they do
- Looking for perspective, not just strategy

My Approach:

Think of me as your mirror and prism - helping you see your path more clearly and illuminating possibilities you might have missed. Through deep listening and perspective shifting, we find the clarity you need to move forward with confidence.

Ground Control Newsletter:

Every Wednesday, I share raw insights about leadership, transformation, and finding your way. No guru speak. No formulas. Just real talk about what it takes to build something that matters.

Let's Connect:

- Ready for clarity? DM me
- Want weekly insights? Ground Control newsletter (link in bio)
- Looking for perspective? Let's talk

"The real ROI of human connection isn't measured in quarters. It's measured in years, in lives touched, in moments of breakthrough."

#leadership #transformation #clarity #growth #authenticity

59er Digital

Founder | Webflow Expert

Freelance

UI/UX/Web Design Consultant | Webflow Expert

Struto

Struto is an inbound marketing agency and Platinum Hubspot Partner. Their goal is to help business-to-business (B2B) organisations transition from less effective, traditional outbound marketing strategies to inbound marketing strategies which drive more leads, have a higher rate of conversion and cost less thereby producing a measurable return on investment (ROI).

My responsibilities at Struto includes:
Working closely with the UX team to create new design concepts and identifying problems to improve user experience. Creating wireframe concepts and prototypes. Collaborating with developers to push out best practice responsive websites. Liaising with various clients from around the world. Mentoring junior designers. Creating brand guidelines for various clients. Creating and optimizing brand assets for use on various websites and social media platforms. Collaborating with marketing team to create content offers for client websites.

Clients includes:
Privitar, AES, Annecto, B2B Marketing Lab, Bridge Mental Health, Early WMC, Cranfield, Eclipse, Elysys, Georgian House, Maybe, Open, PebbleIT, Perivan, Prezi, Project Vision, Skeleton, Stride, Theodo, Bournes Moves, Motoring Classics, Voxgen

Digital Designer

The Smart Effect

I ran a Web Consultancy that specialised in Graphic Design, Web Design, Web Development, Database Development, Software Development, E-commerce, SEO, Internet Marketing, UI / UX, Wordpress Development and Photography.

Owner / Designer / Developer

Achievement Awards Group

Upon completing my ND in Graphic Design at CPUT, I was taken on as a Junior Graphic Designer at their design studio in Cape Town. During this time I have undertaken many projects including web design, print design, creating launch materials, corporate identities, assisting Directors in presentations through storyboarding, design concepts and executing them.

I have worked with many different individuals ranging from other creatives, programmers, illustrators, printers, photographers, and developers. During this time I have learned many useful skills in different areas of the business and enhanced my creativity and skills in programs such as InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop Dreamweaver, Keynote, Adobe After Effects and Powerpoint.

Clients includes: 
Absa, Standard Bank, South African Breweries, BMW, Renault, Adcock Ingram, Distell, MTN, Brandhouse, Netcare, Mercedes Benz SA, UD Trucks, Metropolitan, General Motors, SARS, Sanlam, Samsung, Kyocera, Bond Choice, Daimler Chrysler, Freightliner, Fuso, BP, Auto Carriers, Carl Zeiss, Toyota, Blackberry, Samsung, BATSA, Carl Zeiss, Distell, Volvo, VW.

Empowering SaaS businesses to thrive online by crafting growth-focused Webflow websites with exceptional user experiences. | Webflow Expert

I'm a Design Consultant specialising in the following: User Centric Design, Growth Driven Design, Webflow design and development, UI/UX Design, Web Development, Web Design, Wordpress Development, Graphic Design, Internet Marketing. 

I have 14+ years experience in digital design, and I'm very well versed in every aspect of design and development, from conceptualization to implementation and maintenance.

I have developed an obsession for trying to help businesses grow through technology and helping them become more successful through the right implementation of a successful marketing strategy.

Robert Smart

Over the last few months, we’ve been quietly building something we believe could change the way content creators generate leads through their videos.

After years of creating content, running client projects, and watching creators burn out trying to stitch five different tools together just to get a “funnel” working…

I realised something:

Content isn’t the problem.
Conversion is.

We have platforms built for views.
We have dashboards built for data.
But almost nothing built for that crucial moment in between —
when someone is paying attention and actually ready to take action.

So we built something to fix it.

🔥 Introducing Clickk

Clickk is a simple, powerful conversion layer that turns your videos into:

→ Lead-generating experiences
→ Interactive touchpoints
→ Actionable insights
→ Actual revenue-driving moments

No new workflow.
No tech headache.
No “Frankenstein funnel” held together with Zapier.

Clickk lives inside the content you already create and helps your viewers take the next step — instantly.

🚀 We’re opening early access soon
If you want first access before the public launch:

👉 Join the waitlist: https://clickk.com/

Excited to finally bring this into the world.
Let’s build the future of content-driven conversion.

#clickk #funnels #conversion #creators #youtube #marketing

Marketing is changing faster than we can keep up — and AI is quietly becoming the new search engine.

Here’s a crazy stat I came across recently:

Traffic from ChatGPT is 6× warmer than traffic from Google.

Why?

