The AI revolution, it isn't some future possibility,
is it? It's unfolding right now. Yeah, it really
is. And while, you know, lots of conversations
focus on AI's impact on jobs, there's this quiet,
incredibly savvy... group of entrepreneurs already
building well seven figure businesses they're
not always the the lead coders or the deep data
scientists right instead they seem to be becoming
this essential bridge connecting ai's powerful
new capabilities to the pressing uh real world
needs of businesses it feels like a fundamental
shift it absolutely is welcome to the deep dive
Today, we're exploring an incredibly timely topic,
how to build a seven -figure AI business. We
found this really powerful five -step blueprint
to unpack for you. It looks like a systematic
path to building an AI automation empire, basically
from scratch. And we'll really dig into why the
traditional agency model might actually be a
trap in this landscape. We'll clarify the critical
difference between just raw AI models and these
robust AI agent systems. And then we'll systematically
break down each... step of this blueprint, you
know, from picking your markets strategically
to mastering those sales conversations and finally
scaling your operations. Think of it like a shortcut,
a clear, actionable path for navigating this
completely new AI economy. Okay, let's dive in
then. There really feels like a ticking clock
here. Why is this window of opportunity closing
so fast, especially for people looking to build
something? And what's the fundamental distinction
we really need to get our heads around right
now? You're right. There's definitely an urgency.
The truth is, economist AI agents are rapidly
taking over almost every job that, well, that
could be done from a laptop. It's not sci -fi
anymore. It's happening incredibly fast. And
businesses, you know, from small shops to huge
corporations, they're kind of in this quiet panic.
They know they need AI to stay competitive, but
honestly, they have no clue how to get real results
from it. This creates this massive, but... temporary
opportunity gap. You can be that expert guide,
the one who helps them through this confusing
but really transformative time. Right. And the
aha moment, the core difference you mentioned
is this. AI models think chat GPT, Claude, they're
brilliant, right? They can tell you what to do,
generate ideas. Sure. But AI agent systems, these
are purpose -built automated systems designed
to solve specific painful business problems.
By doing tasks. They're different. How so? They
don't just tell you what to do. They actually
do the thing. Businesses aren't short on ideas.
They're drowning in work. They want solutions
that actively take work off their plate. So the
real leverage, the real gold, isn't just in tools
offering advice, but in automated systems that
take action and deliver a concrete result. Exactly.
businesses need solutions that actively remove
work and free them up. This is where it gets
really interesting for me. What do these AI agent
systems actually look like in practice? Because
we're talking about battle -tested, revenue -generating
machines here, right? Not just theory. Precisely.
Yeah. Yeah, they aren't magic buttons. Think
of them more like specialized operating systems
built for specific painful problems. We've identified
five key systems that are working incredibly
well right now. Okay, what are they? First, there's
the content cloning facility. Imagined like a
Star Wars cloning facility, but for content.
Huh, okay. You feed it one long -form YouTube
video, and it spits out an army of perfectly
formatted short clips for TikTok Reels shorts.
It analyzes the transcript for viral moments,
extracts them, adjusts aspect ratios, adds captions,
even posts directly. This system can save creators
like 20 -plus hours a week. Seriously. That's
huge. Okay, what's number two? Number two is
the five -star reputation engine. This is basically
automated PR for local businesses. It emails
customers after a purchase with a simple happy
or unhappy emoji link. Happy clicks go to Google
or Yelp to leave a public review. Unhappy clicks
go to a private feedback form, creating a high
priority ticket internally. Yeah. It consistently
boosts public reviews by like 300 % or more and
drastically cuts down negative public feedback.
Okay. Impressive. Next. Next up, the hyper -personalized
sales sniper. This is like the difference between
firing a machine gun blindly versus a special
forces sniper. Right. You give the AI a list
of potential customers. It acts like a personal
research assistant, scrapes LinkedIn, websites,
social media for deep intel. Then it crafts unique,
hyper -personalized outreach messages for each
person. Okay, that's powerful. Whoa. I mean,
imagine scaling not just outreach, but genuine
human connection through that level of personalization.
Something totally impossible before without an
army of people. Yeah. That's the AI difference.
It can lead to like a 10x increase in outreach
volume, but with much higher conversion rates
because it feels personal. Transformative. Okay,
number four. Fourth, the digital chief of staff.
Think J -A -R -V -I -S for a small business.
Okay, I like that. It connects to everything
calendar, email, project management, CRM, and
just handles all that admin grunt work. Like
what specific? Stuff like managing meeting schedules,
generating performance reports, organizing digital
files, triaging the founder's inbox. This system
can wipe out 15 to 20 hours of weekly busy work.
That's a significant chunk of time saved. And
the last one. And finally, number five, the 2004
-07 HR Screener. This is for companies hiring
a lot. It conducts those initial, really time
-consuming screening interviews via video call.
The AI conducts the interview. Yeah. It asks
intelligent questions, generates dynamic follow
-ups in real time based on the answers. Then
it gives the hiring manager the full transcript,
an AI summary, and even a preliminary candidate
fit score. Wow. It can pre -screen hundreds of
candidates. 247 no humans needed for that first
pass. That's that's truly game changing for HR
departments. So these aren't just about making
things a bit faster. They seem designed to lift
major repetitive burdens and actually drive tangible
business growth. Precisely. They're revenue generating
machines solving specific, very painful business
problems. Okay, this next step you mentioned
about playing the game on easy mode, that sounds
pretty appealing. What's the secret to picking
a market where success feels less like, you know,
pushing a boulder uphill? Right, your market
choice really does set the difficulty setting
for the whole business. The smart play is always
easy mode. Find a booming industry with well
-funded clients who are desperate for solutions.
How do you find that? Well, first you look inward.
At your character build, that's your unique mix
of top 1 % skills. Things you're exceptionally
good at. Like what? Give me an example. Okay.
Say you're in the top 1 % for YouTube content
creation. Plus you're top 1 % in AI automation.
And maybe top 1 % in sales psychology. Those
skills aren't just added together. They multiply.
Stacking them makes you like a one in one million
talent for a specific need. Yeah. It's about
combining your unique strengths. For a market
that's ready. Okay, so identify your superpower
stack first, then what? Then you scan the map
for four signs of a goldmine market. One, well
-funded. Clients have healthy profits. They're
comfortable spending money to fix big problems.
You're selling aspirin for a migraine, not just
vitamins, you know. Right, essential versus nice
to have. Exactly. Two, easy to find. Your target
customers are identifiable and reachable online.
Three. Digital -based. This lets you use scalable
automated AI systems. That's key. And four, service
-based. This usually means more stable, predictable,
recurring revenue. OK, so based on that, what
are some easy mode markets right now for these
AI systems? Yeah, three standout digital marketing
agencies, coaches and consultants and content
creators. Why them specifically? Well, digital
marketing agencies spend big on ads, have tons
of repetitive processes like reporting and always
need an edge, a killer offer for them. AI powered
white labeled performance reports saves them
tons of time. AI does better anyway. Makes sense.
Coaches. Coaches and consultants. Huge $300 industry,
high margins, often, let's say, operationally
challenged. They're desperate for systems to
help them scale. An automated client onboarding
system. Goal. And content creators. Perfect fit
for AI's generative side. You niche down, maybe
just AI expert for YouTube creators, the content
cloning system we talked about. That's their
killer offer. Got it. And you mentioned something
important, deliberately excluding certain businesses.
Yes, crucially. Deliberately avoid local brick
-and -mortar businesses for this model. It's
honestly just as hard to sell to a $1 ,000 -a
-month client as it is to sell to a $10 ,000
-a -month client. Right. So AMI, bigger problems,
healthier budgets. Play on easy mode. So it boils
down to strategically lining up your unique skills
with a market that's accessible and highly profitable,
basically setting yourself up for success. Yes,
exactly. It's strategically playing easy mode
for maximum impact and growth. This next step,
becoming a mind reader, sounds... Well, almost
magical. How do we avoid that startup graveyard
and really figure out what customers desperately
need? Maybe even more than they realize themselves.
