How I'm Growing my Business with AI Agents and GPTs

AI business growth is changing everything for solo entrepreneurs like us!

In this video, I share exactly how I use AI and automation to save time, stay human, and build a thriving video brand.

I’ll walk you through GEO (generative engine optimization), custom GPTs, and the tools I use daily like MindPal and Buffer.

If you want to grow your business with AI without losing your personal touch, let’s dive in!

VIDEO: How I’m Growing my Business with AI Agents and GPTs | Ep. 61

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Why AI Matters for Solo Business Owners Right Now

I’m at the point where I use AI every single day, and honestly, all day because I’ve built systems and automations that work for me. But getting here didn’t happen overnight.

I’ve been fascinated with AI since ChatGPT first launched, but it took me months to truly understand what’s possible when you stop thinking inside the box and start looking outside of it. I genuinely believe that for many online businesses, embracing AI isn’t optional if you want longevity.

By offloading repetitive tasks, repurposing content efficiently, and automating internal workflows, I get more bandwidth to show up as myself, inside my community, on my content, and with the people I serve.

Here’s the reality: if other businesses in your space are embracing AI and you’re not, they’re going to become more efficient, more visible, and more scalable. That doesn’t mean they’re better; it just means they have more leverage. And as solo business owners, leverage is everything.

For me, AI isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about preserving a lean business model while expanding my reach, strengthening my authority, and staying deeply human in how I show up.

AI doesn’t replace human connection. It creates space for it.

The Five Ways I’m Using AI to Grow My Business

When I think about AI right now as it relates to business and marketing, everything falls into five core areas.

1. Discoverability, SEO, and the Shift to GEO

Discoverability is the first area where AI has completely changed how I think about growth. For years, I’ve relied heavily on SEO, especially on YouTube. That’s actually how I grew my channel in the first place: by applying traditional SEO principles to video content.

Now we’re seeing the rise of GEO — Generative Engine Optimization. Instead of people only searching on Google, they’re going straight to tools like ChatGPT to get answers. And yes, that’s caused real problems in the blogging world.

What’s fascinating is that my YouTube channel is benefiting from this shift. When I look at my analytics, Google is still my top external traffic source, but ChatGPT is now the second. That means AI isn’t just answering questions; it’s actively sending people into my ecosystem.

That tells me something important: AI tools are sending people to creators they recognize as experts.

Google has also been clear that it’s no longer just looking at on-page SEO. It’s evaluating your entire body of work across platforms using the same EEAT framework they’ve talked about for years: experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

That’s why I’ve never been more grateful to have a YouTube channel tied directly to my name and my core topics. Every long-form video contributes to a growing library of expertise connected to me. Every video adds to a growing library of proof that I know what I’m talking about — and AI tools are using that same signal when deciding what content to surface.

This isn’t just about YouTube growth it’s about ensuring your content shows up wherever people are searching for answers.

Repurposing Long-Form Content Without Creating AI Slop

One of the most powerful ways I use AI is to repurpose my long-form content across platforms.

I’ve always been a long-form content creator. Video podcasts are the foundation of my content strategy, and AI helps me extend the life of that work across other platforms.

After I publish a video podcast episode, I take the transcript and use AI to turn my thoughts into platform-specific content, especially for Threads and LinkedIn.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

I take my video podcast transcripts and use AI to generate Threads content
I repurpose those same transcripts into LinkedIn posts
I review, edit, and queue everything inside Buffer

I use ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, sometimes all three because they each interpret prompts differently. I’ve built custom GPTs and projects specifically designed to write in my voice, using my thoughts.

The content doesn’t start with AI. It starts with me hitting record. AI simply helps me adapt those ideas for platforms I wouldn’t otherwise have the energy to show up on consistently.

This allows me to stay active on platforms I wouldn’t otherwise prioritize without forcing myself to create from scratch.

The content still comes from me. AI simply helps shape it so it fits the platform.

That’s the difference between helpful augmentation and content that feels lifeless.

Turning Every Video Into a Blog Post

Since day one, every video I’ve created has been turned into a blog post.

AI has made this process faster and easier over time, but it’s still human-led. A draft is created using AI, then refined by a real person so it’s readable, helpful, and aligned with my voice.

This strategy builds my body of work across platforms and strengthens discoverability both for traditional SEO and generative engines.

If you’re creating long-form video content and not turning it into blogs, you’re leaving a massive opportunity on the table.

2. Internal Automation That Protects My Time

AI isn’t just helping me market, it’s running large parts of my internal operations.

I use automations connecting tools like Kajabi and ThriveCart so members are added to the right programs and receive the right emails automatically.

Inside Video Brand Academy, I’ve created multiple custom AI tools using MindPal. These tools help summarize calls, generate insights from my ideas, and support my team without extra manual work.

For example:

A tool that turns my “what’s working now” ideas into structured posts
A custom summarization tool for meetups inside Video Brand Academy
AI workflows trained specifically on how I think and teach

These aren’t generic GPTs—they’re trained and structured intentionally so the output actually reflects how I think and teach.

Because these tools are programmed by me, the output stays aligned with my voice and values. This isn’t generic automation, it’s personalized infrastructure.

I’m also paying close attention to tools like Relay, which are pushing automation even further for small teams and solo business owners. This is where things get really exciting.