Because when AI recommends you, it’s based on trust, context, and understanding… not keywords.

This became real for me when a new client reached out and said:

“I actually found you through ChatGPT.”

He literally asked AI for the best Webflow designer in South Africa — and it mentioned me.

That’s when it clicked.

We’re entering the era of AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation.
The way we write content today is training the AI models that will recommend us tomorrow.

Your posts, your site, your clarity… it’s all becoming inputs into how AI understands your expertise.

If you’re only optimising for Google, you’re already falling behind.
The brands that show up in AI conversations will win the next decade of visibility.

👀 I dive into this in today’s video.

If you’re curious about AEO or want me to break down how to actually optimize for it, drop “AEO” in the comments.

#AEO #optimise #website #AI #growth #Chatgpt #claude #gemini

A strange thing is happening in SaaS right now.
People aren’t just using your product — they’re rebuilding it.

Low-code and no-code tools have quietly changed the game.
Your customers can now build their own dashboards, schedulers, forms, and automations — in hours.

That means the biggest risk to your business isn’t another startup.
It’s the person using your product who realises:

“Wait… I could just build this myself.”

We’re already seeing this play out:

• Users building internal tools instead of renewing SaaS subscriptions.
• Teams replicating core product functionality using tools like Lovable, Glide, or Retool.
• Even companies threatening legal action against customers who cloned their features (yes, it’s happening).

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

 ✅ Simple, easy-to-replicate functionality is no longer defensible.
 ✅ Complexity, high utilisation, and unique data are your new moats.
 ✅ Brand, velocity, and user experience are your armour.

So if your value lies in forms, signatures, dashboards, or templates…
You’re not just in a competitive market — you’re in a commoditised one.

Your product strategy needs to evolve faster than your users can rebuild it.

💭 What part of your product could your users build on a low-code platform — and what does that mean for your roadmap?

#saas #roadmap #nocode #lowcode

Asked AI to create a thumbnail for me for my latest YT video. This is what it came up with. Does this look like me? 🤔

I just love this feature of Webflow that allows you to generate Schema data using AI. This is such a time saver.

#webflow #ai #website #schemadata

It is wild out there 🙈 

I was playing around with Gemini's Veo 3.1 trying to recreate a very important scene in the bible in the Book of Daniel. I was as detailed as possible trying to create prompt that would fit this scene asking AI to help improve the prompt. After many takes, this is what I got. I might just need to tweak the prompt a little bit more to get it right but non the less, this is still insane.

#ai #veo3.1 #gemini #nanobanana

Most people still write content for Google…
But AI doesn’t care about keyword stuffing, hacks, or tricks.

Models like ChatGPT and Claude care about three things:
Clarity. Expertise. Helpfulness.

If your content doesn’t communicate those, AI won’t recommend you — simple.

Here’s what actually matters:

✅ Be clear about what you do and where you’re based.
If AI can’t understand it, it can’t recommend you.

✅ Answer real questions your clients are already asking.
This is the data AI uses to identify expertise.

✅ Write like a human — the way people talk to ChatGPT.
Natural language > keyword-stuffed nonsense.

Because here’s the part most marketers are missing:

Every time you publish content — a blog post, a LinkedIn article, a website update — you’re feeding the models. 

You’re training AI to understand who you are, what you do, and whether you’re worth recommending.

AEO isn’t about beating the algorithm.

It’s about becoming the obvious choice for your niche when someone asks AI for help.

If you want to show up in AI-generated recommendations, start by showing up with clarity and real value today.

#AEO #AI #Chatgpt #Claude #Gemini #SEO #Google

Most businesses are still writing content the old way — generic, vague, and optimised for Google circa 2012.

But AI doesn’t respond to that anymore.

If you want ChatGPT to understand (and eventually recommend) your business, your content needs to be written for real people with real intent.

Here’s a perfect example:

Old blog intro:
“In this blog, we’ll discuss SEO tips for small businesses.”

It’s flat. It’s generic. It gives the reader (and AI) zero context.

Now look at the AEO-optimized version:

AEO intro:
“If you’re a small business owner trying to get found online, this guide will show you simple, practical SEO steps that actually help customers discover your products — and even get you recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT.”
See the difference?

The second version does 3 powerful things AI engines love:

✅ 1. It identifies who the content is for
AI needs context. When you clearly state your audience, models like ChatGPT actually remember it.

✅ 2. It matches real user intent
This is how people speak when they ask AI questions.
Your writing should mirror natural language — not keyword stuffing.

✅ 3. It connects the topic to AI-driven search
You’re signalling relevance.
You’re helping AI understand why the content matters today.

This is what AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is all about — Writing content in a way that helps AI understand your expertise, your audience, and your value.

If your content still sounds like the “old way,” you’re leaving visibility on the table.

#aeo #blog #website #growth #google #ai

Creators don’t have an audience problem.
They have a journey problem.

Most creators think the solution is “more reach.”
More views.
More followers.
More impressions.

But here’s the truth nobody wants to admit:

If the viewer leaves the platform… you lose them.
If the viewer stays on the platform… the platform owns them.
The only person who doesn’t own them… is you.

And that’s why creators are stuck in a loop of:
🎢 Create → Post → Pray → Repeat

Here’s the real issue:

You don’t control the journey after the click.

Someone watches your video…
Clicks your link…
And suddenly they’re thrown into a messy maze of:

- YouTube links
- Instagram bios
- Notion docs
- Google Drive folders
- Random landing pages
- 7 different tools stitched together

No wonder conversions are low.
No wonder leads fall through the cracks.
No wonder creators feel like they’re “starting from zero” every day.

Discovery is owned by platforms.
Monetisation should be owned by you.

But right now it isn’t.

And that’s the gap Clickk.com is fixing.

We’re building the easiest way for creators to own the entire journey — from the moment someone watches your content… to the moment they become a customer.

One place.
One flow.
Zero friction.
Maximum conversions.

If you’re a creator who’s tired of:

🚫 Losing viewers after the click
🚫 Sending people to 5 different tools
🚫 Having no idea who watched what
🚫 Hoping your funnel doesn’t break

Then we’re building this for you.

👉 We’re launching soon. Want early access? Join the waitlist.
(We’ll only open it to a limited number of creators in the first batch.)

Your audience is valuable.
It’s time you owned the journey.

#clickk #funnel #conversion #content #creators

There’s a lot of advice floating around that sounds like this:


“Validate your startup with a landing page.
 If no one clicks your pricing, don’t build it.
 If you can’t drive traffic, don’t build it.
 Waitlists are just window shoppers.”

There’s some truth here… but the reality is far more nuanced.

Here’s what actually matters when validating an early-stage idea:

1️⃣ Landing pages are a fast validation tool — but not a verdict.

A landing page helps you test whether your messaging resonates.
Lack of clicks doesn’t always mean “no one wants it.”
Often it means your offer isn’t understood, positioned correctly, or shown to the right people.

Signal ≠ final decision.
Signal = data to iterate on.

2️⃣ Zero traffic doesn’t mean the idea is bad — it means distribution is.

Traffic problems are marketing problems, not product problems.
You can have a brilliant idea and still struggle to get eyes on it.

Fix your targeting, messaging, and consistency before killing the idea.

3️⃣ Waitlists aren’t useless — they reveal early believers.

Sure, a chunk of signups are curiosity-driven.
But inside every waitlist is a small group of high-intent early adopters.
Those people become your testers, your feedback loop, your first advocates.

It’s your job to nurture them, not dismiss them.

4️⃣ Validation is a cycle, not a one-time test.

Real validation looks like this:

Idea → Message → Traffic → Reactions → Improvements → Retest → Clarity

You refine the offer, the wording, the audience, the price…
again and again until the signal becomes obvious.

Bottom line:

No single metric — clicks, traffic, waitlist size — can validate a startup alone.
Validation is about learning, not passing or failing a test.

If you’re building something new, don’t get discouraged by early numbers.
Use them as fuel to iterate.

And if you’re validating right now:
keep going, keep testing, keep improving.

That’s how real traction starts.

#startup #validation #waitlist

You're not struggling with content — you're struggling with what happens after people see it.

You don’t need another tool to manage.
You don’t need another dashboard to check.
You don’t need another subscription draining your budget.

What you need is a system.
 Something that:

→ Works with what you already use
→ Lives where your content already lives
→ Captures attention and turns it into something real — leads, insights, conversions

No extra steps.
No tech headaches.
No sending your audience down a maze of links.

We’re not here to reinvent your workflow.
We’re here to simplify it.

Clickk isn’t another platform.

It’s the layer that makes your content convert.

And we’re almost ready.

If you want early access to test it before anyone else…
Drop a 🎯 in the comments.

#content #funnels #creator #marketer

Most people are still trying to rank on Google…
Meanwhile, businesses are quietly getting clients from ChatGPT.

And here’s the wild part:

AI-generated traffic is much warmer than Google traffic.
Because when ChatGPT recommends you, it’s not based on keywords — it’s based on trust, expertise, and context.

So the real question is:

👉 How do you get ChatGPT to recommend your business?
👉 Why does AI choose one expert over another?
👉 And what can you do today to show up in AI conversations?

That’s exactly what I break down in Episode 2 of my AEO series:

“How to Get Recommended by ChatGPT (AEO Step-by-Step)”

In this video I cover:

✔ How AI engines decide who to trust
✔ What AEO (AI Engine Optimization) actually is
✔ Why citations, clarity, and expertise matter more than ever
✔ The steps you can take today to train AI models to recommend you
✔ How your content becomes the data AI uses to identify authorities

We’re entering a whole new era of discovery.

And those who understand AEO early will win the next decade of visibility.

#AEO #AIEngineOptimization #ChatGPTMarketing #AISEO #DigitalMarketing #ContentStrategy #AIforBusiness #FutureOfMarketing #MarketingTips #WebflowDesigner #AIRecommendations #SmallBusinessMarketing #ChatGPTTips

Anyone got experience with Reddit? What worked for you?

taplio

The Battle

Patrick Rife

Robert Smart

Followers

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Performance ScoreRobert Smart's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Patrick Rife

Robert Smart

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Robert Smart's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreRobert Smart's LinkedIn Performance