Yeah, it's maybe the most critical part. The
number one reason businesses fail. Skipping this.
Skipping the step where you achieve true customer
resonance. That's that moment a client thinks,
whoa, holy crap, this person gets my problem
better than I do. How do you get there? There's
a specific market research method that actually
works. Find... Ten ideal target customers in
your chosen niche offer to build a custom AI
solution for them for free. Free. Yeah, in exchange
for just honest conversation and a testimonial
later, if it works. Then you ask them the magic
wand question. Okay, what's that? You ask, if
I could wave a magic wand and make just one of
your business problems completely disappear forever,
the one that keeps you up at night, which problem
would that be? Their answer, that's your golden
nugget. Ah, cutting through the noise to the
core pain. Precisely. It's like the food cart
parable, you know, don't be the chef making fancy
sushi when everyone's standing there just wants
a hot cup of coffee. Validate the demand before
you build the supply. Right. The whole philosophy
is based on MVP preface. Minimal viable product.
Minimize waste. Understand value is in the eye
of the beholder solving their big problem. And
price based on that value, not your cost. A simple
AI saving them $10K a month is way more valuable
than a complex one solving a tiny inconvenience.
That makes sense. And here's a pro tip. Keep
a pain point dossier. Seriously, write down every
complaint, frustration, inefficiency you hear.
Use their exact unfiltered language. Why their
exact language? Because that becomes a goldmine
for your future marketing copy. When prospects
read your stuff and see their own secret frustrations
mirrored back in their own words, that resonance
is instant. I remember I was convinced a client
needed this fancy dashboard. Yeah. My dossier
showed their real pain was not even knowing what
metrics mattered. So we built a system to identify
the key metrics first. Totally different solution.
Huge impact. I have to admit, I still wrestle
with prompt drift myself sometimes. And honestly,
understanding the true pain behind what a customer
says, not just their surface request, that's
a muscle I'm constantly trying to strengthen.
So it really is about deep, empathetic listening
to find that single biggest impact point. Absolutely.
Solve their biggest, most expensive problem,
and sales become almost effortless. Okay, so
we found the problem. How do we actually sell
the solution without feeling, you know, pushy
or overly salesy? This doctor's diagnosis approach
sounds intriguing. Yeah, it completely reframes
the whole sales process. You stop thinking like
a salesperson trying to push a product. And start
thinking like? Start thinking like a specialist
doctor. The prospect is the patient. Their business
problem is the illness. Your AI system, that's
the prescription. Okay, I like that framing.
How does it work in practice? You set the frame
immediately with an opening statement. Something
like, thanks for your time today. Just so we're
on the same page, we only work with businesses
where we can deliver a clear and significant
return on investment. So if, by the end of this
call, we can't both clearly see how our system
will generate a massive ROI for you, then honestly,
there's just no point in us working together.
Does that sound fair? That's quite direct. It
is, and it works. It instantly filters out tire
kickers and positions you as a strategic partner
focused on the results, not just making a sale.
Okay, frame set, then what? Then comes the diagnostic
process. Three steps. One, find the source of
the pain. Re -ask that magic wand question or
a version of it to confirm their most intense
pain point right now. Got it. Confirm the main
issue. Two, map the patient's anatomy. Understand
how this specific pain affects their entire customer
journey, their whole business system. It shows
you see the bigger picture. Right. Connect the
dots. And three, this is critical. Put a price
on the pain, the cost of inaction. And crucially,
you don't tell them the cost. You ask questions
that lead them to quantify it. How do you do
that without sounding blunt? You ask things like,
OK, so if you're losing about 35 customers a
month because of this issue. What's the average
lifetime value of one of those customers? They
say $1 ,000. You say, okay, so that's roughly
$35 ,000 a month in lost revenue. Is that about
right? Ah, they provide the numbers. Exactly.
They provide the numbers. If your solution is,
say, $8 ,000, the math becomes undeniable for
them. It's a $27 ,000 monthly profit increase.
