Portland Content Publishing, Podcasting, & Digital Experiences for Local Creative Business

TL;DR: Skip below for my writing, audio, design, & development services plus educational offerings for kicking Big Tech dependency to the curb while reaching audiences directly. But I hope you continuing reading here first! 😄

Coming here from the flyer?? I’m assembling an invite list for my upcoming kick-off of The Slop-Free Shindig → Check out the deets and get yourself signed up via email and/or Signal! 🥳

[ LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION OF THIS PAGE AS READ BY THE AUTHOR ]

Portland is a special place. It’s undeniable. I love living here. I love working here.

I believe you do too. 🌲

A fundamental precept I try to live by is that the ways in which we conduct ourselves in business & creativity should reflect the communities and the values of our surrounds. The point isn’t merely to survive in spite of it all, but rather to thrive within an interlocking web of meaning.

I haven’t set out to be anyone’s “guru”. I’m here as a co-creating partner, helping to educate (and learn as well!) along the way so that we’re building a better, more sustainable information ecosystem on & offline. How you reach your customers, your fans, and your creative people is truly impactful, not just the what and the why.

Let’s Set Up a Time to Chat!

Howdy! 👋😃 I’m Jared. Welcome to my boutique web studio Whitefusion.

As a life-long software engineer & online publisher, my mission is to bring my copious years of experience fighting Big Tech (and uncovering worthy alternatives) to the city I’ve been proud to call home for nearly a decade.

Listen, I have a simple pitch to make. If you’re only promoting your creative business & events on Facebook/Instagram/Google, that’s like only selling your bespoke products at Walmart or Starbucks. Like, OK, you could try doing that, but…why? 🤔

Now this is something the other tour guides “small business marketing” folks won’t tell you. (Perhaps they’re not as dialed in to subtle usage shifts, or they just don’t get the Portland, Oregon market. 🤷) We’re DIY. We’re scrappy. We’re punk. And it just so happens, there’s a parallel movement online as well. 😲

Good people who want the Web to return to its roots, as it were…a shift away from misinformation and corporate capture and slop (aka the situation now called “enshittification”). Champions of communities for and by the people in those communities. I’ve been tracking the rise of these communities and movements for a long time now, developing deep expertise in the phenomenon I’m calling A Tale of Two Cyberspaces.

Bottom line: if you’ve only been reaching people stuck in EmpireNet, what about ResistanceNet? ✊

The Big Tech Squeeze

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) & SMM (Social Media Marketing) are becoming a fool’s racket. Google and Meta and the rest of Big Tech want to squeeze you dry, asking you to pay up to get any benefits at all. And now they expect you to embrace Generative AI? Please. The merchants of slop don’t care one iota about your business and your art. Hell, they’d prefer to steal all your ideas and repackage them without your consent!

What you really need is a way to reach the audience you already have so they’ll keep coming back. Not mere customers. True fans. And then let word-of-mouth start to kick in from there. You need direct-to-audience publishing, using mediums which reliably reach people right where they are.

And increasingly, savvy people online are:

• In Signal group chats
• In thematic Discord servers
• Using alternative social networks like Mastodon (aka the “Fediverse”) and Bluesky (aka the “Atmosphere”)
• Connecting with beloved creators on Patreon
• Subscribing to REAL email newsletters of value (not crappy automated sales pitches)
• Listening to podcasts featuring hosts with aura
• Keeping up-to-date with live newsfeeds

So why are you posting another me-too marketing graphic on Instagram? Are your fans even going to see it when they’re already drowning in a sea of AI slop? (And that’s assuming they haven’t canceled their Meta accounts yet!)

The Kids Are Alright

In addition to changing Internet demographics, you’d be wise to take advantage of one of the hottest new trends of 2026: IRL

People are tired of doomscrolling on phones. They’re craving real experiences with flesh-and-blood humans. Your online strategy should be to connect with true fans and bring them (back) into real-life spaces as often as humanly possible (all while helping newcomers to your IRL spaces get on-boarded into one or more of your publishing channels).

The more you can tap into the zeitgeist and speak to the conversations people are already having when they get together, the more you will seem relevant as—and I HATE this word but I’ll use it this one time—an influencer. Otherwise, people will perceive whatever you’re pushing as just a boring sales pitch and tune out.

Folks want to feel like they’re part of your tribe, not simply a source of revenue. Even (some) large corporations know this, which is why they try very hard to make their brands seem hip and cool. You have an edge…which is that you’re actually hip and cool! You’re a local creative business and you kick ass. Question is: do your publishing outlets match that kickassery? Or is it written in boring “business speak” voice? (Or worse, “ChatGPT” voice? *shudder*)

Signal Those Virtues!

So-called “virtue signaling” is a concept that’s oversold. Don’t fear it! Embrace it. Your true fans will love that you’re willing take a stand against the purveyors of ick technology and are willing to push back against corporate malfeasance.

And let’s get real here. Your customers simply aren’t resonating with chatbot-generated flyers, and they aren’t being served by automated slop marketing machines. It’s not working. People—especially young people—can smell slop a mile away. It’s not a good look. A performance in Germany got booed, simply because AI was used for staging effects. (Not to mention the raft of college commencement speakers getting booed!) YouTuber Hank Green was just chased off the Internet by fans who felt betrayed by his use of ChatGPT. Slop movies are going absolutely nowhere, whereas indie filmmakers are praised for their work even while they DO NOT want to use AI and proudly proclaim their human bona fides. Audio erotica publisher Dipsea just de-slopified their entire catalog, and Horror Writer’s Association had to remove a board member who had gone rogue and spammed members with AI propaganda.

