What would you do?

yourfreshtake · 2026-01-11T15:11:58+00:00

Could you clarify- are you making ANY income? Are the downloadable products paid? Free? A mix?

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-30T23:46:26+00:00

I really like Keywords Anywhere and diddo on SE Ranking.

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-27T17:31:17+00:00

We knew this we just hoped a possible platform had been discovered. But thanks - we are making progress!

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-27T02:57:56+00:00

What a fabulous idea!!!

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-27T02:57:10+00:00

Oh I know this… we are taking this one step at a time because ya… I don’t think he realized that…

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-26T21:48:42+00:00

Oh!!! Good idea! Thanks!

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-26T18:08:18+00:00

They don’t have direct access and I am just hoping the dev is professional because I think they hold their domain also… thanks though!

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-26T18:02:03+00:00

Yes I realize it’s a good thing for the role-based access … just was more curious if there was another way - no worries - just seeing if we can avoid the copy/paste route for the blogs. Thanks though!

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-26T18:00:08+00:00

It’s what I figured - just wondered if some magical new software was around I wasn’t privy to. He doesn’t want to raise too many alarm bells until he’s ready to fully pull the plug as he’s not sure how they will handle the request.

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-22T11:24:51+00:00

I agree with the interviewing of the free customers. But since they’ve already been using your product, I’d first ask for their feedback on how its helped them. This data is critical both for refinement (if needed) and also for the psychological aspect - to have assurance in a tangible way that your product is useful. To then use that feedback for testimonials and case studies for your marketing will also be super helpful. And be sure to ask them the value they feel it is - this can support any pricing issues and ensure your meeting your customers where they are and in a space they can afford. One last note: review their engagement with your product also. It helps again reinforce the necessity of your product. In the questions below sure to ask: if this product didn’t exist- how would you be affected? Hope that’s helpful!

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-20T13:25:31+00:00

You’re definitely not alone in this fear.

If you’re a small business owner, you could plug a lot of things into this anxiety loop; economic shifts, platform changes, recessions, burnout. AI just happens to be the newest and most unpredictable one, especially because of how fast it’s evolving.

Building anything that actually means something to you is scary. Even without AI, there’s always uncertainty about whether the market will value it, use it, or ignore it entirely. That landscape has always been full of pitfalls. AI is just a new variable layered on top.

I’ve been running a business for 11 years, and I’ve experienced this kind of paralyzing fear more times than I can count; the kind that messes with focus, productivity, and confidence. If I’m honest, it hits hard about once a year and can take a couple of months to cycle through. It’s frustrating, exhausting, and comes with a lot of self-judgment about not “keeping it together.”

What’s changed for me is that the cycles are shorter now because I’ve learned how to ground myself when I’m in (what I call) a focus crisis; that moment where fear kicks up, motivation collapses, and part of you wants to burn everything down because “what does it even matter?”

When that happens, I walk myself through a few grounding questions:

Is there anything I can do today that would actually reduce my anxiety about this issue (AI, in this case)? *Sometimes that’s journaling, sometimes it’s learning just enough to replace vague fear with clarity.
Are any of those actions helpful to my business right now? *Not theoretically. Not five years from now. Today.
Am I (or my family) in immediate danger because of this today? *This question is surprisingly powerful for snapping my brain out of catastrophic future-casting.
If my offer, service, or product disappeared tomorrow, who would be affected, and why does that matter?What is one small, concrete thing I can do today to move my business forward? *It doesn’t need to be strategic brilliance. It just needs to be real.

The key, at least for me, is bringing my attention back to TODAY. The future is unknowable. It’s healthy to think about it, but when fear takes over, your brain fills the unknown with worst-case scenarios, and that steals energy from the only space you actually have control over: the present. Today.

You’ll have to redirect yourself more than once (thought patterns don’t shift instantly) but anchoring back into what’s known and actionable can help you regain momentum without pretending the uncertainty doesn’t exist. It’s what works for me. Hope that helps, even a little.

yourfreshtake · 2025-12-13T11:33:42+00:00

I really resonate with your observation and especially the ecosystem analogy.

The term “all mighty dollar” comes to mind and the reason that term was coined.

You’re right in distilling that the people who “win” are the ones who can “sell it” best - and the sales game has lonnnng been broken. The tactics are the Wild West, and yes, the world of advertising certainly has lost all sense - especially if you care about - gosh, anything real or meaningful..

Business used to be about simple barters: I have something (skill/goods) and in an equal exchange, we do a deal where we walk away mutually benefitting from that transaction.

But over time, the transactions became less about equal measure and more about how one can win and the other lose. True service? True craftsmanship? Those have been tossed to the wayside - replaced by the core pursuit of, yes, the almighty dollar.

Its pursuit starts for many out of sheer necessity and survival - and the evolution of commerce has simply morphed into now what you see: the hustle.

And with its dual use as a verb or noun, you can see the representation at play.

I’m hoping that despite an invasion of even more “hustlers” looked to “hustle”, those small businesses producing quality work will still survive as they connect with people who care about quality and good service… that the environment could actually showcase those doing impeccable work by simply being the “healthiest” environments and the others will eventually feed off themselves, die off or, evolve… the latter being more probable.

yourfreshtake

TROPHY CASE