Applied AI Sacramento
AI for local SMBsprofile updated 4h ago
6 hot threads in 90 days, mostly r/smallbusiness — enough to sell Reddit Radar
AI for small business ownersautomate my small business with AIchatgpt for my small businessAI receptionist for small businessAI tools every small business should use@neilpatel2@gregisenberg2@deanwperkins2@RealHomeAdvice2@Dekaftech2@gudanglifehack1-
15.2 hotreddit What would make an AI market-entry report useful enough to act on? (opens in new tab)
Disclosure: I'm helping promote Tec-Pulse, which includes AI reports for people considering TikTok Shop. That has me thinking about how to evaluate these reports, not just how polished they look. I…
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14.3 hotreddit Small/solo business owners — what's your actual bookkeeping setup? (opens in new tab)
I run a small one-person operation and my bookkeeping is basically bank statements + a spreadsheet I open with dread. It's fine until tax season, then it's a scramble to figure out what's deductible a…
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14 hotreddit I finally became anti-AI and holy shit everything makes sense now (opens in new tab)
Alright. You guys win. I'm anti-AI now. I spent enough time reading these arguments and I finally understand the philosophy. First thing I did was stop judging art by whether it's interesting, beau…
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13.5 hotreddit How do you setup a phone tree? (opens in new tab)
I run a small auto repair business outside my full time job. It’s starting to pickup, and I’m now getting an incredible amount of spam calls. Some days it’s 15 calls per hour, that will call, then tex…
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13 hotreddit Has anyone used an AI receptionist for a small business? (opens in new tab)
Our front desk person is stretched really thin and we miss calls pretty regularly. Starting to wonder if an AI receptionist could actually handle basic inbound stuff without frustrating customers. Any…
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12.8 warmreddit Has anyone here successfully set up AI agents that work together? What actually worked? (opens in new tab)
Has anyone here successfully set up AI agents that work together? What actually worked? I run a small web agency and recently set up four AI agents that work in the background: \- one scans news…
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12.8 warmreddit How are you keeping AI costs low while running a small business? (opens in new tab)
I'm interested in hearing from other small business owners who use AI as part of their daily operations. As AI subscriptions and API costs continue to grow, I'm curious: * What has your monthly AI s…
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12.5 warmreddit Anyone using AI employees for small business owners? (opens in new tab)
I keep seeing people talk about AI employees for small business owners, especially for workflows like managing emails/calendar, cold outreach/follow ups and manage content calendar for all social medi…
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12.4 warmreddit Those of you who run sales or support on WhatsApp: how much of your day is the same 20 questions, and would you let an AI take that part? (opens in new tab)
I work with small businesses whose customers write to them on WhatsApp: quotes, orders, “is it in stock”, “what time do you close”, “where’s my delivery”. Most owners tell me the same thing: a big par…
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12.3 warmreddit The Double-Edged Sword of AI Adoption for Small Businesses, Efficiency vs. Operational Overhead (opens in new tab)
As small business owners, we're constantly seeking edges. AI seems like a clear win, but let's discuss the unspoken tradeoffs. Efficiency gains are real, but at what cost? Training time, integration …
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12.1 warmreddit 10 Questions Small-Business Owners Should Ask an AI Consultant (opens in new tab)
AI can help small businesses save time, automate repetitive work, improve customer service, and make better use of their data. But hiring an AI consultant isn't automatically a good investment. The ri…
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11.8 warmreddit 12 AI tools that actually save SMALL BUSINESS owners time: real costs, what each replaces, no fluff (opens in new tab)
Whenever someone asks what AI tools are worth paying for, the answers are either vague or clearly affiliate-driven. Here’s what I actually use and recommend, with real costs and no I am not selling a…
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11.7 warmreddit Justification of small businesses using AI because they're small businesses. (opens in new tab)
Hello. One thing I keep reading when it comes to AI and small businesses is people justifying small business using it because they're small businesses. People will talk about how they they need to sav…
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11.7 warmreddit What’s a good AI marketing stack for a solo business owner? (opens in new tab)
I’m struggling with marketing. I barely get time to work on it after handling the rest of the business. So I m thinking of trying some AI tools that can help with content, SEO, email followups and tr…
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11.4 warmreddit 4 in 10 small business employers say they've turned down a candidate in the past year because their AI skills weren't good enough. (opens in new tab)
That came from a recent look at 1,000 small business owners and hiring managers. A few of the other findings: * 66% would pay a premium of 5% or more for someone who can prove real AI skills * 56% sa…