And nobody likes data centers anymore. Nobody.

No surprise, Big Tech wants you hooked on their systems and laundering their talking points, paying them like the techno drug dealers they are. But they can get bent. You need a better system, a human-powered system. 🙌

In addition to the outreach side of the equation, you may be interested in learning about creative workflow tools to wean yourself off of Big Tech (that is, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc…even Apple!) There are many other software options available from smaller, creator-focused companies which can help you do great work and feel totally on top of things in the process. This is right in my wheelhouse.

My Bona Fides

I’ve been building & publishing on the web for over two decades. ’Tis true!

I’m used to seeing the rise and fall of many different platforms, and gaining the wisdom to know which techniques work over the long haul and what’s a flash in the pan. I’ve published many email newsletters reaching thousands of subscribers, recorded hundreds of hours of podcast audio, produced dozens of travel videos, and developed numerous websites & publishing engines for organizations large and small.

I host communities of true fans across multiple interest areas, and I’m well-connected with a number of niche networks of Portlanders IRL who care about progressive politics, local art & retail, and making our great city even better.

I’ve been in the belly of the Big Tech beast (in a past life, I literally worked in and around San Francisco tech startups!), so I know how to avoid falling for their tricks…all while leveraging the good aspects of Internet technology to build lasting relationships.

I believe in the power of many ones. Nobody should set out to gain “thousands” of readers or “thousands” of listeners. Just build a relationship with one person. And then another one person. And then another one person…

All of my success, and the success of people I’ve worked closely with, has been organic. Real people, really interested in the real work of creatives. You know in your heart this is the way it’s always been. The mirage of “online virality” has distracted us from what truly matters.

Keep Portland Keeping Portland Weird (Weird!)

It’s not enough merely to celebrate a few weirdos in our midst. We should strive to support a pipeline of producing more weird…good weird, fun weird. How do we become a part of that solution for the city?

We should put our heads together and find ways to utilize a variety of skills to elevate local communities and collectively strengthen our ethics-minded businesses.

My tool-bag of skills:

• Writing
• Podcasting
• Photo & Video
• Graphics Design
• Digital Publishing
• Hosting Online Communities
• Putting Software to Good Use

What are your skills?

My Own Commitment to “IRL”

As a long-time remote worker and creative person doing things online with computers, I’ve been challenging myself to start thinking of ways to pull my attention back into the realm of making eye contact and engaging with flesh-and-blood humans.

So in addition to the low-hanging fruit of venturing forth to existing local meetups, events, and other opportunities to connect, I am in the planning stages of a workshop series codenamed The Slop-Free Shindig. __(more about this here)__

Is All This for Real?

Look, I could throw a bunch of testimonials out there. Quotes about my “no-friction personality and a get-it-done attitude…can’t lose if you go with Jared for your project.” Or perhaps “one aspect I love about working with Jared is how quickly he identifies the vision for the project.” Or maybe that I “consistently exhibited open mindedness to new, and even sometimes conflicting, ideas which is a rare commodity.” (You can browse through these on LinkedIn if you’re super curious.)

Heck…this amazing endorsement from a client of 20 years (can you believe that?!) was so lengthy 👉 I’ll stick it in this popup! 👈

But let’s be honest: this stuff can be gamed. Slick marketing is all-too-easy to fake. You don’t really know who to trust these days. So I don’t blame you if you’re wondering “huh, I don’t know if this Jared guy is on the level.”

That’s why I’m not asking you to believe me wholesale. All I’m asking for is the chance to start a conversation. I’d love to get to know the real YOU—what you’re hoping to achieve, your success story so far, and yes, the headaches and hassles along the way. Shit’s hard out there, and it can be uniquely brutal for creative people. Sometimes all we need is a sympathetic ear. I hope that’s what I can give you, even if we don’t end up working together right away.

My Service Offerings

It’s my intention to make it as easy as possible to work with me, with few surprises. I do offer a sliding scale with a limited availability of discount opportunities for those who are operating in a challenging financial environment or belonging to an vulnerable demographic.

• I highly recommend my 30 minutes free consultation. We can chat over Signal or Zoom, or if the stars align we can meet at a café or even your place of business.
• The next step would be to schedule a planning session. This is a 1+ hour deep-dive meeting, with the goal of producing a multi-page strategy I would complete & deliver within 3 business days. Price: $200–300

From there, if you’d like to continue our collaboration, it could take a couple different directions. If your needs are primarily around content or digital workflows:

• Implementing the strategy. This could include any combination of writing & newsletter publishing, podcast or audio production, event-oriented design, or app workflow education. Price: $350–$500/month for 12 months. (Paid in quarterly installments with first installment due at engagement kickoff.).

or if your needs are oriented around technical solutions (website or IT-adjacent):

• Building the experience.. This could include any combination of refreshing your online presence, connecting web services together and managing a data pipeline, or configuring an e-commerce storefront. Price: $300–400/week for a period of time based on estimate. (Paid in bi-weekly installments with first installment due at engagement kickoff. More substantial or “rush” jobs would switch over to hourly billing which is $125–150/hr.)

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FINAL CTA