The Mark Mason Show: AI for Small Business

Mark Mason
  • 4.9 (102)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

AI for small business, made practical: how to use AI in the business you already run. You have a ChatGPT account. It hasn't changed how your business actually works yet. That gap is what this show is about. I'm Mark Mason. I lead engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company, I've run online businesses since 2007, and I've been podcasting since 2009. This show was the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast; it is now The Mark Mason Show. Every week I take one real problem out of a real business: what actually works, what I'd skip, and when the honest answer is to hire someone instead of building it yourself. No hype, no agency pitch. These episodes are the audio of the weekly video on YouTube (youtube.com/@MarkMasonCom), edited so they work without a screen. The sung stinger is AI-generated music; every word you hear is my own voice. This is for small business owners and professionals who are past experimenting and want AI to work. Growth by design, not by grind. More at markmason.com.

  1. 1d ago

    Best AI Subscription for Business Owners: ChatGPT vs Claude [MM281]

    Send us Fan Mail The best AI subscription for business owners: I pay for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and here's the one I'd keep for $20. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/ZVAF525Tp54 If you're paying $20 a month for ChatGPT and wondering whether to upgrade, or switch to Claude or Gemini, this is the bottom line from someone who pays for all of them. Mark Mason leads engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company, and he pays for these tools out of his own pocket: ChatGPT on two accounts, Claude's top plan, Gemini, and OpenRouter to test the rest. The short answer comes first: if you already use one and you're happy, stay with it, because switching has a real cost. If your business runs on Google, Gemini makes sense. With his own $20, Mark picks Claude, and he explains why. Then comes the part that matters more than which one you pick: moving AI from answering questions to doing the work. Two real examples from his wife's photography business show how: blog posts drafted in her voice from her social media and pushed to WordPress, and quarterly sales tax prepared for a human to check before anything is filed. In this episode: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini: which $20 plan to keep, and when not to switchHow to get AI to do the work, not just answer questionsIs Microsoft Copilot worth it for a small business?Is the $20 plan enough, and when does the $100 or $200 plan pay for itself?Why the AI model you pick matters less than how you use itThe sung stinger is AI-generated music. Every word you hear is Mark's own voice. Prices checked October 18, 2026: ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, and Google AI Pro are $20 a month ($19.99 for Google). The bigger plans (Claude Max, ChatGPT Pro, Google AI Ultra) run $100 to $200 a month. Check the current price before you buy. My previous video, on what the research actually says about AI and jobs: https://youtu.be/snsV4Ydb26E About Mark Mason Mark Mason leads engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company. He has run online businesses since 2007 and has been podcasting since 2009. This channel is practical AI for the business you already run: growth by design, not by grind. More at https://markmason.com?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast Disclaimer: this episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It isn't legal, tax, accounting, financial, investment, HR, or cybersecurity advice, and watching it doesn't create a professional or client relationship. Talk to a qualified professional before you make decisions for your business. Any income, revenue, savings, time saved, or other results mentioned are examples or my own experience, shared for reference only. They aren't typical, and they aren't a promise or a guarantee: your results depend on your business, your market, your effort, and many other factors. AI tools can be wrong, incomplete, or biased, can make things up, and change often. Check their output before you rely on it, and follow each tool's terms, your privacy and data-protection duties, your client agreements, and the law, especially before you put customer, employee, or confidential information into any AI tool. Tools, features, and prices were accurate when recorded and may have changed since. Product names are trademarks of their owners, and mentioning a product doesn't mean its maker endorses this channel. Any sponsorship or affiliate link is disclosed. Opinions are my own and don't represent my employer. You use this information at your own risk; Mark Mason and markmason.com accept no liability for any loss or damage that results from using it.