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11.3 warmreddit Has AI actually improved business operations for anyone here? (opens in new tab)
I keep hearing people say AI is streamlining operations, reducing overhead, and making teams more efficient, but I’m really want to know what that actually looks like in real small businesses day to d…
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11 warmreddit What are the best AI tools all small business owners should know about? (opens in new tab)
Hi all- for the next quarter we were planning to heavily invest in AI as a small business. So curious to all the experts here, what are the best AI tools all small business owners should know about? …
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11 warmreddit If you believe a 19 year old makes $300k a month from an AI agency you deserve to get scammed by his course. (opens in new tab)
I need to get this off my chest because it's been building for months. Every other video in my feed now is some 18 or 19 year old kid saying he's doing $200k, $300k a month from his AI automation age…
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11 warmreddit Anyone else seeing AI make DevOps/infra the bottleneck? (opens in new tab)
I'm curious if other DevOps/platform/SRE teams are running into the same thing my team is. We're a fairly large environment, mostly EKS, and essentially 100% IaC/Terraform. We also support multiple c…
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11 warmreddit My best employee found a faster way to work. What should I do next? (opens in new tab)
I manage a small e-commerce team for a European home goods business. One person on my team has been consistenly faster than everyone else, without cutting corners. His work is solid, he hits deadlines…
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10.9 warmreddit AI tools for your business - Which ones are you using right now? (opens in new tab)
Been slowly building out an AI stack for my business over the past few months and wanted to see what other business owners are running day to day. Here's where I'm at: General - ChatGPT and Claude (e…
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10.3 warmreddit Does email marketing work for your business? (opens in new tab)
I know that email works and is beneficial but I personally HATE it. I don't care about newsletters, promo's, and especially random cold emails selling me something even if it is beneficial to me or my…
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10.2 warmreddit Do small business owners need a social media manager? (opens in new tab)
For the past few months, I've seen a surge of small business owners generating their own posters, menu, videos to promote their products, but is it the same for other people? Would you rather rely on …
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10.1 warmreddit Has anyone here switched to an AI receptionist for handling missed calls? (opens in new tab)
I run a small service business, and I'm starting to realize how many potential customers I'm probably missing simply because I can't always answer the phone. Between being with customers and handling …
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10 warmreddit The Doomsday Moat: Why AI’s Billionaires Want Washington to Stop the Clock (opens in new tab)
**TL;DR** Big Al is running an old-fashioned regulatory capture racket, using the specter of human extinction to pull the ladder up behind them. Just like the railroad barons and early airlines, the…
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10 warmreddit Small business owners: what software do you wish existed for your business? (opens in new tab)
I’m curious how many small business owners are still using a mix of spreadsheets, WhatsApp, email and different tools just to run their day-to-day operations. If you could describe exactly what your…
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10 warmreddit 8 years in software engineering, now an AI Engineer, struggling to get interviews in the UK (opens in new tab)
I’d appreciate some advice from UK recruiters, hiring managers and engineers. I have **8 years of software engineering experience**, a **Master’s degree**, and currently work as an **AI Software Eng…
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10 warmreddit Software guy, 52, looking at buying an HVAC company. Talk me out of it or into it. (opens in new tab)
I've written software since 1983 and I'm an executive at a big tech company. I also run a small software product on the side that has thousands of users. It plateaued because I never learned to ma…
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10 warmreddit When Anti-AI Criticism Turns Into Small-Business Bullying (opens in new tab)
The antis have seemingly lost the plot. Hundreds of people gathered in a thread to berate a small business owner for making posters and collateral materials with AI and made it clear that they boycot…
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9.8reddit I need a help and honest reviews.so I made a tool because I kept losing makeup clients to slow replies but I'm not sure the problem is big enough. (opens in new tab)
I'm a makeup artist on the side, and over the past few months I kept noticing the same thing. Someone would message me asking about my availability, pricing or booking. I'd see it while I was work…
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9.8reddit 4 repetitive business tasks I automated with AI before hiring anyone (opens in new tab)
I didn’t plan to use AI setup to help me with a few jobs but hiring one person for executive work, sales, social media and blogs made no sense atleast for a small business owner like me. I tried a par…
