Local business ideas, side hustles, and simple ways to make money offline are everywhere. This episode breaks down what happens when people actually take action on those ideas instead of overthinking them.

After hearing an idea on the podcast, Rachel launched a local newsletter for a city she does not even live in yet. Within a day she had engagement, comments, and local businesses asking to be featured.

Then there is Myke. Same concept, different execution. He moved fast, built a local advertising offer, and actually put it in front of businesses instead of waiting to feel ready.

Ben and Jon break down both examples and what they reveal. Why most people sit on ideas. Why a few move immediately. And what actually happens when you take action before you feel ready.

Then they zoom out. They look at a Quiet Light listing of a CPA who built 9 YouTube channels and turned it into a multi million dollar business, showing how simple ideas can compound into real assets over time.

This is not about complicated strategies. It is about speed, momentum, and building something real while everyone else is still thinking.

Topics covered:

• starting before you feel ready

• launching in a city you do not live in

• local newsletters and early engagement

• building a local advertising offer quickly

• why most people never take action

• validating an idea in days, not months

• turning small wins into real businesses

• the CPA with 9 YouTube channels case study

• how simple ideas turn into real assets

• why execution beats competition

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:17 — Rachel's rapid implementation of a local newsletter

06:02 — Mike's launch of a local advertising website in London

12:27 — Scaled-up version of community advertising

14:25 — Strategy for starting small to gain initial "wins"

16:51 — Addressing objections that arise

21:10 — Potential for combining physical mailers with digital

23:10 — Exploring a business as a starter model

30:28 — Analysis of a $2.5 million YouTube channel portfolio for sale

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#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #StartABusiness #SideHustle #TakeAction #BusinessIdeas #MakeMoneyOffline

Topics: start a business, side hustle ideas, local business, business ideas, make money offline, validate business idea, beginner business, take action, entrepreneurship

Building a business, using AI, and making money online sounds simple until your first idea fails. This episode breaks down what happens next and how one operator rebuilt fast.

John Murphy (https://www.friqlabs.com/) sold his high ticket dropshipping business, tried launching a cold plunge brand in Italy, and watched it fail. Instead of overthinking the next move, he pivoted and built a new business in under two weeks using AI by solving a real problem he kept seeing.

The idea came from helping investigate a $4000 fraud order. That turned into a service business focused on fraud detection for ecommerce stores.

Ben and Jon break down the full process. Why the cold plunge business failed. What he learned after selling his first company. And how he used AI to build systems, workflows, and a working service without being technical.

Topics covered:

• why the cold plunge business failed in Italy

• the mistake of building without demand

• how taxes and bureaucracy slowed everything down

• the moment he spotted a real opportunity

• the $4000 fraud problem and how it turned into a business

• building a tool using AI without being technical

• the exact tech stack using Shopify, Make, and Airtable

• how AI helped build the system step by step

• launching a service business in under two weeks

• early traction and customer results

• pricing mistakes and scaling challenges

He did not start with a perfect idea. He started with a problem and moved fast.

This is what actually using AI to build a business looks like.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

00:18 — Details of John's business exit

03:16 — Launching a cold plunge brand

06:03 — Navigating bureaucracy in Italy

13:14 — Transitioning into fraud detection

15:52 — Explaining how Ekata software works

21:38 — Building a custom fraud risk agency

25:02 — Technical breakdown of the AI-built workflow

32:55 — Using AI to develop "superpowers"

38:04 — Calculating pricing for high-ticket services

48:43 — Introduction to FRIQ Labs

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Topics: ai business, build a business with ai, ecommerce, service business, startup ideas, online business

#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #AIBusiness #StartupIdeas #Ecommerce #OnlineBusiness #BuildInPublic

AI business ideas, side hustles, and ways to make money online are everywhere right now. This episode breaks down the real ways people are actually using AI to make money today.

Ben went down a rabbit hole and came back with a mix of practical, weird, and surprisingly effective AI business ideas. Not theory. Not hype. Stuff people are already doing. From AI generated feet pics and fake grandma influencers to one star review content, faceless YouTube channels, AI music, and digital products, this is what it actually looks like in the wild.

Jon challenges most of them, pushing back on what actually works, what is already saturated, and what sounds good but falls apart in execution.

Some of these ideas are smart. Some are borderline ridiculous. All of them prove the same point. The bar is still incredibly low.

This is not about building an AI startup. It is about using tools that already exist to test ideas fast and find what sticks.

Topics covered:

• AI generated content and fake personas

• AI feet pics and niche monetization

• faceless AI influencers and viral content

• turning one star reviews into content channels

• AI music and selling custom songs

• faceless YouTube and background content

• AI voiceovers and simple Fiverr services

• AI books, coloring books, and digital products

• how to test and batch content quickly

• where these ideas actually work and where they don’t

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:43 — AI feet pics and niche content monetization

03:36 — Fake AI grandma influencers

07:23 — Turning one-star reviews into content

11:01 — Building simple AI content channels

13:21 — AI music and custom song ideas

19:57 — Faceless YouTube channels

21:23 — AI books and digital products

25:17 — Selling AI services on Fiverr

29:46 — What actually works vs. what doesn’t

Follow us on Social

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#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #AIBusiness #SideHustles #MakeMoneyOnline #DigitalProducts #AI

Topics: ai business ideas, make money with ai, ai side hustles, online business, faceless content, digital products

Live selling, ecommerce, and reselling on Whatnot and TikTok are creating a new way to make money online. This episode breaks down a live auction business where products sell every 30 seconds through urgency, entertainment, and impulse buying.

Kip Roland (X - @kip_roland) spent years selling on eBay, Amazon, and Etsy until Amazon suspended his account. Instead of rebuilding on a platform he did not control, he pivoted to live auctions and built a business that moves inventory in real time.

Ben and Jon talk with Kip about how this actually works and why it is completely different from traditional ecommerce. You are not listing products and waiting for buyers. You are running a show where people show up to watch and end up buying things they did not plan to purchase.

Kip explains why variety beats depth, why the show matters more than the product, and how resellers move inventory every 30 seconds without listing anything in advance.

Get 2 months of Kip's Live Selling Academy for the price of 1 with our affiliate link, https://liveselling.academy/lowbar

Topics covered:

• how live selling auctions actually work

• why products sell every 30 seconds

• why variety beats depth in live selling

• why the show matters more than the product

• selling without being pushy or salesy

• how resellers move inventory without listing anything

• sourcing, pricing, and shipping for live auctions

• what separates successful sellers from average

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

00:11 — Kip's Background

03:06 — Biggest Untapped Ecommerce Opportunity?

05:28 — Live Auctions vs Live Selling

07:22 — Why People Buy Live

09:23 — You Do Not Need to Be Entertaining

16:07 — What to Sell and How to Source

21:52 — The Only Tech You Need to Start

24:00 — Backend Logistics

35:18 — The Future of Live Auctions

45:00 — How to Scale

51:00 — WhatNot vs TikTok

*Follow us on Social*

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Topics: live selling, whatnot, ecommerce, reselling, live auctions, make money online

#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #LiveSelling #Whatnot #Ecommerce #MakeMoneyOnline #Reselling

Local business ideas, side hustles, and simple ways to make money offline are everywhere. This episode breaks down a postcard advertising business that can be started with no money by selling ad space to local businesses.

Rachel from Big Sky Automation explains how “community cards” work, one postcard sent to thousands of homes with multiple local businesses sharing the cost. The postcards are sent using Every Door Direct Mail EDDM through the USPS, so you can reach thousands of homes without ever buying a list.

Then Ben and Jon get into what actually matters with Rachel, how you sell spots before you build anything, who to pitch, and how this turns into a simple local business without upfront cost.

Find more on Big Sky Automation and check out their their community with our referral link at Community Card Playbook. Get started today!

Topics covered:

• how the postcard ad business works

• Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) postcards

• selling ad spots before building anything

• pricing at $150-$250 per business and scaling up

• how to find and pitch local businesses

• using Facebook and email outreach to close deals

• why “junk mail” still works as advertising

• indirect vs direct response marketing

• choosing the right businesses for each card

• turning one postcard into recurring revenue

This is a simple local business hiding in plain sight. No inventory. No ads. Just selling access to attention.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:10 — What are community cards?

02:32 — Make $1,000 this weekend!?

06:07 — Indirect vs. direct advertising

11:46 — Branding and offer-based advertising

14:15 — How to find clients

17:35 — Pricing and finding the sweet spot

21:32 — Business success and positive feedback

27:15 — Designing the cards and templates

31:35 — Printing and shipping the cards

35:05 — Setting expectations

43:36 — Scaling beyond postcards

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#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #LocalBusiness #SideHustle #Advertising #OfflineBusiness #MakeMoney

Topics: local business ideas, postcard advertising, offline business, make money locally, side hustle, advertising business

Digital products, PDF businesses, and growing a podcast all sound simple until you actually try to execute.

A few months ago, Ben and Jon said they would build PDF products, sell them, and grow the podcast. This is the follow up on what actually happened.

Both PDFs got built. Neither got launched. And the reasons were different. One came down to time and prioritization. The other came down to uncertainty around Facebook ads, funnels, landing pages, and how to actually sell a low ticket product.

Then they shift into the second part of the experiment: podcast growth. What they looked at, what metrics actually matter, what they pay attention to, and what most people completely misunderstand about growing a show.

Ben and Jon walk through what got done, what didn’t, and what actually moves the needle when you’re trying to build something new.

Topics covered:

• building and selling PDF products

• low ticket digital product strategy

• Facebook ads, funnels, and landing pages

• messaging and ad hooks that convert

• why most funnels fail early

• podcast growth strategy and metrics

• what to track vs what to ignore

• why execution stalls even for experienced operators

Most people don’t fail because the idea is bad. They fail because they never actually ship.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

00:50 — Both PDFs are finished…

01:48 — Why Ben stalled vs why Jon stalled

05:58 — The real bottleneck

12:45 — The simplest way to actually sell a PDF

16:35 — Messaging that actually makes people buy

21:45 — Why most Facebook ads and funnels fail early

24:30 — How to take action?