The decision makes itself. Okay. And the offer?
The offer uses a simple framework. I help specific
avatar. That framing is really powerful. But
I imagine some people listening might feel, well,
uncomfortable putting a price on pain. It could
feel a bit manipulative if done wrong. How do
you keep that part authentic? That's a really
important point. It's not about manipulation.
It's about illumination. You're helping them
see the financial reality of a problem they already
have. The key is objective, data -driven questions.
How many team hours does this take each week?
What's the typical value of a successfully onboarded
client? If you could recapture X percent of those
leads, what would that mean quarterly? You're
acting like a financial detective, helping them
uncover costs already impacting their bottom
line. Not pushy, just clarifying. So the conversation
becomes a logical co -discovery process where
they quantify the problem's financial hit, making
your solution the clear path forward. Precisely.
You guide them to see the cost, making your solution
an obvious investment. Okay, moving on to outreach.
This whale hunting strategy sounds much more
targeted than the old spray and pry methods.
How do we actually hunt these big clients effectively
in the AI space? Yeah, forget spray and pray.
It's pure precision. Focus on a small number,
maybe just 10 massive high -value dream clients.
Just tend to start. Your mission prep is building
a one -page dossier on each. Key contacts, recent
news, social activity. Then, critically, find
the side door. The side door. Don't email the
famous CEO or founder directly. They're bombarded.
Target the second layer. Chief of staff, head
of ops, director of marketing. These are the
people paid to find solutions and who have the
CEO's ear. They're actually looking for people
like you. Okay, find the right person. Then what's
the message? You craft the perfect harpoon, an
irresistible outreach message. It has six key
parts. One, respect their time. Under 100 words,
30 second read. Max. Short and sweet. Two, no
bod zone. Write like a human. Direct, clear,
no corporate jargon. Three, the I did my homework
signal. One sentence proving this isn't a mass
email. Like, I just listened to your podcast
with Axe and loved your point about why. Or,
notice you have 200 plus five star reviews but
haven't responded to any that's potential engagement
lost. Instant trust builder. Okay, shows you've
actually looked. Four, free gift approach. Attach
something small but valuable. A one -page PDF
with a couple of quick ideas. A short unlisted
video showing a potential quick win related to
their pain point. Generosity first. Nice touch.
Five, why you? Signal. One powerful sentence
showing credibility. I've built identical systems
for five other businesses in the coaching space,
for example. And six. Low friction close. The
goal isn't sale. It's just a 15 -minute discovery
call. Often the best way is offering to build
that exact system for free just for a testimonial.
Very low risk for them. Makes sense. Anything
else? Yeah. Pro -level upgrade. Use a multi -touch
campaign. Don't just send one email and hope.
Day one, personalized email. Day three, connect
on LinkedIn with a note referencing the email.
Day five, polite follow -up email. Professional
persistence cuts through noise. So it's really
about ditching the wide net and using a highly
targeted, personalized spear aimed right at the
key decision makers, proving you've done your
homework up front. Exactly. Precision, deep personalization,
and professional persistence win the whale clients.
Okay, we've landed the whale. Now the exciting
part. Building and scaling these systems. How
do we go from doing custom work to building a
truly scalable AI business? Right. And honestly,
once the problem is validated and the client
is paying, the building part is often the easiest.
You're using amazing no -code or low -code tools.
Like what? Things like N8n, which lets you visually
connect different apps and automate really complex
workflows without deep coding, or AI app builders
like Bolt .new that simplify creating the user
interfaces for these AI systems. You use databases
like Airtable to manage all the data flexibly.
You combine these with the core AI models. It's
becoming more like assembling high -powered Lego
blocks than traditional programming. Okay, so
the tools make it accessible, but how do you
scale beyond one -off builds? The absolute key
to scaling. is moving from purely custom builds
to a template -based approach. Templates. Yeah.
After you build a few custom solutions for clients
in the same niche, you'll inevitably see patterns.