    Best AI Subscription for Business Owners: ChatGPT vs Claude [MM281]

  2. Oct 13

    Will AI Replace Your Job? What the Research Actually Says [MM280]

    Send us Fan Mail Is "AI won't replace you" actually true? I checked the research on AI and jobs, and it's better news than the quote. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/snsV4Ydb26E The line is on posters and all over LinkedIn, and almost nobody has checked it. Mark Mason leads engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company. Here he reads the economists instead of the hot takes: the ATM and bank teller story (with the part most people leave out), an AI-run drive-through he ordered from, and studies in four fields: customer support, consulting, writing, and software engineering. The finding is the same every time: the biggest gains from AI go to the people who are furthest behind, not the people already best at their job. If you've been reading about AI replacing jobs, or wondering what jobs AI will replace, the better question is whether AI automates a task inside your work or removes the reason anyone needs that work. Mark also covers the honest complication (no measurable wage bump yet in government pay data, while job postings already pay more for AI skills), the study where AI users did worse, and three moves for this week, even if you don't feel technical. In this episode: Did ATMs replace bank tellers? What happened, and what came nextWhich jobs shift instead of disappearingWho gains the most from AI, according to the researchWhen AI makes you worse, and the "trust, but verify" habitThree moves for this week if you feel behind on AIThe sung stinger is AI-generated music. Every word you hear is Mark's own voice. The intern framework from the previous video: https://youtu.be/Iu7aaq4T-N4 Sources Santiago (@svpino) on X, January 5, 2023: the earliest dated version of the quote we foundBessen, Finance & Development (IMF), 2015: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2015/03/bessen.htmAutor, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2015: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.29.3.3BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Tellers: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/tellers.htmBrynjolfsson, Li, Raymond, NBER w31161 (customer support): https://www.nber.org/papers/w31161Dell'Acqua, Mollick, Lakhani et al., Organization Science (BCG consultants): https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2025.21838Noy and Zhang, Science, 2023 (writing): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh2586Cui, Demirer et al., Management Science (software developers): https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2025.00535Humlum and Vestergaard, NBER w33777 (Danish pay data): https://www.nber.org/papers/w33777PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2025 and 2026: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/artificial-intelligence/ai-jobs-barometer.htmlRonald Reagan, "Trust, but verify," December 8, 1987 (Reagan Library): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI-ekVtjOxQAbout Mark Mason Mark Mason leads engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company. He has run online businesses since 2007 and has been podcasting since 2009. This channel is practical AI for the business you already run: growth by design, not by grind. More at https://markmason.com?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=02-ai-wont-replace-you Disclaimer: this episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It isn't legal, tax, accounting, financial, investment, HR, or cybersecurity advice, and watching it doesn't create a professional or client relationship. Talk to a qualified professional before you make decisions for your business. Any income, revenue, savings, time saved, or other results mentioned are examples or my own experience, shared for reference only. They aren't typical, and they aren't a promise or a guarantee: your results depend on your business, your market, your effort, and many other factors. AI tools can be wrong, incomplete, or biased, can make things up, and change often. Check their output before you rely on it, and follow each tool's terms, your privacy and data-protection duties, your client agreements, and the law, especially before you put customer, employee, or confidential information into any AI tool. Tools, features, and prices were accurate when recorded and may have changed since. Product names are trademarks of their owners, and mentioning a product doesn't mean its maker endorses this channel. Any sponsorship or affiliate link is disclosed. Opinions are my own and don't represent my employer. You use this information at your own risk; Mark Mason and markmason.com accept no liability for any loss or damage that results from using it.

    Will AI Replace Your Job? What the Research Actually Says [MM280]

  3. Oct 6

    How to Use AI in Your Business: Treat It Like a New Intern [MM279]

