Stop Treating AI Like a Search Engine: How to Build With It Instead

Queens, if you're still using AI to check the weather or rephrase an email, you're leaving the good stuff on the table. Sarah K. Heeter of PodFox Media is back for round two, and this time we're pulling back the curtain on what we actually text each other about: the apps, dashboards, and tools we're building for ourselves instead of paying for someone else's almost-right software. Sarah built her own session scheduler for her podcast after a $15/month tool kept letting guests miss their slots. I rebuilt my whole client management system and ditched Dubsado. And yes, we both built spinny-wheel book recommendation apps, because reading is expensive and we have priorities. What we cover: Why "solve a problem" beats "answer a question" every time, and how that one shift changes what you build Fable 5 vs. everything else: when the big model is worth the credits and when it isn't The skateboard-to-car rule for minimum viable products (start with the skateboard, not the wheels) Research first, then build: how Sarah used Claude to shop the market before deciding to DIY The real downsides of building it yourself, including the fact that you are now customer support The best part? You don't need a dev team or a market of thousands. You're a market viability of one, and that's all it takes to build something that fits your business exactly. Want to solve a problem on the show? Season three is open for guests. If you've got a challenge in your business or your day-to-day that AI might be able to fix, apply at aiqueens.com/apply or DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn. Connect with Sarah: Podfox Media: podfoxmedia.com Big Brave Business podcast: bigbravebusiness.com Mentioned in this episode: Brand-to-Bot Blueprint: aiqueens.com/blueprint Claude (Chat, Cowork, Code, Design) Dubsado, TidyCal, Breeze Docs, Sendbox (AppSumo) Supabase, Vercel, Railway, GitHub Google Apps Script Libby, Kindle Unlimited, Audible Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman Ready to build something of your own? Join the list for the next AI Queens Buildathon — a live, hands-on workshop where you walk away with a working tool built for your business: aiqueens.com/build Connect with Erika! ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen/⁠⁠ Erika's AI Consultancy: ⁠⁠https://www.aiqueens.com/⁠⁠ Erika's Branding & Web Agency: ⁠⁠https://www.mileenddigital.com/⁠⁠ Join the AI Queens Society: ⁠⁠https://aiqueens.substack.com/