Maybe 80 % of the content cloning system is the
same for every creator, right? Sure. The core
process. Exactly. It takes the video, gets the
audio, transcribes it, drafts clips. You template
that core 80%. Then you just customize the final
20 % for each client, maybe their specific brand
voice for captions, or their exact posting schedule.
The 80 -20 blueprint. That's the one. Use proven
templates for the common stuff. Customize the
specifics. Test, iterate, document everything.
Scaling through this systematization is a journey,
though. What does that journey look like? Typically,
months one, three, you're in the trenches building
those initial custom solutions, really learning.
Months four, six, you start seeing those patterns,
building your first reusable templates. By months
seven, 12, you should stop selling purely custom
work and have a polished, productized AI operating
system you can sell repeatedly. And beyond that.
Year two and beyond, that's when you hire and
train a small team to deliver this system, freeing
you up to focus on growth, landing more clients,
maybe developing new systems. The income potential
reflects this maybe zero 2K a month initially
while learning, ramping up to 10K, 30K a month
by the end of year one, and potentially 75K plus
a month in year three and beyond as you scale
delivery. You're building systems that become
indispensable to clients. So the real magic for
scaling is productizing the solution, turning
your expertise into a repeatable system to break
free from just trading time for money. Yes, exactly.
Creating those repeatable productized systems
is what unlocks infinite scale. Okay. Beyond
all the steps and the tech, there's this crucial
final upgrade. You mentioned the mindset. What
mental shift do we really need to make to succeed
here? This is huge. The tools are only half of
it. Mindset is probably the most important upgrade.
How so? You need to fundamentally shift your
thinking. Stop thinking, I build AI tools. Start
thinking, I build AI operating systems that solve
expensive business problems. Problem saver, not
tool builder. Right. And stop thinking, I'll
charge based on my time. Start thinking, I'll
price based on the immense business value I deliver.
That ROI calculation we talked about. That's
key. Value based, not time based. Exactly. And
maybe the biggest one. Stop thinking I need to
be perfect before I start. Start thinking I need
to start before I'm perfect. Get going. Yeah.
Most AI entrepreneurs who fail, they don't fail
because the tech was bad. They fail because their
strategy was flawed. This blueprint is specifically
designed to avoid those common traps by focusing
on value, the right market, and taking action.
So it provides strategic framework. Right. And
you can put it into action immediately with something
like a 30 -day launch plan. Week one. Nail your
market selection and skill stack analysis. Week
two, customer discovery. Do that whale hunting
outreach. Find the magic wand problem. Week three,
build your minimum viable product, the basic
AI system. Test it. Week four, aim for the first
sale. Perfect your value prop. Calculate that
ROI. Close your first paying client. So it really
comes down to a strategic value first mindset
combined with a strong bias for immediate iterative
action. Exactly. Actionable strategy beats waiting
for perfect execution. Every single time, especially
early on. Okay, so wrapping this all up, what's
the big idea we should take away? It feels like
the AI gold rush isn't necessarily for the absolute
best coders. No, not primarily. But more for
those who can effectively bridge AI's incredible
and rapidly growing capabilities with real -world,
deeply felt business pain. It sounds more like
a get -rich -smart strategy than any kind of
get -rich -quick scheme. That's a perfect way
to put it. This five -step blueprint identifying
your market. Truly understanding customer pain,
mastering strategic selling using precise outreach,
and then scaling through systematization, it
provides a clear, proven path. The entrepreneurs
who are really building wealth in this space
are the orchestrators, the ones connecting available
AI tools to solve these expensive, persistent
problems for businesses. This has been a really
fascinating deep dive. The opportunity feels
massive, but as you said, that window does seem
to be closing, or at least changing shape, rapidly.
It is. The tools are largely available now. The
demand from businesses is absolutely proven.
And the system, the blueprint is clear. So the
question for everyone listening is, what will
you do with this knowledge? Will you watch this
incredible transformation happening from the
sidelines? Or will you decide to place yourself
right at the center of it, using these powerful
new capabilities to build something genuinely
valuable? It really feels like a choice. And
the time to make that choice is right now. Thanks
for joining us on the Deep Dive. Until next time,
keep learning and keep building.