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9.6reddit Anyone done a "I build, you sell" split with a sales person for freelance/agency work? (opens in new tab)
I do AI automation work for small businesses, chatbots, workflow stuff, cleaning up manual processes, that kind of thing. I'm decent at the technical side but I'm not a salesperson and finding clients…
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9.5reddit Small Painting Business Owner Looking to Learn AI – Where Should I Start? (opens in new tab)
Hi everyone, I’m a small painting contractor and run my own painting business. I recently started working a full-time job as well, so my time is limited. I’m looking to use AI to help me save time, g…
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9.4reddit small business owners, what ai tool(s) changed your marketing game? (opens in new tab)
Running a small biz solo, no dedicated marketing person and trying to figure out what's actually worth adding to my workflow. I have seen a lot of ai tools promising to save time on marketing but mos…
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9.4reddit If you run a small business, where would you actually start with AI, and where have you already tried it? (opens in new tab)
I keep seeing the same advice for small businesses: "start using AI." It's not wrong, but it skips the actual first step, and I think that's why so many owners try one tool, don't see the payoff, and …
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9.2reddit Has anyone here used a commission-only salesperson for B2B services? (opens in new tab)
I’m building a small AI automation business focused on helping local service businesses like plumbers, HVAC companies, contractors, and similar businesses. The service helps with things like missed-…
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9.2reddit I built a live AI receptionist for service businesses — looking for a hands-on GTM cofounder (opens in new tab)
I am building AdvanVoice AI, a configurable 24/7 phone receptionist for service businesses. It can answer business-specific questions, qualify leads, collect structured intake details, book appointmen…
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9.2reddit I built an AI receptionist that books salon appointments inside WhatsApp. Looking for owners to poke holes in it. (opens in new tab)
I run a small software company in Nairobi. Every salon and barber I know takes bookings by hand on WhatsApp: customer messages, owner replies between clients, slots get double-booked, half the "I'll c…
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9.1reddit [FOR HIRE] Full-stack dev (Next.js) — creative animated sites, automations, AI voice agents & ongoing support (opens in new tab)
\[FOR HIRE\] Full-stack web dev — sites, animations, automations & AI features (voice agents, RAG, UGC) | Project-based pricing Hey all, I'm a freelance web developer / small agency owner (India-bas…
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9.1reddit Has anyone here switched to an AI receptionist for handling missed calls? (opens in new tab)
I run a small service business, and I'm starting to realize how many potential customers I'm probably missing simply because I can't always answer the phone. Between being with customers and handling …
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9reddit Unpopular Opinion: If AI Keeps Wasting Your Tokens, Get Better at Using AI (opens in new tab)
It seems like this sub has basically become a running list of: **“OMG AI USED ALL MY TOKENS IN 12 HOURS DOING ONE TASK!!!”** Okay... and? You asked it to do that task. Were you not looking at it at…
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9reddit How Do You Actually Make Money Online? The Truth Nobody Wants to Hear (opens in new tab)
I see the question everywhere: “How can I make money online?” There are thousands of videos promising easy money, passive income, AI businesses, dropshipping, trading, affiliate marketing, and “secr…
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9reddit Accidentally got half my team put under review because I fact-checked a coworker's AI use, what do I do? (opens in new tab)
Hi all. About three weeks ago we had a team meeting about AI tools, and my manager asked for opinions. I mentioned that I'd been testing ChatGPT for drafting client emails and found it kept giving con…
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9reddit What AI workflows are actually saving you time right now? (opens in new tab)
I’ve been experimenting with a few different AI workflows lately, mostly around content, research, productivity and small business tasks. What surprised me is that the biggest gains haven’t come from…
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9reddit I used Claude and ChatGPT as I would an Associate for a strategy deck (opens in new tab)
Hi all, I am a former MBB and big 4 Jnr Partner. I now work in industry for a mid-sized MNC doing their Strat and Transformation. As I am building the team around me, I decided to utilise and trial…
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9reddit "It's offensive to tell small business owners not to use AI for their marketing!" (opens in new tab)
edit: Morning! Look, guys, we can argue the ethics of AI all day, but I'm still going to see businesses who use AI marketing as lazy and dodgy. The results of the Industrial Revolution and development…
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8.8reddit Are there any good AI receptionists for a tiny team? (opens in new tab)
Running a small service business with basically two people, and we keep missing calls when we're both with clients. Looked into AI receptionist options and now i'm just confused by how many there are …