25:46 — Podcast growth: what we actually tracked

32:30 — YouTube collaboration

35:40 — How our growth compares to others

38:43 — What matters vs what doesn’t when growing a show

40:25 — Ninja Creami idea

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Topics: digital products, pdf business, information products, podcast growth, make money online, facebook ads, funnels

#lowbarpodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #DigitalProducts #PodcastGrowth #FacebookAds #MakeMoneyOnline #InfoProducts

Local business ideas and side hustles are everywhere, but most people overlook the easiest opportunities right in their own town or city.

Ben and Jon walk through three local business ideas that can generate real revenue without experience, a big budget, or anything complicated.

They dive into how a local TV ad network works, where you place screens in bars, waiting rooms, and small businesses, then sell ad space to local companies. They also cover building a local email newsletter that aggregates everything happening in your town and monetizes through ads.

Finally, they get into a simple service business helping restaurants fix bad photos that are costing them customers, and how that can turn into a higher value marketing offer.

Topics covered:

• local TV ad network business model

• how to sell ads to local businesses

• building and monetizing a local newsletter

• simple service businesses you can start quickly

• fixing restaurant photos for profit

• how to spot overlooked local opportunities

These are not complicated online businesses. They are simple ideas hiding in plain sight that most people ignore because they are not flashy or new.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

Sleep like you’re dead (in a good way).

Grab yours at https://SwitchSupplements.com/lowbar

Use code LOWBAR for $10 off Killswitch — the sleep aid for people who can’t stop thinking about business.

Timestamps:

00:00 — 3 local business opportunities hiding in your city or town

00:52 — The bar TV ad business explained

04:45 — Startup costs and profit breakdown

09:21 — Sales Strategies for Securing Locations

16:45 — Alternative High-Traffic Locations

24:32 — The Local Email Newsletter Model

32:34 — Bundling Local Advertising Services

37:53 — Fixing restaurant photos as a service business

41:26 — Pitching Food Photography and Google Optimization

Follow us on Social

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Topics: local business ideas, side hustles, offline business, make money locally, service business, local advertising, newsletter business

She stepped away from selling $80,000 coaching packages and rebuilt her business around $17 digital courses. Today that simple funnel generates around $80,000 per month.

Cat Howell built an eight figure agency, but after hitting a breaking point she walked away and went through multiple pivots before landing on a simpler model that worked. She shares how that experience changed how she thinks about business, and how emotional state and belief systems directly impact performance.

In this episode, Ben and Jon talk with Cat about both the personal and operational side of that transition. Cat explains how low ticket digital products can scale using Facebook ads, simple funnels, upsells, and strong messaging, and why most people fail when trying to make low ticket offers work.

They also get into the less talked about side of business. How burnout shows up, how internal beliefs affect decisions, and why more revenue does not always lead to better outcomes.

This episode is both a breakdown of a $17 funnel generating $80,000 per month and a real conversation about what it takes to build a business that is actually sustainable.

Topics covered:

• low ticket digital product funnels

• Facebook ads for digital products

• upsells and order bumps

• why most low ticket offers fail

• messaging that drives conversions

• high ticket vs low ticket business models

About Cat Howell:

Cat Howell is known for her work in online advertising and business growth, where she built an eight figure agency in just a few years. She is the founder of The Flow Protocols and the author of Magic Source Codes and Money Magic. Her work focuses on the intersection of emotional state and business performance.

Cat’s Links:

Website: https://cathowell.com

The Flow Protocols: https://shop.theflowprotocols.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatHowell1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathowell/

Business is simple. People are lazy.

https://lowbarpod.com/

Join the private Low Bar Pod community and hang out with BK and Jon plus all of our other awesome members! — https://low-bar-pod.circle.so/checkout/membership

Sponsor:

KetoneAid Ke4 — Tastes terrible. Isn't cheap. Will make you uncomfortably productive.

Grab yours at https://ketoneaid.com/lowbar for free shipping — the flow state in a bottle that lets me get more done in 2 hours than most people do all day.

Timestamps:

01:02 — Moving to Australia and Career Transition

05:05 — Mental Breakdown and Transition to Energetics

14:38 — Emotional "Reds and Greens" Theory

17:18 — Reaching "Rock Bottom" and Releasing Materialism

24:38 — Re-emerging with a New Public Identity

29:38 — Transitioning to a Lean, Low-Ticket Business Model

34:33 — Releasing Shame and Finding Community

40:22 — Validating Messaging with Minimum Viable Funnels

41:50 — Strategies for Scaling Low-Ticket Offers

46:15 — The "Golden Era" of Modern Facebook Ads

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Topics: digital products, low ticket funnels, Facebook ads, online courses, sales funnels, passive income

#LowBarPodcast #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTalk #Founders #Podcast #DigitalProducts #FacebookAds #OnlineBusiness #LowTicket #Mindset