Hardly anyone new had joined my community for months, so this week I looked at the whole thing the way I would for a client. What I found had nothing to do with the platform. It was about how easy it is to get through the door, and what happens in the first few days once someone is inside.

• From the Desk: why I've opened the Simplify Community with a 14-day free trial, against the advice I was given, and why your checkout page should have just one job.
• The Conversation: a member asks whether the platform is the reason people don't join their group, plus the onboarding, nurture and "star moments" that decide who stays.
• The Simplify: write down the first 7 days a new member or client goes through, then fill one gap this week.

00:00 Someone in the community asks whether a free Facebook group would work better
00:52 This week on the show (with a Lemsip in hand)
03:13 From the Desk
03:37 Why the front door of my community had gone quiet
06:00 Opening up with a 14-day free trial, against the advice
08:30 One trial sign-up in the first 24 hours, with no promotion
09:13 A member with 40 offers whose checkout pages do all the selling
10:23 What Amazon gets right about the final step
12:01 The Conversation
13:16 Is the platform the problem, or is it something else?
14:37 The thank-you page video that does more than any platform choice
15:45 Why onboarding matters more than your content
16:44 Jeff Walker's "star moments" and how to plan them
19:32 You get back what you put in to any group
21:30 The Simplify: map out your first 7 days
23:15 Closing

• Try the Simplify Community free for 14 days
• Get the first chapter of Simplify The Funnel free
• Work with Ant
• Every episode of the show

The show is back, and it's back every Monday. This week I share how I rebuilt Less Is the Strategy so the thinking stays with me, while a part human, part AI system does the building. Then we look at a real shift for anyone who sells their expertise: people have stopped paying for the build.

In this episode

• From the Desk: how splitting the work into thinking and building brought the show back. Plus, how a software bill jumping from $19 to $79 a month turned into a brand new tool.
• The Conversation: why "I just used AI to build it" has become so common, and where the value in your expertise has moved.
• The Simplify: write down the three decisions only you can make, then hand one build task to AI this week.

Timestamps

00:00 "Oh, don't worry, I just used AI to build it"
00:30 Welcome back: the show returns every Monday with a new shape
02:26 From the Desk: rebuilding this podcast around thinking and building
05:42 Let AI work in the back office so you stay in the front office
06:08 How a $19 to $79 price jump turned into a brand new tool
08:12 Why the idea behind the tool still came from experience
10:09 The Conversation: why the build isn't what people buy anymore
11:31 Decades of craft versus a $29 a month subscription
12:15 Where the value in your expertise has really moved
14:10 Why AI-edited content all looks the same, and the fix
14:26 Three moves if you sell your expertise
16:59 The Simplify: the three decisions only you can make
17:45 The one build task I'd never take back
18:54 Closing thoughts and what's next

Links

• Try the Simplify Community free for 14 days: simplifycommunity.com
• Read the first chapter of Simplify the Funnel free: simplifythefunnel.com
• Work with Ant: anthodges.com
• Every episode: lessisthestrategy.com

The online world is often assumed to belong to the young. Ant makes the opposite case. In this episode he explains why judgement and lived experience are the scarce advantages now that AI has made the tools easy for everyone, and why the people best placed to win online are often those with decades behind them. This one is for anyone wondering whether their experience still counts.

• Judgement is the scarce advantage now. AI has made the tools easy for everyone, so the real edge sits with the experience that takes decades to build.
• Research from MIT and the US Census Bureau puts the average age of the fastest-growing startup founders at 45. Experience sets the bar, rather than youth.
• Technology divides people by attitude, rather than age. Experienced people are especially well placed to use AI, because they can judge whether what it produces is any good.
• Keep AI in the back office and humans at the front. People should create the content and have the real conversations, while systems handle the admin behind the scenes.
• The experience you banked in your 20s and 30s is the asset the online world will pay you for later. Package it, and serve the people who want to learn from someone who has done it.

• Grab the book and join the community: www.simplifythefunnel.com
• Contact Ant, via the WhatsApp button or by booking a call: www.anthodges.com