This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Marketing Pro builds GPT bots, no code needed. Welcome to another episode of Side Hustle School, diving into real life examples of everyday people creating new sources of income, no funding, no debt, no life savings required. They are using a skill they already have. And this is a fun story today because it's somebody who is not a coder, but has found a way to create these GPT bots, what are GPT bots? Well, if you've ever used chat GPT or any language model or other AI tool, that's essentially what this is.
They found a way to harness the power of AI, helping small businesses with these bots. And they'll explain a little bit more about how that works. The tools they used, how much they charged, the lessons they picked up along the way. This is part of our first $1,000 series, where you get to hear how somebody made their first $1,000. What might you learn from the story, perhaps a bit of inspiration or motivation to move forward with your ideas, or maybe even an idea itself.
That's what we're all about daily, short, action-packed episodes. This is 3,075. I'm gonna bring you this story, and then I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
I never planned to start a business around AI. As a marketing consultant, I was always testing out new tools to streamline my work.
Writing emails faster, summarizing reports, and handling repetitive client questions. But everything changed when a small business owner asked me a simple question. Could this thing answer customer inquiries for me? That's when I realized AI chat bots weren't just a gimmick. They could actually solve a real problem.
Three months later, I had a new side hustle building custom GPT powered chat bots for small businesses, all without writing a single line of code. It all started when one of my clients, a boutique skincare brand, complained about how much time they spent answering the same customer questions via email and Instagram DMs. I wondered, could a chat bot handle this? After some research, I discovered no code AI chat bot platforms like chat GPT's API, botpress, and make.com. These tools let people create custom AI assistance without programming just by setting rules and feeding in business-specific data.
So I built a quick chat bot for my client, training it on FAQs like shipping policies, ingredient lists, and product recommendations. They loved it. More importantly, they offered to pay me $300 to refine it and integrate it into their website. That first project made me realize there was a huge opportunity here. Thousands of small businesses could benefit from a chat bot, especially ones that get flooded with customer questions, have long documents to summarize like contracts or manuals, or need to answer internal team questions like onboarding or HR policies.
To test the waters, I offered free trials to local businesses in exchange for testimonials, then created simple chat bot templates for different industries, including real estate and e-commerce. Within a month, I had three more paying clients, each offering between $250 to $500 for a custom AI assistant. At first, I just charged a flat fee for setup, but I quickly realized a better model, monthly retainers for ongoing updates. I added a $50 per month fee for maintenance. And by month two, I had six paying clients and had crossed the $1,000 mark.
Lessons learned. One, clients need reassurance. Many business owners were nervous about AI, worrying it would replace their staff or sound robotic. I had to position the chat bots as assistants, not replacements, helping them save time, not take jobs. Two, not every industry was a good fit.
Some businesses, like law firms, had privacy concerns. Others, like restaurants, didn't see the value. I found that e-commerce and service-based businesses like real estate were the best fit since they constantly deal with repetitive customer inquiries. Three, education equals sales. Most business owners had no idea chat bots were even an option for them.
I started posting short LinkedIn videos explaining how AI could save them time, and those videos led to inbound leads. Now that I've built the site income from chat bot subscriptions, I'm expanding it to corporate clients. I hope to grow the business to several thousand dollars a month and then see how it goes. The best part, I still don't know how to code. [Music]
All right, all right, thanks to our side hustler for explaining how they built this cool service.
And as noted, they have crossed, not only crossed the thousand dollar market, sounds like they're earning a good amount each month. And this is something that can only grow very passively, which is cool, right? There's something you can do as well. I'd love to hear about it. Maybe feature you on the podcast.
But if nothing else, just know how you're doing out there and hopefully help you make progress on a goal that's important to you, creating financial freedom, getting out of debt, working your way away from dependents on a day job. Even if you're happy with your day job, it's nice to have another source of income. So that's what we're all about. That's what we've been doing for 3,000 plus episodes and counting every episode is free. It comes out every day.
The complete archives, also available for free at sidehustleschool.com. If you're enjoying the show, give us a quick little five star rating. It helps other folks discover the podcast and of course subscribe or follow wherever you like to listen. I'll be back tomorrow. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
