How a Marketing Plugin Broke My Brain and Revealed the Future of Services

Hey everyone, and welcome to my little corner of the internet!

If you told me a couple of years ago that I'd be writing about building software, I would have laughed. I was a marketer, through and through. My world was SEO, analytics, conversion rates, and the endless search for the perfect SaaS tool that promised to solve all my problems.

You know the drill. You find a tool that does 80% of what you need. You spend weeks integrating it into your workflow, only to slam headfirst into that missing 20%—that one crucial feature that’s forever "on the roadmap." You're stuck working around the tool's limitations, not your own.

I hit that wall one too many times. I had a specific, niche strategy I wanted to automate, and nothing on the market could do it exactly right. After my 100th feature request went into the void, I had a moment of madness.

What if... I just built it myself?

Mind you, my coding knowledge was basically zero. I could tweak a bit of HTML and maybe, maybe understand a CSS file if I squinted hard enough. The idea of building a functional plugin was ridiculous.

But then, the world changed. AI code assistants started getting really good. Suddenly, I didn’t need to be a seasoned developer to build something. I just needed to be an expert in the logic of what I wanted to build. I could be the architect, and my AI partner could be the master builder, translating my marketing expertise into Python and JavaScript.

So I dove in. My nights became a blur of tutorials, API documentation, and conversations with an AI that was infinitely more patient than any human teacher. My first version was a glorious, bug-ridden mess. But then, slowly, miraculously, it started to work. It was doing the exact thing I had envisioned.

The feeling was electric. I hadn't just solved my problem; I had created the solution from scratch.

And that's when my brain did a little fireworks show. The real breakthrough wasn't the plugin itself. It was the realization of what this meant for everyone who provides a service.

For decades, the model has been simple: experts use tools. A chef uses knives, a mechanic uses wrenches, a marketer uses software. But what happens when the expert can create their own, perfectly sharpened knives for every single task?

They don't just become more efficient. Their expertise itself evolves. They start thinking in terms of systems, not just tasks. They build assets that compound in value, making their service smarter, faster, and more effective with every new feature they create for themselves.

The line between "service provider" and "software developer" is blurring into non-existence.

This is the future. A future where a specialist doesn't just deliver a service but builds the unique software that powers it. It's a feedback loop of pure innovation: the service informs the tool, and the tool enhances the service.

That single, frustrating marketing problem gave birth to a whole new business philosophy I call SOAS - Software on a Service.

It’s the idea that your service offering is inextricably linked to the bespoke software you create to deliver it. You’re not just offering your time and expertise; you’re offering a constantly evolving system built around your unique insights.

I'm starting this blog to explore that idea, share my journey, and document everything I learn about AI-powered development, marketing, and this new way of thinking.

You can read more about the formal concept here: https://soasmodel.com

I'm convinced we're at the beginning of a massive shift in how we think about skills, tools, and value. So, what about you? What's that one frustrating limitation in your workflow that you'd build a tool for if you could?

Let me know. Let's figure this out together.