Nick, I'm considering offering or selling AI to businesses. I want to start to some small businesses before aiming for bigger clients. How would you tackle this given they have different needs and situations or problems? Do you build a setup per business or do we build a set of services that could work like a general AI service? Also, for approach, direct messaging or in person.
Don't overthink the exact method—pick a few approaches and test them. Choose three different ways of reaching people, set a minimum daily outreach for each, and stick with it for a month or two (30‑60 days). See what works, then double down.
The best way to implement AI in a digital business is not to start with the back‑office tasks like fulfillment, accounting, HR, or other tedious, time‑intensive processes. Those are low‑value automation opportunities that only save you money you already make. Instead, focus AI on the front‑end of the business – growth, reach, acquisition, conversion, and lifetime‑value expansion. Think of AI as a tool that helps you get more impressions, improve ad and organic reach, boost conversion from eyeballs to leads, speed up payment systems, proposals, and follow‑ups, and ultimately increase upsells and product differentiation. One hour spent automating admin might net you $50, whereas one hour spent building a system that improves a company’s ability to grow could generate $5,000. Even with modest margins, that’s a 25× multiple. So prioritize AI projects that directly impact revenue generation rather than pure cost‑cutting.
If you’re making $0‑$20 k per month, keep selling broad AI implementations and use AI to create the perception of a highly customized service. Once you want to go beyond that revenue level, you need to productize and template your offering; that part of the market hasn’t changed even as AI models have advanced.
ai implementationnichingbroad aispecific solutions
You’ve already built a DM qualification skill that let you charge 40% more on a client deal, plus LinkedIn content automation that generates one to two inbound leads per day. That gives you solid social proof, but you need to frame it in concrete, dollar‑sign metrics. Instead of talking about the system itself, talk about the results it can deliver – for example, 20 to 40 meetings per month and an estimated pipeline value of $25,000. Position yourself as helping small‑to‑medium business owners who aren’t massive enterprise CEOs – think a 30‑something running a three‑person agency who wants to relax a bit. Provide clear value to that audience. As for offers, you can sell virtually anything: the DM qualification skill, LinkedIn and content automation systems, management services, social‑media brand growth, niche video editing, AI‑enabled video editing, or even content edited with tools like Hyperframes or Remotion. Lead sources are typically scraped from LinkedIn Sales Navigator where prospects voluntarily share a lot of information.
The biggest lesson I learned is that the actual product or service you sell doesn’t matter much—AI automation is just a fulfillment mechanism. What really counts are the core business systems you build around it: lead handling, sales scripts, onboarding, admin, hiring, marketing, taxes, etc. Those pieces stay the same across industries; only the specific service you deliver changes. Once you have a solid business foundation, you can swap in any offering and still succeed. I’ve seen the same principles work when I sold videography, local SEO services, courses, and even events—so it’s less an ‘AI journey’ and more a general business journey.