Latest / Substack Writers Salon / How AI Helped Claudia Faith Scale to 11K Subscribers in One Year (Without Losing Her Voice)

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How AI Helped Claudia Faith Scale to 11K Subscribers in One Year (Without Losing Her Voice) · Substack Writers Salon

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  SPEAKER_00: And we are live.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, everyone.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have with me today creator and Substack superstar Claudia Faith,
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  who's joining me today for another episode of the Substack
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  Writer's Salon.
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  And Claudia is a social entrepreneur,
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  and she started Substack with zero audience.
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  And then she scaled to over 10k subscribers in one year,
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  doing that part time.
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  SPEAKER_00: She teaches writers how to do community building,
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  SPEAKER_00: newsletter growth,
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  SPEAKER_00: and how to use AI tools that will 10x your output.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right.
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  Claudia,
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  thank you so much for accepting my invitation and for joining
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  me today.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm excited to learn from you.
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  So since you're the expert when it comes to newsletter growth,
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  especially Substack growth.
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  SPEAKER_00: So,
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  SPEAKER_00: Claudia,
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  SPEAKER_00: I think my first question is,
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  SPEAKER_00: I've seen a lot of posts and questions about how Substack is changing.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what do you think we should expect from Substack in 2026?
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  And how should we kind of adapt to the upcoming growth in order
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  to continue growing
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  SPEAKER_00: on the Substack?
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good question.
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  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me, that you allow me to be here.
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  It's always cool to talk with people and get to know them over
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  with Substack Live.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_01: my first answer would be,
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  I just wrote an article or post about like what to expect from
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  SubSec in 2026.
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  SPEAKER_01: But having said and written that, I mean, honestly, nobody knows, right?
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know if the founders know what's going to happen in 2026.
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  SPEAKER_01: All we know is that,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: the platform is changing,
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  SPEAKER_01: it's adopting,
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  SPEAKER_01: it has huge venture capital funds in its
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  cap table so yeah so we don't know what really to expect other
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  than it will change
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  but I think what is for sure is that if you want to grow on
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  Substack a good idea is
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  SPEAKER_01: to really let people into your
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  experience,
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  into your journey,
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  into your path,
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  share what makes you unique,
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  what makes you you.
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  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a safe bet.
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  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what's going to help you grow also in 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: So what made you go to Substack?
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  SPEAKER_00: Like what was your background before starting building on Substack?
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  SPEAKER_00: What was the shift for you?
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  SPEAKER_00: So you said you moved there, you build an audience.
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  SPEAKER_00: What happened?
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, so basically last year I started writing online.
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  SPEAKER_01: So this is not my background.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm an entrepreneur.
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  SPEAKER_01: I have my startup actually.
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  And last year we had to slow down a little bit because it's a
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  health tech startup
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  SPEAKER_01: and we had to do a clinical trial.
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  And it finally allowed me to start my solopreneurship journey
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  and like write online.
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  SPEAKER_01: And I started on Medium because I...
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  SPEAKER_01: I think I've been wanting to write for Medium over 10 years ago.
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  I read an article and it kind of made me say like,
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  yeah,
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  I want to do this.
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  SPEAKER_01: Never found the time.
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  SPEAKER_01: Never really knew how to start, what to write about.
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  SPEAKER_01: But then last year I did.
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  SPEAKER_01: And all the big writers and creators on Medium basically said,
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  SPEAKER_01: if you're starting from zero right now,
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  SPEAKER_01: don't do it here.
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  SPEAKER_01: Do it on Substack.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so I said, okay, I'm going to give it a try.
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  SPEAKER_01: I tried it.
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  SPEAKER_01: I, for about one or two weeks, I deleted it because I hated it.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then I went back to Medium and said like,
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  SPEAKER_01: okay,
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  SPEAKER_01: so again,
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  SPEAKER_01: people writing about Substack,
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  SPEAKER_01: Substack,
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  SPEAKER_01: Substack.
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  SPEAKER_01: So I went back on Substack again and, yeah, and decided to stay.
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  SPEAKER_01: Finally figured out how to really use it.
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  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's how it started.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that was last year.
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  So in one year you grew to,
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  I'm looking at your account now,
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  it's 11,000 subscribers.
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  SPEAKER_00: So what is your secret?
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  I've been on Substack on and off like for three years maybe,
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  and I'm only like at 5k.
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  So how did you manage to get all of these subscribers in such a
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  record time?
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_01: I think to be very fair and transparent,
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  SPEAKER_01: my first growth came from,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: I was writing about writing.
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  SPEAKER_01: I was documenting my journey, right?
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  SPEAKER_01: So my target group and audience was writers who are 100% on Substack.
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  Everybody who's on Substack is like a writer and creator,
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  at least in the last couple of years.
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  So I had an advantage of growing,
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  right,
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  just because of the target group.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  But then I also think I I mean,
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  I really put a lot of time and energy in it.
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  SPEAKER_01: I didn't give up the first six months, which are kind of the hardest.
