The Most Powerful Marketing Tool You’re Ignoring (And It’s Free)

How building one emotional AI app taught me more about marketing than any $2,000 course ever did

Hey, it’s Marc.

This week, I hit a wall. Then I built a ladder. Then I hit another wall because apparently, Supabase schemas don’t care about your feelings.

But real talk—this week taught me what vibe marketing actually means, because I lived it: the friction, the feelings, the funk... and the freedom of showing up anyway.

Inside today’s issue:

• What vibe marketing actually is — and why it’s the only strategy that matters in 2025

• A painful parenting moment that reminded me of the power of clarity

• Why I burned through 10 million tokens on Bolt.new (RIP)

• Plus: this week’s builds, breakdowns & breakthroughs

Let’s get into it.

🔗 BEST LINKS

Stuff that slapped this week

💡 Growth & No-Code Building

• How Bolt.new creators are quietly shaping the next era of indie apps

• This one Supabase tutorial actually made sense to me

📈 Marketing & Messaging

• The “vibe-first” approach to branding that makes people feel something

• Emotional storytelling frameworks for indie founders

💸 Mindset & Money

• How to keep going when you’re building alone and broke

• The best $0 therapy: recording yourself rant into an AI app

🧠 DEEP DIVE

What Is Vibe Marketing? (And Why It Beats Funnels Every Time)

Vibe Marketing isn’t a tactic. It’s a transmission. It’s the invisible emotion your brand sends before you say a word. And in 2025, that feeling is more powerful than any 3-step funnel or bro-y tripwire.

Here’s what I’ve learned building Blurble (my voice-powered emotional dump app) and getting cooked by the no-code gods in the Bolt.new hackathon:

1. People buy what reflects them, not just what helps them

I started Blurble because I needed it. I’m an overthinker. I process emotions by talking, not typing. And turns out, a lot of people are the same.

When you market from that place — that honest, human "I made this because I needed it" place — people don’t just understand you. They feel you.

Vibe marketing starts with shared struggle, not shiny benefits.

2. Platforms may glitch, but vibes are glitch-proof

Supabase? Looks like NASA’s backend to me.

Bolt? Burned through my token limit in 7 days trying to debug.

Despite that, people still connected with my story on LinkedIn. Why? Because authentic energy doesn’t require perfection.

You don’t need a polished app to start telling your story.
You don’t need a perfect launch to attract attention.
You just need to be real and be visible.

3. Vulnerability scales better than vanity

I shared that my daughter hasn’t spoken to me in four weeks — and it hurts. But I also shared how I’m showing up for her anyway. That hit harder than any AI tip or tech stack tweet.

The takeaway: vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s resonance. And that’s what vibe marketing is: resonating with people on a frequency they actually feel.

4. Build for humans. Debug your ego.

This week, I kept jumping from app to app when things got hard. It’s a pattern — not just in code, but in life.

Here’s the lesson:
Vibe marketing is about emotional consistency.
You can’t keep switching messages every time something breaks.

Pick a lane. Pick a mood. Pick a mission. Ride that till the wheels fall off. Then post about the crash.

5. Your content is the marketing funnel

I’m all in on LinkedIn right now. I dropped other platforms to go deep instead of wide. Because depth > distribution — especially when you’re building solo.

Here’s what’s working:

• Stories over strategies

• Emotions over ego

• Micro-videos over mega-webinars

• Showing my learning curve in public

That’s vibe marketing. It’s not what you build. It’s how you let people see you build it.

🪞 THIS WEEK IN MARC’S WORLD

Wins, walls & what’s next

🛠️ Built:

• Blurble MVP (almost done — AI reframe, mood analysis, transcription pipeline live)

📉 Struggled:

• Supabase. Debugging. Walking away from stuck builds too quickly.

🔥 Learned:

• Do all front-end UX and prep before prompting

• Stick to one app until it ships

• Token management matters (RIP 10 million Bolt tokens)

💔 Personal:

• Still haven’t seen my daughter. It’s been 5 weeks. Sent “I love you” texts, ignored.

• She finally called but that went left field

• She asked for money. I didn’t respond. Boundaries matter. We need a real convo Face to face.

🌟 Bright spot:

• My middle daughter got hired for her first summer job. Applied and got it same day. Had her orientation yesterday, and she is so excited, My quiet achiever. My golden child (don’t tell the others).

🧘‍♂️ QUOTE OF THE WEEK

🧰 BEFORE YOU GO: 3 WAYS I CAN HELP

1. Build with me – I’m launching async MVPs, landing pages, and full apps in <72 hours. No calls. Just vibes. DM me on LinkedIn →

2. Blurble Early Access – Want to try the emotional clarity app that lets you rant and reframe? Currently being built.

What’d you think of this issue?

💌 Loved it
👍 It’s cool
💢 Mid vibes

See you next week. We’re not just coding. We’re vibe coding.

— Marc