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Every business owner I meet has the same bottleneck. Finding customers is 100% manual.

Government contractors scrolling USASpending.gov for hours. Real estate agents cold-call expired listings. Consultants sending generic LinkedIn messages into the void.

Same manual struggle. Same dead pipeline.

But here's what they don't realize: They already HAVE the tools to automate this.

They're just thinking about it wrong.

She Had One Customer. Period.

Last week, I met an urban planning consultant. Smart woman. Great service. One customer.

She'd been doing what everyone tells you to do:

Four months of this. Nothing.

"I started using Claude after you recommended it," she said. "But I don't know what to ask it."

That's when I realized her problem wasn't the tool.

It was the thinking.

The 20-Minute Shift That Changed Her Approach

Most people use AI like a fancy typewriter; type and wait to see if magic happens. Get output. Wonder why they did not get the results they hoped for.

Strategic AI starts with context.

"Show me your LinkedIn," I said.

"Why?"

"Because Claude can't help you if it doesn't know you."

Here's exactly what we did:

First, I copied her entire LinkedIn profile. Every word.

Then I opened Claude and said, "Here's a business owner with one customer. She has an urban planning background.

She helps with presentations. She's tried networking, telling everyone about her work, and asking for referrals. Nothing's working. Analyze why."

Claude found three problems in seconds:

But here's where it got interesting.

The Question That Changes Everything

"Tell me about your one customer," I said. "Why did THEY buy?"

She paused. "They were speaking at a conference. Needed help with their presentation."

"There it is."

"There's what?"

"Your pattern."

From Spray and Pray to Strategic Focus

I fed Claude this new information:

"My one customer was speaking at an urban planning conference. They needed technical data transformed into a story. Who else has this exact problem?"

Claude identified 20 specific prospect types.

Then the breakthrough question:

"How do I find these people BEFORE they're desperate?"

Claude's suggestion: Set up Google News alerts for "urban planning conference speaker announced."

Why? Every speaker announcement is public. Every speaker needs help. Every speaker has a budget.

In 20 minutes, she went from:

The Real Cost Comparison

If she'd hired a consultant for this strategic work:

With strategic AI thinking:

The System She's Now Running

MONDAY (5 minutes):

TUESDAY (10 minutes):

WEDNESDAY (5 minutes):

THURSDAY (10 minutes):

FRIDAY (5 minutes):

35 minutes per week. Not 35 hours.

The Mindset Shift

She was asking Claude: "Write me an email"

Now she asks: "Here's my situation, my one success story, and my constraints. Help me find and nurture 20 similar prospects."

One is a task. One is a strategy.

What She Has Now

Not customers yet. But something better:

CLARITY on who needs her (conference speakers) SYSTEM for finding them (speaker alerts)

PROFILE that attracts them (problem-focused) PIPELINE of 20 to nurture (not random)

PROCESS to run daily (35 minutes/week)

She went from throwing spaghetti at the wall to following a recipe.

Stop asking AI for random tasks. Start feeding it context for strategy.

The framework:

A consultant would charge you thousands for this thinking.

Claude costs $20 a month.

The difference? You have to know how to use AI strategically.

Build your first customer-finding system in under an hour.

Work less. Do more.

Marvin

PS: Whenever you're ready, here are three ways to scale faster without the cost of manual work: