Businessing with Pat Miller

For the first time, more shoppers say they'd rather buy through an AI than your website. If your products aren't in the AI yet, you're about to be invisible.

Bloomberg found 41% of shoppers now prefer buying through AI tools, and only 38% still prefer the retailer's website. That line just crossed for the first time. Pat walks through what it means for you: the friction of websites, carts, and checkout is going away, and the owners who get their products into the AI now are the ones people will find later. Plus the bad habit quietly costing you money (you didn't send the invoice), why 91% of small businesses using AI say they're making more money, and how to make your marketing relatable during back to school season.

In this episode:

00:00 - It's Thursday: today's bad habit big story

01:34 - The bad habit costing you money: you didn't send the invoice

04:13 - Another bad habit: never replying to your own comments

05:00 - News you need to know: Iran, $100 oil, and rising grocery prices

07:45 - Make your marketing relatable: back to school spending hits records

11:47 - New AI study: 91% of small businesses say they make more money

13:53 - Partner: Athena Legal Solutions

16:52 - AI story of the day: shoppers now prefer AI over your website

23:55 - Partner: Automation Bird Dog

27:05 - Inside the SBOC: today's Idea Slam

29:52 - Wrap up and see you Monday

Resources mentioned:

- Athena Legal Solutions: https://athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog (use promo code OWNIT for a complimentary automation readiness session)

- Bloomberg report on shoppers preferring AI over retailer websites

🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

🌐 Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

📬 Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

👥 Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #AIShopping #SmallBusinessAI #BackToSchool

You don't always need a brand-new product. Sometimes the smartest move is bringing back the one you used to sell. Panda Express and KFC are printing money doing exactly that, and you can too.

Today Pat digs into the nostalgia trend that's got fast food brands reaching into their catalog, and why your best "new" offer might be something you already crushed and quietly stopped doing. Then bookkeeper Barbara Fausett of Money Masters joins to share what she's seeing across her whole book of clients right now: steady revenue, faster expectations on return, cautious AI spending, and not one client who's cut a job because of AI. Plus the news you need to know, a ransomware attack on a dairy company, what Domino's s'mores lava cakes teach us about presentation, and the story of how the SBOC crew got Pat good at last night's meetup.

In this episode:

00:00 - Welcome and today's rundown

01:37 - Why fast food brands are bringing back fan favorites

03:28 - What you used to sell that you could re-release

06:32 - What a bookkeeper sees changing in small business right now

11:51 - Are small business owners getting a return on AI?

12:55 - Is AI cutting jobs? What one bookkeeper is seeing

18:26 - Why every small business needs a lawyer before trouble hits

20:13 - Gas hits $4 a gallon and what it signals

21:51 - The Fairlife ransomware attack and backing up your business

23:37 - What Domino's s'mores lava cakes teach about presentation

26:28 - Getting the tribal knowledge out of your head

28:52 - The SBOC meetup story that got me good

Resources mentioned:

- Money Masters Bookkeeping (Barbara Fausett): moneymasters4biz.com

- Athena Legal Solutions: athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog (use promo code OWNIT)

- Check in on the live map: live.smallbusinesscommunity.com

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

We were told AI was going to crush small business owners and make all our experience worthless. The new Upwork numbers say the opposite. Pair AI with your judgment and you earn a 34% premium per hour. Just run it through the robot with no judgment of your own and you make 13% less.

It's Money Monday, so I brought on Lisa Raebel from Rebel Girl Revenue to talk about the money you make while you're onboarding a client, and why onboarding really starts in that first conversation, before anybody signs anything. We also get into the news you need to know, a new open source AI model called Kimi K3 that could change what you pay for AI, and an Idea Slam for the owner who hits three networking events a week and still isn't getting hired. Short version: it's not the room's fault if you're in the wrong room. Sponsored by Athena Legal Solutions and Automation Bird Dog.