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  SPEAKER_01: You know,
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  SPEAKER_01: if you don't see growth,
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  if you don't see interaction within those first couple of weeks
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  or months,
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  SPEAKER_01: it's kind of easy to give up.
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  SPEAKER_01: But I really said, OK, I'm not going to do this.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to stick and I'm going to just really share my own learnings,
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  SPEAKER_01: share my thoughts,
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  SPEAKER_01: share my experience and try to be as human as possible.
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  SPEAKER_01: And that's the trick.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's not magical, really.
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  SPEAKER_00: So are you currently like a full-time creator now?
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  SPEAKER_00: No, you're not.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do you have another job or how does that work for you?
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I still have my healthcare startup.
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  SPEAKER_01: In the meanwhile, things picked up.
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  SPEAKER_01: We have our clinical trial results.
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  So I do it as much as I can,
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  as I have time,
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  but I still have my startup in healthcare.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  So I read a piece that you wrote in which you looked at your
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  income stream and you
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  sort of freaked out because you realized most of your income
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  stream is coming from
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  SPEAKER_00: Substack.
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  SPEAKER_00: And why did that scare you?
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  SPEAKER_01: First of all, you're very up to date.
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  SPEAKER_01: I think I posted that like an hour ago.
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  SPEAKER_01: So that's impressive.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it,
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  SPEAKER_01: yeah,
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_01: it did scare me because I thought,
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  SPEAKER_01: I see the changes in Substack,
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  SPEAKER_01: right?
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  SPEAKER_01: And I had a very, very slow summer.
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  I didn't do anything different,
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  but apparently the algorithm of the platform changed.
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  SPEAKER_01: So all of a sudden I was like, huh, like I have so little influence.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_01: always Substack claim is you own your audience,
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  SPEAKER_01: but the audience that you're owning,
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  SPEAKER_01: they're already like paying customers with you.
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  SPEAKER_01: And at some point they also have their limits.
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  SPEAKER_01: So you still,
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  you need to get new people on board,
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  you need to grow,
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  you need to get a better reach.
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  SPEAKER_01: And in this slow summer,
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  I felt like something shifted and I didn't want to be depending
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  on one platform.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: But let me ask if it's okay.
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  SPEAKER_01: Can I also ask a little bit about you?
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  SPEAKER_01: Because I also do a little bit about your journey.
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  SPEAKER_01: Do you do this full time?
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  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's your background story?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, of course.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I am a full time writer and solopreneur.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have my own
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  SPEAKER_00: a small media shop, and most of my income comes from ghostwriting.
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  So I ghostwrite mostly memoirs and newsletters,
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  and I also do book coaching.
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  SPEAKER_00: In addition to selling my digital products,
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  SPEAKER_00: which includes books,
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  SPEAKER_00: I have a couple of books published,
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  SPEAKER_00: courses, some digital products on Gumroad.
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  And also as a trained journalist,
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  I still get paid to publish in publications.
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  SPEAKER_00: So like magazines, book reviews.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that's basically where my income streams come from.
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  Substack is in terms of like the subscription and all of that,
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  like it's very minimum for me.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's mostly for audience growth and community building.
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  SPEAKER_00: But most of like my leads and clients, they don't come from Substack.
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  SPEAKER_00: They come from LinkedIn, actually.
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  So my strategy is to build an audience on Substack and get
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  leads and clients from LinkedIn.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that's basically how I've been doing it.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying, you know, and see how it works.
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  SPEAKER_00: But so far, it's been okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I pay my bills, so that's good.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  And if you say that you're an unsubstantable community,
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  how do you do that?
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  SPEAKER_00: So mostly, I know everyone keeps saying notes, notes, notes.
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  For me,
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  most of my community building came from live interviews like
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  these.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I realize one of the things is
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  As a trained journalist,
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  I love to interview people and comes to me very naturally.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I also run a podcast.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I think when people see you on video and like sense your energy,
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  SPEAKER_00: hear you talk,
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  SPEAKER_00: it completely shifts everything for them.
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  And they're more likely to follow your work and subscribe to
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  you like you want your
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  SPEAKER_00: audience to like you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right.
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  writing a post is not necessarily a way for your audience to
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  like you i mean they
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  can say ah she probably wrote this via ai whatever but it's
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  it's going live and
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  people like understanding you like hearing my accent seeing how
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  i look how i
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  interact how is my energy level i think that was for me the
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  biggest growth that
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  SPEAKER_00: came was from going live
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  And I recently also started doing office hours inspired by
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  David,
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  who I see here.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hi, David.
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  SPEAKER_00: I've seen David doing office hours every Friday, and I like that.
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  So plus all these clips that Substack has been creating,
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  I thought it's been amazing.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I take these clips and I put them everywhere, like LinkedIn.
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  SPEAKER_00: I put them on YouTube, on my YouTube channel.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then they go back to Substack.
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  SPEAKER_00: Then the audience grow.
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  And then when the audience grow,
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  I mean,
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  I can give them as much value as possible.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then if they're interested in my product,
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  SPEAKER_00: if they want to do book coaching,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: that's good.
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  SPEAKER_00: But for me, the main focus was the community building.
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  SPEAKER_00: I still have a lot to do when it comes to the chat threads.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have not mastered that, but I'm working on it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_00: But what about you?
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  SPEAKER_00: Where have you seen most of the growth coming from?
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_01: I think for me it's,
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  SPEAKER_01: so it has been in my sub-stack journey so far,
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  SPEAKER_01: it has been pretty much 50% notes and 50% recommendations.
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  SPEAKER_01: I think those are the two biggest growth drivers for me.
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  SPEAKER_01: But having said that,
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  SPEAKER_01: and also what you just said,
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  SPEAKER_01: I think going forward to 2026,
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  SPEAKER_01: those live sessions,
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  SPEAKER_01: so videos,
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  SPEAKER_01: even audio and podcasts,
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  SPEAKER_01: but mostly really video,
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  SPEAKER_01: I think,
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  SPEAKER_01: in those lives are...
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  SPEAKER_01: It's got to be a main driver.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you see how much Substack is pushing this now.
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  SPEAKER_01: As we tried,
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  SPEAKER_01: it's still a bit buggy,
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  SPEAKER_01: but you know that they have the live feature now on the desktop,
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  SPEAKER_01: so on the computer.
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  SPEAKER_01: Before, it was only on the phone.
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  It's just something that they roll out at the beginning of this
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  year anyway as a new feature.
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  And now it's on the laptop,
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  and I think they're going to push it out more and more.
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  They also want to have people scroll through the clips on
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  Substack,
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  being a little bit more...
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  SPEAKER_01: addictive, even you can like it or not like it.
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  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, I think this is where the platform is going.
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  SPEAKER_01: So good for you that you're liking those live sessions,
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  SPEAKER_01: because I think that's going to help you grow a lot in 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
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  SPEAKER_00: like,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know how in the beginning people can be a bit camera shy,
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  but it took me like a couple of years just to stop caring and
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  not worry about like
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  SPEAKER_00: what people think.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, like as a woman always have this like, how do I look?
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  You know,
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  people tell you you're fat,
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  whatever,
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  you know,
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  all of those like insecurities.
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  SPEAKER_00: But like when you just stop caring and be yourself.
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  And I think many people are in the same boat and they love like
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  seeing you talk about that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm going to switch gears a bit and ask you about AI.
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  And I know you're very big into AI and that you even like
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  co-founded a company that
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  SPEAKER_00: is like AI centric.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I would like to know a bit,
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  SPEAKER_00: how do you use AI day to day,
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  SPEAKER_00: especially when it comes to growing your newsletter and your community?
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  SPEAKER_00: And what are the tools that you use?
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, what is your strategy?
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean, so I think AI is a tool, right?
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  SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, you can use it, you cannot use it.
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  SPEAKER_01: But it's a tool that can essentially just make your life easier,
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  SPEAKER_01: also as a creative and a writer.
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  SPEAKER_01: I personally,
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  SPEAKER_01: so I actually have this second publication that's called,
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  SPEAKER_01: now it's called Level Up with AI.
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  SPEAKER_01: It used to be the AI soloist before it had another brand name.
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  SPEAKER_01: But basically,
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  I wanted to document and share with the world how I'm using AI
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  for writing my
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  SPEAKER_01: newsletter.
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  But I think there's just so much you actually should do when it
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  comes to creative
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  SPEAKER_01: work with AI,
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  SPEAKER_01: which is why now I've rebranded it and called it Level Up with AI,
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  because I still want to help solopreneurs and individuals using
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  AI for their
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  SPEAKER_01: workflows.
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  But I see more and more need actually for companies to really
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  use AI and for
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  managers and C-levels and everybody in companies where you have
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  really those
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  SPEAKER_01: standardized workflows.
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  SPEAKER_01: I come from healthcare,
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  SPEAKER_01: so there are so many regulated processes where I think like,
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  SPEAKER_01: wow,
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  SPEAKER_01: AI can have such a huge impact.
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  So it's something that I'm super excited about and going into
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  2026 with that mission for myself.
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  SPEAKER_01: But how I use AI is...
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, basically in two ways.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I love creating prompts that make my life a bit easier.
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  SPEAKER_01: So I use plot mostly for,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  I have projects inside thoughts that help me outline and help
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  me template my posts,
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  SPEAKER_01: write my article posts that I have.
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  SPEAKER_01: yeah,
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  SPEAKER_01: then I use it for image generation to,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: summarize my article and create a fitting header image.
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  SPEAKER_01: For this, I use Gemini and Nano Banana.
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  SPEAKER_01: Also just started using that recently, but it blew my mind.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's
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  SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's really super cool.
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  SPEAKER_01: Those two tools I mainly use.
