Terry M. Lee · AI Simplified
Issue No. 02
This week's story
I've been paying for a tool I outgrew. I just didn't know it until I stopped using it.Hi Reader, I switched from ActiveCampaign to Kit last week, mid-session, almost on a whim. I'd been on AC long enough to know every menu, every workaround, every quirk. That familiarity felt like loyalty. It wasn't. It was inertia. But the real story isn't the switch — it's what my workflow looks like now that I'm on the other side of it. How This Newsletter Actually Gets MadeI brainstorm with Claude first — not "write me a newsletter," but "what's a topic other solopreneurs are actually running into right now?" We go back and forth on that before a single word gets drafted. Once we land on a topic, I fill in my own experience — what I've actually gone through, what I'm actually using. Claude drafts an outline, and then my voice, my story, my specifics get worked into it. Claude makes me a better writer, because honestly? I suck at writing. But the writing isn't the value. Where the Real Value Actually IsThe value is everything that happens before Claude ever sees a draft: the research, the testing, the actual phone calls — does this integrate with that, what's the real pricing, does it break under load. That's me. That's the work. It's what lets me tell a reader "here's exactly what happens, and here's how I can save you the time and money I just spent finding out." The Part That Made Me Want to Do BackflipsOnce the draft's dialed in, Claude shows me a preview — my brand colors, my voice, already formatted. Claude is my writing partner, and the executioner too — the one who actually gets it over to Kit. I just make sure everything looks perfect before it's scheduled, and that's the process. I want to sit on that for a second, because it's a bigger deal than it sounds. Claude doesn't just draft the words — it can actually create and push the email straight into my Kit account. Not every platform allows that. When I realized Kit was one of the ones that does, I wanted to do backflips. That's the difference between "AI helped me write this" and "AI is actually plugged into how my business runs." And that was before I found out about Kit's Recommendations network — where other creators can recommend your newsletter to their readers, and you do the same for them, growing both audiences and actually earning money in the process. Automation on one side, a built-in growth network on the other. Sign me up.
That's the real difference between paying for a tool and having one that's actually built into how you work.
"Are you still choosing your tools, or just renewing them?" Reading all that back, it sounds like a lot of steps. It isn't. It's actually faster than what I used to do, because I'm not fighting the tool anymore — I'm leveraging it to get what I'm actually trying to say out in a clear, concise way, instead of losing an hour to the software just to say it at all. If any of this makes you curious about switching to Kit yourself, here's my link: partners.kit.com/terrymlee. (Full transparency: I earn a little if you sign up through it, at no extra cost to you — I only share tools I actually use and would recommend anyway.) Terry
|
AI Simplified is a weekly newsletter by Terry M. Lee — entrepreneur, AI strategist, and founder of QueenGeek LLC. Each issue is one honest story from inside a real business: a workflow that changed, a tool that actually worked, a decision and what happened next. No theory. No prompt lists. Just the practical, unfiltered version of what it looks like to build a leaner, smarter business with AI. Written for entrepreneurs, coaches, and consultants who are serious about making AI work for the life they actually want to live.
Terry M. Lee · AI Simplified Issue No. 006 This week's story I Asked Claude to Add Two Nav Links. It Found Four Things Wrong With My Site. Hi Reader, Yesterday I opened a chat with Claude with the smallest possible ask: add two links to my website's nav menu. A "Community" link to my Substack, and a "Demos/Video Tips" link to my YouTube. Two-minute job. I wasn't looking for anything else. The Ask That's it. That's the whole request. Add two nav links so people could actually find my community...
Terry M. Lee · AI Simplified Issue No. 005 This week's story I Said Yes to a Favor. AI Turned It Into Five Products. Hi Reader, This week's biggest AI win didn't come from a client project or a product launch. It came from a favor. A friend asked me to design a composition book cover for her job. Air Force themed. Blue, white, and gold. One design that had to represent four different departments — front desk, supply, housekeeping, and maintenance. I'm not a Canva expert. Left to my own tools,...
Terry M. Lee · AI Simplified Issue No. 04 This week's story Claude Is My Silent Business Partner — Here's How That Actually Works Hi Reader, Six months ago, I was running two businesses by myself and another as a wish in the back of my head. Not "by myself" in the founder-brag sense — actually by myself. I was the strategist, the copywriter, the bookkeeper, the launch planner, the tech support person, and the one answering emails at 11pm, all in the same day, all in one brain. If you've ever...