THIS WEEK IN AI
A Quiet Week, A Big Announcement, And A Yard Full Of Hosta-Hungry Chickens
Picture this. It's Tuesday morning, the chickens are absolutely going off because they want me to come let them out of their run so they can hunt down some real bugs (apparently the food they have access to 24/7 is no longer doing it for them), I'm barefoot in the yard with my chai, and somewhere in the background of my brain I'm still problem-solving sponsorship logistics for our first in-person conference. (I’m calling it a conference but it’s gonna be way better than what is playing in your head. More on this in time!)
That, my friend, was pretty much the week with AI. Honestly, most of it was just the same prompts and same rhythm I've been in for weeks, no shiny new AI hacks or big breakthroughs, just heads-down getting the work done. Finetuning our SEO shifts, more Schema Markup so WE get recommended by AI, more brainstorming on offers and marketing strategies…
I almost wrote you a quieter issue this week, giving you full permission to NOT chase every shiny new AI thing the internet is screaming about, because some weeks you just need to settle in and get comfortable with what you've already got. And then Anthropic went and dropped something I have FEELINGS about, so here we are.
ANTHROPIC FOR THE SMALL BUSINESSES WIN (MAYBE)
A couple weeks ago, Anthropic launched something called Claude for Small Business, and the small business owners of the world collectively went "YESSSS."
It's not a new product or a new pricing tier, and it doesn't cost you anything extra if you already pay for Claude Pro, Max, or Team, because it's literally just a toggle you flip on inside Claude (specifically inside Cowork, which is basically Claude's workspace mode), and once you turn it on, Claude can plug right into the tools you already pay for (and probably forgot how much you're paying for) like QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, DocuSign, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Slack.
I know you are thinking, yes we have talked about connectors before, this isn’t new, but what IS new inside the Claude for Small Business are the pre-loaded, 15 ready-to-go workflows, which are basically the kind of tasks that live rent-free in the back of your brain at 11pm (Orrrrr don’t live in your brain and just never get done, cause, UGH admin tasks):
• Building a 30-day cash forecast so you can stop guessing whether you can actually afford that thing you've been eyeing
• Chasing down overdue invoices for you so you don't have to be the one becoming "that" emailer
• Spotting a slow sales month in HubSpot and immediately spinning up a Canva campaign to fix it
• Checking contracts before you sign them with your eyes closed at midnight
• Doing your month-end close (the dread is real)
• Prepping your books for tax time, which is the most "I know, I know, I don't want to talk about it either" thing on this list
What IS super cool about this and makes me feel “safer” is that nothing sends, posts, or pays without you saying yes to it first, and that's the hill I will absolutely die on when it comes to AI in business, because AI should be a really smart assistant in your back pocket BUT the ability to turn into a rogue intern who Venmo'd your tax money to a vendor named "Bob's Magic Marketing LLC." is NOT ideal (and kinda scary).
TIP ON WHERE TO ACTUALLY FIND IT
I asked Claude where to find the “Claude for Small Business” and was immediately steered wrong, so I'll save you a few minutes by sharing the trail of breadcrumbs that actually worked for me, which was Customize → Connectors → Browse Plugins → Plugins tab → Anthropic & Partners → Small Business.
A quick heads up though, because it might not actually be in your account yet. Anthropic rolls these things out in waves over a few weeks, so if you go looking and don't see it, you're not going crazy, you're just in the next wave. Patience, grasshopper.
OPINION
Anthropic's Pure Intentions for the Built Wrong Tech Stack
Okay, opinions time.
The Census Bureau just dropped some fresh AI adoption numbers to think about. AI adoption in businesses with more than 20 employees keeps climbing, while adoption in businesses with fewer than 20 employees has barely budged, and less than 20% of small businesses are using AI in any real way. (We are here to CHANGE THAT)
Which means while the big guys are using AI to move faster, cut hours, and scale, the small business owners are still doing it the long way, usually at 11pm on a Tuesday with cold coffee that now has a weird film on it and a kid asking for a snack they could absolutely reach themselves. (PS summer hours means late nights and no rules (according to the kiddos.) Please save us.)
Meanwhile, I'm out here building my business with a laptop, a prayer, and the sound of the chickens losing their entire minds over my hosta they are devouring like dessert. (So much for beautiful landscaping from this point on.)
So when Anthropic builds something specifically for the small business crowd, yeah, I get a little emotional about it, because honestly it's the first real attempt I've seen from a big AI company to actually meet small business owners where we already live, which is inside QuickBooks, inside Canva, and inside the 47 browser tabs we are all in absolute denial about.
But, the second I open it up is the second I am disappointed and upset at EVERY influencer that posted about it and screamed “CLAUDE FOR SMALL BUSINESS!!!! IT’S AMAZING!”