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  I mean,
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  I also,
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  I used to use Midjourney also for image and video creation.
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  SPEAKER_01: I use ChatGP and Canva.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but my most regular tools are, I would say, Gemini and Clouds.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you mentioned you have project with templates.
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to get into the weeds, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: So how do you do that?
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  Yeah,
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  so basically in Cloud,
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  you can create basically like a folder,
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  right?
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  SPEAKER_01: And in this folder, you can feed the AI past
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  SPEAKER_01: posts from you, templates that you like, that you use for yourself.
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  SPEAKER_01: And you can all put it inside and say like,
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  SPEAKER_01: hey,
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  SPEAKER_01: if I give you notes for a new post that I want to write,
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  SPEAKER_01: please create like a template structure for it.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then it does.
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  SPEAKER_01: It gives you like a title idea.
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  SPEAKER_01: It gives the outline.
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  SPEAKER_01: This is your hook.
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  SPEAKER_01: I recently,
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  SPEAKER_01: last week,
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  I created a hook generator so that you start really with some
• 16:35
  interesting facts and
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: interesting
• 16:37
  insight into your article and all very much just based on what
• 16:43
  I've learned and how
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: I used to do it manually.
• 16:45
  And now it just has this AI has my information and can create
• 16:49
  it automatically for me.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: And how did you teach yourself all of these tricks when it comes to AI?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like,
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: how do you keep updated with,
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I heard about Nano Banana,
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think,
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: maybe last week,
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm still trying to figure out how it works.
• 17:10
  But like,
• 17:10
  how do you,
• 17:11
  but it seems that you've been using Nano Banana for a while.
• 17:14
  So how,
• 17:16
  like,
• 17:16
  how are you keeping up with all the AI tools and how you're
• 17:19
  teaching yourself?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, exactly because I had this problem as well.
• 17:24
  It's why I co-founded this project that you also mentioned in
• 17:28
  the beginning.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's called Chisora.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: And me and two other creators that I met also through Subsec,
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Michael Simmons and Joelle Salinas,
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: all very big on AI,
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: very seeing the opportunities,
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: seeing of course the challenges also,
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: but mostly having this problem of like,
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: okay,
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: AI is overwhelming us all in so crazy ways.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: There are new tools, new updates, new everything coming every single day.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: How do you keep up with it?
• 17:56
  And so we created Kuzora where we invite on a weekly base AI
• 18:01
  creators who focus on
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: specific topics,
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: who stay on top of their niche,
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: on top of their,
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: whatever they're experts for.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we invite them for two sessions to basically,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: for two weeks in a row,
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: showcase how they use AI on a daily base.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: And they share their screens.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: They show you how they implement things.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it's very cool.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really passionate about this project,
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Kozora,
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: because it's exactly the problem,
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: basically,
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: that you just asked,
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: how do you stay on top of things?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, you're solving a big problem now.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So if I click on Kozora now, I'm looking at the desktop.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a publication within Substack.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is that it?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a publication, but that's just how we promote it.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's basically an AI community that sits on another platform.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's Kajabi, and you can buy access to it.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then you basically... So on Substack, it's just to promote it.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: So people find it on Substack,
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: and then they have to go to...
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And how much are you charging for it,
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: if you don't mind me asking?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's $70 a month or $720 a year.
• 19:17
  But the creators that we have inside,
• 19:22
  their paid subscribers get a 50% discount.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: So for example, I'm a creator in Cosora.
• 19:28
  So now if you're subscribed as a paid member to either Wonder
• 19:33
  Wealth or Level Up
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: with AI,
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: you get a 50% discount.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: So then it would be
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: 60 per month or 360 per year.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good incentive for people to subscribe to your newsletter.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: And what do you offer in this community of like the AI writers community?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: In Kozora?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in Kozora, yeah.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:57
  I mean,
• 19:58
  Kozora is weekly,
• 20:00
  it's really what we,
• 20:01
  so we invite different AI creators.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: some really famous ones who are just doing excellent work right now.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're all on Substack.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: So far, AI creators are all on Substack.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like what?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like who?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you can give me examples.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we have Window is on board.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's like a really high, like fast-growing AI creator.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: We have Jeremy Kaplan from Wonder Tools.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: 100,000 subscribers, huge as well.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: We have Max Bernstein.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: We have Jonas Bradbart, more technical creators, but also really great.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we have a lot.
• 20:44
  And the cool thing is that we don't stop with one cohort,
• 20:47
  but we're adding...
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Every week, we're adding new creators in different fields.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: So now we have an AI creator track.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: But next year,
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: we're going to start one focusing only on AI marketing,
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: then one only in AI video production,
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: on AI leadership and strategy.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so it's going to grow.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: And with one, you can just buy one membership.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need to buy it for the single tracks.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: But with one membership, you would get access to all of it.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: And how many members do you currently have on Kozura?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we just started it basically in November.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: So right now we have 60 people in size.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's pretty big.