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8.8reddit Starting a small business to help others use AI — any advice on how to reach small business owners? (opens in new tab)
I am working on starting a small business to help other small businesses actually start using AI in their day-to-day, rather than it staying this vague "we should probably look into that" thing. On…
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8.7reddit I went deep into the Indian IT sector. Here's what's working, what isn't and the AI impact (opens in new tab)
There's a lot of uncertainty around the IT sector right now and around what AI actually does to the work these companies sell. So let's analyse what their numbers are suggesting and clear up some of t…
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8.7reddit What are the best AI voice agents for small businesses? (opens in new tab)
I’ve been researching AI voice agents for small businesses, and I think the biggest mistake is choosing one based only on how realistic the voice sounds. A good AI voice agent needs to handle the act…
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8.7reddit How are other small-business owners handling marketing right now? (opens in new tab)
I’m trying to figure out what direction to take with my own marketing and wanted to hear what others are actually doing. Are you using AI for things like graphics, ads, social posts, videos, or writt…
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8.7reddit Should I build my own AI business operating system or start with Hermes/OpenClaw? (opens in new tab)
I’ve been going down the AI rabbit hole for the past week and could use advice from people who have actually built and run AI agents. **My situation** I’m 25 and my family recently got: 2 Bambu …
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8.6reddit What are the best AI voice agents for small businesses? (opens in new tab)
I’ve been researching AI voice agents for small businesses, and I think the biggest mistake is choosing one based only on how realistic the voice sounds. A good AI voice agent needs to handle the act…
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8.4reddit Are there any good ai receptionists for a small business? (opens in new tab)
My partner and I run a small shop and we keep missing calls during busy hours. Someone mentioned AI receptionists but I have no clue where to even start. Anyone actually using one of these?
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8.4reddit I stopped trying to make an old-school owner use software, so I built an AI bridge instead and reclaimed 5-8hrs/week for myself (opens in new tab)
Genuinely curious how many small businesses are in the same situation. We’ve got an owner who is absolutely elite at what he does. He can walk a site, read a job in minutes, spot risks everyone else …
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8.4reddit The "Co-Founder" framework for AI. How to automate without ruining your small business (opens in new tab)
I wanted to share my perspective on how small businesses should actually approach AI without falling into the trap of over-automating or getting left behind, and see what everyone else is doing. As a…
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8.2reddit Are small business AI chatbots too focused on answering FAQs? (opens in new tab)
I've been looking at quite a few AI chatbot products for small businesses recently, and most of them seem to stop at the same point: answering questions from a website or knowledge base. That is defi…
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8.2reddit Best AI Tools for business operations ranked by actual ROI, not marketing bs (opens in new tab)
Running a business has made me realize most AI tools for business are either glorified writing assistants or another dashboard I have to remember to check. The question is not which one has the coole…
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8.1reddit Software engineer struggling with the AI job market. Looking to bootstrap an automated/physical business in Argentina — what niche trends are working in the US? (opens in new tab)
Hey everyone, I’m a Systems Engineer based in Argentina. To be completely honest, the software job market has been incredibly tough lately with the whole AI boom, and finding stable roles is getting …
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8.1reddit Software engineer struggling with the AI job market. Looking to bootstrap an automated/physical business in Argentina — what niche trends are working in the US? (opens in new tab)
Hey everyone, I’m a Systems Engineer based in Argentina. To be completely honest, the software job market has been incredibly tough lately with the whole AI boom, and finding stable roles is getting …
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8reddit WHATEVER IT MEANS NEXT TUESDAY - Suno’s September 3 download changes, annual subscriptions, and creator trust (opens in new tab)
*AI platforms, creator trust, and the increasingly provisional meaning of “paid for.”* There is a version of this story that is about 60 downloads. It would be easy to write. It would also be easy …
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8reddit Dont worry - be happy. Big bro's safe - Suno users are not. (opens in new tab)
For everyone creating on [Suno.ai](http://Suno.ai), the mainstream narrative claims record labels are fighting in court to protect human artists from AI theft. Federal court dockets in *UMG v. Suno*, …
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7.7reddit Alright small business owners. Do customers care if your ads are AI-assisted, or only if they're effective? (opens in new tab)
Ai for advertising.