3. Integrating AI Into Digital Products and Memberships

One of the biggest opportunities I see right now is integrating AI directly into courses, programs, and memberships.

This is where things get really exciting.

Inside Video Brand Academy, I’ve built AI-powered tools that help members get results faster without needing ten years of experience.

Inside Video Brand Academy, I’ve created:

AI-powered keyword tools connected to Google data
Title generators that produce dozens of ideas from a single topic
A chatbot trained on everything inside the Video Brand Academy membership
A channel analyzer built with MindPal that reviews YouTube channels using screenshots

Instead of relying on third-party tools, members can use systems I’ve built specifically for their stage of business. These tools don’t replace learning; they accelerate it.

This is how I think about AI as a growth tool, not a gimmick, but a way to deepen transformation for the people I serve.

Real Example: The Thumbnail Masterclass

For my membership Video Brand Academy, I recorded a “Ultimate Thumbnail Masterclass,” which has everything I know about thumbnails. You could watch it and learn a lot, but you have to create thumbnails and do experiments to truly learn.

Or, I could create an AI tool where you input your title and topic, and it makes a thumbnail for you. I’ve seen AI-generated thumbnails that are pretty good. At the very least, we can use AI to sketch ideas for thumbnails for someone who doesn’t have ten years of experience making thumbnails.

How much more effective is that for my clients than watching a 90-minute training on how to make a thumbnail?

The 90 Days to 1K Boot Camp Tools

Earlier this year, I ran my “90 Days to 1K YouTube Subscribers” boot camp in the membership and started using MindPal at the same time. I created a keyword tool using MindPal. You don’t have to pay for VidIQ or TubeBuddy if you don’t want to if you’re inside Video Brand Academy. It’s connected to Google’s keyword data.

I’m teaching people how to write effective titles, but I created a tool where you tell me your topic, and it gives you 50 different title options. Yes, you should learn how to write an effective YouTube title, but you can also just use my tools inside Video Brand Academy.

Building a Dozen AI Tools

Once I realized how easy it was to use MindPal to create chatbots and workflows, I wanted to create more. I have like a dozen inside Video Brand Academy. They’re in their own Kajabi product along with a community and the core content.

There’s a chatbot trained on everything inside Video Brand Academy, so you can post in the group looking for help or come to a meetup, or anytime you can open that chatbot, pick my brain, and see what the chatbot says.

4. Custom GPTs as Lead Magnets (But Doing It Right)

The Problem with How Most People Use Custom GPTs

If you think this sounds great, but you don’t want to use another tool, you could use custom GPTs. Lots of people are creating custom GPTs, and indeed, it’s a great tool, but if you have a program that has a start date and an end date, you’re just kind of giving those tools away.

I love the idea of using a custom GPT as a lead magnet, but I think people are doing it wrong. Most custom GPT lead magnets I’ve seen work like this: You put in your email address, and I give you a link to my custom GPT; it’s yours for life, take it and run. There’s nothing wrong with that, but what if you create a custom GPT that does something specific that your ideal customer would find extremely valuable, and they keep using it?

Create Ongoing Value, Not One-and-Done

What I see a lot of people doing is creating a custom GPT as a one-and-done deal. Create something that’s so useful they keep returning to it, and that prompts them to download a cheat sheet (my sample) or watch a free training.

I created a custom GPT called “YouTubify Your Business.” You can access it, and you don’t have to give me your email address. When you’re stumped on what to do on your channel next, you can go to my custom GPT. It’s not trained on everything inside Video Brand Academy, but I created it to be so useful that you want to keep using it.

5. The Future: No-Code Tools and AI Agents

The final area I’m watching closely is the rise of no-code tools. People are building entire businesses without writing a single line of code, and while I’m resisting the urge to build another app, I love the idea, but I have my app (the VBA App) already. The potential here is enormous.

AI agents, workflows, and embedded tools are redefining what’s possible for one-person businesses. With the right systems, we can help people achieve real transformation, without burning ourselves out.

How I Stay Human While Scaling With AI

This part matters more than anything else.

As online business owners, we help people achieve transformations through information and tools like no-code apps, MindPal, custom GPTs, and internal automation. I’m amazed at what we can do with one person obsessed with AI.

AI doesn’t replace my creativity. It doesn’t replace my voice. And it definitely doesn’t replace community. Instead, it gives me margin, margin to show up live, to engage in conversations, and to build relationships that actually matter.

My rule is simple:

I create the core ideas
AI helps me extend and support them
Humans stay at the center of everything

Conclusion

The key to growing your business with AI isn’t about replacing yourself or creating content that sounds robotic. It’s about strategically using AI to give yourself the bandwidth to show up more consistently, connect more authentically, and serve your audience better.

AI isn’t here to make us obsolete; it’s here to help solo business owners like us compete with bigger companies, be present on more platforms, and create better tools for our clients without burning out or sacrificing the human connection that makes our businesses special.

If you’re a solo business owner wondering how to grow without losing yourself in the process, my encouragement is this: use AI to protect your energy, amplify your expertise, and create space for deeper human connection.

The future belongs to business owners who can stay authentic and human while leveraging AI to scale their impact. That’s exactly what I’m doing and how I’m growing my business, and I truly believe it’s how we’ll build sustainable, meaningful businesses in the years ahead, and I’m excited to see where this takes us all.

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