• 21:31
  Yeah,
• 21:32
  I mean,
• 21:32
  we hope that it's going to get bigger because we really believe
• 21:35
  in it.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's such a cool mission because it's also...
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: You can come there with any question that you have, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's the idea.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: We have like monthly so far.
• 21:44
  So I'm talking about it like it's like a long year project
• 21:47
  already,
• 21:47
  but we just started it.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: So the idea is that we have monthly community calls.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Last Friday,
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: we had our first community call and people can show up,
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: show us what they're building,
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: show us or tell us what they want to build.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: They get feedback.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: They can ask questions.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really, yeah, it's really to not be overwhelmed and kind of
• 22:08
  like stay on the timeline of how AI develops just with people
• 22:13
  who are also interested in it.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: So technical question,
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: why did you choose Kajabi for your community rather than like people use,
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: I use Kajabi for my products,
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: but I'm curious,
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: why did you build the community on Kajabi and not on like Circle,
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: which is like very popular these days?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a good question.
• 22:34
  And I'm still not sure if we're actually so happy with Kajabi,
• 22:37
  to be honest.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't maybe at some point we still have to switch.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: But right now,
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: as we still we have those recorded videos,
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: for every session,
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: every creator who's coming in gives a live talk,
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: but it's recorded so people can go through those tracks.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we
• 22:54
  We wanted it to be all the vision is to really have those AI
• 22:57
  tracks for different niches.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not just like one big community,
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: but there are classes to it,
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: there are community calls,
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: there are matchmaking.
• 23:06
  The vision is so big that I think an only community platform
• 23:10
  would not be sufficient for it.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: I see.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay,
• 23:16
  so I want to go back to a question when I asked about your
• 23:20
  income streams,
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: which you wrote about like an hour ago.
• 23:24
  Can you walk us through your income stream,
• 23:27
  you know,
• 23:28
  if you're comfortable?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And where is everything coming from?
• 23:33
  And what do you learn this year that you're going to change for
• 23:37
  next year?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um,
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: basically it's some,
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: my paid subscriptions and,
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: uh,
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: my coaching calls,
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: they make still 50% of my,
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: my income.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: So subject and the coaching that comes from it is still a big part.
• 23:58
  Um,
• 23:58
  the other ones are,
• 23:59
  so you like typical ones,
• 24:01
  such as courses,
• 24:02
  then digital products,
• 24:04
  um,
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: as said,
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: like coaching packages,
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: but also new tools that I built now with AI and that people can buy.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then also co-founded projects like Kozora, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: those things also start to add and bring money.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And in my 2026, that's also something I would like to focus on more.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do less one-on-one coaching.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to move a little bit away from having my time linked to
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: like you have in coaching calls, like time linked to reimbursement.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to do more collaborative work,
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: so more things like Kosora,
• 24:48
  more things where I create connections with other creators that
• 24:53
  I find inspiring,
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: that I find motivating to work with.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: do more project-based work.
• 25:00
  And then also,
• 25:02
  I do want to tackle what I said before,
• 25:04
  this corporate angle.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because I love working with individual entrepreneurs,
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: but especially in the AI field,
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: I do think tackling companies will be a big next thing for me next year.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where I'm going.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And how are you going to do that?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's a great question.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I think there is where my LinkedIn comes more into play.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I've been chatting a lot recently with Camel Bank.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's a big AI person on Substack who's really focusing on helping
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: CEOs and managers bring AI workflows to their companies.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I started learning from him already,
• 25:43
  seeing him kind of as my mentor in this because he has been so
• 25:46
  successful in it.
• 25:48
  And he goes to companies,
• 25:49
  he does AI assessments,
• 25:50
  and then he offers implementation packages.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's pretty much, I find it super inspiring.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of where I want to go.
• 25:59
  But I do need to build up my LinkedIn more for that because
• 26:02
  that's where I have my
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: more corporate network.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: So what are you,
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: what would you offer these corporations,
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: like AI tools for productivity or for writing or for newsletters?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like what is your product that you're going to sell?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: no,
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's,
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: so it's first going to be really like an assessment,
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: like seeing how ready are they that has,
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: there will
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: So first, it's an AI assessment.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Where do they use AI?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Where do they not use AI?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Do the managers use it?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is it secret to use it?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a cultural thing?
• 26:39
  So first of all,
• 26:40
  you have to understand how well-equipped are those companies
• 26:43
  already.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the first thing.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can offer them different tools.
• 26:49
  packages you can you know sell your own services to them you
• 26:52
  can see if you can
• 26:54
  build something for them if they have to build something for
• 26:56
  themselves if it's
• 26:58
  things like implementing ai easier workflows over using note
• 27:03
  takers over you know
• 27:05
  there's so many little things but yeah so that's the idea i
• 27:08
  haven't done it yet
• 27:09
  right so that's just something i've learned so far from people
• 27:11
  who have done it
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: that's my vision to do it um yeah
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's fun.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you mentioned that you do coaching calls.
• 27:22
  What kind of coaching calls you do and how do you get those
• 27:27
  coaching calls?
• 27:28
  Do you reach out like via DMs to subscribers and pitch them or
• 27:33
  do they come to you?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no, usually they come to me.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: every now and then what I used to do is write a promotional email,
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: say like,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hey,
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: I am offering coaching calls here.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have like spots, like three or five spots for the next month.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Would you like to join?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Then you can book it here.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but most of them actually reached out on their own.
• 27:59
  So I have like a,
• 28:00
  a webpage where I offer them and people can buy those packages.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um,
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: This year,
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: as I made a learning,
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: I did offer like group coaching,
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: but it didn't work out the way I wanted it.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think I had like two different levels inside and two...
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Point was,
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: it didn't really work out,
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: so I went away from group coaching and back to one-on-one coaching.
• 28:25
  It's nice,
• 28:26
  but as I said,
• 28:27
  I don't want to focus on that so much anymore in 2026.
• 28:31
  I will do it probably with limited people,
• 28:35
  but it's not going to be my main focus.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: What do you coach them on?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Basically,
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: the standard one is helping them set up with their sub stack,
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: helping them set up a community,
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: helping them set up their newsletter for growth.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: The second package I offer is more on monetization.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: How do you really
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: monetize your words.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: How can you, you know, what are different options?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: I help them create roadmaps.
• 29:03
  Then the third one is really more into really setting up a
• 29:06
  business and making this
• 29:08
  and doing proper marketing techniques and marketing strategies
• 29:11
  and promotion.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because at the end of the day,
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: there are so many talented writers out there that I guess you know.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: But they don't really like self-promotion.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something I help them with.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned that you create AI tools.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of AI tools do you create and how do you create them?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I create them.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: I've bi-code it.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I use tools.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: I use, for example, a cursor for it.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: where I create like a,
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
• 29:43
  I did like some extension tools that helped you with your
• 29:47
  subsec messaging,
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: right?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like it automates messages that you can send out.
• 29:54
  You can,
• 29:54
  I mean,
• 29:55
  that's a thing I did,
• 29:56
  but there are other things I've been working on.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: They're not live yet.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Goes more into image creation and design around it.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's something I've been vibe coding with AI basically.
• 30:10
  So you knew coding before or did you teach yourself coding or
• 30:16
  how did that happen?
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: so with AI,
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: pretty much anybody can code because you just have to tell them like,
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: what to do.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I actually, I do also have a little bit of a background in coding.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: I do it like, yeah, actually in machine learning and, but really basic.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm by no means a software engineer,
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: but I do have some basic skills there,
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: which come in handy.
• 30:39
  But again,
• 30:40
  like for by coding,
• 30:41
  like coding with AI,
• 30:42
  you don't need any coding skills.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I missed the name of the tool that you use to create AI tools.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: What do you use?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: A cursor.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: A cursor?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: Cursor.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Just C-U-R-S-O-R.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Cursor.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's people can use it.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you have an idea for an AI tool.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: You give it the prompt and it creates the AI tool for you.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can sell it.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Do you use AI tools?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you're very interested in AI, so tell me about your AI story.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: I use AI all the time.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: I use AI a lot for writing, of course.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: I use ChatGPT, Claude.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: I like GroK a lot.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think GroK is probably the best.
• 31:35
  But I know people don't like it because of the controversy
• 31:38
  around Elon Musk and X
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: and all that stuff.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: But if you put that aside, Grok is pretty good.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And these are for the writing, for hooks, for titles, for marketing.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I have projects as well.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I use AI a lot for editing, for video editing.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I use Riverside, and it has all the AI for editing.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: You use text editing for videos, and then it creates those clips for you.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: And now recently, AI can even create B-rolls.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: for you.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't have to look for a B-roll.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it makes video editing really fun and easy.
• 32:23
  Instead,
• 32:23
  for me,
• 32:24
  it was something I really hated because it took a long time.
• 32:32
  yeah i use canva uh gemini and nano banana so uh the yeah uh
• 32:39
  i've been like trying
• 32:40
  to play with it yeah but i'm not someone who is shy or like uh
• 32:48
  let's say ashamed of
• 32:50
  using ai because some people there's like two groups of people
• 32:54
  who like writers say
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: i would never use ai i am you know someone who's like
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: very pure when it comes to writing.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I use it a lot.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not worried about losing my voice because,
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: that's something like as a trained journalist,
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: that is something always that I focus on when I write anything.
• 33:18
  So AI for me,
• 33:20
  it kind of brainstorm,
• 33:21
  gives me idea,
• 33:22
  helps me with the research.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it comes up with better headlines.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Also, it helps a lot with the marketing copies.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think when it comes to copy marketing,
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: and especially,
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a trained marketer,
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: so AI really helped me with that.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it can help me create funnels.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I use AI a lot.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:51
  that if if you like you you you you won't be replaced by ai
• 33:57
  like your job you won't
• 33:58
  lose your job by ai but you would lose your job for someone who
• 34:02
  knows how to use ai
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: and so it's it's extremely important to learn it um and
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: the movement of stay away from AI,
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think,
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: eventually is going to fade because,
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: remember when you use a Word document,
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: you have the spell check,
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the spell check is a form of AI.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: How come nobody rebelled against it as they're rebelling against AI now?
