You’re building a lot of stuff with AI. But is any of it actually mattering?

***An entrepreneur's recipe for sweet success***

3.0min Read

So here we are, another Sunday morning, coffee barely kicking in, and I’m staring at my computer thinking through all that I just did… (its actually Thursday morning when I'm writing this, but for you it's Sunday)

I built out a full client assessment report
A presentation deck.
Sent like 7 emails emails
A social media post
A blog outline

All built with AI. All looking pretty dang good.

And as I sat there, I got thinking... did any of this actually move the needle?

This is genuinely the thing that NEEDS to be talked about.

We’re all so excited about what AI can produce that we forgot to ask whether the thing being produced is the thing that actually matters… weird paradox…

This is the milkshake problem.

Ok, so there’s this old marketing concept called “Jobs to Be Done.” It was popularized by a professor named Clayton Christensen who studied why people buy milkshakes… what a career path!

Turns out, the majority of milkshakes were being purchased before 8am. Which is weird, right? Milkshakes are dessert.

But the buyers weren’t looking for dessert. They were commuters with a long, boring drive. They needed something to keep them occupied. Something that lasted longer than a banana. Something less messy than a donut (not sure what the deal is here, donuts are the best food out there...) . Something that didn’t make them feel guilty like a candy bar.

The milkshake’s “job” wasn’t dessert. It was being there for the driver on the commute.

So what’s AI’s actual job for you?

I think about this CONSTANTLY with my consulting clients. I walk into a business and they’re pumped. “Kevin, we’re using ChatGPT for our emails now!” Or “We built an AI workflow that generates our weekly reports!”

Sick! Love it!

I genuinely get excited for them. Because that IS cool.

But then we get down to brass tax…

“What was the actual problem you were trying to solve?”
And it’s usually crickets after that.

BECAUSE most of the time, the answer is something like “we wanted to save time on emails.” But when you dig deeper... which I do;) the real problem wasn’t that emails took too long, it was that nobody was following up with leads. Or that the team wasn’t aligned on what they really need to work on. Or that the owner was doing everything themselves because they hadn’t built a system.

I fell into this trap as well.

So a few months back, I was building a TON of different things.

But then I read that dang milkshake story!

It really got me thinking!
I was doing a ton… but the “job” I needed done wasn’t content creation. The job was relationship building. The job was getting in front of the right people and having real in person convos

All the fancy AI stuff doesn’t matter if it’s not pointed at the right problem.

Here’s what I’d challenge you to do this week.

Stop for 10 minutes. Seriously. Just 10.

Ask yourself : what is the ACTUAL job I need done in my business right now?

Don't think : “what can AI help me build?” That’s the wrong question. That’s like asking “what flavor milkshake should I
make?” when the customer just needs something to hold during their commute.

The right question is: what outcome am I trying to create? And THEN... can AI help me get there faster?

THEN what happens is you start using AI like a scalpel instead of a fire hose… ok maybe not the best analogy, but you get the point.

That’s the difference between being busy with AI and being EFFECTIVE with AI.
And from one builder to another... let’s be effective… right?

BITES

🍩BITE 1 — The “What’s the Job?” Exercise
Next time you sit down to use AI for a task, write down the actual OUTCOME you’re trying to achieve BEFORE you start prompting. Not the deliverable. The outcome. “Close 3 more clients this month” hits different than “write a follow-up email.”

🍩BITE 2 — Mysterypreneur Link

🍩BITE 3 — AI juice 🧃
I (and Claude) wrote THIS article. It’s something super important to keep in mind

Until next time...

Stay in the fight,

My best tweet this week:

Kevin Bell 🍩

@kevinasrx

Guys, I can’t turn it off. People are making money EVERYWHERE. You just have to open your eyes… or ask the right questions. 
Had a guy come over today to install ceiling mounted garage racks. 
Come to find out he’s a sub for the larger company. 
Solo venture. Just a dude and