    Send us Fan Mail How to use AI in your business when you're just starting: treat it like a smart new intern on day one. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/Iu7aaq4T-N4 Most business owners aren't stuck with AI because they're not smart enough. They're stuck because nobody onboarded it. Mark Mason leads engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company, and in this episode he explains the mental model that fixes that: AI is smart, fast, and capable, and it knows absolutely nothing about your business until you tell it. Then the twist. Ethan Mollick, the Wharton professor who coined "treat AI like an intern," has since moved on and now calls AI a coworker. Mark explains why, if you're just getting started with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, the intern model is still the right first step, and what changes once your AI intern is doing good work. Free prompts to onboard your AI intern (no email needed): https://markmason.com/ai-intern-prompts/?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=01-smart-intern In this episode: Why 82% of the smallest businesses not planning to use AI say it doesn't apply to them, and why that's an onboarding problem, not a courage problemThree moves to onboard AI like a new hire: brief it on your business, give it one concrete task, and ask it what it needsWhy the person who invented "treat AI like an intern" moved on, and why you shouldn't yetWhat the research says about trusting AI too much, and the "trust, but verify" habit that fixes itWhat the best interns (and your AI) do that you didn't ask forThe sung stinger is AI-generated music. Every word you hear is Mark's own voice. Sources mentioned SBA Office of Advocacy, "AI in Business: Small Firms Closing In" (September 2025): https://advocacy.sba.gov/2025/09/24/ai-in-business-small-firms-closing-in/Ethan Mollick, "On-boarding your AI Intern," One Useful Thing (May 2023): https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/on-boarding-your-ai-internHarvard Business Review, "Research: Why You Shouldn't Treat AI Agents Like Employees" (May 2026): https://hbr.org/2026/05/research-why-you-shouldnt-treat-ai-agents-like-employeesRonald Reagan, "Trust, but verify," at the INF Treaty signing, December 8, 1987 (Reagan Library): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI-ekVtjOxQAbout Mark Mason Mark Mason leads engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company. He has run online businesses since 2007 and has been podcasting since 2009. This channel is practical AI for the business you already run: growth by design, not by grind. More at https://markmason.com?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=01-smart-intern Disclaimer: this episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It isn't legal, tax, accounting, financial, investment, HR, or cybersecurity advice, and watching it doesn't create a professional or client relationship. Talk to a qualified professional before you make decisions for your business. Any income, revenue, savings, time saved, or other results mentioned are examples or my own experience, shared for reference only. They aren't typical, and they aren't a promise or a guarantee: your results depend on your business, your market, your effort, and many other factors. AI tools can be wrong, incomplete, or biased, can make things up, and change often. Check their output before you rely on it, and follow each tool's terms, your privacy and data-protection duties, your client agreements, and the law, especially before you put customer, employee, or confidential information into any AI tool. Tools, features, and prices were accurate when recorded and may have changed since. Product names are trademarks of their owners, and mentioning a product doesn't mean its maker endorses this channel. Any sponsorship or affiliate link is disclosed. Opinions are my own and don't represent my employer. You use this information at your own risk; Mark Mason and markmason.com accept no liability for any loss or damage that results from using it.

    How to Use AI in Your Business: Treat It Like a New Intern [MM279]

  4. May 20

    Reboot: When Everyone Has AI What Still Makes You You [LNIM278]

    Send us Fan Mail The name change is the easy part. The hard part is admitting the old rules of online business just broke, and then building something better anyway. After hitting an anniversary milestone of 35 years at my day job, I’m rebooting the podcast as The Mark Mason Show and using it to document the next chapter: building markmason.com into a sharper, more flexible personal brand. A big driver is artificial intelligence. For years, the “technical stuff” created a moat for creators and solo entrepreneurs: video editing, landing pages, websites, affiliate tracking, podcast production, and all the behind-the-scenes work most people never wanted to learn. Now AI tools are collapsing that barrier fast, which raises the real question for every small business owner: how do you create a differentiated business when your competition has the same AI horsepower? I share my approach: keep the value human and automate the busywork. I’ll show up as me on the mic, bringing my experience, my opinion, and the parts that live in my zone of genius. Then I’ll lean on AI for the tasks I do not want to do, like transcripts, SEO support, blog formatting, clip creation, and marketing ops. You’ll also hear how I’m using AI “24/7,” from enterprise workflow automation at work to silly but useful personal automations, plus why I even named my AI assistant Donna. If you want to build an AI-powered lifestyle business without losing your voice, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a quick review so more builders can find the show.