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: Or like Grammarly, like think of Grammarly.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: There was not a huge outcry against Grammarly.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's interesting.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, that's why I'm just very interested in AI.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing for me is I am extremely stretched time-wise.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: I have three kids.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: I run my own business.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: I play the violin and I take music pretty seriously.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I perform and stuff.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: So my time is really limited.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: And...
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: like I would look for any AI tool that can save me time.
• 35:12
  So it's basically for me out of survival,
• 35:15
  like it's survival mode as well.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, so that's my story with AI.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's very cool.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: I used to play the violin also as a kid.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was really nice.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then I pivoted to the drums.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow, fun.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, okay.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I think you're always on Substack,
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: you're probably more than me,
• 35:45
  like you're always posting notes and you're posting posts and
• 35:48
  you're going live and
• 35:49
  saying how much time like a week do you spend on this or a day
• 35:53
  or how does your day
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: look like as someone who's a serial entrepreneur?
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, actually not that much, to be honest.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I go on Substack in the morning.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: I go through my messages and my notifications.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: I answer people who write me.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: Then I post my three to four notes.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: I welcome new subscribers with messages.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you do?
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I use my tool for that.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: What's your tool?
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's this automated messages just to welcome people.
• 36:39
  The website is called writewithtools.com and there you can just
• 36:42
  buy this Chrome
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: extension and it just helps you to welcome new people.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's a cool one.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's called write with tools.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, write with tools.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: Did you write about that in your sub stack?
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: No, because it's
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some people don't like it if you automate messages so much.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: So it's, you know, I mean, I did it in the beginning.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: I did it manually.
• 37:07
  And Substack for that is insanely slow because it takes like a
• 37:12
  while to load each message.
• 37:14
  And if you throw by,
• 37:16
  I don't know,
• 37:17
  by 100 people a day or so,
• 37:18
  then you just cannot do it.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, that's what I do.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then what I do is I come back in the afternoon and
• 37:28
  to Substack,
• 37:29
  and I restack my own notes,
• 37:32
  which literally takes 30 seconds to do.
• 37:34
  And then I write a post on Tuesday for Wonder Wealth and on
• 37:38
  Wednesday for Level Up
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: with AI and for Zora.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that's about it.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: So really not that much time.
• 37:48
  So how do you come up with ideas for notes and how do you
• 37:53
  attract attention with notes?
• 37:54
  I mean,
• 37:55
  my notes do like a few likes here and there,
• 37:57
  but like nothing major.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And what is, yeah, so what is your notes process?
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: My notes process is that I,
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: first of all,
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: I love to,
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: and I want to do that more because I kind of gave that up a little bit.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: but really focus more on sharing my experience,
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: sharing my journey,
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: sharing more about me personally.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like people really like that.
• 38:26
  And even if it doesn't bring you a direct paid subscriber,
• 38:30
  it helps you to create trust,
• 38:32
  right?
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like on the weekend,
• 38:33
  I went to a Christmas market for the local shelter here and I
• 38:39
  just recorded all the
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: video,
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: all the gifts that people brought because I,
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: yeah,
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: It moved me and I wanted to share that.
• 38:47
  And it has nothing to do with what I teach online,
• 38:50
  but it has to do with me.
• 38:51
  And I shared it and people were very happy and it just connects
• 38:56
  you with people,
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: helps you create trust.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so I want to do more of that again.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's one part.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: But then also really...
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: share what I write about in my posts.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: I did create actually an AI, a prompt for it.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of summarizes your posts and creates like,
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
• 39:16
  10 to 15 different notes based on that post because that's work
• 39:20
  you've done already
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: and you can just reuse it.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something I've been also doing to then,
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: yeah,
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: kind of connect my content with posts and notes,
• 39:30
  but share a lot of authentic moments and stories of my own life
• 39:33
  in between.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a tool that schedule notes?
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: I know that people do it.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I do it.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not against it.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: But so far, I felt like I'm mostly just feeding them my notes.
• 39:50
  I mean,
• 39:50
  people can run through scrapes,
• 39:52
  sub-stack anyway and get my notes.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't know.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't feel right for me until so far.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: It works also just by writing them in the morning myself.
• 40:03
  Do you use an AI agent for notes that helps you create notes,
• 40:11
  or you just do it manually?
• 40:13
  No,
• 40:14
  I have my cloud project for it with a prompt that I shared in
• 40:19
  my AI publication.
• 40:22
  So that runs,
• 40:23
  but it creates those notes,
• 40:26
  then I adjust them,
• 40:27
  then I post them.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_01: So there are manual steps in that process.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, okay.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, okay.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: What are your main focus for 2026?
