Getting customers
How to Make Money With AI: Test an Offer Before You Build It
Since ChatGPT appeared in November 2022, building a first version of a digital product has become easier. You can draft a guide, outline a course, or make a small tool without starting from a blank page. The work that leads to a sale still has three parts. Get the attention of the right people, give them a reason to buy, and deliver the result you offered.
When I use AI, I sometimes spend too much time making tools and trying new automations. Each improvement feels like work. If I have yet to put the offer in front of a customer, another improvement tells me little about whether someone wants it. I would rather use part of the time AI saves to have that conversation early.
Build a sample that a customer can try
A course outline or a working demo shows what the tool can produce. A sample tied to a real task shows how the customer might use it. For a course, that might be one exercise with a result the person can check. For a small tool, it might be a single output that replaces something they already do by hand. Build enough for one person to try it during the kind of work they do every week.
AI is useful for getting to that first version. You can compare formats, revise a confusing explanation, or build a simple interface. If the job involves difficult server architecture or a system that people will rely on, it will still need technical work and checks. A prototype is a way to learn which part is worth building properly.
Describe the result in the customer’s words
People who buy a course, a book, or a service usually have something they want to do afterward. A business owner might want to send a quote that is ready to check, or explain a service so that a prospect knows what they are buying. Start there. You can show the material and the method once the person understands what the result would be worth to them.
I used to run an agency that wrote books for clients. A book could take five or six months. Interviews, drafts, edits, feedback, and design all took time. With AI I could now try more drafts and produce more sample chapters before committing to a format. I would still have to find out why a particular owner wanted a book and what job it was supposed to do for the business.
Use the time you save to find the right people
A provocative post can attract a lot of views without bringing anyone who needs your offer. When I think about marketing, I start with whom I want to reach. For a product that helps trades businesses prepare quotes, a discussion with an owner who writes several quotes a week can tell me more than a post seen by thousands of unrelated people.
Make the next step easy. Show the sample, explain when to use it, and invite the person to try it. If they need time, give them a way to come back. I collect contacts and stay in touch by email because people make decisions on their own schedule. I explain the mechanics in my guide to building an email list.
Run one test before expanding
Say you help trades businesses prepare quotes faster. Use AI to make one sample from an invented job. Ask a business owner to compare that sample with their own template. Watch for the fields they need to add and any part they would rewrite. Ask whether they have an upcoming job where the sample could be useful.
Write down what you hope to learn before the conversation. Can the owner use the sample with a small edit? Can they name a real job they want to try it on? Would they pay for the time it saves? The answers point to a next step. You might improve the fields the owner still enters by hand, or test a second job to see if the format travels well.
Once the small version works, you can think about where else it fits. In the book agency example, faster production makes it easier to try another topic, language, or audience. I would start by repeating the offer for the same type of client. A second customer gives you another chance to see which parts of the first sale and delivery you can repeat. You can then try a related audience with a reason to expect that the same problem exists.
The same approach applies if you already run a business and simply want AI to free up time. Pick one repeated job, make a sample, and see whether it works during the next real task. My guide to using AI as a solopreneur gives more examples. When you are ready to put an offer in front of customers, see my walkthrough on getting customers with AI.