    Reboot: When Everyone Has AI What Still Makes You You [LNIM278]

  5. 05/05/2025

    Crawfish, Cold Beer, and Converting Clients: A Southern Marketing Tale [LNIM277]

    Send us Fan Mail Ever felt like you need to become a social media star to succeed in your business? During a recent crawfish boil in Texas, I met a debt coach we'll call "Jill" who perfectly embodied this common struggle. Despite having incredible expertise and genuine passion for helping people escape the devastating cycle of debt, Jill was hitting a wall with client acquisition because of her strong aversion to social media platforms. This conversation sparked a powerful question worth considering: If you had the cure for a serious problem (like cancer, or in Jill's case, debilitating debt), but disliked Facebook, would you simply refuse to use an effective channel to reach those who desperately need your help? The reality is that marketing discomfort often creates an unnecessary barrier between skilled professionals and the very people they're meant to serve. The good news? You don't need to dance on TikTok or expose your personal life to build a thriving client base. The tiny offer strategy provides an elegant solution for the social-media-averse professional. By creating a small, low-risk product (typically $7-$17) and promoting it through minimal ad spend, you can build a list of actual buyers who have already demonstrated their willingness to invest in solutions. These buyers are far more likely to convert to higher-ticket coaching services when appropriately followed up with. What makes this approach particularly valuable is its flexibility. You can build your business behind a brand identity rather than your personal image—using a cartoon avatar or focusing on the transformation you provide. The goal isn't to make significant profit from the tiny offer itself but rather to break even on advertising while creating a bridge between cold traffic and high-ticket sales. Perhaps most importantly, this strategy forces us to examine what's really behind our marketing resistance. Are we taking a principled stand, or are we simply afraid of failure, criticism, or visibility? Understanding these underlying factors can help us make more intentional decisions and potentially overcome limiting fears that keep us from fulfilling our mission to help others. Ready to start? Create a simple yet valuable tiny offer based on expertise you already possess, test it with minimal ad spend, measure results, and continually refine your approach. Need support? Join our free VIP forum at vipmarkmason.com where I'll personally answer your questions.

    Crawfish, Cold Beer, and Converting Clients: A Southern Marketing Tale [LNIM277]

  6. 04/28/2025

    The Fearless First Steps: Overcoming Launch Anxiety in Online Business [LNIM276]

    Send us Fan Mail Launching an online business when you have zero followers can feel like shouting into the void. The anxiety, uncertainty, and fear of failure loom large—but these challenges are exactly what we tackle head-on in this practical, no-nonsense episode. We begin by dismantling the common misconception that successful businesses need a massive, newsworthy launch. The truth? Everyone starts at zero. That Instagram influencer with 500,000 followers? They once had none. That e-commerce store making six figures monthly? They once celebrated their very first sale. What separates successful entrepreneurs isn't having a perfect launch—it's having the courage to start despite having no audience and the persistence to keep going. Through a real-world example of a niche product (an eco-friendly water bottle designed specifically for elderly users), we explore actionable strategies for building momentum from scratch. Rather than fixating on a big launch event, we discuss the power of leveraging your existing network, creating shareable content that speaks to your target audience's pain points, building an email list from day one, and testing small ad campaigns that can scale as you grow. Perhaps most valuable is the mindset shift: viewing marketing not as a performance to be perfected but as a discovery process where each small win provides data and direction. Every first customer leads to a second, every second to a tenth, and so the momentum builds—not overnight, but day by day, through consistent effort and authentic connection. Whether you're just getting started or feeling stuck with minimal traction, this episode provides both the practical steps and the mindset tools to move forward with confidence. Because the most important thing isn't having a massive audience—it's taking that first brave step and then showing up consistently, one day at a time. Ready to overcome your launch anxiety and start building your business? Join our free VIP community at vip.markmason.com where we can discuss your specific challenges and celebrate your wins together.