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think you answered that, that you want to focus on corporate.
• 40:43
  Any other things you want to focus on for your business in
• 40:47
  general as a solo premier?
• 40:50
  Is now the main focus Substack or do you do other stuff besides
• 40:57
  Substack and LinkedIn?
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's actually only subsec.
• 41:01
  LinkedIn is going to come in 2026,
• 41:03
  but at the moment,
• 41:04
  it's really only subsec.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: And for my 2026, I do want to do more lives.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: I do want to do more video.
• 41:12
  I just think like,
• 41:13
  as you said before,
• 41:14
  it helps you connect differently to people.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: And if they hear you, they see you, it's such a different story.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: So definitely that.
• 41:22
  And then connect more with other creators,
• 41:25
  with other writers,
• 41:26
  with other people who are
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: excited about building projects.
• 41:29
  I think that's just something I really enjoy and that's going
• 41:32
  to be my 2026.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: What about you?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: What's your 2026 business?
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: What is my 2026?
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think I want to focus more on building the Substack as a community.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to focus on... I just started my first masterclass.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's free for the paid subscribers.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if anyone wants to join, they just pay $17.
• 41:58
  And then the idea is you can pay $17 once or you can just
• 42:04
  become a member and you
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_00: get all these...
• 42:08
  uh webinars for free so that's kind of my marketing strategy i
• 42:12
  just launched that
• 42:12
  yesterday um nobody signed up yet it's fine but um uh my paid
• 42:20
  subscribers will get
• 42:21
  that for free but i'm i'm gonna start pushing that aspect is
• 42:26
  that when you're a
• 42:27
  paid subscriber you not only get like access to posts but there
• 42:31
  is more like
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: You get the webinars.
• 42:34
  I also give them two courses for free and a copy of a side copy
• 42:40
  of my book,
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's another thing.
• 42:43
  And I also want to focus on the chat aspects of the community
• 42:51
  where people...
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: And my dream is to have a private community.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I asked you about Kajabi versus Circle, all of that.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: But that will take a while, I think.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: I need to just...
• 43:06
  figure out where to make sure I have enough people that I can
• 43:11
  convert to a paid community.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: And also just get more clients to keep the cash flow going.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: And as you said,
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: it would be great if you have more passive income,
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: like digital products and other,
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: but that's,
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: they sell,
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: but not that much.
• 43:31
  So maybe I have to change my marketing efforts to do that so I
• 43:36
  can not depend on a
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: services-based business,
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: which takes a lot of my time.
• 43:44
  um but yeah but that's that's where i'm headed uh right now and
• 43:51
  of course you and
• 43:53
  i'm gonna also double down on the live so like now i do some
• 44:00
  weeks i do like three
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: or four lives a week which in addition to my podcast so um
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like a muscle.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like going to the gym.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like the more you do it,
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: the more you're training,
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: the more comfortable you're at it,
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: the better questions you ask,
• 44:16
  you make your guests even more comfortable as well because
• 44:19
  you're kind of used to
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: it.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: And again,
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: and you build trust and people know who you are instead of that faceless,
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: nameless name that appears in their inbox.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that just changes the whole equation.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for me,
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: This happened,
• 44:38
  we were like at a dinner with friends and we were just talking
• 44:41
  about stuff and they
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: said,
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Natasha,
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: people need to hear you talk.
• 44:46
  And when people hear you talk,
• 44:49
  it's a totally different experience when they see you writing.
• 44:53
  And you're kind of losing some people because they might enjoy
• 44:59
  your perspective,
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: enjoy your energy,
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: enjoy all of that.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that applies to many people as well.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think the more you appear on camera,
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: the more you break that barrier,
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: the more you're likely to grow your community.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that was kind of a big revelation for me.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: So for you,
• 45:22
  who are like the top subscribers that you make sure to read
• 45:25
  every day and like
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_00: never miss their newsletters?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: You look forward to seeing their name in your inbox.
• 45:33
  maybe just for you to know but I have about two minutes left
• 45:36
  then I need to jump
• 45:39
  yeah I mean I really like to to read right now like people in
• 45:43
  my in my Kazara
• 45:44
  community so people like Window like my co-founders Michael
• 45:48
  Simmons and Joel
• 45:49
  Salinas Daria another AI writer who's great Camille Bank like
• 45:58
  yeah people who are
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: yeah who are
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, I'm very interested and focused on this AI topic.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: So they are great creators and I love to read their names.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this has been really wonderful, Claudia.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining me.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually learned a lot, especially about AI.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure people learned a lot about it.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: And for anyone to reach you, they can just go to your sub stack, right?
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_00: Join and maybe join your community.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: So for everyone who joined us today,
• 46:31
  thank you very much for joining us for another episode of the
• 46:34
  Substack Writer's
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: Salon.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: And we hope to see you soon.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again and until we meet again.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: Bye-bye.