THE TECH STACK FLOP
This whole thing works beautifully if you happen to be in the "right" tech stack, but it works a whole lot less beautifully if you're not, and a lot of small business owners I know are not in that stack.
If you don't use QuickBooks (because a LOT of my small business friends use Wave, Honeybook, Dubsado, or just a really well-loved spreadsheet they've been adding to since 2019), then the QuickBooks workflows aren't going to do much for you, and the same goes for HubSpot, because if you don't use it, the HubSpot stuff doesn't help you either. (Not a platform we recommend so we know NONE of our clients are going to be able to use that one.)
So if you are like us, and not using majority of these tools, then this is sort of a mootpoint. In theory it’s great! But we all aren’t switching our entire tech stack so we are going to be on a BYOW (Build Your Own Workflow) Situation using MCPs (discussed in Issue No. 8)
So thinking creatively I thought. Can I just use their workflows as a baseline and swap in with MY tools?
The short answer is, kind of.
You can't literally copy the pre-built workflows out of Claude for Small Business and paste them onto your MCP connector, because those workflows are wired specifically to the official integrations (QuickBooks's API, HubSpot's data structure, etc.). They're not exposed as a text file you can clone.
BUT — what you CAN do is replicate the LOGIC of any of those workflows on your own stack. Here's the flow:
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Look at one of the pre-built workflows (say, the cash forecast one) and identify what it actually does. Pull QuickBooks balance. Pull PayPal incoming. Project 30 days out. Rank what's overdue. Draft reminder emails.
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Plug your own platform in via MCP (I told you how to do this in Issue No. 8).
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Ask Claude to run that same logic against YOUR connected platform, Wave, Honeybook, Stripe, whatever you've MCP'd in.
So it’s not a total waste. You are kinda piggy backing off or borrowing from a workflow they created and then modifying it and setting up for your tech stack.
A BIG TALKING POINT I’M STILL TALKING ABOUT
I'm going to say something that's been kicking around in my head all week, because I don't see anyone else saying it, and I think we need to KEEP thinking about it.
AI is going to create a LOT more small businesses in the next few years.
Between all the layoffs that keep showing up and being talked about in the neighborhood gossip, and the people who've been day dreaming about a business idea for the past ten years waiting for the "right time" to actually turn it into a reality, the cost and effort of starting something has been dropping fast, and tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Victor, OpenClaw, or Claude for Small Business are absolutely part of that shift. The barrier to "I could actually run this thing solo" keeps getting lower, which means more and more people are about to make the jump, whether the world is ready for them or not. (or whether they are ready for it or now). Many will jump in, a lot will not last, but your competition will grow. And there is a lot of room in the market, but you have to stay sharp and innovative or you could get overthrown by someone who was forced into turning their dream into reality because they have no other options.
And maybe that person is you! If you've been quietly nursing a business idea on the side, or you just got laid off and the rage is finally starting to settle into something more interesting, this is the universe poking you with a stick.
I actually wrote a book specifically for you, which is called Sell While You Sleep: How to turn your knowledge into an automated online business and create a life of freedom, and it is, in fact, a perfectly normal Sunday morning add-to-cart situation. Just saying.)
THIS WEEK'S REAL STORY:
How One Basic Question To Claude Turned Into A Real Sponsorship
(Not that kind of sponsor)
Okay, on to what I actually used Claude for this week, besides giving me step-by-step instructions to build a new chicken run that can hold our FOUR new baby chickens. (There are some bizarre rules around how many chicks you can buy and ship together in case you need some random afternoon reading.)
Back to REAL work and news. We've been planning our first in-person "conference," more like a curated event, which means I'm suddenly thinking about a million things I don't usually have to think about, and sponsorships are at the top of that list. Now, I know marketing, I literally teach marketing for a living, but getting sponsors specifically? That's not my home turf, because we've sold exactly one (1) sponsorship before for a virtual event, and that's the entire extent of my resume in that arena.
So I asked Claude a pretty basic question one afternoon, something along the lines of "what makes a really good sponsor, and what do I need to think about before I even start putting feelers out?"
And Claude said something that sounds so obvious once you read it that I kind of just stared at my screen for a beat trying to figure out how I hadn't already framed it that way myself. It said “The best sponsors aren't actually the ones with the deepest pockets, they're the ones whose product or service is the perfect next step for the people in the room at your event, because then THEY actually get a return on their investment, which means they sponsor your next event, and the one after that, and the one after that.” (ok not verbatim, but that’s the gist.)
Right? Like, of course that's marketing 101, and I teach that exact concept all the time, just not in the context of sponsorships.
But hearing it reframed inside the sponsor conversation flipped a switch in my brain that I didn't even realize needed flipping, because suddenly the whole sponsor conversation shifted from "people I have to somehow convince to give us money" to "businesses whose offer perfectly fits our audience," which is a way less awkward and way more strategic conversation to be having, with significantly less "got any spare change" energy involved.
And then the universe, God, spirit guides (whatever you believe in) stepped in.
I randomly messaged someone who’s podcast I had been on to ask them about a stat I was looking for, 3 hours later I see a post that she is doing an event too, and get this, for the same FREAKIN audience we are, speakers & authors! (we are also including thought leaders but close enough) We start chatting, swapping ideas, she was giving me AMAZING tips and we get to the sponsor topic and because Claude had JUST walked me through that lens of "the right sponsor is one whose offer fits the audience," I caught myself thinking "wait a minute, their audience IS our person, K+C creative would actually be a great fit for THEIR event, we should sponsor them." And so now we will be a sponsor at their event!
Here's what I took away from all of this. I already know marketing, Claude didn't teach me anything new, but what it did was offer me something I already knew in a slightly different frame at exactly the moment I could use it, which might be the most useful thing AI does. The most useful thing Claude did this week was just be the friend who asked "have you tried the thing you literally tell other people to try?" which saved me from spending three hours Googling "how to find event sponsors" and ending up on a Reddit thread from 2017 written by a guy named Brad or paying $600 on a workshop I saw yesterday.
REAL TALK
Claude Pulled A Random Memory Out Of The Fridge Like A Pickle
Listen, not everything went perfectly this week, because it never does, and if any newsletter ever tells you it did, please run in the opposite direction.
Once this week, I was deep in a conversation with Claude about one project, and out of nowhere, completely uninvited, Claude pulled in context from a totally different project I hadn't touched in days, with a casual "anyway, as you mentioned about [thing I have not talked about in three days]…" and I'm sitting there going, sir, ma'am, I absolutely did not. It was giving major "opened the fridge, forgot what I was looking for, came out holding a pickle for no reason" energy.
I just had to stop, redirect, and tell Claude "hang on, that's not what we're working on right now," and it got back on track pretty quickly, but it was a good reminder that even the really smart tools have their space cadet moments and it's our job to pay attention and correct when needed. A human supervisor is still needed.
The workaround I've started using is to just say it out loud when I'm switching topics, something like "okay, switching gears, we're working on X now," which helps Claude reset its focus and also, frankly, helps me reset mine too. Or start a new chat. (I've been guilty of jumping from one topic to the next with zero warning my entire adult life, my husband could write an entire memoir about it, and apparently AI also struggles when I do that. Or says, “Now I want to push back on that before you get too far. You just shared 4 different ideas here.” ;) (Yup, that sounds like me)
TRY THIS
Pick One Process. (Just One) And Write It Down This Weekend.
Here's my practical takeaway for the week that pays off whether you ever touch Claude for Small Business or not.
The people who are going to get the most out of AI in the next year are the ones who already know their own processes, like really know them step by step from start to finish, because AI workflows are just documented processes, every single step, every input, every output, written down clearly enough that someone or something else could actually execute it. If you don't know what your process is, you can't hand it to AI, you can't hand it to a contractor, and frankly you can't really hand it to your future self when you're tired and exhausted in October.
So this week, pick ONE thing you do over and over in your business (could be onboarding a new client, publishing a podcast episode, writing a weekly social post, sending an email to your list, literally any repeatable thing) and just write down every single step from start to finish. Not for AI and not for any tool yet, just for you. Drop it in a Google Doc, name it something like "Process - Client Onboarding," and tuck it away in a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) folder. If you need more support on this topic, I write about it in Chapter 8, Efficient Processes, in my book, Sell While You Sleep. Enjoy the Kindle version for instant access =)
And then when the right AI tool finally rolls out for your specific stack, or you finally decide to bring on a contractor, or you just want to clone yourself for one hour a week, you're going to be so far ahead of every other small business owner who's still running their stuff from memory every single week.
It's the chicken-or-the-egg situation here, and yes, I had to make that joke because I have chickens and they have given me a lot of material this year, but the point is you can't have an AI workflow without first having a process, so go make yourself some process eggs this weekend. (Wow, coming in hot with the dad jokes. Didn’t know I had it in me.)
BONUS | For AI Club Members
Not in the AI Club yet? Join for $5.55 a month and you instantly get the AI Brand Brain — the foundation document that finally lets Claude actually understand your business, your voice, and your offers, so it can show up as the assistant, copywriter, and strategic partner you've been wanting it to be instead of a generic chatbot.
This Week's AI Club Drop: The Process Documentation Toolkit. I'm handing you the two Claude prompts and one not-so-secret tool that turn "I should really write down how I do things" into something you actually do this weekend. We start by figuring out WHICH process in your business is worth tackling first (so you don't waste a Saturday on the wrong one), then I walk you through the lazy-girl way to document a process without typing a single word, and we finish with a second prompt that tells you whether your process can actually become an AI workflow yet, or if it needs some work first.