In this episode:

00:00 - Welcome to Money Monday

01:10 - AI plus your judgment earns a 34% premium

04:52 - Money Monday with Lisa Raebel of Rebel Girl Revenue

06:43 - The five revenue stages in your business

08:03 - Why client onboarding starts in the first conversation

11:26 - Underpromise and overdeliver: setting expectations

17:03 - Does onboarding ever really end?

23:30 - Athena Legal Solutions

25:06 - News you need: the Iran war, oil, and the World Cup

29:03 - Tropical Storm Bertha and hurricane season

30:07 - The Kimi K3 open source AI model explained

35:19 - Automation Bird Dog

37:42 - Idea Slam: everybody knows me but nobody hires me

42:19 - Free Claude webinar and today's SBOC meetup

Resources mentioned:

- Lisa Raebel, Rebel Girl Revenue (Money Monday guest)

- Athena Legal Solutions: athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog: automationbirddog.com (promo code OWNIT)

- Free Claude webinar, Tuesday at 1pm CT

🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

🌐 Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

📬 Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

👥 Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #MoneyMonday #ClientOnboarding #AIforSmallBusiness

You have one job as a business owner, and it's selling. Everything else, the website, the social media, the funnels, comes second.

Three million Americans started a business in the first half of this year, and Pat says if you just joined the cool kids club, there's one law of the universe you have to accept: you're in the sales business first, and the provider of whatever you actually do second. From there he runs two Idea Slam questions, one on delegating without losing your mind, and one on whether to fire a client who pays well but sucks the life out of you. Plus the news you need this morning, the Iran conflict and what the markets are really saying, Canada's wildfires wrecking the air across the upper Midwest, and Argentina and Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday. He closes with why every business owner needs a coach, even the coach.

In this episode:

00:00 - Good morning, and why more people are starting businesses than ever

01:08 - 3.1 million new business owners, up 17 percent this year

03:38 - The one law: you're a salesperson first

05:14 - Ask someone for money every single day

09:31 - The news you need: the Iran conflict and the markets

11:25 - Canada wildfires and the worst air quality on record

15:22 - World Cup final: Argentina vs Spain on Sunday

17:26 - Athena Legal Solutions

19:44 - Idea Slam: you delegated it and they blew it

23:27 - The apprentice handoff that actually works

26:09 - Idea Slam: firing a client who pays well but drains you

30:44 - Automation Bird Dog

33:15 - Why every business owner needs a coach

36:33 - What's happening this week

Resources mentioned:

- Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell

- Athena Legal Solutions: athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog (use promo code OWNIT)

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

How you handle bad news in your business is one of the differentiators between the owners who make it and the ones who don't. The trick is a four-step move: pause, get objective, act swiftly, then reflect.

Bad news is coming. A client fires you, a deal falls through, the letter shows up in the mail. React emotionally and you make bad decisions right when you can least afford them. Pat walks through the exact way he handles it now: pause before you respond, get objective about the job that actually has to get done, act swiftly once you're clear, and save the reflecting for after the heat has passed. Along the way, the daylight saving time change that could reshape your winter mornings, and a Claude move that turns your whole business into something your AI actually knows.

In this episode:

00:00 - Welcome to Businessing

01:28 - How to Handle Bad News in Your Business

03:36 - Make More Good Decisions Than Bad Decisions

03:59 - Pause Before You React to Bad News

05:20 - Get Objective About the Job to Be Done

07:01 - Act Swiftly, Then Reflect

10:04 - News You Need to Know: Iran and Oil Prices

11:37 - Permanent Daylight Saving Time and the Sunshine Protection Act

16:29 - How to Prepare Your Business for Darker Winter Mornings

20:47 - Athena Legal Solutions

22:49 - Giving Your AI the Full Picture of Your Business

30:47 - Automation Bird Dog and Tribal Knowledge

33:17 - Why the Small Business Owners Community Is Worth It

Resources mentioned:

- Athena Legal Solutions (show sponsor): https://athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog (show sponsor) - free automation readiness session, promo code OWNIT

- Free Claude webinar for small business owners - happening next Tuesday

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #DaylightSavingTime #AIforBusiness #SmallBusinessTips

Two friends told Pat they couldn't tell his emails from AI anymore, and now he's having an identity crisis. If your AI writes exactly like you, how does anyone know it's really you knocking?