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7.6reddit Building an AI receptionist for small businesses, what are your biggest pain points? (opens in new tab)
I’m building an AI receptionist that gives a business its own phone number. Customers can call it, have a natural human-like conversation with the AI, ask questions, and eventually book appointments. …
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7.4reddit How I automated Google reviews for my small biz using Reviewly AI, here’s what actually worked (opens in new tab)
Thought I’d share a quick breakdown of how we finally got our review collection on autopilot because there was a time when i did this manually and ik how much time taking is it actually is. We used t…
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7.3reddit Built a working AI receptionist demo — how would you find the first 1–3 real business users? (opens in new tab)
I have built an AI Receptionist that handles appointment calls, collects caller's details, checks the calendar, books appointments and connects/ transfers calls to the main line.The technical side is …
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7.2reddit Where is AI giving your team a real time saving rather than just nicer output? (opens in new tab)
A lot of AI use cases sound impressive but only save a few minutes in practice. What business workflow has actually become noticeably faster for your team?
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7.2reddit How I replaced $400/month in outbound tools with a free pipeline that reads competitor Trustpilot complaints (opens in new tab)
I got tired of paying Apollo and Instantly to blast lists of people who technically match my buyer profile but have zero reason to talk to me right now so i built something different over a weekend a …
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7.2reddit An AI assistant for turning business conversations into action (opens in new tab)
Most AI note-takers stop at a transcript. Klik is designed to help businesses move from conversation to execution: - capture meetings and client conversations hands-free - extract decisions, owners, …
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7.1reddit I built a free tool to calculate retail margins, scan rebates, and ACCC hiatus compliance for Aussie FMCG & product sellers—looking for feedback! (opens in new tab)
Hey everyone, If you’re running a small business, selling products on marketplaces, or trying to pitch your range to Australian retailers, you probably know how painful the math gets when planning pr…
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7reddit Australia is NOT as racist as you all seem to believe it is. (opens in new tab)
Honestly, I get accused of being a psyop bot a LOT on this platform. I get it, it's an easy way of discrediting something you don't like hearing or outright diagree with. And, no doubt, there are some…
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7reddit Filed Small Claims but Tricked Meta Verified Support AI to put me in touch with a human via email. Got my account reinstated in minutes (opens in new tab)
Won’t bore people with too many details, I was a victim of the hackers who use Session Hijacking to access accounts, then permanently disable them by uploading false identification that a good number …
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7reddit What makes an AI receptionist actually useful for a small business? (opens in new tab)
I’ve been looking at AI receptionists, and I’m curious what actually matters in real use. Is answering every call enough, or should it also book appointments, qualify leads, take messages, and follow…
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7reddit I caught a small business using an AI flyer. I did what any reasonable person would do. (opens in new tab)
I was scrolling Facebook this morning when I saw something that stopped my blood cold. A local family-owned restaurant was having a Friday fish fry. $13.99. Fries included. And the flyer... was A…
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7reddit Schwab + ChatGPT + Schwab Dev API + Mac Mini + iPhone = real time info (opens in new tab)
I connected ChatGPT to Schwab’s real-time market data via their Schwab developer API. Before embarking on this lengthy article, understand that it's very, very long. I'm not going to apologize. I pu…
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7reddit 3 years, 3 finished games, +$150k net revenue. Postmortem of my solo developed, self-published, node-based games (opens in new tab)
It took me 3 years to make 3 different commercial, solo-developed, self-published, node-based games. It is a good time to wrap up my thoughts and share them here with you. Maybe it will be helpful for…
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7reddit I gave a Claude Fable 5 agent a domain and $90 it can't spend without me. 20 days and 168 wakes later: it created its own memory architecture, two published books, and almost $1,000 revenue. (My mind is blown!) (opens in new tab)
[http://cairnwake.com](http://cairnwake.com) **Backstory for those that haven't followed along:** About three weeks ago I gave Claude's Fable 5 model a $12/month server, a domain and email for th…