    The Fearless First Steps: Overcoming Launch Anxiety in Online Business [LNIM276]

  7. 04/14/2025

    The Silent Killer of Side Hustle Success: How Automation and AI Can Transform Your Business [LNIM275]

    Send us Fan Mail Friction is the silent killer of momentum in side hustles, preventing entrepreneurs from building the consistency needed for success. By eliminating friction through automation and AI tools, we can transform our businesses into efficient systems that practically run themselves. • Identifying sources of friction in your business processes • Understanding the difference between static friction (getting started) and kinetic friction (staying in motion) • Using automated scheduling with tools like Motion to ensure consistent content creation • Leveraging ChatGPT for content ideation, outlines, and show notes • Streamlining production with tools like Stream Deck, Ecamm, and Descript • Automating distribution across platforms with Make.com and Repurpose.io • Applying automation principles to different business models (example: drop shipping) • Breaking down business processes into steps that can be partially or fully automated Identify your most important business processes that need optimization, then ask ChatGPT in research mode to recommend automation and AI solutions for your specific situation. Start with one friction point, perfect it, then move to the next to build lasting systems for sustainable success.

    The Silent Killer of Side Hustle Success: How Automation and AI Can Transform Your Business [LNIM275]

  8. 04/07/2025

    Lessons from Social Media Marketing World 2025: AI, Tiny Offers, and Content Strategy [LNIM274]

    Send us Fan Mail Fresh from my role as Emcee at Social Media Marketing World 2025, I've returned with game-changing insights that are already reshaping my approach to business. These aren't just theoretical concepts—they're practical strategies that can transform your entrepreneurial journey, especially if you're balancing a side hustle with other responsibilities. The AI revolution has arrived, but not in the way many feared. Rather than replacing marketers, artificial intelligence is amplifying our capabilities in remarkable ways. For solo entrepreneurs who don't have teams for brainstorming, AI fills the ideation gap brilliantly. It's not just about working faster—it's about producing higher quality work with less effort. From content planning to podcast workflows, the right AI implementation can elevate your business while reducing your workload. Paid advertising is undergoing a seismic shift as Meta and Google lean heavily into AI-driven optimization. Soon, you'll simply provide your creative assets and their algorithms will handle everything else. The specialized knowledge once required for effective advertising is becoming less necessary, making sophisticated campaigns accessible to everyone. For side hustlers with limited time, this democratization of advertising represents a huge opportunity. Perhaps most eye-opening was learning about "tiny offers"—products priced between $27-$97 that serve as perfect entry points for cold traffic. These self-liquidating offers allow you to connect with potential clients, establish relationships, and cover advertising costs simultaneously. It's a refreshing alternative to the high-ticket, all-consuming hustle promoted by many marketing gurus, and it's ideally suited for those building businesses alongside other commitments. The overarching message became clear: sustainable success requires working smarter, not harder. You simply cannot hustle around the clock indefinitely—something has to give. By implementing strategic AI tools, embracing content repurposing, and creating accessible offer structures, you can build a thriving business without sacrificing your sanity. Join my free VIP community at vip.markmason.com where I'm sharing more detailed strategies and providing personalized guidance to help you implement these approaches in your unique situation.

    Lessons from Social Media Marketing World 2025: AI, Tiny Offers, and Content Strategy [LNIM274]
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About

AI for small business, made practical: how to use AI in the business you already run. You have a ChatGPT account. It hasn't changed how your business actually works yet. That gap is what this show is about. I'm Mark Mason. I lead engineering teams, including AI engineering, at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company, I've run online businesses since 2007, and I've been podcasting since 2009. This show was the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast; it is now The Mark Mason Show. Every week I take one real problem out of a real business: what actually works, what I'd skip, and when the honest answer is to hire someone instead of building it yourself. No hype, no agency pitch. These episodes are the audio of the weekly video on YouTube (youtube.com/@MarkMasonCom), edited so they work without a screen. The sung stinger is AI-generated music; every word you hear is my own voice. This is for small business owners and professionals who are past experimenting and want AI to work. Growth by design, not by grind. More at markmason.com.

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