Pat opens with the "we're not fooling anyone" problem: Claude's ghostwriting has gotten so good that his own contacts can't tell his voice from the AI's, and it's injecting real doubt into email. He walks the junk-mail progression we've all lived, asks whether email is dying (sick, not dead), and weighs what could replace it. Then the news: inflation cools to 3.5%, Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, and a produce parasite making people sick. Plus ChatGPT's new voice that listens and talks at the same time, and why that matters when robots come home.

In this episode:

00:00 - Your AI Emails Now Sound Exactly Like You (Big Story)

01:58 - The Junk Mail Progression We've Seen Before

03:43 - How Do You Prove a Real Human Sent It

06:26 - Is Email Dying? Sick, Not Dead

08:31 - What Could Replace Email

09:42 - News: Inflation Cools to 3.5%

11:04 - Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and Oil

13:52 - Healthy Food Is Making People Sick

16:35 - How to Protect Yourself From Contaminated Produce

19:08 - Athena Legal Solutions

21:16 - AI Story: ChatGPT Voice That Listens While It Talks

24:16 - Why This Matters When Robots Come Home

25:05 - The AI Haters Riff

26:50 - Automation Bird Dog

30:20 - Free Claude Training Webinar Next Tuesday

Resources mentioned:

Athena Legal Solutions: https://athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

Automation Bird Dog: https://automationbirddog.com (promo code OWNIT)

Start Here Claude Training webinar, next Tuesday at 1pm: https://event.smallbusinesscommunity.com/aitraining

Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

Your to-do list has a bad houseguest on it, and today is the day it goes. Pat runs your whole list through two questions and cuts everything that can't earn its spot.

Some tasks sit on your list for weeks, quietly draining your brain space. Pat gives you two questions to judge every item: will it make you money in the next 90 days, and can you finish it in the next two weeks? Fail either one and it's gone, with authority. Then Michael the Magnificent joins for a round of Hype or Haze on AI, we try to figure out what's really happening with Iran and the markets, and Netflix quietly rebuilds cable.

In this episode:

00:00 - To-Do List Judgment Day (Big Story)

02:31 - Two Questions to Keep or Cut a Task

04:59 - Strategic Quitting in Real Life

06:53 - Michael the Magnificent: Hype or Haze on AI

10:33 - Why "AI Changes Everything" Is Hype

13:04 - The IKEA Story: Cobots and Redeployed Work

16:31 - Cost Per Unit of Judgment

20:54 - Why AI Won't Replace Business Owners

27:29 - Athena Legal Solutions

29:11 - The News and What's Going On With Iran

34:52 - Consumers Are Still Spending Through Inflation

37:04 - Netflix Is Rebuilding Cable

38:38 - Deliver Your Business Like It's 20 Years Ago

43:34 - World Cup Semifinals Are Set

44:41 - Automation Bird Dog

46:48 - SBOC Awards and the September Conference

Resources mentioned:

Athena Legal Solutions: https://athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

Automation Bird Dog: https://automationbirddog.com (promo code OWNIT)

SBOC Awards, nominations open through July 31

Small Business Owners Community Conference, September 15 to 17, tickets $399 through July 31 then $499 on August 1

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

When your phone isn't ringing, it's almost never bad luck. It's one of two things: people can't find you, or they don't know why they should call you.

I've been out training owners on AI, and I keep watching the same arc: connected, competent, then curious, right about when it starts feeling like a video game. That's the fun part, and it's why I do Claude training for small business owners. Then we get into the AI price war heating up between OpenAI, Anthropic, Grok, and a Chinese open-source model that's up 27 times in a week, and why that competition is good news for your budget. In the main event, I answer the question I hear constantly: why isn't my phone ringing? It comes down to whether people can find you and whether you're selling the transformation instead of a laundry list of services.

In this episode:

00:00 - The AI adoption arc: connected, competent, curious

06:23 - The AI price war heating up between the big labs

10:15 - Why Claude Fable going pay-as-you-go matters

12:48 - When you actually need a business lawyer

15:08 - Why your phone isn't ringing

17:15 - Sell the transformation, not your list of services

19:51 - Bring your problem to the Idea Slam

Resources mentioned:

- Athena Legal Solutions: athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog: automationbirddog.com (code OWNIT)

🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

🌐 Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

📬 Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

👥 Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #Marketing #LeadGeneration #AI

Firing someone is a skill, and nobody teaches it. After 20 years of managing people, here's exactly how I do it, whether it's for cause or for performance.

This one starts personal. I got a once-in-a-lifetime call to take my son David to a World Cup game in Seattle, and I said yes without blinking, because that's the whole point of building your own thing. Then David Belman from Belman Homes joins me to explain something strange in the housing market: for the first time, new homes are cheaper than existing ones, and why about $131,000 in regulations is baked into every new build. We get into the new strikes on Iran, the news that Claude Cowork is finally coming to your phone, and Claude Fable getting extended to July 12. Then we close with the Idea Slam every owner needs: how to fire someone the right way.

In this episode:

00:00 - Why owning your business beats a paycheck

01:29 - Cashing in your freedom for a World Cup trip with my son

10:01 - Why new homes are now cheaper than existing homes (David Belman)

21:48 - When you actually need a business lawyer

23:53 - New strikes on Iran and what they do to oil prices

25:04 - Claude Cowork is coming to your phone

28:41 - Claude Fable extended to July 12

29:45 - How to fire someone the right way (Idea Slam)

Resources mentioned:

- David Belman, Belman Homes

- Athena Legal Solutions: athenalegalsolutionsllc.com

- Automation Bird Dog: automationbirddog.com (code OWNIT)

🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

🌐 Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

📬 Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

👥 Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #Leadership #Hiring #AI

In-person connection is king, and you just can't get the same connection online as you get in a real room. I spent this week with two mastermind groups in person, and the difference wasn't even close.

This episode is for every work-from-home business owner who packs the calendar so tight that putting on real pants and driving across town feels inefficient. I'll walk you through why the before and after of an in-person meeting is where the real relationships get built, and why you leave those meetings recharged every single time. Then we get into the AI conversation nobody saw coming: AI is saving us 20 hours a week and somehow we're all busier than ever. And I answer a Reddit question that hits home for a lot of you...is it worth leaving corporate if you'll only replace your salary? Your assignment for next week is simple. Leave the cave.

In this episode:

00:00 - Welcome and today's show rundown

00:56 - Why in-person networking beats Zoom meetings (Big Story)

13:59 - Small business optimism hits a 2026 high

20:04 - Free small business legal risk assessment (sponsor: Athena Legal Solutions)

22:04 - Why AI makes business owners busier, not less busy

27:26 - Claude's Fable model returns and pay-as-you-go AI pricing

31:59 - Leaving corporate to start a business (Idea Slam)

40:13 - Small business community events and SBOC Conference update

Resources mentioned:

- Athena Legal Solutions and the Complimentary Legal Confidence Review (Carolyn Jahnke and team)

- Crown Room Live with Elzie Flenard: https://crownroomlive.com

- The Daily Crown: https://joindailycrown.com

- Claude by Anthropic, including the Fable model

- WhisperFlow dictation software

- Live check-in map: https://live.smallbusinesscommunity.com

- SBOC Conference in September (prices go up August 1st)

🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

🌐 Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

📬 Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

👥 Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #Networking #ClaudeAI #InPersonConnection